Legend Management Bureau Chapter 444

[ … words ]

“Saying something like that out of nowhere, do you really think I’d agree?” The Terminator pointed at the flames clinging to Du Yu’s body. “You ignited yourself with this bizarre fire. Doesn’t that make you look like a madman? How am I supposed to believe you aren’t just another insane Time?”

Hearing this, Du Yu offered a faint smile. “I never tried to deny it. I am a madman to begin with.”

Right at that moment, a black silhouette abruptly materialized behind the Terminator. Wearing a face identical to Du Yu’s, he mocked, “Du Yu, are you really going to team up with this Terminator? If he actually agrees, wouldn’t that make him even crazier than you? Hahahahaha!”

Du Yu furrowed his brow slightly, and the illusion before his eyes dissipated.

He sighed and looked at the Terminator. “I am currently walking a path completely different from all the other Times. I chose to lay everything out for you from the very beginning. After all, you are the person I waited seven hundred thousand years to select. And my goal is entirely different from all those other Times as well.”

“Is that so?” the Terminator replied, his tone noncommittal. “If I refuse, will I be discarded by you?”

“Exactly,” Du Yu declared. “I have waited long enough. I don’t mind waiting another seven hundred thousand years.”

The next moment, the black phantom appeared once more. Doubled over in laughter, he pointed at Du Yu and shrieked, “Liar!! You are a liar!! Why didn’t you tell him your true motive?! Why won’t you say it?!”

Du Yu’s gaze lost focus for a fleeting moment.

The raging flames engulfing his body had clearly not completely blocked the demonic energy; they had merely delayed his transformation.

The Terminator pondered for a long time before speaking slowly, “In that case, I need to go back and think it over.”

“No problem,” Du Yu nodded.

“I might need a very long time to consider this.”

“That is fine.”

Amidst Du Yu’s smile, the Terminator left the cave.

Du Yu slowly closed his eyes and retreated into his inner world. From the endless sky of floating fragments, he located the piece belonging to the Terminator and magnified it.

“Whether you are truly a qualified candidate will depend on your next actions.”

He watched as the Terminator returned to his own timeline, looking somewhat distracted.

At this point in time, he had just concluded the Legend of Xing Tian.

Upon waking, he briefly treated his wounds. Without even taking the time to greet the others, he pulled out a Teleportation Talisman and headed straight for the Western Paradise to seek an audience with Shakyamuni Buddha.

Meanwhile, Du Yu, in an ethereal and intangible form, wandered outside the timeline, quietly observing everything.

Above the billowing clouds, countless golden monks floated in the air, deep in meditation.

The soul-stirring chants of the Great Compassion Mantra constantly drifted through the surroundings.

In the center of the clouds sat a massive golden phantom. With his fingers gently pinching a lotus flower, he wore an expression of absolute serenity as he awaited the Terminator’s arrival.

Upon landing, the Terminator brought his palms together and bowed deeply in reverence to Shakyamuni.

Shakyamuni Buddha’s eyes shifted slightly as he spoke in a slow, resonant voice. “Benefactor, you appear to have reached a state of profound enlightenment. Why have you come to see me?”

The Terminator waited for a few seconds before slowly raising his head. “Lord Buddha, you say I have achieved profound enlightenment, yet there is still one thing I do not understand.”

Shakyamuni Buddha smiled faintly. “Benefactor, you wish to know why I do not take action against Mahakala?”

“That is correct.” The Terminator nodded. “Although I have never met him, I have vaguely deduced that he is the cause of everything.”

“Then, in your opinion, Benefactor, how should I stop him?”

“Forgive my bluntness,” the Terminator replied. “Someone like Mahakala has no reason to live. If my guess is correct, this person will destroy the world.”

“Benefactor. The lives of all living beings under the heavens are lives. Are the lives of Mahakala and his hundred thousand black monks not lives as well?”

The Terminator furrowed his brow; he had already anticipated this answer.

“Amitabha. Even if there comes a day when Mahakala is destined to destroy this world, that is merely the conclusion this world is meant to reach. One who kills to save others is fundamentally not a Buddha.”

The Terminator pondered this for a moment before pressing on. “Back when the Demon King wreaked havoc in the Heavenly Palace, you stepped in to suppress him. Logically speaking, you do not need to kill Mahakala to prevent this future.”

Shakyamuni murmured the word “Sin” under his breath, then spoke softly, “Mahakala has not yet destroyed this world. How can I go and punish someone for a reason that does not yet exist? Everything born into this world has a reason for existing. If Mahakala’s existence is meant to destroy this world, then that is the correct karma.”

The Terminator pressed his palms together and bowed his head slightly. “Thank you for clearing my doubts, Lord Buddha. I have fully grasped it now. The problem does not lie with you, nor does it lie with Mahakala. The problem is the flawed karma of this world.”

“Amitabha.” Shakyamuni Buddha smiled gently. “It is good that you understand, Benefactor. As long as the ’cause’ remains in this world, the ‘effect’ will follow.”

The Terminator did not linger any longer. Taking out another Teleportation Talisman, he vanished from his spot.

Floating in mid-air, Du Yu smiled faintly and murmured, “It seems you truly are the optimal qualified candidate.”

At that moment, Shakyamuni raised his head, his gaze slowly shifting toward Du Yu.

Du Yu maintained his smile as he descended to the ground.

He gradually brought his own palms together, and an inferno of unparalleled, scorching heat erupted from his body.

“I have wandered through the rifts of time for a million years. This is the first time I have been seen, yet to think it would be by an old acquaintance.”

Shakyamuni smiled gently in return. “Benefactor Du Yu, I have committed a transgression, and therefore I must silently recite the Great Compassion Mantra thirty-eight thousand times. Since I have not yet finished, I shouldn’t rightly be conversing with you.”

“Oh?” The flames on Du Yu’s body flared even higher, causing the temperature of the Western Paradise to spike abruptly. “I don’t understand. What transgression could you possibly have committed?”

Shakyamuni replied calmly, “As a Buddha, I once sat opposite you and drank wine. This is the first transgression. I should not have interfered, yet I incarnated as an ascetic monk and took it upon myself to offer Benefactor Du Yu a choice. That is the second. Deducing the cause from the effect is the third. You were meant to die, yet I appeared to save you. That is the fourth. The sentient beings pleaded for salvation, yet I did not deliver them. That is the fifth. Allowing the people of this world to be endlessly slaughtered by Mahakala is the sixth. And the words I am about to speak to you will be the seventh.”

Upon hearing this, Du Yu frowned, the flames on his body burning even more fiercely. “Wa Rang, you’ve listed seven deadly sins in such a short span of time. But to my ears, the first six have little to do with you and instead all point directly at me. Tell me, what is this seventh sin?”

Shakyamuni let out a soft sigh and spoke, “Benefactor, the wicked thoughts in your heart are far too immense. The schemes you have plotted span over a hundred million years and encompass countless obsessions. I urge you to stop while you can. Turn back, and you will find salvation.”

Hearing this, Du Yu raised an eyebrow slightly before a cold sneer crept onto his face.

He lowered his head in mock humility, pressing his palms together once more as thick, intense tongues of fire erupted from his form.

“Thank you for answering my questions, Oh High and Mighty Lord Buddha. It’s a pity you just added another thirty-eight thousand recitations of the Great Compassion Mantra to your penance for nothing. Because across these past one hundred million years, not a single version of Du Yu has ever listened to advice.”