Chapter 975: 970: The Fa to Detonate the Foundation Establishment Realm!
Chapter 975: Chapter 970: The Fa to Detonate the Foundation Establishment Realm!
Fruit of Sky-River Water!
Lü Yang never expected that the displacement of the Fruit of Sky-River Water and the Fruit of Vast-Sea Water was actually related to the Bhagavat. The Bhagavat was truly shameless in stooping so low to interfere!
Furthermore, this reminded him of his Previous Life.
In his Previous Life, Celestial Python had successfully verified the Fruit of Sky-River Water, and the Old Dragon Monarch had used their father-son connection to return the Fruit of Vast-Sea Water to the Emperor Fruit—at the time, this had seemed perfectly normal.
But looking at it now?
“Is it really that easy for Celestial Python to Seek Gold for the Fruit of Sky-River Water?” he thought. “Even with the Old Dragon Monarch’s support, it’s not like he hasn’t failed in his previous lives!”
The life with Summon went without saying—Celestial Python had even been Slain by Summon. In the life where Lü Yang himself had verified the Fruit of Celestial Fire, Celestial Python hadn’t dared to attempt verifying the Fruit of Sky-River Water until the very end, showing that his confidence had been absolutely low. How was it that, all of a sudden in his Previous Life, Celestial Python had succeeded in Seeking Gold just like that?
Unless—
“Someone wants Celestial Python to succeed. Or rather, they want the Old Dragon Monarch to restore the Fruit of Vast-Sea Water to the Emperor position, thereby resolving the hidden danger of the rift in the Foundation Establishment Realm!”
But why?
Thinking back, under what circumstances did Celestial Python succeed? Ang Xiao had engaged in Combat with him, and after falling one move short, had been forced to leave the Netherworld.
“Celestial Python’s success was built on the foundation of Ang Xiao leaving the Netherworld. At that time, the countdown for Ang Xiao seeking the Netherworld had already begun. Therefore, they needed Celestial Python to succeed, and they needed the Fruit of Vast-Sea Water to return to its position to stabilize the Foundation Establishment Realm. Only then could the Masters of Dao go all out to seize the Netherworld!”
At this thought, Lü Yang drew in a sharp breath of cold air.
“So, in almost every life, as long as there is an Earthly Buddha Country, the Pure Land claims that Celestial Python has Buddhist Destiny. The Bhagavat wants to hold this bargaining chip in his own hands!”
The experiences of his Previous Life flashed before his eyes.
“At that time, in places I couldn’t see, the Bhagavat might have already played a game of chess against the Stain Sect Ancestral Master once. However, the Bhagavat must have lost in the end.”
Otherwise, the Fruit of Vast-Sea Water wouldn’t have returned to its position.
But this life was different. This time, the Old Dragon Monarch seemed to have been frightened by the Tribulation and vanished from the face of the Earth, which ended up inadvertently helping the Bhagavat.
For a moment, Lü Yang could only smile bitterly. “In a way, this counts as my Cultivation progressing. In my Previous Life, I couldn’t even see the clashes between the Masters of Dao, let alone have the qualifications to participate. But in this life, I can at least catch a slight glimpse into their minds.
“I myself am even a pawn used in their clashes.”
Similar situations were definitely not isolated incidents.
Ang Xiao, Fei Xue, Taiyin… which of them wasn’t the same?
Upon reaching the level of a Great Perfected Lord, one was qualified to squeeze into the cracks of the struggles between the Masters of Dao. The higher one’s Cultivation, the more frequent such situations would undoubtedly become.
Whether they would stand out from those cracks or be crushed into dust by the Masters of Dao…
…would depend entirely on their own means.
***
The First Generation Demon Breeding Peak Master left.
Inside the monk’s quarters, the Bhagavat sat quietly on a futon with his hands pressed together in prayer. It wasn’t until a sound came from outside the door, signaling the approach of a Little Novice Monk, that he finally snapped out of his trance.
In the next second, a compassionate smile reappeared on his face.
“Almsgiver, everything is fine now.”
Before his voice could even fade, Lü Yang decisively severed the connection of Unity. He immediately opened his mouth, wanting to angrily curse the Bhagavat for his shameless act of taking advantage of his vulnerability.
“Yi… I, I…”
*Motherfucker!*
Without finishing his sentence, Lü Yang slapped himself hard across the face, finally stopping his words. He then circulated his Dao Heart, and it took a long time before he gradually recovered.
Seeing this, the Bhagavat wasn’t in a rush. He sized Lü Yang up with a smile. Just as Lü Yang had expected, he wasn’t trying to bite off more than he could chew by using Brute Force to force Enlightenment upon him right away. Instead, he planned to use the method of boiling a frog in warm water, slowly making Lü Yang give up his resistance to prevent him from taking desperate measures.
Therefore, when Lü Yang caught his breath, the Bhagavat even kindly asked, “Do you feel a little better?”
“A little better, thank you…”
SLAP! Another slap to his own face.
After another moment, Lü Yang panted heavily, temporarily shaking off the lingering compulsion. He said in a deep voice, “Time is limited. Senior, I want to leave this place.”
“You cannot leave,” the Bhagavat said, shaking his head.
“Seventy thousand years ago, the karmic links spanning five thousand years up and down the timeline were already under surveillance. Any abnormal karmic links would be discovered, so it is impossible for you to leave.
“If you truly want to leave, the only way is to spend real time within this vision of karmic links, drifting downstream with the current. Only then will you remain unaffected.”
“…What?”
Lü Yang’s face instantly turned incredibly unsightly. This was seventy thousand years ago! Spending real time meant he had to stay in this vision of karmic links for seventy thousand years?
Crossing through karmic links was different from traveling through Time. It wasn’t like you could spend seventy thousand years in a vision of karmic links, wake up, and return to reality. Sinking into a vision of karmic links for seventy thousand years would guarantee that you’d lose yourself within it. In the end, you would only continuously reincarnate within those seventy thousand years; it was impossible to use this to return to the Current World!
“You misunderstand,” the Bhagavat said with a smile. “You don’t need seventy thousand years. You only need to drift downstream for about five thousand years, step out of the surveillance range, and then you can leave.”
“I see…”
Lü Yang breathed a sigh of relief, but his brow quickly furrowed again. “Five thousand years is too long. I’m worried that accidents might happen to the things I want to do.”
Lü Yang did not explicitly state his plan to destroy the Foundation Establishment Realm, nor did the Bhagavat ask. The two of them had a tacit understanding. After all, whatever was spoken would be known. Once such a thing was said aloud, it would trigger the karmic links. Given the Stain Sect Ancestral Master’s vigilance, he might instantly sense it and realize something was wrong.
In any case, Lü Yang had actually already grasped the method to destroy the Foundation Establishment Realm.
“The rift in the Foundation Establishment Realm appeared because of the displacement of the Fruit of Sky-River Water and the Fruit of Vast-Sea Water. Since that’s the case, I just need to expand the rift.”
When the rift expanded to a certain point, the Foundation Establishment Realm would naturally collapse.
Then how could he expand it?
“There are two methods. The first is to create another Emperor Fruit displacement to make more rifts. The second is to have a Perfected Lord of the Emperor Fruit of Sky-River Water fall!”
The former went without saying; its principle was very simple.
As for the latter, it was quite special: “When a Perfected Lord falls, their Grotto Heaven collapses. The fragments will first crash into the Foundation Establishment Realm, and then enter the Current World from there.
“The rift in the Foundation Establishment Realm was born because of the Fruit of Sky-River Water. Therefore, the greater the impact coming from the Fruit of Sky-River Water, the easier it is to trigger a reaction from the rift. From this perspective, what could provide a greater impact than the collapse of a Grotto Heaven? Of course, the prerequisite is that the Fruit of Sky-River Water is still the Emperor Fruit.”
This was because the Emperor Fruit of Sky-River Water was the foundation of the rift’s existence.
Once the Fruit of Vast-Sea Water returned to the Emperor position and the rift was repaired, then it wouldn’t matter how many Perfected Lords of the Fruit of Sky-River Water died. They would just die in vain.
Unfortunately, he had a method, but no opportunity.
“Who says so?”
Right then, the Bhagavat smiled. “What you want to do doesn’t actually require you to leave. Right here, seventy thousand years ago, an opportunity just happens to exist.”
“Oh?” Lü Yang’s eyes flickered.
Immediately after, the Bhagavat said evenly, “At this point in time, within the Overseas Dragon Palace, the Old Dragon Monarch’s blood brother is nearing the end of his lifespan and is on the verge of falling.
“What he cultivated is precisely the Fruit of Sky-River Water.
“After he fell, a portion of his Grotto Heaven Fragments was taken away by the Old Dragon Monarch, and I took the rest to ensure that his fall would not trigger the collapse of the Foundation Establishment Realm.
“While I was at it, I scattered his soul to the winds to prevent any subsequent trouble.
“However, with your abilities, Daoist, you can absolutely help him extend his lifespan, letting him survive for the time being so that he can die at a much more appropriate time… Is that not so?”
For example, seventy thousand years later, when Ang Xiao was seeking the Netherworld.
Hearing this, Lü Yang paused, then shook his head. “I cannot travel Overseas. Otherwise, if an abnormal fluctuation in karmic links occurs, I will instantly be discovered.”
“You can set your mind entirely at ease, Almsgiver,” the Bhagavat smiled. “The Little Novice Monk you currently embody was precisely the avatar I sent Overseas to collect the Grotto Heaven Fragments in the original history. Borrowing his identity, there will be no anomalies.”
Lü Yang was speechless.
This old bald donkey really had this planned all along!