Under One Person: I Opened the Age of Mythology

Chapter 573

The golden cudgel trembled violently, emitting a mournful cry as if it were about to break.

Sun Wukong's left arm bones and flesh exploded and grew wildly, the golden-red divine blood and the corrupting power of the dark star intertwined and boiled.

The crimson dark star imprint spread rapidly across the surface of the Kunlun Divine Pillar, and the sound of cracking under the unbearable weight came from the depths of the earth's veins. Above the nine heavens, the rumbling of the Milky Way hanging upside down could be faintly heard.

From the direction of the Tushita Palace, the vibrations of the Nine-Turn Purple Gold Eight Trigrams Furnace reached the summit of Kunlun Mountain with a frequency of destruction. He knew that the chaotic fire seed within Nezha's lotus root body was tearing apart the last bit of clarity!
"I, Old Sun, refuse to believe it! This bridge...can't collapse!"

He clenched his fangs, and the blood beads that spurted from his seven orifices were evaporated by the chaotic aura before they even hit the ground.

One end of the golden cudgel was deeply embedded in his chest, while the other end was firmly driven into the foundation of the divine pillar. This body, which was once indestructible, was now the single-plank bridge supporting the Three Realms.

He squeezed out the last of his divine soul essence, trying to restrain the raging destructive energy, powerful enough to tear stars apart, within this bridge of flesh and blood.

Suddenly, a stream of extremely dark chaotic energy, like a vicious dragon seeking an opening, burst forth from the mutated wound on his left arm and fiercely struck the core of the Kunlun Divine Stake, which was violently trembling and whose surface was cracked!

The sacred pillar's hum suddenly turned into a mournful cry, and the towering pillar shook violently. Spiderweb-like cracks instantly covered the pillar, and a muffled, deafening roar, like a dying beast, echoed from the depths of the Kunlun Mountains!

Just as that destructive torrent was about to overwhelm the divine pillar and bring about utter annihilation—

The boundless light was not the brilliance of the sun, but originated from the ancient tranquility. It rose up from the direction of Vulture Peak in the west, transcending the barriers of time and space, and instantly covered the entire summit of Kunlun, as well as illuminating the three realms of blood and fire!
An indescribable tranquility, imbued with the wisdom and inclusiveness accumulated over millennia, flowed like a gentle, warm current across Sun Wukong's mind.

The corrupt power in his left arm that was frantically tearing his reason apart suddenly stopped, as if a venomous snake had encountered its natural enemy.

He struggled to lift his head, and through his blood-blurred vision, he saw in the center of the boundless light a majestic golden Buddha figure, towering between heaven and earth, taking shape. It was none other than the Tathagata, the World-Honored One, who had attained supreme enlightenment.

The Buddha's shadow lowered its compassionate gaze and pointed only gently.

"Om Mani Padme Hum!"

The grand, ancient, and seemingly profound six-syllable mantra, which seemed to contain the very essence of the universe's creation and destruction, resounded slowly and steadily through the void.

Each syllable that fell was like a giant vajra pestle made of countless swastika Buddhist seals, silently yet irresistibly smashing onto the dark star mark that was spreading wildly on the Kunlun Divine Stake!

The sizzling, corrosive evil power, under the purest light of Buddha and the cleansing of mantras, faded away in large swaths, like snowflakes under the scorching sun, revealing the original, ancient, and robust bronze body of the divine pillar.

At the same time, a torrent of magical power, as warm as moonlight and as pure as crystal, flowed from the Buddha's fingertips, enveloping Sun Wukong's grotesque and mutated left arm, where flesh and blood were fiercely battling against chaotic energy.

There was no earth-shattering collision, no painful screams of forced separation; the Buddha's power was like the most exquisite weaver, carefully untangling the boiling veins; like the most compassionate healer, soothing the anxious soul.

The turbulent, struggling power of chaos and erosion miraculously began to subside and fade under the guidance of this supreme law!
Although not immediately recovered, the person who had completely fallen to the brink of madness was steadily pulled back.

"You little rascal...you really dare to do that..."

The Buddha's vast and boundless voice resounded directly into the depths of Sun Wukong's primordial spirit, like a great bell, stirring in the dazed state on the edge of life and death, carrying a trace of barely perceptible sigh.

"Using chaos as fuel and oneself as a lamp, as a raft to guide all beings through tribulations... This selfless virtue has already reached the other shore of Mahayana Prajna."

The Buddha's gaze seemed to pierce through layers of time and space, landing on those scenes of being forged in the Eight Trigrams Furnace, being suppressed under the Five Elements Mountain, protecting the weak on the journey to the West, and opening up the world from the throat of chaos.

The clouds of calamity over Kunlun gradually subsided, but the drumbeats of destruction within the Tushita Palace grew ever more deafening!
The cracks in the walls of the Nine-Turn Purple Gold Eight Trigrams Furnace burst open with dazzling purplish-black light. Nezha sat cross-legged on a lotus platform, his face as white as gold paper, and a scarlet chaotic fire between his brows was expanding recklessly, each pulse mercilessly devouring his remaining will.

Crystallized cracks had already spread all over its body, like a fine porcelain piece that had been shattered and then forcibly glued back together. Its lotus root body emitted a teeth-grinding crunching sound, and the chaotic fire seed's violent breath transformed into a blazing whip shadow, uncontrollably rushing out of the Tushita Palace barrier!
A particularly fierce attack aimed directly at the blood-soaked rift valley nest in Beiju Luzhou!

Laozi's hair and beard bristled as he forcefully activated his nearly depleted primordial energy. The Purple-Gold True Fire dimmed like a candle in the wind, on the verge of being completely extinguished.

A close call!
"Good."

A compassionate voice, as clear as a spring washing over a jade plate, suddenly rang out from the heart of the storm.

A vibrant emerald light suddenly filled the alchemy room, its boundless vitality instantly overwhelming the chaos's fury and destruction.

A crystal-clear droplet of water, as if it had condensed the life-giving dew of billions of worlds, rose slowly from the white jade bottle that appeared in the void and hovered above Nezha's head.

Holding a vase and willow branch, with her feet resting on a lotus, a figure had quietly appeared beside the alchemy furnace, her eyes filled with compassion—it was none other than Guanyin Bodhisattva, who had returned to the world to save sentient beings.

As the willow branches swayed gently, a single drop of nectar, heavy as if it bore the weight of all life in the three thousand worlds, fell silently.

"Hey!"

The ear-piercing sound was like a red-hot iron block falling into ice water.

The nectar from the jade bottle dripped onto the blood-red chaotic fire between Nezha's eyebrows. There was no explosion, no evaporation. Instead, the raging flames, which seemed capable of burning even stars, instantly seemed to have met their nemesis, contracting and twisting violently like a poisonous dragon caught in a net.

The crystalline water light spread out, quickly forming a gentle yet incredibly resilient jade-colored film that tightly enveloped the flame.

The fierce, purplish-black light stubbornly burst forth from the gaps in the light membrane, only to be continuously washed, purified, and suppressed by the pure water that contained boundless vitality.

Under the cover of the light membrane, Nezha's violently convulsing body gradually calmed down, and the crystallized cracks all over his body were penetrated by the warm jade light. The terrifying cracking sound finally slowed down and stopped.

The lotus root's body was covered in silver veins. Although it had not healed immediately, it was no longer in a state of imminent collapse.

The blood-red whip that lashed towards Luzhou let out a mournful cry and vanished into smoke.

Laozi's tense nerves suddenly relaxed, his whisk fell limply, and cold sweat soaked his Taoist robe.

He looked at that kind and compassionate figure brimming with boundless vitality, bowed deeply, and a thousand words choked in his throat, ultimately condensing into only two words:
"Thank you... Bodhisattva!"

At the summit of Kunlun Mountain, the raging energy storm has been transformed into a trickle of water under the boundless light of Buddha.

Sun Wukong, leaning on his golden cudgel which had returned to its original form, was panting heavily. Although his left arm was still badly mangled and gruesome, the insane mutation that had been growing in his veins had been suppressed.

Yang Jian struggled to his feet, using the fallen rubble from the sacred pillar beside him as support. His three eyes, still bleeding from the wound between his brows, remained fixed on the majestic, solemn golden Buddha statue. All was silent. Only the Buddha's voice, peaceful as the ocean, carrying the weight of countless ages of cause and effect, echoed clearly in the depths of their hearts. It resonated not only in the ears of those on the mountaintop, but also deep within the consciousness of every powerful being capable of sensing the calamities of this world:
"Do you all know?"

The Buddha's Dharma voice is profound and far-reaching, devoid of sorrow or joy, yet seemingly seeing through all illusions.

"The fragments of the Chaos Pearl that we see before us are neither meteorites from beyond the realm nor simple energy crystals."

With his all-seeing eye, he witnessed the endless cycle of starlight and death: "This is the manifestation of the accumulated karma and afflictions of countless beings in the Three Realms over countless years! It is the unresolved resentment and anger, the unresolved bonds of love and affection, the undying greed and delusion... layer upon layer, ultimately condensing and manifesting as the 'Great Cause and Effect'!"

Everyone was shocked! Nezha struggled to lift his head on the lotus platform, and the scene of the Tushita Palace was vaguely reflected in his mind through the power of Guanyin Bodhisattva.

Golden light burst forth from the depths of Yang Jian's three eyes, instantly providing the most cruel and realistic commentary on the howls of the vengeful spirits from past battles and the struggling faces within the fragments of the Chaos Pearl!
Even Taibai Jinxing, who was in the Qitian Palace, busy comforting the disaster victims, felt a chill run through his primordial spirit when his divine sense touched these words.

"It is both resentment and wish."

The Buddha slowly revealed the secrets of heaven, his gaze sweeping over Sun Wukong's left arm, which was being nourished and sealed with divine blood, the lotus patterns on Nezha's body covered in sweet dew, and the dark cracks remaining on the Kunlun Divine Pillar.

“Forcibly breaking it is like striking a mirror. When the mirror shatters, the billions of mortal souls that are bound to it and live on it will be completely annihilated and return to the Chaos Mother Nest, feeding back its power and causing it to invade the barrier of the Three Realms even faster! This is the way of using someone else's knife to kill oneself.”

"The trouble should end it."

The Buddha's light flowed, encompassing the figures of heavenly soldiers and generals toiling on the summit of Kunlun Mountain, the alchemy chamber of Tushita Palace, and even beyond the Nine Heavens.

"Only by using immeasurable light, boundless vows, and great compassion as guidance, and by practicing the path of great deliverance, great teaching, and great liberation, can we transform karmic force into a clear stream, turn poisonous sores into sweet rain, and enable the soul fire of those who are deeply mired in suffering, like the blood-nest youth of the Northern Continent, to be liberated from the sea of ​​suffering. This force will then naturally dissipate, and its source will be eradicated."

The final gaze, like a heavy hammer, fell upon Sun Wukong.

"Blood and strength can buy a moment's respite; but with the heart as the guide, eternal peace can be proven. The path to the heavens is not a solitary battle; the will to save the world requires the support of the collective will."

Sun Wukong, leaning on his staff, slowly straightened his blood-stained body.

He looked down at his left arm, which still gleamed with an eerie dark light but had calmed down under the Buddha's power, and then looked up at the compassionate Buddha figure hanging high in the western sky, disappearing into the boundless realm of wonder.

An unprecedented enlightenment, an almost overwhelming mission, accompanied by a hope and weight he had never experienced before, originating from the resonance of billions of soul fires, crashed down on his once unruly soul that believed only in the power of an iron rod to sweep away thousands of enemies.

As the wind swept across the Kunlun Divine Pillar, the parts of the bronze pillar that had shed their filth faintly emitted deep and grand Buddhist chants, which mingled with the lingering chaotic howls, echoing for a long time in the temporarily halted mountains and rivers. It seemed to foreshadow a difficult redemption that was far more profound than a bloody battle, and only now was it truly beginning.

The iron staff that stabilized the sea had gold and red colors flowing across its body, silently absorbing a trace of the glazed Buddha light.

……

……

The wind and snow on Kunlun Mountain seemed to have temporarily ceased due to the boundless Buddha's light shining upon it, and a sense of calm and solemnity was added to the biting wind.

Inside the Qitian Hall, the atmosphere, so quiet you could hear a pin drop, was dissolved by the sound of the Buddha's voice, settling into an unprecedented solemnity and urgency.

Yang Jian was awakened by the tearing sensation emanating from his third eye between his brows.

Consciousness struggled to rise, as if passing through an abyss of ancient ice. The wound on his right shoulder still throbbed faintly, but the eerie blood, a mixture of gold and purple, no longer oozed out.

He could feel a gentle yet resilient Buddhist power within his body, acting as an anchor point to reassemble and stabilize his soul, which had been nearly torn apart by the aftershocks of chaos.

"woke up?"

A calm voice sounded from the side.

Yang Jian opened his eyes and saw Taibai Jinxing's face, which was full of fatigue but had sharp eyes.

“The Buddha has returned to Mount Ling, but left behind a verse: The karmic obstacles of the three realms manifest as calamities. The merit of purifying the world begins with gathering dust.”

Yang Jian struggled to sit up, his bones cracking like rotten wood, but his brows were furrowed, and the lingering fear in his eyes was quickly replaced by a resolute determination.

"'Gathering Dust'...does it refer to fragments of the Chaos Pearl?"

Although his third eye was closed, a faint golden light still flowed within it, echoing the countless tiny points of light shimmering on the sand table deep within the Qitian Palace—those were the scattered fragments of the Chaos Pearl, the source of pollution, marking the three realms.

"Exactly."

Li Jing, the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King, stepped forward, the pagoda hovering in his palm, its body radiating light.

"The Buddha pointed out that the fragments are the condensation of the accumulated resentment of billions of living beings. Forcibly destroying them will not only annihilate the soul fire and feed back into the chaos, but may also trigger a new round of spacetime turbulence or abyssal resonance. The best course of action now is to first safely contain all the fragments, sever the foundation for their aggregation and mutation, and then devise a plan for complete purification."

Yang Jian's gaze swept over the gods in the hall, finally landing on the huge sand table in the center of the hall, which incorporated the "Three Realms Spirit Map". The red dot representing the Chaos Nest of Beiju Luzhou, the scattered purple fragments, and the core nodes of Kunlun Divine Pillar and Doushuai Palace were clearly visible.

He took a deep breath, combining the "karmic affliction" pointed out by the Buddha with the task of saving the three realms before him. He suddenly felt the burden on his shoulders was as heavy as a mountain, but he also had a clearer direction than ever before.

He knelt on one knee, and although the movement aggravated his wounds and caused him to groan, his voice was resolute: "Your subject Yang Jian is willing to lead all the gods of the Thunder Department, as well as the mountain gods and land gods of the Three Realms, to various places to collect the fragments of the Chaos Pearl with all his might!"

Sun Wukong stood at the head of the hall. Although the golden light around him had dimmed slightly, his towering aura became even more refined. The amethyst patterns remaining on his left arm looked as if they were encased in amber under the Buddha's light.

He nodded, and gently tapped the ground with his golden cudgel:
"Approved! The thirty-six righteous gods of the Thunder Department are at your disposal. Order all mountain gods, land gods, city gods, and underworld officials throughout the Three Realms to cooperate fully in searching every inch of land! The Giant Spirit God is your deputy, to protect the mortals and sweep away the remnants. The collection of fragments must be carried out with utmost care, and not a single trace of chaotic energy may leak out! The necessary tools will be supplied by the Department of Tools to the best of its ability."

"I will obey the Great Sage's decree!"

Yang Jian accepted the order and abruptly stood up.

He could sense the weight in Sun Wukong's words, and he could also see the deep concern in the other's eyes for his nest in Beiju Luzhou and his brothers in the Tushita Palace.

Needless to say, he had to be faster.

(End of this chapter)