Chapter 607 - 48: Scolding the Buddha and Cursing the Patriarchs, the Celestial Realm Is Dead

Chapter 607: Chapter 48: Scolding the Buddha and Cursing the Patriarchs, the Celestial Realm Is Dead

It was hard to even form a thought, to ponder anything related to the Daoist Child!

"Han Prime Minister Zhuge Liang, I greet you, senior."

Zhuge Kongming bowed cautiously. The Daoist Child nodded slightly, his voice vast and resonant as he spoke:

"By my master’s decree, I bestow upon you these Three Lamps. You are to use them to illuminate the Human World and scatter the gloom of these dark Years."

As he spoke, the Daoist Child pushed his hand forward. The Cyan Lamp, Gloomy Lamp, and Cyan Lamp, all burning brightly, floated through the air and disappeared into Zhuge Kongming’s body.

His pupils shrank. He sensed three lamps, brighter than the magnificent Great Sun, floating within his Spiritual World.

An inexplicable power wove between them. He thought he could see... everything. He saw the Celestial Realms, saw the very Source of history.

Zhuge Kongming suppressed the tremor in his heart, bowed deeply, and spoke with a quavering voice:

"I, Liang, on behalf of the trillions upon trillions of people in the Human World, offer my deepest gratitude for the great benevolence of the Purple Cloud Palace Master!"

"There is no need."

An ethereal voice drifted from afar, echoing through this land of absolute nothingness. Zhuge Kongming looked up and vaguely made out the figure of the Purple Cloud Palace Master.

That figure sat cross-legged at an infinite height, one eye open and one eye closed. His open left eye reflected all scenes from antiquity. He seemed to be draped in a Chaos Daoist Robe, and with every breath, Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water flowed and shifted.

Beneath him were the Three Calamities, Six Tribulations, and Nine Journeys, and behind him, a 72-colored radiance slowly flowed...

Zhuge Kongming’s heart pounded. He kowtowed once more, but when he raised his head, he was back on the Chaos Ladder.

Leaving the Purple Cloud Palace, he started his return to the Human World, only to see another version of himself. This other self was weeping tears of blood, kowtowing with every step on his way toward the Purple Cloud Palace.

One was kowtowing his way up, seeking a Dharma to save the Human World; the other was departing after hearing the Dao, now possessing the power to hold back the collapsing heavens.

The two figures passed each other. In a daze, he found himself back in the residence surrounding the Profound Bird Platform. From outside, he heard Zhao Zilong’s grief-stricken laughter, booming with sorrow:

"The Buddhas guide the world? The Bodhisattvas are compassionate? Laughable! How laughable!"

"I hate that I cannot kill them all! I hate it!"

Then came the CLANG of a long spear snapping, the THUD of a head hitting the ground, and Lu Xiuyuan’s quiet sigh:

"Prime Minister, General Zhao... has also fallen in battle."

After a pause, Lu Xiuyuan stared at the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas walking into the residence. He looked at the three main lamps, which were still dim, and asked:

"Prime Minister, is it... still not enough?"

"No."

The aged Zhuge Kongming straightened his back, old tears streaming down his face.

"It’s not lacking. Everything... is just right."

He bent down and placed the Cyan Lamp, the Gloomy Lamp, and the Cyan Lamp in the positions of the main lamps. He then set the Treasure Lotus Divine Lamp, the Great Sun Golden Lamp, the Great Creation Lamp, and the Great Yin Yang Lamp as the four auxiliary lamps.

Then he dripped his blood and burned away his Cultivation, fueling the one hundred and eight smaller lamps.

The candle flames surged violently.

The three main lamps levitated. The Cyan Lamp hung before Zhuge Kongming, the Gloomy Lamp to his left, and the Cyan Lamp to his right.

The four lamps—the Treasure Lotus, Great Sun, Creation, and Yin Yang—floated a level lower, slowly revolving around him. Behind him, the flames of the one hundred and eight smaller lamps blazed and intertwined, painting a magnificent scroll of a prosperous era!

The Buddha who had walked into the residence narrowed his eyes. A bad premonition arose within him, and he bellowed:

"PA!!"

The Great Buddha Sound transformed into the character for "Kill" and rushed toward Zhuge Kongming. A great wind suddenly gusted, threatening to blow out all the lamps!

Zhuge Kongming glanced sideways and pointed a cold finger.

BUZZ!

The four lamps—Treasure Lotus, Great Sun, Creation, and Yin Yang—blazed in unison. Myriad lights manifested in this space, converging into a torrent that surged forward!

Under the wash of this great torrent, the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas who had charged into the residence were annihilated and dissolved, one after another, without even a chance to cry out!

"This..."

Lu Xiuyuan sucked in a cold breath, while beside him, Lin Xi’s eyes flashed with an unusual light.

’Interesting...’

Lin Xi murmured inwardly, lost in thought.

With the Seven Lamps circling him, Zhuge Kongming walked out of the great residence step by step. He looked upon the Shu Capital and saw devastation everywhere.

He gazed out at the Shu Region—a billion miles of floating corpses!

He saw Zhao Zilong’s head lying on the ground, his eyes wide with fury. He saw Guan Yunchang leaning on his Cyan Dragon Crescent Blade, dead but not fallen.

He saw Zhang Yide nailed to the city wall, saw Huang Hansheng’s corpse hunched over...

"In this time when the heavens themselves are collapsing..."

Zhuge Kongming’s eyes were bloodshot. He spoke, enunciating every word:

"O, vast Celestial Realm, you who are so callous to the Human World... why not just Change Heaven and Earth?"

He snatched up a broken Great Banner nearby. This was the one personally raised by Zhang Jiao of the Taiping Dao back then. Eight large words were written upon it.

[The Celestial Realm is dead; the Pure Heaven must rise].

Standing amidst a pile of the dead, Zhuge Kongming brandished the Great Banner alone!

"Go! Go! Go! Go, all of you!"

Four consecutive shouts of "Go," and then—

The Treasure Lotus Divine Lamp burned its way to the Western Celestial Realm, the Great Sun Golden Lamp blazed toward the North, the Great Creation Lamp struck to the East, and the Great Yin Yang Lamp illuminated the lands to the South!

In the first breath, all the Buddhas in the city were annihilated.

In the second breath, not a single Buddha’s shadow remained in the Shu Region.

"Hm?"

The Venerable Buddha, who spanned the entire Celestial Vault, looked down in surprise, his expression startled.

"Treasure Lotus, Great Sun, Creation, Yin Yang..."

He did not recognize the three main lamps, but he knew the four auxiliary ones. His heart trembled, yet his face held a smile.

"I did not expect such a surprise on this trip. How merciful, how merciful!"

The Venerable Buddha pointed a finger. The converted Earth Deities, Shadow Soldiers, and Immortal Gods swarmed from all directions, accompanied by Buddhas and Bodhisattvas emerging from worlds as numerous as the grains of sand in the Ganges River!

Zhuge Kongming glanced around, then finally looked up at the Venerable Buddha and demanded:

"Since you are a Buddha, why do you not act to save the world, but instead create such immense evil karma?"

The Venerable Buddha did not answer—or rather, he couldn’t be bothered to. He merely murmured to himself:

"How can a mere ant know the vastness of the Celestial Realm? How can it know of the ten thousand years of Virtue we shall gain from this journey?"

Zhuge Kongming’s lips moved slightly, and he finally let out a bitter laugh.

"The vastness of the Celestial Realm... The Celestial Realm is dead."

He raised his hand and pointed. A candle flame burned upward. The Venerable Buddha pressed his palms together in a gesture of pity.

"An ant trying to shake the heavens, a mayfly trying to overturn the earth. It is nothing more than this..."

In his eyes, although the four artifacts—the Treasure Lotus, Great Sun, Creation, and Yin Yang—were weapons approaching the Dao Fruit Level, if wielded by an ant...

As expected, the four candle flames surged, but no matter what, they could not get near the Venerable Buddha’s body!

It was as if an impassable chasm lay between them!

"Just an ant." The Venerable Buddha closed his eyes, no longer bothering to watch.

Zhuge Kongming let out a slow breath and flicked his hand.

With the Cyan Lamp, the Gloomy Lamp, and the Cyan Lamp as the lead, and the other four lamps circling as support, the Seven Lamps hung suspended in the air.

"How is this possible?!"

The Venerable Buddha’s eyes suddenly flew open, and a chill ran down his spine. Alarm bells screamed in his mind. He wanted to retreat, but the cause for his retreat was burned away, thus naturally erasing the effect of his escape.

It was, in short, inescapable.

"The Seven Lamps are now suspended... all that’s missing is the drumbeat in the high heavens."

Zhuge Kongming stared at the sky, at the Venerable Buddha who was now wailing and panicking within the seven candle flames, and said softly:

"Who is the ant now?"

As he spoke, he pointed again.

The Jade Void Glazed Lamp flared, the Spirit Coffin Lamp’s gloomy light intensified, and the Eight Sceneries Palace Lamp grew vast and majestic. The Seven Lamps burned through the River of Time, their flames reaching into the past and spreading into the future, striking at the Venerable Buddha across all of Time.

A great tide rose in the Years.

"Buddha?"

This old man, who had been refined and gentle his entire life, suddenly cursed aloud:

"Fuck your mother!"

A Supreme Daluo... had died.

The Great Sun Buddha was horrified, the Immortal Mother was terrified, and the Buddha Mother’s eyes snapped open.