Chapter 1621: Differing From the Past
In the Grand Plainness Heavens, above the Fusang Divine Tree, Dao Monarch Lu Ya merely shook his head, while the Great Demons in front of him retained their silence.
The Roc of Ten Thousand Cloudy Miles’ expression was so dark. Even the darkest of nights seemed so pale in comparison.
His grudge against Daoism’s martial art pract.i.tioners wasn’t just limited to the hostility between differing factions. There were also some personal grudges involved within.
His only son – Fuluo Zi, had perished by the incomplete Immortal Extermination Formation, which Yan Zhaoge and the others laid down.
For so many years, the Roc of Ten Thousand Cloudy Miles had been trying to take revenge yet was met with no avail.
Right now, Daoism’s cosmos were being established in plain sight.
Yet, right now, the Roc of Ten Thousand Cloudy Miles had to take deep considerations before his actions, as doing so would only bring about severe repercussions.
While rage pent up within his heart, he could only remain silent as well.
After a long while, the Roc of Ten Thousand Cloudy Miles finally opened his mouth, “I shall head toward the central Blessed Lands of Saham and see if I can trade for the Shakyamuni Sarira from the Maitreya Buddha.”
“The Great Sage Equalling Heavens might be strong, but ultimately, that’s not the real him. Moreover, right now, the Three Clears Lineage might not even be capable of harnessing his true form.” The Great Roc’s hoa.r.s.e voice reeked with viciousness, “No, in fact, they won’t be able to do so for a long time ahead!”
“While Mahamayuri’s strength surpa.s.ses us Demons, and the Three Clear Lineage has no Great Sage Equalling Heavens, we still can’t underestimate them.” Dao Monarch Lu Ya sighed, “If Yang Jian went head-on against Mahamayuri in a one-on-one battle, even if he won’t win in the end, the victor won’t just be decided so quickly. Meanwhile, I now lack the Immortal Slaying Flying Saber to counter him.”
Lu Ya shook his head, “That kid is truly a remarkable one. While he only appeared for a short while, I can already tell that he found some ways to deal with the Immortal Slaying Flying Saber. The more he fought, the more fearless he became.”
The Roc of Ten Thousand Cloudy Miles’ expression was grim. After a momentary silence, he said, “Perhaps, my brother alone might not be enough. However, with the aid of others, Daoism can’t possibly escape from our grasp.”
“If we weren’t in such a rush, the Three Clears Lineage wouldn’t have succeeded in seizing the Immortal Extermination Formation.”
He slowly said, “Without the Immortal Extermination Formation, if we persisted a little longer, the Three Clears Lineage wouldn’t have been able to sustain our waves of attacks.”
The existence of the Immortal Extermination Formation had thoroughly changed the standing of Daoism.
However, conversely speaking, it was more of a form of deterrence.
Especially toward the tacit agreement pledged between the few Dao Ancestors.
To a certain extent, this agreement constrained each other. It applied the same to Dao Ancestors and the Immortal Extermination Formation as well.
Dao Ancestors were forbidden from partic.i.p.ating in the confrontation between those beneath the Dao Realm. Ultimately, it all depended on the strength of other experts.
“Before returning, I’ve already behested the Grand Saint of Nine Spirits and the others to return.” Dao Monarch Lu Ya plainly said, “If Dipankara is smart enough, he’d also do the same as us.”
“The war between the central Blessed Lands of Saha and the Immortal Court is inevitable. However, no matter what happens later, it’s far better for the Western Pure Lands and us to stop fighting for now.”
“It’s still far too early to judge the current state of the Three Clears Lineage. Therefore, observation should be the utmost priority for now.”
Hearing Lu Ya’s words, the Roc of Ten Thousand Cloudy Miles was still as bitter as ever, but he was unable to suggest otherwise.
As the Demons were conversing, a dusk cloud traversed through the vast nebula of the Astro Mountains Starry Seas and landed in the Grand Plainness Heavens.
The dusk clouds that blotted the skies shrunk immediately upon entering the Grand Plainness Heavens and headed toward the Plains of Nuwa. After a while, he left the plains and descended from the skies, landing by the Fusang Divine Tree.
The dusk clouds dispersed as it stopped by the tree branch near Dao Monarch Lu Ya, the Roc of Ten Thousand Cloudy Miles, and other Great Demons.
A tall lion-headed human figure emerged from the hazy clouds. Most horrifyingly, nine different lion heads even seemed to be embedded by his body.
The lion’s head was gallant and showed no hints of irascible savagery. His bearing was sophisticated, and his grace n.o.ble.
Only, tinges of blood seemed to be flickering within all eighteen eyes of the lion. Like eighteen pools of blood, one could only sense grim frigidness from within.
That was the Grand Saint of Nine Spirits, the nine-headed lion who was once the Taiyi Nirvana Heavenly Lord’s mount.
After the Great Calamity, the Taiyi Nirvana Heavenly Lord met his demise. The Grand Saint of Nine Spirits was lucky enough to survive and joined the Astro Mountains Starry Seas.
He secluded himself within and only made his appearance in the world fairly recently.
Previously, instead of partic.i.p.ating in the Immortal Extermination Formation, he commanded a different troop of Demons to continue their battle against the Western Pure Lands’ Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva, the Vajrapramardi Buddha, and various other Buddhist Bhantes.
Now that the fight for the Immortal Extermination Formation had ended and drastic changes occurred, the battle between the Demon Race and the Western Pure Lands had subsided temporarily.
With this, the Grand Saint of Nine Spirits temporarily retreated to the Astro Mountains Starry Seas along with other Great Demons.
“Have you relayed your matters to the Eastern Sovereign?” asked Dao Monarch Lu Ya.
The nine-headed lion with a human body replied, “Yes.”
He looked at Dao Monarch Lu Ya and looked at the Roc of Ten Thousand Cloudy Miles, “Are we calling a truce with the Western Pure Lands for now and work together to deal with orthodox Daoism?”
“It’s far too early to decide how we should treat the Three Clears Lineage.” Dao Monarch Lu Ya said, “However, in the meantime, it’s better if we don’t agitate the Western Pure Lands too much. For now, let’s watch how the situation between the Immortal Court and the central Blessed Lands of Saha continues.”
As he spoke, Lu Ya smiled, “After all, if we don’t intervene, and the Western Pure Lands don’t intervene, then the central Blessed Lands of Saha will be the victor in the end.”
The Grand Saint of Nine Spirits’ figure seemed to be enshrouded within a layer of dusk clouds, “No matter what your decision is, I won’t mind. However, if you’re planning on pressuring the orthodox Daoism, count me out of it.”
“I have no intentions in helping either side. The only reason why I’m helping you now is that my fellow grandchildren were killed by the Traveling Monk Sun, which is the current Victorious Fighting Buddha. Since he’s in the Western Pure Lands now, I only came out to exact revenge.”
Dao Monarch Lu Ya shook his head and said, “It’s fine, just do as you please.”
“Farewell then.” The nine-headed lion’s figure veiled himself within the dusk clouds and flew away from the Fusang Divine Tree.
After the Grand Saints of Nine Spirits left, Lu Ya’s expression remained calm without changes. He then faced the Roc of Ten Thousand Cloudy Miles and other Great Demons and said, “For now, let’s just monitor the Three Clears Lineage from the sidelines and refrain from acting rashly.”
Hearing his words, albeit unwilling to accept the current outcome, the group of Great Demons could only bear with it for the meantime, as they were fairly aware of how unstable the current situation was. Hearing Dao Monarch Lu Ya’s words, they could only nod in agreement and disperse away.
Dao Monarch Lu Ya sat on the tree branch and shut his eyes as he started to ponder.
After a while, he opened his eyes.
The Golden Crow Great Sage appeared and quietly stood beside him.
“Hand this over to the Three Clears Lineage,” said Dao Monarch Lu Ya as he took out a straw doll.
A nail was pierced into the straw doll’s forehead, with dried dark stains of blood imprinted onto the doll.
“Incongruence is aware of the technique herself, and this will help her recover much faster. Also, help me relay to her that something of her interest is in my possession.” Dao Monarch Lu Ya then handed the straw doll over to the Golden Crow Great Sage.
The Golden Crow Great Sage received it respectfully and flew away from the Fusang Divine Tree.
Dao Monarch Lu Ya smiled and murmured to himself, “Since everything now differs from the past, I shouldn’t be looking at them with my dated perspective. A little more preparation is better than none.”
At the same time, in the Dipankara Archaic Buddha’s Land of Buddhism within the Western Pure Lands, the archaic Buddha was also conversing with the Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva, the Vajrapramardi Buddha, the Victorious Fighting Buddha, and the others.
“Now, the Three Clears Lineage have much more liberty compared to us,” said the Dipankara Archaic Buddha.