The dark vortex covering the Celestial Vault spun slowly. With each passing moment, the pressure within it built like a world-ending tsunami, layer upon layer, growing ever heavier.
Even the True Monarchs and Bodhisattvas, locked in a battle so fierce they dared to shake the Great Dao itself, felt a tremor and a chill emanating from the depths of their Divine Souls!
"What's happening? This… is this the will of Heaven?!"
Qingyuan Dao Seeking True Monarch was the first to halt his Sword Momentum, which had been on the verge of cleaving a Bodhisattva's Golden Body in two. He froze in place, his eyes locked on the deep vortex as a sharp light glinted in their depths.
"The heavenly might is boundless… There's no mistaking it. This is the will of Heaven and Earth of the Profound Yellow Origin Realm!" The Star Sea illusion surrounding Floating World Star Inference True Monarch dimmed, and his voice grew taut.
"Hmph, putting on a mystical act!" Everlasting Talisman Inference True Monarch snorted. But the billions of runes flowing around him slowed unconsciously, betraying his inner unrest.
More and more True Monarchs and Bodhisattvas ceased their attacks, gazing up at the Celestial Vault in bewildered uncertainty.
The power emanating from the vortex was none other than the will of Profound Yellow's Heaven!
But never before had this will been so tangible.
So… overwhelmingly oppressive!
"HAHAHAHA!" A coarse and wild laugh broke the strange silence.
A Nine Nether Sun-devouring True Monarch from the Yellow Springs Netherworld burst into a hearty laugh. He pointed brazenly at Dragon Elephant Wisdom Bodhisattva and the other Buddhist Cultivators opposite him, and jeered:
"You bald donkeys! Weren't you just claiming that your World Honored One acts on Heaven's will, bestowing his law upon Profound Yellow as a blessing to all living beings and the world?
What do you have to say now?
This manifestation from Heaven, with pressure like a prison, looks more like it's preparing to deliver divine punishment!
Could it be that your 'World Honored One' is an anomaly that Heaven and Earth will not tolerate?
HAHAHA!"
At his words, the expressions of the several Buddhist Cultivation Bodhisattvas turned grim, and even their Buddha Light began to waver.
The will of Heaven was now manifest, and it clearly carried a hostile pressure.
This created a sharp contradiction with their proclamation that "the World Honored One's bestowal of law is favored by the will of Heaven"!
Dragon Elephant Bodhisattva opened his mouth to retort, but he found that any words were pale and powerless before this tangible heavenly might. He could only say in a solemn tone:
"The will of Heaven is unfathomable, not for the likes of us to presume to guess!
How could the Way of the World Honored One be…"
But before he could finish his defense…
Down below, within the Emperor's Weapon Realm!
Qi Yun moved.
He slowly lifted his gaze. Reflected in his sun-like pupils, which burned with the flames of wisdom, was the suffocating dark vortex in the Celestial Vault.
There was no fear, no panic. There was only a bottomless calm and… a hint of indescribable curiosity.
Then, he lifted his foot.
He took the first step, landing it softly.
"DONG!"
It was as if Heaven and Earth trembled at the motion!
Above the Celestial Vault, the dark vortex's rotation sped up by an imperceptible fraction!
The pressure it exuded grew suddenly heavier, like an invisible mountain pressing down on the heart of every peak-level being!
The second step, the third step, the fourth step…
Qi Yun's pace was not fast, but it was exceptionally steady. Each step seemed to have been measured with the utmost precision, landing on a mysterious node in the void.
"DONG!"
"DONG!"
"DONG!"…
Each step was accompanied by a faint tremor from Heaven and Earth!
When Qi Yun took his ninth step, his body left the last vestiges of protection from the Emperor's Weapon Realm, and he stood firmly in the void above the summit of Spirit Mountain.
All of Heaven and Earth seemed to hold its breath.
Every True Monarch, Bodhisattva, and Dragon Monarch—and even the few Arhats and Cultivators who had been fortunate enough to survive in the distance—sensed an omen. A great terror, a great annihilation, a great judgment was about to descend!
And at that very moment, the terrifying, ink-black vortex slowly rotating in the Celestial Vault… finally stirred!
"RUUUMBLE— ROOOOAR—!!!"
A grand and ancient sound, like the surging of a great tide, roared from the vortex's depths without warning. It was a sound that seemed to have existed since the dawn of time, echoing through the rise and fall of countless eons!
The sound was muffled at first, but it grew louder and closer, as if a boundless, vast river was being forcibly Guided here, dragged from the unknowable ends of time and space!
The next instant!
The sight that followed shook all who witnessed it to their very core, shattering their perception of reality!
In the center of the dark vortex, the light changed abruptly!
It was no longer pure blackness. Instead, a hazy, chaotic, grayish light shone forth—a light that seemed to contain all colors yet simultaneously transcend them.
The light rapidly expanded, stretched, and manifested—
The phantasmal image of a vast river, its breadth, length, and weight beyond description, slowly emerged from the vortex's center. Then… like a celestial river bursting its dams, it thundered down!
Upon closer inspection, the ceaselessly flowing river was composed of an infinite number of tiny, glittering shards of time; motes of temporal dust that surfaced and faded; blurred, distorted silhouettes of mortal memories; and the iridescent Flowing Light that symbolized the rise and fall of civilizations… all of it converging and weaving together!
The River of Heaven and Earth Years.
This river runs through the ages, flowing between thousands upon thousands of Realms.
Now, Guided here by the will of Profound Yellow's Heaven, it had transformed into a torrent—a waterfall of gray, hazy light, yet so brilliant that none dared to look at it directly.
It surged down, aimed directly at the white-robed Bodhisattva standing in the void below!
"The River of Heaven and Earth Years!" Qingyuan Dao Seeking True Monarch exclaimed in astonishment.
"Heaven's will… actually summoned the River of Years?!" The figure of the True Monarch of No Dao Extreme Law solidified, his surrounding "Gui Wu" Dao Domain rippling slightly, a clear sign of his inner turmoil.
The eyes of every True Monarch and Bodhisattva present turned grim.
Every single drop of "water" from the River of Heaven and Earth Years contained a terrifying Power of Time, enough to turn a millennium into a mere instant. It could wash away karma, erode a True Spirit, and decay the Great Dao itself!
Even they, who had already anchored their True Spirit Marks to their Fruit Positions and hung them high above the river, would never dare to let the river's main current wash over them directly.
To be touched by its water meant, at best, a rapid loss of lifespan and the aging and weakening of one's Dao-body.
At worst, one's Fruit Position would Loosen, their True Spirit would be tarnished, and they even risked being knocked from their Fruit Position entirely.
"Retreat!"
It was unclear who shouted it first.
The next instant, everyone acted as if fleeing a plague. All the True Monarchs, Bodhisattvas, and even the heavily scarred Dragon Monarch who had been lingering above Spirit Mountain to observe or await an opportunity—all of them flashed away. They transformed into streaks of Flowing Light, retreating with all possible speed from the river's core impact zone.
Though they were each protected by their Fruit Positions…
…none of them was willing to risk being splashed by even a single drop of the terrifying river's water!
"ROOOOAR—!!!"
The roaring sound of the river water was deafening!
The gray water of the River of Years, like a colossal waterspout connecting Heaven and Earth, slammed into the space where Qi Yun stood.
A billowing mist of gray water spread out!
Wherever the mist passed, everything in the surroundings seemed to experience ten thousand years in an instant, rapidly dimming, weathering away, and dissipating.
The True Monarchs and Bodhisattvas retreated again and again, their expressions grave as they stared at the area completely submerged in the gray mist.
Even with their Divine Thought, they could not penetrate the incredibly dense mist to see what was truly happening inside.
They could only vaguely sense that the aura of the newly ascended Great Sunlight King Bodhisattva had fluctuated violently the moment the river water struck.
Then… it was completely swallowed and concealed by the endless gray mist and the raging Power of Time.
…
Qi Yun stood firm in the center of the raging, surging waterfall of gray.
The Great Light Appearance behind his head, which represented the very source of light, erupted with an unprecedentedly fierce radiance!
Pure, vast, and seemingly capable of piercing through all illusions, the Bright Buddha Power spread from him like a tangible golden tide, forcibly carving out a Bright Pure Land within the endless gray river.
Within the Pure Land, phantasmal White Lotuses swayed gracefully as faint Brahma Chanting froze time and held back the torrent.
"SSSSSST—!!"
However, the power of the River of Years was far beyond imagination.
Every drop of gray "water" that struck the Pure Land would erupt into a tiny vortex of time, stripping away a sliver of the "present" from the Realm's edge and leaving a trace of "antiquity" in its place.
The Pure Land shrank rapidly—from hundreds of yards across, to tens, then three, two and a half, two, one and a half…
The White Lotuses at Qi Yun's feet began to wither and crumble, turning into temporal dust that dissolved into the river.
On his Bodhisattva's Golden Body, fine lines like the crazing on ancient porcelain began to appear on his smooth, jade-like skin—the marks of temporal erosion.
The gray water pressed relentlessly forward, already lapping at his feet.
Qi Yun looked down, silently watching the gray water that was about to submerge him completely. He stared at his own reflection, at a face already weathered by the touch of time.
"Hah…"
It was the faintest of sighs, yet it seemed to overpower the roar of the river of years.
"The myriad Great Daos may have different names and appearances.
But trace them to their source, and you'll find they all seek but one thing: transcendence."
The moment his voice fell, Qi Yun moved.
He made no attempt to reinforce the crumbling Bright Pure Land, nor did he use any Divine Techniques to fight the surging river.
He just calmly raised his right hand and reached behind his head.
His fingers spread, and he grasped the radiant Great Light Appearance.
The Light Appearance was warm and heavy in his hand, like holding a miniature sun.
Qi Yun looked down, gazing at the Light Appearance in his palm—the symbol of his Bodhisattva identity and the source of his power.
The next moment…
"VMMMMM—!!!"
The Great Light Appearance trembled violently.
In just a single breath!
The Great Light Appearance—the external manifestation of a Bodhisattva's solemnity, wisdom, light, and Compassion—transformed. In its place was a fist-sized ball of indescribably pure, incandescent white fire that seemed capable of incinerating all illusions and physical forms in the world—the Great Sun Fire!
The last trace of hesitation in his eyes vanished, replaced by the calm acceptance of one facing death and the resolve of one seeking life through it.
Qi Yun raised his head and opened his mouth.
In the final moment, just before the boundless gray river of years could completely submerge his head…
…he swallowed the ball of incandescently pure Great Sun Fire in his palm without a moment's hesitation!
At that moment, the Bright Pure Land that had struggled to hold on collapsed with a thunderous roar and completely dissipated, as if its final mission was complete.
The endless, cold, and heavy gray water of the River of Years, now completely unobstructed, instantly submerged and devoured Qi Yun's Bodhisattva's Golden Body!
…
「Outside.」
The churning, surging region of gray mist suddenly imploded, as if something that had been propping it up from within had vanished completely.
The faint, fiery aura of the Great Sunlight King, which could still be vaguely sensed, was extinguished in an instant, like a candle flickering out in the wind.
All the True Monarchs and Bodhisattvas who had retreated into the distance sensed it at almost the same time.
As one, they all began to furiously divine the karmic fate of the area within the mist.
Suddenly, they all stopped and looked at one another.
'The karmic link… is severed?'
'Did he drown in the river after all…?'
Just as the assembled True Monarchs were reacting to this outcome with varied expressions…
"VMMMM…!!"
A deep, magnificent tremor, as if resonating from the very origin of creation, suddenly pierced through the deepest part of the gray, deathly silent mist of years!
And then!
A point of light lit up without any warning.
At first, it was just a pinpoint of pure white light, insignificant amidst the endless gray.
But in the next moment, that point of pure white erupted like a volcano that had been suppressed for eons had finally found an outlet!
"BOOM—!!!!"
A great sun's radiance—so brilliant, so blazing, so domineering as to be beyond description—tore through the thick gray mist like the first ray of light at the dawn of creation and shot toward the heavens!
Within that radiance, there was no longer the Compassion and solemnity of a Bodhisattva.
There was only a single, ultimate purity, an intent to dominate the 'now'—the Great Sun True Intent!
At the same time, a clear, profound chant, as if containing supreme Dao Rhyme and unyielding will, resounded like a great temple bell deep within the Divine Soul of every living being:
"In the forge of countless kalpas, a true form is refined,
Shedding earthly dust, the core crystal I find.
Should you ask what this mystic pearl has become?
There is only this body, a radiant sun."
…
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