Chapter 1440

"East advance thirty, west turn twenty, north jump fifty, no, no, wrong, wrong, it's wrong, go south — strange, too strange, it's all your fault! You're running too slow!"

The fat fish drooped its head, the old toad tugged at its long whiskers, hating iron for not becoming steel.

"Impossible, absolutely impossible!"

The old toad shook its turtle shell, bouncing up and down, stomping hard, one kick sent fragments flying.

"Mistake, I understand now. Gua hahaha! So that's it, so that's it.

The old toad lay on the fat fish's head, regained spirit, shook its feather fan, spoke with conviction, finally laughed loudly to the sky.

Herdsmen in the distance heard the laughter, abandoned their carts, and fled home.

Recently, a giant with a tumor on its head has been running amok on the grasslands, many farmers from the Great Snow Mountains have seen this strange scene; it's said that if the giant catches up to someone, it will grab them and bite off their head in one gulp, causing panic among the people. Many villages have even arranged night watchmen. Later, hearing that nearby temples were destroyed and demons had emerged, the news could no longer be concealed; without the Buddha's protection, terror intensified, and people often wept all day.

Mountain ranges ran parallel, valleys deep and secluded, cliffs on both sides, the old toad lay in ambush behind Shanfeng, moved its webbed feet, frog eyes flashed with sharp light, occasionally poked its head out to peek.

The fat fish waved its two whiskers.

"Hmph!" the old toad showed disdain, its feather fan slapped the fat fish's head once, "Black-mouthed little frog, the National Preceptor's strategy, leaves nothing uncalculated, is it your place to interject? This time it will surely succeed!"

Three days, three days again, three days more, a full ten days, yet nothing was caught; each time inspiration surged, they rushed to the scene, only to find nothing at last.

In the human world, there is no treasure it cannot find, only one possibility: that thing runs on its own! This is no ordinary treasure, but an extremely cunning, greedy treasure, necessitating a strike with reinforced webbed feet!

"Remember, remember, in half an incense stick's time, jump out from here, understand?"

The fat fish nodded repeatedly, its two long whiskers slapped together, silently counting time.

"Now!"

The old toad let out a heaven-shaking gua call, flipped in midair, struck with both legs together, kicked the fat fish's huge buttocks, like ripples on a lake surface, flesh waves surged and rebounded to their peak, the fat fish leveraged the force to leap, like a frog jumping on lotus leaves, lunging into the air above the valley.

The sky vast, grass swaying. Just then, a streak of flowing light burst forth, as if guided by ghosts, unbiased, it collided with the fat fish!

Immense force struck, the fat fish's belly ached, breakfast was about to spew out along its stomach.

"Grab it quickly!"

The fat fish came to its senses, clapped a hand over its mouth, flustered, embraced the flowing light and pressed down.

Within the flowing light, things gradually became visible.

A mass of bloody flesh ball struggled wildly, actually pressing against the fat fish, forcibly flying outward!

"Hurry!" the old toad urged.

The fat fish flared with rage, a legless frog does not get angry, treat it like a tadpole! It swung its long tail, waved its two whiskers, with its entire body weight, insatiable appetite, the loyalty that heaven and earth cannot bear!

For the heavenly gods.

Ah!!!

Mount Tai, meteorites fall!

Lotus Sect "ruins", soldiers cleared the wreckage, officials from the Directorate of Astronomy and the Ministry of Works organized materials within the Lotus Sect, sorted and categorized, gathered useful supplies.

The former central hall where ten thousand paid homage, now reduced to rubble, broken walls and remnants, Buddha statues collapsed, yet beneath the Buddha statue, separated by dozens of zhang underground, there actually stood another towering Buddha!

Separating the land, one above and one below, formed one bright and one dark, two great Buddhas! This subterranean ten-zhang Buddha, its entire body engraved with blood-red patterns, colored sutra scrolls unfurled from its crown outward, resembling a hollowed canopy, a damaged umbrella.

The Shun Holy Emperor, the Nanjiang Tribal Chief, the Beiting Khan King, raised their heads to observe, gazed upon the Buddha, felt a hint of ineffable strangeness, their bodies ill at ease.

"This is — Liang Qing and Ling Qing's former experience, the Ni Ye ritual?" the Holy Emperor asked.

Originally?

The Tribal Chief and the Khan King turned their heads.

Liang Qu nodded: "Your Majesty, indeed this ritual, back then I and Ling Xuanqi on horseback both sensed something, but had no confirmation; now at last it is clear.

The Lotus Sect's treasure hall, above is the bright Buddha, below is the dark Buddha, together forming a complete ritual; many Lotus Sect disciples are unaware, only some Lotus Sect masters, namely those adept at Entering Zhen Xiang, know.

The Lotus Sect, through Buddha statues in various temples, linked this ritual into a whole, unprecedented in scope, nearly covering the entire Great Snow Mountains region, even extending to Hantai Prefecture; as long as someone enters the region, they will be affected, unknowingly becoming unfortunate."

"Unfortunate?" the Tribal Chief and the Khan King expressed surprise, extended their hands, carefully felt.

The Holy Emperor looked at himself: "How come I feel nothing?"

"This is the ingenuity of the Lotus Sect's arrangement: first, boiling a frog in warm water, this influence is extremely faint, imperceptible, even harmless, unless one commits a specific disrespectful act or draws the Lotus Sect's attention, then it stacks layer by layer, until it becomes useful even in battle.

And misfortune is the effect of the dark Buddha; as long as the people of the Great Snow Mountains regularly visit temples to pray for blessings, the bright Buddha will truly eliminate disasters, hardly affecting life. Or simply staying away from the Great Snow Mountains for a long time also resolves it. The Great Snow Mountains environment is harsh; even slight discomfort, people only attribute it to water and soil incompatibility."

The old Tribal Chief exclaimed in amazement.

This interlocking scheme, with so many people in the Great Snow Mountains, would it not all become "cattle and sheep"?

A fine method, even if he is well-traveled and knowledgeable, he cannot help but feel a chill down his back.

"And two?"

"Second — "

Liang Qu pointed a finger to the sky.

Everyone looked up.

The entire ground had been overturned by the three armies, the dark Buddha fully exposed under sunlight, gaze upward, a radiant golden great hand shrouded the sky, palm patterns clearly visible.

"My Great Sun Tathagata is right here, capable of rendering the ritual completely ineffective."

The Holy Emperor clapped his hands in praise: "What a Great Sun Tathagata, this is truly the Buddha of Light!"

"It is Your Majesty's far-sighted wisdom." Liang Qu bowed, "Before coming to the Great Snow Mountains, it was Your Majesty who ordered the Dragon Elephant King to specially go to the Hanging Temple, thereby initiating the Hanging Temple's transmission of the Six Desire Heavens; without this, not to mention the Great Sun Tathagata, even the heart fire might not exist."

"Hahaha." The Holy Emperor laughed loudly.

The Tribal Chief and the Khan King still gazed at the dark Buddha, silently marveling.

The ritual spread throughout the Great Snow Mountains, one bright and one dark, in both scope and effect, unheard of, unseen before.

The Lotus Sect's ritual, truly comparable to the Nanjiang poison insects, has forged another great path, a pity the research direction is extremely strange.

The former Nanjiang Black Cicada ritual, which clashed with the Great Shun, covered only tens of thousands of li in total.

However, if one could secure the experience —

"Hiss, Your Majesty, come quick!" Lan Jicai urgently called, the "research personnel" from Nanjiang and Beiting likewise sucked in a breath of cold air.

"Blue Minister, have you figured anything out?"

The Holy Emperor, the Sweat King, and the Tribal Chief stepped around to the back, saw clearly in an instant, and their spirits trembled.

Inside the Dark Buddha, among the five viscera and six bowels, long streams of black-gray qi flowed like parasitic worms in flesh and blood.

"Disaster qi, calamity qi!" Liang Qu exclaimed in shock.

In the five viscera and six bowels, the black-gray long qi was thick and numerous—no less than several hundred strands, not far from a thousand threads!

Disaster and calamity long qi are all "superior long qi," and moreover, artificially produced long qi.

Some long qi can be artificially made, such as the Great Order Mystic Yellow, the Southern Frontier Sweet Dew Condensation, and the Northern Court Nine Wanderings White; the Great Snow Mountain likewise has its "family secret"—namely, disaster qi and calamity qi.

Earlier, Jian Zhongyi had merely guided the Shahe Gang leader to arouse evil thoughts, break the dike, and flood the county—this was how it was made, oh, no, it didn't succeed, Liang Qu intercepted it, turned the tables, a Bingzi water disaster, eliminating disaster and dispelling calamity, reversing the omen, and adding the Blessing Cauldron—everything was gathered, yet instead came the withered tree meeting spring.

Hundreds nearing a thousand of disaster and calamity—how much blood and tears would it take?

Moreover, we do not know what special means the Lotus Sect used.

Before everyone's eyes, the long qi wandering in the viscera was no different from living things—various wanderings, suddenly seeing brilliant heavenly light, like the red earthworm hiding under a duck shed's stone, straining desperately to burrow into the Dark Buddha's "flesh and blood," unable to escape, entangling with each other, turning into a fine black poisonous snake that lunged and leapt out.

Even though everyone present was well-traveled and knowledgeable, none had ever seen such a sight.

Does long qi possess spirit?

"Your Majesty, be careful!

Liang Qu and Zhang Xiangxiang blocked in front.

Liang Qu moved faster, stepped forward, and directly summoned the Great Sun Tathagata.

The Buddha's hand and physical form overlapped, directly seizing the "poisonous snake" formed by the convergence of the two kinds of disaster and calamity long qi.

Can long qi be seized barehanded?

The Tribal Chief and the Sweat King secretly gasped in astonishment.

The "poisonous snake" hissed, swiftly coiled around the arm, and no matter how it struggled, it could not break free.

Liang Qu squeezed hard, and the entire snake, as if in pain, relaxed its body.

Then, under everyone's unexpected circumstances, the "poisonous snake" clutched in Liang Qu's golden palm seemed to fall into sulfuric acid, struggling desperately, twisting, its black oil-like paint corroding and evaporating, gradually revealing a hint of golden light and white light on the snake's body.

Liang Qu had never seen the white light, but this trace of golden light was intimately familiar to him, and he blurted out.

"Ruyi!?"

"Huh?" Everyone turned their heads.

Liang Qu explained: "Your Majesty, I also do not know why this happened, but I have seen this golden long qi before—it is called Ruyi, Ruyi long qi, capable of to some extent freely altering the size of objects, and rumored to also bring a little good fortune. When I first traded with the Harbor Master, he brought it over—then it was three strands at a time, and we even held an auction once at the Heavenly Vessel Tower."

"You bought it? Is it still here?"

Liang Qu shook his head: "I didn't win the bid—it was the Commander of the Heposuo Guard's Wei Lin who did; afterward, I used a thread of fire-attributed long qi to exchange with him, and later it was used by the dragon people."

Ruyi exchange— the Holy Emperor was startled, quickly understood the key point, and glanced at Liang Qu.

"Come to think of it, it wasn't Wei Lin who won the bid—you used a thread of fire-attributed qi and still couldn't exchange for it."

Liang Qu grinned: "This matter is a win-win, after all—besides, the Commander is currently outside, accompanying the army on campaign; Your Majesty can summon him for a look."

The Holy Emperor nodded slightly; soon, Wei Lin arrived, saw the golden light, then looked at Liang Qu, and likewise blurted out: "Ruyi?"

"Indeed it is Ruyi." The Holy Emperor suddenly understood.

Liang Qu clasped his hands: "Formerly, there was only a single thread of Ruyi long qi; I once sought the Harbor Master to look for more, but found no trace."

Who wouldn't be tempted by long qi that can increase good fortune?

Wei Lin's sharp eyes: "The golden one is Ruyi; what kind of qi is the white one?"

At this moment, the black-gray snake Liang Qu gripped had completely faded, turned entirely into gold and white, the entire snake's aggression greatly reduced, even carrying a touch of solemn sacredness.

Liang Qu tried to loosen his grip.

The gold-white snake no longer attacked, but instead coiled around Liang Qu's wrist, raised its neck, and visible to the naked eye, auspicious golden clouds floated around!

"Auspicious?" Liang Qu blurted out again.

"Have you seen it too?" The Holy Emperor asked curiously.

"No." Liang Qu rubbed the back of his head: "Isn't this what they often say on the Great Snow Mountain? Auspicious Ruyi, auspicious Ruyi—one thread of Ruyi, one thread of Auspicious—aren't they a perfect match? Originally it came from disaster and calamity qi, so their essence is the same."

"Truly miraculous." The Tribal Chief and the Sweat King were both moved.

They felt that in recent years, the Southern Frontier and Northern Court had been terribly unlucky, desperately needing this kind of long qi to dispel misfortune; according to spoils distribution, they could clearly receive a share.

Liang Qu was overjoyed, his mind racing, gazing at the Lotus Sect ruins and the gold-white snake in his hand, roughly understanding why this had happened.

Disaster can produce calamity qi; when disaster is quelled, it can also give rise to the withered tree meeting spring.

The Lotus Sect collected calamity qi; he destroyed the Lotus Sect, finally triggered by the Great Sun Tathagata, likewise completing a turning point—just like Hua Zhu County back then?

Disaster and calamity qi bring misfortune; Ruyi and Auspicious bring good fortune—one positive, one negative, yet they correspond perfectly!

Liang Qu had always felt the appearance of Ruyi long qi was very strange—long qi is usually tied to local environment, increasing good fortune doesn't seem like something heaven and earth could naturally produce—what place could make people fortunate? Now he fully understood.

Man-made!

Disaster brings misfortune; Ruyi brings good fortune.

I should have thought of this earlier—this is indeed a fine thing, a rare treasure.

From whom did the Harbor Master originally obtain the Ruyi long qi?

"Huai King, the remainder—can't we seize it all, exchange it?" Lan Ji inserted.

Liang Qu gazed at the five viscera and six bowels; still, black-gray worms writhed.

Earlier, not all the calamity qi had gathered into the poisonous snake—there were many remnants. He looked toward the Holy Emperor.

The Holy Emperor nodded.

Liang Qu seized them in succession.

The long qi stored by the Great Snow Mountain, used in rituals, is very strange—seemingly possessing spirit, and moreover, can be directly seized by the hand of the Great Sun Tathagata.

One after another, black and gray long qi were grasped in hand, flipped and transformed, like a snake shedding its skin.

They all turned into "Auspicious" and "As-Desired".

Lan Jicai counted swiftly, under everyone's gaze, his pupils trembling, and spoke a staggering number.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, if I haven't miscounted, there are a total of nine hundred and seventy-eight strands of Long Qi here.

"What?"

"Is Mr. Lan certain?"

"Absolutely certain; even if there's a miscount, it's only off by three or four strands at most."

Nine hundred and seventy-eight?

Everyone was greatly shocked, and afterward, boundless regret.

"Ah, just twenty-some strands short, what a pity!" The Tusi and Khan Kings regretted.

A thousand strands of the same kind of Long Qi can form a Wei Guo!

By rights, Calamity Qi and Misfortune Qi are two kinds of Long Qi, but the two are truly too close, almost able to be regarded as one body, condensing the same kind of Wei Guo; the Auspicious and As-Desired converted now might not be unable to attempt it.

Wei Guo and Long Qi, the rule itself and rule fragments, are worlds apart.

Only one step short.

Right at the doorstep.

"Everyone, it might not be impossible!" Lan Jicai broke the atmosphere, his face full of excitement.

"Hm?"

Lan Jicai ran out in quick steps, carrying a pile of books, pulled out several volumes: "Your Majesty, just now in counting and summarizing, this official discovered that the Great Snow Mountain has a unique ritual, which can allow an Upadhyaya after death, that is, Entering Zhen Xiang, as long as the time of death is not long, to newly return the Long Qi originally consumed! I suspect it is precisely this method that let the Lotus Sect slowly accumulate, and even nearly have the first Wei Guo!"

The Holy Emperor's eyes brightened: "Truly?"

"Truly!" Lan Jicai excitedly rubbed his hands, "This time a complete victory, not a few Upadhyayas captured alive, among them there must be those who consumed Calamity Qi and Misfortune Qi, we can try it!"

A turn for the better, a huge surprise crashed down.

Liang Qu's heart beat lightly and quickly.

Auspicious and As-Desired turning into a Wei Guo, what would that be?

A Fortune-Equal-to-Heaven Fruit?

"Quick!" The Holy Emperor reacted extremely fast, "The remains? Intercept them all first, don't take them to make Divine Ability Tokens, hurry up."

"Understood!"

The people present looked at each other.

How to distribute is another matter.

A huge harvest!

Never expected, unexpectedly able to snatch a Wei Guo?

The Great Snow Mountain developed for ten thousand years, it's completely impossible to have no Wei Guo, but beforehand everyone felt the Lotus Sect clearly couldn't beat the three-way alliance, a Wei Guo isn't a Supreme Body that kind of netherworld-uncontainable thing, the Great Li Taizu would stupidly leave it there, even if it existed it wouldn't fall to themselves.

The crowd crossed departments and went out. After this event, everyone's thoughts were already entirely on Auspicious and As-Desired, watching one "Upadhyaya" after another being dragged out, identified, secretly excited.

"Right, Liang Qing, are there any other Supreme Bodies, have any been found?" The Holy Emperor asked.

"There should be, Frog Duke is already searching, but for ten days there's been no result." Liang Qu said helplessly.

People slip, horses stumble, frogs slip on their webbed feet.

He rarely saw the old toad hit a wall; perhaps this would be the first time.

Last time one could say the netherworld wasn't prepared, this time it's a real, solid crucible opponent.

"Asked those Venerables? Like that Great Venerable Bema?"

"The Ministry of Justice is currently interrogating under torture, only his mouth is very hard, refusing to speak." Liang Qu answered.

Professional people do professional things.

"Go take a look together."

"Supreme Body?"

Chains rattled, Bema was dragged out by Zhang Longxiang, Xu Guidao on the ground, no longer any Venerable bearing.

The Great Venerable raised his head, gazed straight at the crowd, saw the Holy Emperor, Tusi, Khan Kings, and suddenly laughed.

Gum beds blood-red flowing blood, Great Venerable Bema on his own adjusted the chains and sat cross-legged, unhurriedly removed the straw from his head, neither joy nor sorrow: "The Supreme Body has long since merged as one with the three great rituals; when still, no one can detect it. When it flies, faster than light. Even if the Supreme stood before you, you still couldn't catch it."

The Holy Emperor, Tusi, Khan Kings all frowned in unison.

"Liang Qing!"

Frog croak loud and clear.

Everyone looked up.

The great sun in mid-air, a black shadow gradually appeared, descending from the sky.

Old toad feather fan and scholar's cap, robes fluttering, crouched on the frog's head, steady as Mount Tai.

Fat Fish hugging a big meat ball, running over swiftly.

The Great Venerable abruptly changed color.