The Battle in Journey to the West
Chapter 303 - 266: The Three Emperors of the Flaming Cloud Cave Manifest_3

Chapter 303: Chapter 266: The Three Emperors of the Flaming Cloud Cave Manifest_3

Shennong pointed at the Hundred Herbs Cauldron, and immediately, the great cauldron flew over, landing in his hand and radiating an ancient brilliance, as if it could suppress heaven and earth.

"Good, good, good, Chi Songzi, you indeed have great boldness, to actually gain the trust of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors and have all your life’s Magical Treasures entrusted to you, displaying their power all at once at this time!" When Tathagata saw this scene, his heart was also greatly shocked. He thought the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors had completely disappeared during the Middle Ancient Times, but he did not expect them to manifest now, blocking All Buddhas.

Creators, Quasi-Saints, and Semi-Saint level masters stood in the void, confronting each other. Even Ming River dared not be arrogant anymore. He belonged to no side and was weakest. If he were to be attacked by all, he might not even leave ashes behind.

Zhuanxu sneered, "Tathagata, you have signed the Journey to the West agreement with the Daoist sect, agreeing that all losses are irretrievable. Yet now you mobilize All Buddhas. Do you intend to tear up the agreement?"

The eternally enduring wills of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors—how could they be unaware of the major events occurring in this world? Although the agreement between Buddhism and Daoism was secret, many powerful figures were aware of it.

With a somber expression, Tathagata said, "Chi Songzi killed Maitreya, the Future Buddha of our Buddhist sect. How can we let this go?"

Chi Songzi, however, cursed, "If it weren’t for Maitreya bullying the weak, oppressing my disciple, even attempting to snatch Shennong’s Magical Treasure, how could I have acted? In terms of righteousness, you are the one who is wrong."

All parties have since ceased hostilities. With so many masters present, to continue fighting would be an unwise choice. Even Kong Xuan and Shiqi Buddha retreated into the ranks of the Buddhist sect.

Hundreds of Buddhas descended from the Buddhist sect, with continuous sounds of chanting in the air and auspicious omens appearing, a magnificent sight to behold.

The Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors manifested, towering as if connecting heaven and earth, with the faith of the Human Clan gathered, creating an equally shocking spectacle.

Wukong couldn’t help but inwardly exclaim, "This is bad. I had Enlightenment Dao come to kill the Great Mighty Celestial Dragon Bodhisattva, but I never thought it would draw so many masters out! Even the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors of the Human Clan have appeared."

This time, it was the Daoist sect that benefited the most without any losses. The Buddhist sect, on the other hand, lost two Bodhisattvas and one Future Buddha. However, the Daoist sect had no conflicts with these ancient existences and could be said to share a common enemy.

Coldly, Tathagata said, "Your disciple killed a Buddhist Bodhisattva. It was right for Maitreya to act!"

But Enlightenment Dao laughed, "Mahoraga bullied my brother’s wife, so it was right for me to act!"

In the end, Tathagata didn’t have the advantage in reasoning.

The Scripture Seeker was part of the Buddhist side. Unable to cross Flame Mountain, they went to the Daoist Princess Iron Fan to borrow her fan. Princess Iron Fan refused to lend it, and a fight broke out, leaving casualties. The Buddhist sect then sent Kong Xuan and others to avenge Lingji Bodhisattva, resulting in a stalemate. Then, the Daoist side sent reinforcements to kill the Buddhist high ranks. Buddhism sent Maitreya to kill Enlightenment Dao, who was a disciple of Chi Songzi... Tracing this chain of causality, the Buddhist side was unreasonable.

"This Flame Mountain, if you are capable, then cross it on your own. Why come to borrow my fan? When I refuse to lend it, you send powerful figures to rob it? Pure bandits! And you still profess to be compassionate, pah!" Princess Iron Fan sneered coldly.

The Buddhist Bodhisattvas and Buddhas were so enraged that the Three Corpses Deity within them was jumping mad, yet they also knew the reasoning was not on their side, leaving them speechless against Princess Iron Fan’s scolding.

This Princess Iron Fan was quite the shrew, no matter if you were the Buddha Ancestor or a Bodhisattva, as long as you dared come, she would dare to curse!

Fuxi said in a deep voice, "Since that’s the case, this cause and effect all started because of the Buddhist Scripture Seeker. Without it, such a great calamity would not have ensued. Tathagata, if you are seeking trouble, then you can only find it with the Scripture Seeker, but then again, that is one of your own."

Tathagata felt extremely frustrated inside and truly wanted to go forward and fight with them right then and there, but if they started fighting, the Buddhist Way would surely crumble untold, and then how could he confuse the fortunes of the Southern Toad Continent and stir chaos in the Heavenly Dao’s fortune, to bring about the great catastrophe? Without a bit of endurance, he would throw the greater scheme into disarray.

Ming River saw both sides starting to shirk responsibility and knew things didn’t bode well, let out a long laugh, and turned into a streak of blood light to escape.

Ran Deng shouted, "Where do you think you’re going!"

The Sea-Calming Pearl was unleashed, but it only managed to obliterate a few hundred of Ming River’s forty-eight million Blood God Child avatars, which for Ming River was just a drop in the bucket.

Ming River was a smart man, knowing that as these two parties calculated back and forth, the Buddhist sect’s anger might eventually be directed at him. After all, it was he who blocked Tathagata’s action that resulted in Maitreya’s death at the hands of Chi Songzi, making him one of the principal culprits of Maitreya’s demise. With the Buddhist sect now quarreling with Chi Songzi’s side, he feared that once they remembered him, they would attack as one. Facing so many creators, even as a strong Quasi-Saint, it would be tough on him.

Tathagata, seeing Ming River leave, then remembered there was such a principal culprit. He had been intimidated by the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors and now regretted letting Ming River escape.

Tathagata sneered, "Very well, very well! Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, you’ve done splendidly! When the great catastrophe of heaven and earth occurs, and order collapses, let’s see if you can still be so arrogant!"

Tathagata felt anger in his heart, but had no place to vent it; he was incredibly stifled, and could only let out a few harsh words. If it weren’t for the grand strategy of the Various Heavens, even if the opponent were the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, he would have fought them!

"Let’s go!"

Tathagata said harshly. All Buddhas, although reluctant, knew the situation was beyond salvation; after all, they were not in the right.

When one side is stronger than the other, it simply crushes the other without reason; the might of a fist is reason enough. When the forces are evenly matched, that’s when reason comes into play, and the side in the wrong will back off. Moreover, if these two sides were to fight, Daoism would not sit by and watch idly. High-level experts would emerge together, and the Buddhist sect would inevitably suffer a great loss of vitality, let alone spread The Way.

Fuxi and the others also sighed in relief. Now was not the time to clash head-on with the Buddhist sect. Seeing that All Buddhas had retreated back to Mount Meru, their bodies also disappeared.

Manifesting was incredibly costly in terms of Incense Power and Wishes, something accumulated since Ancient Times, diminishing with every use.

A great crisis had been averted by the Human Clan’s Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, while Ming River who had been struck a stealthy blow, escaped back to the Netherworld Blood Sea. Tathagata had no recourse but to swallow this huge frustration.

At that moment, the Ox Demon King’s Chi You Armor suddenly cracked, shattering. His battle armor, which had been repaired, had already been through a fight with the Buddha of Immeasurable Life and now couldn’t withstand the shock from the aura of the Xuanyuan Sword, his archenemy.

To know what happens next, please await the next installment.

PS: Combined Chapters (to be continued. If you like this work, we welcome you to vote for it at Starting Point (qidian.com) with Recommendation Tickets and Monthly Tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read at m.qidian.com.)