Chapter 585 - 16: Buddha, Demon, Chess (Part 2)

He paused, then asked, "I must continue to heal and oversee the refinement of the Demon-Suppressing Celestial Stele. Fellow Daoist Fang, how confident are you in stopping that Yu Wenxu? I wonder, could Feng Yan perhaps lend a hand?"

Fang Cheng replied, "There’s no need for Ascendant Feng Yan to intervene. I’m ninety percent confident I can stop Yu Wenxu. I have a feeling that before long, I’ll be able to draw down my Fourth Celestial Tribulation. When that time comes, even killing him will be a simple matter."

Since beginning his cultivation, he had always been invincible among his peers. After obtaining the Mixed Element Seven Tribulations Diagram and tempering himself for nearly a century in Qianyu Heaven, his combat prowess had long since neared the very limit of the Tribulation Realm.

His goal was to possess the power to slay a Spirit Immortal.

By his estimation, once he passed all Seven Tribulations, he would be on the cusp of being able to slay a Spirit Immortal.

As far as he was concerned, his comprehension of numerous Daoist Divine Techniques had already reached perfection. As time went on, the mutual influence between him and the Celestial Dao Origin of the Red Profound Realm grew stronger, and the subsequent Celestial Tribulations would naturally follow one after another.

It was a natural progression, one that was happening at a heaven-defying pace.

The Dragon Elephant Wanderer said, "In that case, I must ask you to go and stand guard over my master."

With that, he told Fang Cheng the location where the Demon Buddha had the Demon Lord trapped.

Fang Cheng stood up to leave. Just as he was about to depart, he added, "I have learned the location of the Hidden Demon Sect’s grounds. When the time is right, my incarnation will kill the Night Queen and the Bitter Elder to avenge you for what happened that day."

...

Since ancient times, the sages of the Human Race had divided the Red Profound Realm along its great geographical barriers into seven domains: the Mingxiao Domain, Chixiao Domain, Thunder Domain, Celestial Wind Domain, Formless Realm, East Cyan Domain, and Profound Nether Domain.

The Wilderness Domain was a New Domain located between the East Cyan Domain and the Mingxiao Domain, making it the eighth domain of the Red Profound Realm.

The five ancient domains—Mingxiao, Chixiao, Lei Xiao, Tianfeng, and Formless—were the places where the Demon Lord’s body had been sealed. Since time immemorial, the sects and clans of these five domains all possessed ancient lineages that had endured for millennia.

In a single day, the Taixu Cloud Tower crossed two domains and arrived in the Formless Realm.

The evening mists gathered, and a dark, inky blue stretched to the heavens.

A streak of light from a cloud flashed across the vast twilight sky.

Below, a vast forest stretched across the land. It was filled with towering ancient trees, so lush and dense they blotted out the sky and sun. Strange and exotic flowers dotted the landscape.

This immense forest stretched out in all directions, with no end in sight.

Within the streak of light was a majestic tower. Its base was the carapace of a giant tortoise, and it continuously absorbed and expelled the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi.

Fang Cheng sat within the tower, his gaze locked on the distant sky.

Between heaven and earth, a great Yellow Springs River appeared, originating from beyond the highest heavens. It surged with immense power, its true length impossible to discern.

The river coiled above the Forest Sea, appearing to carve out a section of the void and form a Grotto Heaven Secret Realm. Inside was an enormous chessboard.

Two men were playing a game on opposite sides of the board, surrounded by a few onlookers.

One of the two players wore a white shirt and had the youthful face of a boy. Though he seemed young, he carried himself with a dignified air, as if he held the lives and deaths of countless beings in his hands.

The other was a vigorous elder of timeless, striking features. He had an archaic look, and his eyes held the weight of ages. The aura around him was part demonic, part buddha-like, giving off an ethereal feeling, as if he might drift away at any moment.

Behind the elder, three other people were observing the game.

One was a middle-aged monk in robes, his expression solemn and dignified, his face filled with compassion. His gaze was distant and profound, brimming with wisdom.

Another was a disheveled and decrepit old man, yet a towering aura rose behind him. His Demonic Qi had formed a multi-layered Celestial Palace, within which countless Celestial Demons dwelled—a truly spectacular sight.

The last was a handsome young man. Behind his head was a blur of chaos where the phantom of a Nether Hell could be vaguely seen. Within it, a Resentment Celestial Demon sat upon a throne of endless black flames, looking as if it were a divine being.

The youth in the white shirt was, of course, an "old acquaintance" of Fang Cheng’s: an incarnation of the Demon Lord.

Fang Cheng had seen the middle-aged monk observing the game once before, years ago in the Dragon Elephant Wanderer’s Earth Palace. This had to be the Demon Buddha.

For a moment, Fang Cheng couldn’t identify the others.

The archaic elder playing against the Demon Lord was a Nine-Tribulation Great Power. The aura of perfection and unimpeded flow about him suggested he was on the verge of ascending from this realm.

The Demon Buddha’s true self was a cultivator at the Tribulation Realm Seventh Layer, his Buddha-intent as immense as a mountain, pure and serene.

The decrepit, disheveled old man was also at Nine Tribulations Perfection. His demonic intent was so vast that he alone seemed to constitute an entire Demon Country; he was almost more like the Demon Lord than the Demon Lord himself.

The last one, the handsome young man who was clearly a practitioner of the Li Hen Demon Light, had the lowest cultivation, only at the level of Six Tribulations.

As the Taixu Cloud Tower reached the edge of the Yellow Springs River, the handsome young man flew out of the Grotto Heaven Secret Realm. "Since you’ve come, Fellow Daoist Fang," he said, "why not enter and watch the game?"

The moment the man spoke, Fang Cheng knew he was an incarnation of the Dragon Elephant Wanderer.

Fang Cheng looked at the Grotto Heaven Chessboard encircled by the Yellow Springs River and asked via voice transmission, "Senior, who are the other two?"

"They are all incarnations of my master," the Dragon Elephant Wanderer replied.

’His true body has only passed Seven Tribulations, yet his incarnations are all at Nine Tribulations Perfection...’

Fang Cheng was surprised, but it also felt perfectly logical.

The Demon Buddha had dominated an entire era, even daring to try and convert the Demon Lord’s left hand. How could his cultivation accomplishments be anything but profound?

’But if his incarnations are so powerful, why is his true self still stuck at the Seven Tribulations?’

The Dragon Elephant Wanderer’s incarnation seemed to read his thoughts and replied, "According to my master, the power of the Seventh Celestial Tribulation is comparable to thirty percent of the Celestial Dao Origin’s Power—equivalent to a strike from a Spirit Immortal of the Upper Realm. He exhausted his life’s savings just to survive it and has nothing left to face the final two tribulations. That is why he conceived of the idea to convert the Demon Lord’s body."

A chill went through Fang Cheng’s heart. He realized he had still underestimated the power of the Celestial Tribulations in the Red Profound Realm.

’No wonder almost no one has been able to pass the Seventh Celestial Tribulation in the last ten thousand years...’

The two of them flew into the Grotto Heaven Chessboard.

The Demon Buddha, who was in the middle of the game, paid Fang Cheng no mind, as if his entire being was completely immersed in the chessboard.

The Demon Lord’s incarnation, on the other hand, greeted Fang Cheng with a smile.

Fang Cheng gave a faint nod in return, then turned his attention to the evolving game on the board.

The game was mysterious and profound, encompassing all things. It appeared to be a simple game of chess, but in reality, it was a clash of Great Daos, a contest of the fundamental principles of the universe.

Both the Demon Buddha and the Demon Lord wore calm expressions, neither rushed nor impatient, perfectly composed. Yet the dangers hidden within the game made Fang Cheng’s heart pound in secret.

The two played at a steady, unhurried pace, trading moves back and forth. For the moment, no clear winner could be determined; they seemed to be trapped in a cycle.

But Fang Cheng knew there was absolutely no chance of a draw.

The game gave off a sense of inescapable doom, a feeling that the will of the Celestial Dao could not be defied. Fang Cheng faintly understood something—as long as the Demon Lord did not win, he would never be able to escape this chessboard.

’This chessboard Divine Technique must be an inheritance from a Spirit Immortal.’

Fang Cheng thought to himself.

He watched for several days. Although he gained some insights, they were of little help to his own cultivation.

The Dragon Elephant Wanderer’s incarnation said, "Fellow Daoist Fang, I’m leaving this place in your hands. I must trouble you to act as Guardian for my master. I’ll be leaving for a while."

"Don’t worry, Senior," Fang Cheng said with a nod.

The Dragon Elephant Wanderer’s incarnation transformed into a streak of pitch-black Demonic Light and drifted away.

Fang Cheng also exited the chessboard Grotto Heaven. He released the Taixu Cloud Tower and hid within it. He opened the Immortal Sect, refining the boundless Spiritual Qi of the Upper Realm into Merit Talismanic Coins and continuing to cultivate his Physical Strength.

As for the Celestial Tribulation, all he could do was wait.

For now, the only way to increase his combat power was to cultivate his physical body and his Spiritual Mechanism Incarnation.

Back in Qianyu Heaven, he had already tempered his Physical Strength to a level comparable to that of a Five Tribulations Body Refining Cultivator.

Since he was now lying in wait here, it was the perfect opportunity to do some cultivating.

...

「In the Outer Void」

A space as dark and deep as a bottomless abyss. A Spiritual Mechanical Body slowly materialized, arriving at the periphery of the Red Profound Realm’s Heaven-Defining Membrane.

This Spiritual Mechanism was dressed as a Daoist, with a majestic bearing, wide robes, and flowing sleeves. On its Profound Gold Body, Dao Patterns flowed like liquid, exuding an air of mystery tinged with an eerie quality.

It was wreathed in dark red Taishi Demon Qi, within which a Demon Path Celestial Book bobbed up and down. Billions of runes on the Demon Scripture constantly shifted and changed.

The aura of the "Celestial Venerable of Universal Transformation" at this moment seemed to be not far off from the two Demon Buddha incarnations Fang Cheng had seen.

...