Chapter 1815 — Henceforth, Each to the Ends of the Earth

In the capital, Emperor Yanfeng and the others were filled with astonishment and doubt. This was almost certainly the anomaly formed when the two Taiji Ancient Gods fell, plunging together with their companion supreme treasure, the Taiji Sand Table, into Jingping!

These two Ancient Gods were of a strength that could be called half a dao-attainer, and the dao of Taiji was one of the Five Primal Great Daos that evolved all things and all daos of heaven and earth—only thus could this place be transformed into a supreme holy land! Yet why had the Taiji Ancient Gods suddenly died?

These two Ancient Gods had fought Taishi in a war that dragged on endlessly; they could be called the hardest Ancient Gods to kill, for any attack could be easily dissolved and dispelled by them.

When Emperor Yanfeng and the others led Jingping's army of gods and demons back to the Yuan Realm, the battle between Taishi and the Taiji Ancient Gods was still raging. Emperor Yanfeng and other mighty ones had once personally charged beyond the heavens to aid Taishi, only to discover to their horror that with them or without them it was exactly the same.

None of their attacks could inflict any harm upon the Taiji Ancient Gods. Even a fearsome being like Shen Fengqing, driving the Six Paths Heavenly Wheel, could not wound the two Taiji Ancient Gods in the slightest! This time even the Dao Ancestor had set out, yet he returned utterly defeated in the arts of divination, vomiting three dou of blood, listless and dispirited.

The Lord of Heaven, a dao-attainer, also hurried from Xuandu to lend aid, only to be wounded by the Taiji Ancient Gods after entering the formation, and forced to withdraw. He was a dao-attainer of the heavenly dao, yet he too could do nothing at all against the Taiji Ancient Gods.

When Emperor Yanfeng and the others joined the battle, far from being of any help, they only added to Taishi's troubles.

Taishi, enraged, flung them out one by one, and the crowd, having lost face, had no choice but to withdraw their troops.

Afterward, for several years on end, the fighting beyond the heavens never ceased.

By reckoning the time, the war between Taishi and the Taiji had already been fought for more than twenty years! Could it be that Taishi had slain the two Taiji Ancient Gods?

Emperor Yanfeng and the others raised their heads and looked up, and saw beyond the heavens of the Yuan Realm a shimmering of waves, like an azure lake drifting beyond the sky.

That azure lake was like a mirror, reflecting the myriad aspects of the countless living beings of the Yuan Realm.

The crowd peered closely, yet could not see clearly; they could only see the azure qi endlessly interweaving.

"Taishi is about to attain the dao. " The face of the Lord of Heaven emerged in the sky of the Yuan Realm, also gazing beyond the heavens.

A look of envy appeared on his face, and he praised, "The Five Primal Ones of the Innate, ancestors of all daos—now at last there are two dao-attainers!

" Emperor Yanfeng knew the reason behind it, and shook his head, saying, "Among the Five Primal Ones, there is only one dao-attainer.

Taiyi does not count; Taishi is the sole dao-attainer among the Five Primal Ones of the Innate. " Beyond the heavens the azure qi surged, and the azure lake transformed into a Great Luo Heaven.

Upon the Great Luo Heaven stood a single dao tree, and Taishi transformed into a young Daoist, sitting beneath the tree. Gazing at the Taiji holy land that had risen in the Yuan Realm, he could not help but shed tears.

The youth Taishi, through this one battle, had at last grown up, and become a young man.

Some tens of days later, his realm having stabilized, he rose and came to the capital of Jingping to pay his respects to the Heavenly Emperor, and then at once took leave of the others, preparing to depart the Yuan Realm for the Ancestral Court. Thus Emperor Yanfeng took the imperial title, and the heavens and myriad realms all abandoned their thoughts of rebellion.

Meanwhile, the Dao Ancestor and Gongsun Yan caught up with Taishi and bowed, saying, "Dao Brother, Lord Mu has given the order that beings of Heavenly Venerable rank go to the Ancestral Court to temper themselves.

Now that you have attained the dao, Dao Brother, you may well travel in our company. " The young Taishi said, "That is well.

Shen Fengqing and the Lord of Heaven also possess the battle strength of Heavenly Venerable rank—why have they not come?

" "They are charged with Youdu and Xuandu, sustaining the workings of the heavens and myriad realms; they cannot free themselves. " The Dao Ancestor laughed and said, "In another thousand or hundred years, Jingping will again have a host of beings of Heavenly Venerable rank going to the Ancestral Court to temper themselves. By then the Ancestral Court will surely be a place of uncommon clamor.

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" As they passed Mount Sumeru, the Dao Ancestor's smile faded. His gaze fell upon this holy mountain of the Buddhist Realm, and he saw that the Buddhist order had flourished once more; the Buddhist Realm had gone from its former twenty heavens to its present twenty-eight heavens.

Upon the twenty-eighth heaven, a great Buddha lay deep in slumber, giving rise to thunder sound, and the thunder sound turned into rain and dew that fell from the heavens. Gongsun Yan knew his thoughts, and asked, "Has the Dao Ancestor not sought out Great Brahma? " The Dao Ancestor shook his head and said, "I found his physical body, but his primordial spirit was gone.

This old friend of mine cultivated the Infinite Kalpa Sutra, wandering in dreams through the great chiliocosm.

I do not believe he has simply dissolved into the dao.

" Gongsun Yan asked, "Has the Dao Ancestor asked Lord Earth to search for him? " "There is no need.

I am certain he is still alive.

" The Dao Ancestor laughed and said, "Only in casting off the identity of Great Brahma Heavenly King Buddha is he a true Buddha, free and unfettered.

Were I to seek him out, I would instead set his dao realm back a notch. Since he is free and unfettered, then let us forget each other in the jianghu—that is rather to his fulfillment. " He was wholly unrestrained, laughing heartily, and left the Buddhist Realm together with Taishi and Gongsun Yan.

At the foot of Mount Sumeru, an old monk raised his head and watched the divine light they left behind as they departed, and a smile appeared on his face.

The old monk closed his eyes and fell into a dream.

In the instant he entered the dream, his whole body transformed into a swimming fish, leaping into the river before the temple, swimming to and fro with the other fish, utterly at ease. The Ancestral Court, Jade Capital City, upon the first Chaos Long River.

The golden ship of salvation suddenly paused lightly, halting upon the river's surface.

All around, wind and waves surged, the wind high and the waves steep; the winds of cold silence and the winds of heat death rolled up great chaos waves that battered the golden ship—a perilous place indeed! Shen Mu smiled faintly and said leisurely, "Third Brother, has your hand grown back?

" Behind him, the Chaos Hall flew out and suppressed the Chaos Long River, and at once the wind and waves subsided.

"Shall I return it to you?

" Shen Mu said with a smile.

The figure of Third Young Master Lingxiao rose slowly from the river, the Lingxiao Treasure Hall standing behind him, blazing with light.

Lady Nanxiang shivered, and whispered to Ling Yuxiu, "Young Master's Lady, is there somewhere on this ship where we might hide? " Ling Yuxiu understood at once, and entered the golden hall upon the ship together with her.