The Strongest Mythical Emperor
Chapter 281: Tathāgata Budda

Chapter 281: Chapter 281: Tathāgata Budda

"Bald donkey, are you freaking tracking me?"

Qin Jun’s forehead throbbed with a bulging vein as he asked with an unfriendly tone, clearly having no fondness for Sang Liang.

After landing on the grass, Sang Liang stood and dusted off his backside with a laugh. "How could that be? Your men are so strong; if I had been tracking you, they would’ve noticed long ago."

Qin Jun curled his lip, contemplating whether to eradicate this fellow, as he always felt that Sang Liang was up to no good.

The monks in the lawless lands are all no good—how could a truly compassionate monk come here?

"There’s a legend about the Valley of Death, do you want to know it, Young Master Jun Qing?" Sang Liang walked over with a smile, casting a look of wonder at Yuan Hong as he clicked his tongue. "It’s rare for members of the Demon Clan to cultivate to this level, and they usually have high self-esteem. I never expected you to associate with a member of the Human Clan so much weaker than you."

Though Yuan Hong looked human, he had white fur on the backs of his hands, neck, and face—anyone could tell he was a monkey that had attained a spirit’s enlightenment.

Facing Sang Liang’s provocation, Yuan Hong remained indifferent. Qin Jun, slightly impatient, said, "If you have something to say, say it, don’t beat around the bush!"

Valley of Death had its prohibitions, and even Lei Zhenzi and Yuan Hong couldn’t penetrate them with their Divine Consciousness, indicating a formidable origin.

Perhaps this was also why the Abyss Sect had set up a sub-division here.

"It is said that a long time ago, a demon rampaged across the Southern Domain, without respect for laws and morals, even outraging the monks of the Demonic Dao, leading both the righteous and demonic paths to join forces and suppress it here, within Valley of Death—the place of the demon’s imprisonment," Sang Liang said with a smirk, but his tone made it hard to take his words seriously.

Keep making stuff up!

If the legend was true, would the Abyss Sect set up a sub-division here just to find death?

Qin Jun couldn’t help but sneer, but suddenly a thought crossed his mind: could it be that the Abyss Sect’s goal was actually the demon from the legend of Valley of Death?

Of course, he didn’t ponder too much. Since the Abyss Sect’s sub-division was able to send messages back to the Bone Eroding Tribulation, it meant that they hadn’t been killed by the demon, or perhaps there was no demon legend at all.

"What are you doing here?" Qin Jun asked with a deep voice, not wanting to reveal the existence of Black and White Impermanence to Sang Liang.

The underworld is but a legend to most cultivators.

"The Buddha said, ’It is better not to speak.’" Sang Liang chuckled wickedly.

Qin Jun rolled his eyes and said, "Which Buddha said that? How come I’ve never heard of it?"

"Of course, it was the Tathāgata!" Sang Liang said with a face full of reverence. At those words, Qin Jun’s expression changed dramatically.

The Tathāgata!

Wasn’t that the Buddhist bigwig from ’Journey to the West’ who suppressed the Supreme Heaven Great Sage?

Just as Qin Jun was about to ask more, Sang Liang turned and walked towards the Valley of Death, reciting a mix of Buddhist and Daoist verses as he went.

"System, could the Tathāgata be one of those five God and Demons who’ve arrived early?" Qin Jun quickly inquired in his mind.

According to the system, when Qin Jun’s current body was born, he had already crossed over, meaning he’d been there for nearly seventeen years, of which Fa Hai and Li were two.

Demon King of Bull might also be one of them, but when he asked Red Boy, Red Boy always gave ambiguous answers.

Now, with the Tathāgata appearing, Qin Jun was overwhelmed.

It can’t be helped; the Tathāgata’s deterrent power was simply too strong!

"Anything is possible," the system responded. "If the host hasn’t summoned the early arriving God and Demons, then the host can’t control them, and they might even become enemies."

Just the thought of being an enemy to the Tathāgata gave Qin Jun a massive headache.

It seems in the future, one must not offend Buddhism lightly.

That was the only plan Qin Jun could conceive. Lei Zhenzi and Yuan Hong were nothing compared to the Tathāgata.

Seeing Qin Jun seemed preoccupied, Liu Bowen couldn’t help but ask, "Does Your Majesty know about this Tathāgata?"

Qin Jun’s complexion had changed as soon as Sang Liang mentioned the Tathāgata—a first for Liu Bowen to witness, seeing that even when facing the Abyss Sect, Qin Jun had not flinched, which showed the Tathāgata’s importance in Qin Jun’s heart was even higher than the Abyss Sect’s.

"It’s nothing," Qin Jun chuckled and shook his head. Even if he hyped up the Tathāgata, neither Yuan Hong nor Lei Zhenzi would probably care, rather, it might provoke them into challenging the Tathāgata.

Joking aside, even Sun Wukong who caused havoc in Heaven was suppressed on the ground by the Tathāgata, Qin Jun’s subordinates couldn’t compare to that.

Of course, there are also claims that Sun Wukong’s havoc in Heaven was all a conspiracy, that Heaven was putting on an act, but who would want to embarrass themselves like that?

The Jade Emperor might have hidden his true combat strength, and other powerful figures like the Grand Supreme Elderly Lord didn’t get involved, but Sun Wukong’s power was definitely real. Setting aside the powerful figures, no one in Heaven could really handle Sun Wukong.

While Qin Jun was being disturbed by the Tathāgata, Black and White Impermanence returned.

Liu Bowen and the others looked at each other in surprise. The two Ghost Kings had only left for a moment—could it be that they had already located the Abyss Sect’s sub-division?

"Your Majesty, please come with us!"

Black Impermanence said with a sinister grin, his tongue flicking across his face as he spoke, making Liu Bowen and the others instinctively frown.

Qin Jun nodded, trusting in the abilities of Black and White Impermanence.

The Yin and Yang Escape Technique allowed Black and White Impermanence to travel freely between the realms of the living and the dead, and with their perennial duties of reaping souls and capturing ghosts, their tracking and investigation skills were indeed second to none.

The group made their way into the Valley of Death.

Proceeding along the gorge, Qin Jun noticed an abundance of plant life inside, but there wasn’t a single demon beast in sight, not even insects were common.

The air was filled with dampness. After walking only a few hundred meters, Qin Jun’s head was covered in dewdrops. Suddenly, he glimpsed a vine in the roadside thicket slithering away like a snake.

It seems Valley of Death truly is no ordinary place.

Boom—

Just then, a rumbling sound came from ahead, accompanied by the distant sound of angry cursing, indicating there was a battle happening up front.

However, Qin Jun and the others were not concerned. Yuan Hong, carrying a Fine Iron Rod, laughed and said, "A young cultivator from the Transforming Void Realm is fighting a group of Ascending Mortal Realm cultivators."

Transforming Void Realm?

Qin Jun immediately lost interest. Although he was only at the eighth layer of the Ascending Mortal Realm, the Transforming Void Realm truly wasn’t in his sights.

He had subordinates from the Earth Immortal Realm, Immortal Realm, True Immortal Realm, and even Golden Immortal Realm; how could he be concerned with a Transforming Void Realm cultivator?

They quickly rounded a turn in the gorge and saw a group of people engaging in a chaotic battle about three hundred meters ahead—more precisely, several dozen cultivators were besieging a young man in black, and there were numerous bodies on the ground.

The young man in black had a stern face and was holding a longsword two fingers wide. His rapid movements almost produced afterimages as he dodged spells from other cultivators, and with each swing of his sword, countless sword shadows surrounded him. When he thrust out his sword, the shadows fell like torrential rain, creating explosions upon hitting the ground, blowing enemies away and shaking the earth.

Qin Jun raised his eyebrows. The young man in black was strong—even he couldn’t see through the young man’s movements.

If it were only a matter of cultivation level, that would still be manageable, but he could see that the young man was quite youthful—could he be one of the prodigies on the Human Rankings?

After all, there weren’t many who had reached the Transforming Void Realm on the Human Rankings.