Chapter 196: Wu Li’s Backup Plan, the Buddhist Affinity Assembly
Chapter 196 – Wu Li’s Backup Plan, the Buddhist Affinity Assembly
Amidst the suffocating darkness.
Drenched in blood, Wu Li staggered forward. The companions who had marched into slaughter at his side were long gone.
Sensing a familiar ripple in the void, the weakened Wu Li slowly raised his head.
“Teacher, you truly deciphered my intent.”
“I apologize for defying your will, but the blame hardly rests solely on my shoulders!”
“Back then, you annihilated the entire Thunder Beast lineage over a mere insult. I am your disciple, and with my formidable strength, how could I possibly swallow such indignity?”
“Were you in my shoes, your retribution would have been ten times as vicious.”
“It is easy to preach forbearance when it isn’t your own flesh on the anvil, wouldn’t you agree?”
Wu Li murmured into the void, then cast his gaze toward a distant horizon, letting out a frigid snort.
“Mountains and rivers inevitably cross paths. This enmity is far from settled!”
With those parting words, his blood-soaked silhouette dissolved into the shadows.
……
The Southern Plains.
A man and a beast, previously wandering at a leisurely pace, abruptly halted.
Gazing upon the Heaven’s Mandate suspended in the firmament, the scholarly-robed man fell into a prolonged stare, his eyes narrowing as if seeking to unravel the secrets hidden within the severed phenomenon.
“Bookworm, has something gone awry?”
Seeing Nalan Xingde remain silent for so long, White Marsh finally voiced its apprehension.
Nalan Xingde slowly turned his head. “White Marsh, would you say that a bearer of the Heaven’s Mandate is the apex entity of this world?”
“Is that even up for debate?”
“The sovereign of the Heaven’s Mandate is undoubtedly the most supreme existence.”
Nalan Xingde nodded thoughtfully. “In theory, the probability of that is absolute.”
“Therefore, in the days to come, we may have to go and ‘reason’ with one who wields the Heaven’s Mandate.”
White Marsh’s eyes instantly widened into luminous orbs.
“Hold on, what exactly are you implying?”
“Exactly what the words suggest.”
Offering this casual reply, Nalan Xingde resumed his unhurried stride, leaving the legendary beast rooted to the spot in utter bewilderment.
Though the full scope of the scholar’s meaning eluded it, White Marsh felt a chilling premonition. A storm of unprecedented catastrophe was gathering on the horizon.
……
Northern Desert Buddhist Kingdom.
Staring at the fractured Heaven’s Mandate presented by ‘Jueyuan,’ the gathered monks were paralyzed by profound shock.
Simultaneously, the embers of resentment they had forcibly suffocated for over a thousand years finally threatened to ignite into a blazing inferno.
The Desolate Heavenly Emperor was dead. The Middle Heavens and the Eastern Wasteland were devoid of worthy successors, while the Western Continent lay in fractured ruin.
What right did the insignificant Southern Plains possess to contend against a Buddhist Kingdom that had stood resolute for ten thousand years?
Swish!
Retracting the Heaven’s Mandate, Jueyuan surveyed the crowd with a placid smile. “Esteemed Masters, are you now willing to place your faith in this humble monk?”
“Amitabha!”
An ancient monk pressed his palms together, his chanted invocation failing to mask the violent trembling of his Dao heart.
“May I inquire, Master Jueyuan, what path the Buddhist sect should tread next?”
“The path is simple. Issue a grand summons to all champions beneath the heavens and convene a Buddhist Affinity Assembly.”
“The Desolate Heavenly Emperor’s Heaven’s Mandate has shattered. He who masters the old Mandate stands closest to seizing the new.”
“Whoever can draw the spear shall be crowned the sovereign of the Buddhist Kingdom.”
Hearing this bold proposition, a monk draped in a crimson kasaya furrowed his brow.
“Master Jueyuan, since the Heaven’s Mandate rests in your grasp, why not draw the spear yourself?”
“To host such a Buddhist Affinity Assembly now will merely invite unnecessary chaos.”
Jueyuan cast a sidelong glance at the dissenter. “A cultivator who neglects the distant future invites imminent disaster.”
“Today, the Buddhist Kingdom may extinguish the flames at its doorstep, but what of tomorrow?”
“There was once the Desolate Heavenly Emperor. Who is to say another Heavenly Emperor will not rise to subjugate us once more?”
“Survey the Five Continents. Only our Northern Desert Buddhist sect reigns over an entire domain through the might of a single faction.”
“Such immense territorial authority… who among the supreme entities could turn a blind eye?”
“If the next bearer of the Heaven’s Mandate does not ascend from our ranks, how will the Buddhist sect establish a foothold in the new era? How will we defend this sprawling Buddhist Kingdom?”
Jueyuan’s words struck like a thunderclap, igniting the dormant ambitions buried deep within the minds of the gathered monks.
The Middle Heavens Sacred Land was formidable, but the Buddhist sect was no lamb awaiting the slaughter.
The only reason they had suffered under the heel of the Purple Mansion Sacred Land for so long was solely due to the existence of the Desolate Heavenly Emperor.
Now that the Desolate Heavenly Emperor had fallen, a new Heaven’s Mandate was gestating.
Having cultivated their strength in silence for four thousand years, the Buddhist sect currently commanded both the favor of heaven and the advantage of terrain.
If they could secure but a fraction of ‘human harmony,’ the Buddhist sect would ascend as the absolute sovereign of the world.
Presented with such a heaven-defying opportunity, how could a Buddhist sect that had swallowed its pride for over a millennium let it slip through their fingers?
“Amitabha!”
“Master Jueyuan speaks the Dao’s truth. May I ask when this ‘Buddhist Affinity Assembly’ shall commence?”
“Delays breed disaster. A fragmented Heaven’s Mandate merely signifies an opportunity; it does not guarantee supremacy.”
“This truth binds us, just as it binds whoever else may clutch a fragment of the Mandate.”
“Driven by the hunger to solidify their claim over the Heaven’s Mandate, they will undoubtedly descend upon our ‘Buddhist Affinity Assembly.’”
“When that moment arrives, to whom the Heaven’s Mandate ultimately bows will depend entirely on the martial prowess of you esteemed masters.”
A heavy silence fell over the assembly. Without another word, the myriad monks of the Buddhist Kingdom turned and dispersed like retreating storm clouds.
Once the grand hall was emptied, ‘Jueyuan’ reached up to rub his gleaming bald head, a roguish grin breaking his pious facade.
“These bald monks really aren’t easy to con, but luckily, my game is just a level higher.”
“Still, pouring one out for my luscious, jet-black hair!”
Indeed. The venerated Master ‘Jueyuan’ standing here was none other than Chen Changsheng, freshly shorn of his locks.
After a brief moment of self-deprecation, Chen Changsheng lowered his gaze to the wooden bottle in his palm.
“You little punk, I wondered how you managed to get your ass kicked so thoroughly. Shredding your own Heaven’s Mandate into pieces… aren’t you afraid of imploding?”
“I really have no idea where you picked up such a radioactive temper. You can’t swallow a single drop of grievance, can you?”
His mind involuntarily drifted back to the fateful day he was blasted off the Road to Heaven.
The visceral imagery of that cataclysm remained seared into his soul.
Parallel to those memories, a singular enigma had plagued him for centuries.
Why was Wu Li reduced to such a pathetic state?
He had personally forged the boy step by step. No one in the myriad realms comprehended the sheer, monstrous depths of Wu Li’s strength better than his own master.
Even before grasping the Heaven’s Mandate, Wu Li possessed the raw power to butcher his way into the forbidden zones of the Sacred Ruins. An Ascended Wu Li, fully crowned by the Mandate, should never have been this ‘fragile.’
Chen Changsheng had agonized over this paradox for a hundred years to no avail.
It wasn’t until three months ago, while gazing upon the monolithic peak of Mount Buzhou, that a staggeringly absurd theory took root in his mind.
To validate this madness, Chen Changsheng scoured the world for three months, hunting down the spiritual echoes his disciple had left behind.
When the myriad threads of evidence finally intertwined, they formed a chillingly insane conclusion.
Wu Li’s Heaven’s Mandate had been shattered long ago. And it was Wu Li himself who had personally pulverized it.
He had buried fragments of his own Heaven’s Mandate across the mortal realm; beneath the roots of Mount Buzhou lay one such shard.
And the compass required to unearth these scattered fragments was the ‘special’ sliver of the Heaven’s Mandate currently resting in Chen Changsheng’s grip.
Thinking of this, Chen Changsheng exhaled a long breath. “No wonder you tossed this piece of the Mandate to me. So this was the lynchpin of your grand chessboard all along.”
“Since you’ve set the board, then I, as your teacher, will help you commandeer the pieces.”
His gaze pierced the horizon, a predatory smirk stretching across his face.
“If everyone wants to hide in the shadows and leave me out of the game, then I’ll just flip the whole damn table.”
“Let’s see just how many ancient leviathans this trump card of mine can drag out from the deep.”