Chapter 626: Zither Notes Claiming Life
Qin Mu noticed that his smile seemed somewhat unnatural, tinged with bitterness, so he didn't press further. Everyone has their own secrets; there's no need to lay oneself completely bare before another person.
Regardless of what surname Emperor Shakti Buddha held in the mortal world, he was always a good person. Even bearing the title of Buddha, he still had a warm heart, willing to bear infamy to protect the Buddhist realm, preferring to heap the blame upon himself.
Someone like this, even if unwilling to speak of his past, still gives one a sense of reliability.
The two of them busied themselves, spending most of the day finally completing the Spiritual Energy Relocation Bridge. Qin Mu carefully inspected it and found no flaws.
"There's still quite a bit of divine metal left unused. Young friend Qin, the list you gave me seems a bit off."
Emperor Shakti Buddha looked at the mountain of divine metal piled beside the altar. This divine metal was called Buddha Essence Red Chrome, along with some wood crafted from the Feather Buddha Mother Tree. He had ordered the various Buddhist nations of the Shakti Heaven Realm to supply materials according to the list Qin Mu had given him. Now that the altar was finished, quite a bit of material remained.
On Qin Mu's list, the Buddha Essence Red Chrome and Feather Buddha Mother Tree had barely been used at all.
Emperor Shakti Buddha grew suspicious, looking at Qin Mu, and probed, "How should we handle these materials?"
Qin Mu quickly opened his Gluttony Bag and said, "We're refugees; we might need them later! Let me put them in my bag first."
Emperor Shakti stared at him. Qin Mu, without a blush or a racing heart, collected the Buddha Essence Red Chrome and Feather Buddha Mother Tree into his Gluttony Bag. Soon, one Gluttony Bag was full. Qin Mu took out another Gluttony Bag, loaded the remaining materials into it, and carefully tied the bags to his waist.
Both bags were bulging, clearly full.
Emperor Shakti Buddha sneered, "Young friend Qin, the leftover materials just happen to fill your two bags perfectly. It's as if you calculated it in advance."
"Is that so?"
Qin Mu looked surprised and exclaimed, "If you hadn't mentioned it, I wouldn't have noticed! They really do fill both Gluttony Bags exactly! Strange indeed, strange indeed! The twenty heavens of the Buddhist realm are truly extraordinary. It must be that the Buddhist realm has a spirit, knowing I took the blame for it, and thus manifested to reward me! Wonderful, wonderful—I'm almost tempted to believe in Buddhism..."
Emperor Shakti Buddha kept staring at him until he couldn't go on, then said with a grin, "Anyone with eyes can see through that, young friend Qin, no need to explain further. I'll first set up my divine ability, then activate the Spiritual Energy Relocation Bridge. You calibrate it to connect with Supreme Emperor Heaven."
Qin Mu's face flushed slightly. He responded, stepped to the top of the altar, and pressed his palm onto the flat surface at its center. With a hum, the surface transformed into countless tiny blocks. The blocks continuously reorganized into a sphere, with runes flowing and leaping across it.
He spread his hands outward, and the sphere expanded. The small blocks separated, with streams of light formed from runes connecting the different blocks.
He took out his computational spirit weapon, clattered away at calculations, and calibrated the position of Supreme Emperor Heaven. At the center of the sphere, light gradually gathered, condensing into a tiny point at the core.
Once Qin Mu confirmed the position of Supreme Emperor Heaven, he brought his hands together, and the sphere shrank back into a flat surface, which he pressed into the altar.
Emperor Shakti Buddha had already arranged his divine ability and came to the top of the altar. This young, handsome-looking Buddha gazed at the Shakti Heaven Realm with some reluctance.
"King Buddha, the longer we delay, the greater our danger," Qin Mu reminded him.
Emperor Shakti Buddha nodded gently, the worry on his face dissipating. He said cheerfully, "Once I've washed away the blame, I'll return here and resume my role as Buddha. Why act like a sentimental child? Young friend Qin, let's go!"
Qin Mu channeled his primal energy, injecting it into the activation runes of the altar. Instantly, light flowed, illuminating rune after rune. The entire altar, like a giant beast awakening, had its layers of steps spinning and shifting. Finally, the Spiritual Energy Relocation Bridge activated, and a pillar of light shot up into the sky, reaching beyond the heavens!
"During the teleportation, one doesn't feel the passage of time, but I once calculated that from Supreme Emperor Heaven to the Great Waste takes a quarter of an hour."
Qin Mu walked side by side with Emperor Shakti Buddha into the stream of light, raising his voice to shout, "From the Buddhist realm to Supreme Emperor Heaven might take even longer! A day and night is divided into one hundred quarters. The time to destroy the Spiritual Energy Relocation Bridge must be after we've teleported to Supreme Emperor Heaven! King Buddha, are you using the time scale of the Great Waste?"
"Yes!"
Emperor Shakti Buddha shouted back, "My divine ability will erupt after three quarters, destroying the Spiritual Energy Relocation Bridge!"
Their figures vanished into the stream of light.
At that moment, in the Great Brahma Heaven Realm, demonic energy from the Netherworld surged. This place had turned into a sea of demons. The demonic nature and energy of the Netherworld invaded, and gradually, Netherworld creatures could be seen swimming here, occasionally revealing long, black-scaled bodies in the dark ocean.
Suddenly, the demon sea churned, forming a massive whirlpool. A pair of enormous black horns rose from the whirlpool, spinning upward.
The roar of the waves grew louder and louder. Just then, on the central island of the Great Brahma Heaven Realm, a reclining Buddha rose from a dilapidated temple, radiating brilliant light.
The reclining Buddha slept in a lotus flower. The lotus was unimaginably huge, towering above the ruined temple. The temple itself seemed to become a golden spring, with lotus leaves spreading and the flower gently swaying.
The reclining Buddha awoke, looked up, and saw a black divine demon rising from the demon sea. It had ox horns, a tiger's eyes, and an ox-like body, with a third eye on its forehead.
"Brother!"
The Great Brahma Heaven Buddha quickly said, "The events in my Great Brahma Heaven Realm have disturbed you, Brother, causing you to send an incarnation here. I am deeply uneasy."
The ox-horned, tiger-headed divine demon was none other than Tu Bo. He glanced around, his voice rumbling, "Great Brahma Heaven Buddha, your heavenly realm has turned into the Netherworld. It wouldn't be hard for you to expel this Netherworld demonic energy. Why haven't you removed it? Do you need my help?"
The Great Brahma Heaven Buddha smiled and said, "I wouldn't dare trouble you, Brother! Besides, the Netherworld in this heavenly realm is evidence. I need to keep it, lest the Heavenly Court blame me. Moreover, the Buddhist realm has only light and no darkness, making it hard to advance further. Darkness is needed for Buddhist teachings to develop. Let this Netherworld remain."
"I see."
Tu Bo understood the situation upon hearing this and said, "It's my failure in discipline that allowed the Netherworld Divine Son to cause trouble here. Forgive me."
"I wouldn't dare."
As the two beings were speaking, the sky suddenly brightened. An ancient, multi-story ship sailed through the air, radiant and colorful. It had pairs of wings, symmetrical on both sides, and its bow was not the usual dragon head or Bixi head but a phoenix head.
The ship was dazzling. It came to a halt in the sky above the Great Brahma Heaven Realm. At its bow stood many golden, shining deities in armor, holding ceremonial halberds. Even upon seeing Tu Bo and the Great Brahma Heaven Buddha, they remained silent and did not bow.
"So it's the Netherworld Great Emperor and the Great Brahma Heaven Buddha, two brothers."
A voice devoid of any worldly tone came from within the ship. A woman with four radiant halos behind her, her face unclear, walked out from the cabin. She was dressed in extremely luxurious attire, looked levelly at the Great Brahma Heaven Buddha and Tu Bo, and greeted them, "Xia Yu pays respects to the Elder Buddha and Brother Tu Bo."
The Great Brahma Heaven Buddha returned the greeting, and Tu Bo slightly bowed.
"So it's the Southern Heavenly Red Emperor, Senior Sister Qi."
The Great Brahma Heaven Buddha quickly said, "I didn't expect my humble Buddhist realm of twenty heavens to disturb Senior Sister Qi. This little Buddha is deeply uneasy!"
"You're too kind, Elder Buddha."
The woman, Red Emperor Qi Xia Yu, said, "I oversee the southern heavens and rarely travel. Coming to the Buddhist realm today is for a matter. Not long ago, I received news of unrest in the Buddhist sect. May I ask the Elder Buddha if he knows the details?"
The Great Brahma Heaven Buddha said, "I was just discussing this with Tu Bo. It was my failure in discipline. Junior Brother Emperor Shakti suddenly harbored evil intentions, released the Netherworld Divine Son, killed many Buddhas and disciples, and turned my Great Brahma Heaven Realm into the Netherworld. Brother Tu Bo is here; Senior Sister Qi can ask him."
Red Emperor Qi Xia Yu looked at Tu Bo, who nodded and said, "Indeed. The killer was my Netherworld Divine Son. I had sealed him long ago; without great power, he couldn't have escaped. Someone with great power must have released him."
Red Emperor Qi Xia Yu smiled slightly and said, "I see. Emperor Shakti was always a restless person. Later, he entered the Buddhist path. I originally thought he would settle down under the Elder Buddha, embracing emptiness. I didn't expect him to rebel! The Elder Buddha has also suffered a loss. This can't be blamed on you or the Netherworld—only on Emperor Shakti. Since the matter is clear, I must go to the Shakti Heaven Realm to capture this villain and take him to the Execution Platform as a warning. Forgive me; I take my leave."
The Great Brahma Heaven Buddha quickly said, "Senior Sister, please."
The ship suddenly flapped its wings and vanished from the Great Brahma Heaven Realm.
The Great Brahma Heaven Buddha raised an eyebrow but said nothing. Tu Bo's massive form slowly sank into the demon sea and disappeared.
In the Shakti Heaven Realm, the ship suddenly appeared. Red Emperor Qi Xia Yu looked up at the sky, her expression shifting. She leaped from the ship, streaking across the sky in a dazzling, multicolored light, heading straight for the Spiritual Energy Relocation Bridge: "He's escaped! But you won't get away!"
Just as she was about to enter the Spiritual Energy Relocation Bridge, the bridge suddenly shook violently. Emperor Shakti Buddha's divine ability erupted, and the entire mountain-like altar twisted, collapsed, and imploded toward the center!
"Trying to leave?"
Red Emperor Qi Xia Yu suddenly transformed into a nine-headed colorful phoenix, chasing the fading stream of light in the sky, trying to catch up with the disappearing radiance of the bridge.
Whoosh—
Her form vanished into the stream of light, but was immediately ejected by the space. The stream of light completely dissipated.
"Ship, come!"
She commanded softly, and the winged ship flew over. Red Emperor Qi Xia Yu landed on the ship, sat down, and took out a phoenix zither, placing it across her knees. She sneered, "A petty thief escaped in the Kaihuang Era, but you won't escape now."
With that, she played a tune. The zither notes rose and fell in rhythm, materializing into solid form before fading into nothingness.
Red Emperor Qi Xia Yu finished playing, stood up, and said, "He cannot escape my zither notes claiming life. If he does, I'll have to admire his skill!"