The dignified Lord of Spirit Mountain dared to swallow flesh and blood.
That truly caught Yang Jian off guard.
He had assumed that, after being suppressed by the Eternal God, the Tathagata would keep a low profile for a while—at least rein himself in. He never imagined the other side would shut Spirit Mountain's gates and engage in such grotesque conduct.
Yang Jian thought for a moment, then addressed the split-soul of the Golden-Winged Roc: "You're still useful. Count it as a monster who's turned from darkness to the light. Are you willing to join my religion?"
"I am willing!"
The Roc had come to seek a patron. Hearing that Erlang Shen was recruiting, he immediately nodded his agreement.
As soon as the words fell, a majestic force poured into the Roc's body.
"Ah—!"
It was a bird, yet what burst out was a hoarse, drawn-out roar.
From the Roc's body, countless lingering souls were expelled. Golden divine power gathered and finally condensed into a talismanic sigil deep within him.
It was the Imprisoning Divine Mark.
More fearsome even than a curse.
Then a segment of cultivation method imprinted itself in his mind:
Eternal Meditation.
And, along with it, a creed of the divine.
"Thank you for the bestowal, True Lord Erlang. From now on, I will absolutely not… hurt people again…" The Roc transformed into human form, clutching his head and baring his teeth with a twisted grin as the pain receded.
Yang Jian gave a short, cold laugh. "With the Imprisoning Divine Mark upon you, it would be impossible for you to harm anyone even if you wished to. Follow the doctrine. Heed my commands, and you're guaranteed detachment and power that others can't even dream of."
"Yes."
"Return at once. Subdue every monster at Lion Camel Ridge."
"Yes!"
The Roc nodded quickly.
Then Yang Jian vanished before his eyes—gone like a wisp of cloud. No trace remained.
The Golden-Winged Roc drew a sharp breath. My older sister was right: Yang Jian's strength is unfathomable. A single thought from him is not something I can resist.
He turned to fly back to Lion Camel Ridge.
To his surprise, with a single shake of his wings, the clone's body crossed a thousand miles in the blink of an eye—twice as fast as before.
"So… so this is the benefit of joining the cult?"
Though he had bent the knee to the Eternal God's religion in order to survive—and had chafed at it in his heart—now, with his power surging, his feelings shifted.
He needed only a third of the usual time before the Roc's soul returned to Lion Camel Ridge.
Outside, gongs and drums thundered. Bestial roars rose without end. The demon nation's revelry was on full display.
The Green Lion and the White Elephant sat together and asked a little demon at their side, "Why hasn't the Third King come?"
"Reporting to the Second King: in recent days the Great Third King has been in seclusion, practicing spells."
"Oh… boring. Carry on."
"Yes."
Before outsiders, the Green Lion and White Elephant put on a show of hearty enthusiasm. But once the cave doors were shut, both their expressions soured.
"That Roc looks down on us more and more. Every time we summon him to drink, he claims he's in seclusion. He clearly scorns us brothers…"
"Forget it. What's the point of fussing over that? The Bodhisattva will favor him in the end!"
The lion demon raised a cup of blood-wine, tilted back his head, and drank.
His philosophy was simple: be happy today. What is that broken bird to me? I have wine now; I get drunk now.
…
In a sun-lit cave-dwelling some distance away, the Roc slowly opened his eyes, the corners of his mouth lifting into a thin smile.
"The Bodhisattva… a dog of Spirit Mountain, through and through. Since you moved against me first, don't blame me for what comes next."
By now he had fully absorbed the memories of his split-soul and had also begun to practice the Eternal Meditation. So even from dozens of miles away, the voices of those two still couldn't escape his senses.
For the moment, his cultivation was insufficient; he needed to continue with Eternal Meditation. But if a fight broke out, he would not be afraid—because he could contact Yang Jian.
…
In the Myriad Worlds Chat Group:
Judicial God: "@永恒之神, my God… are you there?"
God of Eternity: "What is it?"
Judicial God: "News just came: after being broken by you, the Lord of Spirit Mountain—the Tathagata—has begun devouring other Buddhas to recover his former cultivation. Clearly he's been driven to desperation. What should we do?"
Liu Che stared at the messages in the chat.
He truly hadn't anticipated that the Tathagata would choose this path.
By rights, after the last suppression, shouldn't that bald donkey have behaved himself?
"Good. The more sins he racks up, the easier it is to gather faith against him and seize the Journey to the West world."
Liu Che pondered a moment, then replied to Yang Jian.
God of Eternity: "Timing is simple. The monkey's westward journey is nearly at the 'Six-Eared Macaque' stage. Go tell the monkey to 'go through the motions'—search high and low for witnesses—and in the end lead the famed figures of the Three Realms straight to Spirit Mountain."
Pursuing Sentient Beings: "Brilliant! As expected of my God—straight for the killing stroke."
Spirit of the Demon Sword: "That's exactly how to handle that villain!"
The World Will Help the Lord: "It's my first time seeing my God appear. I'm so excited… Compared to that, the trinkets I contributed are really paltry."
The Fox Who Only Loves Money: "Don't belittle yourself. We are all people of God, and should live with pride."
Tanjiro: "That's right, that's right…"
Sadly Reminds Lao Gao: "Reporting to the God: after accelerating time, it's confirmed—the sky is falling; the sacrifice will begin soon!"
Chu Dashan: "Whoa—your speed is insane! Time acceleration this much?"
Queen Vampire: "I think it's great. According to what I found in our historical records, Lao Gao's confession should still be far off. This flow increase is more than tenfold."
In barely twenty days of their subjective time, the time flow of an entire world had shifted.
To them, it was incredible. After all, no sacrifice had even begun—meaning no world channel had been opened.
But they overlooked one thing: Liu Che's strength was steadily rising. Although he still couldn't fix a precise position, through high-level meditation he could sense a blurry coordinate. With that faint locus, he used the force of causality to lock on and then tamper with the local time.
It cost him some divine power, yes—but as long as he could gain a planet, it was worth the price.
God of Eternity: "My power recovers quickly. These abilities are just fur techniques. For example, the fragment of Law I rewarded to Yang Jian—if he can comprehend it, he can obtain Pangu's power."
Law fragments.
It was the first time the group members had heard of such a thing.
Tanjiro: "Second Brother is amazing—he received a fragment of the Law of Power. But our world also uses 'laws'—is there a difference, Lord Eternal God?"
God of Eternity: "Originally, I planned to hold class when you returned to the God Realm. I'll just explain it now, since I have time today.
"The power composing any world comes from Law. Why your strengths differ—why some are high and some low—depends on the strength of those Laws, and on whether a world remains complete. The more severely broken the world, the weaker its Laws.
"Take Jack, Tanjiro, Gao Yao—your worlds are gravely fractured.
"Next are Li Shimin and the Conqueror. In your worlds, whether the system is technology, magic, or martial force, there's a ceiling. That ceiling is the peak of your world. With your own strength alone, you would never break through the world's boundary in your lifetime.
"More complete worlds right now include those of Saruman, Yang Jian, Chu Xuanfeng, and Tohsaka Rin. Among the four of you, your worlds are the most intact. You can clearly observe star-spirits and Heavenly Dao, as well as advanced cultivators.
"Even so, the strongest people in those worlds still cannot comprehend even a single fragment of Law—because those Laws are embedded in the world's rules. Once the world is shaken, it's destroyed."
These words opened everyone's eyes.
So world level really is judged by Law.
Chu Dashan: "So the disasters in our world happened because someone kept touching the apex—no wonder ignorance and false gods kept multiplying!"
Tohsaka University: "That actually describes our situation. Our world has always had a 'calamity of the world,' born from the world itself—but it cannot be destroyed by its own system, so it keeps corroding the world."
Pursuing Sentient Beings: "Luckily there is God. Otherwise my life would be darkness."
Junior Brother of Dazhufeng: "Hey—don't flatter him to the skies, Bald Brother! Let's train hard. I've nearly spread belief across the world by now, and I've turned the southern border into a place ordinary people can actually live!"
Tanjiro: "No wonder you've been quiet lately. You've been busy doing all that."
Xun'er: "Those who talk little like to make silent fortunes! The God's words made me realize something—no wonder our world has only fire. It seems our Laws are dominated by Fire."
Chu Dashan: "Exactly. Your world has only 'strange flames'—I've never heard of any strange winds or strange thunders…"
For Peace: "One lecture from God is worth ten years of study. Isn't our world a perfect example? Because of the Devil Fruit Tree, the world is near collapse—geomagnetic issues, population crises…"
Thinking carefully, every world faced some chance of extinction. They simply hadn't grasped it before.
For example, Orochimaru mused: if he never counterattacked the Ōtsutsuki homeland—and if no God descended—what would his world have become?
Obito resurrected. Madara revived the Ōtsutsuki again. Enemies waited on the moon.
He did not want to imagine it; the thought alone was chilling.
As for Yecha, even though she killed the emperor and her world advanced, without a divine descent she would still be alone, imprisoned in the Demon-Locking Tower. It was only by accident that willows cast shade.
Liu Che's words once more united the group's hearts. Even Saruman—whose faith had wavered—began to shift. He did not care what mortals turned into; he only sought power.
Now that he had joined the religion, mercy dwindled. What remained was the mindset of executing missions.