This Young Master is not Cannon Fodder

In the silence of the Vast Void sat a humanoid wearing a golden kasaya atop a flaming lotus. Feathers grew out of his head like hair, and a red aura coated his form, making him resemble a humanoid sun. Karmic Sin descended and coated his body, but they burst into flames and added to his aura. Around him, embers flickered, devouring the remnant fragments of the Impermanence Realm.

In his hand was the Bodhi Tree, but because of his immense size, it resembled a twig and not the realm spanning tree it was. He flipped his hand, and the tree disappeared. In its place were Zi Zun, or the Thunderclap Bodhisattva as he was known amongst the Buddhists, and the other members of the Thunderclap Academy.

The venerables looked around, wondering why they suddenly appeared on this fiery gold land. Zi Zun was the first to notice the reality of the situation. When he looked up, the humanoid’s face was covered in golden light, but he could see two fiery suns gazing at him. Although Zi Zun had never met him, he instantly knew who it was.

He was the Sūryaḥ Buddha of the Pure Lands Pseudo System.

“What happened?” Zi Zun murmured. His memories were still stuck at the moment Tianyi had frozen him. He couldn’t see what happened next and only heard an explosion. The next thing he saw was this scene.

He looked around and froze. Did the Sūryaḥ Buddha save him by teleporting him into the Vast Void?

Zi Zun wanted to thank the divinity, but when his eyes scanned the Vast Void, his body froze. Everywhere, there were fragments of land and water, with fire still burning them. That wasn’t the crucial point. Although the Vast Void was said to be empty, there were still some miraculous areas.

No, the most crucial point was that he recognized some of the landmarks!

As Tianyi suspected, the Thunderclap Academy had a history longer than any force in the Impermanence realm. They regularly changed their name because it meant a change of overseer. Every once in a while, Buddhism would dispatch a new overseer to oversee the growth of the Bodhi Tree and have the old one return. It just so happened that it was Zi Zun’s turn.

Although he was an overseer, his role was closer to a watcher. When the Bodhi Tree matured, he would report it to the Pure Lands Pseudo System, and someone would come to transplant the Bodhi Tree to their headquarters. Only, the Immortal Court noticed something amiss and ruined their hundreds of thousands of years of effort.

Zi Zun knew that the Bodhi Tree was precious, but he never expected the fight for the Bodhi Tree to destroy an entire high rank realm!

“How did it become like this?” Although Zi Zun had become an immortal long ago, it did not mean he treated mortals like ants. The destruction of an entire realm still shook him to the core. Just what happened when he was trapped by Tianyi? Did he actually fall into a stupor and a great battle that destroyed the Impermanence Realm happen without him knowing?

“Is it that bastard, Xi Tianyi?” Zi Zun asked. He didn’t have a good opinion about Tianyi, but that didn’t mean he didn’t have his own understanding. In his eyes, Tianyi couldn’t be called the main perpetrator behind everything, but he was definitely an enabler. Still, Tianyi shouldn’t resort to destroying the entire Impermanence Realm unless pushed to a corner. If he wanted, he could have done it when he first tried to refine the Bodhi Tree.

The Sūryaḥ Buddha did not answer. Instead, he looked at one of the burning embers in the void.

The twin suns flickered. “Not dead?”

The embers the Sūryaḥ Buddha looked at expanded. Eventually, the embers could no longer hide the figure beneath it, and a cosmic giant appeared. Like the Sūryaḥ Buddha, its two eyes resembled suns. However, not only was it only a third of the Sūryaḥ Buddha’s size, its aura was not even a tenth of the latter.

Although the cosmic giant seemed to have escaped the flames, there was still a lingering ember eating away at the corner of his body. However, Tianyi didn’t pay attention to it. The flame resembled his Nebulous Negation in a way. Everything it touched would be burned, even essence or immortal sense. The only way to counteract it would be for the flame’s target to be incinerated or for the target to have a higher level energy source than the latter.

Tianyi had neither. He already planned to abandon his current conduit, but before then, he wanted to see the difference between a divinity and immortal.

A miniature sun orbited by eight planets appeared in his palm. He threw it at the Sūryaḥ Buddha.

The Sūryaḥ Buddha did not show any change in his expression. Zi Zun could not see the Sūryaḥ Buddha’s face, but Tianyi could. He did not see Tianyi’s Constellation Cessation as a threat or even something worth acknowledging.

The moment Tianyi’s Constellation Cessation reached a certain range of the fiery buddha, flames ignited, disrupting the technique and causing it to explode.

Upon seeing his favored technique become useless, Tianyi considered revealing the Immortal Confining Sword, but ultimately rejected the notion. After all, he was still only an “immortal.” If he took it out and the Sūryaḥ Buddha stole it, he would not be able to retrieve it.

A giant sword appeared in Tianyi’s hand. It was not an immortal-rank artifact, but its durability was unmatched. Tianyi called it the planetary sword simply because it was originally a metal planet that he reforged into a sword using the Law of Mass.

Tianyi charged at the Sūryaḥ Buddha and raised his sword. The planetary sword took on a black color as it emitted a terrifying attraction, akin to a black hole.

Just like when the Constellation Cessation entered a certain range, flames also burst onto Tianyi’s cosmic form. Even his sword was not spared, but he did not explode like his technique. His sword also turned into a red void from the condensed flame. From a cosmic giant, Tianyi turned into a flaming giant.

Finally, the Sūryaḥ Buddha changed his expression. It was only a slight change, akin to a raised eyebrow.

The Sūryaḥ Buddha finally moved. He raised his free hand and thrust his finger at Tianyi. Tianyi struck the finger that was as thick as his arms with his sword, but like passing through butter, the blazing finger burned through his sword and pierced his abdomen.

The cosmic giant stilled as it shrunk from the burning flames. Its humanoid form shifted and transformed into a flaming galaxy. The galaxy split apart like a spider web, creating a formation, and attacked the Sūryaḥ Buddha once again.

Finally, the Sūryaḥ Buddha showed displeasure. An ant dared to attack it repeatedly and survived under his attack twice instead of dying obediently. How could he not become angry?

Tianyi felt like a small spark appeared in his mind. It exploded into a raging fire that consumed his thoughts. Had it been a normal immortal emperor, their mind would have been consumed by the blaze, causing their soul to dissipate. Even with his universe-like soul, he could only suppress the raging fire from growing, not eliminate it.

‘I feel like the difference between a divinity and me is far greater than a true immortal and a mortal,’ Tianyi thought with apprehension. He didn’t want the Sūryaḥ Buddha to continue to attack his mind and soul, so he prepared to leave, but would the Sūryaḥ Buddha allow him?

“Since you already attacked me, stay,” the Sūryaḥ Buddha said. His tone left no word for rebuttal, like an imperial decree.

The Sūryaḥ Buddha raised a palm. Just like when he destroyed the Impermanence Realm, another blazing palm descended, and it was even more powerful than the last.

Tianyi faltered. He wanted to hide between the layers of spacetime, but the heat of the blazing palm incinerated the layers and pulled him out again. After a moment of hesitation, he decided to detonate his current conduit. He didn’t fear the fire burning his body, but he didn’t want his mind being burned again.

Thankfully, help arrived.

The darkness of the Vast Void was filled with gentle light. The light not only dissipated the blazing palm, but it also vanquished the fire raging on Tianyi’s cosmic body. He could even feel his thoughts being affected as positive emotions arose. However, Tianyi quickly eliminated the effects of the light on his mind. He sensed that the light could suppress or eliminate the raging fire in his mind as long as he allowed it entry, but Tianyi didn’t want anything to affect his thoughts or take the chance.

“You stinky crow. Not only did you destroy a high rank realm, but you dare to attack a disciple of my Immortal Court?” a voice bellowed.

Anger appeared on the Sūryaḥ Buddha’s face. “Your Immortal Court? It should have been mine!”

He flipped his palm, and the people on it disappeared. He could guarantee their safety when dealing with Tianyi, but he couldn’t guarantee the same for the newcomer.

The red aura coating his body surged. Even the lotus petals flickered like flames from the change. There was a caw, and a giant crow with flaming feathers of red and three legs manifested behind his figure. After it appeared, it was as if the solar star had appeared, becoming the master of fire and light. Anyone who had even an iota of knowledge about the legends would recognize this divine beast, the golden crow!

Flying toward him was a ray of light. At the forefront was a man adorned in jade green robes with an imperial temperament. Upon seeing the golden crow, an illusionary bell appeared behind the man. The bell rang, but no sound was heard.

Physically, at least.

Tianyi felt something ringing in his mind. Although it didn’t hurt him, it made his soul feel uncomfortable. And this was because he was not the target of the bell-shaped artifact. The golden crow manifestation behind the Sūryaḥ Buddha became hazy, as if something was erasing it.

“Soul Sink Bell! So you survived the great catastrophe, too!” the Sūryaḥ Buddha shouted.

The man laughed. “Luya, if an idiot who only relies on your bloodline can survive. Why can’t I?”

“You!” the Sūryaḥ Buddha shouted in anger and shame. “Just a usurper!”

The hazy golden crow condensed again, but its momentum was lacking, as if a crucial part was missing. The Sūryaḥ Buddha and the unknown divinity clashed, producing infinite rays. No matter how hard Tianyi tried to watch, he could only catch glimpses of the fight.

“Hmpf, Luya, I’ll stop for now, but you will pay for the sin of destroying a realm, killing an infinite number of humans, and what you did to Junior Brother Jiang all those years ago!”

Before Tianyi knew what was going on, he saw a flash of light and the next thing he knew; he was following behind the unknown divinity, shooting away. He coughed and cupped his head. “Senior.”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

The mysterious divinity turned around and Tianyi finally got a good look at his face. Unlike the prideful and domineering attitude shown by him during his clash with the Sūryaḥ Buddha, he had a calm expression and aura that resembled a rippleless lake or the abyss.

“Concealed Emperor?!” Tianyi said aloud, shocked. Then, he calmed down. It wasn’t unacceptable for the Concealed Emperor to be a divinity. After all, he existed since the founding of the Buzhou Immortal Sect. Rather than extending his life through a secret technique, it made more sense that he was a survivor of the primordial era.

The Concealed Emperor, no—the Concealed Divinity nodded. “My Daoist title is Jadelight. As for my identity from before, there’s no need to know. I can’t really be considered a survivor, only a vestige. The Immortal Court still needs people like you to hold it up.”

Tianyi’s lips twitched. Even if he was just a vestige, he wanted to know which divinity the Concealed Divinity was in the primordial era. In addition, if the Immortal Court had a divinity all along, why did he not take action until now? It can’t really be because he considers himself a vestige and does not want to interfere too much with the Immortal Court?

The Concealed Divinity looked away and continued on his way toward the Primordial Realm. “It’s a bit of a pity to lose the Bodhi Tree. Since the Sūryaḥ Buddha showed himself, it means the Pure Lands Pseudo System will appear in the near future to fight for hegemony. We must defeat the Demon Clan and the Numinous Sword Sect soon and unify the entire Three Thousand Immortal Realms System.”

“You have fought against a divinity,” the Concealed Divinity continued.

‘Well, if you can extend the definition of a fight.’ Tianyi thought.

“Have you thought of a method to increase your strength or cultivation base?” the Concealed Divinity asked. The Concealed Divinity nodded. “Good. The final battle against the Demon Clan should arrive soon.”