Chapter 605 - 47: 7 Lamps Suspended, the Daoist Palace Opens Wide, the Prime Minister Weeps Blood

Chapter 605: Chapter 47: 7 Lamps Suspended, the Daoist Palace Opens Wide, the Prime Minister Weeps Blood

He ordered coolly:

"The Human Dao Fortune is mottled and impure. This time, use the Blood Refining Skill to gather the Human Dao Fortune from within the bloodlines."

The Buddhas and Bodhisattvas received the decree, assumed wrathful visages, and descended upon the Shu Region to kill.

Meanwhile, the Venerable Buddha remained quietly seated in the heavens, unwilling to interfere.

’The Blood Refining Skill meant slaughter beyond measure, and he was unwilling to bear that Cause and Effect...’

On the first day, by morning, all of Shu’s border passes had been broken.

By noon, all three thousand prefectures of the Shu Region had fallen.

By dusk, all of Shu Han had been lost, save for the Shu Capital itself.

Shu Capital.

"Prime Minister, what... what do we do now?"

Zhao Yun, clad in Silver Armor, asked softly. His expression was numb as he gazed at the Buddhist radiance filling the sky and let out a deep sigh.

Zhuge Kongming, who now looked old and weary, spoke with exhaustion:

"One day. We’re still one day short. Can you buy us one more day?"

Zhao Yun fell silent, but Guan Yu, who stood to the side, spoke up gruffly:

"If the one above doesn’t intervene, and if we give everything we have... we might be able to stall for one more day!"

Zhuge Kongming gazed at the Profound Bird Platform and nodded silently.

This grand residence had been built around the Profound Bird Platform, enclosing it completely within an open courtyard at the center of the estate. It was engraved with numerous Arrays to provide additional protection.

After a moment of contemplation, Zhuge Kongming suddenly glanced to the side, looking at a young man.

"Sir, is it time?"

Lu Xiuyuan, with Lin Xi on his arm, hesitated. He nodded, then shook his head.

"We are still a hair’s breadth away from the moment I was told to wait for."

"’A hair’s breadth away?’ Zhuge Kongming sighed softly and asked, ’What are we missing?’"

Lu Xiuyuan remained silent. Zhang Fei, standing nearby, was the first to lose his patience and burst out, "Sixty years ago, you were the one who called for the abdication! The process started two years ago, but that damned Hongjun spent half a year on it and still didn’t finish! Because of that, my four older brothers were captured—we don’t even know if they’re alive or dead! And you’re still speaking in riddles? I think you’re..."

"Sixth Brother!" Guan Yu cut him off, his own voice heavy with fatigue. He turned to Lu Xiuyuan and asked calmly, "None of us might live to see the end of this day. At the very least, we deserve to know why we are dying, don’t we?"

Lu Xiuyuan fell silent again for a moment. He looked up at the magnificent Buddha in the sky, whose light illuminated everything, and listened to the chanting that echoed from every corner of the Shu Capital.

He sighed softly.

"The moment the Seven Lamps are suspended in the sky. The hour the drums beat in the high heavens. The day the Daoist Palace opens its gates."

Zhuge Kongming nodded slightly, fanning himself with his Feather Fan.

"One day. At most, one more day... that will be when the Seven Lamps are suspended. But as for the drums in the high heavens and the opening of the Daoist Palace... what do those mean?"

"I don’t know either." Lu Xiuyuan shook his head. "Those were his exact words."

"I understand."

Zhuge Kongming nodded again.

Time passed. As dusk fell completely, the cries of battle erupted from all sides.

The next morning, a soldier came to report:

"General Guan... has fallen in battle!"

"I know." Zhuge Kongming’s expression grew even more desolate, but he continued making his arrangements.

By noon, another soldier came with a report:

"General Zhang has fallen in battle! The North wall has been breached!"

Zhuge Kongming seemed to age even more. He glanced to the side and ordered:

"Zilong, please fill the breach."

"Yes."

「A quarter of an hour later.」

"Reporting! General Huang Zhong has fallen in battle! The West wall has been breached!"

"Reporting! General Ma Chao has fallen in battle! The East wall has been breached!"

"Reporting..."

With each report, Zhuge Kongming seemed to age, though whether from grief or something else was unclear.

As dusk approached, the last soldier staggered forward.

"Reporting..."

He coughed up blood.

"The enemy... they’re outside the residence. All the soldiers are dead. General Zhao... he’s still... still holding them off alone..."

Before he could finish, the soldier—an Earth Immortal—collapsed and died.

At that same moment, a booming, sorrowful laugh echoed from outside the residence:

"Buddhas delivering the world? Bodhisattvas being compassionate? Ridiculous! How absurd!"

"I can’t kill enough of you! I can’t kill enough!"

Then came the sharp CRACK of a long spear snapping, followed by the dull thud of a head hitting the ground.

Lu Xiuyuan, grasping Lin Xi’s hand, said softly:

"Prime Minister, General Zhao has... fallen as well."

Zhuge Kongming’s eyes were bloodshot as he muttered to himself:

’Almost there, almost there...’

Bodhisattvas strode in, and Buddhas entered the hall.

’The last little bit...’

As if oblivious, Zhuge Kongming’s eyes remained webbed with blood. On the floor, one hundred and eight small lamps lit up in sequence.

Four auxiliary lamps also began to shine brightly, but the three main lamps in the center remained dark.

’Almost there, almost there...’

"Amitabha Buddha!" A Buddha’s voice, thick with false compassion, echoed. A great gust of wind swept through, and all one hundred and eight auxiliary lamps were extinguished.

In despair, Zhuge Kongming collapsed to the floor, muttering:

"’Failure on the cusp of success... Failure on the cusp of success...’"

He closed his eyes.

Suddenly, a voice of the Dao rang out, its thunder shaking the very era and reverberating throughout the Great Heaven and Earth.

"By order of the Master! The Master has emerged from his mountain sanctuary for the first time. In the Current World, and in the age before history, all members of the Mortal Race may enter the Palace to hear the Dao."

"Therefore, the Master shall lecture on the Dao for one hundred days, in the hope that all may become as dragons!"

The Buddhas throughout the city looked up. They saw a magnificent Daoist Palace that seemed to press down upon the river of Time itself. They saw a Daoist Child making a solemn proclamation. And they saw a Chaos Ladder descending directly into the residence.

The old Prime Minister staggered onto the Chaos Ladder. As he ascended, he looked around. Within the Shu Capital, severed heads littered the ground. There were no survivors.

He looked down again at the dim lamps in the mansion. In a single instant, his full head of black hair turned stark white. He looked up at the magnificent Daoist Palace and wailed in anguish:

"’The day the Daoist Palace opens its gates... but my Seven Lamps are not yet hanging in the sky!’"

The old Prime Minister stumbled and fell to his knees, kowtowing with every step he took up the ladder.

"’I, Liang, do not know which divine being you are, but since you possess a heart for Cultivation, you must be compassionate!’"

"’I, Liang, kowtow and implore you, Supreme Venerable! Save my homeland! Avert this cataclysm! Exterminate the White Lotus, strike down the Great Sun Buddha, and slay the Venerable Buddha!’"

Every word was a plea of blood and tears as he kowtowed his way upward. There, he saw the Four Emperors—who had long ago been beheaded by the Buddhist Sect—standing alive before the Daoist Palace, their expressions filled with astonishment.

A much younger-looking Liu Bei stared at the decrepit old man kowtowing his way toward them. His eyes suddenly turned red. "Uncle Zhong!"

"Your Majesty..." Zhuge Liang replied, his voice trembling.