The Ancient Buddha Trembles

The three of them stared at one another, seeing the utmost confusion in each other’s eyes. Yet their vigilance did not diminish in the slightest.

“Even so, we absolutely cannot let our guard down!”

The Second Ancestor spoke in a deep voice, a foxlike shrewdness flashing in his eyes.

“If this truly is a trap, relaxing our guard now would be courting death. But if this really is a windfall from heaven, then we all understand the principle that possessing a treasure invites disaster!”

“Indeed!” the Fourth Patriarch nodded.

“This object is far too important. We absolutely cannot take it straight back to the sect! What if someone can sense it from afar through a secret technique, or has placed a mark on us that even we cannot detect? Bringing it directly back to the sect would invite catastrophe!”

The three old ancestors quickly reached a consensus: caution, caution, and more caution!

They first set up several restrictions at the site to confuse their auras and interfere with the workings of heaven’s secrets. Then the Second Ancestor and the Fourth Patriarch joined forces to cast a secret technique that altered their appearances and concealed their true auras. Even the fluctuations of their souls were disguised.

The Third Patriarch, meanwhile, wrapped the small pagoda layer upon layer in several insulating materials, then imposed dozens of seals and restrictions upon it before carefully placing it inside the most ordinary-looking storage pouch.

After that, the three of them did not return directly to the Azure Profound Sect. Instead, they took an enormous detour, deliberately flying toward the outskirts of the Supreme Mystery Sacred Land’s territory—away from the direction of the Azure Profound Sect.

Along the way, they changed identities three times. At times, they disguised themselves as wandering cultivators; at others, they pretended to be traveling merchants.

They even found the most inconspicuous inn in a remote little city on the outskirts of the Supreme Mystery Sacred Land and actually stayed there for a night.

That night, not one of the three Sacred Lord-realm ancestors dared to close his eyes. They took turns standing guard, spreading out their divine senses, and fretting anxiously, terrified that an unparalleled expert might burst through the door at any moment—or that the imperial weapon itself might suddenly erupt with a pillar of light reaching into the heavens.

Yet dawn arrived the next day with everything still peaceful and quiet. The small pagoda remained as docile as a dead object.

“So perhaps, maybe, possibly… we really just happened to get lucky?” the Third Patriarch muttered uncertainly.

“Even so, we absolutely cannot let our guard down!”

The Second Ancestor remained solemn.

“On the way back to the sect, we’ll split up. Fourth, you take the northern route.

“Third, you’ll travel south with me, but keep a distance of a thousand kilometers between us. If anything happens, use the secret talisman to warn me. The other person must flee immediately and must not look back!

“Even if we lose this imperial weapon, we must never expose our connection to the sect!”

“Understood!”

The Third Patriarch and the Fourth Patriarch nodded solemnly.

Thus, the three old ancestors began making their way toward the Azure Profound Sect by the most concealed and winding route possible, looking like thieves as they carried emotions of excitement, unease, joy, and vigilance—all hopelessly tangled together.

Gu Changge turned his gaze toward the three furtive old men, who were acting as though they were facing a formidable enemy.

He watched as they laid down restriction after restriction, altered their appearances, and cautiously wrapped the pagoda until it looked like a giant dumpling. In the end, they had even decided to take separate routes, with plans to flee all the way to the outskirts of the Supreme Mystery Sacred Land to “avoid trouble.”

A nearly speechless expression appeared on Gu Changge’s face.

He muttered under his breath, his voice carrying an indescribable hint of helplessness.

“Is all this really necessary?”

“I’m only giving you an imperial weapon that suits you. Look how frightened you are.”

“Weren’t you always complaining that the sect’s foundations were too shallow and that you lacked an ultimate imperial weapon capable of suppressing the sect’s enemies?”

“Now that I’ve given you one, why are you treating it like a hot potato and acting so suspicious of everything?”

He shook his head, seemingly both amused and exasperated by the excessively “cautious” reaction of his ancestors.

Forget it. Let them fuss over it. Being cautious was never a bad thing.

He muttered to himself and was just about to withdraw his gaze when his thoughts suddenly stirred. He looked toward the far west.

There, in the Western Region, lay a land shrouded in Buddhist light.

Within his perception, a concealed yet immense undercurrent was quietly surging deep within that land of faith.

Several powerful and ancient Buddhist auras had awakened from their slumber. Carrying a hint of offended majesty and icy calculation, they were peering from afar in the direction of the Eastern Region.

The Western Region. The innermost secret realm of Mount Sumeru’s Ancient Temple.

Several enormous stone lotuses, each as vast as a star, floated in the air. Upon them sat figures resembling statues weathered by countless ages. Their auras seemed to decay alongside the void itself.

They were the ancient Buddhas sleeping within the Buddhist sects of the Western Region.

Every one of them had endured countless tribulations, and their cultivation had astonishingly reached the Realm of the Quasi-Emperor!

At this moment, the deathly silence that had lasted since primordial times was completely shattered.

Thud!

The heavily wounded old monk Ku Xuan crashed into the center of the void.

“Ancient Buddhas, please uphold justice for your disciple!”

Kuxuan raised his head. His face was a mixture of extreme hatred and the lingering terror of having barely escaped with his life, while his voice was hoarse and broken.

He tearfully recounted, in fits and starts, what had happened at the core of the Imperial Tomb.

He deliberately concealed the fact that he had been the one to ambush Xiao Ruobai first, instead directing attention toward the crucial points.

“That Battle Asura and the protector behind him were tyrannical and overbearing beyond measure! Not only did they butcher the Buddhist Son Fakong and the Dharma Protector Liaoyin, they also seized our Buddhist treasures.

“Following the ancient Buddha’s decree, this disciple went to investigate, intending to enlighten them through Buddhist teachings.”

He panted heavily, forcing a look of indignation onto his face.

“Who could have known that they would completely disregard the dignity of the Buddhist sect? Sacred Lord Ling Canglan of the Spirit Firmament Sacred Land and Sacred Lord Ji Qingyi of the Jade Lake Sacred Land inexplicably joined forces with that villain.

“They suddenly attacked this disciple together! I was hopelessly outnumbered and nearly lost both body and soul!”

The instant Kuxuan finished speaking, dust that had lain undisturbed for countless ages began to fall from the figure seated upon the oldest lotus platform in the center of the secret realm.

A pair of eyes that seemed to contain endless cycles of reincarnation and see through the birth and destruction of the universe slowly opened.

They stared at Kuxuan for a long while, as though verifying whether his account was true.

After a prolonged silence, an ancient Buddha seated upon the lotus to the left suddenly opened his eyes. He was the most imposing of the lot, and faint visions of wrathful Vajra and mountains of corpses and seas of blood seemed to rise and fall around him.

Within his eyes, countless Buddhist kingdoms appeared to be waging war and collapsing!

“Battle Asura! And that protector who hides his face!”

His voice exploded through the void like countless bolts of thunder, shaking Kuxuan’s soul until it nearly shattered.

“They killed our Buddhist Son and destroyed our Dharma Protector. This grudge must be repaid with supreme Buddhist teachings! Their souls shall be extracted and eternally imprisoned at the lowest level of hell, where they will suffer the burning of karmic flames and the devouring of demons. They shall never be reborn, even after countless tribulations!”

He was the Vajra Demon-Subduing Ancient Buddha, the master of conquest and battle, and the most violent-tempered of them all.

“Junior Brother Demon-Subduing, calm yourself.”

The ancient Buddha seated upon the central lotus platform slowly spoke. His aura was the oldest of them all, as though he had existed for as long as heaven and earth.

He was the Longevity Ancient Buddha, one of the oldest surviving beings in the Buddhist sects.

“Of course, we must avenge this grudge. But how we do so requires careful consideration. The protector behind that Battle Asura caused the Glazed Sacred Land to vanish in the blink of an eye. Even an imperial weapon could not stop him.

“Such methods are far beyond what an ordinary Quasi-Emperor could accomplish. His origins are shrouded in mystery.”

“Is Senior Brother Longevity being overly cautious?”

An ancient Buddha seated upon the lotus platform to the right spoke. His face was withered, and a fire of wisdom seemed to burn within his sunken eye sockets.

He was the Wisdom Ancient Buddha.

“The Glazed Sacred Land is merely a minor power. How could it compare with our Buddhist sects? We have occupied the Western Region for countless ages, with flourishing incense offerings and faith-power as vast as the sea.

“How could the foundations left behind by the successive Buddhist Patriarchs be comparable to those of the Glazed Sacred Land? Even if that protector is a peak Quasi-Emperor, does our Buddhist sect truly have no means of restraining him?

“If we swallow this humiliation, where will the dignity of our Buddhist sects be?”

After looking at the gifts, I owe everyone another chapter!

That makes two chapters in total now. I’ll make them up next week!