Chapter 789: The Immeasurable Calamity
In the Qinzi Continent, Tu Bo, Tian Gong, Chi Huang, and Great Sun Star Lord were drinking tea with an old Buddha. Suddenly, the sky brightened. Tian Gong chuckled and said, "Old Buddha, you rarely wake up, so you haven't seen this before, have you? This is Qin Jiazi lifting the willow leaf seal on his brow to let us get some fresh air!"
Great Brahma Heavenly King Buddha looked up at the sky and sighed, "What a sin. To trap the Netherworld Divine Son, so many experts have to guard this place. And we rarely get a chance to breathe."
In the distance, Qin Fengqing, beaten black and blue, sat amidst the mountains, his chubby little legs crossed, arms folded across his chest, sulking.
The old Buddha who had been suppressing them from midair suddenly woke up and descended from the sky. He tried to beat the old Buddha, but was ganged up on by the five great experts of the Qinzi Continent. Before he could even use the Life-Slaying Cauldron, the elders beat him so badly he lost his armor and abandoned his weapons.
The elders had seized the best spots in this prison, driving him into the mountains. This big-headed doll was now scheming how to reclaim his territory, but the Life-Slaying Cauldron had been snatched by the elders and suppressed by the Lava Tu Bo, so he couldn't get it back. If he had the Life-Slaying Cauldron in hand, he could still turn the tables.
"Teaming up with the bad little brother, I can suppress these old men!"
The big-headed doll looked up at the sky and thought to himself, "After suppressing the old men, I'll suppress the bad little brother here, and then I can run out and have fun."
Suddenly, Qin Mu's divine consciousness came from beyond the heavens, saying, "Tian Gong, Tu Bo, come and see if the one outside is Earth Mother... Huh? King Buddha is awake?"
His divine consciousness landed, taking human form, and he greeted everyone.
Tian Gong laughed, "Old Buddha woke up not long ago. He said that the Yuan Realm was unsealed, and the Great Ruins turned into the Yuan Realm. Even the Twenty Heavens of the Buddhist Realm had no choice but to border the Yuan Realm, forcing him to wake up. It's a good thing Old Buddha woke up, or else this place would have been dominated by your big brother!"
Chi Huang said, "Old Buddha brought some good tea. Qin Jiazi, come and have a taste."
Qin Mu quickly shook his head and said, "No time for tea. Please, elders, take a look at the Earth Mother Primordial Lord outside and see if she's real. I came to the place where the Earth Mother Primordial Lord fell and met a remnant soul of hers, only the Earth Soul left, hidden in an underground palace. Inside were also the imperial tombs of nine Upper Emperors. It didn't seem fake. I even performed a soul-summoning for her. And now, another Earth Mother Primordial Lord has appeared, and she also looks real!"
"Such a thing?"
The elders all stood up and looked beyond the heavens.
Through Qin Mu's third eye, they saw the Earth Mother Primordial Lord standing quietly beneath the Primordial Tree. That ancient god's physical body was vast, making other deities beside her appear extremely tiny.
Although the Earth Mother Primordial Lord's body was large, compared to the immeasurably vast bodies of Tian Gong and Tu Bo, she was still much smaller, not so exaggerated. Yet even so, compared to other post-natal beings and demigods, she was still unimaginably huge.
"This is the Earth Mother Primordial Lord."
The Lava Tu Bo said, "No doubt about it. My eyes are sharper than any Book of Life and Death; they can see through the essence of the soul. There's no mistake. Her soul is the Earth Mother's soul."
Tian Gong said, "And this physical body is indeed the Earth Mother's body. If it were fake, it couldn't escape my Heavenly Eye. Qin Jiazi, the Earth Mother you met in the underground palace must be fake."
Qin Mu was bewildered and shook his head, saying, "I personally performed the soul-summoning for that Earth Mother in the underground palace, gathering all the black sand of her Heavenly Soul and Divine Soul. The Earth Mother Primordial Lord couldn't have any other soul scattered outside... Could the Earth Mother have twin souls?"
He suddenly realized something and exclaimed, "Is the Earth Mother the Empress of the Dragon Han Heavenly Court? A pair of twin sisters? Is this Earth Mother actually the real Earth Mother's elder or younger sister?"
Tian Gong shook his head and said, "You're overthinking it. The Earth Mother Primordial Lord is not that pair of twin flowers. The Empress sisters have a different origin, and besides..."
He didn't continue, saying, "Anyway, it's not them. Strange. If this one is the Earth Mother, then who is the Earth Mother you summoned in the underground palace?"
The Lava Tu Bo's voice was somewhat sinister, sending chills down one's spine: "Qin Jiazi, for whom did you perform the soul-summoning?"
Qin Mu's mind buzzed, and he stood dumbfounded, struggling to say, "Are you saying I was set up? Impossible, right? There were many demigods in the underground palace, all old subordinates of the Earth Mother. If I was set up, they wouldn't have been fooled too, would they? They all sank into the underground palace with the Earth Mother when she was killed..."
Everyone frowned.
Chi Huang said, "Is it possible that another Earth Mother was born from the Primordial Tree?"
Seeing Qin Mu's confusion, he explained, "The Earth Mother was originally transformed from the Primordial Tree. When I founded the Chiming Era, I once visited her and knew her origins."
Tian Gong shook his head and said, "The Primordial Tree is dead. It's impossible for another Earth Mother to be born to replace the original one. Chi Huang, your words are a bit sensational..."
"Not sensational."
Great Brahma Heavenly King Buddha suddenly spoke, saying, "Such a method does exist. And I created it."
Everyone looked at him. Great Brahma Heavenly King Buddha sighed and said, "My technique took shape during the Dragon Han era. Ostensibly, it's about entering the Dao through dreams, which sounds too mystical, but in reality, it's about transforming into countless versions of myself, traveling and training in various worlds, experiencing the mortal world, and enduring countless calamities. These mortal experiences are like illusory dreams to me, yet those versions of me have real souls, real bodies, and real experiences. Their cultivation, experiences, and Dao heart eventually return to my main body, becoming my dreams."
Tian Gong praised, "Old Buddha's Buddhist experience has gone through immeasurable kalpas, seeing through the mortal world. That's why the Heavenly Court covets it and wants to get their hands on it."
Great Brahma Heavenly King Buddha shook his head and said, "It's not because of the Buddhist nature in my technique that they want it, but rather to gather Emperor Throne-level techniques for the sake of the Heavenly Court realm. To achieve a complete Heavenly Court realm, there's a simple method: find thirty-six non-repeating Emperor Throne techniques and combine them into one Heavenly Court technique. Although there are many Emperor Throne techniques in the world, many are repetitive, making it extremely difficult. My technique of entering the Dao through dreams and immeasurable kalpas is one of them."
Great Sun Star Lord suddenly realized and asked, "Old Buddha, can this technique give birth to a new soul in a corpse?"
Great Brahma Heavenly King Buddha smiled and said, "If new souls can be born in illusory dreams, why not in a corpse?"
Tian Gong probed, "But you've never passed this technique on. The Buddhist scriptures you've passed down are all other Buddhist scriptures you've comprehended in your dreams."
Great Brahma Heavenly King Buddha sighed, "I did pass it on."
He said unhurriedly, "During the Dragon Han era, Cloud Sovereign once found me, saying that humanity was in danger and needed a strong person to give them hope. He wanted to imitate a few people who had already vanished. So I passed on to him my technique, which I had just created and wasn't yet mature. He cultivated my technique, imitating Imperial Sovereign Yu, Imperial Sovereign Qin."
He glanced at Qin Mu and said, "And also Shepherd Sovereign."
Qin Mu's heart stirred, and he probed, "Old Buddha, what do you mean?"
"Cloud Sovereign's talent was extremely high, higher than mine, and higher than Old Daoist's. After all, he was one of the Nine Sovereigns who received blessings from the ancient gods back then. After getting my technique, he perfected it, with brilliant ideas even more exquisite than mine, the creator."
Great Brahma Heavenly King Buddha said, "He imitated these three Sovereigns so vividly that it indeed brought great hope to humanity and other post-natal races. In the end, he still died in battle, but I don't know if his improved technique has been passed down."
Qin Mu's heart shook violently, understanding Great Brahma Heavenly King Buddha's meaning.
Someone had used a divine ability derived from King Buddha's technique to recreate an Earth Mother!
"Could it be the Heavenly Alliance?" he murmured.
Tian Gong and Tu Bo exchanged glances, fell silent, and said nothing.
Great Brahma Heavenly King Buddha said, "It might not be the Heavenly Alliance. After Cloud Sovereign died, his improved technique could have spread from the Heavenly Alliance. After all, it's been too long, and it's hard to say what happened in the Heavenly Alliance."
Qin Mu nodded slightly, thanked the elders, and withdrew his divine consciousness.
"Old Buddha, are you leaving?"
Tian Gong looked up at the sky and asked, "Now is a good time to leave. If you don't go now, that kid will cover the willow leaf again."
Great Brahma Heavenly King Buddha smiled and said, "If you're not leaving, neither am I."
Great Sun Star Lord said timidly, "I want to leave, but I don't dare..."
The Lava Tu Bo comforted him, "Where can you go? Back to the Netherworld? Is the Netherworld as fun as this place?"
Great Sun Star Lord's face turned ashen, and he muttered to himself, "It's you who find it fun. I've never found it fun! I've been living in fear here, always afraid that one day that little tyrant of the Netherworld will eat me..."
Qin Mu waited a moment, and seeing that Tian Gong, Tu Bo, and the others hadn't left his third eye, he covered it with the willow leaf, then looked up quietly at this Earth Mother Primordial Lord.
Behind him, countless demigods had already knelt down, chanting in unison, "Greetings to the Earth Mother Primordial Lord! May the Earth Mother Primordial Lord have boundless blessings and longevity!"
The divine and demonic races from the heavens also knelt down, trembling, not daring to make a move.
During the Upper Emperor era, the Earth Mother was half the ruler of the Yuan Realm. Although nominally ruled by the successive Upper Emperors of the Northern Heavenly Court, in reality, she controlled half of the Yuan Realm!
Back then, under her rule, no race dared to resist!
Of course, the Southern Upper Emperor Heavenly Court was an exception. The Southern Upper Emperor Heavenly Court could even split the Yuan Realm in two, ruling the south and contending with the Earth Mother.
But the reason for that was unknown to outsiders.
There were also many who did not kneel to the Earth Mother Primordial Lord. Qin Mu, Gongsun Yan, Feng Qiuyun, and Dragon Qilin all stood straight. Only Water Qilin knelt down, trembling, not daring to lift his head.
Red Emperor Qi Xiayu's face changed drastically, but she set up her zither, one hand gripping it, standing valiantly, contending with the Earth Mother Primordial Lord.
Divine Blade Luo Wushuang led the youths of the Lingxiu Army quickly behind her, their aura bursting forth, the divine blades in their sheaths clanging.
They belonged to the Domain Outer Heavenly Court, though from different heavenly palaces and usually not interfering with each other, even having some conflicts. But now, facing an ancient god like the Earth Mother Primordial Lord, they had to join forces.
Bai Qiu'er also did not kneel. As the Sword God of the Upper Emperors, she was from the remnant clan of the Southern Upper Emperor Heavenly Court and would never kneel to the Earth Mother.
The Scholar also did not kneel. In the Kaicang era, there was no Earth Mother Primordial Lord. Moreover, she didn't even kneel to the Upper Emperors, let alone the Earth Mother Primordial Lord.
Beneath the towering Primordial Tree, the Earth Mother Primordial Lord looked down at everyone as if they were ants. The aura of this ancient god, born of heaven and earth, was so vast and terrifying that it made it impossible to muster any thought of resistance!
The Earth Mother looked at them, never speaking, but the longer the silence lasted, the more the gods present trembled in fear.
"How interesting."
Suddenly, a laugh broke the silence. The Scholar waved his feather fan and smiled, "Just now, there was a dispute over the true and false disciples of the Earth Mother, causing a huge uproar. Lu Zheng, shouldn't there now be a dispute over the true and false Earth Mother?"
That donkey's lips curled up in delight, and it laughed, "Hee-haw, hee-haw—"
The donkey's bray was quite piercing.
Just then, a voice suddenly came, "Why can't there be a dispute over the true and false Earth Mother?"
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