The Four Realms of Heaven and Earth fell silent.
Lü Yang froze on the spot, his face ashen. He stared at the place where Ang Xiao had just vanished, already cursing up a storm in his mind:
'That bastard!'
'No wonder he managed to reach the Late Stage of Golden Core and is seeking the Netherworld. His reaction ti is insane! He bolted before the Bhagavat even fully descended!'
'What do I do?'
'Activate the Cento?'
Lü Yang took a deep breath, quickly calming his Heart Spirit. The Cento's interface beside him was his greatest source of confidence. No one could stop him from starting over!
After all, he was currently holding a Fake Golden Position. His Position was almost at the very peak of this world. If the Bhagavat knew the Cento existed and made specific arrangents to counter it, then perhaps not even an Immortal could save him. But the Cento had not been exposed. Who would ever guess he could just kill himself to start over?
However, Lü Yang soon realized sothing was wrong.
The Bhagavat wasn't looking at him.
Those eyes, overflowing with Buddha Light, calmly swept across the surroundings. Wherever they gazed, ghosts wailed and gods howled, and a rain of blood fell from the sky. It was as if Heaven and Earth themselves were terrified!
'He's not looking at ...'
In that mont, Lü Yang had an epiphany. It was like a mortal staring at an anthill—who would care what any single ant inside looked like?
'Golden Core? Foundation Establishnt?'
'It's just a difference in the size of the ants. He wouldn't care at all!'
What truly drew his gaze was the entire anthill—this world itself. As for everything else, it was never within his scope of concern from beginning to end!
BOOM!
At this mont, the entirety of the West was in violent upheaval. The Bhagavat simply stood with his hands behind his back, surveying his surroundings as if reminiscing about a bygone era of glory.
The next second, He spoke.
"Co back."
Two calm words, spoken in the voice of Bhumba Bodhisattva, yet in that instant, they elicited a perception and response from all of Heaven and Earth!
However, this response was clearly unwilling. The phenona that manifested between Heaven and Earth were contradictory: on one side, a rain of blood fell from the sky; on the other, golden lotuses blood from the earth. Disaster and good ons coexisted, creating an utterly bizarre scene. A mont later, all the various phenona were extinguished at once.
In their place, a ray of golden light appeared.
This golden light had originally been concealed within Heaven and Earth, but it was now being forcibly dragged out. Within the light, endless scenes were revealed.
There was the Dragon Coiling Golden City and the Celestial Capital Jade Fortress.
There were a hundred officials in audience and the lights of ten thousand hos.
At a glance, it wasn't just a ray of light but a vast kingdom condensed hundreds of millions of tis over, exuding an indescribably heavy presence.
The Fruit of Rampart Earth!
Because the Earthly Buddha Country had been shattered and the Unity severed, the Fruit of Rampart Earth had managed to escape the Pure Land. Yet now, the Bhagavat had dragged it back with a single sentence!
'So damn shaless...!'
Lü Yang's eyes nearly popped out of his head at the sight, but he quickly reined himself in, not daring to show the slightest emotion. After all, this wasn't so Buddha's Son.
This was a true Master of Dao personally taking the field!
'The Stain Sect, the Sword Pavilion, the Dao Court... What the hell are they all doing? How could they let the Bhagavat interfere like this? Is there no justice? Are there no rules?'
'None of the Great Powers in this godforsaken place have any sense of Immortal ethics!'
Although he had a thousand curses screaming in his mind, in reality, Lü Yang unhesitatingly used the Fruit of Wall-Surface Earth to seal his qi signature, doing his best to minimize his presence.
Of course, it was useless.
It was mainly to comfort himself.
BOOM!
The next second, the Fruit of Rampart Earth rested in the Bhagavat's palm, trembling ceaselessly. It was clear that if the Bhagavat were to let go, it would imdiately dissipate into nothingness.
Soon after, however, the Bhagavat reached out and tapped a finger downward. In an instant, the entire Pure Land in the West began to glow with a hazy, illusory light. Lü Yang then watched as a strange layer of light and shadow was peeled away from the whole of the West—from every Monk, every flower, bird, fish, and insect, from all phenona of Heaven and Earth.
A new "Pure Land" appeared.
This was completely beyond Lü Yang's Cultivation; it was like trying to read a Celestial Book. However, as he held the Fruit of Sword Dao, he could clearly sense sothing:
'The Sword Dao is bound to that!'
Logically, under Demon-Vanquishing Perfected's manipulation, the Fruit of Sword Dao had already taken root in the Pure Land, forming a binding relationship with the Monks' Unity.
As long as the Sword Dao was not extinguished, the Unity could not exist.
But now, the Bhagavat had stripped this concept away, peeling the Sword Dao right off the Pure Land as if a snake were shedding its skin!
'No, to be precise, He severed the part of the Pure Land where the Fruit of Sword Dao had taken root from the part where it hadn't. He cast the forr away while keeping the latter... and in doing so, restored the Unity without damaging the Fruit of Sword Dao!'
'Karmic links? Ti? Concepts?'
Lü Yang could understand the change that had occurred, but he couldn't comprehend how the Bhagavat had accomplished it. As he was pondering this, he saw the Bhagavat suddenly shift his gaze.
'Hiss...!!!'
Lü Yang sucked in a sharp breath.
'He's looking at ? No... not at . He's looking at the Fruit of Sword Dao!'
The Bhagavat still said nothing. His eyes, overflowing with Buddha Light, simply stared calmly at the Fruit of Sword Dao in Lü Yang's hand before He reached out and tapped a finger lightly.
BOOM!
The next second, the "Pure Land" of light and shadow that He had personally stripped away began to collapse. Its myriad phenona all rged into the Fruit of Sword Dao, making it more complete and independent. anwhile, compassionate expressions appeared on the faces of the Monks in the Pure Land.
"Amitabha!"
The unified Buddha's Na rang out once more. Every Monk's face beca solemn and dignified. Sensing the restoration of the Unity, the joy and anger they had previously shown vanished.
Only purity and tranquility remained.
Only after doing all this did the Bhagavat withdraw His gaze. The restored Unity once again suppressed the rampaging Fruit of Rampart Earth, sending it back into the depths of the Pure Land.
Everything returned to how it was before.
Demon-Vanquishing Perfected had painstakingly sched to pit the Sword Pavilion and the Pure Land against each other as irreconcilable enemies, yet now, with the Bhagavat's appearance, it had all been for naught!
Imdiately after, the Bhagavat closed His eyes.
When they opened again, the overflowing Buddha Light had dissipated. Bhumba Bodhisattva's consciousness returned, but then she vanished from the spot like a fleeting illusion.
She had returned to seclusion.
After all, the restraints from No Heaven were still in effect.
Bhumba Bodhisattva had forcibly descended to the Lower Realm by burning her Grotto Heaven. Now that matters were settled, there was naturally no reason to continue damaging it.
From beginning to end, the Bhagavat had not spoken a single word to another person.
'It's over just like that?'
Lü Yang looked bewildered, never having expected the Bhagavat's descent to be so anticlimactic. Soon, however, he began to piece together the underlying logic:
'That's right. The Pure Land suffered one setback after another, deviating from the path predetermined by the Masters of Dao. A course correction was needed, which is why the Bhagavat intervened. However, the Sword Dao is crucial to the Sword Pavilion's plans and cannot be destroyed. That's why the Bhagavat didn't take any more drastic actions after descending.'
In that instant, it all clicked for Lü Yang.
The Bhagavat's descent was by no ans unrestricted!
'Strictly speaking, He was representing the will of the four Masters of Dao. After the four of them reached a compromise, the Bhagavat was tasked with handling the cleanup!'
The Fruit of Rampart Earth: The Pure Land was determined to have it, so it had to be taken back.
The Fruit of Sword Dao: This was the Sword Pavilion's exclusive prize and could not be destroyed.
As for the Earthly Buddha Country, that was fair ga. The other Masters of Dao gave the Bhagavat his chance, but He failed. Thus, He had to accept the loss.
"This is really..."
Even though he had figured out the logic behind the Bhagavat's actions, Lü Yang felt no sense of relief. Instead, a bone-deep chill crept over him.
The reason was simple:
'Each of the four Masters of Dao has a red line when it cos to the situation in this godforsaken place. Cross any one of them, and you'll likely provoke their direct intervention!'
That was why the Saint Sect Ancestral Master had tricked Mu Changsheng to his death.
That was why the Bhagavat had personally descended to set things right.
In other words, from the very beginning, the future of this world had been locked in place by the four Masters of Dao!
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