radicalducati Chapter 33 Conflict 2
Chapter 33 Conflict 2
"Amitabha Buddha, since entering the Buddhist order, I have devoted myself to cultivation and have never had any interaction with the Heavenly Realm or the Temple of Light. What makes you say that, Lord Ke?"
Xuandao was surrounded by Buddhist aura, like a spring breeze and rain in March. Layers of Buddhist light quietly dispelled the supreme divine power that Ke Luo was radiating. His Buddhist chants were clear and peaceful, yet they possessed an air of neither arrogance nor servility.
"Now that the Taiwei Realm has been destroyed, the Western Universe Star Array has developed a flaw. All the seniors of the Heavenly Court have rushed to the front line to build a defensive line with their divine bodies. As the master of the Temple of Light and the ruler of the Western Universe, Lord Ke has not gone to the front line to stabilize the situation. Instead, he has the leisure to come to this Possible Heavenly Domain and talk nonsense to a junior like me. I am flattered."
Xuan Daofo slightly raised his eyes, his words carrying a hint of sarcasm. The Temple of Light governs the Western Universe, and this is precisely the time for Coro to be on the front lines. Yet, he has abandoned the overall situation and come to the Heavenly Court to manipulate the younger generation. This is a despicable act, a loss of the composure befitting a supreme being.
"presumptuous!"
Koro's voice shook the star field, his eyes flashing with a fierce light, and an aura of domineering power suddenly spread out, "A mere junior from the Buddhist sect who has just entered the Boundless Realm dares to lecture me? Who gave you the audacity!"
He had originally only intended to give Xuandao a light punishment, to teach him a lesson so he could take him in as a dog, but Xuandao's defiance now ignited a surge of anger within him. "It seems that if I don't send you to the Temple of Light today and imprison you under the Heavenly Pillar for ten thousand years, will the world really think that the Temple of Light has a good temper!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Koro pressed down with his large hand, and the boundless power of light, like rivers flowing into the sea, condensed in his palm into a cage covered with light patterns. The cage seemed small, but it contained infinite sources of light. As soon as it appeared, it attempted to encompass the entire star field of the Vast Heaven Domain. Xuan Dao, placed within it, was like a lone boat on a vast ocean, constantly in danger of being destroyed and killed under the crushing weight of the immense light.
Would Xuandao simply sit idly by and wait for its demise?
With a shout, the Buddha unleashed a surge of Buddhist power, and a Dharma image a million miles high suddenly appeared in the heavens. This was the Dharma image of the Eighteen Hands and Twenty-Four Heads of the Great Vehicle Merit of the Heavens, which he had painstakingly cultivated. It was created by combining the supernatural powers of the Five Patriarchs, the Sixth Patriarch, the Holy Monk of Mount Sumeru, and the Buddha, and its power was boundless.
The Buddha's golden body shone brightly, with eighteen hands each holding eighteen supreme sacred artifacts, including a jeweled umbrella, a flower vase and fish intestines, a blessed vajra, a precious file and a golden bell, a golden bow and silver halberd, and a demon-subduing banner. The twenty-four Buddha faces showed different emotions, some sad, some joyful, some angry, and some compassionate. Nine-colored lapis lazuli Buddha light shot straight into the sky, illuminating all the stars in the heavens.
"Break!" The giant Dharma hand swept down, and the eighteen supreme holy artifacts simultaneously erupted with divine light, with billions of Buddhist runes intertwining into a net, slamming fiercely into the cage of light. A deafening roar shook the universe, and the cage of light, capable of containing star fields, was shattered by the combined power of the Buddha and the holy artifacts, with fragments of light scattering into the void like a rain of stars.
"Oh?" A hint of surprise flashed in Koro's eyes as his gaze fell upon the million-mile-long Dharma image. "Your golden Dharma image is quite remarkable. Which Buddhist sage created it? Could it be a divine power personally passed down from the Fifth Patriarch?"
To be able to withstand one of his attacks with such immense cultivation, this Xuan Dao is indeed much stronger than he expected.
"It is merely a minor technique created by this humble monk, hardly worthy of serious consideration. It is truly my honor to receive guidance from Lord Ke."
Xuan Dao spoke humbly, but his hands moved with lightning speed. He simultaneously wielded the Eighteen Dharma Hands, unleashing boundless Buddhist power like a surging river, pouring it into the eighteen supreme sacred artifacts. The artifacts shone brightly, transforming into eighteen world-destroying attacks, some slashing, some stabbing, some smashing, some sweeping. Each attack contained the power to shatter great realms and sever galaxies, bombarding Koro relentlessly.
Koro's expression remained unchanged. Twenty white wings of light suddenly unfolded behind him, with billions of divine runes of light flowing across them. He raised his hand and unleashed a terrifying power of light, like a galaxy pouring down from the heavens, colliding with the attacks of the eighteen sacred artifacts.
Xuan Dao's eyes narrowed, and with a flick of his wrist, he summoned his natal weapon—a precious tree enveloped in seven-colored divine light. This treasure, named the Seven Treasures Tree, was created by Xuan Dao by combining seven rare and precious cosmic treasures with primordial matter; it was a true divine artifact.
The precious tree swayed gently, and seven-colored divine light swept across it. In an instant, most of the mighty power of light was drained away, and the remaining residual power was also dispersed by the Buddhist power and sacred artifacts unleashed by the Dharma image.
"It's actually a divine artifact!" Koro's surprise deepened, then turned into intense interest. "It seems I underestimated you, a junior from the Buddhist sect."
Before he finished speaking, the power of light around him surged again, drawing upon the source of light that stretched for tens of millions of miles around him. It solidified into a substance, transforming into hundreds of millions of light blades, each over ten feet long, which floated in the void. The principles of light flowed over the blades, emanating a chilling aura.
"Go!" With a flick of his finger, countless luminous sword blades surged forth like a torrent, carrying a sharp whistling sound that tore through space and time, rushing wildly toward Xuan Dao and that million-mile-long Dharma Image. Wherever they passed, stars shattered and the void was annihilated.
Xuan Dao dared not be careless. He unleashed his eighteen Dharma hands simultaneously, summoning eighteen supreme sacred artifacts. The artifacts intertwined in the air to form a divine array covering the entire star field, its dense patterns containing the supreme mysteries of Buddhism and Taoism. He chanted the six-syllable mantra, the Buddhist sound resounding throughout the heavens. Golden mantras surged like a tide, blessing the sacred artifact array.
In an instant, the great formation spun wildly like a world wheel, generating a mighty force that devoured heaven and earth. Hundreds of millions of luminous sword blades were swallowed up and transformed into nourishment for the great formation, and the Buddhist light shone brightly.
"Interesting, but that's enough!" Koro finally erupted in genuine rage. His twenty pure white wings flapped in unison, and the boundless power of light coalesced into a chaotic halo above his head. His voice shook the universe as he uttered the mantra: "Chaotic Light, Annihilate All Paths!"
Upon hearing this, the entire void of the Vast Heaven Domain instantly fell into chaos. A golden divine light, as if creating the world, shot out from the halo. Wherever the light reached, everything dissolved. Even time and space were crushed into nothingness under this ultimate light. The entire starry sky was transformed into an absolute domain of light, where nothing could stop it and no path could exist.
Xuan Dao's expression changed drastically. His Dharma form shone brightly with Buddhist light, and nine-colored glazed Buddhist light formed a shield. He stepped onto a lotus platform and held the Seven Treasures Tree to meet him. The seven-colored divine light of the Seven Treasures Tree contained the core essence of all matter in the world and could sweep away all supernatural powers. However, he was ultimately only at the Boundless Realm of Heaven and Earth. Even though he had cultivated the Dharma form of the Great Vehicle Merit of the Heavens and his combat power was comparable to the Great Freedom Boundless, there was still a vast chasm between him and a powerhouse like Ke Luo who stood at the pinnacle of the heavens.
The moment that earth-shattering golden light struck, Xuan Dao felt a suffocating despair engulf his entire body.
The terrifying Path of Light tore through the Buddha's light, shattered the chaos, and directly eroded the million-mile-long Dharma Image, leaving it riddled with holes, its golden body shattered, and Buddha's blood splattering everywhere. Even the all-powerful Seven-Colored Divine Light could not budge an inch before this divine light containing the profound mysteries of light, and could only watch helplessly as the Buddha's power of the Dharma Image continuously dissolved in the light.
Koro naturally wouldn't show any mercy. He was wary of the Heavenly Palace and the Western Buddhist Realm, so he couldn't directly kill Xuandao. However, if he only severely injured him, even if Haotian himself came, he wouldn't turn against him, unless the Heavenly Court wanted to lose the Heavenly Realm. Since Xuandao dared to be a tool in someone else's hands, he should be prepared to endure the pain of losing an arm.
"Xuan Dao, since you've chosen to be someone else's lackey, don't blame me for bullying the weak!" The power of light behind Koro coalesced once more, and a colossal angelic figure, millions of miles tall, materialized. The figure possessed twenty-four wings, wielded a holy sword of light, and its eyes held neither joy nor sorrow. With a single palm strike, the angelic figure unleashed a palm force imbued with the profound mysteries of light, directly shattering the grand array composed of eighteen supreme holy artifacts. The artifacts flew backward, their divine runes dimming.
Immediately afterwards, the divine figure pointed a finger, and a condensed power of light transformed into a world-destroying spear, breaking through the limitations of time and space, and instantly piercing through the illusory form of the Xuan Dao.
"Pfft!" The Dharma form shattered with a roar, transforming into a sky full of Buddhist light that dissipated into the void. Xuan Dao's true form suffered this severe injury, with a huge blood hole pierced through his Buddha body. Buddhist blood gushed out, staining the surrounding void red. Yet, he continued to chant Buddhist mantras, his Buddhist power surging wildly. He gripped the Seven Treasures Tree tightly, struggling to hold on despite the erosion of the power of light.
"Angel's Sword, judge the demons!"
Without any mercy, Coro conjured a colossal sword of light, a million miles long, in the hands of the angelic divine figure behind him. The sword was covered with runes of light from all the heavens. With a single slash, countless stars shattered, and a huge rift was split open in the starry sky. With the power to destroy the world, it slashed down on Xuan Dao.
"Amitabha... It seems that in the end I will still have to rely on the power of the main body."
Xuan Dao sighed softly, and with a flick of his sleeve, a lustrous jade talisman flew out from his palm. The moment the jade talisman appeared, an incomparably vast divine power spread out, forming an absolute domain of rules that forcefully blocked the divine sword of light, which was capable of annihilating a great world, from entering the domain.
"Celestial Divine Talisman!"
Koro's pupils contracted sharply, and he instantly withdrew his supernatural power, producing a golden, ancient book in his palm—the Book of Light, a supreme treasure of the Temple of Light. He activated the scroll, and endless mysteries of light surged forth, transforming into an impenetrable barrier of light before him.
The jade talisman had been fully activated by Xuan Dao. In an instant, a rich aura of worldly life enveloped the entire star field, the bustling atmosphere of humanity reaching the heavens, completely different from the serene Buddhist atmosphere. A sword technique, incorporating the seven emotions and six desires, and the myriad aspects of human existence, condensed from the jade talisman, transforming into a transparent longsword. This sword was a Heavenly Venerable Divine Talisman, forged by Ling Che's main body using the essence of the Heavenly Venerable's blood as ink and the Divine Jade of Creation as the talisman body, and spending ten thousand years in the Treasure of Time and Space.
This talisman is engraved with five lines, each containing a Celestial Venerable's divine power, containing a devastating full-force strike. Its power is so great that it can severely injure a Celestial Venerable and directly annihilate an ordinary Qiankun Wuliang.
Xuan Dao poured all his remaining Buddhist power into the Red Dust Sword Talisman. He knew that although the divine talisman was powerful, it was useless if it could not lock onto its target. Fortunately, he had cultivated the Heavenly Eye. When Ke Luo fought him earlier, he had already exposed his causal aura under the starry sky, which gave him the opportunity to lock onto the trajectory.
"Go!" Xuan Dao flicked his finger, and the Red Dust Sword Talisman transformed into a shadowless and invisible stream of light, as if piercing through nothingness, and instantly appeared in front of Koro's light barrier.
The luminous barrier, evolved from the Book of Light, which Coro was confident could not be broken by anyone other than a Celestial Venerable, was as fragile as paper before this sword of mortal power, and was instantly pierced through. Endless mortal power, like a surging tide, swept across Coro's starfield, transforming into countless human figures: a sorrowful woman leaning against a door, waiting for her husband's return; joyful children frolicking in the fields; a passionate youth with hair standing on end in anger; and a weary old man sighing with regret.
Each figure embodies the obsession of all living beings, and at this moment, they all swung their swords at Coro.
This sword strike transcended time and space, shattering light and darkness, merging all living beings and their myriad forms, and embodying the ultimate truth of heaven and earth. Even when Koro activated the Book of Light and unleashed several world-renowned top-tier divine abilities, he could not stop it. That power of the mortal world seemed to possess the might to turn the miraculous into the decaying; upon touching it, Koro's divine abilities of light were like ice and snow meeting the scorching sun, instantly melting into nothingness.
The Crimson Dust Sword Talisman pierced directly into Koro's divine body without any hindrance. The power of the mortal world from countless beings transformed into a strange Great Dao Law, which raged within his divine body, constantly eroding his divine foundation and assimilating his divine origin.
"How could this be!" Koro exclaimed in shock, his divine body trembling violently. "Even a Celestial Venerable's Divine Talisman shouldn't possess such power! Could it be... a Half-Ancestor Talisman?"
He couldn't believe that he had been injured by a divine talisman! What terrified him even more was that the power of the mortal world was constantly eroding his divine origin; if it were allowed to spread, the consequences would be unimaginable. Koro dared not be careless in the slightest and immediately pushed all his cultivation to its limit, laying down layers of luminous principles within his divine body to draw out the strange power of the mortal world that had invaded his divine body.
Seizing this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Xuan Dao wielded the Seven Treasures Tree, unleashing a seven-colored divine light that directly shattered the mental energy field seal laid down by Ke Luo. In an instant, the commotion in the Saha Heaven Domain was clearly perceived by the gods of the Heavenly Court.
"Boom!"
A celestial river of water surged from the void, and amidst the churning waves, a burly figure stood still—it was none other than Bian Zhuang, the God of War from the Heavenly Palace. He gazed at the devastated void, stars shattered, his eyes blazing with fury. His gaze swept over the two figures in the arena. He saw Xuan Dao wielding the Seven Treasures Tree, his Buddha-body riddled with holes, several beams of light still eroding his foundation. On Ke Luo's divine body, there was also a long sword wound, within which a strange, mortal power swirled, its terrifying aura causing Ke Luo's heart to tremble.
He had only sensed that aura in a few ancient ruins; even the pressure from the Heavenly Emperor paled in comparison.
"Lord Ke!"
Bian Zhuang, the God of War, spoke in a booming voice that shook the void: "Haotian ordered you to go to the Boundless Divine Sea to intercept Shi Zu and the others. Why are you here in the Vast Heaven Domain when you weren't on the front lines? You must give me and the Heavenly Palace an explanation for what happened today!"
After the destruction of the Taiwei Realm, a flaw appeared in the star array laid out by the Lord of the Fallen God Island on the western front of the universe. The gods of the Hell Realm were launching a frenzied attack, attempting to tear it apart. If Shi Zu and the others rushed to the front lines, the Heavenly Court's defenses would be severely damaged. As the Lord of the Temple of Light, Ke Luo had disregarded this overall situation and engaged in fighting within the Heavenly Court's own territory. How could Bian Zhuang not be furious?
Faced with Bian Zhuang's questioning, Ke Luo's eyes flickered slightly, showing a hint of evasion.
He had originally gone to the Boundless Divine Sea at the invitation of Haotian, but after learning that Yi Tianjun had been defeated by Zhenyu Shenjun, he began to covet the Primordial Realm. Hearing that the Heavenly Palace intended to support the Primordial Realm, he planned to take it over to his own use and weaken the Shang Clan's influence in the Western Universe. He thought it would be a simple matter, but unexpected complications arose.
Xuan Dao's combat strength far exceeded his expectations. His boundless cultivation allowed him to withstand several of his attacks, and the Seven Treasures Tree had shattered many of his divine abilities. Finally, the Mortal World Sword Talisman severely injured him—truly a case of trying to steal a chicken but losing the rice instead!
"I will naturally stop Shi Beiya in the Boundless Divine Sea. As for other matters, I have no need to explain them to you."
Koro responded to Bian Zhuang in a detached tone, but his gaze swept across the Vast Heaven Domain, fixed on the Heavenly Palace at the center of the Heavenly Court Realm, a cold glint flashing in his eyes. He had lost face and suffered a severe blow today; he would settle this score sooner or later.
He turned to look at Xuan Dao, his voice icy and piercing, filled with a strong threat: "Today, I underestimated you. But the future is long, Xuan Dao. I'll see if you have a second half-ancestral talisman to protect your life!"
Leaving behind these harsh words, Koro's body shone brightly, and he stepped into the void, his figure instantly disappearing from the Vast Heaven Domain.
Bian Zhuang, the God of War, stared in the direction where Ke Luo had left, his face ashen, his divine power surging, but he ultimately did not give chase. Ke Luo's actions undoubtedly brought the conflict between the Heavenly Realm and the Western Buddhist Realm into the open, showing absolutely no regard for the majesty of the Heavenly Palace.
Xuan Dao is the head of the Great Demon-Subduing Academy of the Western Heaven Buddhist Realm, in charge of fighting and subduing demons in the Buddhist realm. Now that he has broken through to the Boundless Realm, his influence in the Buddhist realm is second only to Brahma. Today, in the Heavenly Realm, he was bullied by Ke Luo and severely injured. How could the Buddhas of the Western Heaven Buddhist Realm let this go? The Heavenly Realm and the Western Heaven Buddhist Realm already have a long-standing feud. After this incident, the two realms will inevitably become completely opposed. The situation in the Heavenly Realm was already precarious, and this incident has only made matters worse.
Bian Zhuang felt a heavy weight in his heart, and a sense of uncertainty arose regarding the future of the Heavenly Court. He suppressed his thoughts, turned to look at the weakened Xuan Dao, and softened his tone: "Master Xuan Dao, how are your injuries? I have a Life-Giving Pill here, containing boundless vitality, which can help you repair your divine body."
Having said that, a divine pill, entirely azure blue and radiating with the light of life, flew from his palm and drifted toward Xuandao.
Xuan Dao did not accept it, but sighed softly, his Buddhist voice weak: "Amitabha, thank you for your kindness, God of War. I never expected that Koro would disregard his status and try to kill me. If it weren't for the protective treasure given to me by a senior, I would probably have perished in this Saha Heaven today."
"Colo is going too far!"
A furious roar came from the void, shaking the sky and causing the Buddhist light to surge. Two golden lights broke through the distant starry sky, and a golden road stretched out. On the road, two divine beings arrived on light, with the phantoms of a dragon and a tiger circling around them. The dragon and tiger complemented each other, and the wind and clouds surged. A Buddhist divine might that suppressed all heavens instantly enveloped the entire Saha Heaven Domain.
The newcomers were none other than the two deities, Subduing Dragon and Taming Tiger, from the Western Paradise Buddhist Realm. Both were direct disciples of the Fifth Patriarch, having cultivated for nearly a million years. Their combat power was unfathomable, and they were giants of Buddhism who had traveled through the heavens and left behind countless legends.