NOVGO.NET Chapter 2404 - Controlling the Western Paradise
Chapter 2404 – Controlling the Western Paradise
When the Angler gazed at the handsome young man in the distance, his heart palpitated inexplicably.
The young man looked dashing, with a radiant smile. He was indeed a beautiful, elegant youth.
Yet to the Angler, his aura seemed incomparably strange and inscrutable. Shockingly, he couldn’t gauge the young man’s cultivation base!
“Who are you, sir?” The Angler asked gravely.
The young man smiled and recited, “I am he who presides over the mountains and rivers. The heavens instilled me with unfettered pride. Once, I entered the nine heavens and spun the sun and moon. Drunk, I look askance at the world and find that none is my equal.”
“….” The Angler had nothing to say to that.
It was quite the arrogant little poem, but the Angler wasn’t the least bit interested. All he knew was that this smiling stranger was, in truth, extraordinarily dangerous!
“If you have no other business with me, forgive me, but I’m afraid I cannot accompany you any longer,” said the Angler, turning to leave.
Decisive and direct as could be.
But within moments, that handsome young man appeared out of nowhere, blocking the road ahead.
His movement technique made the Angler’s eyelids twitch. He realized that he’d run into a powerful foe this time!
“Very well. No more jokes. I have in my possession a treasure known as the Book of Legends. It can make you truly indestructible and ever-lasting,” said the young man, opening his hands to reveal a tome bound in pitch-black leather. “Just give me the nod, and there’s a place for you within these pages!”
The Angler stared at the black tome, his heart shaking. That’s a taboo treasure!!
And one I’ve never even heard of at that. There aren’t even rumors of the ‘Book of Legends’ in the God Domain.
“Sir, just… who are you, and why have you come looking for me?” said the Angler, struggling to stay calm.
In the present-day God Domain, the Angler knew even many of the experts of unknown territories.
However, he’d never heard of anyone who had a taboo treasure like that book.
The young man’s origins were far too mysterious. It was as if he’d been birthed from a rock, appearing suddenly and out of nowhere.
This only made the Angler increasingly certain that he couldn’t get complacent.
“I,” said the delicately handsome young man as he gestured at the sky, “Am from the River of Destiny. The ‘me’ standing before you is, in fact, just a wisp of my Eternal Soul.”
The River of Destiny! An Eternal Soul!
The Angler gasped, and his expression shifted.
The Dark Days of Legend were not yet upon them. Logically speaking, experts of the River of Destiny could not yet descend into the God Domain.
That went for the terrifying experts backing Di E, too.
Yet now, this seemingly youthful man said he was from the River of Destiny. How could the Angler be anything but astonished?
“But I cannot yet tell you my name,” the handsome young man said casually. “If word gets out, this really won’t be fun anymore.”
The Angler clasped his fist in greeting. “Sir, we’re complete strangers, and there’s no grudge between us. Might I ask why you’ve come looking for me?
The young man laughed. “How could new encounters require having met before? This was an act of fate!”
An act of fate? Yeah, right! The corners of the Angler’s lips twitched, and he forcefully suppressed his unease. “SIr, since you’re from the River of Destiny, you must know his Excellency Di E, right?”
The young man’s gaze was hard to read. “He’s one of the chosen Bringers of Order, yes, but I am one qualified to choose Bringers of Order. Understand?”
The Angler’s expression instantly shifted. He could no longer maintain his cool. If that’s true, then this young man is a true supreme powerhouse of the River of Destiny!!
“So don’t even try to use him to intimidate me. His camp is indeed strong, but it’s no threat to me,” the young man said with a laugh. “Now do you understand what you ought to do?”
The Angler sighed. “At the very least, I can say with certainty that you won’t choose me as your Bringer of Order.”
The young man said approvingly, “You’re quite self-aware.”
Bang!
His voice had only just rung out when the Angler suddenly exploded into dense bloody mist. Heaven and earth were thrown into upheaval, and time and space inverted.
The surrounding Laws seemed somehow startled, and their power surged forth.
The handsome young man narrowed his eyes, held the Book of Legends aloft, and shifted through the air, vanishing in a flash.
Boom!
Heaven and earth were thrown into upheaval. Everything withered and collapsed, the whole place eradicated; not even rubble remained. The only thing left was a stretch of void.
The Angler, however, vanished the moment this happened.
The handsome young man appeared in the distance, seemingly out of nowhere.
“You’re down to just a soul, but you’re still this ruthless. It seems I underestimated the legendary figures of the God Domain.” The handsome young man frowned. There was no longer any trace of his smile.
He’d been caught off guard, not because his opponent’s methods were so extraordinary, but because he was afraid of a backlash from the Laws.
“No wonder that Su guy didn’t manage to kill him,” murmured the young man, stroking his jaw. “He’s quite slippery. That said, once I set my sights on prey, it can never escape.”
Before his voice had even finished echoing through the air, the young man vanished once more.
…
Deep within a stretch of mountains, the Angler cried out hoarsely, “Dipankara, save me! Hurry——!”
A curtain of light was reflected before him. It reflected none other than the Dipankara Buddha seated beneath the bodhi tree!
When the Dipankara Buddha saw the Angler’s current condition, he couldn’t help but frown.
Too brutal!
His soul body was so badly damaged it seemed it might perish at a moment’s notice.
“You used the Measureless Burning Talisman?” the Dipankara Buddha said gravely.
“That’s right,” the Angler said listlessly, his expression bleak. “Earlier, I ran into a terrifying existence from the River of Destiny. He was just a soul body, but he controlled a taboo treasure called the Book of Legends, and…”
But his voice came to an abrupt halt before he could continue his tale.
Because that handsome young man had appeared directly beside him, and he was smiling.
The Angler almost jumped with fright.
“Are you requesting aid from that monk?” The handsome young man smiled and gazed at the Dipankara Buddha reflected on the curtain of light.
The Dipankara Buddha was looking at him, too.
Their eyes met from across a screen of light. The atmosphere was instantly stifled and tense.
It was the young man who spoke first, gazing at the Dipankara Buddha with great interest. “Are you the Dipankara Buddha, the most mighty and unfathomable Buddhist cultivator of the Western Paradise Spirit Mountains?”
“Sir, since you’re from the River of Destiny, you’re surely an extraordinary figure. Why make trouble for an opponent far weaker than you?” the Dipankara Buddha asked calmly. “Rather, has he offended you in any way?”
The young man shook his head. “He hasn’t offended me. I just wanted another book soul, and I happened to run into him. That’s got to be an act of fate, right?”
The Dipankara Buddha’s gaze focused. He attacked the Angler out of nowhere, for no real reason. What a tyrant!
After a moment’s silence, the Dipankara Buddha said, “I can help you!”
The young man was briefly stunned. Then, he asked with a laugh, “You don’t even know who I am. How could you possibly help me?”
The Dipankara Buddha said calmly, “Since you came here from the River of Destiny, I’m sure it’s on account of the Battle for Order.”
The young man smiled. “Continue.”
“To the best of my knowledge, those who’ve stepped onto the River of Destiny are eyeing the God Domain for two simple reasons.
“First, they want to vie for authority over the current epoch during the Dark Days of Legend in the so-called “Battle for Order.”
“Second, they’re after the Epoch Spark and the mysteries of reincarnation.
“It seems to me that since you came here in soul form prior to the Dark Days of Legend, your plans most likely involve Su Yi!”
The handsome young man sighed with admiration. “It’s true; talking to clever people is a huge time-saver. Tell me, then. How can you help me?”
The Dipankara Buddha said with the solemn countenance of a temple statue, “A wonderful opportunity is close at hand!”
He then explained how Su Yi was about to set course for the Boundless Battlefield.
Finally, he said, “The Boundless Battlefield is currently facing the Tribulation of the Five Witherings. You’re from the River of Destiny, so I’m sure you naturally understand the mysteries hidden behind this cataclysm.”
The young man’s eyes flashed. “Are you saying that someone is trying to take action in the Boundless Battlefield before the rest of us get the chance?”
“I’m simply telling you what I know,” said the Dipankara Buddha. “I dare not try to influence your judgment.”
The handsome young man laughed coldly. “You call this helping me? You’re obviously just trying to borrow my hands to kill your enemy!”
“Everyone in the God Domain knows that I tell no lies,” said the Dipankara Buddha. “You are, of course, welcome not to go.”
“Monk, you really don’t seem like a good person,” said the young man, gazing intently at him. “How about you let me test your abilities?”
He suddenly stretched out his hand and reached into the current of light.
A moment later, the Angler watched as something unbelievable happened. The young man’s hand seemed to cross endless time and space after entering the curtain. It was now hovering in the skies of the Western Paradise Spirit Mountains!
The Angler’s eyes bulged. What… What kind of ability is this!?
Meanwhile, everyone in the Western Paradise Spirit Mountains saw that a giant hand appeared overhead. It was so huge that it obscured the sky and blotted out of the sun.
Each of its five jadelike fingers was like a pillar capable of supporting the heavens, and countless wondrous and inscrutable Dao Markings appeared on its palm.
When the hand descended, the very air itself seemed to crack. Everything collapsed on all sides.
This scene shook everyone in the Western Paradise Spirit Mountains.
Most terrifying of all, the mountains’ defensive formations were completely useless. They could do nothing to stop the giant hand’s descent. It passed through them with ease!
But just as the giant hand was about to reach them… A glittering, resplendent golden lotus took to the air and erupted with endless radiance.
The Dipankara Buddha had taken action from beneath the bodhi tree. He held an ancient sutra aloft, and countless mystical sanskrit letters floated onto the page. They looked as if they were forged of molten gold.
When the sanskrit text took to the sky, it formed a golden lotus platform.
Boom!!
When the giant hand collided with the lotus platform, its descent paused. It could advance no further.
When the platform released its light, it was accompanied by an unsurpassed power that threatened to refine the giant hand completely.
Bang!
The young man immediately pulled his right hand out of the screen of light.
However, the tips of his fingers looked a bit burnt. He’d obviously been injured!
“An Eternal aura… you really aren’t simple, monk!” exclaimed the young man.