Stealing The Heavens

Whenever Buddhas or Bodhisattvas of the Buddhist League appeared in public, they always illuminated the heaven with a golden light and filled the earth with auspicious clouds; the golden light of virtues behind their heads was so bright that it could blind anyone who looked directly into it. With great virtues, they could integrate themselves into the Heavenly Dao and avoid violent rejection. On top of that, as cultivators of the Buddhist League emphasized spiritual cultivation and epiphany, they attached great importance to the accumulation of virtues.

Wu Qi once saw many Supreme Oracles in Liangzhu set a trap and slay Prabhutaratna Buddha. That Buddha was a man of virtue, so the Heavenly Dao did not bestow any virtue after he was killed, unlike Supremacy of the Myriad Immortal Alliance who was killed by him. Wu Qi still remembered how much benefits he, Ji Ao, and Yu Gu received from the virtues the Heavenly Dao had bestowed them.

But, these Bodhisattvas and Arhats, including Kṣitigarbha, were not only devoid of any virtues, but were all wrapped in a monstrous karmic fire. Their feet were being burned by the red karmic fire lotuses which sent plumes of black smoke into the sky, and their Buddhist golden bodies had all turned into karmic fiend bodies. In Wu Qi’s Chaotic Divine Eyes, they were no longer the eminent monks of the Buddhist League, but a horde of evil beings who were not accepted by the Heavenly Dao.

If this place were not the Nether World where Kṣitigarbha, the 800 Bodhisattvas, and the 108,000 Arhats could conceal their auras with the power of the Six Paths of Reincarnation, their existences would have long been completely wiped out by the immense heavenly punishment befalling from the Heavenly Dao.

Compared to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of today’s Buddhist League, Kṣitigarbha and his companions were true freaks.

Wu Qi’s divine soul slowly emanated wisps of primal, chaotic aura as he stared fixedly at these strange Buddhists with his Chaotic Divine Eyes. His divine soul was approaching the vast Heavenly Dao, and soon, a thread of his divine will had come into contact with the unpredictable torrent of the Heavenly Dao. Then, he locked both hands into an incantation gesture. Using the art of divination he had learned from Su Qin, he had found the answer to why Kṣitigarbha and his companions had turned into this in just a fraction of a second.

With his current cultivation level of an eighth-tier Primordial expert, it did not take him a lot of effort to figure out the karmic entanglements of these Bodhisattvas and Arhats, who were only at the level of Gold Immortals. It was just like reading the lines on one’s palm.

His eyes shone with bright light. He knew everything now, and he could not help but sneer. “When Heaven sends down calamities, there is the hope of weathering them; when men bring them upon themselves, there is no hope of escape at all!”

In this world created by Pangu, Buddhist League was under several times more pressure from the Heavenly Dao than the Dao League. Immortals of the Dao League emphasized the harmony of Yin and Yang; they married each other and gave birth to offspring. This abided by the natural laws of reproduction. So, even though immortals were equally unacceptable to the Heavenly Dao, they were under a lot less pressure than the Buddhist League, as they followed part of the natural laws.

On the contrary, those of the Buddhist League only paid attention to their own cultivation bases, and they strove to cultivate themselves into a bright, shiny relic that lasted forever. It was true that they, too, had the arts of dual cultivation, but those were only cultivation techniques. Had anyone ever seen those Buddhas who cultivated the arts of dual cultivation give birth to any offspring?

Because the Buddhist League practiced cultivation techniques that prevented one from producing offspring, their cultivators were under several times more pressure from the Heavenly Dao than those of the Dao League. As a result, since the emergence of the Dao League and Buddhist League in ancient times, the former had flourished while the latter had declined.

In order to change the embarrassing situation in which the Buddhist League had always been inferior to the Dao League, and sometimes even could not suppress the immortals from the Fiend League, the Ghost League, and the Demon League, the Great Buddha Vairocana had sent Bodhisattva Kṣitigarbha—first disciple and also the strongest Bodhisattva of that time—to the Nether World with a group of elites. They were ordered to gradually erode the Six Paths of Reincarnation with a mystic art.

Since then, the Buddhist League had been able to control a part of the Six Paths of Reincarnation. If any of their cultivators died, as long as a trace of their souls was intact, they would be able to keep their memories and continue their cultivation after they reincarnated. In this way, the Buddhist League’s overall strength would only increase like a snowball. After dozens of eons, the effect of this measure had been gradually reflected. Their power had become stronger and stronger, and was showing a sign of suppressing the Fiend Realm, the Ghost Realm, the Demon Realm, and many other smaller worlds, while slowly catching up with the Dao League.

It was a pity that in a certain Apocalypse of Heaven and Earth the Great Buddha Vairocana had fallen. All he left behind was a golden body while his soul entered the cycle of reincarnation and had to re-cultivate from a mortal. The new Lord Buddha also saw the significance of the Six Paths of Reincarnation to the Buddhist League, and he was ready to intervene.

But, Kṣitigarbha was very loyal to his master. If Vairocana had completely perished in both flesh and soul, he would naturally be willing to serve the orders of the new Lord Buddha. However, Vairocana was only in the cycle of reincarnation. Although he could not find his reincarnation, Kṣitigarbha was confident that with his master’s tremendous foundation, he would surely rejoin the Buddhist League some years later and become a Buddha once more.

Under such circumstances, how could Kṣitigarbha obey the orders of the new Lord Buddha?

As a result, Buddhist League’s branch in the Nether World, represented by Kṣitigarbha, was separated from its principle. Apart from some necessary ‘businesses’, the branch in the Nether World had no connection with the principle. Naturally, they did not get to share the massive virtues in the mortal worlds either.

Kṣitigarbha, with all his Bodhisattvas and Arhats, had been dwelling in the Nether World, rescuing Buddhist followers from the Yellow Spring and saving them from the suffering of reincarnation. It was a complete violation of the Laws of the Six Paths of Reincarnation, and complete opposition to the Heavenly Dao. For every person saved, their karma was increased; for every person saved, all the karmic entanglements of that person were passed over to Kṣitigarbha and the other Bodhisattvas.

It did not matter if it were only thirty to fifty thousand years, for Kṣitigarbha and his companions could gradually get rid of the karma with their cultivation of the Buddhist Dharma. But, they had been doing this since the time when Great Buddha Vairocana was the Lord Buddha. Since his fall, there had been hundreds of different Lord Buddhas, the shortest of whom had ruled for three to five eons, and the longest for seven to eight hundred eons. How many people had they pulled out of the Yellow Spring in such a long time? How many people had they saved from the suffering of the reincarnation? And much karma had they accumulated, and enmity suffered from the Heavenly Dao?

To make matters worse, Kṣitigarbha was so stubborn that he only recognized Great Buddha Vairocana. The present Lord Buddha, Amitabha, had personally visited him nine times to persuade him to submit temporarily, but was scolded and chased out of the Nether World every single time. With this kind of relationship between him and the principle, it was clear that Kṣitigarbha did not get to share the enormous virtues in the mortal worlds.

So, there appeared before Wu Qi these Bodhisattvas, all dark and emanating a monstrous evil karma. Their natal relics had been saturated with evil karma, which was so strong and powerful that it had even become an impressive divine ability. If any ordinary Buddha was touched by this evil karma, their golden bodies would be contaminated, and their divine souls would be burned to ashes by the red lotus karmic fire.

Wu Qi unclasped his hands. Looking at the 800 Bodhisattvas in the distance who had all recovered their full fighting strength, he said with a cold grin, “Apparently, you are a bunch of unlucky fellas! So, are you going to live your whole life in that golden body condensed of evil karma as long as Vairocana doesn’t show up?”

Kṣitigarbha’s face flickered. “You are indeed a Primordial expert, to be able to figure out our background in such a short time,” he said while grinning icily. “But, even though you know where we come from, what can you do? Over the years, our divine souls have merged with the Six Paths of Reincarnation, and our golden bodies have merged with the Yellow Spring. Unless the Six Paths are broken and the Yellow Spring dry up, you can’t destroy our divine souls and golden bodies!”

With a wave of his hands, two swords made entirely of the red lotus karmic fire appeared in his grips. “Nobody can hurt us in the Nether World,” Kṣitigarbha said indifferently, “not even the present Lord Buddha. So, don’t you think it’s ridiculous that you, three low-ranking Primordial experts, want to defeat us, the Buddhist League’s branch in the Nether World?”

As Kṣitigarbha’s laughter echoed out, 800 Bodhisattvas removed the illusion and revealed their true forms—800 black avatars of Bodhisattvas, each up to a hundred miles tall, and wrapped in towering black smoke and red fire of retribution that stretched as far as one’s eyes could see. Slowly, they began to approach Wu Qi with all kinds of weapons condensed from the red lotus karmic fire in hands.

Ao Buzun and Catfish were taken aback. They had never seen a Bodhisattva like this before.

At the same time, the Arhats chanted the Buddha’s name. A monstrous fire of retribution burst from their bodies, and they, too, soon transformed into black avatars that were tens of miles tall. Armed with the same-looking staffs, they growled while approaching Wu Qi and his companions menacingly.

Following the actions of these Bodhisattvas and Arhats, hundreds of millions of Yaksha rose into the sky from the ocean of yellow spring down below, treading on the waves. The males looked ferocious and ugly, but the females were enchanting and beautiful. Despite their appearances, each of them had a tiny black swastika glowing with a faint Buddhist light on their foreheads. They were the Guardians of the Yellow Spring whom Kṣitigarbha and his companions had subdued over the years.

800 Bodhisattvas surrounded Wu Qi and his companions and reconstructed the Six Paths Mandala Formation. Behind them were 108,000 Arhats, who formed a larger Six Paths Mandala Formation. Countless Yakshas gathered around these two layers of formation and rode about on waves under the command of thousands of 100-miles-tall Yaksha Kings, forming a Six Paths Mandala Formation of unspeakable size in the periphery.

Kṣitigarbha let out a loud shout and charged toward Wu Qi and his companions alone. Even then, all three layers of formation were activated simultaneously. A boundless power of transmigration immediately came crushing over from all directions like a millstone. Wu Qi and his companions felt their bodies become heavier, and they could hardly breathe.

“Since you don’t want to leave, try the infinite transmigration! Retrospective Reflections of a Thousand Lives, ACTIVATE!”

With this roar, the strange power of transmigration invaded the bodies of Wu Qi, Ao Buzun, and Catfish uncontrollably, tearing at their divine souls frantically while trying to extract something from them.

In a few moments, Catfish’s body suddenly stiffened and her eyes glowed with gray flames. She had been completely controlled by the power of infinite transmigration. Wu Qi and Ao Buzun’s bodies became stiff as well, and their eyes were glowing with gray flames as well.

Kṣitigarbha roared with laughter as he brought his swords down toward Wu Qi’s neck.

“Even though you are a Primordial expert, you will still have to fall here today!”