# 1063
Chapter 1064: Covenant of the Gods
The Swine Cancelled's expression was grim beyond measure.
"True Lord, I have an idea..." He seemed to have thought of something, but before he could finish, another excited voice rang out from beside him.
"Second Brother, the Eldest Brother has arrived!"
The speaker was a golden-robed Arhat dressed in white robes. He gazed at the Somersault Cloud rapidly descending from the distant sky, and joy appeared in his eyes.
The Swine Cancelled's eyes lit up as he immediately stood.
"Brother Monkey!! Brother Monkey, we're over here!"
It was as if he had forgotten his identity as a Buddhist envoy. He waved his hands excitedly, and a憨态可掬 (charming and adorable) expression appeared on his solemn monk's face.
The Victorious Fighting Buddha, draped in a kasaya, landed before them, and a smile curved at the corner of his mouth.
"Idiot, Old Sand, are you two unhurt?"
"We're fine, more than fine. Brother Monkey, where's the Master?" The Swine Cancelled looked curiously behind him.
"The Master went south. The mist there came even faster." The Victorious Fighting Buddha replied. His golden eyes gazed at the nearby pitch-black mist, his brow furrowing as the hairs on his body stood on end.
"What a foul mist..." he murmured to himself.
"Great Sage, quickly think of a way to stop the mist." Lei Gong and Dian Mu (Thunder and Lightning Gods) flew over in haste. "We've tried every method possible, but we still can't do anything about this fog... If this continues, the surrounding civilians will suffer."
The Victorious Fighting Buddha stood on the barren earth, looking up. The black mist that filled the sky and earth was churning toward him, all light devoured by the mist, like a sky-shrouding beast baring its ferocious fangs at all living beings.
Before it, the forms of all gods were as insignificant as grains of sand.
The gale swept up flying sand, causing the Victorious Fighting Buddha's kasaya to flutter violently. He snorted coldly, his eyes blazing with soaring battle intent.
"Let me see... what kind of evil is this!"
He took a fierce step forward. Mighty divine power mixed with Buddhist light burst forth from within him, instantly coalescing into a massive ape dharani with surging Buddhist radiance. It slowly rose from the barren earth, like a towering giant propping up the dark and dim sky.
The fur on that Buddhist Ape Dharani was rendered in exquisite detail, dancing in the wild wind. It let out a roar at the black mist before it, shattering several small mountains nearby!
Lin Qiye stood beside the Queen Mother of the West, witnessing the emergence of the Buddhist Ape Dharani, his heart trembling.
So this was the power of the Victorious Fighting Buddha at his absolute peak... Even standing at a distance and glimpsing it from afar was enough to destabilize one's mind. However, this Buddhist Ape Dharani before him, compared to Sun Wukong's [Heaven-Equaling Avatar] within the asylum, was powerful, but Lin Qiye felt something was missing.
The Buddhist Ape Dharani reached out and pinched near his ear. In the next instant, a gilt-long staff appeared in his palm, extending rapidly until it enlarged to the size of a mountain.
He raised the Ruyi Jingu Bang. The Buddhist radiance around him erupted violently. The mighty airflow carried blinding golden light as he swung it fiercely at the churning black mist before him. With a thunderous roar, the earth beneath his feet split apart at an alarming rate.
The mist, struck by the Ruyi Jingu Bang, as if possessing physical substance, actually stalled abruptly.
This single strike from the Victorious Fighting Buddha directly halted a corner of the mist, but the mist on both distant sides continued surging forward. It was like a roaring river—even if the Victorious Fighting Buddha could hold back a section of waves, the rest would still flow forward without pause.
But this scene meant that the mist was not unstoppable.
"Monkey, I'll help you!"
A familiar voice rang out from the distance. In the next instant, a blue divine dharani rose from the ground, rising continuously until it reached the same height as the Victorious Fighting Buddha's Buddhist Ape Dharani. Yang Jian held his three-pronged halberd in one hand. The silver light around his dharani surged like a tide. The vertical eye on the dharani's brow suddenly opened.
[Qingyuan Dharani].
Under the gaze of that vertical eye, the mist before him was as if gripped by an invisible hand, barely confined in place. Only after a long while did it slowly begin to move forward again.
At the same time, at another border, a man in a black imperial robe emerged from the underworld. He dragged six mutually rotating silver rings in his right hand, his expression solemn beyond measure.
"This Emperor arrives late..."
He raised his right hand. The six flying silver rings shot out one after another, expanding infinitely, like six circular barriers placed before the mist.
The moment the Lord of Fengdu made his move, dozens of kilometers of mist invasion immediately stabilized. The Victorious Fighting Buddha and Yang Jian's pressure eased. Following this, other Great Xia deities also made their moves, various divine lights surging continuously at the mist's edge, delaying its advance.
But delay did not mean complete blockage. This mist covered too vast an area, encircling every inch of Great Xia's borders. Even if the gods together blocked the western border, mist continued pouring in from other regions.
Seeing this, Lin Qiye's heart burned with anxiety. Though he knew everything before him was illusory, that unprecedented sense of immersion made him feel as if he had truly been transported a century into the past.
"Madam, is there really no way to stop this mist?"
"Of course there is." The Queen Mother of the West spoke slowly. "A century ago, after this palace and the other immortals made our moves, we basically stabilized the mist's spread over several hundred li. Adding the Yuanshi Tianzun in the east, the Daoist Lord of Deity in the north, and the Jade Emperor in the south, the mist invasion into Great Xia had actually been blocked by a large margin...
But these mists are too crafty. As long as there's a single gap, they will pour through. Within a breath's time, they can take the lives of all mortals within ten or so li. Blocking them purely with divine power is too difficult."
"What about other methods? Are there no ancient formations that could help?"
"The ancient formations recorded by the Heavenly Court can indeed repel the mist invasion, but Great Xia's territory is too vast. Even the Ancient Demon Court's Zhou Tian Xing Dou Great Formation cannot cover all of Great Xia. I have calculated the maximum coverage of the Zhou Tian Xing Dou Great Formation. At full power, it can probably protect only one-fifth of Great Xia's territory."
"One-fifth..."
Hearing this number, a bitter sensation welled up in Lin Qiye's heart.
Only one-fifth protected meant that over a hundred million lives would be buried in the mist. This formation's coverage might be enough to shelter an entire nation's borders for Western countries, but for the vast expanse of Great Xia, it was far from sufficient.
"This means the only method is..."
Before Lin Qiye could finish, a sonorous voice rang out from the heavens, coming from the void:
"The Heavenly Lord commands!
The great calamity has arrived, all beings suffer! The gods of Great Xia have received the incense of mortals for thousands of years—we must act!
In ten breaths, the Heavenly Court shall shatter its own origin, transforming into nine divine monument foundations to guard the border passes.
All gods of Great Xia, those who voluntarily sacrifice themselves, shall pour your divine bodies and divine power into the founding of national guardian divine monuments, establishing a protective formation that will last for myriad generations, keeping the evil outside the passes, ensuring all may live in peace!
From now on, our souls shall reenter the cycle of reincarnation, enduring trials anew. When the day comes that the Heavenly Court is rebuilt, we shall surely return.
At that time, the divine might of Great Xia shall once more shake the universe, returning to the mortal realm!
Fellow immortal friends, let us... meet again in the next life."