Chapter 367: Chapter 31: The First Person in All of History

「The summit of Taishan.」

The Wu’an Monarch’s face was pale. Even Confucius was powerless...

He felt a tinge of despair. He knew that this Fengshan ceremony must be a complete failure... Or rather, even if the ceremony itself was successful, its fundamental purpose could no longer be achieved!

It was just as the Medicine King Buddha had said. If that Xuanhuang converted and became an Arhat, should His Majesty show him respect or not? Should he bow or not?

To not show respect and not bow would be a loss of Virtue.

But if he did show respect and bowed... that would be paying homage to an Immortal and bowing to a Buddha. The entire Fengshan ceremony would become a joke—an utter joke!

The Wu’an Monarch let out a bitter laugh. Xiang Yu and Liu Bang, both quick-witted, also realized this, and their expressions grew grim.

Yan Huang and his two companions were still terrified, subconsciously looking toward the masked youth.

The youth was enveloped in Buddha light, perfectly still and unmoving. The light grew brighter and more magnificent, illuminating the heavens and the earth...

"Truly worthy of the name Medicine Buddha!" a Great Immortal Official from the North Pole Celestial Court exclaimed. He figured the dust had settled and prepared to return to the Celestial Court.

But beside him, Venus frowned.

"Nezha, you..."

The latter snapped back to his senses, the terror on his face even more pronounced.

"Something’s about to happen."

"What?" Li Jing couldn’t help but ask, bewildered. Nezha, however, just gave him a dazed look and, for the first time ever, actually answered him.

"Just watch."

Hearing this, Li Jing and Venus subconsciously turned their gazes back toward Taishan.

Just in time to see the First Emperor’s Uncle Zhong, the man called Xuanhuang, lift his head, open his eyes, and seemingly awaken.

Under the gazes of countless eyes, the youth named Xuanhuang surveyed his surroundings. Letting the Buddha light envelop him, he took a step upward, ascending into the sky with each stride.

"Has he been converted after all?" Xiang Yu sighed softly.

At that moment, the masked youth had already walked right up to the Medicine King Buddha.

The Buddha had also opened his eyes, but his face wore an incredibly bitter smile. He looked at Lu Xuan and spoke as if in a dream.

"How is this possible?"

"Safe travels," Lu Xuan said calmly. "You should be considered the first of your kind in all of history."

From the Creation of Heaven and Earth to this very day, and even into the foreseeable future,

there would likely never be another being of the Celestial Realms who was simultaneously struck by three Dao Fruit holders.

This particular Ancient Buddha was the first, and he would probably be the last.

The Medicine King Buddha seemed to realize this as well and let out a bitter laugh.

"Yes, I suppose I am the first in all of history."

On Taishan, everyone except the First Emperor and Confucius looked at each other in confusion. What on earth was going on?

Up in the clouds, the Immortal and Divine Officials were also baffled. ’Are these two... sparring with cryptic words?’

They could understand every word, but strung together into sentences, it made no sense at all.

However, in the next instant, the Medicine King Buddha sighed again, then suddenly let out a hoarse, furious roar.

"This child... is a great terror!"

He didn’t dare speak plainly, issuing his final warning!

Immediately after, under the horrified gazes of countless Immortals and Buddhas, the body of this Eastern Luminous Glaze Buddha—this first person beneath the Daluo Level—was suddenly engulfed in eerie, ethereal flames that burned brightly!

Along with the flames came the faint, indistinct sound of forging, one strike after another, like a Daoist hymn, unending!

The Medicine King Buddha let out a bloodcurdling scream as one-third of his body was burned to a crisp. The scream had barely begun when the assembled Immortals and Buddhas heard the faint tolling of a bell!

The great bell’s toll made the minds of the Immortals and Buddhas in the clouds buzz, and it also shattered another third of the Medicine King Buddha’s body!

Finally, a wisp of pure energy manifested from the void and drifted down, settling upon the last third of the Medicine King Buddha’s body!

Flames, bell tolls, and pure energy all converged on the Medicine King Buddha’s body. He let out a final, agonizing cry, a warning:

"Xuanhuang... Xuanhuang..."

The masked youth stepped forward and gently placed a hand on the Medicine King Buddha’s head. His voice was like a sigh, filled with tranquility.

"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust."

With that single touch and those few words, something was triggered. The raging fire, the tolling bell, and the pure energy simultaneously froze—and then erupted.

An Ancient Buddha closed his eyes and, with a bitter smile, perished. This scene pierced through the past, present, and future. In all of the past, the bell’s toll annihilated every Medicine King Buddha.

In all of the present, the pure energy extinguished every Medicine King Buddha.

In all of the ’future,’ the raging fire incinerated every Luminous Glaze Buddha!

The heavens shook and the earth quaked. A bloody light erupted from the Western Spirit Mountain!

The entire summit of Taishan, and even the clouds above it, fell into an absolute, deathly silence!!

Only the masked youth remained, descending from the sky with his hands behind his back. He landed on the summit and looked at Ying Zheng, who was still in shock despite having anticipated this outcome.

"Continue."

Ying Zheng snapped out of his daze, held up the Jade Seal, and performed the rite, saying:

"Uncle Zhong, the Fengshan is complete."

"Good." Lu Xuan nodded, then looked up at the vast assembly of Immortals and Buddhas. "Will you leave?"

The Immortals and Buddhas were jolted from their stupor and immediately scattered like birds and beasts. Streaks of light shot off in all directions, everyone terrified and filled with dread!!

The Medicine King Buddha... was dead!

......

"You’re finished."

In a certain Daoist Palace, the Blind Daoist spoke calmly.

"Three, two, one."

He had just counted to one when the doors to the Daoist Palace were kicked open. An old Daoist strode in, staring at another, a Lame Daoist.

The old man cracked his knuckles.

"Lingbao, you..."

"A misunderstanding, a misunderstanding!" The Lame Daoist’s face changed as he exclaimed, "Supreme, you knew I was forging a new body for my martial nephew!"

Supreme narrowed his eyes dangerously.

"Oh? So the little one went into that particular memory?"

"Absolutely!" the Lame Daoist said with a clear conscience. "This time it’s really true! I took one-third of that Medicine King Buddha’s body, used it as fuel, and forged a new body for my martial nephew!"

He paused and spread his hands.

"Of course, while this does alter the past, it’s not a huge deal, right? It doesn’t count as taking back a move. I just did it on a whim..."

To a Dao Fruit holder, there was no difference between a being’s remembered past and the True Past; to change one was to change them both.

Supreme narrowed his eyes, pondering for a moment.

"I’ll believe you this once... Did you hear that bell toll?"

"I heard it. The Donghuang Bell," the Lame Daoist said with certainty. "Taiyi has directed his schemes toward Xiaoxuan, leaving a trump card in the Current World. I knew a little about this beforehand."

Supreme frowned.

"Xiaoxuan’s mask also has that fellow Taiyi’s aura on it. What is he planning?"

He paused, then looked at the Blind Daoist beside him and asked:

"Primordial, do you know where Taiyi is right now?"

The Blind Daoist spread his hands.

"After that guy died, his status fell from a Complete Dao Fruit to half a Dao Fruit, but he’s hidden himself even deeper. He’s detached from Cause and Effect, making him impossible to trace."

Supreme was silent for a moment, then shook his head.

"Forget it. Let’s not worry about Taiyi for now..."

He paused and warned the Lame Daoist:

"Shangqing, if you dare to have designs on my good grand-disciple again..."

"What kind of talk is that?" the Lame Daoist said, incensed. "Am I that kind of person? My lineage accepts all kinds of beings; when have I ever been short on disciples?"

"Then that’s for the best!" Supreme snorted coldly and strode out of the Daoist Palace.

After he left, the doors of the Daoist Palace closed. The Lame Daoist finally breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

Beside him, the Blind Daoist gave him a sidelong glance.

"You did that on purpose, didn’t you? The Origin is absolutely independent. That Medicine King Buddha shouldn’t have been able to trace this memory of Xiaoxuan’s."

The Lame Daoist rolled his eyes, then said smugly:

"Xiaoxuan is currently using the Daoist title I bestowed upon him, walking the Human World under the name Xuanhuang. As his teacher, what’s wrong with me helping him out a little?"

The Blind Daoist was speechless.

"Did Xiaoxuan need your help this time? Did you just force your help where it wasn’t needed?"

"So what?" The Lame Daoist pursed his lips and chuckled. "After all, Xiaoxuan is currently bearing the name Xuanhuang—the Xuanhuang of *my* sect!"

He heavily emphasized the phrase "of my sect." The Blind Daoist’s eyelid twitched. "Supreme is already suspicious. You’re going to be in for it!"

"We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it!" the Lame Daoist laughed heartily.

......

「Ancient Qin Dynasty.」

The Three Celestial Courts and Spirit Mountain were in an uproar.

An Ancient Buddha—one who had one foot in the Daluo Level and controlled the Eastern Glazed World—had just perished like that??

Countless Immortals and Buddhas were in an uproar. The name Xuanhuang had, for the first time, truly entered the sights of all the Immortals and Buddhas in the heavens.

In the Central Celestial Court, the Immortal and Divine Officials were both shocked and terrified. Venus said grimly:

"Your Majesty, this Xuanhuang’s origins are mysterious. He is inscrutable, unfathomable. In the blink of an eye, he caused the Medicine King Buddha to perish..."

The Emperor Corpse lifted his eyelids and said indifferently:

"The one who died was a Buddha from Spirit Mountain. What has it to do with me?"

"But..."

Another Great Immortal Official gave a bitter smile.

"Your Majesty, that Ying Zheng did, in the end, forge a Jade Seal inscribed with ’Mandated by Man, Enjoying Eternal Prosperity.’ The Celestial Court’s fortune may be weakened..."

"It matters not."

The Emperor Corpse said calmly:

"It is a trivial matter. Do as you see fit. There is no need to ask me about such things in the future."

He paused, his eyes glinting as a smile suddenly appeared on his face.

"Nezha, what do you think?"

The dazed Nezha shivered, carefully putting on a smiling face.

"Your Majesty, however you wish this servant to see it, is how this servant shall see it."

The Immortal and Divine Officials in the hall were all a bit stunned. ’Why is Nezha being so well-behaved today?’

Venus and Li Jing recalled what Nezha had said earlier, and their expressions tightened slightly.

But Nezha seemed oblivious, merely maintaining his smile as he looked with a terrified heart at the Celestial Emperor on the Emperor’s Throne.

Or rather, the Emperor Corpse.

The scene he saw was different from that of the other Immortals and Buddhas. He truly and clearly saw a corpse sitting on the Emperor’s Throne, its chest pierced through and dripping blood!

The Emperor Corpse gave a meaningful smile, then said with sudden interest:

"Nezha, how about you go to the Human World on my behalf, meet this Xuanhuang, and try to recruit him?"

"Huh??" Nezha leaped three feet in the air, his face crestfallen. "Your Majesty, this servant is still young and doesn’t understand recruitment. Perhaps you should just send Venus instead..."

"Then you and Taibai will go together," the Emperor Corpse said with a grin.

Nezha’s eye twitched. He knew he’d been seen through. Steeling himself, he nodded his head and retreated as if fleeing for his life.

After leaving Lingxiao Hall, he patted his chest and said with a wry smile:

"I completely forgot how Daluo and Dao Fruit beings transcend the Years..."

"What?" Venus, who had caught up at some point, asked in confusion. Nezha jumped in fright, then waved his hand listlessly.

"It’s nothing, nothing... Taibai, about this recruitment business..."

Venus gave a couple of wry smiles.

"What else can we do? We’ll go and give it a try. If we have a good attitude, it should be fine..."

He paused, his expression growing serious.

"By the way, Nezha, you seem to know that Xuanhuang?"

"I don’t, I don’t!" Nezha frantically shook his head.

The confusion in Venus’s eyes deepened. After a moment’s thought, he gestured forward.

"Well then, let’s head down to the Lower Realm and see. We can try to recruit him..."

Nezha’s eyelid twitched violently as he wailed internally. ’Recruit the Source of the Human Dao’s Calamity?’

’You’d have to be insane!!’