"If it were Kong Xuan from the Primordial legends of my previous life, his strength would even surpass that of the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, known as the Peacock Great Bright King, the mother of the Buddha. Naturally, I would not be his match."
"But I don't know if it's the butterfly effect I caused or something else, Kong Xuan's strength is just a watered-down Grand Unity, inferior to mine."
Regarding this point, the Lone Fire Ghost King also found it very strange.
Even if he had transmigrated, causing a butterfly effect and constantly interfering with the Primordial narrative, leading it astray.
He hadn't done anything significant!
He had only occupied Spirit Mountain ahead of time.
It shouldn't have caused Kong Xuan, who was originally at the Quasi-Saint level, to be reduced to the cultivation of a watered-down Grand Unity now.
After transmigrating to the Primordial world, although he had lived for billions of years, he had always stayed in his cave dwelling. He had not interfered with any tribulations, whether it was the Investiture of the Gods, the Lich Tribulation, or the events of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. He had never participated or interfered.
He had not made any plans.
How could the butterfly effect brought about by a transmigrator be so significant? (In reality, it was not the butterfly effect's influence, but rather due to different Chaos Eras and different background settings in various Primordial novels.)
In short, the Lone Fire Ghost King felt he had the strength to deal with Kong Xuan.
And in reality, this was indeed the case.
The Peacock Boy was furious and wanted to throw the scalding hot tea in his hand onto the Lone Fire Ghost King's face.
The Lone Fire Ghost King directly used his innate divine ability – Five-Bucket Fire, burning the Peacock Boy until he screamed and rolled on the ground, unable to relieve the pain.
The Tathagata Buddha, seated at the highest position, saw this and chanted the Coolness Mantra. In an instant, the Peacock Boy was healed.
The Lone Fire Ghost King, filled with rage, broke through his reason again. Seeing the Peacock Boy healed, he was enraged and intended to set Spirit Mountain ablaze.
The Tathagata's wisdom eye perceived this, and he chanted a spell. Fifty billion reverse dragons surged into the sky, enveloping Spirit Mountain and filling it with mist.
With this mist, the Lone Fire Ghost King's divine ability, the watered-down Grand Unity's Five-Bucket Fire, could not be unleashed and was immediately extinguished.
Originally, with the situation having escalated to this point, the Lone Fire Ghost King should have known when to stop.
The Tathagata Buddha felt he was in the wrong. Even though the Lone Fire Ghost King caused a scene in public and embarrassed Buddhism, he did not attack him.
He merely protected Spirit Mountain, focusing on defense, and did not launch an offensive to kill the Lone Fire Ghost King.
However, the Lone Fire Ghost King's anger flared up, and he lost all reason. He barged through Spirit Mountain, through the Great Thunderclap Temple, colliding left and right, speaking disrespectfully, and finally provoking one of the Buddha's Ten Great Disciples.
This person was Miaoxiang.
Miaoxiang was one of the Buddha's Ten Great Disciples, his divine power and magic comparable to that of Jin Chanzi. The grade of the three flowers he condensed when advancing to Grand Unity was also six-grade three flowers.
More importantly, his origin was that Miaoxiang was transformed from an oil lamp in front of the Tathagata's Dharma hall. He listened to scriptures and asked about the Dharma day and night, cultivating the spirit of fire, the hearing of fire, the rising of fire, and the form of fire.
Wielding the Samadhi True Fire was his most innate ability. When he fought the Lone Fire Ghost King, he directly used the Samadhi True Fire to burn the Lone Fire Ghost King, who was already skilled in flames, to death.
Samadhi True Fire was a truly renowned high-level divine ability in the Three Realms, far superior to the Lone Fire Ghost King's innate divine ability, Five-Bucket Fire. This outcome was not unexpected.
The Lone Fire Ghost King died.
At this moment, the heavenly secrets became clear, and the Tathagata Buddha calculated the heavenly secrets, gaining some enlightenment.
"So that's how it is. This is the operation of heavenly destiny. My disciple Miaoxiang is the future Heavenly Emperor Huaguang, the most crucial figure for our Buddhist sect to have an operative in the Heavenly Court."
"And the demise of this Lone Fire Ghost King provides me with an excuse to have my disciple reincarnated, and it is the beginning of Emperor Huaguang's legendary life."
The Tathagata Buddha, as if seeing through the future, saw a book in the ethereal expanse of time.
It was titled: "Journey to the South."
The Tathagata seemed to gain enlightenment and mused: "There is Journey to the East, Journey to the South, Journey to the North, and Journey to the West, collectively known as the Four Journeys. Yet, people today only know of Journey to the West, completely forgetting Journey to the South, Journey to the North, and Journey to the East. What does this mean?"
This thought came and went strangely, and the Tathagata Buddha never understood why such a thought suddenly appeared in his mind.
He also did not know what the Four Journeys in this thought meant.
He merely arranged the destiny of his disciple Miaoxiang.
The Tathagata commanded that his disciple Miaoxiang be apprehended.
"You beast, although the Lone Fire Great King had his faults, you are, after all, a monk, a member of our Buddhist sect."
"Our Buddha is merciful and compassionate, how could you be so ruthless? Breaking the precept against killing and burning him to death?"
"The Dharma cannot tolerate this. You are banished to reincarnate."
Thus, the Tathagata killed two birds with one stone. Firstly, according to the operation of heavenly destiny, he cultivated his disciple to become the future Heavenly Emperor.
Secondly, it provided an explanation to the great divine powers of the Three Realms, preserving some face.
After all, many immortals and gods in the Three Realms knew how the Tathagata Buddha's Spirit Mountain was acquired. Playing tricks with contracts, defrauding, and stealing property was one thing, but now, the original owner of Spirit Mountain died at the hands of a Buddhist disciple.
This was too immoral and too difficult to justify.
Therefore, he made Miaoxiang abandon his cultivation and reincarnate, which would silence the immortals and gods of the Three Realms, bringing this matter to a dignified conclusion.
After all, even a disciple of Grand Unity Golden Immortal had to be abolished, which sufficiently proved that the Buddha had not wronged the Lone Fire Ghost King, right?
The Tathagata ordered Miaoxiang to reincarnate.
Miaoxiang cried, "Master commands me to reincarnate, and I dare not disobey. However, after my reincarnation, I will no longer have magic power and divine abilities, and I fear I will be bullied."
The Tathagata, on his throne, chanted a spell and said, "I bestow upon you five divine abilities: one to the sky, two to the earth, three to the wind, four to water, and five to fire."
Then, he pointed a finger at Miaoxiang's forehead and said, "I also bestow upon you a Heavenly Eye, which can see through the Three Realms."
He then summoned Guanyin Laomu to send him for reincarnation.
...
After reincarnating, Miaoxiang experienced a series of hardships and formed friendships with the Heavenly Venerable Miaole, the Supreme Emperor Xuan Tian, and the Great Emperor Ziwei.
Later, in the Heavenly Court, he was bestowed the title of Great Emperor Shangshan Wuxian Lingguan, also known as Emperor Huaguang, by the Jade Emperor. He was a veteran Quasi-Saint powerhouse and the highest-cultivated operative of the Buddhist sect in the Heavenly Court, securing countless benefits for Buddhism.
As for the Lone Fire Ghost King, his body and spirit were annihilated, his primordial spirit destroyed. Only a trace of his true spirit remained, heading towards a world opposite to the Primordial world.
"Where is this..."
The Lone Fire Ghost King found himself in an unknown world.
Moreover, despite his body and spirit being annihilated and his primordial spirit destroyed, he was still alive.
He still had consciousness?
Could it be that the primordial spirit is not the fundamental vessel of thought?
Recalling that Heavenly Dao Saints were immortal and indestructible, capable of rebirth even if their primordial spirits were annihilated, the Lone Fire Ghost King seemed to grasp something.
Ten thousand years passed.