Chapter 1169 Blackmail, Threat, & Respect
1169 Blackmail, Threat, & Respect
w.a.n.g Ju and Hong Meiling focused all their powers, but that claw that resembled a crab was persistent, trying everything in its power to prevent being sealed.
"Roar!"
A terrifying scream rushed from the other side of the portal, and the two immediately started hearing murmurs. An irritating voice kept repeating the sentence: "Nothing is real, everything is false, and the only truth is the Dreamer in the Deep."
This simple sentence seemed to contain an undeniable truth, so as soon as they heard it, these two powerful cultivators immediately started to question everything they knew to be real. Was their world real? Was the sky truly blue? Do stars really exist? What about the people close to them? Were the relations.h.i.+ps they cherished real? More importantly, was their strength real or another great illusion of life?
"Wake up," roared a voice deep in w.a.n.g Ju's mind, and she instantly recognized it since she spent all her life dedicated to that voice. She experienced the change from a child to an adult and to the powerhouse that stood at the top of the world. w.a.n.g Ju used w.a.n.g Wei's Pain Innate Talent on herself, using the pain to distract herself from the murmur.
She then helped Hong Meiling with the same method. "Is the pain bearable?"
"I'm fine," she replied with a groan. The pain was indeed terrible, but it was an excellent way to ignore the terrifying murmurs.
"Then, let's continue." The claw had used this opportunity to push further from its prison. w.a.n.g Ju further pushed her body to the limit, resulting in all her black hair turning white. As an immortal, she does not lack a life span, but this change indicates that the essence of her body and soul are running out, and she will not survive for long.
Sadly, her action did not have the effect she wanted. The two made little to no progress with the plan to teleport this gate to Samsara and only managed to delay the creature's freedom.
"d.a.m.n it, what is this thing?" w.a.n.g Ju cursed. However, determination flashed in her eyes as she realized she made the correct choice. That creature had weakened to an extent, but its power was still fierce. Her master will definitely pay a steep price to deal with it, so she must prevent that from happening.
'But what should I do?'
[Seal of Darkness]
Yu Yan suddenly appeared with an orb in her palm that seemed to embody darkness. The orb became a seal before adding to the gate, pus.h.i.+ng the creature's claw back a few inches. Her eyes turned red briefly before reverting to their original state.
Yu Yan expected this change and protected herself with a brilliant technique called [Seed of Darkness]. She created a seed inside her body capable of absorbing all negative emotions, buffs, or status. In other words, the creature's spiritual attack only made the seed bloom faster, which she can use as a potent attack.
Yu Yan frowned. Her seed was growing at an alarming rate, unlike anything she had ever seen. Furthermore, her attack did not do as much as she hoped for.
w.a.n.g Ju glanced at her and immediately noticed her 10-fold or 69.999% strength. 'I was right,' she thought. People might think the Sect Madam's current strength might result from a talisman left by her son beforehand to protect her, but her eyes saw the truth. She saw Yu Yan's current robe was the Golden G.o.d's armor transformed to hide from others.
'Focus,' she reminded herself. They were still in a precarious situation. 'Forget about teleporting it; we will be lucky if we manage to buy enough time.' Countless thoughts flashed in her mind, trying to find a solution.
'What would my lord do in this situation?' w.a.n.g Ju asked herself.
Boom!
A booming sound echoed in the void, followed by a brilliant golden light that came out of nowhere and plunged into the gate, reinforcing the seal. The creature roared; however, it was hard to tell whether it was out of pain, anger, annoyance, or all three.
'Feng Heng?' w.a.n.g Ju was confused. The person looked like the monk she knew, but his aura was completely different. He was holy and n.o.ble, and more importantly, his strength was similar to Hong Meiling or, specifically, her master.
'How is that possible?' She squinted her eyes as she used her power of divination to find the truth. Such a change might seem advantageous to the current situation, but without knowing how, things might become even more unpredictable, thus aggravating the current problem.
'Is this power coming from the Western Pure Bliss Land?' w.a.n.g Ju knew the original was a Forbidden Land, but now it had turned into a powerful foundation for the Western Bliss Sect.
'Are those people finally making a move?' w.a.n.g Ju thought excitedly, waiting for Feng Heng to continue. The monk waved his hand to summon two beautiful trees that embodied wisdom and enlightenment - the Bodhi Trees. The original bliss land had a tree, and w.a.n.g Wei lent Feng Heng one to nurture, and it has almost reached maturity.
With the Bodhi Trees as support, Feng Heng drastically increased the seal's strength. The creature was rapidly pushed back into the gate, roaring even louder. However, it was pointless as, in some way, the power of Buddhism was its ant.i.thesis.
"It is time to return to the embrace of the Great Old One." An eerie voice sounded from the small crack of the portal. The voice was both male and female, and it also sounded like hundreds of different gendered voices spoke in unison. Just hearing it made w.a.n.g Ju and everyone else around feel their skin crawl.
They did not know the creature's language, but they understood what he said clearly. Their faces changed, but before they could react, myriad auras rushed from all over the Endless Void.
'd.a.m.n it, I thought we eliminated all these cultists.' w.a.n.g Ju's divine sense detected trillions of people, including mortals and cultivators, suddenly killing themselves as some sort of sacrifice to empower this thing that was the poster child for creepiness.
w.a.n.g Ju watched as the creature that was on the verge of being sealed suddenly overpowered all their previous effort. At this rate, it won't take long for it to free itself.
'In this situation, I can do only one thing,' she thought. Her master was taking such a long time to deal with his situation despite knowing the severity of this creature being freed, so she needed to hold on to the fort for as long as possible.
Slaughter Trial:
Chen Tong was calmly observing everything, his eyes focused on Feng Heng. 'I've been wondering why these two never intervened to deal with these troubles in the lower dimension. My best guess is they've been keeping each other balanced to prevent the others from forming stronger allies and getting the advantage. Finally, Maitreya has made a move, but I expect more.'
His gaze focused on somewhere else. 'Now then, why hasn't Supreme Unity made his move?' Chen Tong did not believe for a second that he did not have a p.a.w.n in the lower dimension, similar to the Western Pure Bliss Land. He even guessed that chess piece might be the Qi Luck of all Taoist Lineages in the lower dimension.
'Could it be that the destruction of the lower dimension benefits him? Even if it's at the hands of that abomination?' Chen Tong frowned, not happy with this conclusion. It's one thing to compete with each other for supremacy, but something entirely different to allow foreigners to do as they please in their homes.
'Huh? Someone is calling me?' He waved his hand to summon someone into a spiritual world.
"Little girl, why are you calling me?"
"I apologize for bothering you, Lord Chen Tong, but I need you to intervene in the situation," w.a.n.g Ju said while bowing.
"Why would I do that? And don't say something stupid like for the world's safety," Cheng Tong stated calmly.
"I'm asking because you owe my master great karma."
"I owe him karma? Those are bold words," Chen Tong chuckled.
"You do."
"Why don't I know about it?"
"Because of your secret observation of the lower dimension, you've learned countless great secrets from masters - valuable secrets that even people in your level would kill for."
Cheng Tong frowned, "So?" Although she was correct, it did not mean she owed w.a.n.g Wei any karma. It was his ability to get that information without being detected.
"You're a great being that is detached from karma," w.a.n.g Ju continued. Great Emperors already had high immunity to karma, let alone Paragons. "However, my master is a master of karma. And once he reaches your level, if he wishes to use this fact to make you owe him karma, you'll be able to do nothing about it."
"Are you threatening me?"
"Yes, I am."
"Do you understand I can annihilate you and your master with a single thought, and there is nothing you can do about it?"
w.a.n.g Ju's body trembled as she sensed a deep fear even greater than facing that weird creature.
"Then, I wonder what makes you so daring?"
"Because I know you won't dare do it," w.a.n.g Ju replied calmly. Chen Tong squinted his eyes. She was correct as he did dare kill w.a.n.g Wei because of all the things connected to this man.
"I might not dare kill him, but it's not the same for you."
"My master loves me very much," w.a.n.g Ju calmly reb.u.t.ted.
"Enough to make a Paragon his enemy?"
"Enough to face Grand Dao himself," she replied without hesitation.
"Hehehe, interesting," Chen Tong chuckled. "I must admit that I envy him for having such a loyal and capable follower. Fine, I'll help you." He knew what a nightmare it could be to owe a Dao Overlord with Karma Dao any debt, so he accepted this blackmail.
"But remember this: only this time," Chen Tong said with a fierce killing intent in his eyes. His killing intent would have instantly annihilated the lower dimension if they were not inside a spiritual realm.
"If you dare try to blackmail me again, I'll risk everything to eradicate you and your master from this universe."
"I understand, and I do apologize for my actions. I had no other choice," w.a.n.g Ju said while bowing ninety degrees.