Heaven-Defying Rebel Sage
Chapter 233 - 226: Nirvana Without Cutting Off Obsessions

Chapter 233: Chapter 226: Nirvana Without Cutting Off Obsessions

As the Nether River Patriarch attempted to seize the Victorious Fighting Buddha’s plain-colored Cloud Boundary Flag, a beam of golden light suddenly burst forth from the Victorious Fighting Buddha’s abdomen, revealing the Great Dao Golden Lotus!

This golden lotus, refined by the Slaying Immortals Sword Formation, had become perfectly smooth and translucent. Moreover, it had absorbed the murderous aura of the Slaying Immortal Four Swords, turning it into an extremely formidable Magical Treasure. In an instant, the golden lotus rushed before the myriad flagpoles as the Three Thousand Dao Marks trembled in unison. The Dao of Mountains and Rivers, the Dao of Societies, the Path of the Red Dust, the Dao of Slaughter, the Dao of the Five Elements... all manner of Great Paths suddenly manifested, creating a dazzling spectacle akin to a fireworks display.

The Three Thousand Great Paths pressed down altogether, and the Xuan Yuan Water Control Banner could no longer bear the burden. It was forced apart by the Three Thousand Great Paths, and the remaining Eight Divisions of Heavenly Dragons flags naturally could not withstand the suppression of the Three Thousand Great Paths and retreated as well. However, the Yaksha Banner was a step too slow and was brutally torn apart by the Three Thousand Great Paths, exploding into a cloud of dust with a "bang".

"How has Ling Weiyang’s Chaos Green Lotus turned to gold? And what’s with these three faces and their Three Thousand Dao Marks?" The Nether River Patriarch couldn’t help but be shocked. The power of this magical treasure was terrifying, as it had forced open the Xuan Yuan Water Control Banner and all the Eight Divisions of Heavenly Dragons flags and even destroyed the Yaksha Banner.

The Victorious Fighting Buddha withdrew his plain-colored Cloud Boundary Flag, grabbed his Buddha Beating Staff, and charged forward to continue his fierce battle with the Nether River Patriarch.

The Nether River Patriarch wielded twin swords, each carrying a blood-red aura that flashed crimson as they swiped through the air, emitting a thick stench of blood.

The two fought intensely, with no fancy maneuvers. Every strike was a direct collision, sparking and chipping the Buddha Beating Staff with small nicks from the cuts of the Yuan Tu and Abi Divine Swords. They would certainly need to be re-cultivated later to recover their former state.

Suddenly, the Great Dao Golden Lotus was raised. The Three Thousand Great Paths manifested in an instant, aiming to surround the Nether River Patriarch. Knowing the formidable power of the Three Thousand Great Paths, he immediately used the Blood Shadow Evasion Technique to escape.

"I embody the heavens and the earth, Demon God Dharma Body!" the Nether River Patriarch bellowed in anger, his body quickly stretching skyward, reaching a height of ten thousand Zhang.

"Victorious Fighting Buddha, spanning the heavens and piercing the earth!" The Victorious Fighting Buddha also formed a Dharma Seal, his body stretching nine thousand Zhang, still a notch shorter than the Nether River Patriarch.

The twin Divine Swords in the hands of the Nether River Patriarch also grew immeasurably large, as if he was wielding two mountain peaks in battle, yet his movements remained incredibly swift. The Victorious Fighting Buddha, on the other hand, used the Eastern Emperor Bell to fight, unleashing Chaos Sword Qi in a relentless clash with the Divine Swords, generating waves of sonic booms that slightly dizzy the Primordial Spirit of the Nether River Patriarch, putting him at a slight disadvantage.

However, the Nether River Patriarch was decisive, transforming the Blood God Child clones into Divine Thunders and hurling them at the Victorious Fighting Buddha, causing him some trouble as well.

The two titanic figures, one wielding a bell and the other wielding swords, fought fiercely, causing thunderous explosions with their combat, and for a time no clear victor emerged. It was a contest of mana and will. Whoever grew impatient in the battle, yearning too eagerly for victory, was bound to reveal a flaw and suffer a blow from either the bell or the sword, and that would surely bring enough agony.

"Karmic Fire scorches the heavens!" The Nether River Patriarch parried the Eastern Emperor Bell with his sword, and a Karmic Fire Lotus Platform manifested, unleashing endless Karmic Fire that fell towards the Victorious Fighting Buddha.

Embracing the Eastern Emperor Bell firmly, the Victorious Fighting Buddha chuckled and said, "Karmic Fire, merely a minor trick! Do you think I’m as useless as that Tathagata, to be harmed by Karmic Fire? "

Without heeding the fire that began to burn upon him, the Victorious Fighting Buddha seemed oblivious as he continued to send out waves of Chaos Sword Qi with the bell to strike the Nether River Patriarch. The Victorious Fighting Buddha had achieved the True Buddha state, lacking only the lineage. Once he could send all the Buddhas of Spiritual Mount to the Deification Platform and establish the Ultimate Bliss World, he would be recognized as the rightful Buddha by all. Having become the Buddha and grasping the true essence of the Buddhist Family, he was naturally devoid of Karmic Force; thus, the Karmic Fire could not touch him.

Repeating his previous tactic, the Nether River Patriarch thrust the lotus platform swiftly towards the Victorious Fighting Buddha’s back of the head.

Without looking back, the Victorious Fighting Buddha swiftly turned around, encased himself in the Eastern Emperor Bell, and rammed it heavily against the lotus platform, creating a thunderous clang that sent it flying off course.

Seizing the opportunity, the Nether River Patriarch thrust and slashed with his swords, but the Victorious Fighting Buddha deftly bent backward in an iron bridge move followed by "glancing at the moon" as he lifted the Eastern Emperor Bell upwards, targeting the Nether River Patriarch’s jaw.

The Nether River Patriarch swiftly pressed his swords downward to counter, and the Victorious Fighting Buddha twisted his body back into position, fiercely colliding with the descending swords.

"Clang, clang!"

The bell’s reverberations spread, numbing one’s eardrums as if they might burst at any moment. Chaos Sword Qi was unleashed, and the Nether River Patriarch, in a ruthless move, sent his four hundred million Blood God Child avatars swarming out of his robes toward the Victorious Fighting Buddha.

With a vicious glint in his eye, the Nether River Patriarch shouted, "Blood Shadow Turns into Thunder!"

Upon this sudden onslaught, over a hundred million Blood God Child avatars detonated!

The Victorious Fighting Buddha was shocked. Was the Nether River Patriarch really using such a tactic to decide the outcome of the battle? This explosive self-sacrifice of one hundred million Blood God Child avatars was truly terrifying. Golden Immortals on both sides hastily raised their magical treasures to block the dreadful shockwave, struggling to contain it. It was clear that anyone in the epicenter of that explosion would endure a horrifying fate; even Wu Zhiqi, known for his physical strength, would be instantly reduced to dust.

"The Nether River Patriarch is actually settling the battle with such a method? Detonating his Blood God Child avatars," said the Ksitigarbha King with a solemn expression, deploying his "Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva Pūrvapraṇidhāna Sūtra" in front of the formation to block the detonation’s extensive aftermath.

"This battle is simply too terrible, the Nether River Patriarch and Wukong possess such power," Kong Xuan remarked, his face grim as he lifted the Ginseng Fruit Tree and produced Five-Colored Divine Light to fend off the explosive shockwave.

Di Jiang, with an air of gravitas, said, "Such an explosion—even our Ancestral Witch bodies would be torn apart and take many years to recover."

Gonggong commented, "That Victorious Fighting Buddha has the Eastern Emperor Bell in hand, I wonder if it can protect him."

Just as Nether River Patriarch blew apart the Blood God Child’s avatar, Victorious Fighting Buddha also activated the Eastern Emperor Bell to protect himself with Chaos Sword Qi, but he was still shaken by the mad explosions until his internal organs bled, and immediately blood flowed from all seven of his orifices. Nether River Patriarch did not stop; after exploding a hundred million Blood God Child avatars, he waved his hand and summoned another hundred million. Every ten million formed a group, and each group exploded beside Victorious Fighting Buddha in succession.

"Boom! Boom!!"

The Victorious Fighting Light on Victorious Fighting Buddha’s body that defended against the Blood God Child was engulfed by endless blood, and the Chaos Sword Qi was also shattering.

It was at this moment that Victorious Fighting Buddha seemed to have an epiphany, he murmured, "Obsession... so it is in such a crucial moment that obsession should be slashed away?"

He transformed into Victorious Fighting Buddha, and this Victorious Fighting Buddha was his final obsession. As long as he could cut it off, his cultivation level would greatly increase. Although he could not yet become a Saint due to the unfulfilled great vows, his combat power would undoubtedly rise to just below that of a Saint, and capturing Nether River Patriarch would be as easy as snapping his fingers.

"Obsession... oneself!"

The pupils of Victorious Fighting Buddha narrowed slightly, and the Eastern Emperor Bell trembled. The only thing left in his head was the bell’s ringing.

"No!"

The kasaya, Five-Buddha Crown, Buddha Beads, and so on, on Victorious Fighting Buddha’s body slowly disappeared, revealing Wukong’s true form. He held on to the Eastern Emperor Bell with difficulty, but the scene before his eyes kept changing rapidly.

"Zixia, and Xuan Ming, even Xiao Qing... the heaviest obsession is for emotions. By severing my own obsessions, what I’m really cutting off is emotions!" Wukong saw it clearly; if he cut off his obsessions, he would forget about them. Even if he saw them again, remembered them again, he would no longer feel a throbbing heart.

The Buddha says, "Cutting off love brings one close to Nirvana." In Wukong’s view, this was bullshit. Anything that suppressed one’s true heart was bullshit!

Wukong thought to himself, "If I sever my obsession, then I’m no longer Wukong, but Victorious Fighting Buddha. Where would Wukong go? Although Victorious Fighting Buddha is me... this is, damn, such a contradiction!" Wukong only felt a headache. Severing obsession was something that could be done in a blink of an eye, solving all crises, but he kept hesitating, "No, I am me, I am Wukong! I am the one who understood through the empty gate, not the one who achieved understanding of the empty gate! If I sever my obsession, I would still be taking the path of a false Buddha, suppressing my true heart."

"They’ve done so much for me; how can I, for my own benefit, ruthlessly cut them off?"

Kong Xuan exclaimed in surprise, "What is he doing?"

Ksitigarbha King also showed a look of astonishment and slowly uttered two words, "Understanding the Dao!"

Everyone was shocked. At such a critical moment, he was actually understanding the Dao. Wasn’t he afraid that these Divine Thunders would blast him to ash? With such a ferocious onslaught from Nether River Patriarch, a million Blood God Child turned into a group of Divine Thunder that fell, and after one group exploded, it would take the time it takes to drink a cup of tea to recover, and there were still over ninety groups of Divine Thunder to come. If no solution was found, he would eventually be blown to death alive by the Blood God Child Divine Thunder of Nether River Patriarch.

Nether River Patriarch laughed maniacally, "Sun Wukong, this time you will either die or lose half your life! Tangling with this old patriarch, you’re still too green."

Blood God Child avatars exploded one after another, a continuous stream, covering the sky with blood.

The explosions reached the Nine Heavens, and the shockwaves from the explosions spread, causing even the Western Heavenly Gate of Heavenly Court to tremble.

"How formidable Nether River is!" the crowd couldn’t help thinking.

Kong Xuan was even more afraid; if it was him facing Nether River, he feared he would meet a terrible end.

Nether River couldn’t help but shout loudly, "Sun Wukong, if you kneel down and obediently call me ancestor, I will spare your life! Haha, haha, are you willing?"

Suddenly, Nether River saw flames gradually rising from Wukong who was holding the Eastern Emperor Bell, flames of seven colors.

The fire slowly burned, spreading over his entire body.

"Could it be deviating into madness?" Nether River thought to himself.

The seven-colored flames grew more and more fierce. Only then did Nether River realize the clues, thinking, "No good, this is the Seven-Colored Nirvana Fire of the Seven-Colored Undying Phoenix!"

Wukong thought to himself, "In this life, I won’t sever my obsessions! If it is the persistence in my own heart, cutting it off by force would go against my true nature, wouldn’t it?" And with that thought, he became clear and shouted loudly, "Great Nirvana Technique!"

Seven-colored flames surged, covering the sky as Wukong executed the Great Nirvana Technique taught by the Seven-Colored Undying Phoenix!

As to whether this would bring fortune or calamity, please tune in to the next Chapter to find out. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please support the author by voting with recommendation tickets and monthly tickets at qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read at m.qidian.com.) (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please support the author by voting with recommendation tickets and monthly tickets at qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read at m.qidian.com.)