History's Strongest Senior Brother

Chapter 1616: The Supreme Heavenly Devil and The Faceless Heavenly Devil

Looking at the plaque inscribed with the words “Tushita Palace,” Yan Zhaoge pondered for a moment and left along with the others. They left the No Hatred Heavens, descended from the exquisite celestial realm, and returned to the void’s boundless outskirts.

“Are you feeling anything special?” asked Feng Yunsheng through a voice transmission.

Noticing Yan Zhaoge’s previous action, she immediately understood his reason for doing so.

After meeting the Great Sage Equalling Heavens beneath the Five Elements Mountain and reflecting on his past, Yan Zhaoge held some suspicions that the Elder Lord had something to do with his incident.

Now, he finally got the chance to visit the Tushita Palace in the No Hatred Heavens. Unfortunately, fate didn’t allow him to meet the Elder Lord.

“Nothing special.” Yan Zhaoge replied through another voice transmission.

Feng Yunsheng became startled, “Nothing special?”

Yan Zhaoge muttered to himself, “Yeah, nothing special, which makes it even weirder.”

Feng Yunsheng nodded in agreement. After giving it a thought, she said, “Bhikkhu Xuan Du seemed to have shown no weird signs when looking at you.”

“The Great Sage Equalling Heavens had come into actual contact with the Elder Lord before, which was why he could behold something indiscernible to the others.” Yan Zhaoge said, “But, his interaction with the Elder Lord shouldn’t have been as frequent with Bhikkhu Xuan Du, right?”

“Either there’s something we’re missing.” Feng Yunsheng guessed, “Or Bhikkhu Xuan Du pretended not to know?”

Yan Zhaoge nodded and glanced at the Southern Extremity Longevity Emperor, “This person is pretty suspicious as well.”

He relinquished his thoughts, “Let’s continue observing before making a judgment.”

After leaving the No Hatred Heavens, everyone parted ways.

Yang Jian left the Tushita Palace as well, seeming as if he had some other matters to attend to.

“Please wait a moment. I have something I’d like to inquire upon.” Yan Zhaoge sent him a voice transmission.

“Alright.” Without any changes in expression, Yang Jian continued his departure.

After a while, he took a huge turn and rendezvoused with Yan Zhaoge, Feng Yunsheng, Yan Di, and Xu Fei. At present, no outsiders remain in that area.

“What’s the matter, Zhaoge?” As Yang Jian spoke, he smiled, “Speaking of which, I wonder, what meaning does your name hold? It rather seems like you’re taking advantage of someone, ain’t it?”

Yan Zhaoge looked at Yan Di, while Yan Di laughed and shook his head. The others also laughed along with him.

“I spent my childhood growing in a particular lower realm. There was a village there with the name of Yanzhao. Folks there were full of gallant and righteous individuals who loved singing sorrowful songs [1] of remorse, which was why my father granted this name to me.” Yan Zhaoge said while chuckling, “Please do look over this matter.”

Yang Jian smiled and said, “Alright, let’s get back to the topic here. Why did you call for me?”

“Regarding the matter of the Vast Freedom Heavenly Devil helping Amitabha in obstructing the Eastern Sovereign, what are your opinions on it?” asked Yan Zhaoge as he retracted his smile.

Yang Jian’s expression turned stern as well, “Seems like you already have some guesses in mind.”

“Seems like you hold the same suspicions as I.” Yan Zhaoge softly said, “Relating to the Immortal Extermination Sword in the past, could these two matters be connected?”

About fifty years ago, Yan Zhaoge and the others searched for the Immortal Extermination Sword, only to realize that the Immortal Extermination Formation had already been in the Tushita Palace long ago.

Yang Jian transformed into the Earth Queen and used the Immortal Extermination Formation to lure the attention of others while he headed straight for the Jade Illusory Palace, seizing the Jade Illusory Glazed Lamp.

In the end, he traded the Jade Illusory Glazed Lamp’s flare for Dao Monarch Lu Ya’s decrepit Qin of Fuxi, which ended up playing an irreplaceable role in today’s battle.

Yan Zhaoge and the others didn’t disappoint Yang Jian’s expectations and successfully seized the Immortal Extermination Sword entirely within their grasp.

However, according to Yang Jian, this sword hadn’t always been in the Tushita Palace.

In truth, after the Lord of Broad Accomplishment fell to the Great Calamity, his Immortal Extermination Sword ended up in the Nine Underworlds’ hands.

Later, the Nine Underworlds returned to make a deal with the Tushita Palace, ultimately allowing the Immortal Extermination Sword to return to Daoism.

The discussions were all done by Bhikkhu Xuan Du, and Yang Jian wasn’t aware of the details of the exchange. However, he already had some guesses in his mind.

The Vast Freedom Heavenly Devil, a Dao Ancestor. The items worthy of being traded with him were minimal.

Previously, he was still somewhat uncertain of his judgment. However, thinking back to how the Western Pure Lands and the Immortal Court could persuade the Vast Freedom Heavenly Devil, surely the price paid was of a tremendous amount as well.

By connecting the two together, something emerged in their minds.

While many items could persuade the Nine Underworlds, something with enough weight to persuade the Vast Freedom Heavenly Devil was extremely rare.

“The Supreme Heavenly Devil, and…” Xu Fei said with a solemn voice, “… The Faceless Heavenly Devil!”

Yan Zhaoge, Feng Yunsheng, Yan Di, and Yang Jian remained silent.

There were originally six Ancestral Devils in the Nine Underworlds. However, after the Grand Clear Lord of Dao and Virtue and the Western Religion Amitabha used their almightiness and illuminating wisdom to occupy two of their spots, they managed to sever the Devils’ destiny during the Earlier Heavens.

As such, the Lord of Dao and Virtue’s incarnation became the third Ancestral Devil – the Supreme Heavenly Devil, while Amitabha’s devilish incarnation – the Faceless Heavenly Devil became the fourth Ancestral Devil.

Incarnations weren’t clones. Strictly speaking, these Ancestral Devils weren’t independent entities who truly existed.

From Yan Zhaoge’s point of view, they were more appropriate to be called the Lord of Dao and Virtue and Amitabha’s puppets.

Just like how Daoists Zhunti first incarnated as the Grand Master Bodhi, and then the Tathagata Buddha. Only, there were many intricacies involved unknown to the outside world.

In the past, some assumed that the Supreme Heavenly Devil was incarnated by the Supreme Elder Lord after the Lord of Dao and Virtue had transcended. However, according to the Great Sage Equalling Heavens’ testimony, Yan Zhaoge knew that this wasn’t the case at all.

When saying that the Nine Underworlds coveted after the Supreme Heavenly Devil and the Faceless Heavenly Devil, they weren’t asking for the Lord of Dao or Virtue, or rather the Supreme Elder Lord, and Amitabha to relinquish their spots.

After all, the spots were all occupied already. As long as the Elder Lord and Amitabha were alive, the Nine Underworlds would be unable to produce another two Dao Ancestors out of nowhere.

But, they could retrieve the devilish authority pertaining to the Supreme Heavenly Devil and the Faceless Heavenly Devil.

Even if the Nine Underworlds retrieved the two Ancestral Devils authorities, they couldn’t truly beckon for the corresponding Ancestral Devils’ descent. However, it still carried an incredibly impactful purpose.

“The Twelve Devilish Gods Formation…” Yan Zhaoge muttered to himself.

Yang Jian said, “Indeed. Surely, the reason why the Nine Underworlds coveted for the Supreme Heavenly Devil and the Faceless Heavenly Devil’s authority was to form the Twelve Devilish Gods Formation. With it, they could promulgate their Devilish reputation and also unseal the Primordial Heavenly Devil.”

The Twelve Devilish Gods Formation. As its name implied, it was a formation formed by the combined powers of all Twelve Devilish Gods.

A formation was created by combining powers from six Dao Realm bigwigs and six top-notch Grand Heavenly Realm Devils. Just the thought alone was already fearsome enough.

However, at present, the formation which brought terror to those who thought of it only existed in theory.

Even if the Primordial Heavenly Devil broke out of the seal, and the Doomsday Heavenly Devil descended upon the world, the only remains of the Existence Creation Heavenly Devil were his cadaver. Moreover, the Supreme Heavenly Devil and the Faceless Heavenly Devil wouldn’t truly spawn either. Even if the formation was laid down, it was destined never to unleash its full might.

“It’s more likely that the Nine Underworlds are using this formation as a supporting mechanism to unseal the Primordial Heavenly Devil and beckon for the Doomsday Heavenly Devil’s descent.” Yan Zhaoge sunk deep into thought.

“That’s the most possible outcome.” Yang Jian said, “The Nine Underworlds had always been looming around and had never given up on rising once more. Only, if they intend to do so, there’s still a long journey ahead awaiting them.”

After a momentary pause, Yang Jian continued, “Actually, since ancient times, all forces had already been paying attention to each and every single move the Nine Underworlds did.”

“The opportunity the Nine Underworlds coveted after is also the chance many others were coveting after.”