Chapter 1085: Thirty Six Ancient Wells
Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio
Clang!
The old mottled copper clock shook, emitting a clear and sweet sound which rang throughout the heavens and shook the Myriad World, trying to gather the immortals of the Jade Palace to renew the grandness of Kunlun at its peak.
Even Han Guang, Bi Jingxuan, and Zhao Qian were very surprised. It was well known that the mighty people of the Legendary Realm’s aura could even take a shot from a distance, yet Su Meng did not think about layout, nor try to hasten the Restrictive Spell of the Jade Palace, nor was he in a hurry to enter the rear of the main hall and take the chance to socialise with the mighty people of the Legendary Realm while looking for clues of the Green Lotus Seed of Chaos. Instead, he rang the Kunlun antique bell?
In the ancient times of the tyrannical immortals of the Jade Palace, when the bell was rung, indeed the mighty people of the Legendary Realm and even the Great Medium of the Creation Realm would rush to lend a helping hand, and was a good strategy to defeat the enemy. But in this day and age, disregarding the fallen generation, even if the remaining immortals of the Jade Palace were still alive, they would surely be using various Dharma practices to remain in deep sleep or self-seal, waiting for the opportunity to return, and would not necessarily hear the chime of the bell.
If that was the case, then why would he do such a futile thing and waste his opportunity for nothing?
To their surprise, Zhao Qian, the Forthcoming Maitreya’s gaze suddenly twinkled, as if he thought of something. At that moment, following the ringing of the Kunlun antique bell which shook the Myriad World, the Jade Palace suddenly trembled violently, and lost its substance, becoming dim and dark like the purest and realest Kunlun!
In an instant, the expansive and horrific atmosphere of the legendary aura was completely isolated from its body.
Meng Qi’s action of ringing the bell was not planned in advance. His original plan was as Han Guang, Zhao Qian, and Bi Jingxuan expected, that if he met the mighty people of the Legendary Realm sent from the Ajati Matriarch, he would immediately enter the main hall and the vast immortal garden behind, taking advantage of his identity as owner of half of the Jade Palace to socialize with the mighty people of the Legendary Realm. He would rely on the Holy Whip to create some misgivings, thus creating an opportunity to search and obtain the Green Lotus Seed of Chaos that Gu Xiaosang might have left behind.
But after seeing the antique bell, and remembering that the past two times he entered the palace the layout had been different, as well as the worry of not knowing whether the three people beside him were friend or foe, made Meng Qi think up a brave new strategy.
The Jade Palace itself was a high level object. Even the masters of the Legendary Realm and the Creation Realm could not see its full form, and could only see the side shown from its collapse. So long as Yang Jian did not secretly manipulate it or did not change significantly, every time one entered the palace, due to the difference in one’s strength, realm, and situation, the layout one sees would also be different.
On the other hand, if a big change occurs, could it make the Jade Palace re-collapse, changing the layout?
Such as ringing the ancient Kunlun bell. Even if the Jade Palace immortals did not come to help, so long as the bell chimed, the Jade Palace would change accordingly and re-collapse, changing its layout to welcome the immortals.
It did not matter to Meng Qi what the layout would become in the end. He only wanted the moment of re-collapsing, thus taking the opportunity to be free from the fixed Qi Ji of the mighty people of the Legendary Realm, and to shake off Han Guang and the other two whom he still did not know were friend or foe. Then, relying on the Principles of Karma, Arts of Eight-Nine, Endless Chaos, and other Supreme spells, he would completely hide himself and change light to dark, passivity to aggressiveness.
At that moment, chaos spread, isolating everything. Meng Qi rejoiced internally. Since his prediction was correct, his plan was very close to success. The Niwan atop his head opened and the original auspicious cloud flew out. Rather than shrouding him, it turned into a layer of chaotic dim light which stuck to the surface of Meng Qi’s body like a water film, glinting like a glass lamp which brightened and dimmed in turn, hiding the karma threads. Eight-Nine revolved naturally, shading him from fate and prying eyes.
At that moment, it was as if Meng Qi had disappeared into thin air so that he could not be sensed or perceived.
Suddenly, the chaos within became faint and no longer pure. The thirty six wells surrounded by jade rails emerged creepily in mid-air, dim and gloomy. Darkness roiled within, like ancient and terrifying whirlpools that lead to indescribably scary places.
This is the collapsed and renewed layout? The thought just struck Meng Qi when he noticed the size of the whirlpools of the thirty six ancient wells rapidly increasing, swirling wildly, expanding suddenly, swallowing the whole earth and everything else, including himself!
Enter the ancient well first, then only the Jade Palace? This layout is really odd!
Meng Qi’s thoughts suddenly became fuzzy. He had the weird feeling of being washed away by time and space. Only when he regained consciousness did he notice that he was in a weird world.
It was pitch black as far as the eye could see, like the universe, with its countless galaxies. If he couldn’t find the Passage of Time and Space or other means, and just rely on the Air-Conveyance Technique, even with superb somersault speed, it would be just a drop in the ocean, and he could go his whole life without finding another form of life.
Unlike the universe with its system of galaxies, the darkness of this place had a strange sort of serenity, like the peace of a deep sleep. Glimmering objects hovered about; they resembled multicolored air bubbles, dreamy and beautiful, but could burst at any moment.
Some of the air bubbles burst, vanishing into the peaceful darkness, but new ones constantly emerge, maintaining a subtle balance.
Meng Qi noticed that there were different scenes in these bubbles: plots of land, the starry sky... all of them had life in them, which developed into different civilizations that ended with the bursting of the bubbles.
An earth like this... Meng Qi furrowed his brow. Is this the cosmology of the Illusion Bubble?
Master Xiaobai once told him that the worlds that the thirty six ancient wells led to were constantly evolving: sometimes it was the Nine Levels of Underground or Heaven, sometimes it was another universe, or ancient ruins, or a variety of mystical places, or deep within the River of Time, where wild beasts from legends hid. Once you fall into a well, even if you did not end up killed, you would be lost in the myriad worlds, not knowing where you were... did he enter the ancient well that led to some mighty people of the Buddhist Society’s Space of Dream?
But how did the Jade Palace layout welcome the immortals and allow the thirty six ancient wells to become a portal?
Did the ancient well have a catch this time?
Meng Qi flew near a bubble, and noticed that it was only the size of his fist, but the five continents and seven seas inside were as clear as day. He could even see farmers farming, soldiers on horseback in battle, priests worshiping gods...
Not being in the real world, he did not know if he could draw support from the aura of the real world to change the rules here, and thus find a way that led to the Jade Palace. This strange change was outside of Meng Qi’s expectations, so he had to figure out a way to get through this.
He activated the Principles of Karma to sense the presence of the real world, but it was vague. It was difficult to use the karma link to straightaway return to the real world, just as if he was still in the Jade Palace.
Some of the aura of the real world could be borrowed, but there was not enough force to change this earth, only to control it slightly, and this was slightly greater than what Meng Qi managed in the Southern Wasteland.
This place could somehow resist being affected by the aura of the real world? Was this place a part of the real world?
Or is this another real world? A different Real World derived from the bodies of the influential figures of the Nirvana Realm? Or is this the World of Gods that had been intercepted?
Meng Qi took a deep breath, a little afraid that he had been sent into the Amitabha’s Space of Dream by the ancient well. If the ancient wells outside the Jade Palace easily led to the Real World inside the bodies of the other mighty people of the Nirvana Realm, then the Heavenly Lord Yuanshi must be an unstoppable force, practically the Fruit of Dao.
Or is this the Real World inside the body of the Heavenly Lord Yuanshi himself?
Since this was both inclusive and diverse, it would not be surprising if his real world encompassed the Space of Dream.
Did this mean that he was about to see the Heavenly Lord Yuanshi, the most ancient Nirvana Realm Individual?
Meng Qi thought long and hard. Suddenly, the shadows changed, highlighting fourteen layers of the heavens, as if the celestial world and Nine levels of Underground were poorly combined. Above them floated a giant god that filled the universe. His eyes were shut tight, and he was in a deep slumber. A lotus flower grew on his belly button, and inside its petals was a solemn Divine Man with four faces and four arms. A calm darkness surrounded his body, becoming a part of the universe!
Is he the creator god of this earth? Meng Qi was shocked.
This highly resembled the Hindu legend of Brahma creating the world, though it was also fundamentally different: if the giant god was in deep slumber, then the universe should perish, and the lotus flower should similarly contract, awaiting the next cycle.
The four-faced, four-armed Divine Man akin to Brahma, the god of creation, looked at Meng Qi, his voice low and magnetic, “He will be asleep forever, but destruction did not come. I have won the final victory, and will soon be eternal.”
“Are you Brahma?” Meng Qi asked solemnly.
“You can call me that. Names are irrelevant to my nature. I am the start of everything, the god of creation,” the four-faced, four-armed Divine Man said slowly.
At that moment, a voice familiar to Meng Qi rang out, “Actually you should address him as the incarnation of the Heavenly Lord Yuanshi.”
Devil Master? Meng Qi looked over, and saw Han Guang, who seemed relaxed, though his gaze was serious.
The incarnation of the Heavenly Lord Yuanshi?
The four-faced, four-armed Divine Man smiled, looked at Meng Qi and said, “He is right.”
His words made Meng Qi lose his doubts. He immediately had an idea of what was happening.
Could it be that the gods of creation from other universes and different mythologies were all projections or incarnations of the Heavenly Lord Yuanshi, who continued to wage battles they themselves didn’t understand against the projections of influential figures of the Nirvana Realm such as Amitabha? In that case, this universe must be the result of the final victory of the projection of the Heavenly Lord Yuanshi, which then forged an even more inseparable bond with the Heavenly Lord Yuanshi himself, therefore enhancing the nature to be similar to the Real World, surpassing normal universes.
Although the worlds that the thirty six ancient wells led to had changed, they still lead to similar universes. So it must be the case that one will only be able to explain the outer appearance of it without actually describing the substance, right?
How many more universes like this are there? The evil side of the Premier that projected the Old World?
Zhao Qian, Bi Jingxuan, and the mighty people of the Legendary Realm probably also entered similar universes. The Jade Palace did this because the Heavenly Lord Yuanshi had retreated from the world, almost vanishing entirely, therefore it changed the layout to allow each of them to have an audience with the incarnations of the Heavenly Lord Yuanshi.
What realms did similar projections and incarnations create? Were they monomers that did not contain the real world, or fake legends, and the fake Nirvana Realm nested within the multiverse?
Just as Meng Qi’s mind was going into overdrive, the Brahma-esque Divine Man gazed upon Meng Qi and Han Guang respectively, and smiled peacefully, “The Heavenly Lord Yuanshi has really disappeared, and will not affect me anymore. After so many years have passed, I slowly gained sentience, and I now have my own thoughts and am no longer a projection.”
This kind of disappearance... Meng Qi furrowed his brow. The Heavenly Lord Yuanshi has fallen, but the projection did not die, and was in hiding, waiting for an opportunity. What situation was this, where even the projection had severed its bonds?
At that moment, the Divine Man said solemnly,
“I can feel your Principles of Karma. This is what I lack to be complete.”
“Merge with me, and we shall return to the Nirvana Realm and become Premier again!”
His aura dissipated violently, filling every corner of this universe, tracing back to the past, extending towards the future!
He wanted to become the true Heavenly Lord Yuanshi? Shocked, Meng Qi quickly extracted his dazzling purple Invincible Blade and Holy Whip.
In this universe, not only did he not have a past life and an afterlife, he might not even have a past and a future!