"Hmm? Avici Hell?"
"First Yuqing!"
The aura emanating from Avici Hell caused Mr. Gu, who was within the eternal time, to turn back abruptly.
The Buddha Emperor had escaped to a place unknown to the world. In Mr. Gu's view, the Buddha Emperor's actions confirmed his suspicions about Ji Xiang.
There was an unknown history in the world!
It was outside all future observations!
Even he, who was at the extreme end of the future, at the end of all changes, could not see this history. Buddhism had a method to access these unknown histories, without past or future!
And now, the First Yuqing, whom even he could not find, had appeared!
"As expected! The first person, the twelfth person, the thirteenth person, were all in unknown history! Even I couldn't see them. If I hadn't come to kill this Buddha Emperor, I wouldn't have found your traces!"
The aura appeared very subtly. Even within Avici Hell, it was thousands of feet of light, illuminating the Jambudvipa River, and vast enough to cover the Vajra Hell deeper within. However, it was difficult to detect within the flow of time, because Avici Hell was a projection, and the First Yuqing had also employed concealment methods in revealing his aura.
However, Mr. Gu felt that the other party was deceiving himself. Once his whereabouts were revealed, could he still escape his pursuit?
His gaze could see in all directions, see the four phenomena of the world, all futures, and various pasts. But at this moment, he decisively abandoned his pursuit of the Buddha Emperor. The Buddha Emperor's last trace quickly disappeared from the world, leaving only a name that could be passed down but not traced back.
Mr. Gu tore through the flow of time with his large hand, and the Vajra Lotus Platform appeared before him, as dazzling as thousands of suns, scattering its radiance onto countless Dharma realms, an immeasurable number.
Avici Hell was the destination for all the sins of sentient beings, a constant and unchanging ancient past, even before the current flow of time.
Mr. Gu waved his hand, and the Vajra Lotus Platform immediately extinguished, devoid of light for eternity, even beginning to wither and decay. The power of the Huiji Vajra was no match for Mr. Gu.
And at the moment the lotus platform withered, a vast Yuqing radiance surged from Avici Hell, engulfing the surrounding smaller hells. Mr. Gu finally saw that great door.
Unknown history.
The first Yuqing cultivator!
"The first person to see the Primordial Heavenly Venerable!"
"So it was you! The Nine Nether Sin-Removing Heavenly Venerable!"
Although the title circulated in the world, and the past that was passed down had appeared, it was not him.
Just like the Buddha Emperor who had just disappeared, what remained in the world was a false image. All reflections were the legends of this god and Buddha by later generations. This legend borrowed falsehood to become truth, deeply imprinted in history, inscribed on the annals of history, a dead name.
Since the Tang Dynasty, the name of the Underworld Master had been circulating. The Four Heavenly Venerables pursued the Upper Master Badao, and were defeated by the Upper Master Badao using the divine power of the Primordial Heavenly Venerable. The divine positions of the Four Heavenly Venerables fell to the Japanese Yellow Springs, and one-third of the Mount Tai divine power also fell outside the East Sea. Thus, the Mount Tai Lord departed, and it was then that the Bi Xia Yuan Jun took charge of Mount Tai.
It was said that the power of Mount Tai was a part evolved by the Underworld Master, and the Underworld Master was the origin of all darkness.
The Upper Master Badao was also a Yuqing cultivator, but he had become history, devoured by Mr. Gu, and no longer existed. Everything he possessed naturally became Mr. Gu's.
"Back then, I was so close to you. What a pity that Badao was incompetent."
"But now that I am in charge of the annals of history, rewriting everything is just a fleeting moment!"
Mr. Gu saw the Yuqing radiance and tried to enter but failed repeatedly. This flow of time could not extend into that portal, nor could it even get close, because in that history, he had no legend.
No name was left behind, no beginning, no future, no thought, no wish.
And at this moment, Avici Hell suddenly left the flow of time where Mr. Gu existed. The projection disappeared and surged towards the past of the past, a time when this flow of time did not yet exist.
It was the moment of dependent origination.
It was said that the source of the torrent of karma was the place of dependent origination. Mr. Gu watched Avici Hell leave. He did not devour the origin of Buddhism because the Buddha was not in the past or future, but at the place of dependent origination.
He could not reach it, and naturally could not devour it. He had also devoured other Buddhas, such as the Future Buddha Maitreya, whom he devoured as soon as he appeared from legend. At that time, he knew that from the minds of other Buddhas, one could not see the Buddha at the moment of dependent origination.
As long as the Buddha does not perish, Buddhism will not be destroyed.
The future is unknown and terrifying, the past is mysterious and horrifying. The strong are weak in the past, so people always move towards the future and dare not look back at the past.
"Then I will rewrite my history here and find a way to approach you!"
Mr. Gu did not pursue Avici Hell because he could not catch up. So he instantly twisted the annals of history. He returned to the Tang Dynasty, and the world changed. The colossal figures of the Four Heavenly Venerables appeared beside him, unleashing the divine ability of sealing the heavens and locking the seas to capture him.
Because at this moment, Mr. Gu transformed into Badao.
"If the thirteenth person still held your divine positions, I could directly find his history by borrowing your current existence."
Mr. Gu looked at the Four Heavenly Venerables and became furious when he thought that their divine positions were now with Qing Yang.
Qing Yang had ultimately died. Even though his true body had not perished, the clone that was separated and occupied Ji Xiang's existence was an important means to awaken the main body of Qing Yang. Mr. Gu did not care about the Dao, nor did he want to kill the main body of Qing Yang.
However, in a single thought, all Four Heavenly Venerables turned into bubbles. They were all stunned, and in the next moment, they twisted and disappeared, annihilated by the "Upper Master Badao" transformed by Mr. Gu.
In the next moment, he stepped into the Japanese Yellow Springs. History was completely distorted and modified. In this land of catastrophe, there was a crack leading to the Crow Cry Country. Mr. Gu approached the crack. He knew that Ji Xiang had once obtained a nameless divine ability from the Nine Nether Sin-Removing Heavenly Venerable from here, which meant that this portal could accept "Yuqing" entering.
"Open!"
The crack was torn open, and the light of the Crow Cry Country gushed out. The Japanese gods and demons in the Yellow Springs were all reduced to avatars by a single thought from Mr. Gu. Moreover, the path of gods and demons was originally opened by the Upper Master Badao. Therefore, with a single thought, everything here was rewritten, and all history after the Tang Dynasty disappeared!
The tribulation of world destruction was merely a thought from Mr. Gu.
At this time, the world was in chaos, and everything was distorted and changed, but for Mr. Gu, none of it mattered!
The First Yuqing was right before him. By obtaining him, he would obtain a method to illuminate something more profound. He was the first person to witness the Primordial Heavenly Venerable, and also the true opener of Yuqing. He was not a legend-created origin, but was older and more important than those legendary false origins.
Buzz—!
"The beginning of the formless, before the appearance. The Dao is innate..."
"Here, I am the First Yuqing!"
Mr. Gu finally saw this history, but the ecstasy on his face instantly turned into astonishment.
In the legends of the world, and even in the human world of all ages, there were great ghosts from the Crow Cry Country entering and exiting yin and yang, subduing many malevolent ghosts. Descriptions mentioned crows, great cities, black suns, golden moons, traveling Daoist followers, and Nine Earth Divine Kings.
But now, there was nothing here.
Only a vast and boundless high sky!
"What is this, what is this place!" Mr. Gu looked at this high sky, within which was a piece of Yuqing radiance. There was only a piece of Yuqing light here, existing for an unknown amount of time, independent of the great time and the four phenomena. All the phenomena of the Crow Cry Country were projections of this Yuqing radiance!
Mr. Gu discovered that this radiance had an owner, but he could not see its owner through this radiance.
And at the same time, a voice sounded from within the radiance, its source untraceable, extremely low, but when heard in the mind, it was even more thunderous than heavenly thunder.
"The immortal path is dead!"
This voice stunned Mr. Gu for a fleeting moment.
Next, millions of heavenly rules transformed into tangible text, surging out from the Yuqing radiance, sealing and severing Mr. Gu's limbs, bones, and myriad thoughts. Mr. Gu's body disappeared, fleeing from this history. Those heavenly rules flew out from the crack, transforming into a majestic mountain, pure and bright, white and radiant, intending to crush Mr. Gu to death!
Mr. Gu had myriad thoughts, evolving time, constantly breaking free from the heavenly rules. But with each thought that arose, a majestic mountain corresponding to it flew over. Thus, millions of mountains spanned time, transforming into a vast ocean!
Mr. Gu recognized this mountain. As someone who considered himself the true body of Yuqing, the embodiment of the immortal path, and now holding the pinnacle of both teachings, overseeing all futures, how could he not recognize this mountain!
This was the Jade Capital Mountain where the Primordial Heavenly Venerable lectured!
And the Jade Capital Mountain, in the Great Luo Heaven, was the heavenly domain governed by the Primordial Heavenly Venerable!
"That empty sky is the Great Luo Heaven?! Impossible, in the future, I will be the one in charge of the Great Luo Heaven! How can that mountain be the Great Luo Heaven!"
The Great Luo Heaven was merely a Dharma realm created by legends. Some equated it with the Great Floating Li Earth. Therefore, in the future, whether it was the Great Floating Li Earth or the Great Luo Heaven, they would be under Mr. Gu's control.
"I am the future of the future, how can I be affected by your heavenly rules from the past of the past!"
"These are Jade Capital Mountains transformed by heavenly rules, not the real Jade Capital Mountains. The Great Luo Heaven is also fake, all fake! The world is true or false in a single thought. If I say it doesn't exist, it doesn't exist!"
Mr. Gu's anger surged, evolving more thoughts and various futures. He pushed all those futures forward, colliding with each Jade Capital Mountain. One by one, the heavenly rules would suppress and kill those futures. But every time a future was locked down by heavenly rules, it meant that a flow of time was severed from Mr. Gu. In this confrontation, Mr. Gu immediately understood some important things.
"By locking down my future, these heavenly rules were left for me long ago! No one can touch them, because only I, representing the immortal path, am here, which means the arrival of the entire Yuqing!"
"Do you want to treat me as a tribulation to be quelled? Do you think that by destroying all futures, locking down all flows of time, even sealing all human thoughts, and losing all cultivation techniques, you can cut me off?"
Even though he was scared and had fled from that special history, Mr. Gu still did not believe he would lose to the First Yuqing. Because that was not his home ground. Here, now, the entire world, all realms, all sentient beings, all thoughts, even the four phenomena, were his power!
This was his home ground, nothing was impossible!
...
"The beginning of the formless, before the appearance. The Dao is innate..."
The sound of chanting scriptures arrived.
Ji Xiang in black opened his eyes.
The immortal mountain was vast and radiant white, and the real Ji Xiang, who had disappeared earlier, was before him.
"You...?"
Qing Yang was horrified. He looked around and found no Mr. Gu, nor Yuan Huang or Christ. He had not entered the heavenly kingdom after perishing as Christ had said, nor had his consciousness returned to his main body to reform into chaos. In fact, the existence of Ji Xiang that he occupied still existed.
And before him, the Ji Xiang whose existence he had seized also truly existed, and Qing Yang could feel that the other party was also "Ji Xiang."
"This is impossible. You are in the Heavenly Heart Realm. You reflected into the future and succeeded, but how were you not found by Mr. Gu?"
Qing Yang could not understand the current situation, or rather, why here...
"There is no future!"
Although the immortal mountain existed vast and boundless, upon closer inspection, all sentient beings were static. In the stillness... repeated static scenes, even without connection between them. Every new scene, every new action of sentient beings, changed within the stillness.
"Before the Primordial, before the Dao... you, have you become the Primordial Heavenly Venerable...?" Qing Yang's mouth could not close, but Ji Xiang gently corrected him:
"You arrived as scheduled, just as I saw in my thoughts. There is no Primordial Heavenly Venerable here, only the Un-Beginning Heavenly Venerable."
"The Second Yuqing, without past or present, without beginning or end."
As the words fell, the existence on Qing Yang began to disappear, leaving only a formless form. This was the original appearance of Qing Yang's transformed body, a form without form, existing by borrowing the existence of the Yuqing cultivator. Therefore, it was called an evil entity by past Yuqing cultivators.
"Me?! You?" Qing Yang could only utter two words, and then this formless form was transformed by Ji Xiang into an invisible scroll, which Ji Xiang threw towards the central sky, transforming into a ram's horn.
"The primordial qi flows, originating from the northeast, like a ram's horn, soaring from the east, rotating left towards the south, first passing through the Ji star, then from the south towards the west, from the west towards the north, and then returning east through the stars, entering the Fuyao Tai Zhong. This is the cycle of梵qi for one round, growing all things, completing the work of one year."
"The great selection of dharma gates, the creation of heaven and earth. The phenomenon of the world, achieved here."
"Dependent Origination."
Qing Yang was transformed by Ji Xiang into one of the four phenomena of the Second Yuqing, becoming the source of dependent dharma. And after the appearance of dependent dharma, a Yuqing portal opened here, appearing out of nowhere, emitting the aura of the Nine Nether Sin-Removing Heavenly Venerable.
"Only those who have seen the Xuan Xiang can see another who has seen the Xuan Xiang."
Ji Xiang moved towards it, and after entering that portal.