Chapter 107

Yaobikuni lay in a pool of blood, her life having reached its end, yet she wore a satisfied smile at this moment.

"I humbly entreat you."

The white-haired shrine maiden used her final moments of life to offer a prayer of gratitude, "——[True Buddha · Mahamayuri]!"

"This is," at the same time, Qi Xing heard Sasa explain in his ear, "Uh… a Giant Spirit I created in the past, which was sealed away by my brother."

104: Thousands of Divine Spells

When the five-colored divine light flew into [Sugisawa Village] and crashed into the [Inner Realm], inside the battered village, Jingo Rin had just finished defeating [Susanoo] Shijo Aoi and [Tsukuyomi] Kisaragi Mayu not long ago. She was just pondering whether she should follow into the deeper layer to see if Qi Xing needed her help.

Of course, she also knew that perhaps she should be a bit more demure and not steal Qi Xing's prey. But just at this moment——

A five-colored divine light of white, red, yellow, green, and blue crashed through the fog wall of the [Inner Realm] and forced its way in!

Its speed was so fast that it nearly hit Rin, grazing past her cheek.

Incredibly, the divine power of [Tsukuyomi], who had been captured by Rin, and [Susanoo], who had been defeated by Rin, as well as the bow and arrow and magatama on [Tsukuyomi], were all swept away by the light as the five-colored divine light flashed past!

The Kusanagi Sword was still stuck in the ground; it seemed the five-colored divine light did not care for such a thing. Immediately afterward, that light plunged into the [Deep Layer] and vanished!

As for Kisaragi Mayu, it did not matter; she had already been defeated and was mentally prepared, as it was impossible for her to keep her divine power anyway.

Shijo Aoi, however, was miserable. She had already been beaten half to death by Rin, and now that even the [Susanoo] divine power sustaining her life and injuries had been drained, she nearly fainted from the pain.

Fortunately, although Rin did not know healing arts, the Onmyoryo often gave her many spirit talismans and medicines. Although they were never of any use to her, she was able to pull out a bottle and quickly sprinkle it on Shijo Aoi's face.

In any case, Rin could no longer just wait outside.

From within that five-colored light, she could actually feel a familiarity that she could not explain.

It was so familiar that it was as if she had known it before she was born. It was so alien that it made her nauseous, and so familiar that it made her shudder.

Most importantly, there was a strong sense of repulsion in that aura—as if its existence instinctively rejected her.

And her feeling toward it was actually the same.

With a flicker of her figure, divine fire erupted from the tips of her feet. Rin leaped up like a meteor, charging straight toward the [Deep Layer]!

Now, back to Qi Xing. Yaobikuni was dead. But her death was not the end.

The three-faced, six-armed Mahamayuri had already been born from the decaying corpse of the snake god. This was the birth of the [True Buddha]. It was a miracle created by twisted faith.

In heaven and on earth, I alone am honored. In that blazing five-colored wheel of light, the divine form towered like a pillar of heaven. Its size was so immense that it could almost rival a skyscraper.

Joy, Anger, Sorrow—the three faces wore Noh masks. Whether It had eyes or if It was [looking] at Qi Xing—all of this was impossible to judge.

Qi Xing did not even know if It possessed mundane sensory functions like [seeing] or [hearing].

Most importantly, the power overflowing from It was of a magnitude—that the word "terrifying" was simply insufficient to describe.

Giant Spirit. That was what Sasa called this thing. What was a Giant Spirit?

Actually, to put it simply, a "Giant Spirit (Jinni)" was a demon god or genie from the Arab region, sometimes translated as Djinn. The genie of the lamp in "Aladdin" that could grant wishes was a type of [Giant Spirit].

Giant Spirits could be good or evil, but all were non-human beings of great power. It is said that in the beginning, there was the One God, who [created man from clay] and [created Giant Spirits from fire]. According to the version of the scriptures from the Arab region, the Devil—that is, Satan, that is, Samael, that is, Iblis—was actually also one of the Giant Spirits.

I see, so a Giant Spirit was a being of great power. Since fallen angels were also Giant Spirits, then Sasa was also a Giant Spirit… but there was a small problem with this.

Samael had copied the database written by her old man, fled the universe created by the One God, and escaped into the void outside to create her own world. She had copied an entire universe, copied humans, and copied all kinds of creatures—fine, she had done a good job, but——

Did Sasa have the ability to copy beings of great power equal to herself? It would be strange if she really had that ability.

Even if she really had such an ability, Samael would not be stupid enough to create another one that would secretly cause trouble like herself, or a group of angels that would rebel!

However, on the other hand, Sasa did indeed need to create things similar to angels to help her monitor and maintain the minute details of this universe. To achieve this, it was necessary to possess considerable [intelligence].

Thus, Sasa, based on the data in the database, copied those beings of great power equal to herself and, combined with her own whimsical ideas, created pseudo-divine machines.

They were not gods made of gears, but gears made by gods; they were the engines that propelled the universe, the looms that pulled and wove the fate of the world.

They had no personality, no self-will, and were not biological entities. Calling them [machines] was actually just a metaphor for ease of understanding; in reality, they probably could not even be considered matter, but were merely [system power] running to execute the tasks of the Creator.

The power of self-existence. An evil artificial intelligence system created by a blind and foolish god. The agents of the dark Creator. The [Giant Spirits] in Samael's universe—were things just like this.

Nearly two thousand years ago, Jesus Christ descended, struck Samael until she was paralyzed, bound her to a throne at the very bottom of the universe, and incidentally sealed all the Giant Spirits she had created into the [Dream of All Living Beings], forbidding them from coming to the mortal world.

The age of mythology thus came to an end. In other words, these disappeared Giant Spirits were actually…

"In short, they possess power of the same quality as the [Silver Coin Messenger]…"

Qi Xing heard Sasa say this, and he immediately understood…

"What do you mean by power of the same [quality]!" But Sasa retorted angrily, interrupting his unfinished sentence,

"Even if you humans pick up my [silver coin], you can only use a negligible amount of it! This is a one-thirtieth fragment of the Creator's divine power! You have two [silver coins] now; do you look like you are one-fifteenth as strong as the universe?!"

Uh, that's true, but…

"Human thinking ability and willpower are too limited! Even if you use the power of the [silver coin], you are merely extracting the mythological archetypes from the collective unconscious of humanity in the [Dream of All Living Beings] to use; it's already a very indirect usage to begin with!"

"However, the so-called [mythological archetypes] are precisely the projection of all humanity's faith in these Giant Spirits!"

In short, they possessed power of the same quality as the [Silver Coin Messenger]. And because they were AI, they could use that power more skillfully. Because they were AI, they had neither emotions nor would they waver—and because they were legitimate users of the power, they possessed even more, nearly infinite, and inexhaustible divine energy than a normal [Silver Coin Messenger].

Neither human nor god, but an AI playing the role of a god. As the saying goes, respect ghosts and gods, but keep your distance from them.

The last well-known mortal genius who engaged in a fair confrontation with an AI nearly had their Dao heart collapsed by the AI winning.

Qi Xing, oh Qi Xing, can you really win? Honestly, Qi Xing himself had no confidence. Moreover, his right arm had not yet healed, the wound was still there, and the pain was like fire.

"Don't think about fighting; you must absolutely not think about fighting it." Sasa resolutely voiced her objection,

"Anyway, this [Mahamayuri] isn't staring at you right now; as long as there is no reason, it is very likely that it won't pay any attention to you at all. Let's hurry and escape now. At worst, we can seal this entire [Inner Realm] and the mountain back up later."

Her idea this time was actually quite reasonable. However, just as Qi Xing was preparing to retreat, the three faces of the [Mahamayuri] seemed to turn toward him. A certain feeling similar to a gaze had already locked onto Qi Xing.

Damn it. Just as Qi Xing was about to pull away, wanting to avoid rashly provoking this pseudo-divine AI, he suddenly felt a stagnation beneath his feet.

It was not the ground cracking, nor was someone blocking his way. It was a [lock of rules] that was almost imperceptible, which had quietly entangled him.

Among the three Noh masks, the front one of [Joy]—the face of Amaterasu—trembled slightly, and its mouth murmured a divine spell that transcended linguistic structure, which to Qi Xing sounded like nothing more than gibberish. But for some reason, he could understand the message within: "Om, Mahavairocana, may all wishes be fulfilled, with boundless light and flame, illuminating the three thousand worlds."

"The righteous wheel of heavenly principles, golden light blazing, evil spirits in all ten directions have nowhere to hide."

"Follow my Great Sun Mantra—illuminate the true suchness, purify all illusions."

No sooner said than done! The cold and grim divine spell, like the sound of chime bells, resounded throughout the entire [Inner Realm].

The next moment, the Yata Mirror held by one of the arms of the [Mahamayuri] emitted endless dazzling divine light, the halo of light expanded in layers, and the entire heaven and earth seemed to be washed clean and bleached, turning into a dustless pure realm.

The matter in the surroundings that touched the divine light and had its existential structure reorganized suddenly swirled into a vortex, emitting a thunderous roar that sounded like a wail.

The entire small world seemed to be [refreshed], immediately changing into a clear and flawless pure land.

However, Qi Xing immediately felt a bone-chilling discomfort in this world of light: it was as if his entire body was firmly locked by a pair of omnipresent [divine eyes]. Any slight movement, any trace of true qi circulation, would be identified by this world of light and labeled.

And just as this illuminating Buddha-light unfolded—the [Mahamayuri] bent its right arm, took down the divine bow made of silver and rosewood, and another finger lightly flicked the void, causing an arrow of light to be generated out of thin air.

Its other face, the one wearing the Tsukuyomi Noh mask, began to chant: "I am the Executor."

"I am the Punisher."

"I am the Avenger."

"I am the form of the Creator's wrath."

"Therefore, all things,"

"Therefore, all phenomena,"

"Obey my command."

"May this arrow of light, this arrow of karmic retribution, pierce through evil obstacles and burn away all sin."

"If this person arrives carrying evil, they shall be struck by the arrow and die immediately."

"If not, this arrow shall miss."

What a joke. To actually use two faces, two divine artifacts, and two different powers at the same time?!

The next moment, there was no vibration of a bowstring, no sound of wind breaking through the air. That arrow reversed cause and effect; it was not shot from the bow, but was launched directly into [fate].

Qi Xing immediately circulated his true qi, lightning flashed, and he used a flash step to leap diagonally to dodge!

But the arrow of karmic retribution was not aimed at his [physical body], but pointed directly at his [causality]. Causality was the string; there was nowhere to escape!

In the nick of time, Qi Xing flicked out the Silver Coin of [Illusion]. In an instant, reality shattered and dissipated like a reflection in a mirror or a flower in the water…

——But it was useless!

The moment the [silver coin] triggered the Maya illusion, the high-hanging Yata Mirror opened like a heavenly eye, golden radiance pierced through the illusions, the divine light of the sun wheel illuminated all obstacles, illuminating the true suchness, and shattering all illusions!

The power of [Illusion] was pierced and negated by the [Great Sun]!

Boom!!!

The arrow of karmic retribution crossed all possibilities of escape and pierced his body in one strike!

Qi Xing was knocked flying backward, dragging a long trail of incandescent light behind him, which scorched a charred mark into the air!

His protective true qi and [Thunder-Fire Heavenly Garment] were shattered, and half of his body was charred and cracked.

But he stubbornly steadied himself.

"Hiss—ha—"

Breathing and exhaling, letting his qi and blood surge within his body, Qi Xing stumbled to the ground, doing his best to recover from the shallower injuries.

What was more reliable than the [silver coin] of the idiot Loli Evil God was, as expected, his own hard-trained kung fu.

With a grim gaze, Qi Xing looked up at the Mahamayuri, which was shining in divine light.