Chapter 437

Luode was very clear about Maitreya Buddha's arrangement; you can lead the West, spread your Buddhist teachings in the West, and promote your Buddhist culture, but you are not allowed to interfere in the East.

The entire Western Heaven, Kunlun will become Luode's important region in the future; allowing the Buddhist sect to occupy the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss is already his special grace.

"Amitabha Buddha, by the command of the Heavenless Dharma Ancestor, how dare this poor monk not obey? Ancestor, please rest assured; I will only promote the Buddhist teachings on this Western land and absolutely not step out of the West by half a step." Maitreya Buddha bowed to Luode and spoke.

He naturally understood what the person before him was thinking and was willing to follow the other's arrangement, after all, not following the arrangement would mean being wiped out, and the entire Buddhist sect would be destroyed.

"There is one more matter; the Heavenly Dragon Eight Divisions you established, the Dragon Division shall return to the Dragon Clan." Luode spoke.

"My current identity is the second Ancestral Dragon between Heaven and Earth; all the Dragon Clan naturally should return under my leadership—how could I possibly let the Buddhist sect work for me?" "Amitabha Buddha, Heavenless Dharma Ancestor, please rest assured; this poor monk will now issue the decree, letting all the Dragon Clan return to the Four Seas, and the Dragon Clan shall return under your command." Maitreya Buddha nodded and spoke.

"Hmm!" Luode nodded in satisfaction.

A few days later, a piece of news shocked the entire world; no one expected that the immensely powerful Buddhist sect would be uprooted.

Overnight, the Tathagata Buddha actually entered nirvana; this world's two most powerful beings, one of whom was on par with the Tai Shang Dao Ancestor, the Tathagata Buddha actually entered nirvana.

The Heavenless Dharma Ancestor appeared out of nowhere, fiercely slew the Tathagata Buddha, and passed the position of Buddhist sect leader to Maitreya Buddha, now formally ascending as the Future Buddha, and declared the entire Buddhist sect surrendered under the Heavenless Dharma Ancestor's command.

All beings in the Three Realms and Six Paths were discussing who this Heavenless Dharma Ancestor was, what abilities and supernatural powers he possessed to actually cause the Tathagata Buddha to enter nirvana; but before the heavenly beings could digest this, another piece of news arrived: the Four Seas Dragon Clan had been completely integrated.

The one who integrated the Four Seas Dragon Clan was the four sons of the former Jinghe Dragon King, the Four Rivers Dragon Gods, and the former Kangjin Dragon Star Lord who had rebelled against Heaven.

Moreover, more detailed information emerged: this Heavenless Dharma Ancestor was no nameless nobody, but the second Ancestral Dragon in this world, possessing great supernatural powers.

At this moment, the entire Heavenly Court was filled with panic; if this Heavenless Dharma Ancestor truly wanted to act against the Eastern Heavenly Court, even if all the heavenly soldiers and generals, and all the immortals joined forces, there would be no hope of victory.

The Jade Emperor and the Queen Mother of the West both fell into deep anxiety; originally, they thought this second Ancestral Dragon between Heaven and Earth was of the same level as them.

But who could have imagined that this person was actually of the same level as the Buddha and the Tai Shang—no! Wrong! Wrong! He should have surpassed the level of the Tai Shang and the Buddha, after all, the Tai Shang and the Buddha could only fight to a draw, while it is said that he directly instant-killed the Tathagata Buddha.

"How could this be! How could this be! In just a little over a month, such great events have occurred between Heaven and Earth—where exactly did this Heavenless Dharma Ancestor come from?" The Jade Emperor sat on his dragon throne and spoke.

"The reason I am able to stably hold the position of Lord of the Three Realms is precisely because of the support of the Tai Shang Dao Ancestor and the approval of the Buddhist sect; but now the Buddhist sect has fallen, and the next to fall might well be the Tai Shang Dao Ancestor—then what will happen to me, the Supreme of the Three Realms?"

"Jade Emperor, we cannot interfere in this matter; those of that level can do as they wish, and we can only accept it; otherwise, they need only wave their hand, and we will turn to flying ashes." An old man in white robes holding a whisk, standing below the Jade Emperor, spoke.

This person is none other than one of the Jade Emperor's confidants, Tai Bai Jin Xing Li Changgeng; what level of existence is the Tathagata? What level is the Tai Shang? If these two are willing, the entire world must follow their arrangements; but now this balance has been broken—someone, for example, even more powerful than the Tathagata.

An existence more powerful than the Tathagata and the Tai Shang—whatever they say goes; if they want life, the Heavenly Court lives; if they want death, the Heavenly Court dies.

"What can we do? What plan? What plan could there be?" Upon hearing this, the gods of the Heavenly Court fell silent; after tens of thousands of years of stability, the Three Realms finally experienced turmoil—who could have imagined that the Heavenless Dharma Ancestor would appear out of nowhere?

"It is said that this Heavenless Dharma Ancestor greatly values the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, Sun Wukong, and it was precisely this person who acted to revive Sun Wukong; you say—will this not cause the Heavenless Dharma Ancestor to develop ill will toward us, and thus, thus not tolerate our Heavenly Court?" The Jade Emperor sighed and spoke.

If we had known earlier how powerful this Heavenless Dharma Ancestor was, he should have paid attention back then, even directly going to visit the Pan Si Cave.

Instead of waiting until the other side destroyed the Buddhist sect and killed the Tathagata Buddha.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty is not well— that, that demon monkey, he, he has returned, already arrived at the Southern Heaven Gate; beside him, beside him follows Erlang Shen Xian Sheng Zhen Jun." Just as the heavenly immortals were worrying, Qian Li Yan and Shun Feng Er suddenly ran back from the Southern Heaven Gate direction to the Lingxiao Treasure Hall, knelt before the Jade Emperor, and spoke.

"I don't know—speaking really needs attention—demon monkey, demon monkey, you may call him the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, but remember not to call anything else, understand?" Tai Bai Jin Xing Li Changgeng immediately rushed forward, tapping the heads of the reporting Qian Li Yan and Shun Feng Er, one tap each.

"You two, who deserve to be killed a thousand times, still resent offending that monkey—have you not offended enough? Now, who stands behind that monkey? Someone who can casually kill the Tathagata Buddha; if you provoke his anger, and in front of the Heavenless Dharma Ancestor, sue us, then all the gods of the Heavenly Court will have to follow you into burial."

"Erlang Shen Xian Sheng Zhen Jun? How could he, how could he be together with that monkey—cough, cough, the Great Sage Equal to Heaven?" The Jade Emperor coughed twice and spoke.

Just now, I almost blurted out 'monkey head'—if I had shouted it out, given that monkey's vengeful nature, he would absolutely not let me off easily.

"To report to the Jade Emperor—this matter, this minor god also does not know; they have already arrived at the Southern Heaven Gate, and are now, now walking toward the Lingxiao Treasure Hall." Qian Li Yan and Shun Feng Er spoke.

Erlang Shen and Sun Wukong appearing together—who at the Southern Heaven Gate could block these two killing gods? If they want to go in, no one dares to stop them.

"Well then, let us together receive this Great Sage Equal to Heaven and Erlang Shen Xian Sheng Zhen Jun to see what business they have." The Jade Emperor sighed heavily and spoke.

Misfortune cannot be avoided—first, let us see what this Great Sage Equal to Heaven has come for!

At this moment, outside the Southern Heaven Gate, Yang Jian, wearing white robes and holding a three-pointed two-edged lance, walked together with Sun Wukong.

"How about it, Erlang Little Sage—this time you didn't expect Old Monkey Sun to come back to life, did you? And his magic is even stronger than before." Sun Wukong hoisted his Golden Cudgel onto his shoulder, laughed, and spoke.

"You monkey really surprise me—I spent countless efforts with my brothers to plan your resurrection, and I personally preserved your memory—I never expected you to secretly hide a trick."

He truly did not expect that, under those circumstances, Sun Wukong still had a trump card, and could even perfectly resurrect in this manner! Originally, he thought Sun Wukong would pass on his intention and then destroy his physical body.

But who would have thought that this monkey actually laid out such a great game, unbeknownst to gods and ghosts, and attached himself to such a powerful great supernatural being.

In the murals of the Floating Pagoda, when he saw Sun Wukong arrive, he was utterly surprised—he originally thought the one coming to his face was a monkey extremely similar to Sun Wukong.

But he never expected that the one who arrived was Sun Wukong himself; the two, in the scroll of the Floating Pagoda, fought a great battle, and Sun Wukong also helped Yang Jian resolve his long-standing heart knot.

Afterwards, Yang Jian Erlang Shen, invited by Sun Wukong, returned together with him to the Heavenly Court, and on the way heard of the Heavenless Dharma Ancestor's affairs, and also learned that the Buddhist sect had been completely overhauled, the Tathagata Buddha entered nirvana, and Maitreya Buddha ascended.

Who would have thought that I merely stayed in the Floating Pagoda for a while, and the outside world underwent such earth-shaking changes?

"Hahaha! This time I will surely restore clarity to the Three Realms and Six Paths—this Three Realms and Six Paths have let this group of Heavenly Court and Ling Shan gods press down too. Miserable—it's time for a change." Sun Wukong hehe laughed and spoke.

"Change? Hehe! In my view, it's merely replacing a new ruler—the Buddhist sect's position changed hands; this Jade Emperor's position might also change hands.

But can the beings of the Three Realms and Six Paths truly escape their former fate?"

Unless all the immortals and buddhas in this world willingly accept their future life and death extinction, otherwise the exploitation of the entire Three Realms will not stop, for they need immortal substances, they need eternal youth.

The rise of the Heavenless Dharma Ancestor powerfully overturned the entire world, letting all forces reshuffle; within a certain time, it can indeed ease the Three Realms' problems, avoiding the beings of the Three Realms being harvested again by immortals and buddhas.

But the immortal substances in this world are limited; as time passes, one day the Buddhist sect and Heavenly Court under the Heavenless Dharma Ancestor's leadership will become like this today. The Heavenless Dharma Ancestor himself may not need immortal substances to maintain his immortality, but his subordinates? When their qi and blood are full, naturally they need no immortal substances; but as time passes, whether immortal or buddha, their qi and blood will decline, and they will face their own death.

And if one wishes to avoid such death, then only by consuming the strange objects of Heaven and Earth, or things containing powerful life-force immortal substances.

The Peaches of Immortality of the Heavenly Court, the Golden Pills refined by Tai Shang Lao Jun, and the Buddhist Buddhas' golden bodies forged by absorbing Western faith—these can avoid such occurrences.

But as the Heavenless Dharma Ancestor's followers grow more numerous, the Peaches of Immortality and Golden Pills are insufficiently divided.

Moreover, if the Tai Shang Dao Ancestor truly dies, then the Golden Pills refined by Tai Shang Lao Jun will vanish; without this old man refining Golden Pills, over half of the immortals in the Heavenly Court will die.

Welcoming their deaths delayed by thousands, even tens of thousands of years.

"This matter, Old Monkey Sun also considered, but I think there is still a turning point—I tell you a secret about this Heavenless Dharma Ancestor: he is not of this realm." Sun Wukong came beside Erlang Shen Yang Jian and whispered.

"Oh! Not of this realm! It seems the Dao Ancestor and Buddha Ancestor's guess was correct—indeed, indeed, there is still heaven beyond heaven." Erlang Shen, Yang Jian, rubbed his chin and spoke.

Having reached the cultivation level of him and Sun Wukong, one can already touch some of this world's ultimate secrets.

The strength of this world is divided into tiers: the Tathagata and the Tai Shang are in the first tier; Maitreya Buddha, the Jade Emperor, the Queen Mother of the West, Zhen Yuan Zi, and these people are in the second tier.

While he, Erlang Shen Yang Jian, Nezha, the Bull Demon King, Sun Wukong, and similar beings, belong to the third tier; Guanyin Bodhisattva's strength is slightly inferior to the second tier, but stronger than those of the third tier.

"The cultivation method this Heavenless Dharma Ancestor practices is utterly different from our world's, and after all, he comes from another world—perhaps he also possesses immortal substances in his hands; and I observe this Heavenless Dharma Ancestor, and he is not the type who likes to manage affairs."

My old self dares to bet, this person will not be like the Tathagata or the Supreme Elder, prolonging the lives of their followers, of those who cultivate their own Dao. Sun Wukong spoke.

I hope so! What do you think the Supreme Elder Dao Ancestor will choose this time? Erlang Shen Yang Jian spoke.

How could they choose? The Supreme Elder has no right to choose at all; neither he nor the Tathagata has the right to choose.

When this Wu Tian Fa Zu appeared in this world, their fate was already sealed; you and I merely helped him take over the Heavenly Court in the past—let's go!

Go see the Jade Emperor old man, see how he will choose. Sun Wukong patted Erlang Shen Yang Jian on the shoulder, and the two walked into the Lingxiao Treasure Hall together.

Outside the Thirty-Three Heavens at this time, indeed as Sun Wukong predicted, Luode's true self also found the Supreme Elder Dao Ancestor of this world.

This is an old man wearing a white robe, holding a horsetail whisk, with the face of an immortal and the bones of a Daoist, emitting an aura of profound mystery.

I never imagined! I contended with the Buddha for millions of years, yet in the end it benefited others. The Supreme Elder Dao Ancestor revealed a faint bitter smile, gazing at Luode before him, and spoke.

When the Tathagata Buddha's life and death soul was extinguished, he already knew his destined end.

Before I send you off, I want to ask you a question, and also want you to prove a suspicion in my heart; if your answer satisfies me, perhaps I will spare your life. Luode sat before the Supreme Elder Dao Ancestor and spoke.

Dao friend, please speak; this poor Daoist knows no hesitation. The Supreme Elder Dao Ancestor spoke.

It seems I may have a thread of life, though I do not know whether this thread of life can be grasped.

You two are the most powerful beings in this world; my current realm is called Primordial God, also called Peak of the Single Universe; in other worlds perhaps there are various different names!

You two belong to those who have half a foot stepped into this realm; I do not understand why you two have taken on so many disciples, passing on your Dao lineage.

This is indeed strange; if I were the Tathagata or the Supreme Elder, then what should be done is not to cultivate a batch of new demanders, demanding the world's heavenly and earthly vital energy.

Rather, the two of you should completely monopolize all longevity substances in this world, preventing other longevity beings from appearing, yet your approach has instead created a batch, even a large batch, of followers who pursue longevity under you.

It is like there is a huge cake; the two of you have already taken nine-tenths, leaving one-tenth as the key you two contend for, yet you two have given this one-tenth to all beings of heaven and earth—why is this?

Unless this one-tenth of small cake is used to give birth to more cakes.

Hehe, with your wisdom, Dao friend, could you not guess this truth? We need more heavenly and earthly vital energy; we need more opportunities to break through.

I cannot possibly kill the Buddha, and the Buddha cannot possibly kill me, so there is only one way.

Hahaha, I understand! You two great fish want to raise a great multitude of small fish.

When these small fish have completely grown, you will eat them, because they are small fish formed by cultivating the Dao you two have spread.

As long as you continuously devour, increasing your two's magical power, one day you two will cross this threshold.

You should not have done this for the first time, right? How many times have you harvested this world? Luode spoke.

This world is filled with a deathly aura, filled with all kinds of dark negative energy; Luode can clearly feel it.

The Supreme Elder and the Buddha should have done this many times, raising a batch of small fish, waiting for this batch to mature.

When the time is right, they harvest this batch of small fish, then re-release fry to raise again.

Continuously accumulating their own spiritual rhythm, seeking to cross that final step, transcend this world.

When killing the Tathagata Buddha, Luode also felt the terrifyingly extreme vital energy and energy within the Buddha's body.

All living beings of the Three Realms and Six Paths combined, surprisingly do not possess the life force within the Tathagata Buddha's body—how terrifying this is.

It has already been exactly four times; according to my calculation and the Buddha's, as long as we harvest five more times, making nine in total, we can脱离. The Supreme Elder Dao Ancestor sighed and said.

He and the Tathagata have already let this world's mythology be reborn four times, over and over undergoing reincarnation; each time the number and strength of immortals and Buddhas reach a limit, growth reaches a limit, it will devour all cultivators of the Dao, and the Buddha will devour all cultivators of the Buddha.

This world, whether cultivating demons, or cultivating Buddha, or cultivating immortals, in essence is actually cultivating the techniques they two created.

"Harvesting all beings of heaven and earth, I estimate you will not reach the ninth harvest; you should have already discovered this world's problem, right? Following your harvesting method, one day even cultivators will not be born in this world; you fundamentally cannot reach the ninth harvest." Luode shook his head and spoke. (End of chapter)