Prince Chang Qin looked at Wu Qi and told him some more.
The immortals and buddhas used the worlds of mortals to keep humans in captivity, making them forget their roots and origins while obscuring their soul senses, turning them into the reserve for them to choose their disciples and apprentices from and the production base for them to obtain all kinds of resources.
Whenever they needed disciples and apprentices of excellent aptitudes, they would choose from the mortal worlds.
Whenever they needed cauldrons of excellent innate talents, they would search in the mortal worlds.
Whenever they needed the power of faith to form their relics, they would preach their religions in the mortal worlds.
Whenever they needed Virtue to resist the heavenly tribulations, they would pay a visit to the mortal worlds.
In short, the worlds of mortals had almost become a necessity for the immortals and buddhas to improve their cultivation bases and expand their sects. Only those almighty experts who truly held the power of the universe, and the great sects they had founded, could have a place of their own in the worlds of mortals.
One of such experts was Amitabha, the Lord Buddha. The Buddhist League he founded owned at least 280 million worlds, as well as countless disciples and apprentices across all the mortal worlds. Of all the power of faith gathered from so many believers, half went to the Lord Buddha himself, while the rest was shared among those under him, including all the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Arhats, and Vajras. With such an immense power of faith going to Amitabha alone, his cultivation base had reached an unfathomable stage.
Of all the humans kept in captivity in the mortal worlds, ninety percent were actually those whose souls had entered the Six Paths of Reincarnation when they died, and were then taken out of the transmigration and sent into the mortal worlds after the Buddhist League had gained control over a small part of the Six Paths of Reincarnation.
According to the Laws of the Heavenly Dao, all the humans who died and entered the Six Paths of Reincarnation would be reborn on Pangu Continent. However, as the Buddhist League was in control of a part of the Six Paths, not only were they able to keep the population of the mortal worlds from decreasing, they had increased it over the years.
At the same time, the immortals and buddhas were constantly preaching in these worlds, and their core doctrine was that as long as the mortals believed in the immortals and buddhas, they could transcend the mortal worldsand travel to Elysium,or any other world of great joy. "If you believe in Dao, you will be able to land in the immortal realm…If you believe in Buddhism, you will be able to go to the paradise," those were their words.
And they proved to have amazing measures. Any mortal in the mortal worlds who became a devout believer would have their souls branded with their beliefs. When their souls entered the Six Paths of Reincarnation after death, those who had been branded would be guided to the outer heavenly realms by the Buddhist League, where they would be reincarnated with their memories preserved.
It was only natural for these devout believers to become even more fanatic about their immortals and buddhas after being taken from the filthy world of mortals to outer heavenly realms that were so rich in natural energy and all kinds of treasures. There they settled down and reproduced, and if some proved to have excellent aptitudes, they would become the best source of disciples for their saviors. Otherwise, they would die of natural cause once again, and the almighty experts of the Buddhist League would take them into their Buddhist Kingdoms, where they would provide the power of faith to their Masters day and night.
Prince Chang Qin sighed, then shook his head and said, "The Great Saints of old had created the human race with the bloodline essences of the divine beasts and divine fowls. The humans were supposed to be the paragon of all beings, but we have become the tools with whom those black sheep can toy at will. As the leaders of mankind, how can we tolerate such things?"
All the almighty experts of human origin, including the Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan, the Yan Emperor Shennong, Zhuanxu, Taihao, Shaohao, and a few others [1] 1 could not tolerate such things, so they were always fighting openly and secretly with those immortals and buddhas. As Prince Chang Qin was stationed in the Ghost Realm and secretly kept a watch on the worlds of mortals, it was natural that he became the vanguard of all the plans that the almighty experts behind the human race had come up with.
For a long time, Prince Chang Qin had been working with some of the most powerful figures in Great Yu to develop their power in the mortal worlds, secretly fighting against those immortals and buddhas. As a matter of fact, all the heroes of the six dynasties, even Xiang Yu, the Hegemon-King of Western Chu, were chess pieces chosen by King Yang Shan. Moreover, the struggle between them that happened over two thousand years ago was actually stirred up by King Yang Shan in the dark.
But, just after Ying Zheng, the Emperor of Qin, unified all of China, when King Yang Shan was about to reveal his identity and claim the allegiance of Ying Zheng so that the latter could be a great help to Great Yu on Earth, the Heaven's counterattack descended on them like a storm. All sorts of plots and tricks appeared endlessly, which eventually led to Ying Zheng's sudden death; his final edict secretly changed by Zhao Gao and Li Si; the crown prince Fu Su slain by some immortal; and Huhai, Ying Zheng's youngest son, succeeding the throne.
That had angered King Yang Shan, and he immediately fostered Xiang Yu in secret, hoping that this new chess piece could win the world back for him. But Liu Bang, the son of some Celestial Emperor from the Heaven, had reincarnated on Earth and joined hands with Zhang Liang and others, who too had the background of immortals, to defeat Xiang Yu; eventually killing him with immortal magic. Had King Yang Shan not rescued him, Xiang Yu would have long perished in body and soul, losing his chance of making a comeback on Myriad Immortals Planet.
Realizing that the immortals were too powerful for him to engage in a head-on clash in the mortal world, King Yang Shan had no choice but to take the souls of all his chess pieces, including the heroes of the six dynasties, Xiang Yu, and others. He then brought them to Myriad Immortals Planet which he had prepared in advance, where he had their fleshly bodies reforged and let them continue to develop from scratch. As these people were all heroes with great ambitions, he had their souls controlled with a restrictive spell, so that he could use them for his future plans.
As Prince Chang Qin told the story, Wu Qi finally understood why the heroes of the six dynasties were on Myriad Immortals Planet.
Not only on the Earth that Wu Qi knew well, but the people of Great Yu were operating undercover in other mortal worlds as well. Where the immortals and buddhas preached their beliefs, they did all they could to destroy the beliefs. And whenever a major upheaval broke out in those mortal worlds, it was usually caused by the chess pieces whom Great Yu had arranged.
Over time, Great Yu's actions in the mortal worlds became what the immortals and buddhas claimed as an act of sabotage from the 'demons and fiends of the outer realms'.
But, the mortal worlds were, after all, jointly created by immortals and buddhas, and they had all the rules and laws controlled in their hands. Prince Chang Qin and others had worked hard for countless of years, but they achieved little. Although they had uncovered many talents during the process, as well as sabotaged many plans the immortals and buddhas had devised, their returns were meager compared to the efforts they had put forth.
After all, none of their operations had done actual harm to any of the mortal worlds, so they could not call their operationa success.
Over the years, apart from carrying out operations targeted at the preaching of immortals and buddhas in the mortal worlds, the greatest result Prince Chang Qin and others had achieved was managing to construct some super long-distance teleportation formations that connected the mortal worlds and Pangu Continent. With these formations, they could break through the various restrictions imposed on the mortal worlds and reach Pangu Continent directly, or travel directly to some specific places in the mortal worlds from Pangu Continent.
Veiled struggles had been going on without an end around these formations. The disciples and apprentices of immortals and buddhas were desperately destroying them while Great Yu's men were constantly constructing formations in secret in different places as if they were addicted to it. These formations were often constructed and destroyed without any strategic significance, being purely a tool for both sides to vent their anger.
As Prince Chang Qin spoke, he took Wu Qi to an ancient hall in Mount Kunlun, which was forged entirely of bronze.
A bronze plinth with nine dragons coiled about stood in the vast hall, on top of which was placed an oval-shaped green mirror; it was about three thousand feet tall, hundreds of feet thick, and made of some unknown materials. Clouds and mists could be seen flashing across its dark-green surface, which appeared to be the vague visions of the various mortal worlds.
Pointing at the mirror, Chang Qin said in a deep voice, "This is the Mirror of Kunlun. It was born in the primordial chaos, possessing the great divine power to break through any spatial barriers. A pity that my cultivation base can only allow me to borrow a part of its power."
Looking at the huge mirror, Wu Qi gently ran his hand across the plinth and asked, "How can one muster all of its power?"
Chang Qin turned to give him a look and thought for a moment, then shook his head and said, "I think it might require the overall strength that is beyond the realm of Primordial Immortals. After all, it is the most powerful Primordial Treasure of all known ones, a mighty artifact whose power even a first-tier Primordial Immortal cannot fully muster. But, an overall strength beyond the realm of Primordial Immortal? Alas, do such figures even exist in this universe?"
A Heaven Immortal could borrow the power of the Principles of Heaven and Earth.
A Gold Immortal could distort the Principles of Heaven and Earth.
A Primordial Immortal could destroy, or even produce new Principles of Heaven and Earth!
So, what lay beyond the realm of Primordial? Wu Qi could not imagine, and it seemed Chang Qin was doubtful of this as well, judging from his expression. It was, after all, a legendary realm! Did such figures even exist today?
It was said that Amitabha, the Lord Buddha, the supreme leader of the Buddhist League and the countless Buddhas scattered across the universe, had just stepped into the realm of the first-tier Primordial not long ago. And there were less than ten figures in the entire universe who could rival him. They were the figures who were known to be standing on the pinnacle of this universe. Beyond the realm of Primordial? Did figureslike that really exist?
Wu Qi shook his head and heaved a long sigh. Then, he looked at Chang Qin and asked, somewhat confused, "Why did my Prince bring Tan Lang here? Can it be that we are going to use the Mirror of Kunlun?"
Chang Qin nodded and said, "Yes, I will use its power to send you to the mortal world. The Mirror of Kunlun has endless magical abilities. Although I can only borrow a part of its abilities, I was able to make it the center of all the teleportation formations in the mortal worlds."
With a flick of his fingers, plumes of smokes rose from the mirror, with countless star charts seen flashing rapidly within. "You will just have to pick a world you wish to go to," said the prince in a deep voice, "and all the teleportation formations in that world will appear in your divine sense. When you arrive in that world, you will be able to use the formations there to return to Pangu Continent."
Staring at the mirror that overflowed with a bright light, a thought suddenly came to Wu Qi's mind. Was there another teleportation formation on Earth?
If there were, Wu Qi would not mind stopping by Earth on his way back to Pangu Continent. It was time to settle some old scores.
After pondering for a moment, Wu Qi nodded and said, "Could my Prince bring Tan Lang's men here? After putting them in Supreme Tower, Tan Lang will set off immediately!"
Chang Qin nodded with a smile, then pulled out three jade slips from under his sleeve—one black and two white—and gave them to Wu Qi. "In the black jade slip you will find the location of the Sacred Emperor's residence and the method to enter it, and the white ones contain the unusual activities I've found recently. Please bring them to the Sacred Emperor and the Human Emperor as fast as possible, Marquis."
Wu Qi cupped his fist and bowed to Chang Qin, agreeing to help.
[1] Zhuanxu, Shaohao and Taihao appear in different groupings of the Five Emperors in ancient Chinese texts. In a traditional account recorded by Sima Qian, Zhuanxu was a grandson of the Yellow Emperor; Shaohao is usually identified as a son of the Yellow Emperor; Taihao is said to be a descendant of Fuxi, brother of the Goddess Nüwa who created the humanity.