The Emperor Reigns Them All

Chapter 277 Great Tao Shows, Catastrophe Arrives

In fact, Li Ye already felt something, or he wouldn’t think so much.

Before Wu You appeared on Qi Mountain, he had a vague memory of Fu Su, Liu Xie, and Fu Shou. He had been thinking about Wu You these days. When Li Ye recalled the past, these memories were becoming clearer day by day, even though that was the memories of Li Ye’s last life in this world.

The monkey didn’t have to lie to him. The memories of Li Ye’s last life were confirmed by the monkey, so he was a little confused at this moment. If he directly talked to Wu You, he would know all the truth.

Li Ye looked back at Wu You who was floating in the stone cave. Wu You could hear their conversation clearly. Meeting Wu You’s complicated expression, Li Ye knew that he didn’t need to ask and that at least, her awakening memory was the same as what the monkey had said.

After hearing the monkey’s words, Su Emei looked the same, as if she had expected it. Feeling astonished, the nine-tail Demon Fox looked at Li Ye with her eyes wide opened. After feeling shocked, the Son of God was lost in thought again.

Accepting everyone’s expression in his eyes, Li Ye remained silent and didn’t know what to say for a while.

Su Emei suddenly said, “When Great Sage caused great chaos in the Immortal Court that year, corresponding with Ying Zheng, the first emperor of Qin, they were sort of comrades. At that time, if Buddhism hadn’t interfered, the Immortal Court wouldn’t be able to deal with Great Sage, without the power of faith in the human world. If Ying Zheng had helped Great Sage, it was possible to overturn the Taoist sect and the Immortal Court. Even if Ying Zheng didn’t help Great Sage, with Fu Su’s talent and character, the Qin Empire wouldn’t perish if Fu Su succeeded to the throne. Then, with the power of the emperor, Fu Su could punish and kill evils and stabilize the country so that the Immortal Court wouldn’t have any chance. Therefore, Great Sage wouldn’t be defeated so quickly. If Fu Su and Great Sage could join forces, they were likely to rival Gautama Buddha of Buddhism. Then, the world must be different now.”

Li Ye sighed and could only express his regret.

When the monkey began to cause great chaos in the Immortal Court, Ying Zheng unified the six states of Shandong. Even if he wasn’t a cultivator, any person could infer it from the book written by Wu Cheng’en. However, one day in heaven was one year on the earth. The monkey was defeated, captured, and tortured. Then, he escaped, but finally, he was suppressed. Many years had passed in the human world.

The monkey chuckled. “What you said is reasonable, but the things weren’t so easy.”

But Su Emei insisted. “Even though Buddhism schemed it in advance, it was just a scheme. And they could only pry on the Luck of heaven and the future. “Who dares to tell that nothing will change in the future? If Fu Su really ascended the throne and comprehended the Way of Emperor, then he could gather the world’s Luck and people’s power. At that time, even Gautama Buddha could do nothing to him!”

Li Ye glanced at Su Emei oddly. Her immortal memory seemed to be awakened very quickly. She even also knew the Way of Emperor now.

“I only heard of the Way of Emperor in the human world, but no one has ever comprehended it. Even the emperor Qin and Emperor Wu of Han couldn’t comprehend it thoroughly.”

Shaking his head, the Son of God said with facts, “Moreover, Buddhism dared to make such an arrangement, it would have the preparation, and it wouldn’t let Fu Su ascend the throne. You know, although the Immortal Court could influence the things in the human world, it could do nothing else, and the things in the human world have their own running tracks... Only when Buddhism cooperated with the Taoist sect could they reverse destiny. Otherwise, with the great talent of the first emperor of Qin, how could he not arrange the succession well?”

“You made it more and more complicated. Let’s stop here.” Li Ye waved his hands. “No matter how powerful a cultivator is, even a sage can only influence the future and do nothing to the past—why don’t we talk about the future?”

Everyone looked at each other and remained silent for a while.

Li Ye looked at the Son of God doubtfully. “He was supposed to kill me on behalf of the Immortal Court, but from what he had done, he didn’t intend to do that. At this moment, as everyone is sitting and discussing Tao together, we seem to be on the same boat. Maybe, he sent Demon Fei to kill me just because he wanted to fob off the Immortal Court, but actually, he had another secret plan.”

At this time, something strange happened. The cloudless sky suddenly became turbulent, with clouds scudding and winds arising. Heaven and earth became dark instantly, and the whole sky was covered with thick clouds.

They all got up in succession and looked up.

Red light appeared behind the thick clouds, burning, as if the sun were falling behind the clouds. Earth, mountains, and rivers bathed in the red light, as if wearing makeup.

Everyone’s expression changed. When there was an anomaly in heaven, great things would happen.

As expected, a while later, deafening whistles were heard in the sky. A breath of desolation came from the whistles. It seemed to have passed through many years, distant and vast.

Li Ye asked Su Emei, “Could it be that the Immortal Court is making trouble and sending immortals to the earth?”

That might be true.

Su Emei shook her head. “Probably not. The Immortal Court wouldn’t be so direct.”

The Son of God looked solemn at first, and then his eyes began to glow with joy. Later, he could hardly restrain himself, and his hands trembled with excitement. Seeing his look, Li Ye was deep in thought.

Among the red clouds in the sky, cyan light suddenly shone brightly, emanating from the vortex at the center. Instantly, it split into several streams of light, shooting toward different directions, like falling meteors.

After the cyan light dissipated, the red light gradually faded, the red clouds slowly disappeared, and the blue sky slowly showed.

Everyone’s expression was different, and Li Ye was shocked.

Just when the cyan light shone brightly, his heart beat violently, like a beating drum. His Dragon Qi roared to the sky, as if it wanted to break out of his body and follow the cyan light. It looked eager and excited, like being called by destiny or seeing the delicious food.

Li Ye encountered this change of his Dragon Qi for the first time. When he saw the Imperial Seal previously, his Dragon Qi had an anomaly as well, but it was far less intense and obvious.

Heaven and earth restored the original state, but everyone was still immersed in the shock brought by the anomaly. The Son of God flushed with excitement, and even the monkey looked different.

“What is that?” asked Li Ye.

The Son of God took a deep breath and tried to calm down. He seriously said, “The future of Tao of Heaven!”

...

The melodious bell was heard in the Immortal Court and spread to all directions from the Lingxiao Palace. The bell rang for eighty-one times before it stopped. The sound lingered.

Soon, numerous immortal officials came quickly from all directions and gathered outside the palace gate. There were senior officials in purple and junior officials in green.

“What has happened? The palace rang eighty-one bells to call on all the officials. This has not happened for a long time.” Feeling surprised, Gao Yan, the immortal general of the Tiankui City among 36 Tiangang, asked the people around him in a low voice.

“Who knows. It must be a big deal. Last time when the bell rang eighty-one times was the time when five barbarian tribes invaded to the south.” Huang Zhen, the immortal general of the Tiangang City, looked solemn.

“I heard that there was an anomaly in heaven and earth just now. Words showed on the sealed book in the Tianji pavilion, and the Luck of heaven revealed...” On the other side, Zhang Guolao, one of eight immortals, whispered to Lyu Dongbin.

Lyu Dongbin looked shocked. “Words showed on the sealed book?! What’s the instruction of Tao of Heaven?”

“I don’t know. Except for the immortal official who was on duty and the Immortal Emperor, no one can see the words on the sealed book.” Zhang Guolao shook his head and looked grave.

If the Taoist sect was the spokesman of the Immortal Court in the human world, then the Immortal Court was the spokesman of Tao of Heaven in heaven and earth, in charge of heaven and earth for Tao of Heaven.

Tao of Heaven was the most mysterious existence above everything. It had no shape or weight. It was the supreme law of the universe and couldn’t be grasped even by the saints.

All the immortal officials were whispering to each other and discussing it. Even God Taibai, Heavenly King Li, and the others, who near the palace gate, all looked solemn. While all the immortal officials were discussing it, these big shots could only make eye contact.

Soon, the guiding immortal official led everyone to enter the gate and come to the Lingxiao Palace. All the immortal officials stood in their places according to their positions. No one dared to talk here because the Immortal Emperor’s breath and pressure were coming out from the purple and golden clouds on the throne.

“Everyone,” the Immortal Emperor said slowly in a majestic tone. In the palace, the immortal officials concentrated on listening to instructions, bowing. “Words showed in the sealed book just now. Great Tao has shown, and the future has come.”

All the immortal officials were shocked as they heard this. Even Zhang Guolao, Lyu Dongbin, and the others, who had already known this, were shocked when they knew the rumor was the truth.

Every time when Tao of Heaven showed, it would reveal where the future and the Luck were and guide all the cultivators of heaven and earth to take action. Because of this, every time when Tao of Heaven showed, it meant that the real battle was about to begin. That was what the future had come to mean.

For the Immortal Court, such a battle was bound to bring great chaos, so the immortal officials always regarded it as a catastrophe. In this catastrophe, countless cultivators would die, and the immortal officials were no exception. After the catastrophe, it was the destruction of the old and the reconstruction of the new.

If the mortal heroes used the common people as tools to rule the world, then for Tao of Heaven, it used all living creatures as tools to rule the universe. Great Tao was ruthless. Below the saints, all were insects and all of them could die, whether they were immortals or not.

Great Tao was endless life and death and endless reincarnation.

In front of the will of Tao of Heaven and the catastrophe, the Immortal Court where the immortals gathered was not so great. Moreover, the Immortal Court was taken charge by the demon clan tens of millions of years ago, and it was not the inherent territory of the immortals of the Taoist sect.

The Immortal Emperor continued in a steady voice, “It concerns the big plan of heaven and earth, so we have to be careful. I have already asked Lord Lao Zi. He said to me that the Luck of heaven scattered into all corners of the world and converged to the Luck of the mortal empire. He who can get the Luck of heaven can get the future.”

After the Immortal Emperor finished speaking, the immortal officials were discussing it widely. Even the Immortal Emperor’s majesty couldn’t suppress their discussion. The palace was full of noise.

The so-called Luck of heaven represented the will of Tao of Heaven. Heaven and earth were one. It was nothing new for the Luck of heaven to converge to the Luck of the mortal empire. Otherwise, it was not necessary for the Immortal Court to control the great forces in the human world all the time.

But in the past, although the Luck of the human world would scatter as the collapse of an empire, the Luck of heaven would seldom scatter. If the emperor, who won the world, could gather the Luck, he could get the Luck of heaven. Then, the Luck would enter his body. He would become the True Dragon and was admitted by Tao of Heaven.

Since ancient times, the only time when the Luck of heaven scattered was in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.

Especially in the Warring States Period, five states had been competing for the hegemony for many years. Each of them occupied one piece of the Luck of heaven, so each one of them could probably become the True Dragon. That was also the only time that the Immortal Court lost control of the great forces in the human world. In the end, when the Qin Empire unified the world, the Taoist sect and the Immortal Court received a fatal blow and almost couldn’t exist.

Now, the Luck of heaven scattered again, so they couldn’t help but think of that catastrophe.

The Immortal Emperor snorted, and the immortal officials in the palace immediately remained silent. Then, he said slowly, “The first wisp of Luck of heaven is going to show in the human world. Lord Lao Zi predicted that it would land in Hedong. I think that all of you know the great forces in the human world. Here’s my order. Open the Kunlun passage. All the immortals descend to the human world, go to Hedong, get the Luck of heaven, and give it to the one chosen by the Immortal Court!”

...

In the Buddha realm, golden light shone widely.

Gautama Buddha sat high on the Buddhist altar. In front of him, Bodhisattvas stood in their places according to their positions, and 8,000 arhats stood behind them, all within the golden light.

Today, it was time to lecture. Gautama Buddha was expounding Buddhist doctrine, and his voice resounded through the Buddha realm, but he suddenly stopped and fell into meditation without any sign. The Bodhisattvas and arhats didn’t understand, but they didn’t dare to ask, so they wait in silence.

After a long time, Gautama Buddha opened his eyes, and golden light shone brightly on the lotus altar, as if the eyes of heaven were opened. Everyone couldn’t look directly at them.

As the Bodhisattvas and Buddhas watched, Gautama Buddha slowly said, “Great Tao has shown, and the Luck of heaven has scattered. The first one will fall on Hedong in the Tang Empire. “All the Buddhas descend to the human world and fight for it!”

When they heard this, golden light suddenly soared into the sky in the Buddha realm, and things couldn’t be seen clearly. It was the effect that all the immortal forces of Bodhisattvas and arhats burst out together.

The cultivators of the Taoist sect were free, easy, and unrestrained, while Buddhism was always well organized and rigidly regulated. At this moment, when they heard the news, no one dared to discuss it, but they burst out their immortal forces together to express their will.

...

Both Li Ye and the Son of God didn’t speak at this moment but turned to look at the monkey.

Among all the people, the monkey had the highest cultivation and was the most well-informed, so he was the only one who could understand what the anomaly was in front of them.

The monkey turned around and glanced at the Son of God. Finally, he looked at Li Ye. “Great Tao has shown, and the Luck of heaven has scattered. That’s all I know. But the first wisp of Luck of heaven will show in Hedong. If you aim at the world, you should prepare to send your troops to Hedong. But you have to be prepared because the Immortal Court and the Buddha realm won’t sit idly by and they will take action.”

Li Ye was a little stunned. With his knowledge, he understood what the Luck of heaven was, but he didn’t understand why the Buddha realm would get involved in it. “Could the Buddha realm also pry on Great Tao?”

“Tao that can be described is not universal and eternal Tao; name that can be named is not universal and eternal Name. The Taoist sect is in the name of Tao, while Buddhism is in the name of Buddha. That’s just a name. In the final analysis, all roads lead to the same destination.”

The monkey put his hands in his sleeves. “Buddha said, ‘Everything is the Buddhist doctrine, all living beings can be Buddhas, and the Buddhist doctrine can tell everything.’ But Buddha always added at the end that Buddha had said nothing. Whether Buddha has said nothing or not, you have to comprehend it by yourself. Whether the Buddhist doctrine or the Taoist doctrine, they are the exposition of Great Tao and the pursuit of Great Tao, just in different perspectives and ways. The universe and all the living creatures are within Great Tao, whether Buddhism or Taoism, witches or demons.”

Li Ye was silent. In this case, it was time to send troops to Hedong.

With this in mind, he glanced at the Son of God.