Chapter 6: The Buddha Jueming

Rivers surged mightily.

Ji Ning stood in midair, his eyes filled with anger and pain.

"Old Man Yuan actually defected to the Frivolity Sect? Wasn't he unwilling to get involved in the Three Realms' conflicts?" Ji Ning felt gratitude toward Old Man Yuan. Although the strength Old Man Yuan displayed shocked Ji Ning, his betrayal pained Ji Ning even more. His master, Patriarch Subhuti, and Old Man Yuan had once been close friends; he too would likely be saddened.

Whoosh.

Three figures appeared beside Ji Ning in succession: Patriarch Subhuti, who had come through a spatial vortex, as well as Lord Sanqing and Lord Freethinker.

"Old Brother Yuan, he..." Lord Freethinker's beard and hair trembled, disbelief in his eyes.

"Still calling him Old Brother Yuan?" Lord Sanqing's eyes held a cold sharpness. "I never imagined that among our brothers and old friends, there would be such a traitor! If he had merely left the Three Realms, that would be one thing, but he actually sided with the Frivolity Sect. Very well, very well. Subhuti, Zixiu, you two remember: from today onward, that Old Man Yuan and we... are enemies, not friends!"

"Mm." Lord Freethinker nodded gently.

"Traitor." Subhuti gritted his teeth, his eyes full of pain. "I never imagined, truly never imagined, that that day he still spoke to me of leaving the Three Realms... and then turned around and struck at Ji Ning! A petty man, insidious, treacherous!"

Lord Sanqing looked at Subhuti.

The relationship between Subhuti and Old Man Yuan had originally been very close, like brothers. Old Man Yuan's betrayal... among the Nuwa Camp, Subhuti was likely the most grieved.

"Occasionally, there are some rotten apples." Lord Sanqing sighed. "Subhuti, don't be too sad over this scum."

"Sad? No, I won't be sad." Subhuti sneered. "It would be best if he died."

Ji Ning saw his master's tough words, but from his master's trembling body, Ji Ning understood how great a blow this was to his master. He quickly changed the subject: "Just now, Old Man Yuan attacked me with heartforce techniques... I realized that his heartforce had already reached the fifth level."

"The fifth level of heartforce?" Sanqing, Subhuti, and Lord Freethinker were all startled.

Although they had sensed the battle just now, they could not detect heartforce from such a great distance.

"Yes, the fifth level." Ji Ning nodded, frowning. "Unlike Senior Brother Houyi, who uses heartforce in archery, imbuing his arrows with inconceivable power, Old Man Yuan's use of heartforce is more sinister, directly targeting the soul. Fortunately, my soul was strong enough to withstand it."

"Directly targeting the soul?"

"That's troublesome."

Subhuti, Sanqing, and Lord Freethinker all felt the difficulty.

"That petty man must have thought that you had only recently become a True God." Subhuti said coldly. "He guessed that your soul had been nurtured in your divine body for only a short time and would not be strong, so he wanted to launch a sneak attack."

"Mm." Ji Ning nodded. In fact, he had become a True God before the battle at the Ancient Ruins and was even a 'Half-Step Ancestral God,' with a divine soul stronger than that of ordinary True Gods or Dao Ancestors. Coupled with the 'Heartforce Soul Lock' technique, Old Man Yuan had truly kicked an iron wall!

"This Old Man Yuan... can withstand a sword strike from Ji Ning, and his heartforce is at the fifth level." Lord Sanqing said in a low voice. "Moreover, he has defected to the Frivolity Sect, so he must have great ambitions. Such an ambitious and powerful person... everyone must be careful and vigilant."

"Mm."

Everyone present felt a heavy weight in their hearts.

They felt anger at the failure of expectations, and also a growing sense of caution.

...

Old Man Yuan ultimately made his choice, leading his entire Yuan River Four Ancestors faction to defect to the Frivolity Sect. The Yuan River Four Ancestors faction had long been completely loyal to Old Man Yuan. Previously, when Old Man Yuan wavered, the other experts of the Yuan River Four Ancestors faction had followed him... and now, they all followed Old Man Yuan to stand with the Frivolity Sect.

It was evident how united the Yuan River Four Ancestors faction was internally.

"From today onward, Old Man Yuan and our Nuwa Camp are enemies, not friends. When the final battle comes, at the first opportunity, we must slay him." Lord Sanqing said with murderous intent in the Ten Thousand Races Hall. All the great powers present agreed.

Old Man Yuan's betrayal truly angered them!

...

Time passed.

In the Three Realms, realm wars continued, gradually increasing in scale. Starting from the one hundred and tenth year after the Ancient Ruins battle, each realm war involved over three thousand Celestial Immortals and True Immortals... Both camps realized that the final battle was very close!

Now, the final battle could erupt at any time!

It did not necessarily have to wait until the final struggle for fortune. If one side felt that the struggle for fortune was hopeless, they might launch the final battle early.

The atmosphere between the two camps grew increasingly oppressive. Everyone was preparing for the final battle.

...

The Heavenly Realm, Western Mount Meru.

In front of an ordinary temple, two young novices stood guard. Inside the temple, the Buddha Jueming sat like a statue, motionless, withered, devoid of any life aura, as if a dead thing.

Whoosh.

The statue-like Buddha Jueming slowly opened his eyelids, very slowly.

"The 'realm war' in the Shennong Major World has also begun?" The Buddha Jueming murmured to himself. "Flames of war are everywhere in the Three Realms, even the Shennong Major World is engulfed in war... It has only been a hundred and fifty years since the Ancient Ruins battle. Too fast. At this rate, the final struggle for fortune will come within decades."

The final struggle for fortune would be a battle between all the Celestial Immortals and True Immortals of the two camps.

At that time, throughout the Three Realms, aside from True Gods and Dao Ancestors, almost all the more powerful immortals and demons would be involved. Even if one side felt the situation was unfavorable, the True Gods and Dao Ancestors would immediately act, triggering the final battle.

"Within fifty years..." The Buddha Jueming slowly rose.

Fifty years was actually a very generous estimate.

After all, the war in the Shennong Major World had already begun. If it went quickly, the final struggle for fortune could come in ten or twenty years.

"My original life-bound oath was to leave the Three Realms within a thousand years of becoming an Ancestral God and go seek the Heavenly Cang Palace." The Buddha Jueming thought to himself. "Now the final battle could erupt at any time. Breaking through from True God to Ancestral God also takes some time. If I wait until the final battle actually erupts to break through, it will be a delay. Yes, I will do it now."

Whoosh.

The Buddha Jueming vanished from the temple. The two young novices outside were completely unaware.

...

In the endless chaos, a dark star.

A huge lotus of Buddha rested on the surface of that star. On the lotus sat the Buddha Jueming in meditation.

"Boom~~~"

The surrounding chaos suddenly surged. Even the star power of the dark star itself was frantically absorbed. With the Buddha Jueming at the center, vast amounts of power were devoured, forming a massive chaotic vortex! Every bit of his divine power began a qualitative transformation, a new structure.

In just a moment, the chaotic vortex dissipated, and everything returned to calm. The dark star regained its majesty.

Yet there was a trace of sorrow in the Buddha Jueming's eyes.

"I have become an Ancestral God."

"I must leave within a thousand years." The Buddha Jueming felt deep reluctance to leave the Three Realms. He had come step by step from weakness, even entering the Moon Under the Abyss to gain fortune, cultivating the 'World God of Desolation' for endless ages. He had long found a spark of light in his divine body and could have broken through from True God to Ancestral God at any time.

But he could not bear to leave. His nature was gentle, naturally suited to Buddhism. He had no great desires or cravings. A peaceful life in the Three Realms was enough for him.

But this final calamity, he had to step forward.

Only by becoming an Ancestral God could he have enough power to influence the battle... and becoming an Ancestral God meant he had to leave the Three Realms within a thousand years. If he did not leave within a thousand years, he would die, his soul extinguished by the backlash of his life-bound oath.

"Before I leave, to fight alongside my master and old friends against the enemy, that is enough." The Buddha Jueming sat on his lotus, then vanished into the air.

No one knew of his breakthrough in the chaos.

He silently returned to his temple. His temple was always guarded by two young novices. He kept a low profile and did not go out. Moreover, like 'Suirenshi,' he used techniques to conceal his aura. Even if someone came to visit him, they would likely not notice. Besides, with the tense atmosphere and the possibility of the final battle erupting at any time, no one visited friends. And the Buddha Jueming was too low-key; after becoming a True God and Dao Ancestor, he had always sat in meditation, so no one visited him. Thus, the entire Three Realms did not know that another Ancestral God had appeared in the Three Realms.