Chapter 75: Billions of Gods and Buddhas, All Beneath the Buddha

Countless people were stunned.

The old monk’s form remained unchanged, but in the hearts of countless others, his ancient figure grew infinitely majestic, as if what they saw was not a man walking, but an eternal mountain range moving.

“Extraordinary!!!”

Morita Takeshi, Takahashi Director, Suzuki Kū, head of the Eastern Regional Command, media personnel and anchors inside the building, viewers before their TV screens—all screamed hoarsely, voices bordering on moans.

The old monk was like an ancient mountain, treading upon rivers and lands.

Such power could not be achieved by ordinary means.

Only the Extraordinary could do it.

Only the Extraordinary could achieve this—single step, crushing earth and sky.

Director Takahashi laughed hysterically, his eyes blazing like lanterns as he fixated intensely on the screen, where the old monk and Tsuchimikado Natsumi stood—so overcome with excitement he could barely speak.

“I knew it! That’s right, they didn’t lie to me—I said how could they let a young Extraordinary come alone? They must have had a backup.”

Clearly, he mistook the old monk for someone summoned by Tsuchimikado Natsumi.

As for why? It was obvious—Tsuchimikado Natsumi had come to suppress the demon, yet she was accompanied by an old monk, and the two were conversing, waiting for the demon’s arrival. If they didn’t know each other, no one would believe it—how could such a coincidence happen?

Tokyo, Japan, villa.

“Excellent! I knew you’d never let your granddaughter go alone—you’re Extraordinary too!!”

The abbot of Sensō-ji, his face flushed with excitement, gripped Tsuchimikado Kenji’s shoulders as if seeing him for the first time.

His expression was excited and complex—excitement, disbelief, awe, the thrill of discovery, astonishment—all tangled together.

“Master Tsuchimikado, you scared us half to death—I thought your granddaughter was leading us into a trap. Now I know you were helping us.”

“Master Tsuchimikado, could you reveal which temple this extraordinary monk comes from? Could he possibly be connected to our temple?”

“Say nothing more, Master Tsuchimikado—from now on, we follow you. You’re our leader. You say east, we go east. Please guide us—if you could even teach us a bit of Shinto magic, we’d do anything you ask.”

Others were much the same, surrounding Tsuchimikado Kenji, stunned yet elated.

All this time, among this flock of sheep, there had been a wolf!!

The moment they imagined the Tsuchimikado family had summoned an extraordinary monk, they were certain—Tsuchimikado was extraordinary too. The thought sent them into a frenzy, especially the temple abbots, their eyes shining, bodies trembling with excitement.

So the temples truly had Extraordinary ones!

Immediately, they shed their earlier fear of Takahashi Director’s pretense, standing tall and confident now—because now they had real backing!

Tsuchimikado Kenji looked utterly bewildered.

He knew better than anyone—his granddaughter was not Extraordinary.

But then… why was she talking to an Extraordinary monk, as if they knew each other?

Out of nowhere, a strange yet plausible thought surfaced.

Could it be that Natsumi, pretending to be an extraordinary Shinto practitioner, had accidentally drawn out a real extraordinary monk—and even formed a connection with him…?

Just as everyone believed a wolf had infiltrated the flock, Tsuchimikado Kenji felt as if a pack of wolves had wandered into a husky’s yard.

But…

As Tsuchimikado Kenji stood bewildered, his phone—still streaming the battle zone—suddenly caught his eye. He gasped sharply.

No time to think, no time to reply to those around him—he gripped his phone tightly, staring.

On the screen, the old monk took his final step.

“Amitabha.”

A serene Buddhist chant, as his foot landed—this time, it was not just the earth that changed, but the heavens themselves trembled.

Heaven and earth shifted.

The sky, thick with dark clouds, split open a fissure. A single ray of sunlight pierced through, radiant and brilliant, bringing the first warmth and light to this drenched, icy land.

The golden sunlight, like a beam of divine light, fell straight down, bathing the old monk, enveloping him—truly as if a Buddha had stepped forth from the Pure Land, radiating boundless light, shimmering with divine radiance, sacred and inviolable.

The scene was devastatingly powerful.

It shook the world.

Beneath the heavy rain, the world blurred—then, one after another, beams of sunlight descended.

Centered on the first ray of dawn and the old monk on the ground, the storm clouds above parted into a vast circular void—within the circle, sunlight bathed everything, warm and comforting; outside, rain still poured relentlessly.

Countless people stood frozen, speechless with shock.

For the first time, people no longer recognized themselves; for the first time, humanity felt alien; for the first time, they realized how little they truly knew—how superficial their understanding had been.

At the same moment.

Bathed in sunlight, the old monk’s body glowed golden, utterly divine. He turned to the six-eyed demon.

“Venerable one, you have taken too many lives. Lay down your blade.”

His words rang out.

In response came a cold snort.

The six-eyed demon ignored the old monk entirely, gave him no chance, and struck without hesitation!

BOOM!

An unprecedented, terrifying pressure erupted—not invisible now, but coalescing into a colossal phantom behind the six-eyed demon.

The phantom was immense, identical to the six-eyed demon yet far more majestic, colder in aura, more terrifying in presence, standing atop surging black clouds like a demonic deity, blotting out sun and sky.

The demonic phantom swung its fist downward at the old monk—the force crushed souls to dust, reduced all surrounding matter to powder, even air and dust annihilated.

The fist-shadow was vast, drowning all light, all form, stretching endlessly from earth to sky.

Heaven and earth trembled; the void shook!

The power shook heaven and earth—the fist-shadow seemed ready to collapse this space, sink this land, to…

Erase all existence!

Everyone trembled, scalp exploding with dread—was this the six-eyed demon’s true power? Compared to its earlier attacks, this was a world apart.

He was certain—this punch could wipe out an entire species, reduce a region to utter nothingness.

And just as countless others reeled in horror—

“Amitabha.”

Facing the terrifying demonic phantom that had struck fear into all—

The old monk finally raised his head, revealing the face hidden beneath his hood, showing it to the world. Standing there, he gazed upward at the meteor-like fist hurtling toward him, slowly clasped his hands together, and opened his lips—only a single Buddhist chant in reply.

To all watching, his action seemed like a man resigned to death, waiting passively for oblivion.

But the next instant—

BOOM!

As the chant rose, boundless Buddhist light erupted from the old monk’s body, blazing fiercely, illuminating three thousand li around—like a radiant sun of merit.

The light formed a brilliant, sun-like Buddha-ring hovering behind him. Within its radiance, faintly visible, was a Pure Land world—where billions of gods, Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and Arhats sat in meditation.

And those billions of divine beings, like guardians of the heavens, surrounded ninety-nine million golden lotus thrones—each Buddha, like a star, revolved around one towering, majestic Buddha—his body soaring into the clouds, descending to the deepest netherworld, ascending beyond the highest heavens.

That was the Tathagata!!

“Amitabha.”

As if opening the gates of the Pure Land, voices echoed from within the Buddha-ring—billions of divine figures chanted the Buddha’s name in unison.

The Buddhist chant rolled thunderously through Higashitōku, through Arakawa Ward, through…

At this moment—

Across all of Japan, countless people looked up in shock, toward Higashitōku.

They had heard a boundless Buddhist chant, emanating from Higashitōku.

And at that very instant—

BOOM!!

Infinite Buddhist light exploded—every pore of the old monk glowed. All observers felt a delusion: it was not the old monk acting, but billions of divine beings from the Pure Land unleashing their power—forging boundless, all-purifying light, radiating boundless compassion and mercy across the eight directions and nine heavens.

Countless people fell silent. All who watched Higashitōku felt an unprecedented stillness in their souls, as if the Buddha-light was purging every evil from their bodies and minds.

Under countless gazes—

The Buddhist light extended, a supreme radiance capable of freeing sentient beings from the Three Realms of Suffering, annihilating all demonic evils, descending upon the demon.

It did not even allow a cry.

It did not grant a single second of resistance.

The demonic phantom and the six-eyed demon dissolved into light—like wind-blown ash—scattering into shimmering particles, extinguished into the Pure Land.

Immediately after—

The boundless, radiant Buddha-light that had destroyed the six-eyed demon did not fade. It surged forward, shining toward Hachimura Village…

…

(PS: Was this chapter packed enough? Honestly, I don’t know what “water” means—I always think I’m just writing what needs to be written. And uh… weakly asking—if you think today’s update delivered, please drop some recommendation votes to encourage this fragile Liuli heart of mine.)