Everlasting Immortal Firmament

Book 6: Chapter 053: Exiting Hell

The first layer of hell’s entrance to the second layer:

Bodhisattva Jie Dong, Bodhisattva Di Ting, and the various kings of hell waited there.

“Tell me, do you think that Kong Xuan is already obeying the Lord Buddha’s command?” Bodhisattva Jie Dong smiled.

“Is there even a need to ask? What is the sixteenth layer of hell like? The bloodthirst of hell there is several times that of the first layer. It has been locked there for close to one hundred million years. Hah! Just thinking about it terrifies me. As long as it has not been driven mad, it will be desperate to serve the Lord Buddha!” Bodhisattva Di Ting sneered.

“The two bodhisattvas are wise!” the kings of hell flattered.

Whoosh!

As the group waited, three figures suddenly flew out of the passageway.

“They are back already? This quickly?” one of the kings of hell exclaimed.

Bodhisattva Jie Dong’s expression changed. “That’s not right. It’s Gu Hai and Shangguan Hen. That’s Kong Xuan?”

Why are they out here?

Then, the distant Gu Hai took out a bottle.

“Where’s the Lord Buddha?” Bodhisattva Di Ting’s face sank.

Bodhisattva Jie Dong’s face sank. “That can’t be. They must have hidden from the Lord Buddha and escaped. Gu Hai is still alive, and Kong Xuan escaped? We must inform the Lord Buddha immediately.”

“Lord Buddha, Kong Xuan is in the first layer! Come quickly!” Bodhisattva Di Ting roared.

Bodhisattva Di Ting’s voice formed strange sound waves that rushed to the second layer of hell, then spread to the third.

Far away, the resentful Kong Xuan, whom Gu Hai had stopped earlier, suddenly looked over.

“Huh? Baldies? Hah!” Kong Xuan roared.

He waved a hand, and a black wind blew. Then, he opened his mouth and sucked.

“Ah!” The black wind immediately caught the monks and kings of hell.

“Oh no! We cannot get free! Save me!”

“Lord Buddha, quickly save me!”

“Ah!”

Everyone cried out as they tried to escape the black wind’s grasp.

“Your Lord Buddha is in my belly. If you want to search for him, go search in my stomach!” Kong Xuan sucked hard with a ferocious expression.

Whoosh!

Everyone entered Kong Xuan’s mouth.

Gu Hai: “…”

“Kong Xuan, do you have to be that resentful? To think that you even consumed the insignificant monks?” Shangguan Hen said with a forced smile.

“None of your business,” Kong Xuan snapped coldly.

Shangguan Hen smiled bitterly and did not say anything more.

Gu Hai opened the jade bottle. There had initially been a Reincarnation Lotus flower bud inside.

That flower bud had since fully bloomed. No, it had not just bloomed but even formed seed heads and birthed new lotuses. Those lotuses had then grown five more lotus flowers, which had also bloomed.

“It looks like they grow slower in the eighteen layers of hell,” Gu Hai said with a smile.

After over two hundred fifty million years, only five new flowers had grown? However, these were enough.

“Your Reverence, when the Present Buddha opens the entrance to the path of reincarnation secret realm, we will immediately rush out, and I will swallow him up in one mouth,” Kong Xuan said with resentment in his eyes.

“The Present Buddha?” Gu Hai shook his head. “Kong Xuan, you had better not provoke him for now!”

“Why?” Kong Xuan still felt somewhat unconvinced.

“Let’s go out first.” Gu Hai extended his hand and plucked a Reincarnation Lotus.

Buzz!

The plucked flower immediately started withering.

At the same time, the withering flower gave off rainbow light, and a passageway appeared before the three.

“This is?” Kong Xuan asked, feeling puzzled.

“Let’s go. We can go out with this,” Gu Hai said.

The three immediately stepped in and left.

Whoosh!

The three traveled quickly through the passageway and came out the other side.

Shortly after they exited, the passageway disappeared.

The three stood on a mountaintop and took in the vast plains in their surroundings.

Sniff!

The three took deep breaths at the same time.

“This Spiritual Energy! This is the feeling. We have returned to the Divine Continent! Hahahaha! We have returned!” Shangguan Hen suddenly felt refreshed and relaxed.

It had been too torturous in hell.

The bloodthirst in Kong Xuan eased somewhat. He had finally returned and felt much better now.

“This place is…” Gu Hai looked around with a slight frown.

Bodhisattva Lian Sheng had said the Reincarnation Lotus’s exit would be at a random location in the Divine Continent.

There were no landmarks or indicators in this place, so they did not know where they were.

“Shangguan Hen, go and scout the area,” Gu Hai instructed.

“Yes!”

Whoosh!

Shangguan Hen immediately flew to a distant city and soon returned.

“Your Reverence, this is pretty far. We are on the border of the Huang Heavenly Dynasty. We came out in the southwest of the Divine Continent,” Shangguan Hen said with a bitter smile.

“Let’s go. We should meet up with Ao Shun and Chang Ming first,” Gu Hai said.

“Alright,” the two answered.

Bang!

The three turned into three beams of light disappearing into the horizon.

——

Yama Palace’s entrance, Hell Path Secret Realm:

Buzz!

A passageway suddenly appeared.

The Present Buddha and the Past Buddha entered the first layer of hell together with a group of bodhisattvas and arhats.

“Huh? Where’s everyone?” The Past Buddha frowned.

This layer was in complete disorder. The Yama Palace had even collapsed. Ghost soldiers and ghost generals hid in the surroundings.

“Lord Buddha? Lord Buddha, you finally came! You finally came!” A king of hell ran over from a distance, stumbling as he ran.

“King Yama? Where are the others? Why are you in such a state?” the Past Buddha asked.

“Gu Hai, Shangguan Hen, and Kong Xuan fled! They fled. Kong Xuan ate the others! He ate them!” King Yama replied in horror.

“Ate? What do you mean ‘ate’? Kong Xuan ran?” The Past Buddha’s expression changed.

“I’m not sure about the Lord Future Buddha. I…I went down to take a look but could not find him. Perhaps Kong Xuan ate him as well. They have fled!” King Yama said in horror.

“What’s going on? Speak clearly. Where is the heretic Buddhist?” the Past Buddha asked anxiously.

King Yama did not dare to hide anything. He reported everything he knew.

The Past Buddha’s expression turned extremely sullen. “This Gu Hai is truly a troublemaker!”

However, the Present Buddha kept his eyes shut as though trying to sense something.

“Lord Buddha, was the Future Buddha really eaten? That should not be the case. He still has the World Cleansing Shut Eyes Meditation,” the Past Buddha said anxiously.

The Present Buddha shook his head as a sound came from him. “He is still alive. He used the Indestructible Body Technique.”

——

With Gu Hai, Shangguan Hen, and Kong Xuan’s speed, they arrived at the border of the Spirit Mountain Holy Land in ten-odd days.

Boom!

The three landed on a mountaintop, kicking up a strong wind. Countless bats immediately flew out of the forest.

Whoosh!

The countless bats gathered and quickly transformed into a black-robed figure. It was Chang Ming.

“Your Reverence, you have come out. This is great!” Chang Ming said with pleasant surprise.

“Oh? Are you alone?” Gu Hai asked in puzzlement.

“Ao Shun will return soon. After we split up that day, we saw what happened from afar. Ao Shun wanted to charge over, but I stopped him. During this time, Ao Shun has been leaving early in the day and returning very late in search of news of Your Reverence while I waited here,” Chang Ming reported while smiling.

“The Great Light Sovereign Deity?” Chang Ming suddenly raised his eyebrows at Kong Xuan.

Kong Xuan showed a cold expression and did not speak.

“Now, he is the Han Imperial Dynasty’s Fifth Corps commander!” Gu Hai explained.

“Oh?” Chang Ming appeared startled as he nodded.

While everyone waited patiently, Gu Hai started laying a ritual array.

Indeed, Ao Shun returned in the evening. Seeing Gu Hai gave him a joyful surprise.

“Prime Shangguan, you have recovered your cultivation?” Ao Shun said in shock.

“Indeed. His Reverence passed me a cultivation technique, and I suffered greatly for quite a while,” Shangguan Hen said bitterly.

The eighteen layers of hell was indeed an inhuman place.

However, Ao Shun did not know that. Suffer? You said that you suffered? In just ten-odd days, you went from having no cultivation to the Upper Heavenly Palace Realm. Are you not embarrassed to say that you suffered?

Ao Shun could not understand, but his pride prevented him from asking for clarification, so he only showed a strange expression.

“Your Reverence, what should we do now?” Chang Ming asked.

“Capture Sun Wukong,” Gu Hai said seriously.

“Imperial Emperor Gu, let me go this time,” Ao Shun immediately volunteered.

“Your Reverence, I can turn into a bat and hide myself. Let me go!” Chang Ming suggested.

“Your Reverence, let me go! Capturing a monkey should not be difficult,” Shangguan Hen said confidently.

“Your Reverence, let me do it,” Kong Xuan volunteered as well.

Although Kong Xuan volunteered, Gu Hai made out other intentions from Kong Xuan’s eyes. There was resentment. Although he had suppressed the overwhelming hatred, he remained dissatisfied.

Advise Kong Xuan with facts? Given Kong Xuan’s character, he would not listen.

“You can go, but I have a question. Are the Future Buddha and the others still alive?” Gu Hai asked.

Kong Xuan opened his mouth and spat.

Thud!

The Future Buddha appeared, but he seemed to have turned into a golden statue, remaining immobile, with a boundless, black demonic aura around him.

“I have already digested the other monks and ghosts. However, he has the Indestructible Body Technique and can survive for now. However, I will digest him sooner or later. He cannot last much longer,” Kong Xuan said.

“There is also the Nine-Petaled Golden Lotus?” Gu Hai looked at Kong Xuan.

“I want that Nine-Petaled Golden Lotus. Your Reverence, you aren’t going to snatch away my spoils of war, right?” Kong Xuan frowned at Gu Hai.

“Hah! As long as you can protect it, keep it,” Gu Hai said with a smile.

Kong Xuan nodded. Clearly, he would not hand over the Nine-Petaled Golden Lotus.

“Give me the Future Buddha. Then, go to the Flower and Fruit Mountain with Shangguan Hen and capture Sun Wukong!” Gu Hai said, his voice sinking.

Kong Xuan glanced at the Future Buddha. Then, he nodded and said, “Alright.”

“Do be careful on your journey. Try to keep a low profile. That monkey is extremely smart; do not be fooled by its appearance,” Gu Hai exhorted gravely.

“Your Reverence, rest assured!” Shangguan Hen nodded.

Shangguan Hen knew about the Flower and Fruit Mountain as well as the monkey king. While Sun Wukong had seventy-two transformations and could fool others, the black tortoise prime also cultivated the Eight Nines Profound Technique. Furthermore, he cultivated it even further than the monkey king did. Naturally, Sun Wukong could not escape Shangguan Hen’s grasp.

Whoosh!

The two immediately streaked off and vanished from this place.

“Imperial Emperor Gu, Shangguan Hen’s cultivation has improved significantly,” Ao Shun commented as he watched the black tortoise prime leave.

“Indeed. Crown Prince Ao Shun, what are your plans for the future?” Gu Hai asked, turning to Ao Shun.

“Me? The future?” Ao Shun remained silent for a while.

“Ao Sheng is now the Northern Sea Dragon King. If you do not think it beneath you, how about you join my Han Imperial Dynasty? You would be like Shangguan Hen, the prime of the Han Imperial Dynasty’s national beast. I recall that a nation can have more than one national beast,” Gu Hai invited as he looked at Ao Shun.