Chapter 832: Floating World Diversity, Human Conditions

The online forums were abuzz with excitement. This war of the heavens had long captured the attention and anticipation of many players, as the final battle between the four major worlds was utterly unprecedented. After this war, all living beings would perish, and even the heavens and earth would be stained crimson.

It's important to remember that while Earth has just over seven billion people, the ancient Lava Domain boasts hundreds of billions, with every single living being practicing cultivation! It was simply too vast, too immense.

And new Tier 9 entities were about to be born, as if the dimensional ceiling of the transcendent world had been elevated by an entire level. The turning point of the era, where destinies diverged, was now upon them. From now on, deities would be as common as dogs, merely high-level combatants.

“Gone are the ancient days,” someone mused, “when Armin broke through to become a god, and a single deity could suppress an entire world era.”

“Tier 9, however, even across the infinite time and space of the myriad worlds in the entire universe, represents the absolute pinnacle of combat power. Moving forward, this entire transcendent universe can truly be called a hegemonic giant.”

On the forums, the live broadcast continued. Players watched, fervently discussing and analyzing the potential consequences of the battle. As the broadcast unfolded step by step, the plot gradually shifted: the Super Saiyan God, the ultimate creature with merged abilities, ganging up on the Three Pillar Gods. Everyone was instantly shocked.

“Huh? These two worlds aren’t pushovers either! Together, they can even contend with the weak Tier 9 Three Pillar Gods, who are already defying natural order!”

“The three up top are just watching, while the Three Pillar Gods are getting beaten below.”

“Three Pillar Gods: I’m so miserable! Why am I always the one getting hurt?”

The scene shifted, and the live broadcast, like a movie, took a dramatic turn, finally getting into full swing. The Three Pillar Gods unleashed their power: three hundred billion sariras, radiating brilliant golden light, instantly converting the talented ultimate creature. A colossal, three-headed ancient mythical Buddha, draped in a kasaya, shone resplendently.

“What kind of divine combat power is this?!”

“It’s too exaggerated, infinite! Infinite in size, infinite in combat power, infinite in lifespan... It is all beings, it is insects, fish, flowers, and grass; even its enemies are part of it!”

Immediately, all netizens, sitting in front of their computers munching popcorn, felt they had witnessed the first major plot twist. Countless people marveled at the terrifying trump card of the Three Pillar Gods. They had all guessed that the three forbidden entities had been preparing for centuries, and that this final battle would involve countless hidden strategies, full of twists and turns, thrilling and dramatic. But they hadn't expected it to be *this* spectacular. Just the unveiling of the first trump card was astounding.

During the battle, a complete and highly mature live broadcast structure had formed. Within the players' self-organized mini-society, many self-proclaimed experts, knowledgeable and insightful, were already poised, frantically analyzing the situation. They were like passionate sports commentators:

“Oh! What a play! Lord Youshan and the others were instantly annihilated! They’re the first contestants out of the arena! Ladies and gentlemen! We can see that the Three Pillar Gods... are indeed incredibly well-suited to the Buddhist path, inherently perfect for cultivating this system,” a male commentator exclaimed, his voice filled with a strong sense of excitement.

Another female commentator, with a serious expression, added, “What are sariras? They are energy crystals that store radiation. The demonic cores in their heads can serve as sariras, making it a perfect fit. The Three Pillar Gods’ race, which cultivates radiation, has a natural advantage!”

“What a magnificent Pillar God Buddha, standing tall against the heavens!”

“Wait, look at this great Buddha! Its Mahakala boundless golden body, impermanent and formless... Its entire body is covered in the faces of all living beings, in a thousand different forms? Could this be precisely what Buddhism refers to as... the form of all sentient beings?!”

Who still watched basketball or football now? Players had grown accustomed to sitting at their computers, eating popcorn and drinking cola, watching every session of the Wizard Community PvP fighting tournaments, and even live broadcasts of battles like this one.

But at this moment, as they snacked in front of their computers, they suddenly became uneasy.

The Form! Of! All! Sentient! Beings!?

The players put down their snacks and pondered, as if a single phrase had awakened them from a dream: wasn’t the ‘form of all sentient beings’ simply the faces of all beings? They looked at the screenshots again. This great Buddha before them, with countless heads of living beings...

“This is... the Buddhist Form of All Sentient Beings from ancient myths?!” How could they not know Buddhist allusions? Even if they weren't devout followers, they had at least heard of them.

One of the most famous scriptures, the Vajracchedikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra, or simply the Diamond Sutra, though less than ten thousand characters long, consistently expounds on the highest state of Buddhahood:No-self, no-person, no-sentient being, no-life span.

Everyone pondered it carefully and was immediately stunned, feeling as if an ancient and mysterious history was slowly unveiling its prelude.

The two commentators, despite their outlandish remarks, also felt they had stumbled upon something extraordinary, and were extremely excited: “This Buddha, with its entire body... displaying myriad forms and appearances, each head lifelike and in a hundred different poses, can be called the form of all sentient beings... but when concentrated to the extreme, it can also be called... formless!”

“As the saying goes: ‘In chaotic times, all beings reveal their true forms; in a fleeting life, people wear a thousand faces!’... Isn't that precisely what the Three Pillar Gods look like?” another female commentator laughed.

The male commentator stated, “What a magnificent Pillar God Buddha, having achieved the Buddhahood of the traditional Great Dao!”

The female commentator said, “Perhaps the Demonic Core lineage is precisely the orthodox Buddhist lineage from ancient times! And that ancient Lava Domain, where the Demonic Core lineage originated... perhaps it was the origin of Buddhism. During the super-ancient lava era ruled by the super-ancient gods, perhaps it was what we called... the Western Pure Land of Buddhism!”

The super-ancient gods once ruled the prehistoric ancient Lava Domain, which, in ancient Chinese mythology, was...

The! Western! Buddhist! Pure! Land!

The curious onlookers, sitting in front of their computers, slowly chewed their snacks, cracked sunflower seeds, and sipped their drinks. This bold theory seemed to hold some water, they thought. After all, the era when the super-ancient gods ruled the ancient Lava Domain was two prehistoric periods ago.

Before the Three Pillar Gods era.Before the Ishdal era.No one knew what kind of glorious mythical landscape existed during the super-ancient gods’ era...

But in the end, it was destroyed in war. Now, thinking about it, could that super-ancient Lava Domain of the super-ancient gods have been the ancient Western Pure Land of Buddhism? After all, the Demonic Core race seems inherently suited to the Buddhist path, and the Three Pillar Gods have even cultivated the ‘form of all sentient beings,’ fiercely using viruses and radiation to ‘save all beings’...

While most people idly watched the excitement, finding the deduction interesting, some immediately retorted, “You’re spouting nonsense!”

“Which idiot hired these two commentators? I’m furious!”

“You’ll have to apologize to the people for such nonsense!”

“Exactly! If what you’re saying is true, that the super-ancient gods presided over the super-ancient Lava Domain as a Buddhist land, and one was an ancient Western Buddha, then what about the other, Hermes, the predecessor of Baixiaosheng... wouldn’t he be a Daoist Heavenly Venerate, the Eastern Jade Emperor?!”

“Anyway, I don’t believe it.”

Someone immediately retorted, and more people chimed in, thinking it was just wild speculation, completely unrealistic. They certainly didn't trust these ‘public intellectual’ commentators who spouted nonsense just for traffic. As old netizens, what was the most crucial thing online? To judge for themselves!

However, it was true that the current appearance of the Three Pillar Gods, with their myriad forms, dazzling golden light, and three hundred billion sariras, bore an uncanny resemblance to the great Buddhas of ancient myths.

The internet was precisely this mysterious. No single viewpoint was ever unified; whether it was an online community or a video's comment section, different factions were always debating, expressing their own opinions.

“Those of you refuting this are too young! If you don’t believe it, I’ll give you evidence!” Someone, quite indignant and convinced that the ‘form of all sentient beings’ theory was correct, presented their evidence: “The Demonic Core lineage was once the orthodox Buddhist lineage! Look, aren’t the Three Pillar Gods right now the legendary Buddhist ‘form of all sentient beings’?”

This point was hard to refute. Three hundred billion heads, densely packed like cells. If a boundless golden-bodied Buddha like that wasn’t the ‘form of all sentient beings,’ then what was?

“And look again: aren’t the Three Pillar Gods’ viral infections, combined with radiation, truly the most powerful Buddhist salvation ability? The Three Pillar Gods’ Buddhist Pure Land is simply terrifying?!”

Still, no one uttered a word in response to this point. Buddhist salvation through radiation-infecting beings had always been somewhat impractical before. Your radiation could only affect lower-level beings. Forget about converting those at the same level; for powerful beings of higher life forms, would you really just use radiation to change their life structure? That would require an overwhelming difference in cultivation level. Even the Three Pillar Gods’ virus could only infect Tier 7 Heavenly Emperors; deities remained immune.

However, radiation combined with the virus, a dual infection, caused a terrifying qualitative change. The weak Tier 9 ultimate talented creature before them was instantly converted, unable to resist! Perhaps this was truly the authentic method of Buddhism—orthodox Buddhism.

Only the Demonic Core Virus race could wield such immense power of salvation.

“Furthermore, look: Buddhism emphasizes karma and destiny. There’s no rebellious thought of ‘my fate is mine, not heaven’s.’ They believe that once a person is born, their destiny is predetermined!”

“And Buddhism has the Three Buddhas—the Buddha of the Past, the Buddha of the Present, and the Buddha of the Future—who can see through the destiny of all beings throughout all ages. Everything is predetermined.”

Everyone fell completely silent. The Three Pillar Gods’ destiny, their timeline—did it even need to be said? Upon reflection, it indeed resembled Buddhist theories. The ancient Lava Domain at this moment truly spoke of ‘fatalism,’ a destiny hidden from view. And there was salvation, sariras, and the ‘form of all sentient beings’... countless clues pointing to the same answer.

“You should know this! Everything is literal: ‘Grotto-heaven Blessed Land’ (洞天福地)... it’s ‘Grotto-heaven Radiant Land’ (洞天辐地)! And the Buddha’s highest golden body realm... the ‘Form of All Sentient Beings’! It literally means the faces of all beings!”

As these words fell, everyone’s minds were greatly shaken. The curious onlookers could no longer idly watch; their colas, startled, slipped from their hands. A sudden, intense chill shot up from the base of their spines to their brains. They couldn't help but look at the sacred image of the Three Pillar Gods draped in a kasaya. This ancient mythical Buddha, shining with golden light and radiating holiness, made them involuntarily murmur:

“A hundred forms of the mortal world, the form of all sentient beings?”

“The true identity of the Super-Ancient Gods is actually the Buddha of the Western Lava Pure Land from ancient myths?!”