Donghuang Ziji

Chapter 940 Twisted Fate

"That one?"

"I can sense that the Buddha in the Pure and Blessed Great Heaven has deviated from the normal Buddhist teachings. The so-called Buddha is nothing more than an enlightened one. Forcing it is also a form of prejudice."

The Buddha clasped his hands together, a hint of emotion appearing in his eyes. The Buddha seal on his palms dissipated, and he said to Chu Tai, "This is all I can tell you. For the rest, you may wish to ask Bodhi Patriarch, the current Heavenly Emperor, and Laozi."

Chu Tai nodded, gently patted the nine-headed green lion and turned east. When he passed Lingtai Fangcun Mountain, the gates of the blessed land opened wide, and the immortal light and auspicious energy guided Chu Tai into that spiritual place.

Inside the Cave of the Crescent Moon and Three Stars, the Patriarch looked at Chu Tai, reached out and sent the nine-headed green lion into the mountain, allowing him to comprehend the Way of the Mind.

With a flick of his hand, a blue lotus flower bloomed, clouds surged, and auspicious energy rolled, forming an eight-treasure cloud light bed. What did he mean? Chu Tai took his seat, and then took out nectar and immortal fruit to make the atmosphere peaceful and leisurely before slowly speaking: "I understand your thoughts. As far as I am concerned, the Heavenly Fate Master is my old body. Since I regained my Dao, he and I have become two lines that have interacted, and they do not necessarily have to overlap."

"Rather than bringing back the complete, or even more powerful, Tian Siming, I actually hope that I can maintain my current state, while Tian Siming continues to hold the front line of defense."

After speaking, the Patriarch looked towards the Heavenly Court, his gaze falling on the three goddesses, and said calmly, "If they can suppress their influence on the Heavenly Fate, I don't mind if you help them build a platform, and I would even be happy to see them create a different chapter within their fixed destiny."

"After all, I am also a soul that has broken free from fate."

After the patriarch finished speaking, he handed a ray of light to Chu Tai.

"This item was a wisp of pure, crystal-clear light that was given to me by the Buddha in the past. Later, the Three Pure Ones also each gave me a wisp of pure, immaculate light. These two items were the anchors that helped me maintain my original mind and resist the power of the Heavenly Demon and the distorted pull of the Heavenly Fate in my early years. Now that my Dao fruit has become more and more perfect, and Heaven and the Heavenly Demon have been sealed, I no longer need this item. So I give it to you as a small support for you in building your platform."

"This item is no ordinary thing."

Looking at the radiance before him, Chu Tai's eyes flickered slightly. This thing contained both the pure and clear meaning of Buddhism and the pure and immaculate principles of immortals. Most importantly, the two were intertwined and had been in Bodhi Patriarch's body for a long time, condensing part of the Dao Fruit principles of his spiritual path. Just like the Buddha Seal in Tathagata's hand earlier, it was far superior to the power of an ordinary second-grade Dao Fruit.

At this moment, the patriarch handed it over to Chu Tai without hesitation.

After a moment of silence, Chu Tai accepted the radiance to express his gratitude, then summoned the Nine-Headed Green Lion, who had gained some enlightenment, back to the mountain, and ascended to heaven.

Laozi was already waiting at the Western Heavenly Gate. Upon seeing Chu Tai, he went straight up to him, and the Golden and Silver Boys took the Nine-Headed Green Lion away, leaving only Laozi and Chu Tai to walk towards the Lingxiao Palace.

"Laojun, no, I should address you as Taiqingtian now, what are your thoughts on the Queen Mother of the West's ideas?"

Laozi looked at Chu Tai and asked, "Instead of asking for my opinion, why don't you ask them what they think? Fellow Daoist, your Taiyi Dao gives all beings choices, but most of the time you just show them the choices so they can see more of the future. But have you ever personally asked them what they really want?"

"Just like Su Hua and the other two, since they want a platform to contact the female immortal, you can tell them the dangers of this action and let them choose for themselves. All you need to do is provide a safety net, just like what the three of us have always insisted on. As long as all living beings in the world have not reached the point of no return, we can let them develop. Only in this way can they possibly create a future beyond what we can predict."

"Now, you can tell all three of them about the future, and I'm sure they won't let you down."

After saying this, Laozi escorted Chu Tai into the Lingxiao Palace and then slowly withdrew, allowing Chu Tai to communicate with Taiyi Zhenjun.

Taiyi Zhenjun, in his Heavenly Emperor form, looked at Chu Tai and said in a low voice, "As Taiyi Zhenjun, I do not wish you to do this. This action does not bring much benefit to the current order. The gains and the people that can be saved are disproportionate to the danger."

"But as the Heavenly Emperor, I do not believe that abandoning anyone is the right choice, and I very much hope that someone can transcend our calculations."

"So, whatever you do, I will not stop you, but I will not help you either. What the future holds depends on whether you can bear it, or whether you can lead those female immortals in a better direction."

After speaking, the Heavenly Emperor summoned the three goddesses, Su Hua, to await Chu Tai's choice.

The three female immortals, Suhua, Qingniao, and Yuzhen, looked at Chu Tai with calm gazes and did not say a word.

Chu Tai then looked at the Heavenly Emperor and said, "Your Majesty said you would neither obstruct nor help, but in fact you hope that I can intervene a little. After all, only by establishing a connection can we have more feelings for this place, and then keep it in our hearts and make some sacrifices for it."

"So, what's your choice?"

Taiyi Zhenjun, still displaying the demeanor of the Heavenly Emperor, posed the question.

Chu Tai looked at the three somewhat nervous female immortals and chuckled, "Obviously, I don't intend to give up their chance to survive. I will help with the construction of the platform. However, why do you insist that I take the initiative? The Dao of Taiyi has already entrusted the choice to you. Why don't you ring the Bell of Taiyi yourselves?"

As he spoke, a melodious bell rang in Chu Tai's heart, and ripples emanated from his body, landing on the three female immortals, Su Hua, Qing Niao, and Yu Zhen. Then, three layers of ripples appeared on them, and the sound, different from that of the Eastern Emperor Bell, echoed in the void along with the ripples.

The three ripples intertwined, causing the Kunlun Mirror to suspend in mid-air.

The radiance originating from Bodhi Patriarch bloomed in Chu Tai's palm, its bright light shining on the Kunlun Mirror, reflecting countless phantom images into the past.

Then, a new bell rang from Chu Tai's heart, spreading towards the illusory figures in the mirror, creating ripples on each figure and echoing continuously across the river of time, forming a small platform with the help of the Kunlun Mirror.

Then, these platforms stabilized themselves in the cracks between heaven and earth, connecting the masses who were sinking in one world after another.

A female immortal whose foundation was stripped because she refused to compromise her principles; a female immortal who became a tool for reproduction because she refused to submit; a female immortal who was betrayed by the darkness in people's hearts because she was compassionate in saving people...

A faint bell rang in the ears of many fairies, reshaping their foundations, restoring their magic, and granting them a slight power to resist.

At the same time, the commoner who had transformed into a rat demon, the monk who had been deceived and turned into an ice zombie, the cultivator who had failed to attain enlightenment and instead turned into an insect, and the immortal seeker who had fallen into a sea of ​​fire and was suffering terribly, all heard a faint bell sound. It was from other worlds that they were trying to pull them back.

One by one, people's destinies began to change, stirring up wave after wave of fate amidst the tolling of the bell. Pulled by various forces, the Heavenly Master of Fate, twisted like a thousand strands of braid, gradually manifested.

It was a gigantic shape formed by countless broken, hundreds of millions of thin, transparent threads twisted together. Each thread represented a moment in time that had been broken. It appeared to be transparent like crystal, but inside flowed the embers of countless civilizations, brimming with an unusual vitality.

As it flows, countless hazy, ethereal grains of sand, a mixture of crimson blood and pure white shimmering light, appear and disappear.

If you fix your gaze on it, you can see countless fragments of rules, reflecting one broken world after another, or one that is heading towards breakage.

At the very center of those countless threads, in a position similar to the center, floats a gray mist core that is constantly disintegrating and reorganizing. Each pulsation of the core causes thousands of threads to reorganize, then break again, and tiny fragments turn into sand and gravel that flows with a mixture of scarlet blood and pure white light.

As the sand and gravel flowed, they gradually entered the core, giving birth to tiny embryos. Each time an embryo broke apart, it would cause the core to pulsate.

It is an endless cycle of collapse, reconstruction, decay, and attempt, repeating without beginning or end.

This is the distorted Heavenly Fate, still trying to save himself and even others—the Holy Emperor.

It is also the terrifying source that now prevents countless worlds under the Three Pure Ones from finding liberation.

Sensing this being gradually materializing, Laozi, who had retreated outside the door, suddenly rushed in, looked at Chu Tai, and exclaimed in surprise, "Fellow Daoist, why are you doing this..."

Before he could finish speaking, an ancient and precious bell appeared above the Three Pure Ones Heaven, directly suppressing the revealed Heavenly Fate Master.

"How can acquired changes and distortions surpass innate qualities?"

Chu Tai looked back at Laozi, his voice soft and tinged with a hint of a smile.

"Perhaps, proceeding slowly is the best option, but that shouldn't be my choice. I've left the decision to them, and now I'm just providing them with a safety net."

"This action aligns with the True Lord's thoughts, doesn't it?"

Chu Tai looked at the silent Taiyi Zhenjun. Around the Eastern Emperor Bell that suppressed the Heavenly Fate, the Dao Fruits of the Great Fate and the Lesser Fate had already manifested.

【The Forgiveness Qinghua (Emperor of Fengdu)】 and 【Resurrection (Shao Siming)】 transformed into two illusory deities, a male and a female, standing at opposite ends of the Heavenly Siming, reorganizing the cycle of birth, aging, sickness, and death, formation, existence, decay, and emptiness. At the same time, the Dao Fruit 【Si Shi (Si Ming)】 of the Xiangjun and Xiangfuren system manifested, transforming into an illusory river of cosmic light, constantly washing over each thread, preventing its trajectory from completely spiraling out of control.

On Mount Ling, the Buddha looked at the Heavenly Fate Master with a hint of surprise, then chuckled and summoned all the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and Arhats. He chanted Buddhist mantras, and the Sanskrit sounds connected with Taiyi, transforming into countless ripples that spread to countless heavens and earths. Countless new ripples emerged, intertwining in the void and condensing into the Garan Bell that had briefly appeared before, standing atop many heavens and earths and mountains to suppress the changes.

The three female immortals, Yu Zhen, Su Hua, and Yu Zhen, who were the starting point, radiated a dazzling light, and mirrors stood in the void, reflecting even more new futures.

During this process, the four major condensed parts of the Dao Fruits, namely [Celestial God (Celestial Immortal)], [Bearing Heaven], [Divine Immortal] and [Gouchen (Escape One)], manifested and floated around the Eastern Emperor Bell, transforming into the phantom images of four immortal deities, cooperating with the Three Pure Ones to suppress the Heavenly Demon and the changes in Heaven.

Because external connections had just begun to emerge, they were immediately severed, preventing any opinions from getting through.

Although the Heavenly Demons were in a better position, countless heavens and earths and countless living beings were crying for help at this moment. The countless voices transmitted by the Taiyi Dao through the Eastern Emperor Bell echoed in countless voids.

The endless ripples transformed into boundless waves, covering all the changes in the heavens and earth, giving the Heavenly Demon no chance to escape. The moment a change occurred, it was crushed by the ripples of the Eastern Emperor Bell.

After finally managing to gather a sliver of spiritual light, Chu Tai's avatar had been waiting nearby for quite some time.

The Heavenly Demon looked at Chu Tai, gazing at the illusory image of the Eastern Emperor Bell condensing in his hand due to countless ripples, and let out a sneer: "What are you thinking, suppressing such a supreme treasure in this world that doesn't belong to you..."

As the bells rang, Chu Tai smashed the demon's head, which was beginning to take human form. His cold voice rang out: "That was my choice. You, a prisoner who spouts nonsense and is imprisoned by us, should reflect on the sins you have committed in the past while you are in that cage, and then await your final judgment!"

"Is this the kind of trial you're talking about? You've brought about change, which in turn makes my escape possible."

After a long while, the Heavenly Demon, which had re-formed, sneered at the Eastern Emperor Bell in Chu Tai's palm: "How could a junior like you, who relies on external forces to wield such vast power, understand that our power is already rooted in the myriad phenomena of heaven and earth? How could you possibly seal it away as you please..."

The bell rang again, and the Heavenly Demon's head collapsed once more. Chu Tai extracted a small amount of the Dao Fruit of [Transformation] from it.

"Have you forgotten that I also grasp the concept of 'change'? Although I'm not as proficient as you, your repeated 'changes' have shown me the way. In this respect, I really want to thank you. Thank you for showing me the possibilities of change without considering the cost."

"Since you're not afraid of being influenced by me, why should I..."

The bell rang for the third time, crushing the portion of the demonic power that had finally managed to break free. As Chu Tai extracted the [Transformation], he muttered, "You've learned your lesson, haven't you? This time you don't even have a human form."

Then, looking into the void, he sensed the gradual construction of countless platforms, the discussions among countless people about how to help each other, and the gradual return of each world to its proper course. Finally, he looked at the Heavenly Fate Master beneath the Eastern Emperor Bell.

The endless distortions, even with the suppression of the Eastern Emperor Bell, gave people a slight tremor, despite the ever-improving state of the world.

Of course, Chu Tai was very clear that the tremor was not a real occurrence, but rather the internal distortion and changes of the Heavenly Demon constantly impacting the pressure of the Eastern Emperor Bell.

Specifically, the two deities, a man and a woman, who were transformed into [The Great Emperor of Fengdu] and [The Resurrection (The Lesser Master of Fate)], would finally manage to untangle a thread to reduce the suppression of the Eastern Emperor Bell, only to instantly return to their distorted form, or even become more distorted.

The power of the Heavenly Demon flowed upon it, but this time it did not utter a word, nor did it manifest its form.

(End of this chapter)