Gu Hai quickly left the Spirit Mountain Holy Land with Kong Xuan.
Kong Xuan still had plenty of injuries and the Present Buddha’s seal. However, he did not need Gu Hai to treat him while they traveled. He could break the seal and recover from his injuries on his own.
The two stopped in a forest.
“Your Reverence, many thanks for taking action. Kong Xuan has brought trouble to the Han Imperial Dynasty,” Kong Xuan said bitterly.
Now, Kong Xuan fully accepted Gu Hai. This was already the second time Gu Hai had rescued him. Gu Hai had even fallen out with the Spirit Mountain Holy Land because of him, placing the Han Imperial Dynasty in a dangerous position.
“There’s no need to worry. Since we dared to save you today, we were already prepared for the Spirit Mountain Holy Land’s retaliation.” Gu Hai smiled.
“But—”
“The Spirit Mountain Holy Land is in the west while the Han Imperial Dynasty is in the northeast. A great distance separates us. Aside from the Three Lives Buddhas, would anyone else from the Spirit Mountain Holy Land dare to come to the Han Nation to cause trouble?” Gu Hai interjected.
After the commotion Kong Xuan caused, the regular buddhas, bodhisattvas, and arhats would not dare to act independently.
“Even if the Three Lives Buddhas came, it would not be a big deal. We have the power of the Han Nation. Nothing will happen,” Gu Hai added, still smiling.
Kong Xuan frowned slightly. The Present Buddha is simply too powerful. Even if Gu Hai uses the power of his nation, perhaps he still might not… However, since Gu Hai had already gone this far, there was no point in Kong Xuan refuting him.
“Your Reverence, rest assured. If the Three Lives Buddhas come to the Han Imperial Dynasty, this subject will go and consume everything of the Spirit Mountain Holy Land again. As long as the Three Lives Buddhas do not remain behind to guard the Spirit Mountain Holy Land, this subject will destroy it!” Kong Xuan declared.
Gu Hai nodded with a faint smile.
Whoosh!
A bat flew over from a distance and took on Chang Ming’s appearance.
“Your Reverence, this official has not let down your expectations,” Chang Ming reported with a smile.
Chang Ming took out a mountain of books.
“These are…Buddhist scriptures?” Kong Xuan said with a frown.
“That’s right. While His Reverence faced the Present Buddha, I sneaked into the Spirit Mountain Holy Land and retrieved them,” Chang Ming said with a smile.
“However, what is the use of these Buddhist scriptures?” Kong Xuan asked in confusion.
“One can correct one’s faults by observing the faults of others.” Gu Hai shook his head as he put these books away.
Although Earth’s Gautama Buddha had passed some secret techniques to Gu Hai, it would be impossible for everything to be the same between the Present Buddha and Earth’s Gautama Buddha; there would be many differences. Perhaps these Buddhist scriptures might not record any profound cultivation techniques, but they would record some of the Three Lives Buddhas’ miraculous deeds. Since he would be fighting them sooner or later, he needed to prepare for them.
“How goes the planting of the zither puppets?” Gu Hai asked.
“This matter is of the utmost grave importance. Naturally, this subject does not dare be careless. We buried some in the depths of certain important halls. Hopefully, the Spirit Mountain Holy Land will not discover them,” Chang Ming replied seriously.
Gu Hai nodded.
“What zither puppets?” Kong Xuan asked out of curiosity.
“They are things that can be used for eavesdropping. That will make it easy for us to surveil the Spirit Mountain Holy Land,” Chang Ming explained.
“Oh?” Kong Xuan felt slightly startled.
“Your Reverence, this official is worried that those zither puppets will be discovered sooner or later,” Chang Ming said uneasily.
“If we can monitor them for only a while, then so be it. Let’s go. Let’s see how Shangguan Hen is doing.” Gu Hai smiled.
Whoosh!
The three immediately turned into three beams of light shooting into the distance.
After some time, they arrived where they sent Sun Wukong away.
The battle had already ended, and the place was in shambles.
“Your Reverence!” Shangguan Hen and Ao Shun flew over.
“Where is Di Shitian?” Gu Hai asked.
“After fighting for a long time, we could not determine a victor, so Di Shitian left,” Shangguan Hen said, forcing a smile.
“I did not stop him, either,” Ao Shun said with a bitter smile.
“Never mind. That Di Shitian is a ruthless and ambitious character. Naturally, he knows when to press forward and when to beat a retreat. Let’s immediately return to Borderless Heavenly Capital,” Gu Hai said.
“Yes!”
Whoosh!
The five turned into beams of light vanishing into the horizon.
Three days later, Hall of Great Strength, Spirit Mountain Holy Land:
Buzz!
Black energy emerged from the Future Buddha’s body after the Present Buddha executed a technique. The Future Buddha trembled and suddenly relaxed.
“Many thanks, Lord Buddha. I feel much better already!” The Future Buddha smiled bitterly.
The Past Buddha, Di Shitian, Nan Longnu, and the other buddhas and bodhisattvas stood at the side.
“Lord Future Buddha, can you explain what happened to you in hell?” the Present Buddha asked seriously.
The Future Buddha nodded, then related everything that happened.
“Gu Hai underwent two cycles in the eighteenth layer of hell? That is more than two hundred fifty million years?” The Past Buddha’s expression suddenly changed.
“That can’t be, right? Two cycles?” everyone exclaimed.
“How excellent of Gu Hai! To think that he has such strong willpower?” Shock flashed across the Present Buddha’s face.
“Lord Buddha!” Di Shitian suddenly called out.
“Yes?”
“Lord Buddha, I would like to enter the eighteen layers of hell for some time,” Di Shitian said.
“Oh?” The Present Buddha’s expression changed slightly as he looked at Di Shitian.
“Gu Hai aside, that Shangguan Hen’s power soared from being a cripple in a short time. This shows that one can temper oneself there. Kong Xuan also became this strong after being tempered in the sixteenth layer of hell. I would like to give it a try,” Di Shitian said.
“Kong Xuan is special. He… Hah… Have you forgotten how severe the bloodthirst in the eighteen layers of hell is?” the Past Buddha asked with a bitter smile.
“If he can do it, I should also be able to. The Revival Convention is imminent. I wish to try,” Di Shitian replied gravely.
“Di Shitian, it is good that you think this way. Figure out the timing yourself,” the Present Buddha said.
“Lord Buddha, I also would like to enter the eighteen layers of hell,” Nan Longnu said.
“Lord Buddha, me too!”
“Lord Buddha, this disciple wishes to enter as well!”
When the Present Buddha saw the Spirit Mountain Holy Land disciples displaying such fighting spirit, he nodded and said, “Alright. Since you have the determination, all the buddhas, bodhisattvas, and arhats of the Spirit Mountain Holy Land will enter the eighteen layers of hell to temper themselves for some time.”
“Yes!” all the disciples answered.
Everyone knew hell was torturous. However, Kong Xuan’s and Shangguan Hen’s success, even Gu Hai’s concealed strength, had excited everyone. Since there was such an excellent place, why would they not go?
After telling the disciples to make their preparations, the Three Lives Buddhas started discussing among themselves.
“Lord Buddha, how did they leave the eighteen layers of hell? This disciple cannot figure it out,” the Future Buddha said bitterly.
“It was Lian Sheng. Hah! He manages the Nalanda Temple. It looks like he did not tell me everything about the Nalanda Temple.” The Present Buddha’s face sank.
“Lord Buddha, what should we do about Gu Hai’s group? Are we just going to let him go?” The Past Buddha frowned.
“This person is very crafty. Furthermore, Kong Xuan is with him. Unless the Past Buddha or I make a move, it would be difficult to do anything to him. Furthermore, after he vanished for five years, he became extremely mysterious. To think he knows my secret techniques. This is very strange,” the Present Buddha said.
“Indeed. There is also that Sun Wukong. Why did he insist on capturing Sun Wukong? Di Shitian said he sent Sun Wukong into a spatial tunnel. Where did he send Sun Wukong?” the Past Buddha said with a sullen expression.
“I have a guess,” the Present Buddha said.
“Oh?” The two looked at the Present Buddha.
“Gu Hai is from the future,” the Present Buddha said gravely.
“The future? Lord Buddha, you mean…?”
“Perhaps it is so. Aside from Lord Buddha’s secret technique, there are also my secret techniques. How could Gu Hai know them? We have never taught them to anyone. Furthermore, Sun Wukong seemed to know us but, at the same time, not. The future is the only possibility. Perhaps the Lord Gautama Buddha he spoke of is the future you. Perhaps…,” the Future Buddha said.
The Future Buddha’s expression suddenly turned stiff in mid-sentence. He suddenly thought of the good Gautama.
The three fell silent.
“Gu Hai can predict the key moments. Perhaps he knows about everything in the future world, so…,” the Past Buddha guessed.
“The time laws? The laws that even the Six Paths Immortal failed to grasp?” The Present Buddha suddenly entered deep thought.
“The time laws? I seemed to have heard about them before during that battle eight hundred thousand years ago.” The Past Buddha fell silent.
“The previous-generation Heaven destroyed the time laws. Could it be…,” the Present Buddha trailed off, pondering.
“Should we keep pursuing Gu Hai?” The Future Buddha frowned.
The Present Buddha shook his head. “Wait first!”
“Why?”
“Jiang Lianshan sent word. There will be a large commotion during Old Mister Guan Qi’s revival. Gu Hai is good at Go. We need Gu Hai’s Go Dao to deal with Old Mister Guan Qi,” the Present Buddha explained seriously.
“Jiang Lianshan?” The Past Buddha’s and the Future Buddha’s expressions turned solemn.
While others did not know, these two did. The Present Buddha’s name was originally Jiang Gautama; he was Jiang Lianshan’s son.
“Jiang Lianshan said that Old Mister Guan Qi’s revival will bring about tumultuous times. He might be plotting against the entire world. It is better to be careful,” the Present Buddha said.
“Old Mister Guan Qi? What a monster!” the Past Buddha said gravely.
The Present Buddha nodded.
The Spirit Mountain Holy Land’s calamity had passed. However, the darkness of this day spread everywhere.
Word of Gu Hai’s exploits reached the ears of the major factions of the world.
Gu Hai had caused trouble in the Spirit Mountain Holy Land, but the Three Lives Buddhas could not do anything to him. What kind of person was Gu Hai?
The various sects and nations made investigating Gu Hai a priority.
The Spirit Mountain Holy Land did not say anything to the world. However, some of its buddhas, bodhisattvas, and arhats vanished, then returned after some time.
The buddhas, bodhisattvas, and arhats who returned had suddenly grown stronger. This shocked countless factions in the region. They did not know what had happened in the Spirit Mountain Holy Land.
Before Gu Hai’s group reached the Han Imperial Dynasty, they had already received word of this development from the zither puppets.
“Your Reverence, the zither puppets sent information that the Spirit Mountain Holy Land entered the eighteen layers of hell en masse and underwent a long period of tempering themselves. Their cultivations grew greatly!” Chang Ming looked at Gu Hai worriedly.
“Grew greatly? That might not be so. It would only happen for a small number. Most of them would suffer losses that outweigh the benefits. The bloodthirst of hell might even change their character,” Kong Xuan said coldly.
“This Jiang Gautama is not an ordinary person. Do be careful of him in the future,” Gu Hai said.
“Yes!” Everyone nodded.
“Also, Borderless Heavenly Capital’s zither puppets sent word that Prime Feng Yue brought over a group of black tortoises to capture Prime Shangguan,” Chang Ming reported worriedly.
“Prime Feng Yue? Hah! He must have gone crazy with anger when he previously broke the Profound Tortoise Ritual Array and found it empty!” Shangguan Hen suddenly guffawed.
“Nothing will happen with the Mosquito Daoist protecting Borderless Heavenly Capital.” Gu Hai shook his head.
