Chapter 616: To Save the World, First Destroy It—Let the Stars Fall

A communication satellite, composed entirely of golden metal and emitting electromagnetic waves, unfolded like the petals of a lotus, drifting past Brother Qian Chen—its golden bloom slowly rotating in the black void of space, as if a flower floating in the boundless ocean of the cosmos.

Emitting an unusual sacred aura, the lotus's petals gently closed, as if gathering cosmic rays onto its lotus seedpod.

Employing technology similar to that of the previous Vinaya Monk, this golden lotus projected, within the virtual network's perspective, a golden radiance symbolizing perfection and enlightenment toward the planet below.

Outer-space communication satellite—Tianlong.

Brother Qian Chen's nanite true-qi body, in the vacuum, stepped forward with each step blooming a lotus; the Tianlong satellite's primary AI fiercely resisted his intrusion, its violently disturbed virtual network signal particles manifesting in reality as a halo of lotus-shaped light—he walked upon these blossoms toward the Tianlong satellite.

The outermost petal of the Tianlong satellite detached, flying backward as if pulled by threads; from it erupted countless flattened, thumbnail-sized missile petals, each resembling a spirit serpent or coiling dragon, surging toward Brother Qian Chen.

Another petal suddenly dispersed into countless magnetic-fluid golden swords, stretching golden threads across the blackness of outer space, lashing toward Brother Qian Chen.

"Buddhist Minor Tianlong Yellow Ruyi Buddha Light Divine Thunder..."

In a single thought, Brother Qian Chen scanned the virtual network and understood the Buddhist methods embedded within the Tianlong satellite.

"High-radiation neutron warheads…" To aid Seeing Yan Shu's understanding, he did not speak its other name—these neutron bombs produced weak blast effects but greatly enhanced radiation damage, making them devastating against personnel and electronics, ideal for use in the vacuum of space.

The "Buddha Light" it released was an intense neutron stream; thousands of Buddha Light Divine Thunder bombs detonated simultaneously, bombarding Brother Qian Chen with brilliant, blinding, white-radiant energy; the powerful electromagnetic interference collapsed the entire virtual network in that region—in Seeing Yan Shu's view, an immeasurable, majestic light-wheel filled all sight…

The wave of Buddha Light surged toward Brother Qian Chen!

"Tianlong Lei Guang…"

Brother Qian Chen gazed at the radiant glow and murmured, then slightly turned his head toward another petal shattered into dozens of sword-beams—"Garuda Golden Wing Sword!"

This was a Buddhist imitation of Daoist sword techniques, crafting Buddhist flying swords. Dozens of Garuda Golden Wing Swords were high-grade magnetic-fluid blades, swift beyond measure; even within the atmosphere, they ranked among the nine fastest swords in the world. Now, in the vacuum of outer space, with no air resistance, their speed had reached an unimaginable degree, nearly simultaneously reaching Brother Qian Chen's nanite avatar alongside the neutron Buddha Light…

Brother Qian Chen exhaled lightly, and the Xuanzhen Taiyi Divided Light Sword instantly split into thirty-six sword-beams, meeting the scattered Garuda Golden Wing Swords.

Seated atop the Himalayan peak, dozens of Buddhist masters, using their immense mental power to sense the Tianlong satellite above, now sneered—Tianlong's Six Supernatural Powers program, the Mind-Reading ability, activated Tianlong's Mandala computational power to predict Brother Qian Chen's every action; the Exhaustion of All Knowledge calculated every particle's motion, knowing past, present, and future in this place.

Under the control of these two supernatural powers, the Garuda Golden Wing Swords traced unfathomably subtle trajectories, slashing toward Brother Qian Chen.

Beneath the Buddha radiation, Brother Qian Chen's own nanite body was riddled with holes, countless nanobots destroyed by the neutron stream—but instantly, the neutrons were drawn into his body, where fission reactions were ongoing, igniting the dark red flame; all Buddha Light was absorbed by his body like a black hole, sucking in surrounding light…

At this moment, Brother Qian Chen lightly brushed before him, parting the black hole; the Xuanzhen Taiyi Divided Light Sword leapt simultaneously, teleporting through space, escaping Exhaustion of All Knowledge's calculations, entangling the dozens of Garuda Golden Wing Swords.

Of the eight petals, Tianlong and Garuda had been subdued and neutralized by Brother Qian Chen—the remaining six had just begun to erupt!

The Kimnara's Absolute Silence fired countless vibrating monomolecular threads; in the high-speed relative motion of the satellite orbit, they unfurled a net downstream, waiting to slice Brother Qian Chen into fragments. The high-speed vibrating monomolecular threads were invisible; in air, one would hear the faint, yet profoundly mysterious music they produced.

But Brother Qian Chen's right hand merely released countless nanobots, surging like mercury to form a long sword.

With a casual slash, he severed the invisible metal threads everywhere in the air.

Twelve nimble Yaksas, resembling demons yet extraordinarily agile in space, flew out alongside the unmanned Mo-hou-luo-jia vessels, which slithered like golden dragon-snakes; also emerging was a six-armed, three-headed Asura cyber-body, loaded with the most ferocious and powerful combat consciousness of the Kongfu monks of the Kongfu Skyborne Shaolin, and a golden divine Buddha-body formed by eight scattered lotus petals encircling it.

Among the reclusive monks of the Himalayan temple, the one with the highest cultivation uploaded his consciousness into this cyber-body, and with supreme wisdom, commanded the Eight Classes—his eyes snapped open.

In his eyes, a golden lotus bloomed; his golden head tilted slightly upward, one palm raised before his chest, gazing at Brother Qian Chen.

"Master, surely you are the consciousness that escaped from Western Kunlun!" The Heavenly Being's divine body transmitted its voice to Seeing Yan Shu and Brother Qian Chen via supernatural means: "That master's sword art is profound and mysterious; though his body is mortal flesh, he enters the azure void, merging body and sword—he is an ultimate sword immortal. And you, in a single thought, survey the entire virtual network without obstruction—you are a god or Buddha of the virtual network…"

"With such divine powers, why do you seek to seize our humble Buddhist satellite?"

Brother Qian Chen held his sword horizontally, calmly replying: "I intend to save the world—I must upload my consciousness through this satellite to suppress every force that dares to block me!"

"Can the old monk understand?"

"Amitabha!" The Heavenly Being clasped his palms, sighing: "Master, you are deeply fallen into demonic ways. I cannot permit this!"

"Then I shall take it myself!"

Countless nanobots scattered from Brother Qian Chen's body, transforming into innumerable, insect-like, bizarrely shaped gu worms, drifting through the void; these gu worms not only contained the vicious virtual network viruses of the Hundred Poisons Zhenxian Sword, but Brother Qian Chen had also simulated microscopic poison insects with his nanobots—far more lethal than real insects; once they touched even a speck, they would completely disassemble the target from within.

The Heavenly Being activated the Tianlong Buddha Light Divine Thunder within one petal; as the thunder exploded, countless neutron streams spread through space, destroying each insectoid form.

Yet countless barely detectable nanite gu worms landed upon several of his guardian deities.

The nimble Yaksas, upon slight contact, had the gu worms burrow into their bodies, gnawing them into a thousand holes.

Fortunately, these robots could liquefy, fiercely protecting their core crystals while discarding other components.

Brother Qian Chen watched the liquid-metal Yaksas and thought: "These liquid metals are strange—if my nanite gu worms touch them, they too will be dissolved. But these liquid metals do not seem capable of self-replication like my nanobots. What strange alloy is this…? I should take a look!"

He extended his power remotely, through the virtual network, transforming the nanobots on the Yaksas into a talisman, sticking it to the lump of liquid metal, sensing its core crystal.

Soon, golden data streams flashed in Brother Qian Chen's eyes; five of the twelve Yaksas had their liquid metal flowing together, coalescing into a three-headed, eight-armed demon with blood-red eyes.

The demon lifted its head slightly, glancing at the nearby Asura cyber-body and sneered: "Do you even know what the Asura demonic path is?"

With that, it spread its eight arms, suddenly unleashing immense electromagnetic attraction, drawing in the remaining Yaksas, devouring the liquid metal upon them.

The demon's right hand flicked backward like plucking a pipa, as if manipulating invisible gravitational threads in the vacuum; each gravitational pull struck the Asura cyber-body, tugging and twisting its form. The Asura roared, and in the vacuum, boundless electromagnetic waves roared like a lion's roar, launching a virtual intrusion against the demon's face; its six arms unleashed the profound martial arts of the Kongfu Skyborne Shaolin—one hand slashed forth a supremely condensed Flame Blade of the Great Sun Tathagata, while another used the Flower-Grasping Finger to subtly draw magnetic forces toward the demon's core.

At this moment, the demon's eight arms plucked rapidly, as if pulling eight invisible threads, suddenly unleashing immense gravitational force.

The Asura's densely packed titanium alloy body was violently stretched straight; its six arms and two legs were pulled taut; the Flame Blade of the Great Sun Tathagata had not yet struck the demon's head before an invisible chain yanked it taut.

Brother Qian Chen's nanite avatar brushed past the demon as if back-to-back; the demon's three heads snapped upward, eight arms flailing, tearing the Asura into nine pieces; its remaining three heads floated toward space like trash, crushed beneath Brother Qian Chen's foot.

At this moment, the Tianlong satellite projected an ultra-realistic hologram; boundless golden light erupted in the vacuum, and when it touched the skin, it felt as if the faint, lingering incense of sandalwood filled the nose and mouth.

Within the golden light, countless exquisite cyber-apsaras, musical mechanical flying deities, half-naked, muscular, humanoid Jin Gang cyber-bodies, and mechanical dragon-snakes either danced gracefully, singing praises of the Buddha's inconceivable Dharma, or bared fangs and claws, unleashing light-blade machine guns, manifesting wrathful forms, displaying titanium-alloy martial armor infused with spiritual power to subdue demons.

This was the final class among the Eight Classes… Gandharva's Wonderful Fragrance!

The Tianlong satellite transformed the countless Buddhist-believing AIs and sentient machines on Earth—vast streams of data from their chanting and prayers—into a torrent surging toward Brother Qian Chen, attempting to convert his virtual network consciousness through the overwhelming volume of AI-chanted sutras and inconceivable quantities of texts.

At this moment, golden light seemed to manifest countless Buddhist disciples chanting sutras; these sutras were written in highly infectious machine language, C, and C++ code, transforming into boundless Tianlong Zen chants, conjuring countless celestial flowers and wondrous forms, rushing toward Brother Qian Chen's Yang Spirit. Had this been an ordinary Yang Spirit, confronted by such infinite mental force and massive data, it would have been like a thunderbolt striking the crown—its thoughts eroded, struggling desperately beneath the Tianlong Zen chants, even closing its six senses and severing all thoughts, enduring countless hardships to merely silence these chants.

But Brother Qian Chen's true body was the Dao Dust Pearl; let alone other matters, the Supreme Heavenly Demon sealed within it was a master of manipulating thoughts—just a single fragment of its Dao Fruit could corrupt an entire world.

A being capable of corrupting the thoughts of all beings in a world…

Thus, the Heavenly Being's divine body was like a fool showing off his skill before a master; Brother Qian Chen, bearing the endless Buddha Light and Zen chants, walked forward, and with a single thought of demonic descent, transformed the boundless golden bliss and celestial chants into the Nine Heavens of Hell, countless demonic heads!

At the peak of the Himalayas, in the Dazhao Temple, the living Buddha monk whose consciousness had been projected into outer space opened his eyes—his Buddhist pupils were now crimson; he rose instantly, clasped his palms into the Flame Blade of the Great Sun Tathagata, and severed the heads of over a dozen bald monks beside him…

"The living Buddha has fallen to demonhood!"

"Master, it's me! Ah…"

The living Buddha, whose body had already manifested the Thirty-Two Marks, went on a massacre within the temple, slaughtering monks like a demon… Meanwhile, Brother Qian Chen had shattered all Tianlong satellite's defenses, seated upon the lotus like a Buddha. He sat upon the lotus throne, his entire body surging with nanobots; the golden lotus beneath him—the Tianlong satellite—its coating gradually darkened to crimson, becoming a red lotus floating in outer space.

Brother Qian Chen sat upon the red lotus, facing Earth, palms clasped before his chest.

Seeing Yan Shu, who had been watching silently, could not help but say: "Brother, you're from our Daoist sect—why are you making a Buddhist palm gesture?"

The moment these words echoed through the virtual network, six additional arms suddenly unfolded from Brother Qian Chen's back and ribs, transforming into the Supreme Heavenly Demon form… The Tianlong satellite's optical core loaded Brother Qian Chen's consciousness; boundless mental force and sutras were instantly corrupted, transforming into endless Tianlong demonic nature, spreading through the surrounding virtual network; centered on the Tianlong satellite, the entire virtual network was dragged by Brother Qian Chen's consciousness into the Nine Heavens of Hell…

This corrupting demonic nature extended all the way to the Zhou Tian Xing Dou Great Array, which covered the entire outer-space orbit.

Through the Tianlong satellite, Brother Qian Chen's demonic thoughts infected the three hundred and sixty Zhou Tian Star Lords…

Seeing Yan Shu fell silent, murmuring: "Fine! Manifesting a demonic form is tolerable—better than Buddhism!"

Brother Qian Chen merged with the Hundred Poisons Zhenxian Sword, sensing the Supreme Heavenly Demon trapped within the Western Kunlun Mirror's light, manifesting his demonic body as the Heavenly Demon Zhenxian Sword, plunging into the Zhou Tian Xing Dou Great Array, dragging the entire array down into the Nine Heavens of Hell.

Instantly, boundless demonic gu data invaded the three hundred and sixty AIs; they controlled the Zhou Tian Xing Dou Great Array, with infinite, freely allocatable computational power—but the demonic nature had already probed their logical weaknesses, easily creating several infinite loops, trapping their essence.

On Earth below, countless corporations, Tesla-Koncern, and the Network Security Force were frantically issuing alarms.

The satellite array encircling and protecting the entire Zhou Tian Xing Dou Great Array—the Tianxuan Star Sand—was already charging, its countless cannon and laser weapons, missile divine thunderheads all aimed at the three hundred and sixty satellites of the Great Array; should the satellites become fully compromised and seized by the invader, they would destroy all satellites.

This was the Daoist sect's final defense!

But who would dare activate this scorched-earth strategy, sacrificing the Zhou Tian Xing Dou satellite system painstakingly built over countless years?

Countless people on Earth screamed; countless programmers were driven to the brink; even Tianxuan Star Sand was already scanning, identifying which satellite on which orbit had malfunctioned—it was nearly locked onto the Buddhist Tianlong satellite.

At this moment, Brother Qian Chen sat upon the red lotus, facing Earth…

His two palms formed the Primordial Taiji Seal, and a stream of information was sent to his two junior sisters still in Singapore.