Kapitel 146: Chapter 282: Devotion
With the fall of the Buddha Lord, the theft of the Saint of Thieves, and the destruction of Mount Wuliang, a series of news spread from the Fantian Realm. Mount Wuliang had countless disciples, and the intricate web of factions connected to them ensured that the news quickly reached every state and city.
Not long after Li Hao and LiMuxiu left, two dark figures appeared on Mount Wuliang. Upon witnessing the ruins of the spiritual mountain and sensing the lingering power of the Dao in the air, their faces underwent a drastic change.
Soon, they vanished like wisps of smoke.
Outside the Great Yu State, within a secluded mountain range.
Mist shrouded the area, and human activity was sparse.
Two figures quietly appeared, ghost-like, and landed in the hall of a secret peak.
"Lord Magyang, we just received news. The Buddha Lord who sought our cooperation is dead!"
The young man in black robes spoke in a low voice.
Beside him was the enchanting woman with purple markings on her cheeks. If Li Hao were present, he would recognize them as the two Supreme Deities from outside Qingzhou City.
Before them crouched a large old man with a hunched back that resembled a thick stone slab. He held a dark, gnarled staff that resembled an ancient tree, with a human face at its tip. The eyes of the face were constantly moving, occasionally narrowing and revealing a bizarre smile.
"Buddha Lord?"
Hearing the young man, the old man turned, his eyes hidden beneath layers of wrinkles. He glanced at the black-robed youth and said, "Really? And what of Mo Luo?"
The black-robed youth replied in a deep voice, "Unless a Sage intervened and concealed it from our perception, there's no room for error. Mo Luo is also dead. There are remnants of demonic energy and undispersed Dao power there, indicating that he merged with Mo Luo."
"The fusion of the ultimate Buddhist and demonic hearts... How greedy of him. No wonder he remained at the Grand Peace Realm for two thousand years. He must have been aiming to become a Saint in one fell swoop and even aspired to be among the top-tier Saints."
The old man narrowed his eyes, and the layers of wrinkles on his eye bags seemed to lift slightly.
The two black-robed youths exchanged a glance, each seeing the gravity in the other's eyes.
To merge extreme Dao hearts and transcend a major realm to become a Saint?
Such an individual would be considered a dazzling talent even in the lands of the Saints.
"He must have been forced to merge prematurely. There are only remnants of Dao energy, with no trace of Saintly aura," said the black-robed youth.
Lord Magyang snorted coldly, "Of course. His collaboration with us was to steal the devotion of the Great Yu Dynasty, indicating that the devotion he had accumulated was insufficient. This is normal. That Great Yu Emperor wouldn't allow someone to steal the devotion that the Jiang family had cultivated. Now that he has merged prematurely, he is like a premature baby, unable to become a Saint, and his death is a waste!"
"Devotion?" The enchanting woman with purple markings asked, puzzled.
"You haven't reached the Dao Fa Realm yet, so you can't sense it," Lord Magyang said. "Along the path of cultivation, one seizes the essence of heaven and earth. Below the Saints, we are all like ants, relying only on our abilities to defy the heavens. But the Saintly Realm has the three heavenly disasters, and one needs devotion to weather the tribulations. Otherwise, why do you think the Jiang family left the Ancient Desolate Heaven and came here?"
"Do you really think they were defeated in the battle for the Ancient Saint Clan and forced out of the Ancient Desolate Heaven? Hmph, the Jiang family is merely riding the wave, aiming to use this dynasty to accumulate devotion and resurrect the Saint of the Jiang family!"
Hearing this, the two youths were stunned, their eyes filled with astonishment as they looked at him.
The Jiang family was plotting to resurrect their ancestral Saint? Their ambition was truly terrifying.
"Must you have devotion to become a Saint, Lord Magyang? What about us..." The black-robed youth's eyes flickered.
"You should focus on comprehending the Dao Fa Realm first. If you want to make early preparations, you may do so, but we demon-spirits cannot obtain the devotion of humans. Who would worship demons? Even with force, it won't work if the heart is not sincere. What we call devotion is actually willpower, the embodiment of the wishes of sentient beings!"
Lord Magyang explained, "We can only obtain this power from demon-spirits. The Holy Son has promised that after taking over the Great Yu, he will build demon-spirit temples for us in various places. At that time, you can gather numerous demons to worship and obtain their devotion."
Hearing him mention the "Holy Son," the two youths' eyes narrowed, revealing a hint of reverence.
The enchanting woman with purple markings asked, "Aside from devotion, is there no other way to become a Saint?"
"There is, but it's basically an impossible path that has long been severed. It requires an imagination beyond comprehension..."
Lord Magyang shook his head, "In any case, these things are too far off for you. Even if you reach the Dao Fa Realm, you may not be able to comprehend the path of the Saints and forge your own Dao, let alone gather devotion. Without that kind of world-shaking talent, early preparations would only be making wedding clothes for others, just like the Buddha Lord."
The two youths exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with a mix of emotions.
Who wouldn't want to become a Saint? But despite their aspirations, they lacked the confidence. That goal was indeed too distant.
They still had to comprehend the Dao Fa first, and even after that, they would need to forge their own Dao, which was incredibly difficult.
"Speaking of which, although the Buddha Lord failed to become a Saint in one step, the fusion of Buddhism and Demonism forced him into the Realm of Hearing the Dao, and he might even have reached the Dao Fa Realm!"
Lord Magyang brought the topic back, his eyes cold and sharp:
"That boy was able to kill a Dao Fa Realm existence. Are you sure that when you fought him in Qingzhou, he only displayed the aura of the Four Establishments Realm?"
The two youths were stunned, their eyes revealing a hint of horror.
Had the Buddha Lord directly become a Dao Fa Realm expert? In their investigation afterward, they had only sensed the dense Dao energy and couldn't discern if he had mastered the Dao Fa.
But after hearing Lord Magyang's words, they understood that the Buddha Lord was also an astonishingly powerful individual. Such an ambitious plan wouldn't have been conceived by an ordinary Immortal Realm cultivator.
Even if he had only reached the peak of the Immortal Realm, he would still be at the very top of that level.
"We couldn't have been mistaken about this. During the great battle in Qingzhou, he exposed his aura and fought using the Dao Domain. There's no way he could have hidden his cultivation; otherwise, his abilities would be too exaggerated..." The black-robed youth's face changed as he spoke in a low voice.
The enchanting woman's face turned solemn as she said, "It's also possible that our battle with him triggered some kind of breakthrough."
Hearing his words, the two exchanged a glance, at a loss for words.
Indeed, a Three Unyielding Realm cultivator at sixteen was already heaven-defying, but now it seemed even more so.
"Is that boy even human? Could he be the reincarnation of a Sage?"
The black-robed youth couldn't help but ask, thinking of the "Holy Son" they had mentioned earlier.
Lord Magyang's eyes flickered, and he conceded that it was possible. However, he had never heard of such a monstrous Sage reincarnation, unless it was a Sage disguising themselves, which seemed more plausible.
But if that were the case, they would have come to annihilate them already, and they wouldn't have had the chance to stand here talking.
"I've long heard of some incredibly monstrous geniuses. They cultivate at an astonishing pace, with one day's progress equaling a normal person's year of cultivation. That boy must be one of them."
Lord Magyang sighed softly, their meticulous plans completely disrupted by a single person. It was hard to imagine.
"It's all that greedy Buddha Lord's fault. If he had chosen to join forces with us to ambush and kill that boy, even if he had three heads and six arms, he wouldn't have been able to escape Mount Wuliang. But no, he was worried that we would become a stain on his reputation and affect his worshippers. Now, he's reaping what he sowed!"
The enchanting woman with purple markings, her face cold, chimed in.
"It's not necessarily because he was worried about his reputation. He might have also been wary of us since we had infiltrated Mount Wuliang... He probably couldn't rest easy either," the black-robed youth added.
"Now that he's dead and without the support of the Buddhist Sect, our plans will have to change again, won't they? We almost succeeded in Liangzhou, but that boy ruined everything!"
The enchanting woman clenched her teeth, her eyes flashing with hatred.
"Now, we have no choice but to make use of what's left," Lord Magyang said, his face gloomy. "Previously, during the battle outside Qingzhou City, I wanted our true selves to deal with that boy, but the Buddha Lord insisted on handling it himself. As a result, he played a foolish move that ended up sacrificing himself. He had intended to use the Thief Sage to lure the boy away and tarnish his reputation, causing him to break ties with the imperial court."
"But in the end, he forced himself into the fusion of Buddhism and Demonism and got himself killed. What an idiotic move!"
The black-robed youth fell silent, acknowledging that even the wisest could make mistakes. No one could have predicted that the boy would be so formidable, capable of slaying even a Dao Fa Realm cultivator.
When faced with asymmetric information, all their scheming became as laughable as a clown's antics.
In their long-term planning, everything had been proceeding smoothly, and the Great Yu Dynasty was within their grasp. But the boy's sudden emergence felt like a strike from an unseen army, throwing everything into chaos.
Who could have foreseen this?
If they had known that the Great Yu Dynasty would give birth to such a monstrous genius, they would have accelerated their plans, even if it meant sacrificing more.
"Now, even though the Buddha Lord is dead, we have no choice but to continue with his foolish plan. Moreover, we can use his death to further drive a wedge between the boy and the Great Yu Dynasty. We'll have the countless mouths of the Buddhist disciples spew venom and drown him in a sea of slander!"
Lord Magyang's eyes narrowed, and a cold smile played at the corners of his lips. "When the boy can't take it anymore and goes on a rampage again, slaughtering all the Buddhist disciples, I doubt anyone else will remain unafraid. That boy is the Great Yu Dynasty's sharpest sword, but a sword cuts both ways. Now, let them realize that this sword can hurt them too!"
The two black-robed youths nodded slightly.
The fact that the boy could slay the Buddha Lord had shocked them to their core, and he was already an existence they couldn't hope to match.
Ironically, the two youths felt a sense of relief that the Buddha Lord had intervened with his foolish plan, preventing their true selves from confronting the boy. Otherwise, they might have faced dire consequences.
"But now that the boy possesses the power to slay a Dao Fa Realm cultivator, will the Great Yu Dynasty really break ties with him?" The black-robed youth asked.
Lord Magyang scoffed, "As an emperor, if a vicious and powerful figure emerged within your domain, would you be happy or afraid?"
The two exchanged a glance, and they both knew the answer.
Throughout history, humans had always been incredibly clever when it came to cultivation, but they could be astonishingly foolish in other matters. Even emperors were not exempt from the shackles of human nature.
"Even though we are looming threats, some foolish humans would rather build high walls around themselves than allow anyone who could threaten them to exist. That's human nature," Lord Magyang said, his eyes piercing through everything. "Moreover, that boy's current strength and age make him prone to an inflated ego. He won't be able to tolerate even the slightest grievance, and with his immense power, he can roam the world as he pleases. He doesn't have to stay here if he doesn't want to. Do you think he'll endure it quietly?"
"So, their split is inevitable?"
Hearing his words, the eyes of the two youths lit up.
If the boy and the Great Yu Dynasty were to part ways, they wouldn't have to worry about him when they attacked the dynasty.
To eliminate an enemy didn't necessarily mean killing them; diverting their attention would suffice.
"What you need to do now is to have the Celestial Hall contact the Buddhist Sect and pressure that emperor through them. Sow the seeds of suspicion!" Lord Magyang instructed.
"Understood."
The two youths nodded.
Lord Magyang let out a soft, cold laugh. "In this world, strength reigns supreme, but humans insist on pretending to be fair and just. They clearly distinguish between officials, nobles, and commoners, dividing people into different classes, yet they want the lower strata to believe that fairness and justice exist. So, even someone like the Buddha Lord had to put on a facade of reasonableness. He was constrained by his desire for worshippers, so he had to feign benevolence. But we, demon-spirits, have no shortage of worshippers from the human race."
Hearing these words, the two youths couldn't help but laugh as well.
"Go now. The Holy Son is growing impatient," Lord Magyang said, his eyes deep and mysterious. "If we delay any further, and those heavenly geniuses who entered the Immortal Realm a thousand years ago return, we'll be in deep trouble. Only the Holy Son can resolve that situation."
Hearing this, the two youths felt a chill run down their spines. They acknowledged his words and vanished without a trace.
Meanwhile, the news had already spread to Qingzhou City.
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
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Rangliste 
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Stein