Chapter 1706: Earthly Yin Yang Apricot Banner
“Thank you for reminding me. We’re prepared for the Earthly Yin Yang Apricot Banner. My master and Southern Extremity Senior Uncle are keeping an eye on it. Once the Western Pure Lands and Nine Underworlds make a move, we will react in time for it,” said Ne Zha.
Before entering the Western Pure Lands to challenge the Archaic Dipankara Buddha, Yan Zhaoge raised speculations about this possibility with the Taiyi Cultivated Deity.
When the sly Archaic Dipankara Buddha agreed to accept Ne Zha’s challenge, Yan Zhaoge believed that there might be other factors besides Bhante Baixiong’s death.
He brought himself into the shoes of Archaic Dipankara Buddha and realized that the Buddha would take advantage of the duel to gain more benefits or arrange other plans.
Otherwise, accepting the challenge of Ne Zha bore a significant risk with little rewards. The ratio was disproportionate, and it was not worth it to accept the duel.
Of course, the Archaic Dipankara Buddha had many choices, but Yan Zhaoge felt that the more pressing issue was the failure to compete for Sakyamuni Sarira. The sarira fell into the hands of the demon race, while orthodox Buddhism lost the Green Lotus Treasured Flag. Mahamayuri could present an intractable threat.
For that loss, Western Pure Lands urgently needed a solution to minimize the loss and resolve the potential troubles that might arise in the future.
Therefore, Yan Zhaoge thought it was more likely for the Archaic Dipankara Buddha to be eyeing the Earthly Yin Yang Apricot Banner.
Yang Jian was dedicated to accompanying Ne Zha into the Western Pure Lands, and the Southern Extremity Longevity Emperor was sent to find Earthly Yin Yang Apricot Banner. Besides that, Yan Zhaoge asked Taiyi Cultivated Deity to get prepared with the Southern Extremity Longevity Emperor and even contacted other Daoism’s bigwigs to offer help if the Earthly Yin Yang Apricot Banner came into existence.
He, Yan Di, Yang Jian, s.h.i.+ s.h.i.+ran, and Ne Zha entered the Western Pure Lands with Feng Yunsheng staying outside.
It was just that it was still uncertain at the time how Western Pure Lands would act, whether they would stealthily divide their troops or seek foreign aid.
In this case, orthodox Daoism had made proper arrangements for any situation.
Before being thrown out of the Western Pure Lands, Yan Zhaoge contacted Feng Yunsheng immediately.
Sure enough, Great Devils were in the vicinity, but Feng Yunsheng intercepted them. The attacking devil group suffered a large number of casualties.
At the same time, Yan Zhaoge also learned from Feng Yunsheng that the Archaic Dipankara Buddha’s actual goal was indeed the Earthly Yin Yang Apricot Banner.
Western Pure Lands seem to be short of manpower, being occupied by orthodox Daoism while staying wary of the demon races.
But what they did was to put up a facade and carry their plans in the dark. They had the devils helping them seek the Earthly Yin Yang Apricot Banner through the transaction.
As a result, the Taiyi Cultivated Deity, who had been prepared for a long time, took advantage of the situation and didn’t give the enemies a chance.
The two sides were fighting fiercely for the Earthly Yin Yang Apricot Banner.
Ne Zha was also present at the time of the discussion. When Yan Zhaoge mentioned it, he nodded, “Yes, Earthly Yin Yang Apricot Banner is the most important thing for that old man in this event. Our Daoism takes the Earthly Yin Yang Apricot Banner back, so we have won this battle. That old baldy can’t do anything about it. By then, when the demon race uses Sakyamuni Sarira to recruit Kong Xuan into their side, we don’t need to be wary because of the Earthly Yin Yang Apricot Banner and Green Lotus Treasured Flag. But, let’s see how the old baldy handles it then.”
He said, still a little regretful, “But unfortunately, I couldn’t defeat him. The Origin Heart Devil’s intervention caught me in surprise.”
“Although I guessed that Archaic Dipankara Buddha had other arrangements, I did not expect that the Origin Heart Devil would like to repeat the incident with Six-Eared Macaque.” Yan Zhaoge nodded in agreement.
“However, Daoist brother doesn’t have to mind it too much.” He smiled and said, “Since Yang Jian personally attends to Archaic Dipankara Buddha, he would suffer terribly. Amitabha would be involved in the end.”
When Ne Zha heard this, he looked a little dissatisfied and also a little admirably, “If I can directly butcher this evil, I can finally vent out my anger in my heart.”
Yan Zhaoge smiled when he heard those words. Although Ne Zha had been through many things, his temperament was still the same as the rumor.
While the two were chatting, Yan Zhaoge caught onto something and pondered.
“What?” Ne Zha asked, noticing his situation.
Yan Zhaoge replied, “I just received the news that the Taiyi Cultivated Deity, the Southern Extremity Longevity Emperor, and the others have been fighting with the Nine Underworlds Great Devil. The time has dragged on for a while, and the news has spread, which has already alarmed the demon race.”
“Now the fight over the Earthly Yin Yang Apricot Banner is getting more and more people involved, and the situation is getting more and more chaotic.”
Ne Zha snorted, “I’ll be fine right away, and we’ll go over together later.”
“You still have to be more careful.” Yan Zhaoge said, “Origin Heart Devil will definitely still be watching you.”
“Don’t worry. I’m on guard this time. He won’t be able to get me so easily.” Ne Zha was eager to help. He couldn’t wait to fight the Origin Heart Devil face to face.
With Yan Zhaoge’s help, Ne Zha dispelled the black qi around him and returned to normal.
The two immediately set off together.
After Ne Zha was fine, Yan Zhaoge still hadn’t been able to get back in touch with Yan Di so far, which made him a little concerned.
Therefore, Feng Yunsheng did not meet Yan Zhaoge and the two. Instead, she continued to wait outside the Western Pure Lands to receive Yang Jian while searching nearby for Yan Di, who had also been repelled from the Western Buddha Lands.
The duo was traveling together. Ne Zha was also trying to contact his master, Taiyi Cultivated Deity.
Soon, they obtained further updates, indicating that the current fight for the Earthly Yin Yang Apricot Banner was getting more chaotic.
Yang Jian occupied Archaic Dipankara Buddha in the Western Pure Lands. Apart from Amitabha and Mahamayuri, the other Blessed Lands Buddhas could not help him.
So the rest of the Western Pure Lands Buddhas had to dispatch in great numbers to compete for the Earthly Yin Yang Apricot Banner.
Anyway, their true intentions were revealed. Hence, they stopped hiding it anymore and gave it all to increase their chances.
What was planned quietly and secretly had now turned into another war.
“Earthly Yin Yang Apricot Banner has been lost for a long time. I can’t imagine it surfacing into the public’s eye one day.” Ne Zha sighed as he traveled, “Senior Uncle Jiang suddenly disappeared. We don’t know if he has perished and who plotted it. So it stands to reason that the Earthly Yin Yang Apricot Banner’s protection capability should be flawless.”
“Everything in the world has its counterpart. It’s hard to say for sure.” Yan Zhaoge said, “With the Earthly Yin Yang Apricot Banner in hand, it seems solid for defense under normal circ.u.mstances, but its whereabouts are unknown. We have just confirmed that the senior uncle has suffered a calamity. It seems that someone overcame the defense of the Earthly Yin Yang Apricot Banner, but they failed to leave their senior uncle behind, causing him to run away with serious injuries, and later died of it.”
Ne Zha frowned, “The seawater of Nine Underworlds Abyss of Devilish Sea can pollute the Earthly Yin Yang Apricot Banner, but this time they also relied on the clues from the Old Dipankara Buddha, indicating that it was not them who did it. However, even Kong Xuan couldn’t break through the Earthly Yin Yang Apricot Banner’s defense. If a Dao Ancestor is involved, there is no way for Uncle Jiang to run away. Who the h.e.l.l did it?”