The spirit turtle dove to the bottom of the River of Flowing Sand, blending in with the weakwater, like a rock that had remained buried for a thousand years. There was no aura, no fate, nor joy or sorrow, distanced from the ties of destiny, avoiding all worries of the secular world.
Li Qingshan seemed to forget about his main body as well, placing all of his focus on his clone.
The fierce wind whistled past his ears as he rapidly approached the horizon, immediately covering thousands of kilometres of pure land. Whether it was the cities or the wilderness, the forests or the lakes, they all blurred into balls of speckled colour—the yellow cities, the green wilderness, the dark forests, the blue lakes…
The colours melded and wove together, constantly changing, even leaving him dizzied, but he did not dare to loosen up. He just constantly pushed harder, pushing harder and pushing harder! If the phoenix wings hesitated for an instant, they would be blown to shreds by the incoming wind. Despite that, the interior of the clone gradually disintegrated and collapsed.
With the completion of the Spirit Turtle Transformation, he could pour all of his power into his mirror clone. However, it was impossible for his mirror clone to possess his main body’s reaction speed and toughness, so even if it possessed the power, it could not unleash all of it.
However, that was enough. It was enough to deceive people. He did not need any reaction speed, nor did he have to hold on for too long. He only needed to flee for an hour.
The river bed shook. Unless he sensed for it closely, he would have never noticed it.
Wolf Fang mountain collapsed, and the Sangharama God finally broke free from the watch of the orangey-yellow lion eyes. His armour was tattered and his back was bruised, oozing with blood. He seemed rather roughed up.
Gazing in the direction that Li Qingshan had fled in, he did not roar or bellow. Instead, he was exceptionally calm, no longer with a condescending mindset that he was purging someone under him. Instead, he viewed him as an equal or even like a great enemy.
Since the Mountain-moving tablet had appeared, the crisis of the world would be arriving once more!
Not for those mud and clay statues, not for the Great Thunderclap temple, but for all of buddhism!
“Li Qingshan, you must die here.”
His gaze was like a bolt of lightning, passing through the horizon and locking onto Li Qingshan thousand of kilometers away. He wielded his swordbreaker clubs in a reverse grip and took a step, having arrived on the banks of the River of Flowing Sand already. Afterwards, he spent a while crossing the river before taking another step and arriving fifteen hundred kilometres away.
Covering fifteen hundred kilometres with each step, he traversed the mountains and lakes, chasing after Li Qingshan.
Suddenly, a huge city that stretched for several dozen kilometres appeared on the horizon. It was where his foot would land next.
He only needed to hold back slightly or change directions to avoid the city, but without any hesitation, he stepped down on the city before vanishing into the horizon again. He left behind a deep footprint that immediately set off a great earthquake. Countless structures collapsed. Wails filled the air as casualties skyrocketed.
By the time the Sangharama God had taken his eighth step, he had already arrived in front of Li Qingshan, crossing his swordbreaker clubs and launching a startling strike!
Boom! There was no room for maneuver. The mirror clone burst like a bubble.
Under the weakwater, Li Qingshan opened his eyes. He felt shocked and terrified. Even if it was my main body, I would have never been able to withstand that strike. Even the Phoenix’s Nirvā?a would have been useless!
This was the difference between man and god. Once he was found, he was dead.
Less than fifteen minutes had passed. He still had to last for another hour at the very least.
The Sangharama God furrowed his brows and closed his eyes. His thoughts flashed past like lightning before he opened his eyes again, grasping a thread-like wisp of fate. “You’re hiding in the water. Yeah, weakwater!”
With a few more steps, he returned to the banks of the River of Flowing Sand. Gazing at the turbid, surging weakwater, his lead vanished there.
If it were a regular river, he could empty it with a wave of his hand, but this water was no regular water. Even gods and immortals struggled to fly over it. All techniques and abilities were restricted in it too, so it was indeed the optimal place for hiding.
“Do you think you’re the only one with clones?”
The Sangharama God snorted coldly, and his mountainous figure suddenly collapsed, turning into tens of thousands of small Sangharama Gods. They surged into the weakwater together, and the water level immediately rose drastically.
Since he could not use any abilities, then he would search for him in the most primitive way possible, scouring every inch of the fifteen hundred kilometres of weakwater.
Li Qingshan’s heart was like the deep ocean, silent and unmoving, neither surprised, furious, nor fearful.
The water raged on, without ever returning. Time trickled by.
Fifteen minutes, then another fifteen minutes. Midnight grew closer and closer. Yin prospered as yang declined.
The darkness grew deeper as if he had returned to Ruin’s End.
The Sangharama God had searched through most of the river, rapidly approaching where Li Qingshan was hiding.
At this moment, every passing second seemed so slow and sluggish.
There were still fifteen minutes!
The army of Sangharama Gods spread along the riverbed, already five kilometres away.
Three thousand metres… three hundred metres… thirty metres… three metres…
“I found you!”
The tens of thousands of Sangharama Gods said together, shaking the weakwater and kicking great waves into the air.
Li Qingshan rose up with his sword, slashing through the turbulent swell.
The sword qi was cold, killing off almost a thousand small Sangharama Gods, but it was nothing compared to the rest.
Immediately, all the clones merged together, looking down from the clouds.
“Hold on, I have something to say!” Li Qingshan yelled out, hoping to buy a little more time. Yes, just a little more time was enough.
However, the reply he received were the crossed, falling swordbreaker clubs.
Before the startling strike had even landed, the sound of the collided clubs had already shaken up his Origin Soul, leaving him completely open. He basically lost his grip over the ancient bronze sword.
The invisible, weaving laws of the world sealed off all possibility of dodging.
Transform into the qilin? There was no time! Drawing the Mountain-moving tablet? There was no time.
Facing death, even a second was so precious, yet it was beyond reach.
Even these thoughts could not be processed in time. Only two words leapt out at him. Done for!
Boom!
The four hundred kilometres of the River of Flowing Sand, the fifteen hundred kilometres of weakwater, split into two from the strike.
Li Qingshan blinked his eyes. There was a bang. His heartbeat sounded like rumbling thunder. I’m not done for!?
Time continued to flow. The water thrown into the air poured down like rain, sprinkling over the empty riverbed.
His dark eyes reflected a golden-red figure, receiving the falling clubs.
The Sangharama God’s expression changed, but no matter how much his muscles worked, no matter how furious he was, the clubs refused to budge.
Li Qingshan’s heart leapt. “Y- you’re…”
Under the Phoenix-feathered Violet-golden Headdress, his golden fur drifted about like dazzling sunlight. He looked back with a smile, as innocent and beautiful as a child’s. His scarlet and golden eyes seemed to peer into his past and present lives.
“Traitor!!!” The Sangharama God’s furious roar shook the world, but within his indignation was a sense of powerlessness.
The scarlet and golden eyes turned towards the Sangharama God. He pursed his lips and shook off the clubs, picking his ear with his little finger and removing a golden needle. With a swing, it turned into a colossal staff. He pushed it upwards as if he wanted to poke a hole in the sky.
The Sangharama God’s colossal figure was immediately blown away, off to who knows where.
Li Qingshan wanted to approach him when midnight arrived. Yin and yang replaced one another. From the extremes of yin birthed yang.
At that instant, the laws of the entire pure land halted slightly.
Vaguely, he could sense the surging of demon qi. He could hear the roaring of demonic beasts.
Throughout the world, countless demonic caverns suddenly opened before rapidly closing again.
“Kid, you’re the person that old ox chose. You’re even more interesting than I thought you’d be!”
Li Qingshan slightly adjusted to being watched by the scarlet and golden eyes. Only then did he notice that that was the most handsome face he had ever seen. It was not the so-called handsomeness by worldly standard, but a flawless handsomeness of hardness and strength.
A demonic cavern suddenly opened beneath him. He hesitated over whether to enter it or not. A hand pressed against his chest and pushed him gently.
“We will meet again.”
“Hold on…”
Li Qingshan fell into the demonic cavern, and darkness closed before his eyes. The scarlet and red figure was gone. He was lost in despondence.
Above the weakwater, the scarlet and golden eyes suddenly gazed up, through the floating clouds, the skies, beyond the stars. He smiled furiously. “Old codger Tathāgata! The crisis is imminent! How much longer can you keep me trapped for?”
Beneath the bodhi tree, the buddha laid on his side, supporting his head with his right arm and holding his left hand open.
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As if he had heard something, he looked down on his palm, meeting with the scarlet and golden eyes.
The endless stretch of land that was Sukhāvatī all lay within the palm of his hand.
Their eyes met for a while, and he smiled, sitting up. He looked around. Golden tiles covered everywhere as the golden leaves rustled.
With a gust of wind, they clinked away, producing a wondrous rhythm, coupled with the cries of strange birds. It was calming.
In the distant age, before the Great Thunderclap temple had been founded, before Mahāyāna Buddhism had been established, this was once where the buddha primarily gave his sermons, Jetavana.
