CHAPTER 556: CHAPTER 99: THE GREAT DESTRUCTION AND YANJI

"What? The Great Destruction!"

"Twice?"

A single stone caused a thousand ripples! Everyone was utterly shocked. Yin Xi’s words completely overturned everyone’s understanding of the known world.

"Then, who is the senior?" Li Qingming’s eyes flashed with a hint of horror, hesitated for a moment, and then asked.

Yin Xi nodded and said, "Each Great Destruction is called an Epoch, and I, the Old Tao, belong to the Universe Chaos World of the First Epoch!"

"Boom!"

Li Qingming’s brain felt as if it had been struck hard by a hammer, he was completely dumbfounded.

A myriad of doubts flooded his mind. If there had been two Great Destructions, then who created the three iterations of Pangu’s Great Thousand World? Was the Pangu I saw truly authentic?

Li Qingming’s confusion was shared by the others, naturally filled with questions.

Unable to hold back any longer, Long Xuhu, seeing everyone still in a state of confusion, blurted out, "Senior, the Primordial World of the First Epoch was created by Pan Gu God. But what about after the Great Destruction? Who created the Great Thousand World then?"

Yin Xi stroked his chin whiskers and said, "In those days, Pan Gu God traversed the Path to Heaven and obtained the Foundation of Great Thousand to create the Primordial Great World. After the Great Destruction, the Pangu’s Great Thousand World was indeed damaged, but the Foundation of Great Thousand still existed."

"According to the spiritual imprint left in the Foundation of Great Thousand by Pan Gu God, the Foundation of Great Thousand will evolve a Heavenly Dao Pangu on its own. This Heavenly Dao Pangu only possesses one-tenth of Pan Gu God’s power. However, it is more than enough to evolve the Great Thousand World!"

"Could it be that the Tao Ancestor, Demon Ancestor, Saint, Quasi-Saint... are all derived following the trails of the past?" Li Qingming was suddenly alarmed.

"That would be terrifying!" Yang Jian exclaimed in shock.

Shakyamuni’s brows furrowed slightly and said, "That’s not right! It should also be the imprint within the Foundation of Great Thousand that influences the direction of the Second and Third Epochs!"

"Hehe, correct!" Yin Xi laughed cheerfully, seeming quite pleased.

"Could it be that Amitabha Buddha and Zhunti Buddha Mother also came to the Endless Buddha Realm during the First Epoch?" Shakyamuni inquired, his expression changing.

Looking at Shakyamuni, Yin Xi’s eyes suddenly flashed with a different light, and he asked, "How might this great monk be addressed?"

Shakyamuni stood up, brought his hands together in a gesture of respect, and gave a Buddhist salutation, "This humble monk is Shakyamuni!"

"The current Buddha responsible for the Central Heaven World, Shakyamuni?" Yin Xi’s expression changed slightly, but he soon smiled in understanding, "There probably isn’t Small Mahayana Buddhism yet, right?"

Li Qingming laughed and said, "Senior may not be aware! Unlike the previous two Epochs, this life’s Shakyamuni is the reincarnation of Zhunti Buddha Mother!"

"Oh? A Saint reincarnation! That is rare indeed." Yin Xi looked at Shakyamuni with a strange expression on his face for a long while before speaking, "Exactly as you all have surmised, the Amitabha Buddha and Zhunti Buddha Mother from the First Epoch indeed came to the Endless Buddha Realm, and it was during the Early Stage of the Second Epoch, traveling the same Path to Heaven!"

"The Early Stage of the Second Epoch? Could it be that during the Great Destruction, the Endless Buddha Realm was not affected?" Li Qingming found this strange, thinking how could such a highly ranked Central Heaven World survive the Great Destruction.

"Affected?" Yin Xi chuckled, "During the First Epoch, the Endless Buddha Realm was merely the size of a bean, easily concealed in some corner to survive the Great Destruction; how could it be affected!"

"Really? That can’t be right!" Everyone exchanged glances, their eyes full of disbelief.

"Back then, Dharma was just a little novice following Amitabha Buddha. It was Amitabha Buddha who opened up the Endless Buddha Realm, and Dharma was merely a successor; he didn’t have such great power!" Seeing the disbelief in everyone’s eyes, Yin Xi added.

"Then, senior, why are you here?" Li Qingming pressed.

"Having obtained help from Saint Laozi’s Tao Te Ching, after I, the Old Tao, broke through to Quasi-Saint, I set off on the Path to Heaven in pursuit of the Saint’s footsteps," Yin Xi said with a carefree smile, shaking his head,

"It’s just my bad luck that right after I exited Wanling Pass, I was captured by Amitabha Buddha and Zhunti Buddha Mother, those two old scoundrels. To convert me to Buddhism, they locked me up here, for two Epochs... If I didn’t know they had died long ago, I would have devoured their hearts out of anger!"

Everyone shivered in unison and turned their heads to look at Shakyamuni.

The previously smiling Shakyamuni stiffened, looking worse than if he were crying.

"Hahaha..."

Soon after, no one could hold back, and they all burst into hearty laughter.

"Alright, alright!" After a long laugh, Li Qingming stopped the laughter and cheer, stood up, bowed to Yin Xi, and said, "Senior, we are now on a quest to subdue other beings trapped here, please join us on our way out!"

"Alright! When I first stepped onto the Path to Heaven, I was locked in this dreadful place! Might as well join you all on the rest of the Path to Heaven this time." Yin Xi looked around the simple interior of Doushuai Temple with nostalgia and said.

"Good, soon Ling Shu, you will break the Sealing Spirit Restriction, we will bring the senior along with us!" Li Qingming looked to Ling Shu, his voice carried a rare hint of chill.

Ling Shu shivered all over and said, "Yes, my lord!"

Time hurried by.

Li Qingming waltzed in as if it were his own home, sweeping through and bringing a total of one hundred and two Quasi-Saints or higher Great Powers under his wing.

Among these Great Powers, apart from the two with the lowest cultivation at the Early Quasi-Saint stage, who aged and died from a lack of Spiritual Energy absorption, the remaining hundred chose to submit.

After all, rather than withering away in a cell, the outside world was far more tempting to them.

Worth mentioning is that Zhan Long, whose scale armor was nearly all shed, turned out to be the Clan Leader of the Dragon Clan born during the Second Epoch of Pangu’s Great Thousand World. He was unfortunately swept into a spatial rift due to the aftershock caused by Luo Hou’s self-detonation during the last Dragon Han Calamity.

Upon waking, he found himself in this strange world and, to regain his cultivation, attempted to fight his way back to Pangu’s Great Thousand World, ravaging throughout the Endless Buddha Realm, which finally drew the still unascended Dharma Ancestor’s attention, resulting in his imprisonment here.

...

At the sub-branch of the Venerable Temple in Canghuo Ancient Star,

Li Qingming sat in the grand hall with a large group of followers.

"Big Brother, when are we going to beat the crap out of that old fogey, the Buddha?" Li Qingquan asked eagerly, rubbing his hands together with excitement.

"Wait," said Li Qingming, without even looking up.

"Wait? What else is there to wait for, Big Senior Brother?" Long Xuhu, impatiently rubbing the dragon horns on his head, said: "We’ve got over a hundred Quasis, a spit from each one of us could drown his damned mother, why the hell are we waiting?"

Li Qingming patted his sleeve and replied, "We do have a hundred Quasi-Saints, but after being locked up in Buddha Prison for so many years, their cultivation, magic, and secret skills have definitely deteriorated. If we don’t give them time to readjust, we’d just be serving ourselves on a platter! Moreover, considering the Endless Buddha Realm was born at the end of the First Epoch, in all this time, don’t you think it would have developed some depths? You really think there are only the Great Elder of the Venerable Temple and the Buddha, just two Quasi-Saints? Would you believe it if it were your own place?"

"Amitabha Buddha," Shakyamuni chimed in, palms together, "Master Li speaks wisely! And considering the Endless Buddha Realm’s rank in the Central Heaven World, the Chasing Daoists have surely nailed down their stakes there. This bone isn’t easy to chew!"

"Damn, got excited for nothing!" Long Xuhu plopped down on the floor, evidently miffed.

Yang Jian patted Long Xuhu’s shoulder, saying, "Master Long, don’t you still need to absorb the Life Law of the Land of Buddha Transformation? You better hurry before you forget."

"Right!" Long Xuhu’s mood swung back rapidly and, grabbing Yang Jian and Ling Shu, who was squatting in a corner, he bolted out of the grand hall, shouting as he ran, "Big Senior Brother, I’m off to check out the Land of Buddha Transformation!"

Poor Ling Shu was carried in his hand like a little chick, looking as uncomfortable as one could be.

...

On Saint Buddha Star in the Western Extreme Land, there lay a primordial place with giant trees hiding the sky and ancient vines reaching the Nine Heavens; occasionally, a fierce roar would thunder across Cangqiong.

Many Fierce Beasts rarely seen on Hua Xia Land roamed here often, with giant birds ripping through the skies, whose claws the size of small hills could tear open the Void at the slightest motion.

In a nearby lake, Xuan Turtle hid in the lush underwater grass, swallowing whole a large python with a single bite...

This place raised many Fierce Beasts, used by the Endless Buddha Realm for training mounts.

Not far from there, ten Late Quasi-Saint Bodhisattvas guarded this place, taming them.

Tonight, over Saint Buddha Star, the moonlight was rich, and the vibrant earth seemed draped in a layer of silver frost. The ten Quasi-Saints all sat together, meditating with closed eyes.

"Boom!"

A thunderous explosion, stones piercing the sky. Above the Western Extreme Land, a huge hole nearly a hundred zhang long suddenly appeared, and under the moonlight, a troop of figures emerged out of thin air.

This was followed by a surge of Evil Qi, a murderous intent breaking through the Nine Heavens.

The sky changed color abruptly; the Silver Moon hid behind clouds, and the bright stars dimmed to nothingness.

"Roar!" "Screech!" "Neigh!"

All of the Fierce Beasts awakened from their slumber, becoming wildly restless and roaring without restraint.

"What’s happening?"

"This aura is—what!!!"

The ten guardians of the Western Extreme Land roused from their meditations, looking in panic at the dark silhouettes that had appeared out of nowhere.

Among the guardians, a tall, skinny old monk quickly gave orders: "Seng Yi, Seng Si, you each control the Barbarian Elephant Clan and the Great Strength Bull Demon Clan; they should be able to hold off the enemy for a while; Seng Liu, Seng Qi, go to the Venerable Temple and Buddha Master Transformation Hall, notify the Great Elder and the Buddha, this is a force from the Central Heaven World, this is an invasion, this is an attack on our world!"

"Yes!"

All the guardians leaped into action, scattering and flying out in all directions. (To be continued. If you enjoy this story, feel free to vote for it with a monthly ticket at Qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile readers please visit m.qidian.com to continue reading.)