CHAPTER 854: CHAPTER 577: BLUE MOUNTAIN AND RED LEAF

"..."

Di Jialou was silent for a moment, then asked, "What year is it tonight?"

"It’s 2276, isn’t it?"

"Is the Tianxia Military Leader at the Seventh Realm?"

"Of course! Haven’t you watched the Battle Realm tournament?"

"Is there a projection?"

"How can you prove you’re not a Heavenly Demon."

"I am Di Jialou."

"Di Jialou? Never heard of you."

"..."

Using a little trick, Di Jialou obtained the projection.

In the image, a spear-wielding youth in nine-colored Daoist robe strolled leisurely within the Heavenly King’s Realm, defeating Chen Beiming.

Chen Beiming, a veteran master, he was familiar with.

"Lu Chenzhou... only a few decades have passed, and he’s broken through Seven? He’s even faster than the Dragon King?"

Originally, Di Jialou had wanted to challenge the Dragon King’s century-long Seventh Realm breakthrough record.

After he became Heavenly Queen, he realized how delusional it was to hope for a hundred-year breakthrough!

He never imagined someone would truly succeed in the challenge.

Seeing Di Jialou silent, two senior brothers sent him a voice transmission:

"Junior brother, what’s wrong?"

"Senior brother, let’s go to Yun Meng City."

...

Primordial Mountain Cave Heaven.

"Altogether, three hundred thousand mid-grade Primordial Stones."

Lu Chenzhou sold off all his spoils from previous enemies at bargain prices on Yuanbao Mountain.

"Two million one hundred thousand mid-grade Primordial Stones, twenty high grade Primordial Stones—should be enough to splurge at the World’s First Tower."

Of the Cultivators at the Early Stage of Seventh Realm, few were wealthier than him.

"Next, I’ll conquer the Dragon Transformation Ancient Road and the Star-Picking Tower." Lu Chenzhou returned to the Fu Mountain Dojo.

"Military Leader, someone is here to see you." Heart Dream Emperor descended into the cave heaven.

Lu Chenzhou followed Heart Dream back to Yun Meng City.

In the City Lord’s reception hall, Di Jialou stood somewhat uneasy.

From the void, a youth in nine-colored Daoist robe stepped out.

Beside him, the two True Buddhas’ expressions shifted subtly.

In their eyes, what stood before them was an imposing, demonic nine-colored skull, fierce as a Demon God.

Lu Chenzhou smiled faintly, "This body is gone, so I can only present myself in this guise. Please don’t mind, both of you."

He was speaking to the two True Buddhas; as for Di Jialou, his cultivation was not deep enough to see through the illusion.

Di Jialou respectfully saluted, "Greetings, Military Leader."

"You’re Di Jialou?"

"I am."

"Thought you were missing."

"It’s a long story. This time, I come on my teacher’s orders to invite Heart Dream Emperor and Emperor Hanu for a meeting."

Heart Dream Emperor said, "Isn’t your teacher the Po Suo Emperor?"

"My other teacher, the Ancient Emperor Lanshan. I’ve spent these missing years cultivating with him."

Lu Chenzhou’s heart stirred. There was still a Great Power alive?

And it was the very Ancient Emperor Lanshan whose legacy he had received.

Lu Chenzhou said, "This comes too suddenly; I cannot decide based on your words alone. What if this is a trap set by an Evil God?"

True Buddha Tianlong said calmly, "What kind of being is the Ancient Emperor Lanshan? He wouldn’t go for such petty tricks."

Heart Dream Emperor said, "Military Leader, why don’t Hanu and I go see for ourselves? It would be rude to refuse a Great Power’s invitation."

Di Jialou said, "Ancient Emperor says there are three Seventh Realm Heart Cultivators in the Xia Realm. Where is the last one?"

Moonlight True Buddha patted Di Jialou and laughed heartily, "Little junior brother, right in front of you. Your cultivation is too shallow to see it. Lu Military Leader’s Spiritual Power is not inferior to your Tianlong senior brother."

Di Jialou’s heart and mind shook, "What?"

To break through Martial Arts at Seventh Realm at seventy—fine—but to have broken through the Heart Cultivation path that he prided himself on, even earlier?

He couldn’t understand. His own talent was top-level, and he worked so hard—how could the gap be this wide?

Could it be there’s something special about the Human World?

Could Du Meng have broken through Seven too?

Lu Chenzhou could sense the fluctuations in Di Jialou’s emotions and knew what he was thinking.

This Po Suo Heavenly Pride, who stood alongside Du Meng, still lacked tempering.

Cultivating at the side of a Great Power looked smooth but had its drawbacks.

Compared to Du Meng’s Heart Realm, Di Jialou fell short.

Lu Chenzhou didn’t make a hasty decision, instead letting the three envoys stay temporarily in Yun Meng City.

He sought out his Eldest Brother.

"Ancient Emperor Lanshan? As expected, a Heart Cultivation Great Power can’t die." Eldest Brother mused.

"Why is that?"

"Teacher once said: A Heart Cultivation Great Power—’I think, therefore I am’. As long as they plant an anchor in the consciousness ocean of all beings, their Spiritual can endure eternally."

"Does Eldest Brother think we should go?"

"It should be no great risk to pay a visit. The Four Emperors are all trustworthy—on that point, you may rest assured."

Lu Chenzhou also consulted the Eternal Immortal, who likewise thought it was safe to go.

So, he left his incarnation temporarily in the Human World and, taking Hanu and Heart Dream Emperor with him, set off for the Heart Realm.

Di Jialou said, "The Heart Realm is the sole bridge to communicate with the Supreme Buddha Country; seniors must leave your physical bodies here for now."

Buddha Country is a spiritual dimension, accessible only to the heart, not unlike Martial World. Lu Chenzhou understood.

...

"Feeling, perception, volition, consciousness—likewise thus."

"All phenomena are empty in nature, neither arising nor perishing."

Opening his eyes, he heard ethereal, three-dimensional chanting all around, as if he had arrived at Shaolin Temple.

Three hundred sacred phantoms, each shrouded in Buddhist light above their heads, turned toward him simultaneously; some were not bald, but all had different appearances.

Many were not Human Clan, but strange beings—Rabbit-Faced Buddha, Monkey-Faced Buddha, Pig-Faced Buddha....

A quick perception showed that eighteen were not weaker than the Eternal Immortal, just in momentum alone.

Unimaginable—within the Three Thousand Worlds, there existed such a powerful force.

"This fellow Daoist looks so young."

"To attain Buddhahood at such a young age, how rare."

"Not even five hundred years old, perhaps?"

One after another, the True Buddhas exchanged voice transmissions among themselves.

Di Jialou pointed at the blue pagoda and said, "Disciple has brought the three True Buddhas of Xia Realm."

Lu Chenzhou sensed a Supreme Will sweeping over him from within the pagoda, like a breeze passing by.

"Junior Lu Chenzhou, pays respects to Ancient Emperor Lanshan!"

"You practice the Great Wilderness Prison Demon Curse?"

"Yes."

"Back in Xia Realm, the one who fed himself to the demon and slew the Heavenly Demon—was that also you?"

"Yes."

"So that’s it. I didn’t expect you to escape the many realms’ pursuit from the forbidden zones—truly extraordinary. I hear you’ve only cultivated for seventy years?"

"That’s right."

At these words, all True Buddhas’ gazes focused like searchlights as they whispered among themselves.

"How much? Seventy years?"

"Surely that’s an exaggeration?"

"Even entering the Seventh Realm in the Great Wilderness in three hundred years is extremely rare."

"Is there something so special about Xia Realm?"

Seeing these True Buddhas so similar to himself, Di Jialou relaxed.

Ancient Emperor Lanshan too was silent for a while, then a hearty laugh rang out.

"Excellent! To think—when I awakened my spirituality, it took me seven thousand years to reach the Seventh Realm."

Lu Chenzhou was amazed.

Was Ancient Emperor Lanshan really that slow, even less talented than his Eldest Brother?

The True Buddhas smiled and said, "The Ancient Emperor attained the Dao as a great mountain—his lifespan is immeasurable."

Lu Chenzhou sighed inwardly. Even a great mountain could become a Great Power—truly, the Great Thousand Worlds contain all marvels.

Buddha light formed a heavenly staircase directly beneath their feet, stretching into the blue pagoda’s depths.

"You three, please enter."

...

A blue-robed youth sat cross-legged at the lotus platform’s center, the stars reflected in his eyes, dazzling and brilliant.

"This is the Buddha Country of the Heart, a spiritual dimension carved out by the Heart Emperor, before entering nirvana, from the collective consciousness ocean of all beings."

"So, the Heavenly Heart Sect was not destroyed? Senior and the outside True Buddhas are all still alive?" Lu Chenzhou asked.

"We have, in essence, perished—unable to leave the spiritual dimension, unable to directly affect reality—we can only act indirectly: by transmitting methods, by dream-walking, or Spiritual possession. In this respect, not so different from the forbidden zone Evil Gods...." The blue-robed youth laughed self-deprecatingly. "But at least it’s better than being utterly annihilated—at the very least, we can still witness today’s world."

"Senior, is there something you require of us?"

The blue-robed youth’s face grew pensive: "With the forbidden zones reviving, a catastrophe for all beings is imminent. We must support a present-day Heart Cultivation Great Power as soon as possible. Only then is there hope to completely open the channel between Buddha Country and the Three Thousand Worlds, so that we can reincarnate and cultivate anew. We all carry our memories and Dao’s essence—when we begin again, our advancement will outstrip any normal cultivator; we might even beat the gods’ full awakening."

"Reincarnate and cultivate anew?"

"When people die, either their Divine Soul is utterly destroyed, sinking into the void, or they are absorbed by the cosmic laws and reborn as a new individual—in other words, the next life. Matter and energy are conserved in the universe, flowing between old and new endlessly. That is Reincarnation. You have inherited my legacy, so you should know I mastered the Reincarnation Dao, and achieved Great Power this way."

Lu Chenzhou nodded slightly.

Reincarnation—he knew a bit about it too.

He’d already evolved it into a higher-level Withering and Flourishing Dao.

The blue-robed youth said, "Universal Reincarnation washes away every mark of one’s past life; this is the Wangchuan River in myth and legend."

This life, you might be human, the next a worm or a pig, or even a demon ghost—this is the Six Daos of Reincarnation.

Through birth, aging, sickness, death, and reincarnation, the universe regulates all beings and high-end power, preventing too many powerful ones from threatening cosmic balance.

In the Great Wilderness Period, many powerful ones theorized about reincarnation and re-cultivation.

But aside from the ancient True Spirit Phoenix clan, who managed it with their innate divine abilities, all other cultivators failed.

Ultimately, it was because the Great Cosmic Will feared disorder—unchecked proliferation of cultivators would disrupt the cycle of reincarnation.

If all could reincarnate and cultivate anew, the world would be full of Great Powers, would it not?"

Lu Chenzhou said, "And now it can be done?"

The blue-robed youth nodded, "Naturally. The Great Cosmic Will is being devoured by the witches, led by the will of the stars."

It panics. It contacts me through revelations in the dark.

After countless ages of austere cultivation here in Buddha Country, my Reincarnation Dao is now infinitely close to the level of Daoist Lord.

No less than the Heart Emperor once was, and I, too, can wield a portion of the Reincarnation Dao’s authority.

Therefore, I can grant partial reincarnation privileges to the three hundred True Buddhas in Buddha Country.

Since Buddha Country revived, I’ve been searching in the river of reincarnation, even recovering some Great Powers’ spiritual essences.

Because a Great Power’s will is strong enough to retain some characteristics after hundreds of cycles.

For example, the founder of the Power Extreme Dao you cultivate, Lord of Yuan Mountain."

Heart Dream Emperor asked, "To reincarnate and cultivate anew must bring calamities, too, right? And in Buddha Country we’re all but undying. Of the three hundred True Buddhas who undergo reincarnation and cultivation anew, how many will actually make it to the Seventh Realm?"

A phantom red-clothed bald woman appeared, saying, "We have no other choice. Within Buddha Country, it seems we are undying, but over long years, there is still the danger of being lost to the consciousness ocean. At our peak, counting the Three Thousand Worlds, eight hundred True Buddhas cultivated here, but now just three hundred remain... We’ve been waiting all along for the Heart Emperor to return and prove the Great Power again, so we could reincarnate and cultivate anew."

As she spoke, she looked toward Lu Chenzhou.

"Red Leaf pays respects to the Heart Emperor!"