Da Xing the Mad Monk truly did not know how much time had passed.
He only knew that at that moment, he felt as if he had been utterly annihilated, knowing nothing at all, and then...
Then there was no 'then'...
When his consciousness stirred awake once more, everything had vanished.
The various Buddha-Source Judgments had vanished.
Gu Qingfeng, transformed into the Avici Uninterrupted Evil Asura, had vanished.
The Wrath Incarnation of Great Sun Tathagata had also vanished.
Even this Great Sun World had vanished.
He didn't even know where he was, nor whether he was still alive.
He didn't know.
He knew nothing at all.
His consciousness was filled with the image of Gu Qingfeng transformed into the Avici Uninterrupted Evil Asura, and that divine radiance that seemed divine yet not, dominating all; that demonic radiance that seemed demonic yet not, destroying all; and that Buddha radiance that seemed Buddha yet not, delivering all...
And also Gu Qingfeng's final, ancient, domineering roar.
"I want this sky to no longer be able to blind my eyes."
"I want this earth to no longer be able to bury my heart."
"I want all living beings to understand my will, and I want all Buddhas to vanish like smoke and disperse like mist!"
The roar echoed endlessly within his consciousness, unable to dissipate for a long, long time...
"Where is he?"
"Where is that man surnamed Gu?"
"Where is the Wrath Incarnation of Great Sun Tathagata?"
Not long after, Fa Zheng and the other Western Heaven Buddhas awoke from their stupor one after another. Gazing at the vanished scene, none of them knew what had happened.
"That man surnamed Gu must be dead, right?"
"Yes! In the end, Western Heaven appeared, descending endless Buddha-Source Judgment to purify him. Even if his abilities reached the heavens, he couldn't survive..." "He should be dead! No! He must have been utterly annihilated... He must have been delivered... He must have!"
Fa Zheng and the other Buddhas firmly believed Gu Qingfeng had been delivered, utterly annihilated!
"Heh heh... Dead? Heh heh heh..." Da Xing the Mad Monk let out a hoarse, mirthless laugh. Collapsed on the ground, his mouth agape, his expression numb, he seemed like a fool, laughing uproariously.
"Dead? Delivered? Purified? Hahahahaha!"
"You all... you actually... think he's dead? Delivered by the Wrath Incarnation of Great Sun Tathagata? Purified by the Buddhas' Judgment? Hahahaha..." Da Xing the Mad Monk had gone mad.
He laughed madly, insanely.
"Do you know what the Avici Uninterrupted Evil Asura is... Hmm? Tell me? Do you know?"
Da Xing the Mad Monk stood up, grinning maniacally as he glared at Fa Zheng and the other Buddhas. "Don't know? Should I tell you? Have you heard of 'neither born nor dead, neither extinguished nor perished'? Have you heard of it? Do you know who those words refer to? If you don't know, I can tell you. 'Neither born nor dead, neither extinguished nor perished' refers to the Avici Uninterrupted Evil Asura!"
"For the Avici Uninterrupted Evil Asura, there is no life or death, nor is there extinction or perishing. Though not eternal, it is nearly so. And you dare say such an existence is dead?"
"You are all Buddhas. You should all know there is a line in the Buddhas' Chronicles: 'If an Asura becomes Buddha, there will be no demons under heaven; if an Asura becomes demon, what then of Buddha?' This is the Buddha Lord's record of the Asura. Do you motherfuckers think this line is just a joke for you?"
"Do you know what Avici is? That's the progenitor! The progenitor of playing with life and death! When it was playing with life and death, your ancestors' ancestors were still playing with mud and piss! And you motherfuckers dare say it's dead?"
"Do you know what Uninterrupted is? That's hell! That motherfucking source of perdition! Do you know what the source of perdition means? It means the end! The end, understand? Between heaven and earth, there are two great ends: one is the origin of life, the other is the source of perdition. Hahaha!"
"Do you know what an Evil Asura is? That's evil! The greatest evil between heaven and earth!"
"Do you know what the Avici Uninterrupted Evil Asura represents? It's a Taboo! A Taboo of the gods, a Taboo of the demons! More so, a Taboo of the Buddhas, a Taboo of the Three Thousand Great Daos, and a Taboo of heaven and earth itself!"
"Do you know what a Taboo is? You don't! You motherfuckers don't know anything at all!!"
Da Xing the Mad Monk's words left Fa Zheng and the other Buddhas stunned with shock and fear, at a loss, unsure how to respond.
To be honest, they didn't know whether Gu Qingfeng was dead or not. The reason they believed he was dead was because they hoped he was dead...
Now, being roared at like a madman by Da Xing the Mad Monk, Fa Zheng and the others immediately lost their confidence. Trembling, they asked, "If... if that man surnamed Gu isn't dead... why did he vanish..."
"Why did he vanish... Hahahaha!" Da Xing the Mad Monk burst into another fit of mad laughter. "I don't know why he vanished. I don't know where he is now... But one thing I can tell you very clearly is that he is not dead... Definitely not..."
Not dead? Could he truly not be dead?
Fa Zheng and the others panicked, completely panicked. They were terrified, filled with fear.
"If... if the man surnamed Gu isn't dead... then we... we... what should we do?"
Yes.
They were afraid, afraid to the marrow of their bones.
As Western Heaven Buddhas, they were not unaware that Gu Qingfeng repaid every slight, nor were they unaware that Gu Qingfeng feared neither heaven nor earth.
They also knew that when the Nine Heavens tried to exterminate him back then, he nearly burned the Nine Heavens to ashes with a single fire.
They also knew that when the Old Man Heaven tried to exterminate him, in his fury, he nearly split the firmament.
Now Western Heaven tried to exterminate him...
Buddha Lord! Merely thinking of this, Fa Zheng and the others couldn't stop their souls from trembling.
"What should you do? Hahahaha!" Da Xing the Mad Monk continued laughing insanely. "Do nothing. Go back and finish what needs to be done, and also finish what shouldn't be done. Eat whatever you want, drink your fill, then wash your necks clean and prepare your affairs for the afterlife."
"He said he would settle the old accounts with our Western Heaven one by one. He said it, and he will absolutely do it."
"Back then, when he was merely the Nine Nethers Emperor, you couldn't do anything to him. Now he has gained another Wrath Incarnation—the Avici Uninterrupted Evil Asura. Hahahaha... Can you do anything to him now? Who can do anything to him? Who dares? Who has the guts?"
"Hahahaha!"
Da Xing the Mad Monk stood up, pulled out the wine gourd from his waist, tilted his head back and took several gulps. Gazing at the firmament, he couldn't help but laugh uproariously again, his laughter tinged with schadenfreude. "Western Heaven, oh Western Heaven, Buddha Lord, oh Buddha Lord, how about it? In a pickle now, aren't you? Scared? Terrified? Regretful? About to be finished?"
"I told you long ago, he carries a Taboo. You can't use force against him. Absolutely cannot! For this, the elders of our Chan Sect almost knelt before you! Begging you not to act impulsively!"
"And you? Because of your old prejudices, you thought our Chan Sect was deliberately trying to scare you... No matter how we tried to persuade you, you just wouldn't listen. Not listening was one thing, but you still had to try to deliver him? Hahahaha!"
"Now, do you still think we were trying to scare you?"
"Hahahaha! Just wait..." "One day, the Great Sun of Western Heaven will fall, twilight will descend, darkness will sweep in, and deathly stillness will envelop all... That day will not simply be the twilight of immortals and demons, but the twilight belonging to you, the Buddhas of Western Heaven..."