Chapter 1744: Chapter 936: The World as the Board, All Beings as Pieces (2)

But due to the ancient tradition of the Spirit Realm, Great Venerables of the Righteous Path and the Demonic Path generally do not get too close, unless it concerns Ascension.

"Please do not mind, Fellow Daoist Hunyuan, I have come today rashly just to have a discussion with you. I have a junior who has taken a liking to the Pure Light Realm. I have occasionally heard that the next Star Lord quota is in your hands, so I have come today only to negotiate this Star Lord quota. How does Fellow Daoist Hunyuan feel about this?"

The Zizai Heavenly Demon Lord spoke very frankly, with an attitude both candid and amiable, clearly not wishing to become hostile with Zhao Sheng.

After all, no Tribulation Crossing Venerable dares to easily "offend" the Three Saints Zhao Family, which has three Great Venerables residing in the world, even if it is the Zizai Heavenly Demon Lord with countless avatars.

Zhao Sheng was very aware of the difficulty and fearsome nature of the Zizai Heavenly Demon Lord, and naturally would not offend the other party without reason.

"Fellow Daoist Zizaitian, please understand, I have already given the Star Lord quota to a younger member of my family, and it’s now a done deal, so I kindly ask you to leave!" Zhao Sheng, his expression slightly softened, shook his head and said in a deep voice.

Who would have known that after hearing this, the Zizai Heavenly Demon Lord showed no intention to leave. Instead, he smiled and said, "Fellow Daoist Hunyuan, don’t you want to hear my ’offer’? I have in my hands a Great Brightness Root Mantra, would you be interested?"

The moment Zhao Sheng heard about the Great Brightness Root Mantra, he immediately felt very tempted.

The Great Brightness Root Mantra is the temple’s main mantra of the Buddhist Holy Land, Great Brightness Temple, and it is said to have been personally created by the Buddha.

This mantra is different from other great spells, not only widely spread in all heavens and myriads of worlds but also consists solely of the six-character spell "Om, Ma, Ni, Pad, Me, Hum".

Therefore, in the Lower Realm, Buddhists often refer to this mantra as the "Six-Word Brightness Mantra".

However, the Buddhists of the Lower Realm have only scratched the surface of this mantra and cannot comprehend its true essence.

The "six-character slogan" of the Great Brightness Root Mantra, each character has a unique rhythm and Zen principle.

The Buddhists of the Lower Realm neither know the true shape of the characters nor the true intonation for chanting, nor the six-character visualization and practice methods, thus they can never unleash the true power of this mantra.

According to Zhao Sheng, the Great Brightness Root Mantra is easy to learn but hard to master, possessing the magical powers of dissolving karma and opening wisdom, calming the heart and protecting the spirit, and removing heart demons.

Even in the Great Brightness Temple, only the highly virtuous monks of the Arhat Realm can enter the Bright Buddha Realm to practice the true cultivation method of the Great Brightness Root Mantra.

He has always known that the Zizai Heavenly Demon Lord is highly skilled, but he did not know that his skills reached such a level.

Zhao Sheng’s thoughts turned rapidly, and countless speculations flooded his mind, while numerous possible scenarios were deduced.

In an instant, he had some realization: The Old Demon is by no means a kind character, and this move must be ill-intentioned.

"I am not destined to have the Great Brightness Root Mantra, Demon Lord, please leave." Dongzhenzi, sensing the intent of his true self, immediately declined politely.

The Zizai Heavenly Demon Lord clasped his hands together again after hearing this: "Infinite Saint Ancestor! It seems Fellow Daoist is very wary of me. How about this? Let’s have a ’gambling duel’. If you win, I will voluntarily offer the visualization practice method of the Great Brightness Root Mantra. But if you lose..."

Seeing Zhao Sheng repeatedly refuse, the Zizai Heavenly Demon Lord straightforwardly proposed his backup plan, directly using the Great Brightness Root Mantra as a wager.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Sheng was greatly moved and immediately inquired, "A battle of words or of arms?"

The Zizai Heavenly Demon Lord smiled slightly: "Naturally, a battle of words!"

Although Zhao Sheng had recently become a Great Venerable, behind him were two Absolute Peak Great Venerables who had crossed the Wind and Fire Tribulation.

Even with the countless cards up his sleeve, the Zizai Heavenly Demon Lord did not want to confront Zhao Xianglong and Tianyunzi.

Leaving Zhao Xianglong aside for now, Tianyunzi, who knows the Tao of divination and fortune like no other in the Spirit Realm, is undoubtedly the one the Zizai Heavenly Demon Lord least wants to offend.

If he were to offend Tianyunzi, being tracked down and having a few avatars slain is a minor issue.

If Tianyunzi were to join forces with his Master, the "Divine Strategy" Qi Ruxian, that would truly be disastrous!

The Zizai Heavenly Demon Lord had previously suffered a great loss to Qi Ruxian, nearly falling twenty-eight thousand years ago, thus he knows all too well the terrifying strength of this reclusive "Fellow Daoist" who has existed for millions of years!

"A battle of words it is." After a brief thought, Zhao Sheng decisively agreed.

"But... in what manner shall we compete?"

Faced with Zhao Sheng’s inquiry, the Zizai Heavenly Demon Lord replied, "Let us use the Pure Light Realm as a chessboard, with sentient beings as pieces... we each select a special ’piece’ and see which ’piece’ ascends to the Spirit Realm first within a thousand years? And which ’piece’ ultimately becomes the era’s protagonist?"

The "world chess game" proposed by the Zizai Heavenly Demon Lord is actually very popular among Great Venerables.

Even before achieving the rank of Great Venerable, Zhao Sheng had heard of such matters.

Tribulation Crossing Great Venerables have extremely long lifespans, and as long as they do not seek death themselves, almost no one can kill these beings at the pinnacle of the Spirit Realm.

Perhaps having lived too long, and to pass the time, some ancient beings, on a whim, actually created the gameplay of "using the world as a chessboard and sentient beings as chess pieces".

Not knowing who originated this playstyle, it quickly became popular among the Great Venerables.

Countless years later, this method has spread to all heavens and myriads of worlds, becoming one of the ways for Tribulation Crossing Great Venerables to gamble and exchange cultivation insights.

...

Soon after.

Zhao Sheng and the Zizai Heavenly Demon Lord appeared out of thin air outside the Pure Light Realm together.

The Pure Light Realm is quite ordinary within the All Heaven Star Realm, with a diameter of only over six hundred thousand miles. This realm is seventy percent ocean, with land only accounting for thirty percent. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

The Pure Light Realm has a total of four continents, named Li Guang, Yuan Guang, Xuan Guang, and Jing Guang. The net light continent is much larger than the other three combined, hence the realm is named after it.

The Zizai Heavenly Demon Lord, confident of victory, graciously said: "Fellow Daoist Hunyuan, you go first."

Zhao Sheng gave a slight nod and naturally did not pretend to be modest.

He looked down upon the world below, and a burst of Five-Colored Divine Light suddenly erupted between his brows.

In an instant, his Divine Thought swept out majestically, enveloping much of the Pure Light Continent, covering an area of billions of miles.

Soon, billions of sentient beings gradually fell into his "perception", and numerous Qi Fortune Light Pillars of different shades and strengths rose from the earth and seas, which he observed clearly.

However... Zhao Sheng did not choose the pillars with the most abundant Qi Fortune, but instead, tucked his right hand into his sleeve.

Suddenly, a translucent bead inexplicably fell into his hand.

The bead was moderate in diameter, entirely glowing, with endless colors swirling inside.

This bead was the Ten Thousand Years of Good Fortune Pearl given by the second ancestor Zhao Hongyun, which he had not used during Tribulation Crossing and now found useful.

With Mystic Skill in operation, Zhao Sheng gathered Will Heart Light onto the surface of the Fortune Pearl, and hundreds to thousands of Tao True Texts instantly appeared, then quickly sank into the Fortune Pearl.

In an instant, not only was the Divine Strategy of "Coincidence" imprinted into the Fortune Pearl, but also several Great Divine Powers and a copy of the "Five Elements Great Cave Scripture".

At this point, the Fortune Pearl had transformed from a translucent bead into a gray-white Stone Bead, with nine white clouds appearing on its surface.

However, the nine white clouds were dim and dull, seemingly missing something.

Once the Stone Bead took shape, pure drops of Liquid Spiritual Energy rapidly condensed on the bead’s surface.

With a thought, Zhao Sheng sent the gray-white Stone Bead smiting through the void, disappearing who knows where.

Then, Zhao Sheng laughed heartily and said to the Zizai Heavenly Demon Lord: "I have made my choice, it’s your turn now, Demon Lord."

The Zizai Heavenly Demon Lord clasped his hands together: "Infinite Saint Ancestor, truth be told, I have a slight advantage, for I have already chosen someone."

"Oh?"

Zhao Sheng’s eyes flashed, and he generously responded: "It doesn’t matter!"

He was already somewhat aware of certain tricks by the Zizai Heavenly Demon Lord, so he wasn’t too surprised.

Without further words, the Zizai Heavenly Demon Lord pulled a piece of Broken Jade from his sleeve.

Before Zhao Sheng’s eyes, he cast this jade into the Pure Light Realm.

Curiously, as soon as the jade entered the Pure Light Realm, it vanished without a trace.

Zhao Sheng narrowed his eyes slightly, suddenly gazing at the Pure Light Continent below, unable for the time being to determine whose hands the jade had fallen into.