I Am God
Gongsun Chu, Shitou and Liaoliao all felt they were in danger the moment they met eyes with Tianhu. Tianhu looked the exact same as before he was floored and still doused himself in black energy, but who wouldn’t fear someone who had unlocked all five abilities of Five Apotheosis?
Nobody felt the change in Tianhu’s vibe more prominently than Liaoliao. His Karma Path’s warnings motivated him to brainstorm alternative strategies one after another because none of them led to a desirable outcome. As Tianhu pointed out, there wasn’t just one Karma Path. Whatever he could see, his opponent could see, as well.
“Do you care more about the past or future?”
As soon as Tianhu raised his head, Liaoliao’s illusion crumbled apart, revealing a bald head of squiggly, bulging green veins and eyes that should’ve been attached to a menacing fiend. Despite the difference in demeanour, his features were identical to the monk nearby. As expected, the appearance of the barbaric-looking monk erased the idyllic monk, showing that the idyllic monk was but an illusion. His “Lotus Every Step” discipline was one that operated on the principle of falsehoods and truths coexisting; the moment one saw the lotus, they were already in the illusion.
“No wonder you covet Nine Dragons Fire Jade. Shang Bieshi caught you good, didn’t he?” sarcastically questioned Tianhu.
There was no hiding the rage buried inside Liaoliao. Besides being seen through, the other source of his anger was the fact that he couldn’t work out how Tianhu found out about his compromised state.
The day Liaoliao chose to ambush Shang Bieshi after the latter’s duel against Wordless Sword Deity was an unforgettable day. Posing as Brilliant Broadsworder, he thought he’d be able to fool Shang Bieshi, but Shang Bieshi called him out as soon as they came to face to face and then tried to lecture him. Though Liaoliao managed to bind Shang Bieshi into his illusion, the latter still managed to do a number on him.
“You are still trapped,” Shang Bieshi’s last words, were akin to a curse that Liaoliao couldn’t stop repeating to himself. The fact that Shang Bieshi said them with a cudgel in hand made it seem as if he was a teacher trying to enlighten his student playfully. Ever since hearing those words, Liaoliao discovered he was missing a portion of Lotus Every Step’s mental cultivation whenever he cast it. He wouldn’t have been able to perform Lotus Every Step’s complete version without Tu Yunting and Cold Mountain Temple’s Unfettered Mental Cultivation, but Shang Bieshi’s last word virtually opened a whole in his perfect chamber, making it impossible for to ever perform the complete version since. As a result of using his own advanced training to forcibly execute the seven steps, he’d push himself to the point where all his veins came to the surface. Over time, the veins ended up becoming highly visible.
Due to the contrast between Unfettered Mental Cultivation and Lotus Every Step, the students Liaoliao taught the discipline to unanimously ended up emitting a nefarious aura whenever they utilised it. He, while looking stern and benevolent, reproached his disciples for being impure when he saw the fact, never realising how ominous it manifested when he himself performed it.
Despite his scowl, Liaoliao failed to intimidate. If anything, his wriggly veins might’ve disgusted his foe. “This old one shall exterminate you now!”
Liaoliao regrew his lotus underfoot, only this time, it was bigger than ever before. Though Tianhu had seen through his illusion, the fact that Lotus Every Step was a formidable skill remained ever the same. He had never had to take two consecutive steps until now, but that also meant that its power was multiple folds stronger than their last round.
“Why isn’t it a golden lotus?”
Tianhu’s question that came out of left field mentally rocked Liaoliao enough for the lotus he spawned to fade away. All three of them saw Tianhu move his hands, but none of them could tell exactly what he did to make the lotus wither.
Liaoliao clamped his teeth together. According to the inscription, Tu Yunting manifested golden a golden lotus each step, yet Liaoliao he was unable to. He initially attributed it to everyone’s Enlightenment being different until he still couldn’t spawn a single golden lotus no matter how much effort and time he invested. In other words, he went wrong from the beginning.
Tu Yunting truly embodied the upstanding honour of Buddhism and had no desire to shed blood or compete for glory. Lotus Each Step was designed to win without having to fight – an expression of benevolence. Liaoliao, in contrast, trained it with the intention of submitting all opposition. Had it not been for Unfettered Mental Cultivation supporting him, he never would’ve even spawned half of a lotus. Never in his wildest imaginations did he think Shang Bieshi would be able to figure out Unfettered Mental Cultivation. The incomplete skills, the countered mental cultivation and his wicked appearance were all pain points that Liaoliao never wanted to think about.
Liaoliao took the fifth and sixth steps to clear the obstacle before him, saving the seventh step for assassinating Emperor Yuansheng, which put him in a dilemma. He had already given himself away. If the plan failed, and Tianhu was still around, Cold Mountain Temple would inevitably be exterminated, which was an even worst fate. Thus, he manifested another lotus.
Lotuses were the purest and most sacred object in the three realms. It was a flower, a vegetable and seed all in one entity. It would wither and then rise again forever as though it ascended from the cycle of life and death. It could die in a breath and rise in the next breath.
“Boring,” droned Tianhu.
Liaoliao couldn’t even remember when was the last time he got hurt. It had been ages since there was someone with eyes and a body fast enough to stop him. He saw Tianhu wave his arm in front of him at close range, but he already found himself on the ground before he could tell what Tianhu specifically did. Liaoliao tried to bounce back up to his feet instantly, and he would’ve been able to had it not been for the blood that suddenly burst from his mouth. By the time he processed the thought of stopping the gasping, his hands had already covered his face, informing him they were covered in blood and that his blood already stained the ground. At the same time, Tianhu was already a good 30 metres away. His attempt at healing through Stillvoid failed, too.
Liaoliao: I knew it. He’s grasped the principles.
Panting, Liaoliao struggled to his feet. He felt he finally caught a glimpse of the truth Tianhu tried to hide. He was now sure that Tianhu not only comprehended the principles, but he was also able to coexist with them. He saw Tianhu as something other than a human being. After all, there was a red tinge that resembled blood.
“We need to fight him together, or we’ll all perish here!” There was no need for Liaoliao to yell, but it was instinctive, an instinctive reaction to calm his frayed nerves.
Liaoliao didn’t intend to count on Gongsun Chu, but there was hope since Shitou had his limiter unlocked, and he himself together with Shitou were a menace.
Liaoliao summoned back two lotuses to absorb the energy they absorbed from Shitou. Shitou unleashed over a dozen attacks on Tianhu within seconds, making sure to cover himself at the same time he attacked, thereby forcing Tianhu to dismantle each attack. Gongsun Chu joined Shitou, letting his sword go without reserve. Liaoliao recited his scripture to mobilise his green lotus at high speed, but the lotus was unable to contribute meaningfully.
I’ve already absorbed his internal energy into the lotus, so why…?
There were no distinct movements between Shitou and Tianhu. Periodically, Tianhu would smack Gongsun Chu metres away whilst keeping his duel against Shitou going effortlessly. It took a while for them to realise Tianhu was only using one arm.
“Countries. People. Ambitions… Subduing demons. Protecting justice,” mumbled Tianhu, manifesting a spear. “Which one of you honestly believes he has what it takes to stop true evil when it descends?”
There was no energy collision. The black energy shrouded the blue flames, green lotus and crimson sword qi the instant they showed themselves.
“I’d like to see you try.” Tianhu disengaged via his black energy, then swept his gaze over the three spewing blood and breathing laboriously. “Give me your lives.”
It wasn’t their fast time seeing a black energy spear, but there was a golden glow coiling around it that never existed in previous iterations. The black energy was Enlightenment, and the golden energy was Enlightenment, too. They had every reason to feel apprehensive about the strongest energy of justice and the most dreadful energy of evil. There were no questions left regarding why they couldn’t win.
While the trio was contemplating, Tianhu transformed the spear into a mist of black energy, dispersed it and then converted it into a field of sorts. The golden energy followed suite, enveloping the black energy within, compressed it and refined it. The black energy would expand and then get compressed. It was as if the golden energy was the blacksmith and the black energy the metal. When the end product was released, the trio continued to fight, but it was solely because they had no means of escaping. The size of the blackness was something that not even Liaoliao was sure he could house inside his lotuses.
The spear tip pierced the trio simultaneously. Their fates were all but sealed from the moment Tianhu returned to the realm of man.
Tianhu erased his spear and watched the illusion’s layers fall apart. He was devoid of any joy for there was no joy to be harvested from carrying out what was inevitable. Like the moon, he was in a vast world but without anyone who could quell his loneliness.
“Who exactly are you?!” roared the floored monk. He wouldn’t be able to rest in peace if he didn’t know the answer by the time he died. More specifically, he wanted to know why someone so powerful would serve the imperial court.
Keeping his gaze on the horizon, Tianhu turned his head towards Liaoliao. “I judge all living beings. I stand above all living beings.”
Tianhu pointed to the ether. As if answering a call, the moon shone a single ray onto him.
“God.”
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