Chapter 142: Each Has Their Own Contention, Yuanyang Is Entirely Executed

Deep forest hides the verdant green; under the crags are vines and creepers.

All around, ancient trees are lush, intertwining with the color of the stone, reflecting into the pool, shining in mutual brilliance.

The water's light, the forest's hue, and the stone's essence reflect each other, forming a scene of interest.

Within the Treasure Map, Fang Longye saw this future Heavenly Venerable of Demon Suppression, Patriarch Zhenwu, cast a deep, lingering gaze toward this direction, holding it for a long time.

He knew instantly that this meant he had been detected by the hidden location of the Treasure Map.

However, he was not panicked.

It was clear that the primary focus of this current True Lord Protecting the Saint would never be a small shrimp like himself.

Instead, it was the old beggar beside him, who remained calm and composed, and even responded with a full-faced smile after sensing Zhenwu's gaze.

He even suspected that if not for the indulgence and deliberate actions of the old beggar beside him, this True Lord Protecting the Saint would never have been able to detect the existence of the Treasure Map, no matter what methods he employed.

"Hic—" The old beggar lay on the Vine Chair, let out a drunken hiccup, and said with a half-smile: "Quite a good show!"

"It's just that, for the characters who should have taken the stage, why did they turn into cowards at the last moment, not even showing their faces?" The old beggar's face carried regret, and he shook his head with no small amount of pity.

Hearing this, Fang Longye was naturally unable to comprehend; he was lost in the clouds and fog, not understanding what the old beggar was talking about.

Outside the Treasure Map, Zhenwu, who knew the old beggar's identity, felt a chill in his heart upon hearing these words.

He understood that for this Ancient Buddha to speak such words, just like deliberately letting him sense the hidden traces, was clearly a reminder to him.

Immediately, he silently operated his Great Dharma, using Heavenly Vision and Earthly Hearing to search in every way, finally allowing him to discover some lingering traces of Buddhist light.

"Hmph!"

Zhenwu let out a muffled snort; this rat in the dark was quite sensible. Seeing his aggressive approach, it had directly retracted its feelers, determined not to have a direct confrontation with him.

Even the original plan to rescue this Juyang Laoxian before him was temporarily abandoned.

Of course, he would not feel any gratitude for this. This Buddhist force behind the scenes appeared to fear his background and potential, handing over a situation they had cultivated for a long time.

In reality, they had merely abandoned some of their overt strength, gathering and hiding the dark pieces and powers they could still control.

They were playing the game of overcoming hardness with softness. If he truly thought that by wiping out the Yuanyang Sect, this territory would be worry-free, that would be falling into their schemes.

At a critical moment, they would surely trigger an explosion, shattering a mouthful of his teeth.

"Commander Zhao—"

"This subordinate is here." Hearing Zhenwu's instructions, Zhao Heng, who had already reflected on his own situation, woke up from his despondency and immediately cupped his hands in response.

Zhenwu lowered his eyes, Generating Light, and said indifferently: "Go! You need not worry about the ringleader now. Properly lead the troops to exterminate the remaining demons; this area of one hundred thousand miles is filthy and unbearable, it should have been cleansed long ago."

He looked at Zhao Heng and said earnestly: "You must ensure it is made brand new and spotlessly clean."

Zhao Heng looked into the eyes of this True Lord Protecting the Saint, which contained not a shred of emotion, felt a chill in his heart, and said astringently: "This subordinate understands, spotlessly clean."

Zhenwu patted his shoulder and said nothing more, watching him muster the soldiers and horses, ride the clouds, and whistle toward the mountains.

……

Seeing the bloody storm rising in the mountains, Zhenwu remained unmoved, only lowering his eyes in thought.

"I thought it would be a simple journey to suppress bandits. Now it seems I won't be able to return to the Heavenly Court for a while. There will be plenty to keep me busy later."

Zhenwu muttered to himself in his heart. The Yuanyang Sect could be blood-washed just like this. Outside the Yuanyang Sect, the vast territory could not be handled in such a way.

If he really wanted to clear out the nails left by the Brahma sect and directly stirred up monstrous waves of blood, it would not work given his background.

The impact would be too great.

No matter what, he was a member of a prestigious orthodox sect and still had to maintain some image.

This was the limitation of orthodox forces like the Dao, Brahma, and the Heavenly Court; they could not act as recklessly as the demon kind.

There was no need to care about their own image.

Besides that.

"This Ancient Buddha Randeng has always been transcendent and detached. Why is he so biased today?"

Zhenwu lowered his eyelids, his heart full of confusion.

It was not that he was worried about someone in the Brahma sect deliberately undermining those in the same camp.

In fact, he had long been accustomed to such things.

Which side's forces were ever a solid block?

Not to mention anything else, just take the Daoist sect, which stood in opposition to the Brahma sect.

The various forces within it all wished they could beat each other's brains out. Ideologies, old grudges, interests, and so on, all created their respective divisions.

They were united externally, helping each other in the same boat, but internally they were just as ruthless and heartless when striking at each other.

Not to mention the mutual friction between the Taiqing, Yuqing, and Shangqing, these general Three Pure Daoist lineages.

Even sects belonging to the same lineage were merciless when striking at each other, with every blade drawing blood.

Just taking his own experience as a representative of the Taiqing Lineage, having once presided over justice for a dispute, was enough to make one understand the complexity within.

In the southwest region of Dongsheng Shenzhou, there was the Qingyun Sect, the Yuanshi Palace, and the Yuqing Sword Sect; these three sects all belonged to the Yuqing Lineage, but when people from the three sects met, it was a matter of Life and Death—if they didn't submit, they fought.

Almost every time, blood was shed.

The Brahma sect was no exception; due to certain schemes, the true power-holders of the current Brahma sect were actually all cultivators who had come from under the Three Pure ones, having converted from Dao to Buddhist.

Duobao Rulai was once the eldest disciple of the Shangqing Saint.

Juliusun Gufo and the Four Great Bodhisattvas, needless to say, were all direct disciples of the Yuqing lineage.

Duobao Rulai and Juliusun Gufo were easier to explain; they had deeply studied Buddhist principles, and their cultivation was entirely converted into the Dharma of the Brahma sect.

The Four Great Bodhisattvas, these four fellow practitioners, were different; they practiced both Dao and Buddhist paths, severed incarnations of the Buddhist sect, and held the authority of the Buddhist sect.

They could be called masters of both Dao and Buddhist paths.

As for the three thousand Buddhist and the various Arhats below them, it went without saying; every single one of them was a former member of the Calamity Sect, which once had ten thousand immortals coming to pay homage.

These were the ruling faction, and those excluded by the ruling faction were broadly divided into two other camps.

One was the group of disciples carefully taught by the two Brahma sect Saints before the Conferring of the Gods Tribulation.

This faction, represented by Mile Fo, considers themselves the orthodox Buddhist sect and has always been a thorn in the side of the power-holders led by Duobao Rulai.

Furthermore, there are the rogue cultivators who joined the Buddhist sect for various reasons.

These cultivators, whether due to their background or their behavior, could not integrate into the first two factions, so they simply formed their own.

Represented by Dari Rulai Fo and Huanxi Fo, they gathered a large group of Buddhist cultivators who could not stand the two main factions, and they also constantly stirred up trouble for the current Buddhist power-holders.

There is no help for it; ever since the Conferring of the Gods, whether Daoist or Buddhist, all the Saints have hidden without a trace, escaping into the void, and no longer personally tread upon the mortal world.

Within a faction, without a supreme being in existence, naturally, no one can completely suppress all voices.

Added to this, infighting is the nature of living beings, which is unavoidable.

After the Conferring of the Gods, the disciples under each Hunyuan Saint also grew up, naturally separating to set up their own households, establishing their own traditions, and preaching across the Honghuang.

Initially, there might not have been many traditions. But as time spread, the disciples and grand-disciples increased day by day.

There were always some who scattered, establishing their own traditions and sects to become masters of their own houses.

Although they might all worship the same founding master and honor the Three Pure Ones as Daoist ancestors and the two Saints as Buddhist ancestors, the principles they insist upon might diverge widely. As the saying goes, "Looked at from the side, it is a range; looked at from the front, it is a peak; the distance and height are all different."

The Great Dao is right there; the husband says he is right, and the wife says she is right; once there is a divergence in philosophy, conflict will naturally begin.

Those with different Daos cannot make plans together.

With the passage of time, the Daoist and Buddhist sects continued to grow, and their second-generation, third-generation, fourth-generation, fifth-generation... and even eighteenth-generation disciples, and so on, became more and more numerous.

The divided Daoist and Buddhist sects naturally flourished as well.

However, by this time, the relationships were naturally distant to the ends of the earth.

Even if they shared the same origin at the beginning, after tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of years of inheritance, once the sect had its own interests, it was very different.

Fighting for disciples, fighting for resources, fighting for orthodoxy—they fought for everything. Even with the same founding master, because the sects were different and driven by interests, they naturally viewed each other with extreme hostility upon meeting.

Wanting the people below to live in harmony is truly a delusional wish that cannot be fulfilled.

If both the Daoist and Buddhist sects are so mixed with factions and sabotaging each other, the Heavenly Court, where dragons and snakes are mixed, goes without saying.

Among the various forces from ancient times to the present, which one has not placed chess pieces in this Heavenly Court?

The Innate God Race, the Dragon and Phoenix clans, the Qilin, the two clans of Wu and Yao, the Youming underworld, the Human Race forces, the Daoist and Buddhist sects... and so on, each has its own demands.

As the head of the Four Saints of the North Pole, he, Zhenwu, is already considered a middle-to-upper-level figure in the Heavenly Court, yet he still cannot sort out the various interpersonal relationships within the Heavenly Court.

Even two figures belonging to the same faction could be mortal enemies from past lives. No faction has ever been a monolith on the inside.

Even the force touted as the most united throughout history—the Human Race—is internally divided into various conflicting development paths due to philosophy. Were it not for the human incarnation left behind by that Xihuang after he transcended—Tianhuang Fuxi—who suppresses everything.

Just look at the current flourishing momentum of the Human Race, where they dabble in everything and are indiscriminate about any cultivation method.

They would have long since played themselves to death.

Therefore, he would not be surprised if such an act of deliberate sabotage and secret warning today came from any Bodhisattva or Buddha, such as Guanyin, Wenshu Puxian, Mile Fozu, and so on.

It is precisely because it came from the Ancient Buddha Randeng, who has lived in seclusion and ignored worldly disputes ever since he abandoned the Dao for the Buddha, that he is particularly astonished.

After all, this Juyang Laoxian is clearly the handiwork of the Dari Rulai and Huanxi Fo lineage.

He has never heard of this Ancient Buddha Randeng having any conflict with them.

On the contrary, with his deep foundation, he knows that although Ancient Buddha Randeng appears to outsiders to share the same origin as the current power-holders of the Buddhist sect—the disciples of the Three Pure Ones lineage—and can be called a bridge between the past and the future.

But the reality is, for certain reasons, it is somewhat awkward.

Strictly speaking, this Ancient Buddha Randeng is closer to the rogue factions like Dari Rulai and Huanxi Fo, who are not regarded as fellow travelers by the power-holders and the orthodox.

True Monarch of Protecting the Saints Zhenwu's eyes flickered as he looked at the Ancient Buddha incarnation, who appeared as a slovenly old beggar, and pondered secretly.

However, he could not figure it out no matter what.

He glanced at Fang Longye, who was beside this Ancient Buddha incarnation, an existence being watched by all the great powers of the heavens.

Zhenwu smiled inwardly.

He did not understand why Ancient Buddha Randeng seemed to be targeting the faction of Huanxi Fo. But he did understand why this Ancient Buddha incarnation had appeared here.

Besides watching the show, it was not unrelated to the person beside him.

Shaking his head and putting aside these thoughts, Zhenwu looked at the current situation again and found that it had naturally reached its end as expected.

The sky was filled with flowing blood, staining everything.

A group of Yuanyang Sect disciples, whether they were disciples who had received the true teachings of Qin Shou or followers who had only comprehended a little bit of the surface, did not survive at all.

Along with the immortal slaves and maids they had subdued, all perished.

Their souls flew away and scattered, with no chance of reincarnation.

Not to mention cultivators, even ordinary birds, beasts, fish, and insects had no signs of life.

One by one, they were erased from the human world.

Between the cliffs, facing Wang Lingguan, who could rival Sun Wukong in the future, Qin Shou had already been defeated.

He stopped the struggle, held his two dying Golden Immortal Daoist companions, sat cross-legged, and struggled to support his figure.

"Tap, tap, tap—"

Zhenwu waved his hand to stop Wang Lingguan, paced forward, and asked, "I wonder if you have any regrets?"

"Heh heh—"

Qin Shou shook his head and laughed, only looking at the beautiful slaves who were already lying in corpses all around, and smiled miserably: "What joy is there in living, and what is there to fear in death?"

"To have such an encounter and be happy for hundreds of thousands of years. How fortunate, what regrets could there be?"

He reached out and joined his fingers into a sword, smiling gently at the two beauties; his wrinkled old face was exceptionally handsome and dashing in the eyes of the two beauties.

They were infatuated with him.

Under the infatuated smiles of his two wives, he joined his fingers into a sword and extinguished their vitality.

Then he waved his arm, and the two beauties, who were still smiling like flowers until their deaths, turned into fly ash.

A breeze blew by, and the smoke and clouds dissipated.

He raised his head to look at Zhenwu and smiled, saying: "The True Monarch is of noble birth, so naturally you do not understand the thoughts of us small characters. In truth, to have such an encounter, for me, how could it be anything but fortunate?"

"Even if I knew clearly that the Dharma I obtained was nothing more than a candied fruit hiding Poison, I still would not regret it!"

"If not for this, with my lowly status, how could I have climbed to this point? And how could I have provoked the True Monarch to grace this place with his presence?"

"Actually, I was about to succeed and shake off the influence of the cultivation method. What a pity! In the end, I was one move short. Is it time? Is it fate?"

He let out a long sigh, and blood-colored fire ignited around his body—not to counterattack, but to immolate himself.

At the same time, he raised his head and sang loudly, and the "Sighing Chant of the Thirty-Three Palaces" echoed inside and outside the entire Daoist temple:

I originally wanted to walk the world alone with my head held high, yet I had to endure humiliation and hide in the mire; my ambition was to command the winds and clouds, but I had no choice but to wait bitterly for the opportunity.

When the dragon flies to the nine heavens, why fear the "arrogant dragon's regret"? When the eagle flies to the nine firmaments, I do not fear that the heights are too cold to bear! Turning to reach the pinnacle, I ask, who would not be startled? I originally wanted to be indifferent to everything and enjoy peace, yet I was unwilling to waste this life; I wanted so much to be free and at ease, but my foundation remained unbuilt.

To follow one's heart, even if gods block or Buddhist followers hinder? To want power and fame, and to indulge in beauty, what is the harm? Holding the power of Life and Death in my hands, who would still dare to be disrespectful! If I want to set my swan-like ambition upon the mortal world, I only fear that one misstep will become an eternal joke;

My intention was to swallow the mountains and rivers, but unexpectedly, I have met with destruction by heaven and earth;

Raising an army for a thousand days, yet when I wish to use it, there is no one? Looking back over ten thousand miles, how can I bear the Yellow Springs of the blue sky!

A real man living under others for so long, treating Life and Death as trivial, sailing when the wind is fair, and anchoring when the wind is against him?

I wish to ascend to the nine heavens to grasp the moon, to drink and revel wildly; I would rather fight and be defeated than live in submission!

Once in power, I compare myself to heaven, wielding influence with vigor; what obstacles are there, what is impossible? My ambition is for power, beauty, and fame throughout the world; I would rather die singing than live in silence!

The singing was impassioned and generous, not matching the image of Qin Shou, this wretched old man, in the slightest.

It was also at this moment that a halo of green light flowed over, with a lotus seed floating and sinking within it.

Immediately, it submerged into the space between the brows of this Juyang Laoxian.

The singing stopped instantly.

Qin Shou, who had been heading toward self-destruction, moved his body, and his entire aura changed drastically! (End of chapter)