Chapter 688: You Owe Us a Severed Tail, A Hundred Years of Life

The Buddha’s divine form strode forward unhurriedly. It took one step, and it flashed across the mountains to appear several li away; another step, and it crossed several more li.

Boom...

Before it had even reached Divine Lord Yuewang, the two side heads spat forth flame and golden light. Of its six arms, one cast a string of Buddha beads that shot toward Divine Lord Yuewang, while another hurled a golden alms bowl to cover him.

Meanwhile, the divine form kept striding forward.

It was a towering, mighty form; in the remaining four arms, two clenched fists, one gripped a golden dragon, and one held a ritual ring, radiating boundless might as it steadily closed the distance to the Ghost Emperor.

But before it could reach him...

Rumble rumble rumble...

From the far distance came a sudden, continuous series of deafening crashes. The ground shook violently, as if mountains were collapsing.

The Buddha’s divine form turned its head and saw that, amid the mountains, there had suddenly appeared the colossal true form of a white rhinoceros. Its body seemed clad in thick armor, head lowered as it thundered toward him.

“Amitābha...”

The Buddha’s voice echoed across heaven and earth. The divine form slowly unclenched its two fists, stretching out both arms to block the charging beast. With the divine form’s enormous size, even the smallest movements appeared unhurried, yet it met the white rhinoceros’s unstoppable momentum head-on.

Buzz

!

When they collided, golden light exploded in all directions.

The great beast’s strength was immense; even the Buddha’s divine form was driven backward, plowing through forests and shattering hills.

As it retreated, the Buddha wielded his other two arms; one swung the ritual ring to smash down on the giant rhinoceros, while the other drove the golden dragon to bite at it. At the same time, the left head spat karmic fire, and the right head poured golden light over the beast.

The divine form was forced back several li before regaining its footing.

Just then, the head on its right abruptly stopped spewing golden light and turned to look even farther to the right.

There, another white rhinoceros giant, equal in height to the divine form, had appeared. It raised its arms high before bringing them crashing down toward him.

Boom! Boom!

𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

Explosions shook the heavens and the earth. The divine form’s remaining two arms caught the giant’s fists, one in each hand.

“Amitābha... The two of you are...?” The Buddha’s voice rang out over the battlefield.

But the rhinoceros giant gave no reply. It only drew back its hands and, with a body so mighty it could wrestle dragons overseas, hammered blow after blow at the divine form, forcing the Buddha onto the defensive.

At last, even with three heads and six arms, the Buddha could not keep pace; a moment’s lapse, and he was sent flying by a massive charge from the white rhinoceros. Only then did the rhinoceros giant pause to catch its breath.

Seizing the moment, it turned to the distance and bellowed, “The white rhinoceros of Yuezhou, descendants of the ancient White Bull Saint, have come to aid the battle and repay a debt!”

The battlefield grew ever more chaotic.

High in the heavens, the Southern Gold Saint looked on coldly. He began to feel the situation was becoming troublesome, yet his gaze remained disdainful as he turned to a nearby deity and barked, “Two Star Lords, descend at once and aid the Buddha!”

“By your command!” The two Star Lords took the order and descended.

Star Lord Yinghuo descended first. His feet planted upon a divine wooden platform, and he was clad in black-gold armor with a golden spear in hand as he flew down from the Southern Gold Saint’s left side.

Star Lord Ziqi had been seated in a chariot, bare-footed, violet-haired; now, he leapt into the air, summoning his demon-slaying wooden sword, riding the clouds downward.

Behind each of the two Star Lords shone a dazzling halo of divine light, their feathered sashes fluttering in the wind.

On the ground below, heavenly soldiers and generals also moved to answer the call.

“Great Marshal Lingxian!”

“Roger!”

“Where are the Star Envoys?”

“Present!”

“If you don’t descend now, when will you?”

“Yes, sir!”

Great Marshal Lingxian was tall, broad-shouldered, and clad in silver armor. Wielding a great halberd, he took the order without hesitation, leading the various star envoys down toward the mortal realm.

Yet they had barely begun their descent when the ground below suddenly erupted into chaos.

“Watch out—!”

Before the warning could even be shouted, a colossal white serpent surged out from behind the mountains. The moment it appeared, it opened a heaven-swallowing maw toward the sky.

Star Lord Yinghuo[1], standing at the forefront upon his divine platform, divine light and feathered sash streaming behind him, was the first to meet it head-on.

ROAR!

The serpent swallowed him in a single gulp.

Behind him, Star Lord Ziqi’s eyes flew wide in shock. He had been riding a cloud, flying in tandem with Yinghuo and pressing forward to flank the two white rhinoceros great demons battling the Buddha’s divine form. Now, in his panic, he wrenched his cloud into a sharp turn in midair, the tail of vapor trailing in a wide arc as he sped back the way he had come.

ROAR!

The sound of pursuit drew rapidly closer from behind. Then came the snap of massive jaws slamming shut.

Star Lord Ziqi did not dare look back; from the sound and from the subtle stirrings of his divine sense, he guessed he had only just escaped the attacker’s reach.

Only when he had climbed back up to roughly the same height as Great Marshal Lingxian and the various star envoys did Star Lord Ziqi dare stop. He turned to look behind him.

Amid the shattered mountains below coiled an enormous white serpent. Its whole body was as white as snow, as lustrous as jade, yet covered all over with scars old and new. It was a creature clearly tempered by countless battles. Dragging that massive, terrifying body, it slowly looped itself among the peaks, flicking its tongue as its cold eyes gazed up at the immortals in the sky.

“Do you still remember me?” The aged voice echoed through heaven and earth.

Star Lord Ziqi’s heart trembled violently.

Remember? How could he not?

Over two centuries ago, the human realm was remade, and even the Heavenly Palace changed hands. This being had followed the head of Hidden Dragon Temple in those days, battling heaven and earth, slaying gods and subduing demons, what warrior of the Heavenly Court’s battle halls could forget such scenes?

“I’ll fight him!” Great Marshal Lingxian snorted coldly and dove further down.

Feet upon his auspicious cloud, great halberd in hand, he led the various star envoys gliding over the mountains straight into battle with the Snake Immortal.

Seeing this, Star Lord Ziqi didn’t hesitate; he abandoned the serpent entirely, circling wide toward the battlefield where the white rhinoceros great demon was clashing with the Buddha.

Though the white rhinoceros might not be weaker than the serpent, the truth was that this Snake Immortal had devoured far too many gods of ill virtue in the past; merely looking upon it filled Ziqi with dread. Before they even crossed blows, he was already three parts weaker in spirit.

But he had only made it halfway around, still not yet at the rhinoceros and Buddha’s battleground, when black mist suddenly welled up all around for reasons unknown.

Star Lord Ziqi instantly lost his sense of direction. In that moment of inattention, his head swam, and he nearly tumbled right off his cloud.

Through the haze he vaguely heard a voice, “So many of you are bullying my disciple alone? That’s hardly the conduct of true deities...”

From far away, another aged voice echoed in reply, “How lively this has become... Do you take Hidden Dragon Temple for a place with no one to defend it?”

The Southern Gold Saint finally furrowed his brow, beginning to feel this was becoming troublesome. Yet the cold indifference in his gaze did not lessen in the slightest. He merely extended a hand to the side, and an attendant bearing a treasure mirror stepped forward to offer it to him.

“I didn’t expect so many demons and ghosts to come aid you. Seems Hidden Dragon Temple has built up some foundations these past years,” the Southern Gold Saint said, taking the mirror. “A pity, a pity... beneath the level of the truly great, all are but ants.”

The ancient saint stood upon the clouds, holding the mirror high. He drew in a deep breath and focused his spirit; light flared upon the mirror’s surface.

Moments later, he tilted it downward toward the massive rhinoceros.

Boom!

A beam of silvery-white radiance shot forth.

The great rhinoceros was just about to charge the Buddha’s divine form when the white light flashed, and its supposedly indestructible horn was shorn clean off!

The ancient saint continued to focus his spirit, turning the mirror toward the giant man.

But the white rhinoceros giant was ready, dodging even as he gathered spiritual power to shield himself before lifting a palm to block.

Boom!

The silvery-white divine light struck, piercing straight into his palm, ignoring every layer of defense. It passed clean through, out the forearm, and into the earth below, blood spurting in torrents.

“

Ssshhk

!”

Blood hit the ground, sending up tendrils of white smoke.

“The Grotto-Heaven Mirror’s force is unstoppable. You can only evade it, never block it head-on.” The Snake Immortal’s voice came from afar.

The ancient saint took a deep breath, pausing for a moment before once more raising the mirror, this time aiming toward the distant Snake Immortal.

Boom!

The colossal serpent vanished in an instant, leaving only an old man suspended in midair. The silver-white beam from the mirror naturally struck nothing.

“You have some skill.” The Gold Saint turned his gaze to another quarter.

There, black smoke billowed thick over the land; from time to time glimmers of divine and magical light flickered within. Star Lord Ziqi was trapped inside, yet even with the Gold Saint’s vision, he could not pierce that shroud to find the ghostly entity within.

“You vermin.” The Gold Saint’s tone dripped with disdain. His real focus was never on these great demons and ghost kings, and he had merely acted in passing. Since that was the case, he no longer spared them any attention, instead turning his eyes toward the distant Daoist locked in battle with the two Saints.

Yet in just this short span, the two Saints working together against him not only showed no sign of victory, but even seemed to be falling into disadvantage.

The Gold Saint’s expression grew solemn as he lifted the mirror.

Light flared once more upon its surface, growing ever brighter, soon to the point of searing the eyes.

A mounting pressure spread through heaven and earth, growing stronger and stronger, until even his own disciples, and the myriad gods and buddhas filling the sky, felt their hearts quake.

“Song You!” the Gold Saint suddenly called out.

The Daoist below turned his head to look.

The Eastern Sun Saint and the Northern Combat Saint immediately withdrew.

Boom!

A blazing flash of white lit the heavens and earth. Before anyone realized it, the world had been struck into a dim haze, and that beam of white illuminated all of creation.

Yet within that white brilliance, there was faintly mingled a radiance of seven colors. The light quickly dispersed.

The Daoist stood in the same spot, completely unharmed.

“Huh?”

Both the Eastern Sun Saint and the Northern Combat Saint showed expressions of surprise. Only the Southern Gold Saint, standing high in the firmament, had his eyes fixed on another direction.

There, in the air, a new figure had appeared. It was a woman.

Her face was breathtakingly beautiful, her figure clad in pure white. She descended slowly from the heavens, knees bending slightly as her feet touched the ground one after the other. Behind her, nine tails unfurled in sequence, spreading like the ribs of a great fan.

“A nine-tailed celestial fox!” The Southern Gold Saint’s expression turned wary.

Even among the Ancient Great Beings, the nine-tailed celestial fox was a name that rang far and wide. Since when had the fox clan produced another to attain nine tails?

The woman looked utterly at ease, smiling faintly at the Gold Saint as she said calmly, “How have you immortals lost your virtue like this?”

“Who are you?”

She remained calm and silent for a moment, not answering him. Instead, she turned her head to look at the distant Daoist and said, “Daoist Master, you owe us one severed tail and a hundred years of life.”

Then she turned back to the sky above and finally replied, “A nine-tailed fox.”

“You dare meddle in the struggles of gods and men?”

“In this life, to act freely is a rare joy.”

With that faint remark, she raised her hand. A seven-colored pearl appeared before her, radiating a dazzling, multihued light. She rose into the air, facing the Southern Gold Saint’s treasure mirror.

Without a sound, the woman suddenly vanished from where she stood. On guard, the Gold Saint kept his face composed, then abruptly turned to look at the sky behind him. Within the glow of seven-colored light, the faint outline of the nine tails could be seen.

The Gold Saint unleashed his ancient divine light to block it, but...

Wait! It was a fake! Something was wrong.

Sure enough, everything before him dissolved into nothing but drifting clouds and smoke. The Gold Saint flashed aside, appearing behind himself, only for divine light to strike from behind once more. It was from the original direction!

Boom!

Caught completely off guard, the Gold Saint was blasted from the cloud layer, and a sharp, searing pain bloomed in his back, the likes of which he had not felt in many years.

Only then did he sense true danger.

1. ‘Yinghuo’ refers to the planet Mars. Because Mars glimmers like fire and its movements are unpredictable, ancient China called it ‘Yinghuo,’ which roughly means “glimmering confusion.” In both Eastern and Western traditions, however, Mars is considered a symbol of war and death. Yinghuo is also known as the Red Star, the Punishment Star, or the Enforcement Star. ☜