"It's over!
This time it's really, truly over..." On Solitary Peak, Da Xing the Mad Monk had at some point collapsed to the ground, his face ashen as he stared with utter despair at Gu Qingfeng, who was in the midst of 'letting go' of himself. He kept muttering under his breath that it was over.
Others might not know what this black smoke was.
But Da Xing knew.
He not only knew what the black smoke was, but also understood the significance of the hellish and infernal manifestations it transformed into.
The infernal manifestation represented 'From the highest heavens down to the Yellow Springs', while the hellish manifestation represented the 'Avici Uninterrupted Evil Asura'.
The masters of this black smoke were precisely those three terrifying existences within Gu Qingfeng, along with the 'Devour-Heaven-and-Earth Blood Taotie'.
When the nine Forbidden Great Daos had erupted from Gu Qingfeng's body, Da Xing had already guessed that Gu Qingfeng was 'letting go' of himself.
However, a sliver of hope had remained in his heart.
He hoped he was wrong, hoped it was all just an illusion.
Yet,
when he saw the Avici Uninterrupted Evil Asura, 'From the highest heavens down to the Yellow Springs', and the Devour-Heaven-and-Earth Blood Taotie all emerge, completely beyond Gu Qingfeng's control and containing not a trace of his Divine Sense—as if these three existences had no connection to Gu Qingfeng whatsoever—the last shred of hope in Da Xing's heart shattered. He finally realized this was no illusion; Gu Qingfeng truly was letting go of himself.
Strangely, it wasn't just the Li Palace that was enveloped by the nine Forbidden Great Daos and permeated with black smoke. The Zhen Palace, Kan Palace, Zhong Palace, and all the other nine ancient palaces were similarly shrouded by the nine Forbidden Great Daos, filled with black smoke, and constantly shifting between hellish and infernal manifestations.
Why was this happening?
Da Xing did not know.
Lost in the depths of despair, he had no heart to ponder this question.
"A!
Mi!
Tuo!
Fo!"
Suddenly!
A sacred, vast Buddhist chant echoed from an unknown source, followed by a cluster of golden-yellow Buddha Light appearing in the void.
As the Buddha Light bloomed, it revealed itself to be a Five-Direction Buddha Pagoda.
The pagoda transformed endlessly, each direction resembling a Buddha statue—or more precisely, each direction housed a wrathful manifestation.
The east held the Trailokyavijaya Vidyaraja.
The south held the Kundali Vidyaraja.
The west held the Yamantaka Vidyaraja.
The north held the Vajrayaksa Vidyaraja.
The center held the Acala Vidyaraja!
These were precisely the Buddhist Five Great Wisdom Kings!
As was widely known, the Five Great Wisdom Kings were all wrathful manifestations of the Tathagatas.
The central Acala Vidyaraja was the wrathful manifestation of Mahavairocana Tathagata!
The eastern Trailokyavijaya Vidyaraja was the wrathful manifestation of Aksobhya Tathagata!
The southern Kundali Vidyaraja was the wrathful manifestation of Ratnasambhava Tathagata!
The western Yamantaka Vidyaraja was the wrathful manifestation of Amitayus Tathagata!
The northern Vajrayaksa Vidyaraja was the wrathful manifestation of Amoghasiddhi Tathagata!
Anyone with knowledge of Buddhism would recognize at a glance that this Five-Direction Buddha Pagoda was the supreme Buddhist treasure, the Tathagata Treasure Pagoda.
Legend held that the Tathagata Treasure Pagoda possessed not only boundless power but also infinite Buddha Dharma. It was formed by the Five Great Tathagatas and guarded by the Five Great Wisdom Kings, protecting precisely the origin of the Buddha Dao!
However, this Tathagata Treasure Pagoda had vanished long ago with the end of the Ancient Era. It had never reappeared since, and the elders of Buddhism's Eight Sects had been searching desperately for it, yet even in the Present Era, it remained unfound.
No one had imagined that the legendary Tathagata Treasure Pagoda, guardian of the Buddha Dao's origin, would appear at this very moment.
The Tathagata Treasure Pagoda had nine levels, each bearing nine Buddha statues... Wait!
These weren't statues, but true Buddhas.
Looking closely—good heavens!
Mahayana Buddha, Lesser Thousand Buddha, Lotus Buddha, Sumeru Buddha—all were present. These were all renowned Buddhas from the Ancient Era.
Moreover, there were also famous Sages, Bodhisattvas, Arhats, and others renowned throughout the ages, all elders of Buddhism's Eight Sects.
On Solitary Peak,
Da Xing the Mad Monk, who had been plunged into deep despair, was momentarily stunned upon seeing the appearance of the Tathagata Treasure Pagoda. For upon it, he not only saw his junior sister, Bodhisattva Shuiyue, but also his long-vanished senior brother, Sage White-Brow.
Yet,
it was only a momentary shock.
Regarding the sudden appearance of the Tathagata Treasure Pagoda, the various elders of Buddhism's Eight Sects upon it, and even the sight of Bodhisattva Shuiyue and Sage White-Brow,
Da Xing felt neither surprise nor astonishment.
He knew that the supreme treasure of the Zen Sect his senior brother Sage White-Brow had been seeking was precisely the Tathagata Treasure Pagoda. He also knew the pagoda guarded the origin of the Buddha Dao.
He even knew that Sage White-Brow would inevitably find the Tathagata Treasure Pagoda and would inevitably appear during this Original Sin Cataclysm.
After all, this cataclysm concerned the fate of the Great Daos.
For the Buddha Dao, protecting the Great Dao required finding the Tathagata Treasure Pagoda.
As the saying goes, those who walk different paths cannot make plans together.
Though Da Xing belonged to the Buddha Dao, he did not wish to protect the Buddha Dao—or rather, it wasn't that he didn't wish to protect it, but the Buddha he wished to protect was not the Buddha of the present, and the Dao he wished to protect was not the Dao of the present.
He had placed his hopes for the Buddha Dao upon Gu Qingfeng. Unfortunately, now that Gu Qingfeng was letting go of himself, the Buddha Dao Da Xing had been seeking was also being let go.
Even if this Tathagata Treasure Pagoda was formed from the wrathful manifestations of the Five Great Tathagata Wisdom Kings, even if the true bodies of the Five Great Tathagatas appeared now, they could not reignite the hope in Da Xing's heart.
At that moment,
another cluster of radiance flashed in the void.
This radiance was pure white like jade, like brilliant light.
It was not Buddha Light, but Immortal Light.
The Immortal Light shimmered, appearing like a dazzling flower in bloom. Each bloom brought infinite transformations, each bloom was profoundly mysterious and wondrously subtle.
All present, whether Original Sin Patriarchs or Great Dao Patriarchs, were top-tier existences of past and present, widely experienced and knowledgeable. Naturally, they recognized this profoundly mysterious and wondrously subtle radiance.
It was the Mysterious-Wondrous Flower.
Legend said
that the Mysterious-Wondrous Flower was refined by the progenitor of the Immortal Dao from the essence of Heaven's Mystery and Earth's Wonder, hailed as the most mysterious and wondrous existence in all the ages, bar none.
The Mysterious-Wondrous Flower was not only a supreme treasure of the Immortal Dao but also guarded the origin of the Immortal Dao.
As was widely known,
the origin of the Immortal Dao had always been guarded by the Old Immortal of the Profound Heaven Immortal Dao.
Now that the Mysterious-Wondrous Flower had appeared, the Old Immortal of the Profound Heaven Immortal Dao should also be making an appearance.
Sure enough,
as the Mysterious-Wondrous Flower bloomed, nine figures became visible. These nine were men and women, old and young, each as endlessly transformative as the Mysterious-Wondrous Flower itself.
The Great Dao Patriarchs from the Thirty-Six Cave Heavens and Seventy-Two Blessed Lands present were all too familiar with these nine. They were precisely the Profound Heaven Nine Immortals who presided over the Immortal Dao.
Since the Ancient Era, almost all affairs of the Profound Heaven Immortal Dao, great and small, had been managed by the Profound Heaven Nine Immortals. Some said that most Immortal Dao practitioners since the Ancient Era were disciples or descendants of the Profound Heaven Nine Immortals, including many elders from the Thirty-Six Cave Heavens and Seventy-Two Blessed Lands.
The Great Sun Glory Emperor had long desired to claim the title of Immortal Dao Sovereign but had never succeeded, precisely due to obstruction by the Profound Heaven Nine Immortals.
Thus,
the Profound Heaven Nine Immortals were also hailed as the Nine Great Mountains of the Profound Heaven Immortal Dao.