Chapter 611 - 50: Human Emperor Amitabha, the Great Heaven and Earth Returns to 1

Chapter 611: Chapter 50: Human Emperor Amitabha, the Great Heaven and Earth Returns to 1

The Seven Lamps illuminated all of time as Celestial Soldiers beat their drums.

At this moment, the Nine Venerable Ones all sensed something was amiss. ’That Zhang Bairen... he’s acting a little too calm, isn’t he?’

Lishan Old Mother’s heart went cold. ’The Dao Fruit and several Daluo are still watching us,’ she thought frantically. ’If he doesn’t perform the great rites, if he doesn’t kowtow... if they see this as a provocation...’

The Celestial Court would be finished.

And not just the Celestial Court—they would be finished, too!

These Daluo had long since descended into a killing frenzy. Take the Buddhist Sect, for example. Of their original thirty-one Daluo, what with all the deaths and defections, only nine now remained, and that was even after adding the Immortal Mother, the Qilin, and others!

Lishan Old Mother’s brow furrowed, and she immediately boomed:

"Jade Emperor, the Buddha Mother gazes upon you! Kowtow at once!"

She was frantic. The Celestial Official Emperor and the Five Directions Five Elders were also trembling under the gaze of the Dao Fruit.

The Celestial Official Emperor was the first to lose his patience. Seeing the Jade Emperor remain motionless on the high dais, he thrust his hand forward, intending to force him down and make him bow his head!

"Today."

The Jade Emperor ignored the massive palm descending upon him. His gaze fell upon the Buddha Mother, and he spoke with a smile:

"Today, I have surveyed Heaven and Earth and have come to feel I am powerless to govern them..."

A wisp of Sword Qi materialized beside him, piercing and utterly obliterating the massive descending hand of the Celestial Official Emperor!

The Celestial Official Emperor let out a wretched cry. The faces of the Nine Venerable Ones contorted in shock, while the assembled Ancient Immortals and Ancient Gods stared, dumbfounded, their minds reeling.

The puppet of yesteryear had suddenly erupted. With no discernible movement, he had grievously wounded a Great Power at the Fourth Level of the Celestial Realms!

"Therefore, after much deliberation, I have decided to abolish my own throne as Celestial Emperor, reducing my rank from Emperor to Duke, and abdicate in favor of..."

The Jade Emperor struck with tyrannical might. A single punch shot across the sky, striking both Lishan Old Mother and the Five Directions Five Elders simultaneously. The six of them were grievously wounded, left on the brink of death as they were sealed within the Celestial Prison!

Even as she was being sealed in the Celestial Prison, Lishan Old Mother was still in a stupor. Her immortal form felt as if it had fallen into a waking nightmare, and she glanced around, utterly bewildered.

’Was that the Jade Emperor? Was that Zhang Bairen?’

She coughed up mouthfuls of blood, her expression vacant as an overwhelming sense of disbelief flooded her heart. ’The very puppet I personally propped up... has suddenly revealed power that ranks among the top tier of all Daluo...’

At the same time, the Jade Emperor’s final word drifted through the air.

"...Haotian."

The Buddha Mother’s expression changed. The assembled immortals erupted in an uproar. Lu Xiuyuan violently shook the Heaven-Opening Banner, activating a hidden mechanism within it and causing it to explode with dazzling light!

The Heaven-Opening Banner trembled, tearing the Celestial Vault and shattering the Earth. A primordial Chaos Sword Qi emerged from the void and, in an instant, reached the Eighty-one Buddha Pagodas!

KRA-CHA!

The Buddha Pagodas, personally established by Amitabha Buddha, shook violently before shattering into countless pieces. Haotian, who had been imprisoned within, walked out. His Daoist Robe whipped in the wind as he took a single step up into the Celestial Vault.

"I accept."

So he spoke, standing beside the Jade Emperor.

Afterward, the Jade Emperor’s form grew dim, transforming into a wisp of azure smoke that abruptly scattered across the nine heavens.

As he vanished, in the four cardinal directions—East, South, West, and North—

four divine platforms trembled violently and shot into the sky. Four potential futures simultaneously cast their reflections upon the present.

With the abdication complete, the thrones of the Four Emperors merged into one, and from this unity, Hongjun emerged!

High above the River of Time, Amitabha Buddha’s expression was utterly grim. He seemed to be contemplating whether he should personally intervene. The course of events had already spiraled far beyond his predictions, far beyond the grand tide of the future he had orchestrated.

’He didn’t understand. Taiyi and Profound Clarity... hadn’t they both already been shackled and imprisoned?’

’Why was the grand tide of the future still shifting?’

Amitabha Buddha’s breath came in ragged gasps, his expression a mask of fury. At this very moment, within the River of Time, the Great Will of Heaven and Earth seemed to be in revolt, making it an utterly unsuitable time for him to enter the fray!

But if he simply stood by and did nothing...

...Heaven only knew what other cataclysmic changes might occur!

Clad in a Buddha Robe, Lu Xuan, who had remained silent until now, spoke in a light, airy tone:

"Fellow Daoist, the situation has changed. It seems it is time for you to make your move and quell this disturbance."

Amitabha Buddha’s expression was unreadable. "Something is wrong," he said in a deep voice. "The Great Will of Heaven and Earth is in sudden revolt, and the Heaven-Opening Banner must have been sent from the Profound Purity Realm. This is a scheme by Supreme Profound Clarity!"

Lu Xuan nodded gravely.

"That may be so," he said, "but I foresee a great upheaval. If you do not intervene, the matter of the Six Paths of Reincarnation... I fear it will truly become *unsettled*!"

Amitabha Buddha fell silent. His mind raced, sifting through history and the annals of time, searching for any gaps or overlooked details, desperate to uncover Supreme Profound Clarity’s true objective...

’Wait!’

A flash of insight struck him.

In that historical fragment he just reviewed, before Jade Emperor Zhang Bairen faded away, he had declared his intent to abolish his own imperial throne, reducing his rank from Emperor to Duke, and *then* abdicating.

’The Celestial Emperor becomes the Celestial Duke. Hongjun Daoist of the Human World suddenly becomes the Human Emperor. The Celestial Duke... the Human Emperor... Supreme Profound Clarity...’

Amitabha Buddha finally understood. He muttered aloud to himself:

"The Human Dao... is meant to rule the Heavens?"

"But what’s the point of that? What is Supreme Profound Clarity ultimately trying to achieve? Why would Haotian ever be willing to place himself beneath a human? Unless..."

As Amitabha Buddha muttered to himself, Lu Xuan interjected nonchalantly from the side:

"Unless there was some great benefit involved. For instance... what if he could reclaim his position as an *Enlightened One*?"

Amitabha Buddha’s expression changed once more.

"The fortune of the Human Dao, combined with the station of the Celestial Duke... it might truly be enough to coalesce half of a *Dao Fruit’s* great seat..."

He drew in a sharp, cold breath.

"So Supreme Profound Clarity intends to abandon the Human Dao Fortune—to sever it completely—just to help Haotian obtain another half of a Dao Fruit?"

"Most likely!"

Lu Xuan’s expression was incomparably grave.

"What a brilliant scheme from Supreme Profound Clarity—killing two birds with one stone! With Haotian restored as an Enlightened One, the Human Dao Fortune will be completely exhausted. And you, Fellow Daoist, will be unable to use its power to seize control of the Six Paths of Reincarnation!"

He paused for a moment, then bellowed:

"Fellow Daoist! If you do not act now, when will you! Hongjun has yet to secure his throne as Human Emperor! The time is now! This very instant!"

The vast Brahma Sound of his voice, amplified by the Great Infinite Buddha Robe and the Creation Cyan Lotus, also carried the tremendous might of Primordial’s Left Eye and Shangqing’s Right Leg.