Outside the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World, purple-black thunder orbs instantly blotted out the sky, each one housing an extraterrestrial demon manifested in a myriad of forms. Every thunder orb was as massive as a mountain range. The heavenly tribulation within this world dissipated completely in contrast, leaving behind only a torrential downpour.
The Duke of Zhongguo suddenly screamed. Threads of purple-black blood sprayed from his seven facial orifices, and his breath turned threadbare and faint. Vast swathes of his mindscape world collapsed; countless stone mountains tumbled into the void, ripped to shreds by extraterrestrial demons.
The other duke stood a realm higher, and his Great Marsh world possessed far greater endurance than the stone mountains. Though he spewed a huge mouthful of black blood, he still had some strength left to act. Grabbing the Duke of Zhongguo with one hand, he turned and fled!
Yet in his heart, he knew all too well that with the Duke of Zhongguo's mindscape world shattered, his Dao path was ruined. Even if his life could be saved, he would likely only be able to restore his dharma idol—
For the rest of his days, he had no hope of attaining Scenery Command ever again.
Wei Yuan swiftly finished writing this sentence. A radiant clarity washed over his heart, and he gained sudden enlightenment regarding his own Dao path.
Within the Pure Land grotto-heaven, a beam of light abruptly descended from the void, illuminating the little temple.
Dust rustled down from the little temple as though washing away years of accumulated grime. New life began to show in every corner; cracks on the ancient lotus pedestal slowly vanished, and warm, golden Buddhist radiance started seeping from the tips of the lotus petals.
The flame of the Blue Lamp Before the Buddha burned steady and calm, casting an ethereal halo that seemed to shine through all eight directions across the myriad realms. The Lotus Lamp, however, took several steps back, wearing a complex expression mingled with worry and joy.
Only the little monk Honglian grew slightly taller, his eyes turning far clearer. Seemingly having understood something, he walked up to the front of the little temple with a wooden spade now in hand, and began digging in the extra ground, aiming to excavate a lotus pond.
By now, the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World had intercepted several demonic thunderbolts. Overburdened, it too began to shudder. Though Wei Yuan still had thousands of words left to write, he had no choice but to close the book and set down his brush. Fortunately, the core scripture had already been completed; everything that followed would merely elaborate upon this foundation.
Once he stopped writing, the tribulation thunder in the sky visibly waned and dissipated at a noticeable rate.
Standing in midair, Wei Yuan watched the rapidly fading worlds of Great Marsh and stone mountains. A cold sneer curled on his lips. Pointing a finger, he barked, "Freeze!"
The retreat of both mindscape worlds abruptly slowed. Yet the Great Marsh was far sturdier by comparison and shared a similar nature with the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World. Detonating a small piece of itself, it successfully broke free. The world of stone mountains, however, was severely damaged. Firmly ensnared, it was powerless to escape.
There was no need to hide anything now. Wei Yuan immediately exerted his full strength to haul the world of stone mountains, delivering it before the shadow in the moon. The three-eyed bird's head appeared, casting an approving glance at Wei Yuan.
Bathed in the bird head's praise, Wei Yuan felt thoroughly refreshed, every pore rejoicing. Only at this moment did Wei Yuan realize his mental cultivation was still somewhat lacking; he was not composed enough in the face of immense joy.
The figure of the Duke of Zhongguo emerged within the world of stone mountains. Catching sight of the three-eyed bird's head, he froze in a daze. Then, as if recalling something, he was seized by utter terror. His two eyes suddenly drifted apart to both sides—one staring fixedly at the three-eyed bird's head and the other at Wei Yuan. A mouth split open across his face, screeching shrilly, "It's you! It was you all along! You're actually Extinct—"
Before he could finish, the three-eyed bird's head opened its beak, like a great whale gulping down the sea, and swallowed the entire world of stone mountains in an instant!
Wei Yuan stared blankly in shock. Such an enormous mindscape world was downed in a single gulp?
Having devoured more than half of a mindscape world, the three-eyed bird's head also showed signs of drowsiness. It retreated into the shadow in the moon and fell into slumber. Wei Yuan waited for a long time, yet no otherworldly fortune descended.
*That's it?* Wei Yuan felt dissatisfied, but there was nothing he could do. It appeared that one mindscape world was just enough to settle his debt; there was no point hoping for a reward.
Just as Wei Yuan was about to leave, a bird egg suddenly rolled out of the full moon. With a resounding thump, it struck Wei Yuan on the head, nearly knocking him out cold!
Ignoring the pain, Wei Yuan scrambled frantically to catch the egg, terrified it might shatter. To his surprise, the egg was unimaginably heavy—thousands upon tens of thousands of times heavier than Jade Mountain. Unable to hold it up at all, Wei Yuan was dragged down like a falling meteor, smashing straight into the earth and creating a massive crater.
Dizzy and seeing stars, Wei Yuan shook his head vigorously before his vision cleared. He then saw a pair of bare toes appear before him. Raising his gaze up along the feet, he saw Maiden Yin-Yang. Leaning forward slightly, Yin-Yang was scrutinizing Wei Yuan, who had just fallen from the sky.
Wei Yuan pointed at the bird egg, wanting to explain that he hadn't done it on purpose. But then he remembered: why was he explaining anything to someone whose sentience had yet to awaken?
Right at this moment, the clothes on the young maiden shed by themselves one layer after another, fluttering down before Wei Yuan's nose.
"Wait, no rush on that! Besides, I'm not really into this right now..." Wei Yuan's explanation sounded feeble. Then it dawned on him again: why on earth was he explaining himself to her?
Wei Yuan scrambled up and tried to move the bird egg, but it remained completely motionless. He had no choice but to give up. The fighting outside had not yet ceased, and Zhao had sent more than just two Scenery Command cultivators—a great figure was still watching from high above.
Setting the egg aside for now, Wei Yuan stepped out of the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World and looked up at the sky. His gaze pierced the heavens and met a pair of eyes devoid of sorrow or joy high above.
Wei Yuan cupped his hands toward the empty sky in greeting. "Junior was indeed somewhat reckless. But even a cornered rabbit will bite, and even a clay doll has three parts temper. Junior can't simply be bullied without ever striking back, can he?"
Those eyes seemed to look at Wei Yuan, but their focus actually fell upon the Sukhavati Pure Land, watching the tiny lotus pond Honglian had dug out. Though called a lotus pond, it was merely the size of a water vat.
The little monk Honglian kept digging, and those eyes kept watching. In no hurry, Wei Yuan stood aloft in the air, waiting peacefully. Below, the army constantly received orders from within the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World, operating automatically to sweep the battlefield, occupy the commandery seat, and establish defenses—everything proceeding in an orderly fashion.
The remaining fifty thousand iron cavalry of the Zhao army quietly retreated, their martial aura dispersed almost entirely to nothing. With the remains of their comrades lying right before their eyes yet impossible to retrieve, the morale of this peerless cavalry that had roamed the realm was crushed to rock bottom in an instant, even causing their martial aura to scatter.
After a long while, the little monk Honglian finally finished digging the lotus pond. Wei Yuan suddenly felt a stir in his heart: high in the void, a small patch of verdant hills and clear waters appeared, centered around a small courtyard. Immortal Monarch Yanshi sat within the courtyard, nodding at him, before the small courtyard faded back into the void.
Now that Immortal Monarch Yanshi had arrived, Wei Yuan had solid backing. Naturally regaining his calm poise, he conjured a chair and a tea table for himself in midair, picked up a teacup, and took a gentle sip.
The tea was quite ordinary.
Once the lotus pond was dug, water welled up from the bottom, quickly covering the base and slowly rising. Yet what welled up was not clear water, but thick, viscous blood! Wei Yuan could even smell the rich stench of gore.
In the blink of an eye, the bloody water reached the rim of the pond, turning it into a pool of blood. Then, from who knew where, the little monk Honglian produced a lotus seed and tossed it into the blood pond.
A moment later, two lotus leaves and a lotus bud emerged on the surface of the blood. The bud blossomed immediately, transforming into a green lotus.
A name suddenly floated into Wei Yuan's mind: *Green Lotus of the Sea of Bitterness*.
The Daoist canon stated that the great immortals of antiquity possessed powers to reach the heavens and pierce the earth; they planted golden lotuses in chaos to attain the Great Dao. Today, he had planted a green lotus in the Sea of Bitterness—what might he attain from this?
As he pondered, a question struck Wei Yuan: had this green lotus been planted by him, or by the little monk? If an attainment was verified in the future, would it count as his, or the little monk's?
The eyes in the void vanished, having spoken not a single word from beginning to end.
Wei Yuan stood up, gave a flick of his robe sleeve, and silently stowed away the chair and tea table. On the road of acting like an immortal, he still had a long way to go.
At this moment, a faint wail of mourning drifted from afar. Though separated by a thousand li, the overwhelming sorrow rushed over him like a wave.
The Duke of Zhongguo of Great Zhao ultimately failed to make it back to the royal capital. Perishing midway, he met his end at the age of four hundred and sixty.
Chapter 981