Longevity, starting from being a chicken raising servant Chapter 2392 - 200: Heavenly Demon

Wang Ba caught the speculation.

Right then, the silhouette wrapped in white radiance lost some of its ease, gaining a trace of seriousness instead.

He adjusted his posture a touch, paused briefly in quiet, then fixed his gaze on Wang Ba standing nearby the stone table, and abruptly inquired:

"Why do you think so?"

Though he held around sixty percent certainty inside, Wang Ba still sensed a faint quiver upon hearing the query.

It's truly him!

Yet Wang Ba held off on replying right away; he posed a counter-question:

"Where is Shen Fu? Has he been corrupted by the Six Paths Pond Water?"

The white light-cloaked form gave a subtle shake of the head:

"It’s not in vain that he protects you so much... Rest assured, I have already sent him to compete for the next generation of Buddha’s son."

"Buddha’s son?"

Wang Ba felt a mild jolt, and oddly recalled Shen Fu’s role as holy child in the primitive Demonic Sect. Despite his concerns, a weird mix of familiarity and oddity washed over him just now.

"These things can be discussed later. First, tell me, why do you speculate this?"

The entity thought to be ’Xiahou Demon’, the Lord of Six Paths, clearly cared deeply about this inquiry at the instant, urging further.

At these words, Wang Ba reflected briefly, yet shared everything openly:

"You say we’ve met three times, but apart from this time and the one in Zhang’s Ruins, I don’t recall seeing you. Upon thinking it over, it can only be that the last time I left this place, you saw me."

"Since you saw me, yet allowed Shen Fu to let me go."

"Moreover, I know there must be someone lurking in the Cloud Sky Sect under Supreme True Buddha..."

"Therefore, you’re most likely not someone from Supreme True Buddha."

"Not someone from Supreme True Buddha, yet able to hide safely under the Great Bodhisattva’s eyes."

"Late-stage Crossing Tribulation, a Mahayana Cultivator? Those are both possible."

"However, I also heard that when Supreme True Buddha invaded the Cloud Sky Realm earlier, the Lord of Six Paths was severely injured by Xiahou Demon and has been recuperating in this place ever since."

"Xiahou Demon, as the Master of Void Demon Realm, uses deception naturally as easily as eating and drinking."

"And you purposely revealed some information."

"Considering all these aspects, I dared to speculate boldly."

Of course, the chief cause lay in the opponent deliberately leaking certain details. Without that, no matter the wild guesses, one wouldn’t venture to imagine a fabled ’deceased’ Mahayana Cultivator concealed right here.

Listening to Wang Ba’s explanation, the white light-shrouded form across the stone table couldn’t resist applauding and praising:

"Marvelous!"

"I take back what I said before. Shen Fu’s assessment of you is indeed accurate - truly meticulous, cautious, deserving of someone who could reach here from beyond Duanhai Cliff on their own."

Wang Ba stayed steady at the praise, though Shen Fu’s opinion didn’t faze him much, and his mind raced to deeper matters right then.

During that time, the Cloud Sky Realm’s powers divided into two routes, using a ploy to unwittingly aid the foe. Looking back, suspicions abounded, like the overly wary approach of Cloud Sky Sect’s Sect Leader Bai, who adopted a bold and perilous plan, and how the Cloud Sky Realm, after clashing with Supreme True Buddha, ought to grasp Tianshang Buddha Lord’s might, yet opted to scatter their troops, resulting in piecemeal losses...

"And, since Xiahou Demon is feigning death, could it be..."

His pulse quickened, a hazy doubt taking shape.

Across from him, the ’Lord of Six Paths’ appeared to sense his musings, lifting a finger to his mouth:

"Shh—"

"If you’ve guessed it, don’t say it out loud."

Wang Ba blinked in surprise, then understood and gave a small nod, before querying with bewilderment:

"May I dare to ask, senior, since you knew you weren’t that Buddha Lord’s opponent, why was there still that battle in the Cloud Sky Realm before?"

He avoided naming the Buddha Lord outright, calling them ’that one’ instead.

At the question, the ’Lord of Six Paths’ canted his head faintly, as if dredging up the prior clash with Tianshang Buddha Lord. Despite the white light hiding his face and feelings, unrest stirred within, evident in his subtle head shake:

"Until I fought without reservation, who could know he had reached such a realm?"

"Old Man Gai, the Master of Quiet Cave, and I teamed up. We thought that even among those of the same tier, we shouldn’t be defeated in the whole Third Realm Sea, but..."

He shook his head once more, the memory too painful to dwell on, and refused to elaborate.

Shifting topics, he continued:

"However, in the Cloud Sky Realm battle this time, we didn’t intend to defeat Supreme True Buddha. In fact, Old Man Gai and the others from the beginning planned to probe their full strength, seemingly risky but actually moving steadily and surely."

"Their full strength?"

Wang Ba mulled it over, then voiced gravely:

"Reclining Buddha, Seated Buddha, Standing Buddha?"

"You know too?"

The ’Lord of Six Paths’ showed mild astonishment, then shook his head lightly:

"This isn’t a big secret, actually. The three Buddhas corpse has long existed, not only after this Buddha Lord, but I never thought he could control two of the three Buddha corpses at the same time..."

"Buddha corpse?"

Wang Ba felt a slight daze.

"Certainly, according to their own saying, these are the ’Three Great Dharma Realms’, containing all Buddhas of past, present, and future."

The ’Lord of Six Paths’ spoke with a hint of feeling:

"This time, the intention was to force out the true form of this Buddha Lord. The ideal result was to make him unable to suppress his realm and be compelled to reach Cultivation Ascension. Unfortunately..."

Evidently revisiting that fight’s moments, his voice unwittingly held notes of gravity.

Wang Ba, though, found clarity dawning within.

Before, he’d wondered why Xiahou Demon, after hiding so long, permitted the Cloud Sky Realm’s rash moves with scant intel on Supreme True Buddha. Now, it clicked: the earlier Cloud Sky Realm skirmish, spearheaded by Duanhai Cliff’s allies, had been a calculated test against Supreme True Buddha all along.