HSSB833: Who is trapped beneath this mountain?
The Journey to the West also existed in this world as a super epic tale.
Due to the limited information on hand and too much time having passed, Yan Zhaoge too was not very clear on the details.
There were many legends in this world which were similar to the stories Yan Zhaoge remembered yet diverged in quite a few areas.
For example, in the version of Journey to the West that Yan Zhaoge remembered, besides the Lord of the Dao and Virtue of the Grand Clear lineage who was also known as the Highest Elder Lord, the other two founders of the Three Purities, the Lord of Primordial Beginning and the Lord of Numinous Treasure, had been mentioned in the tale as well.
While they had not officially appeared, they had still been briefly mentioned.
For example, after the Gautama Buddha had subdued the monkey, the Jade Emperor had organised a banquet to celebration the restoration of peace to the heavens. The founders of the three Purities had all been present then.
Speaking of this, that tale had not been especially worshipful towards the position and authority of the founders of the Three Purities.
Of course, there had inevitably been many far-fetched presumptions by descendants in reading it due to their differing personal interpretations of the events of back then.
Still, in this world, only the Highest Elder Lord had been mentioned in the Journey to the West.
There had been no records of the Lord of Primordial Beginning and the Lord of Numinous Treasure at all.
It was unknown whether it had been lost over time or if it had been changed due to something else.
Anyway, the two highest Daoist bigwigs, the Lord of Primordial Beginning and the Lord of Numinous Treasure, seemed not to exist in this world’s legend of the Journey to the West at all.
Yet, it was known by all that the founders of the Three Purities had Transcended together.
Therefore, Yan Zhaoge had always been somewhat puzzled regarding this.
This prevented him from properly reconciling the history and timeline of this world as he was unable to make judgments on the order of many major events in history.
While these things might seem irrelevant, in this world where ‘raise your head anywhere-divinities exist three feet above’, any minor error of judgment could very well lead to some major incident.
“The level of the founders of the Three Purities is elusive and hard to grasp. Still, since you three have already Transcended, please don’t make it so hard for us descendants.”
Yan Zhaoge smiled wryly, gazing towards that mountain as he fell silent, pondering on some things.
While the legend of the Journey to the West here was somewhat different from the tale within his memories, there were many things within that were similar.
For example, there was that Great Sage Equalling Heaven who battled the heavens and defied the earth!
There was also how he had ultimately been trapped beneath Five Elements Mountain which was formed of the five fingers of the Gautama Buddha.
Afterwards, the monk Xuanzang had released him from beneath the mountain, master and disciple heading to the west to collect scriptures. In the end, Monk Tang had become the Buddha of Sandalwood Merit while Monkey Sun had become the Victorious Fighting Buddha…
The specific details aside, the general direction was the same.
In other words, since this mountain which had once been known as Five Elements Mountain and Two Boundaries Mountain was now called Sage Buddha Peak, that should mean that it should be where Great Sage Sun lived after having become a Buddha, or perhaps where he was worshipped and remembered. That was why its name had been changed.
Yet, great fury, hatred and despondence which could not be repressed had been contained within the voice that he had heard there, as though its owner was being held captive there.
Yan Zhaoge was just unable to understand this.
“Even though that monkey became a Buddha, it doesn’t mean that his temper really became good,” Yan Zhaoge guessed, “Could it be that he has imprisoned someone there? His disciple?”
Despite thinking this, Yan Zhaoge’s intuition vaguely told him something.
That owner of the voice was none other than the legendary Great Sage Equalling Heaven!
But if it really was him, the legend of the Journey to the West was from the very distant past, far, far before the Great Calamity.
How could he be trapped beneath Five Elements Mountain?
He should long since have escaped and journeyed to the west for the scriptures, attaining a Buddha seat.
The locals of the Obscured Way World hailing this place as Sage Buddha Peak clearly proved this too.
Then, was it that after having attained a Buddha seat, becoming the Namu Victorious Fighting Buddha, that monkey had been secretly trapped there again afterwards, few knowing of this?
Or was it to say that time was different in the space where the mountain was?
The space where the mountain was existed way back in the distant past when the monkey had still been trapped beneath Five Elements Mountain, still yet to be let out by the monk Tang Xuanzang?
The scenes which he had witnessed just now were actually from the past as time was different at the Sage Buddha Peak from the Obscured Way World and the World beyond Worlds, from the worlds of after the Great Calamity?
Many doubts and speculations instantly arose in Yan Zhaoge’s mind.
It was just that it was very difficult for him to check if they were actually true right now.
Yan Zhaoge flew back towards that mountain once more.
Passing the gaps between the overlapping boundaries of the two distinct worlds, Yan Zhaoge attempted to ascend that legendary Five Elements Mountain.
Sadly, his attempt ended once again in failure.
No matter how he tried to approach the mountain, the distance between him and the mountain never shrunk.
While the mountain existed within plain sight, it felt as far away as the ends of the world.
It was not that Yan Zhaoge did not learn anything, however, as he gained a deeper understanding of the environment before him, “This is not some mere transformation in space. Instead, someone has set down restrictions here.”
“It would be useless even if I cultivated in the Spatial Heavenly Scripture or the immortal Trapping Sword. My cultivation base would have to attain a certain level before I would have a way to take care of them.”
Yan Zhaoge’s eyes narrowed slightly, “It would be very difficult for me to break them with subtlety. The foundation of these restrictions consists not of Daoist martial arts but of Buddhist martial arts which I am comparatively unfamiliar with.”
Actually, the Martial Repository of the Heavenly Court’s Divine Palace had formerly also contained some Buddhist martial scriptures. Still, they had been of a relatively interior grade as no peak ones had been amongst their number.
While Yan Zhaoge had seldom tried to cultivate in them, he had basically browsed through them once over as he was thus able to see through the foundation of the restrictions before him now.
“It looks like it would be impossible to ascend the mountain within the short term,” Yan Zhaoge rubbed his temples lightly, sighing, “Still, what exactly is there? It is a truly contentious problem…”
Amidst his thoughts, Yan Zhaoge’s heart suddenly jolted slightly as he looked in another direction.
A few figures suddenly appeared in the distant horizon before swiftly turning and speeding over in the direction of Five Elements Mountain.
Gazing over, Yan Zhaoge saw that they were all garbed in Buddhist robes with nine bright spiral dots on their heads.
They wielded Vajra pestles, Buddhist beads, bladeless sabres and sceptres, all these being trademark Buddhist weapons.
When they saw Yan Zhaoge, they all chanted a Buddhist mantra in a low tone, then said, “Someone actually came to this Obscured Way World, even coming to a restricted ground.”
“Disciple of an external dao, vanquish your stubborn desires, quickly reaching the opposite shore!”
The monks all yelled in unison before Buddha light converged that shot into the skies, resembling a sea of clouds which enveloped the entire sky.
Buddhist chanting reverberated throughout the heavens and the earth, great roiling waves sweeping over towards Yan Zhaoge.
It actually seemed as though they had no intention of trying to reason with Yan Zhaoge at all.
Even as Yan Zhaoge felt this to be rather inexplicable, he raised his brows slightly.
Just as he was about to act, his heart suddenly jolted. Gazing over in another direction, he saw another group of people suddenly appearing from another direction and nearing where he was.
Carefully gazing over, they were Gao Qing and the other descendants of the Prime Clear lineage.
Currently, Gao Qing and the others were battling others as well, retreating even as they clashed.
It was shockingly also another bunch of Buddhist monks whom they were currently fighting with.
Seeing Yan Zhaoge, those other Buddhist monks as well as Gao Qing’s group were all taken aback.