Chapter 392: Chapter 395: The Regret of Numerous Holy Lands_1
When Jade Zun returned to Han Shui, the leaders of many holy lands had already gathered, their expressions extraordinarily grave.
"How are things?" Jade Zun did not immediately return to Immortality Mountain but asked in a heavy voice, hovering in the low altitude.
"Reporting to Jade Zun, the Reincarnation Church has betrayed us! While we were engaged in a fierce battle with the Eternal Temple, they took the opportunity to abduct the prodigies with special physiques from the various major powers!" Dongfang Wenda, smelling the pungent aroma of magma, cupped his hands and reported.
The place where they currently stood was the only stable footing left in this Dao Domain, protected by a Formation; the strongholds of the various holy lands had not been destroyed. The dark red sky and land resembled an apocalypse, with magma erupting intermittently, forming plumes of black smoke that blotted out the sun.
"Why didn’t you relocate the prodigies to a safe place?" Jade Zun asked angrily. "You knew the Eternal Temple was capturing prodigies with special physiques, yet you brazenly kept them in your strongholds! Wasn’t that like leading sheep into a tiger’s den?"
"We were afraid that moving the prodigies would alert the Eternal Temple and expose our plan. Although we arranged for powerful experts to guard them, we never expected the Reincarnation Church to betray us!" Dongfang Wenda explained, his head lowered in shame. "Ultimately," he continued, "as long as we hadn’t discovered the Reincarnation Church’s betrayal, the prodigies wouldn’t have been safe no matter where we moved them."
"Forget it. What’s done is done. Be more careful in the future. After you return, immediately attack the Eternal Temple and retrieve the... remains of those with special physiques!" Jade Zun waved his hand, his expression calming as he gave the cold command.
After this great battle, the Eternal Temple had captured nearly all three thousand types of special physiques. Although he was unclear about the Eternal Temple’s next move, he was certain it was directly related to these special physiques. The priority now was to retrieve the remains of those with special physiques from the Eternal Temple.
"As you command!" the leaders of the many holy lands bowed.
After this battle, they had no other preoccupations. Even Jin Yinduo, who was usually timid and afraid of trouble, now had only one thought in his mind: to destroy the Eternal Temple.
"Contact me if anything else arises!" Jade Zun nodded imperceptibly, then tore open the Void before him, preparing to leave.
"Wait!" At this moment, Dongfang Wenda, gathering his courage, knelt on both knees and spoke in a pleading tone, "Senior Jade Zun, I wish for you to take Dongfang Zhantian with you. He possesses one of the few special physiques that the Eternal Temple has not yet acquired. The Ninefold Saint’s Court is no match for the Eternal Temple. The risk of Dongfang Zhantian remaining here is too great. Please, Senior, grant this!"
The leaders of the many holy lands had a sudden realization: at this stage, Immortality Mountain was indeed the safest place!
"You know that Immortality Mountain has an ancestral decree: those of foreign bloodlines are not permitted entry!" Jade Zun’s brow furrowed slightly, and he did not agree. No one could violate the ancestral decree, not even he, the most powerful King of Immortality Mountain.
"Senior," Dongfang Wenda said through clenched teeth, "I recall Immortality Mountain has another ancestral decree: men who marry into the family are permitted to live on Immortality Mountain!"
His words startled everyone present, including Jade Zun. According to the rules of the Primitive Continent, if a man married into his wife’s family, he would have to sever ties with his original faction, and any children born in the future would bear the wife’s surname. Typically, a man marrying into his wife’s family was considered a disgrace and would be scorned by others.
"Are you aware that once Dongfang Zhantian marries into a family on Immortality Mountain, he will have little connection to the Ninefold Saint’s Court? How about this: I can arrange for him to live in a small town outside Immortality Mountain," Jade Zun reminded. He was naturally very willing to have Dongfang Zhantian, who possessed the Time-Space Divine Body, marry into their fold; this meant that in a few years, Immortality Mountain would gain another top-tier powerhouse. Especially now, in this era of immortal opportunities, they might even cultivate an Immortal Realm martial artist. However, as one of the continent’s top martial artists, he had his pride and would never take advantage of someone’s predicament.
"This..." Dongfang Wenda was somewhat tempted. The small town outside Immortality Mountain was home to many clansmen of Immortality Mountain and possessed incredibly strong defensive power. Moreover, the town was close to Immortality Mountain, and Jade Zun would be the first to detect any disturbance.
"Alright, thank you, Senior Jade Zun!" Dongfang Wenda thought for a moment. Still unable to bear the thought of Dongfang Zhantian marrying into another family, he accepted the alternative and turned, saying, "Zhantian, come out and thank Senior Jade Zun!"
"Thank you, Senior!" Dongfang Zhantian emerged from the crowd, knelt, and kowtowed.
"Rise!" Jade Zun waved his hand, conjuring a gust of wind that lifted Dongfang Zhantian. Then, with the experts of Immortality Mountain, he stepped into the fissure in the Void.
"Ancestor, wait for me! I will achieve immortality as soon as possible!" Dongfang Zhantian’s reluctant voice drifted from the shrinking fissure until it vanished completely.
After the experts from Immortality Mountain departed, the atmosphere at the scene changed abruptly. Terrifying waves of killing intent erupted from those remaining.
"If I had known it would come to this, I would have listened to Buddha Patriarch Wufa back then! We shouldn’t have come to the Yellow Spring Secret Realm and should have focused solely on eradicating the Eternal Temple!" Jin Yinduo lamented regretfully. He recalled being the one most opposed to Buddha Patriarch Wufa. Consequently, even before the Yellow Spring Secret Realm had opened, he had lost his Jinbao Coin, and its fate was likely sealed. The regret he felt now was immeasurable!
"We return at once! Contact Buddha Patriarch Wufa and initiate the next phase of the plan to annihilate the Eternal Temple!" Dongfang Wenda declared to the gathered experts.
The experts nodded, departing the East Border filled with boundless killing intent. The Void itself seemed to turn blood-red in their wake.
Soon, all signs of life vanished from the banks of the Han Shui.
A great battle, while forging heroic legacies, also brought endless disaster.
The Dao Domain through which Han Shui flowed was gradually sinking into magma. In the years to come, it would be crushed by the surrounding Dao Domains. Within a few years, the three thousand Dao Domains of the Primitive Continent would become two thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine.
Meanwhile, the surrounding Dao Domains were plagued by torrential rains and rampant floods. Numerous spirit fields were destroyed, creating countless refugees.
On rugged paths, the old, the weak, women, and children struggled to survive in the mud.
Perhaps soon, the horrific practice of swapping children for food would emerge.
「Thunder Sound Temple!」
In the hallowed hall, bathed in Buddhist light, a painted scroll hovered in the air, depicting the aftermath of the Han Shui battle.
Death, destruction, darkness, despair.
"Amitabha." Buddha Patriarch Wufa gazed at the scroll, unable to stop himself from shaking his head. He pressed his palms together, his face etched with compassion for all sentient beings.
"Lord Buddha, the Eternal Temple’s conspiracy has succeeded. What should we do?" one of the Buddhas asked, his form radiant as if cast from gold.
Within the Buddha Hall, only six Buddhas were present, emanating boundless Buddhist light, seemingly capable of illuminating an entire world.
If any outsider were present, they would be astounded to discover that the cultivation of these six Buddhas had all reached the Great Emperor Realm.
One must understand that even a power as mighty as the Ninefold Saint’s Court only had two experts at the Great Emperor Realm. In contrast, the Thunder Sound Temple possessed six Buddhas at the Great Emperor Realm, a Buddha Patriarch at the Peak of the Great Emperor Realm, and there were even rumors of another, stronger Buddha Patriarch.
These six Buddhas were the Dragon Taming Buddha, the Subduing Tiger Buddha, the Vajra Buddha, the Future Buddha, the Past Buddha, and the Present Buddha.