Chapter 89 - 89: The Incomplete Relic
The old Buddha held Jiang Li in high esteem, not wanting to confront him directly in battle. He felt that since Jiang Li was no expert in the way of space, he could trap him using infinite space.
Who would have thought, the boundless space that could cage an immortal was shattered by Jiang Li in an incredibly brute manner, at a speed even faster than when he had to break the first formation!
Jiang Li understood that if a Mahayana Realm cultivator and an Immortal went all out in a fight, not just Mount Sumeru, but even the whole Nine Provinces would collapse.
Hence, after he shattered the space within Buddha Land in his palm, he also cracked open the space of Nine Provinces, drew the Old Buddha of Mount Sumeru into the void, and forced them to battle in the emptiness.
With a resplendent golden body, the Old Buddha of Mount Sumeru appeared compassionate. One couldn’t be sure whether it was due to the elegance of the Buddhist Law or the merit embodiment. Presently, not only Jiang Li couldn’t differentiate, even the old Buddha himself couldn’t.
The Six Golden Body of Buddhism had been cultivated to the extreme by the old Buddha, indestructible in its form. Normally speaking, even an immortal on the same level would need to put in some effort to break his golden body.
However, Jiang Li, with his profound understanding of Dao, used the Magic power of Turning Stone into Gold in reverse. With one finger, he turned the old Buddha into a stone statue of six feet tall and immediately smashed it into fine powder.
A being in the Transcendance Tribulation Stage could still regenerate from a drop of blood, let alone the Old Buddha who was already an immortal. Each speck of powdered rubble transformed into another him, seemingly forming a golden panorama that illuminated the void. Billions of The Old Buddha of Mount Sumeru attacked Jiang Li simultaneously.
Jiang Li knew it was impossible that there could be billions of original bodies of the Old Buddha of Mount Sumeru. Even the Dao Sect’s Establishment of the Three Pure Land could only duplicate two selves for simultaneous fight, hence a maximum of three real bodies for the old Buddha.
He breathed in the clouds and spat out mist, turning the rain into soldiers, battling the countless Old Buddha of Mount Sumeru.
A revised version of Sowing beans into soldiers, Turning rain into soldiers.
The Dao Sect was very pleased with Jiang Li studying Dao arts. Every art he studied, he could present two back to the Dao Sect.
After clashing with the old Buddha once, he could instantly discern which were the real ones. The three real bodies of the Old Buddha of Mount Sumeru were quickly discovered. Sighing, the old Buddha said, “Jiang Li, do you know, your talent scares me.”
As he fought against Jiang Li using his divine skills, the old Buddha said, “I’ve lived for 9,700 years. I met the immortals in the first 700 years. None of the immortals were as strong as you. And in the subsequent 9,000 years, I’ve seen countless outstanding people. However, nobody could exceed you. I couldn’t either.”
“Do you know, everytime you lecture about the Mahayana Realm and how to achieve it, I’m trhere to listen, either openly or covertly.” The old Buddha got to this point and his momentum surged again, his expression turning ferocious as he roared:
“But I can’t comprehend! I don’t understand what you’re talking about at all! If I could reach the Mahayana Realm, why would I need to kill people!? WHY!?”
Jiang Li roared back, “What else can I do! I’ve explained everything clearly! What more do you want me to explain!”
The Old Buddha breathed out a breath of Samadhi True Fire, which landed on Jiang Li and disappeared.
Jiang Li felt his Dao-heart being seared by raging flames, akin to iron being hammered a thousand times – it was scorching and painful.
The Samadhi True Fire originated from the heart, using Dao-heart as fuel, burning body and soul into ashes. Even those with firm Dao-hearts could end up completely burnt, yet their Samadhi True Fire would still be burning their Dao-hearts.
Jiang Li executed the Heart Sword, cutting himself with one strike, the sword intent shattered the Samadhi True Fire.
The Old Buddha once again attempted to trap Jiang Li within Buddha Land using his palm. However, this time, Jiang Li did not budge, he detached himself from the reincarnation and fought against him once again.
Both of them were well-versed in divine skills. However, Jiang Li was still one step ahead and defeated the Old Buddha of Mount Sumeru.
He pointed a finger at the centre of the Old Buddha’s forehead. If the old
Buddha made any move, he would puncture the latter’s spiritual platform.
The Old Buddha kept coughing up blood. The blood he coughed out was golden, unstable in the void, exploding on escape.
He laughed wretchedly, saying, “You deliberately entered the reincarnation cycles at the beginning, didn’t you? You actually just wanted to say that to me.”
Jiang Li remained silent.
The old Buddha coughed twice more, barely stabilising his breath, and continued to speak: “You’ve been holding back the whole time I noticed. The Heaven Demons from beyond our realm have similar strength to me. Yet you kill them with ease, but with me, you were careful to not hurt me.”
“Then why didn’t you leave Nine Provinces after you’ve become an Immortal, for other worlds?”
After the Old Buddha of Mount Sumeru became immortal, the chaotic astral winds in the void should have posed no problem to him. Moreover, he was an expert in the way of space, it should have been elementary for him to go to other places.
However, he chose to stay in Nine Provinces, on Mount Sumeru, as if he was waiting for Jiang Li to arrive.
“…Yeah…why indeed…l also don’t Imow…Going to another world…You wouldn’t be able to find me…Maybe because I feel I’m innocent…That you would understand…That you would forgive me…After all…l’ve saved Nine Provinces…”
Jiang Li was silent for a while before he asked, “Who is the Respected
God-hidden? Where is the Heavenly Demon?”
The old Buddha shook his head, “Everything you saw in the God-hidden
Cult…is all there is to know…The demon just told me following the Respected God-hidden and killing people…will give one merit-based powers…All about the God-hidden was made up by me based on their name…l’ve no idea what it is…Perhaps it’s a faith from the Heavenly Demons outside of our realm…”
“About the heavenly demon from outside our realm…” The old Buddha gestured to his throat, “I was cursed by the Six Harmonies Sitting Spell…l can’t speak about it…Even though I’m already an immortal now…”
There was one way to break the Six Harmonies Sitting Spell. That was for the person cursed to ascend to the same realm the spell caster was, the spell would then break by itself.
.Do you understand…..The person is one realm higher than I….yet only dare to do sneaky things…..Jiang Li…..They are scared of you…”
The Old Buddha of Mount Sumeru was an Earth Immortal, but the Heavenly Demons that infiltrated Nine Provinces were Heavenly Immortals. A Heavenly Immortal was fearing a Mahayana Realm phase cultivator.
The Old Buddha of Mount Sumeru laughed scornfully at himself. When he remembered how apprehensive the Heavenly Demon looked, like a petty thief tiptoeing around, his laughter died down immediately.
The way he established the God-hidden Cult secretly without Jiang Li’s knowledge, and stealthily collecting powers of merit, didn’t it seem eerily similar to the Heavenly Demon?
The Heavenly Demon must have calculated that he wouldn’t tell Jiang Li about the power of merit, which was why they revealed it to him. In the eyes of the Heavenly Demon, was he so afraid of death?
“…I know you’re investigating who told Jiang Yixing the demonic path…lt was the Heavenly Demon that infiltrated Nine Provinces…”
.Have you thought about…What is a Heavenly Demon…Jiang Li… The Elder of longevity is lying…He definitely hid something about…the Heavenly Demons…” .Maybe you believe him…But I don’t…”
“…Jiang Li…What you said is right…Heaven is changing…Heaven wants to exterminate us…Only you can protect the Nine Provinces…”
The Old Buddha of Mount Sumeru forcefully put himself in the posture of a Buddhist cross legged sit, put his hands together, immolated his body, and turned into a damaged reliquary.
…where did it go wrong that Jiang Li found out about the God -hidden
Cult…Right…It started when they sent an assassin to kill him at the Tian Sha Pavilion…Why did they do that…lt seemed like after he passed the trials of becoming an immortal fifteen times…His actions changed…
…Is this change…Good…Is it…
Jiang Li held the damaged reliquary, feeling a storm of emotions, but did not know what to say.
He silently returned to Nine Provinces..