This is what an immortal should be like

Chapter 297 Breaking Through Illusions to See the Truth
At first, only Zhuang Lin could hear the roar, but as the images in his mind became richer and richer, and as he fell into a daze, it was as if the scene of his first seclusion at Dongfeng Peak was being replayed.

All the scenes unfolded and expanded along with Zhuang Lin's artistic conception. The endless evil energy beneath the five-colored giant mountain seemed to merge with Zhuang Lin's heart and mind at this moment, turning into a rich lake. The blood color gradually faded, and then endless scenes appeared.

Everything around them was changing. Whether it was the soldiers and agents on the nine treasure ships or the cultivators, they all felt that the world was changing color!
In the blink of an eye, everything around them changed. It was as if they had left the Five-Colored Divine Peak Secret Realm, or arrived at another place, only time had changed, and the surrounding scenery seemed to flow by like water.
There is spiritual practice, joy, suffering, fierce battles, the human realm, the celestial realm, gods, saints, Buddhas, and all things.
But everything has an appearance and an underlying reality. When the halo fades at a certain moment, the truth becomes incredibly cruel.

The images displayed were sometimes blurry and sometimes clear. Apart from Zhuang Lin, no one could see them completely, but the impact on their minds was no less. Even Xi Miao couldn't control her emotions at this moment.

A fierce battle from hundreds of years ago seems to have reappeared. Breaking through the hazy, profound, yet fragile facade, the moment everything is revealed is also incredibly cruel to the towering figure in the illusion.

An old immortal with a long beard tore off his whisk, shattering his immortal foundation. The enormous alchemy furnace rose like the sun, only to shatter again, illuminating everything around it and revealing the truth.

It was as if time and space were imprinted on the world around the Five Elements Mountain!
Peaceful and solemn, with a dignified and majestic appearance, yet beneath the shadows, another layer of truth emerges.

As time passes, shadows merge into the desolate statue, evoking fear and awe, a grotesque greed, a yearning to approach yet a fear of approaching. Why can't we take its place?
When all of this was fully revealed, cries of anguish echoed from beneath the Five Elements Mountain!

"I, Old Sun, have been deceived by you! You've deceived me, Master! It's all my fault! It's all my fault!"

The roar was filled with anger, resentment, sorrow, and shrillness; endless malevolent energy surged into the sky, and tears of blood fell like rain.
The roar came from Zhuang Lin's artistic conception, yet it seemed to go beyond that. The roar shook the heavens, and the entire sea of ​​evil energy surged and churned.
"Splash splash splash splash splash."

The massive black gold pillar that had nearly toppled the Five Elements Mountain also began to tremble.

"buzz"

The giant pillar's tremors produced a buzzing sound, further arousing a sea of ​​malevolent energy that instantly spread throughout the entire Five-Colored Divine Peak Secret Realm. This sea of ​​malevolent energy then crashed against the surrounding peaks and surged in all directions.
Zhuang Lin stood there blankly in front of the Five Elements Mountain, while the nine treasure ships, like leaves in a storm, struggled to gather around him and stay together.

Meanwhile, on the outskirts of the mountains in the secret realm, the remaining seventy-two demon kings were already trembling.

The endless malevolent energy surged forth like a raging torrent, but what truly terrified the demon kings was a roar that seemed to collapse the heavens. Just hearing this sound, many of the seventy-two demon kings almost knelt down.

"He's not dead yet?" "He's still alive?"

"Ahhh, he's really still alive?"

"Ah—no way, no way."

The seventy-two demon kings were in complete panic, and many of them even rose up and rode the demonic winds straight out of the Five-Colored Divine Peak Secret Realm.

The One-Horned Demon King was also terrified, but at this moment he finally reacted and roared at the demonic winds and escape lights that had already fled.

"Don't run, don't run—if you run, how can you atone for the Buddha's punishment?"

"He can't possibly still be alive, it's all an illusion, an illusion—come back—"

But no matter how the One-Horned Demon King roared or even tried to stop it, more and more of its "brothers" fled from its side.

Later, the endless blood-red evil energy surged in like a tsunami. The One-Horned Ghost King was also greatly shocked. After glancing at the other demon kings who had fled, he hurriedly rode the demon wind and fled, naturally heading towards the entrance of the Five-Colored Divine Peak Secret Realm.

Although it would be incredibly difficult to explain to others, there is a difference between dying slowly and dying immediately, and besides, there is still room for maneuver.

However, when the One-Horned Demon King rode the demonic wind to the entrance of the Five-Colored Divine Peak Secret Realm, he saw that all the demon kings were crowded there, not one less, and some demon kings were constantly casting spells, but there was no sign of the entrance opening.

"Ahhh, those Buddhas have just trapped us here too?"

"Let us out! Ahhh, let me out!"

"Big brother, big brother, you must be able to open the exit, right?" "Yes, yes, let big brother do it—"

The solitary ghost king flew here and finally landed. He caught a glimpse of the few demon kings who had survived at the beginning, and realized that they hadn't been able to get out either.

"I'll try!"

Without a word, the One-Horned Demon King landed directly in the void and unleashed his demonic magic with a loud shout.

"Open it for me—"

The void rumbled, sending ripples through the surroundings, but the entrance still showed no sign of opening.

The One-Horned Demon King paused for a moment, then cast the spell again.

"Open it for me—"

"Boom."

This time, the tremors were even more intense, but still had no effect. All the surrounding demon kings stared blankly, and then many demon kings joined in, even attacking that spot in the void.
Outside the Five-Colored Divine Peak Secret Realm, while the One-Horned Demon King and the other seventy-two demon kings were trying their best to open an entrance, the murals in the dilapidated temple remained unchanged, let alone any entrance or exit being opened.

A magnificent and exquisite pagoda completely covered the entire dilapidated temple, as well as this mural.

As long as Zhuang Lin doesn't use magic, or doesn't have the power to directly break through the Linglong Pagoda, the entrance to this secret realm won't open, and the Linglong Pagoda at this moment is the complete version.
-
Beneath the Five Elements Mountain, the storm of the artistic conception finally gradually subsided.

Zhuang Lin clenched his fists, his body trembling slightly, while his primordial spirit stood in front of the black gold pillar, maintaining a touching posture.

Then, the physical body and the primordial spirit slowly opened their eyes together.

"ho"

Zhuang Lin's breath trembled slightly. His primordial spirit looked at the nine treasure ships, while his physical body looked ahead, as if staring back at itself.

On the treasure ship, people had different expressions; most were somewhat bewildered, while others were still feeling uneasy.

Few of these people truly saw the whole thing clearly, but some did, such as Xi Miao, and those True Dao experts who had already cultivated to the Nascent Soul realm. Even Liu Hongyu only saw most of it. Xi Miao clenched her fists at this moment, and the Nascent Soul experts of the True Dao sect around her and on other ships were in no better condition.

"I see, I see."

These were Xi Miao's words, and also what many people were thinking. However, everyone's gaze gradually turned to Zhuang Lin.

At this moment, Zhuang Lin's feelings were the most complicated. He closed his eyes again after a long time, as if he was recalling everything that had just happened.

"So this is the Five-Colored Divine Peak, this is the truth beneath the Five Elements Mountain. No wonder it hasn't been found for hundreds of years. Hehehe, hahahahahaha!"

Zhuang Lin's laughter carried a hint of sorrow and even madness, quite different from his usual image. However, those who heard it, except for those with lower cultivation levels who felt somewhat uneasy, were all very understanding.

"The Monkey King, trapped beneath the Five Elements Mountain, has his true face revealed by his fiery eyes. Though the Great Sage Equal to Heaven is no longer here, his mighty staff can still shatter the heavens!"

Although I didn't get to see the Monkey King, this trip to Five Elements Mountain was still worthwhile.

It can be said that this place helped Zhuang Lin to see the truth beyond the realm of the mind!
It turns out that at the moment when the connection between heaven and earth was severed, all the gods, Buddhas and great powers in the heavens disappeared. After the connection between heaven and earth was severed, only clay and wooden statues remained of the gods and Buddhas in the human world.

Nowadays, the so-called gods and Buddhas in the world, apart from those of relatively lower status, such as the supreme beings in the heavens and the Buddhas of Buddhism, and even the great gods and Buddhas of high status such as the Bodhisattva of Two Aspects of Heavenly Sound, are all beings that have been reborn from clay and wood sculptures in the faith and desires of the human world.

These are neither true Buddhas nor true Celestial Venerables; they are merely imitators, constantly trying to get closer, and ultimately wanting to replace them!
Therefore, when the Heavenly Court was destroyed and many great gods were powerless to repair the ancient heritage, the purpose of closing the Heavenly Realm and the Five-Colored Divine Peak Secret Realm was similar.

The so-called great gods and Buddhas of today, beneath their outward appearance of great love and benevolence, are nothing more than great desires and even great fears.

They could never break the barrier between heaven and earth, because they feared the reopening of heaven and earth, and the encounter of the genuine with the counterfeit. They yearned for gods and Buddhas, and understood even more the vast divine power and wisdom of the true gods and Buddhas.
Accumulate incense offerings and vows, continuously cultivate, hoping to take over and eventually reach the pinnacle of cultivation, where one can also break through the heavens with power!

This is their idea, but obviously they won't do it, nor dare they do it, even in the later Dharma-ending Age.

For thousands of years, the biggest obstacle to the success of the "Severing the Heavenly Connection" has been the gods and Buddhas who support the "righteous path" of the world today. Even the demons and monsters are like the seventy-two demon kings of Huaguo Mountain, who obey their orders!
"Ha ha ha ha ha"

Zhuang Lin was still smiling, but his smile gradually faded.

"Brother Monkey, you've been utterly fooled!"

The roar beneath the Five Elements Mountain, filled with resentment and regret, originated from that person from back then, who was also deceived by this, but ultimately harmed his own master as well—that previous generation True Person!
The previous generation of immortals may have already glimpsed some clues, so they concealed their whereabouts and bided their time. Because of Monkey King, he learned the truth, and because he knew the truth, all the gods and Buddhas in the heavens would not let them go. In the end, they failed at the last moment and died in the battle of Five Elements Mountain.
Whether the six-syllable mantra seal is broken or not is no longer relevant. "He" is no longer under the Five Elements Mountain, or rather, that endless evil energy is him!

Zhuang Lin remained silent for a while, then his primordial spirit reached out and beckoned, and a red light flew out from his sleeve where his physical body was.

A dark red wooden sword rose into the sky. As Zhuang Lin commanded, the terrifying, sea-like aura that had been sweeping outwards instantly reversed and began to merge into the wooden sword.
The evil energy was merging in faster and faster, the crashing sound of the tsunami grew more and more urgent, and the wooden sword turned increasingly crimson.

After an unknown amount of time, the surrounding crimson faded, and even the three calamities in the sky weakened. A seemingly ordinary wooden sword actually contained the endless baleful energy, and its color gradually returned from deep red to a calm, dark red.

Zhuang Lin looked to one side.

"The Ruyi Jingu Bang (Monkey King's Staff), rather than stay here, come with me!"

It was originally just an experiment, but as Zhuang Lin finished speaking, the giant black gold pillar immediately shrank and transformed into a thin needle, which fell into Zhuang Lin's primordial spirit's hand.

After a long while, Zhuang Lin looked around and then at the nine treasure ships. Everyone was looking at him.

"let's go!"
-
Some time later, at the entrance of the Five-Colored Divine Peak, the Seventy-Two Cave Demon Kings, still somewhat bewildered as the malevolent aura dissipated, seemed to have discovered something.

"They're here again!"

"Could he have brought him along?"

Should we stop them?

"Quick, hide! Hide!"

The seventy-two demon kings were terrified. Upon seeing the nine treasure ships arrive, they scattered and fled in all directions within the time it took to utter a few words, each using a demonic wind escape technique faster than the last.
"Alas." "Alas." "Alas."

The nine treasure ships reached the void and rushed out. The barrier of the secret realm seemed to be completely ineffective against them. However, when a demon king rushed over again, they could not get out.

Outside the secret realm, nine treasure ships had already emerged into the outer sky and stood atop the pagoda.

Everyone on the ship looked down, including Zhuang Lin, who had already withdrawn his primordial spirit.

"It should be almost time, right?"

"What's almost done?"

A cultivator from the True Path subconsciously asked a question, but Zhuang Lin did not answer.

Inside the command center of the nine treasure ships, someone was counting down the seconds.

"Nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one day"

This is the timer's timing; at this level, no one seems to perceive anything.

Within the Five-Colored Divine Peak Secret Realm, the demon kings who remained there suddenly discovered that many "suns" were rising in various directions, near and far.
"what is that?"

"The sun?"

The demon king asked this question blankly, but no one could care less about it anymore. What followed was endless light so blinding it could cause blindness, and the sky and earth collapsed.
(End of this chapter)