Chapter 252

Within the Blissful Union Sect.

Dharma King Luojia suddenly froze.

He raised his head and looked toward the heavens. Reflected within his eyes were only the sun and the moon.

Then strands of Fusang True Fire seeped out from his nostrils, mouth, and every pore of his body, burning his golden-body Dharma physique.

“Waaah!”

A baby's cry suddenly rang out.

As his Dharma body burned, a female infant unexpectedly leapt from within the golden body itself. Her appearance bore sixty to seventy percent resemblance to Luojia, though her features were noticeably more delicate and feminine. Two divine abilities accompanied her from birth, as though she had inherited everything that belonged to him.

“What... is that?”

Outside the Blissful Union Sect.

Tian Youliang's neck felt as though it had been forged from steel and iron, incapable of moving even the slightest bit. He could only stare blankly at that colossal figure which blotted out the sky and covered the earth.

“Chi” descended above the Thirty-Six Layers of Heavenly Dipper Firmament, treading upon ten thousand miles of rivers and mountains.

Merely hearing its infant-like cries made one's hair stand on end. Blood congealed and qi stagnated.

Its skin was deathly pale, covered in purple veins that writhed like living earthworms.

Its eyes resembled bottomless black holes devoid of any trace of white, filled only with endless malice that shook the soul.

Its mouth gaped open like an abyss, rows of razor-sharp teeth gleaming within. Black fluid dripped from the corners of its lips, flowing as though it possessed a life of its own.

The essences of the sun and moon enveloped Chi's body, transforming into billowing currents of azure-violet mist that expanded in all directions.

Wherever that mist passed, all things corroded.

Buildings collapsed amid deafening thunderous crashes.

Flames surged skyward.

Forests were uprooted and the very sky shattered apart.

Within Tian Youliang's eyes, there existed only that single terrifying figure.

Then he felt his lower abdomen begin to swell.

Blazing flames erupted across his body.

Crash! Crash! Crash!

One torch after another appeared.

From within each torch came the cries of newborn infants.

In an instant, the hundreds of thousands of troops from the Esoteric Hidden-Treasury Domain were completely annihilated.

All that remained across the battlefield were countless crying infants.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The void trembled violently.

Then one golden body after another emerged from the Great Void as though fleeing for their lives.

“There is great terror within the Great Void!”

Sangji pressed his palms together.

The White Bone Heart within his chest trembled uncontrollably.

Above his head, the White Bone Sarira rotated weakly. The profundity of [Cleansing Mortal Dust] circulated continuously, yet it could not wash away even the slightest trace of fear from his heart.

“A Golden Core True Lord?”

Jiumoluojie’s shocked cry echoed beside his ears.

Unfortunately, it was already too late.

The descent of an existence beyond Purple Mansion brought calamity first and foremost upon the Great Void itself.

The profound mysteries of space were shattered apart in an instant.

Countless Dharma Protectors appeared.

Celestial maidens.

Vajras.

Protective deities.

Yet regardless of their form, every single one had a swollen abdomen as though carrying new life within.

Nor was it only the golden bodies and Dharma Protectors.

Sangji gritted his teeth and looked down at himself.

His own abdomen had begun swelling as well, while Fusang True Fire burned throughout his body.

Nearby, Peacock and Moonlight White Dumu fared even worse.

Their bellies had swollen to the point of appearing ready for childbirth at any moment.

“[Cleansing Mortal Dust]!”

Sangji frantically activated the White Bone Sarira.

It was completely useless.

Even Dharma King Pilu, who wielded a Buddhist treasure and had once seemed invincible, could only press his palms together and recite the Rebirth Mantra amidst the raging Fusang True Fire.

The existence born from the moon widened its eyes.

Like a curious and innocent child, it examined the assembled Dharma Kings of the Esoteric Hidden-Treasury Domain.

Within moments, these mighty Dharma Kings stood upon the brink of utter destruction.

At that very instant, a gentle breeze swept across the battlefield.

The breeze carried a strange Buddhist aura.

Sanskrit chants drifted through the air as though gods and Buddhas whispered softly.

In a daze, the assembled monks seemed to behold a boundless snow mountain.

Upon its peak stood a golden monastery.

Within the halls, butter lamps burned eternally.

The flickering flames illuminated murals depicting Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Vajras, and Wisdom Kings.

The atmosphere was solemn and sacred.

Monks clad in crimson robes held prayer beads while chanting secret mantras.

Their voices rolled like great bells, echoing between the golden summits hidden among the clouds.

The breeze swept across Sangji, Moonlight White, and the others.

Chunks of flesh resembling placentas peeled away from their bodies and vanished into nothingness.

The gentle wind abruptly transformed into a fierce gale.

The sharpness permeating heaven and earth surged explosively.

Then golden light burst forth from the horizon.

Like a blazing sun emerging through storm clouds, it radiated ten thousand rays that pierced through layers of demonic miasma.

“Waaah!”

The bizarre True Lord cried once more like a newborn infant.

Sangji and the others immediately felt their previously flattened abdomens begin swelling again.

Then—

“SKREEEE!”

A majestic cry answered the infant's wail.

It possessed the deep resonance of an eagle and the soaring brilliance of a roc.

The sound rang throughout heaven and earth like the tolling of a divine bell.

It resembled the Lion's Roar of Esoteric Buddhism itself, carrying supreme authority and boundless Buddhist power.

The cry resonated with the mysterious source of the Esoteric Hidden-Treasury Domain hidden beneath the Great Snow Mountain.

The entire world seemed to transform into a sacred Buddhist kingdom.

Celestial maidens scattered flowers from the skies.

Golden lotuses bloomed from the earth.

Endless Buddhist hymns and Zen chants filled the heavens.

The infant's cries were gradually suppressed.

Under the blessing of the limitless source power of the Esoteric Hidden-Treasury Domain, countless unimaginable manifestations of Buddhist light and Buddhist treasures appeared.

Then a single wing pierced through the Thirty-Six Heavenly Astral Layers.

It blotted out the heavens and covered the earth.

The entire sky vanished beneath its shadow.

Every feather appeared forged from pure gold, radiating endless golden light and the power of sacred mantras.

Mysterious profundities flowed across those feathers, as though the most profound forces of heaven and earth themselves were surging through them.

The wing enveloped all the Dharma Kings, Dumu, and Duzi.

Then they vanished without a trace.

The Great Peng's wings are like clouds hanging from the heavens. It breaks through the clouds and bears the azure sky upon its back, soaring upward for ninety thousand li...

Sangji and the other Dharma Kings, Duzi, and Dumu had no idea what had just happened.

Long before he had been expelled from the Great Void and found himself carrying a child, he had already sealed off his six senses, acting only on instinct.

Everything outside, the countless wondrous collisions, every cry of the phoenix and every roar of the peng, was enough to doom him for ten thousand tribulations over...

Only when all had finally fallen silent did he open his eyes once more.

The first thing he saw was the glaring Sun.

Around him, grass swayed in the breeze and orioles sang. The air carried the fragrance of highland barley.

Nearby lay Moonlight White, Peacock, Mo Luoshi and the others.

Without realizing it, he had already returned to the Esoteric Hidden-Treasury Domain.

"Great Dharma King Jiumoluojie... what exactly happened just now?"

Mo Luoshi flipped himself upright and pressed his palms together. Then, almost unconsciously, he touched his abdomen.

He felt as though he had forgotten something important, yet it also seemed tied to some great terror that made him unwilling to recall it.

Nor was he alone.

Sangji, Moonlight White, and the other Dharma Kings and Dumu all had their memories of the recent events erased.

It was as though every memory connected to those two existences taking action had been completely wiped away.

"It cannot be spoken of. It cannot be contemplated. If one dwells upon it, great terror shall descend."

Jiumoluojie appeared to know more than the others. Pressing his palms together, he thought to himself:

'Someone above the Golden Position must have intervened. For such a great being, merely remembering the appearance of their actions may allow their profundities to revive within one's memories and kill me across countless lifetimes. Forgetting is actually a great blessing.'

'This must have been a Buddha from our side stepping in to rescue us!'

The Great Dharma Kings exchanged glances before turning toward Dharma King Pilu, who had descended from the Great Snow Mountain.

Dharma King Pilu had likewise forgotten certain things, but he still remembered the assault upon the Blissful Union Sect's mountain gate.

The scroll known as the Jambudvipa Purgatory Chart still lay quietly in his hands.

Only, the images upon it seemed to have undergone certain subtle changes. Pilu silently recited scriptures, not daring to open it again.

He gazed toward the east and entered meditation for a moment before finally speaking.

"This was a question."

"And Chi has given its answer."

"Let each return to their own temple. The eastward crossing has already reached its successful conclusion."

"Homage to the World-Honored Tathagata!"

The Dharma Kings, Duzis, and Dumu all proclaimed the Buddha's name in unison.

Gradually, calm returned to their expressions.

...

Cultivation World.

Inside the secret realm.

"Fellow Daoist?!"

When Zhan Hongxiu saw Fang Qing suddenly cough up a mouthful of blood, and that blood transform into countless wondrous manifestations in midair, she could not help but cry out in alarm.

"What happened?"

"Do not come closer!"

Fang Qing barked sharply.

The Dao-Genesis Pearl circulated within him, offsetting the force of Dao transformation. Only then did he slowly regain his composure.

With a sweep of his sleeve, he collected all the spiritual objects that had emerged from the blood he had vomited.

He let out a long breath.

Yet his demeanor appeared strangely desolate, as though his spirit had suffered a severe blow.

"I am fine..."

"Let us go."

Zhan Hongxiu could not help but feel puzzled.

Ever since he had viewed the portrait of the Great Sun Fuyu Dragon-Phoenix Primordial Lord, something about his mental state had seemed profoundly wrong.

As Fang Qing flew through the air on his escape light, he silently reviewed everything that had occurred.

Although he had never personally gone to the Blissful Union Sect's mountain gate in the Qi Ingestion world, through Sangji's eyes he had witnessed the entire process clearly.

'It was [Wei Moon]!'

'[Wei Moon] carries yin within and embraces yang, holding authority over gestation and birth. Those symbols of pregnancy all originated from [Wei Moon]!'

'The one who acted was not the Great Sun Fuyu Dragon-Phoenix Primordial Lord.'

'The one who acted was the being upon [Wei Moon]!'

No...

Something was not quite right.

The Taiyin was also a Great Dao Lineage.

That being's condition was likewise poor.

The one who acted should have been...

A Corpse Liberated Immortal beneath Chi?

No.

An Xuanwei Immortal!

A Xuanwei Immortal of the [Fang Sun] lineage!

One who likewise possessed a portion of the authority of gestation and birth...

'Chi...'

'Chi is the offspring born between the one upon [Fang Sun] and [Wei Moon]!'

Recalling the fragments of Dao attainment that had been forcibly poured into him, Fang Qing's expression became rather strange.

'The Golden Core True Lord behind the Blissful Union Sect successfully attested the position of the Great Sun Fuyu Dragon-Phoenix Primordial Lord of [Fang Sun].'

'Originally, that person should have been a male Soul Transformation cultivator from the Eastern Sea.'

'Then he ascended to that damned place, seemingly received support from [Wei Moon], and thus ascended to the Golden Position.'

'And the price was having a child with the being upon [Wei Moon]?'

'This time, the Esoteric Hidden-Treasury Domain mobilized such overwhelming force to attack the Blissful Union Sect because the Great Sun Tathagata wanted an answer.'

'Could this have been the answer?'

'To force the True Lord standing behind [Fang Sun] to reveal himself.'

'The moment [Wei Moon] appeared, the answer had already been given.'

'The objective of the one atop the Great Snow Mountain had already been achieved?'

'For that goal, it matters not how many people die below, nor how many Dharma Kings or Purple Mansion cultivators fall.'

'To those truly great figures, such things are utterly insignificant.'

'If Great Spiritual Master Xinyi had successfully ascended to Golden Position... perhaps the secret could have remained hidden.'

'Unfortunately, attaining the Golden Position has never been so easy.'

Recalling Pilu's words, "Chi has already given its answer," Fang Qing felt a chill crawl down his spine.

'Compared to this, the Esoteric Great Snow Mountain actually possesses a bit more humanity.'

'At least they sent the Peng Wisdom King to rescue people, though perhaps that was simply because they did not wish to lose too many Dharma King chess pieces.'

'The Peng Wisdom King's state is equally strange.'

This, too, had been information contained within the Dao attainment that had been poured into him.

Had Sangji and the others not forgotten, they would likewise have learned these secrets and undoubtedly praised the Peng Wisdom King for descending to save sentient beings from suffering.

'The phoenix gave birth to five offspring, and the Peng occupies the position of Wind...'

'Yet the attainment of the [Xun Wind] lineage was long ago divided and devoured.'

'By all logic, the Peng should have perished back then as well.'

'But Chi was subdued by the Great Sun Tathagata atop the Great Snow Mountain and attained the "Deficient" Position.'

'Since the attainment of [Xun Wind] vanished, it perfectly embodies the principle of "the position is vacant, therefore lowly."'

'At the same time, by virtue of being the child of the phoenix, it can invoke the blessings of [Xun Wind] hidden within [Yi Fire].'

'Thus it has become the sole Xuanwei Immortal of the [Xun Wind] lineage remaining in the world.'

'A True Lord of the Deficient Position!'

TL Notes:- Xuanwei (玄微) translates to "Mysterious and Subtle," referring to the Ghost Immortal position rank of Golden Core. Here's the info told in Chapter 164:- [The fifth rank is the Ghost Immortal, the lowest grade. They attain the Deficient Position, known as ‘a lacking and inferior seat.’ In the Taiyin tradition this is called ‘corpse liberation,’ while in the Taiyang tradition it is called ‘mysterious subtlety.]