867 The Wedge Between Daoism and Buddhism

A Blood-draining Celestial Fiend had replaced Wu Qi without alerting anybody while his true-self ripped the void and slipped through the opening stealthily. In the boundless space, his body turned into a faint trace of starlight, mixing along with all the other lights and advancing at a slow pace. Soon afterward, he arrived on a fire meteor suspending in the void.

The meteor had a surface area of about a dozen acres, and was entirely composed of purple flame rocks that had been tempered day and night by the Heavenly Fire above the Nine Heavens. Columns of raging flames towered hundreds of feet tall over it, and yet they could not harm the two men who stood there with calm expressions—a daoist and a monk.

The daoist was clad in a moon-white daoist robe made of coarse cloth. At a glance, he appeared to be an ordinary middle-aged daoist, heavily built and quite tall, with thick arms and legs which made him look like someone working in the forge. But, if one looked carefully, every strand of his hair was emitting a faint, glossy blue gleam like the moonlight one saw during the night with the best weather. It was so pure and clear that it would make you feel peaceful and tranquil.

His skin was dark, as if he had not washed it for a long time, soiled, mottled, and ugly. But, in the eyes of an expert like Wu Qi, every inch of it was shining with traces of light. Glossy and reserved, the light was the proof that the daoist's spirit, energy, and soul had fully integrated as one without leaking.

The appearance of the monk, on the other hand, was even simpler. He was barefoot, clad in a short-sleeved monk robe made of burlap cloth and a string of wooden beads around his neck. His height was average, and so were his features and eyes. In fact, he looked nothing special, resembling a monk who swept the floor in a monastery in the mortal world.

But, whether it was the daoist or the monk, both of them were standing on the meteor with a temperature that was more than enough to melt metals, and yet the raging flame could not even burn their hairs. In addition, there was an air of gracefulness and solemnity about them, which could easily make the eighteen emperors Wu Qi and others had just captured look like some beggars. It showed that they were no ordinary people.

At the moment, they were looking down at Pangu Continent, where the army of Dong Hai and the bodyguards serving Yu Gu and others were routing the armies who had just swarmed out of a newly landed heavenly realm. Hundreds of Supreme Towers suspended in the sky, wantonly capturing the people in the heavenly realm. The emperors of several kingdoms were turned into prisoners while the Oracles riding on seven-storied pagodas were badly battered, leaving behind hundreds of dead bodies and fleeing in a flurry.

Suddenly the monk laughed. "Lord Buddha had said before that if you don't teach these Oracles a few more tricks, how are they going to face those ruthless figures of Great Yu? We all know how strong those Supreme Oracles are, and whether it is the Heaven or Buddhist League, we both have men who have suffered at their hands. So, tell me, what can these good-for-nothings contribute to our plan?"

The daoist let out a cold snort, then said indifferently, "Lord Buddha had agreed with us that day. These Oracles are nothing but sacrificial lambs, and all we ask is for them to kill a few more Great Yu's soldiers. Do you really expect them to accomplish something big?"

The monk sighed. Shaking his head, he said, "Even so, have they killed anyone now? Instead, they are killed and captured by the enemy. After spending so much effort and resources, what Heaven has produced is a herd of sacrificial lambs. How embarrassing! Do you know how many spirit herbs Buddhist League has provided Heaven every year? And yet, these vulnerable Oracles are the best you can come out with?"

Squinting at the monk, the daoist said coldly, "Bald donkey, are you suggesting that we've been embezzling your spirit herbs?"

The monk put his palms together and said in a low voice, "Sādhu! Sādhu! Buddha have mercy! This penniless monk always tells the truth. Yes, I do suspect that!"

The daoist gave him a glare. Pointing at Pangu Continent, he said with a cold smile, "Those seven-storied pagodas were crafted by the Buddhist League, and the materials Heaven provided you were more than enough to produce supreme-grade Gold Immortal Artifacts. Tell me, why are they using these kinds of shabby Heaven Immortal Artifacts now?"

The monk gave the daoist a glance without turning a hair, and then began to chant Buddha's name under his breath as if nothing had happened.

"Buddhist League has embezzled Heaven's materials too, haven't you? Who crafted these pagodas?" The daoist demanded. "When I get back, I will report this to the Great Celestial Emperor and request him to summon the man to find out where all our materials have gone! If only the pagodas were stronger, these Oracles would not be defeated so easily!"

After a moment of silence, the monk let out a faint sigh and said, "Sādhu! Sādhu! Buddha have mercy! It was Prabhutaratna Buddha who crafted these pagodas. But, he was killed several years ago when he sneaked into Liangzhu to avenge his disciple. He did not even leave behind a wisp of broken soul."

The daoist opened his mouth, speechless.

The monk smacked his lips and went on in a low voice, "I'm very curious too. Who in the Heaven is responsible for concocting the spirit pills that are supposed to be used on these Oracles? Although these good-for-nothings managed to step into the realm of Supreme Oracles, their foundations are so weak that they can't even attack with one percent of their actual power. Clearly, the spirit pills that were supposed to strengthen their foundations were not used on them. Bring that man to me, so I can ask him what he had done to those spirit pills!"

The daoist remained silent for a while, then sighed and said, "Well, the man you are looking for is Immortal Ding Jun. Unfortunately, he was killed in a formation when he was sieged by Great Yu's army. Sad to say, but you can't ask him any questions anymore!"

Hiding somewhere nearby on the meteor, Wu Qi could not help but roll his eyes when he heard their conversation. Could these almighty experts of the Heaven and Buddhist League be more shameless? No wonder those Oracles from outer heavenly realms were so weak. Not only were the materials that were supposed to be used in the crafting of their magical artifacts embezzled, but there was also a big problem with their cultivation bases.

No wonder the energy fluctuation Wu Qi sensed from them was so floaty and unstable, as if their magic power could become uncontrollable at any time. It was unlike Yu Gu and other Great Yu's Supreme Oracles, whose magic power was extremely compact and stable.

He knew that the Heaven and Buddhist League could really do this kind of thing. Supposedly, each of the Oracles were to be given a Gold Immortal Artifact, but they ended up with only a middle-grade Heaven Immortal Artifact. And the spirit pills that were supposed to strengthen their foundations had perhaps been fed to the mounts of Heaven's almighty experts. Wu Qi had no doubt that these people could do such a thing, for he had seen it before in his previous life.

And both the Heaven and Buddhist League had covered all the traces in their doings!

Immortal Ding Jun, who was also known as the Sovereign of the Myriad Immortal Alliance, was the person responsible for concocting spirit pills in Heaven, but he was killed by Wu Qi and the others. Prabhutaratna Buddha, who crafted magical artifacts for the Buddhist League, was also killed by Wu Qi and Great Yu's Supreme Oracles. Their deaths had prevented the secrets from leaking, and at the same time, given Heaven and Buddhist League perfect excuses to stop Empress Wa and the others who took care of the human race from meddling in their plan. It was all done beautifully.

The monk and the daoist exchanged glances for some time, then suddenly laughed together coldly. "Immortal Ding Jun is not dead yet!" The monk said with a snort.

The daoist smiled, then nodded and said, "Yes, Buddha Ding Jun is not dead yet. He is now a Buddha in your Buddhist League, and has even become Lord Buddha's disciple. He is one of the three thousand future Buddhas of the Buddhist League. So, what does his actions have to do with Heaven?"

Even though the monk had cultivated to a level where rarely could anything disturb his mind, he almost coughed up a mouthful of blood when he heard that. Both experts glared at each other for a moment, then the monk laughed coldly and said, "You Heaven better make haste. Otherwise, all those we sent over might become their prizes. Ha, you and I both know how savage and brutal those Supreme Oracles are. They may offer these people as blood sacrifices and develop themselves a great army in a short amount of time. If that really happened, I wonder who would suffer more casualties, your Heaven or my Buddhist League?"

The daoist smiled faintly and said in a calm voice, "Worry not! The first batch of three hundred heavenly realms is nothing but stones we use to probe the situation. The real interesting part of the show is yet to come. Nobody dares to take lightly of the things the few Patriarchs have asked us to do. You just wait and see how things unfold before your eyes!"

Silence fell as the monk sat down cross-legged to meditate while the daoist got lost in thought with both hands tucked under his sleeves. Both experts rested their eyes on Pangu Continent, where Yu Gu and others were happily defeating the immortals and mortals, and abducting all those they could.

After a long time, the daoist sighed and said, "What happened here should have reached Liangzhu by now, right? The Supreme Oracles there will not sit calmly and let these guys take all the benefits. They will soon be here to share the loot. Well, the more come here, the better!"

A realization came to Wu Qi suddenly. The Heaven and Buddhist League were actually trying to lure the tigers out of the mountains? Did that mean that they had even calculated what Great Yu would do with these people from the outer heavenly realms?

He considered for a moment, and then carefully studied their cultivation bases. Both of them were fifth-tier Primordial experts. Whether in Heaven or Buddhist League, people with such overall strength were figures who held actual powers in their hands. No wonder they were observing Pangu Continent from here. It was possible that they were the confidants of the Great Celestial Emperor and Lord Buddha. Otherwise, they would not be stationed here.

After spending some time weighing the situation, Wu Qi stealthily transformed into the avatar of Buddha. "Senior Brother, what are you waiting for?" He suddenly cried out in a low voice. "Why don't you act quickly according to Master's orders? This ox's nose is to be killed by some King of Great Yu!"

He leaped out of his hiding as a thirty-six-feet-tall avatar of Buddha; before both experts could react, he clutched the daoist's head with one hand and pressed the other on his legs. Then, he twisted the poor fella and tore him in half with all his might, spilling golden-purple blood all over the place.

The monk cried out in shock, "Evildoer, how dare you! Yo-you..." He was shivering as words were caught in his throat, because he had sensed the extremely pure Buddhist energy emanating from Wu Qi, which was at least one hundred times stronger than his!

A flash of blood soared into the sky from within the daoist's body; his immortal soul made an angry curse and fled in a hurry.

Wu Qi snorted coldly. In the next instant, a fist-sized natal relic shot whistling out of his forehead and struck the immortal soul. A major part of it was shattered, while the rest sped away and vanished in a trace of light.

He swiftly grabbed the few magical artifacts dropped out of the daoist's broken body, then turned to nod at the stunned monk and said, "Senior Brother, I'll leave this place to you. Please make this place look as if this ox's nose was assassinated by the human race. I'll go and destroy that guy's soul now, and then come back and return to Master together with you!"

After saying that, his figure blurred into motion and then he was gone; a dead silence reigned the meteor. At length, incessant shouts of anger and loud abuses were heard coming off it, echoing across space.