A Scroll of Infinite Glory

Chapter 659 Strike First

Taiqing Chiming possesses countless secret realms, many of which are creations left over from the great calamities of ancient times.

Beyond the heavens, beyond the caves, it is a very special place among these creations.

Like the Supreme Great Luo Heaven that some ancient god-kings wanted to build, the Outer Heaven Cave is also an attempt made by a peak-level Heavenly Venerable powerhouse in order to cross the last line and cultivate a complete Dao Fruit.

That peak Celestial Venerable was the supreme leader of Buddhism during that calamity, known as the Tathagata King of Sweet Dew. He also held the title of Limitless Celestial Venerable in the Xuanmen (Taoist sect), and had many powerful subordinates at the Celestial Venerable level.

The fundamental path of his practice is the Buddhist method of prayer. His final attempt was to make ten thousand great vows, taking vows as oaths and mantras. One of the most important vows was to eliminate all possibilities of reversing time and space.

As the saying goes, "The past cannot be changed!"

It should be understood that powerful cultivators who have reached the Celestial Immortal level can basically interfere with spacetime by simply putting a little effort into it.

For powerful beings at the level of Emperors and Saints, influencing the past and future is an easy and casual matter, a matter of a mere thought.

Although this method is not very useful to those of the same level of strength, and they would not easily touch the past karma of those stronger, it is still quite common to use this method to kill or save people.

In the myriad realms, some people with low cultivation levels, or even just ordinary mortals, may still be able to travel through time and space, creating miracles that transcend time, if they obtain extraordinary opportunities and treasures.

Although those who attain enlightenment transcend all paths and are not within the scope of the Great Vow, after the Tathagata Amrita King made the vow that "the past cannot be changed," the number of hidden adversaries suddenly became terrifyingly large.

Even a supreme celestial being like the Tathagata King of Sweet Dew could not accomplish this on his own.

To fulfill his grand ambition, he gathered all the forces under his command and used all his accumulated resources to create the secret realm of "Outer Heaven Cave".

This secret realm is not within the Thirty-Three Heavens, but it will not be found anywhere outside the Heavens. It can only be located by tracing back through certain special traces within the Thirty-Three Heavens. That is why it is called "Beyond the Heavens".

The plan of the Tathagata King of Amrita was to use this secret realm to subtly influence the heavenly realm, and then use the heavenly realm to influence all the myriad realms, further expanding until it deepened its imprint among all paths, thus fulfilling his vow that "the past cannot be changed".

Later, when the Buddha Ganlu fell, his powerful followers were killed or scattered, but the Outer Heaven Cave was preserved as an excellent sealing place and became a prison for serious criminals of the Heavenly Court.

After countless eons, the Underworld was established, the Netherworld expanded, and the Heavenly Court's serious criminals were given new prisons. The Outer Heaven gradually fell into ruin after one great calamity after another.

The immortals and saints of the Thunder Department could not find any trace of Wenqiu Tianzun because Li Changling suddenly made a move at the moment Gonggong broke the seal, sending Wenqiu Tianzun into the Outer Heaven.

Here, white clouds drift by, the earth stretches to the horizon, and birds gather in abundance. Although it is a desolate place, it does not appear barren.

At the heart of the earth lies a valley shaped like a lotus flower petal made of stone, the very place where the Buddha Ganlu gathered his many masters to create this secret realm.

Every flower and blade of grass here is a physical object formed from pure Dao spiritual light. The aura of various Dao singularities still flows through the various landscapes in the valley.

The Celestial Venerable Wenqiu was tall and imposing, with an ancient and refined appearance. He wore a black turban, had a prominent forehead, bright brown eyes, a square face, large ears, thick eyebrows, and a long beard. He sat cross-legged on a pool in the valley, chanting incantations as if he were talking and laughing with someone.

But his hands hung limply at his knees, and between his fingers, crimson blood dripped rhythmically into the pool.

As each drop of blood spread in the water, it was like a red storm surging into the void of the Chaotic Sea. The storm collided with the chaos, producing countless tiny sparks of electricity. Within each spark of electricity lay a vast universe.

Once these universes stabilize, become clear and transparent, and become part of the pool water, the blood-red traces will disappear, and the lightning will also cease to exist.

But soon, new drops of blood would fall, and the glint of lightning would once again flash beneath the pool.

At the edge of the pool, directly facing the direction of Wenqiu Tianzun, sat an old man with full muscles, dressed in hemp cloth, with dark skin and white hair. He held a stone drum in his hands, gently scratching the drum surface with his fingernail, and watching all the changes in the pool.

This person is a member of the [Secret Language] battle group, a Sky Mage who cultivates a relatively niche totem spell among the myriad immortal paths of the Great Void Realm Sea. He has already reached the mid-level of the nine-star level, and the stone drum in his hand is a treasure personally consecrated by the battle group leader.

The fact that he took a less traveled path all the way to the ninth star level shows how proud he was. However, after this period of struggle, he couldn't help but feel a bit of admiration for the Wenqiu Celestial Venerable before him.

According to the Sky-Piercing Master's eyesight, it was clear that the time-sources and multiverses that emerged from the bloodstains falling into the pool were not the kind of creations that ordinary celestial beings would casually create by disrupting chaos.

These multiverses, from the moment they were born, already possessed highly developed civilizations. In each realm, each world, and each galaxy, there was a figure resembling Wenqiu Tianzun, seemingly his past projections of his thoughts, his actual experiences.

This means that the "materials" that Wenqiu Tianzun used to forge this Thunder Pool, all the multiverses, were all created by him using his own will and magic power to materialize his own memories, without relying on the power of the Great Void Sea to cheat.

Therefore, his changes in the Thunder Pool did not have the slightest sense of unknown loss of control that belonged to the Great Void Sea. They were all exquisite and seamless, controlled by his Dao Heart, so that the surrounding enemies could not break through with clever tricks, but could only fight hard against their foundation and slowly wear him down.

Having witnessed such an unyielding spirit and indomitable will, even with the arrogance of the Sky-Piercing Master, he felt that he might be inferior.

He still had the leisure to praise his opponent, while the Great Sage Protector Tathagata, sitting behind the Venerable Wenqiu, was consuming the water of the Thunder Pool while silently reciting scriptures. He was discussing the Dao with the Venerable Wenqiu, and the pressure he was under was undoubtedly much greater. His benevolent brows looked down, and his golden body with four arms and three eyes appeared much dimmer.

As for the other powerful member belonging to the [Secret Language] battle group, because he went to the Thunder Department to discuss the Dao before the imbalance of the Heavenly Realm, thus diverting the attention of the Thunder Department's powerful members, he was the one who suffered the most severe counterattack from Wenqiu Heavenly Venerable after the imbalance of the Heavenly Realm. To this day, he is still suppressed in the waters of the Thunder Pool and has not been able to emerge.

When the sword pellet in the clouds emitted an unusual aura, Wenqiu Tianzun suddenly lowered his head to observe the movement of the sword pellet through the reflection in the Thunder Pool.

The three powerful figures in front of, behind, and in the water of the Thunder Pool could only restrain him at most. What truly caused him to fall into this state of constantly aggravating injuries and make it difficult for him to escape was mainly the sword pellet above him.

"Wenqiu, it seems I can't keep wasting my time with you."

A voice came from the clouds, "Lingshan is two-faced. These people are always wavering in their actions. You're probably tired of seeing them like this. Before you leave, I'll give you a good show."

The moment the sword pellet moved, Li Changling's figure vaguely appeared, but Daxian Hu Rulai had already sensed something was wrong.

The seemingly dim golden body suddenly brightened again, and within its chest cavity, it seemed that another small and exquisite Buddha figure sat, pouring out the power of chanting accumulated in the golden bowl, which merged into the four-armed, three-eyed golden body of the main deity.

His main body had already reached the high level of Heavenly Venerable, and his clone also had the strength of the middle level of Heavenly Venerable. However, before this battle, he specially merged his main body and clone together, knowing that Wenqiu Heavenly Venerable and Huobu Heavenly Venerable were both extraordinary, and dared not not hold back his full strength in order to prevent revealing any flaws.

Even though the great sage was well-prepared, when the words in the cloud were finished, he suddenly felt a pain in his heart.

The entire secret realm of "Heaven Beyond Heaven" and "Cave Beyond Cave" seems to have vanished without a trace.

The Great Sage Protector Tathagata's subtle perceptions of heaven and earth, and all the myriad realms, all vanished, and he suddenly found himself standing on a long, snow-white road.

On both sides of the long road, there were the golden shadows and flowing light of countless divine statues, but even with his mental power, he could not capture the specific details of the statues' disappearance, which showed how terrifying the speed of these never-returning streams of light was.

Looking into the distance, the long road ahead was empty and seemed to have no end. But when he looked down at his chest, he saw a large hole in it. Through the hole, he could see a figure holding a sword walking away.

The Great Sage Protector Tathagata realized that the person should have been at the end of the long road in front of him.

But by the time he could react, the person had already traversed a long and arduous path, pierced through his golden body, and shot away, continuing on his journey!

On this long road, the Great Sage Protector of the Tathagata was the first, and the Sky-Piercing Dharma Master was the second.

A Sky Mage who has mastered totem magic to its highest level no longer has any vital organs. However, even with a large hole in his chest, he still feels intense pain, which is incomprehensible and unbelievable.

The old mage turned around and saw a third person, a warrior with a cold expression, wearing silver wolf armor, whose body still bore the marks left by the water of the Thunder Pool. However, all the lightning wounds combined were not as big as the hole in his chest.

It seemed that further behind the Silver Wolf Warrior, in a more distant place, another person encountered the figure wielding the sword.

But before the monk could see clearly, he heard a furious incantation from the Buddha.

The surrounding statues and their radiant light shattered, and the long, snow-white road broke apart in a series of twists and turns.

The Sky-Piercing Master reappeared in the valley of the Outer Heavens, spitting out a mouthful of blood formed from pure Dao spiritual light. He felt that the nascent form of his Dao Fruit had dimmed considerably, and he was filled with shock and anger.

He saw that the Celestial Venerable Wenqiu was sitting cross-legged in the void, with a scar on his forehead that looked like a blood-red vertical eye, and bloodstains winding down.

The water in Thunder Pool had almost dried up, revealing the figure of the Silver Wolf Warrior at the bottom of the pool.

They also saw the Great Sage Protecting the Tathagata on the opposite side of the pool, his four arms outstretched, his golden body swelling up, and although there was a large hole in his chest, the power of his golden body was constantly increasing.

The valleys, shaped like lotus petals, resonated with his aura; they were all traces of powerful figures from the era of the Tathagata King of Sweet Dew.

But the greatest resonance doesn't exist here, but outside the valley.

Outside the valley, a huge hole appeared, connecting to the sacred mountain and pure land.

The image of the Buddha of Lingshan, with eleven faces and forty-eight arms, appeared in that direction. Two of the arms stretched out, holding the stone lotus petals, while the remaining arms stretched out in a forked manner, forming the wrathful mudra.

That recitation of the Great Buddha's Mantra just now was a resonance from the Buddha of Mount Ling.

"Changling Tianzun, why did you break your promise and even attempt to kill my Buddha of Mount Ling?!"

"The Buddha is mistaken."

The blurry figure in the clouds was as insignificant as a speck of dust compared to the golden body of the Buddha of Mount Ling. The sword pellet spinning in the palm of this blurry figure was even smaller than that.

But his laughter momentarily drowned out all the fluctuations of magic power, thoughts, and the Great Dao.

"I was targeting you... Senior Udumbara!!"

In the center of the sacred mountain, the golden body of the Buddha suddenly trembled.

The golden body remained intact, but the surrounding void, like the Buddha's body, cracked open, flowing out countless golden waterfalls of Buddha's blood.

The Buddha struggled in anger, uttering a long, boundless mantra. One of his forty-eight arms suddenly reached out towards the far west.

In the far west of the Pure Land of Lingshan, beyond the place where sentient beings live, you will see one Udumbara tree after another. Continuing westward, the forest becomes denser and flowers bloom on the trees.

The sheer number of Udumbara flowers transformed the western part of the entire Lingshan Pure Land into a vast sea of ​​white blossoms.

Buddhist scriptures say that there are five kinds of great trees, whose species are very small, but whose trees grow to be huge, able to block out all other small trees, causing them to wither and die, unable to grow.

What are the five? They are the Gandharva tree, the Kaphatara tree, the Ashpata tree, the Udumbara tree, and the Nikkalida tree.

Of these five great trees, the flower that grows on the Udumbara tree is the most wondrous.

The Buddha once praised it, saying: "The Udumbara flower is a manifestation of auspiciousness and miraculous events. It is a celestial flower, which does not exist in the world. If the Tathagata descends to earth or the Golden Wheel King appears in the world, it is due to his great merit that this flower appears."

In the Pure Land of Vulture Peak, Udumbara flowers are not uncommon. However, even those Udumbara flowers that bloom in places like the abode of the Four Noble Truths Buddhas have a very short blooming period. If the Dharma is not preached, the Way is not discussed, and the true body is not present, then this flower will not bloom.

Now, in the far west of the Pure Land of Lingshan, so many Udumbara flowers have gathered in one place, their auras connected, clearly blooming under the influence of the same Buddha.

Its aura is particularly ancient, serene and subtle, permeating the light of the universe, and it is ever-blooming. It is hard to imagine how ancient that Buddha was, and how profound his mental power must be.

As the youngest disciple of Buddha, the extremely "young" Buddha of Mount Ling only extended one arm, yet it resonated with all the Udumbara flowers, causing them to fall off on their own and gather on the Buddha's palm, transforming into boundless Buddha power.

boom!!!

This arm, carrying countless Udumbara flowers, stretched upwards, blasting out from Mount Ling. In an instant, it reached the height of the tenth heavenly realm, entered the heavenly realm, and continued upwards.

In the distant past, when the Buddha was first born, he was a lotus child. He heard that the ancient Buddha Udumbara was going to preach in the city, so he took a five-colored lotus flower, wanting to enter the city to pay homage to the ancient Buddha and learn the Dharma.

As the boy passed by outside the city, he saw that there was a foul atmosphere outside the city, which gathered into a deep pit of muddy water, blocking the way of the believers who were seeking the Dharma. He also saw that an ancient Buddha was about to arrive.

Therefore, the boy lowered his long hair and spread it on the mud pit for all believers and ancient Buddhas to tread upon.

Therefore, the ancient Buddha Udumbara held up a flower and gave the boy a prophecy, hoping that in a future life, the boy would learn the Dharma, attain enlightenment, cross the sea of ​​suffering, reach the other shore, and become a true Buddha, the Tathagata.

But the ancient Buddha Udumbara at that time could never have imagined that after his disciple was reincarnated many times, he would not only achieve enlightenment, but also completely achieve the Dao in the ancient calamity, and from then on become a fundamental source of Buddhism, a Buddha who was one with the original and the holy, who was enlightened and not confused, and who was revered for the supreme Dao.

The ancient Buddha Udumbara was trapped in the realm of Buddhahood for countless eons. Upon seeing his disciple attain enlightenment, he resolutely made a pact with the Buddha, using his status as the Buddha's mentor.

If Buddha were to take charge of Mount Ling, with 5.6 billion years as the limit, the Ancient Buddha Udumbara would sever his own realm, prepare for reincarnation, and become a disciple of Buddha.

When 5.6 billion years have passed, the Buddha will depart, and the reincarnation of the ancient Buddha Udumbara will take over the Buddhist sacred mountain and become the new Buddha.

Those who have attained enlightenment can disregard all cause and effect, but the Buddha could not abandon the gratitude for enlightenment in his heart, so he had no choice but to accept this agreement. Cause and effect are not to be feared; what is to be feared is my own heart.

The Buddha is equal to the Tao, and this mindset naturally influenced all the things that originated from him in the Great Void Sea. Therefore, in many Buddhist scriptures throughout the myriad realms, it is mentioned that even the Buddha had things he could not do.

In the turbulent and dark chaos of the southwestern border sea, the Buddha of Subtle Sound raised his eyes to look at the beam of Buddha light emanating from Mount Ling.

Although they had just suffered a setback against the human race, at this moment, when the Buddha of Subtle Sound saw that Buddha light, his eyes were still filled with a strange smile.

Even the avatar of the Buddha of the Fragrant Treasures, whose true form had been captured, couldn't help but reveal an expression full of anticipation.

The fact that the Heavenly Demon King was able to willingly swear an oath to his nascent Dao Fruit and Mount Ling during this great calamity was certainly not due to any threat of force.

Rather, it was because the Buddha of Subtle Sound revealed this Buddhist secret to them.

"Mara could not provoke the Buddha. When Mara tried to bewitch the Buddha's disciples, if it was truly bewitchment, the Buddha had countless ways to resolve it. But that time was different. The Buddha also knew that his nominal disciple, his actual mentor, had changed and was no longer like the Buddha. The Buddha's helplessness turned into anger, which led him to kill Mara."

The Buddha of Subtle Sound, though he could barely contain himself and burst into laughter, said, “Colluding with visitors from beyond the realm, prematurely triggering the great calamity, releasing Gonggong to cause imbalance in the heavens, creating the Sands of Dharma, and treating all beings in the myriad realms as bargaining chips—one thing after another, he is becoming more and more like a demon.”

"Mara was too impatient. If he had waited until the Buddha had fled far away, and then helped the Buddha's teacher achieve enlightenment through demonic means during this great calamity, that would have been truly hilarious! Hahahaha!"

The great bodhisattvas following them changed their expressions slightly upon hearing these words, as if they had already guessed it. At this point, however, they still felt a lot of complicated emotions that were hard to explain.

However, those in Buddhism who held positions different from the Buddha of Mount Ling have either already left, or, like Ksitigarbha, have been surrounded, killed, and wiped out.

These great Bodhisattvas had already chosen their path in this great calamity, and there was not much to say, except that they all focused their attention on the Buddha's light that was heading straight for the heavens.

The vast void from the tenth to the thirty-third heavenly realm was quickly breached by that arm, which, in one fell swoop, surpassed the top of the thirty-third heavenly realm and reached out to grab the outer heavens.

"Li Changling, during this time, you haven't put any effort into dealing with Wen Qiu. Instead, you've altered the traces left by King Ganlu and seized control of Tianwaitian?!"

"King Ganlu has been dead for too long, and the traces of Buddhism left here are too faint for me. This should not be called alteration, but rather that I used my sword to re-carve most of the pure spiritual light of the Dao here."

Li Changling smiled faintly, "Besides, I never intended to let Wen Qiu go easily!"

The appearance of the outer heavens floated up like thick smoke and ripples, seemingly near yet far, drifting and spinning, shrinking into a small, uneven sword pellet, which then crashed into the ground with a bang.

Suddenly, a bright light burst forth from the thirty-three heavens. After being weakened layer by layer, it still illuminated the entire tenth heaven.

In the Pure Land of Vulture Peak, the Four Noble Truths Buddhas, disregarding their own cultivation, released their true forms and avatars together, wanting to lend a helping hand to the Buddha. However, their magical power was repelled as soon as it drifted toward the Buddha's arm.

The original form and emanations of the Four Noble Truths Buddha were both unstable in the void, staggering back a few steps on the fragments of space.

The next moment, the golden arm completely vaporized and disappeared. From the passage that the arm had just opened, several figures with shattered bodies fell down. They were none other than the Great Sage Protector Tathagata, the Sky-Piercing Mage, and the Silver Wolf Warrior.

"The Outer Heavens are shattered."

The Buddha took a deep breath, and in the Pure Land, many wounds in the void closed, and the Buddha's blood evaporated, transforming into golden auspicious clouds.

However, the Udumbara flowers in the western part of the Pure Land have withered by half, a large number of trees have turned to dust, and the flowers and leaves have fallen and disappeared.

"The root of this upheaval lies in the battle at the Northwest Boundary Sea. Issue my order: launch a surprise attack on the Northwest Boundary Sea, bypassing the human race, and seize the sacred lands of the four Heavenly Courts!"

(End of this chapter)