Devouring The Heavens

”Are you fucking kidding me?” it was a weirdly hilarious sentence to have come out of Mochou’s mouth. In fact, it was the Nightmare Ghost who said that.

”The Vajrapani came to the Land of the East just to seal you. The two of you were both severely injured and he has already fallen. He confined you here by the power of the Vajrapani Earth. Right?” Xuanyuan speculated.

”That’s right. What about it?”

”Why would the Vajrapani travel so far? Just to seal your power? If that’s so, then you must be a cruel and deceiving man. You even absorb other people’s souls for your own sake. Even if you swore the blood oath not to kill me, I can’t stop you from killing innocent people. If I release a mass murderer, it’s on me. I’m not a good person. But I won’t harm innocent people.” Xuanyuan spoke his mind slowly.

”Hahahaha…. how funny.” The voice had a tinge of anger. “The only rule in this world is survival of the fittest. If he didn’t have help from the monks and nuns or if I wasn’t already injured, I wouldn’t have been defeated. You asked why did the Vajrapani want to seal me? He thought I didn’t deserve to be alive. He thought I had lived for too long so I should die. Does that satisfy you? Do you believe that?

The Immortal began with a group of friends who believed we could conquer death and defeat gods. We created the method of soul practice to prolong our lives. This was what I wanted. But after a while, my friends decided they should rob other people of their souls. They killed people and they stirred up wars just to satisfy their needs. I didn’t agree with that so I left. After that, the Vajrapani targeted me. They defeated me. I could’ve killed to replenish my power, but I didn’t. I escaped to the Land of the East to hide in this swarm.

“This is a badland. Everyday, there are numerous beasts and souls wandering. I cure myself with their souls. Do you think I’m wrong? Those I once regarded as “friends” from the Immortal found out I was in the swarm. They started the rumour that I have the secret of the Immortal to lure all the Sects and Schools to attack me but I created the Technique of Immortality so I wouldn’t be defeated by them. They were either killed by me or went back without any result. Life like this passed day after day, year after year. And they still wouldn’t let me go. So this is the place they rest their souls.

“It is their greed who killed them. They want my secret; they want me dead. Why shouldn’t I ask for their souls in return? So believe it or not. You have to decide for yourself.”

Mochou was out of breath after the speech.

”Xuanyuan, I think he’s telling the truth.” This was Mochou speaking. Greed also agreed with her.

“The Nightmare Ghost was a free spirit. The Devouring Emperor also wanted to go into the Nightmare Swarm but he was impressed by the Ghost so he didn’t want to take away what was in his grave. He’s respectful of the Ghost but The Emperor has fallen. And the Ghost, who everyone considered to be dead, is still alive….”

”Alright. I’ll believe you. Take the blood oath. I shall be able to ask for three things from you. You shall not harm us. You shall help me tame the Vajrapani Earth. You shall give me a hundred jins of the Source Energy of All Ghosts and a mine with Source Energy.” Xuanyuan closed his eyes. A dark red talisman with writings of the most terrifying blood oath floated in front of him. A stream of thought slipped into the talisman – Xuanyuan knew that the Ghost had already sworn the blood oath.

He put the Source Energy of All Ghosts on the ground and receded three miles away with Mochou and Bai.

The block of stone melted into the ground. A force rushed to the surface of the ground, cracking the earth. A golden light shone out to the sky and exploded. A crater of a hundred square metres appeared. There was an earthquake so strong that they thought the world was going to be torn apart. Creatures and beasts surrounding the area clearly had the same thought so they ran for their lives.

Xuanyuan felt two forces were battling each other. The hundred metre hole became a thousand metres. The Qi was shaking so violently that even his armour was activated automatically to protect him.

The struggle between the two forces continued for an hour. In the deep crater, a blood red light and a golden light were tangling together.

”Xuanyuan, he’s calling us. We should go over there.” Mochou said.

When they reached the edge of the crater, they were all shocked by the scene. There were three thousand metres long dragon bones inside it. They were dead, but still imposing.

Youxue knelt down because of the Qi. He said coarsely, “Master, these are the bones of the Emperor Realm guards from the Yin family. They’ve Refined the elixir of cloud dragons in them. And they passed in here…”

”Haha, these three little dragons were greedy. They had already taken a lot of crystals and source energy but they still wanted more so I made them stay. Their souls strengthened me. That’s why I have the power to release myself from the seal today.” Someone was talking from the crater. Xuanyuan followed the voice, there was a blood red heart and a golden light struggling together. The Nightmare Ghost didn’t need Mochou to pass on messages anymore. “What are you waiting for boy?”

Xuanyuan nodded. Behind him, the Woodland Dragon King appeared. He was holding a giant stick full of dragon taming carvings.

The golden light was the Vajrapani Earth. It sent out powerful thoughts to Xuanyuan, “Why do you help this monster who doomed the world. If he didn’t create the soul absorbing Technique then less innocent people would have been killed. Young boy, you can distinguish good from bad. I can tell so reconsider doing this. Activate the Fire of Red Lotus and help me seal the Ghost again. I’m willing to give you my power.”

Xuanyuan smiled. He knew that Vajrapani was a Buddhist figure from his last life. He remembered the common Buddhist saying, “Namo amitābha. Buddha loves life. Why don’t you let the Nightmare Ghost go?”

The Vajrapani Earth trembled. An even more powerful thought slipped into his mind, “Who are you? You said, Namo amitābha… How do you know this? I’ve almost forgotten the saying… However, if you are unwilling to help me, I’ll use the last of my power to reseal the monster!”

“Stop!” Xuanyuan said urgently. He didn’t really understand what had happened. Did the Temple of Sukhāvatī had anything to do with Buddhism in the previous world he lived in? “What has happened has already happened. Why should you cling onto the past and future? Vajrapani Earth, you should let it go. Put down your troubles.”

”How? How do you know our teachings? You must have deep connections with Buddha.” The Vajrapani Earth was astonished. But Xuanyuan was only repeating what he remembered from his previous life about Buddhism, a common and widespread religion. Of course, he has no connection to any Buddha.

“Buddha is man in the future and man is Buddha in the past. You should find your core essence and let go of your anger and trouble. Let the past be the past.”

“Who are you? Why can’t I see who you are?” The Vajrapani Earth couldn’t fathom the mystery of Xuanyuan. This boy was familiar with the sutra teachings!

“Face is only transitory. Many faces are no face at all. As Buddha is not permanent.” Xuanyuan searched all of his memories and finally found one Buddhist saying he remembered but couldn’t understand, though it sounded relevant. He clearly bet correctly.

”I understand, your honorable.” the Vajrapani Earth shone brighter. The figure of a formidable man appeared.