Chapter 1537 : The Great Calamity of Yore
For orthodox Daoism experts like the Incongruence Divine Mother, they were naturally interested in the matters regarding the Taiyi Nirvana Heavenly Lord.
Previously, she only intended to mask Yan Zhaoge and the others’ movements for them to locate the Immortal Trapping Sword. Yet, to their surprise, the deceit turned out to be truthful.
The Incongruence Divine Mother and Yan Zhaoge’s group were curious about the Taiyi Nirvana Heavenly Lord’s current whereabouts.
If this Heavenly Lord of antiquity were still alive, that would naturally be something worth rejoicing for orthodox Daoism.
While the Taiyi Nirvana Heavenly Lord’s whereabouts were unknown, as he did things in a low-key manner, he was still considered one of the top-notch bigwigs in the history of Daoism.
If this old Heavenly Lord had already perished, that would be a disaster for them. However, the sooner they knew, the sooner Yan Zhaoge could plan out his countermeasures.
“If the Immeasurable Heavenly Lord and the Immortal Court weren’t laying down any traps of deceptions, then the Taiyi Nirvana Heavenly Lord is unrelated to the Immeasurable Heavenly Lord.” Yan Zhaoge muttered as he lightly rubbed his temples.
Feng Yunsheng, Yan Di, and Gao Qingxuan nodded.
The Immeasurable Heavenly Lord being capable of taking that last step forward using the Humanly Essence Stone implied that he was Daoism’s most top-notch Grand Heavenly Immortal.
Without a doubt, the candidates were limited.
After the transcendence of the Three Clear Grand Masters, Daoism’s number-one expert would be the Jade Eminent Heavenly Lord Emperor.
The Jade Eminent Heavenly Lord Emperor aside, the second most potent figure in the Heavenly Court would be the head of the Four Imperials – the Heaven Reigning Purple Tenuity Polaris Grand Sovereign Emperor, also known as the Purple Tenuity Emperor.
The Taiyi Nirvana Heavenly Lord had always been venturing outside of the Heavenly Court’s Divine Palace, with his whereabouts being unpredictable. However, among all the Heavenly Court’s experts, including the Southern Extremity Longevity Emperor, they recognized the Taiyi Nirvana Heavenly Lord’s strength to not pale in comparison even against the Purple Tenuity Emperor.
The Grand Saint of Nine Spirits was among the most ruthless demons among the Demon Race’s Great Sages. In the end, Taiyi Nirvana Heavenly Lord still subdued it.
Only, the Taiyi Nirvana Heavenly Lord rarely bothered with the Heavenly Court’s affairs and rarely made any move, which kept him shrouded in a veil of mysteriousness.
The Three Clears Lineage and the Heavenly Court’s Divine Palace aside, other Daoism top-notch experts included the Primordial Suppressing Immortal and the Queen Mother of the West [1].
There was no doubt about the Primordial Suppressing Immortal’s strength. After all, he was someone whose lifespan lasted as long as the world. He was someone who only paid honor to the great dao.
As for the Queen Mother of the West, legends had it that she resided in the mythical Western Kunlun, living opposite and far away from the Jade Clear lineage’s Eastern Kunlun. She was referred to with other t.i.tles, namely the Golden Mother of the Jade Pond and the Pre-Eminent Muse Beneath Heavens.
Some also referred to her as the Queen Mother. However, she wasn’t the Jade Eminent Heavenly Lord Emperor’s wife, nor was she someone from the Heavenly Court’s Divine Palace.
The only relation to be drawn would be the rumor in which she was close with the Ancient Three Sovereigns during the faraway history of antiquity.
After the Ancient Era, the Queen Mother of the West and the Primordial Suppressing Immortal had both developed their very own flairs, which differed from the Three Clear Lineages and the Heavenly Court’s Divine Palace.
However, relatively speaking, her interactions with the bigwigs of the Heavenly Court Divine Palace and other Daoism bigwigs were much closer compared to the Primordial Suppressing Immortal.
As such, the Purple Tenuity Emperor, the Taiyi Nirvana Heavenly Lord, the Primordial Suppressing Immortal, and the Queen Mother of the West were considered as Daoism’s top-notch bigwigs only below the Jade Eminent Heavenly Emperor in terms of strength. Other than the Purple Tenuity Emperor, the others were born before the Earlier Heavens and were extremely ancient beings.
If a ranking list had to be given to these Grand Heavenly Realm experts of antiquity, then other than the Jade Eminent Heavenly Emperor being capable of contesting for the position of number one beneath the Dao Realm, these four Daoism bigwig experts had hopes of being placed into the top-ten rankings.
Even after the Three Clear Grand Masters’ transcendence, it was apparent how strong Daoism was in the past.
Other than that, Daoist Dipankara, who was the transformation of an Archaic Buddha, and Daoist Lu Yam, who was involved with Daoism, Buddhism, and the Demon Race. One shouldn’t just view them as normal Daoism bigwigs.
As for the Lord of Plentiful Treasure, who cultivated the Chaos Extinguis.h.i.+ng Origin Scripture, he rarely appeared in the Middle era, which was why others couldn’t fathom the changes in his strength very clearly. Moreover, he had already perished during the early years of the Middle era.
Other than the Lord of Plentiful Treasures, the Grand Clear’s first disciple – Bhikkhu Xuan Du and the Jade Clear lineage’s most outstanding successor – Yang Jian, were also worth mentioning.
However, the former rarely made any moves, making him as mysterious and unfathomable as the Lord of Plentiful Treasures.
As for the latter, he was gallant and valorous in battle; he triumphed over many other Early Heaven bigwigs despite being of the Later Heavens, just like the Purple Tenuity Emperor. However, he was also present during the Great Calamity.
At that time, the Great Calamity had already started. Only after the Heavenly Court’s Divine Palace was halfway destroyed did Yang Jian enter the fight. While his whereabouts were now unknown, his movements were jarringly apparent at that time.
After retrieving the Immortal Trapping Sword, Yan Zhaoge returned to the Awakened Sky Cosmos. Meanwhile, his North Ocean Clone was currently situated in a different universal s.p.a.ce.
“As expected, the situation is getting more and more intense. Only, I wonder, other than the Dipankara Archaic Buddha, who else will the Western Pure Lands dispatch to face the Grand Saint of Nine Spirits?” The North Ocean Clone’s gaze looked toward the faraway horizon.
There, hectic streams of lights could be seen crossing each other. They shattered s.p.a.ce itself and destroyed stars in their wake, signifying the increment of intensity in the battle.
The North Ocean Clone was currently situated in a light-green world, separated from the boundless void outside.
However, the outside world would require effort to locate this place. This world had its intricacies set in place.
Within the light-green world, sword qis were ubiquitous, and a myriad of phenomena could be seen.
After looking into the far distance, the North Ocean Clone asked softly, “Incongruence Divine Mother, are we still uncertain whether the Taiyi Nirvana Heavenly Lord is still alive?”
The Incongruence Divine Mother harnessed this world formed by sword qis.
A voice resounded by the North Ocean Clone’s ears. While the musical notes were strange and profound, he could still understand the meaning contained within.
“After the great mess transpired, a jade door suddenly appeared by the Heavenly Court, its suppression blotting the entire skies, affecting even I. However, just as I planned on resisting, the suppression force suddenly weakened.”
“Without a doubt, that plight of yore started from the Heavenly Court’s Divine Palace. I did not experience it personally, and everything that transpired there was only told to me by Daoist Southern Extremity and Daoist North Star.”
The Incongruence Divine Mother said, “As their adage, the jade door suddenly shook violently, with ethereal silhouettes appearing within the door. Their ident.i.ties were unknown, and even their numbers were unknown.”
“Everything happened only in an instant. After the jade door trembled, the Southern Extremity, North Star, and Earth Queen decided to pry into the jade door. However, the Maitreya Buddha suddenly arrived, and his palm enveloped the entire Heavenly Court’s Divine Palace.”
Yan Zhaoge listened quietly, the image of that horrifying palm’s descent resurfacing in his memories.
There was no jade door in his memories as the Martial Repository’s hall spirit. It must’ve been caused by that suppression force, which halted his thought process in place.
As for the Pill Hall’s hall spirit, he was near the location where everything transpired. Before the jade door appeared, he had already sensed the premonition of destruction.
Later, due to him being much nearer to the jade door, the Pill Hall managed to remain unscathed even after the attack of the Future Buddha.
As expected, the Heavenly Court’s Divine Palace was destroyed due to internal conflicts.
Thinking back to when he caused havoc in the Immortal Court, thinking back to the jade door hindered by the white lotus, it was apparent that the Immeasurable Heavenly Lord was born before the Great Calamity.
Perhaps, the Future Buddha descended upon the Heavenly Court to prevent the birth of the Immeasurable Heavenly Lord.
Unfortunately, despite the continuous disruption, the Immeasurable Heavenly Lord’s descension upon this world was still successful. Later, he battled against the Future Buddha, causing the skies to crumble and the earth to shatter. The ripples of their battle expanded incessantly until it uncontrollably engulfed the entire great thousand universes within.
More and more people were dragged into the warfare either by their own accord or were forced to, resulting in more and more casualties.
As a result, that Great Calamity almost changed the entire world.