Volume One, Chapter Eighty: Seizing the Corpse

Chapter 80: The Seizure of the Corpse

As Tu Zhe’s divine sense grew stronger, his perception of the world’s laws became ever keener; his insights came swifter and deeper. Now, wielding his divine sense, he moved the smaller veils of concealment, arranging them around his carbonized shell so that he appeared utterly lifeless. Even the fluctuations of his soul were completely hidden. To any observer outside, it seemed he was truly dead.

This deception was, of course, mainly intended for the Great Demon Dragon King, Tie Tou Lai Zha, to mislead him. At the same time, it bought Tu Zhe precious moments for contemplation, even if only a few or a few dozen breaths.

From the depths of his mind, he retrieved the cultivation scripture, “The Treasury of Mind-Only,” and began reading and comprehending it at lightning speed. In that instant, talismanic seals of the Alaya Consciousness arose from nothing, shining like brilliant stars or like fireflies dancing in the night sky—spots flickering on and off, forming a strange and wondrous picture.

These seals twinkled as they landed upon the earth or melded into the sky, becoming laws that made the earth solid and the heavens vast and profound.

The three realms are mind-only; the myriad laws are consciousness-only. Consciousness has four divisions; the laws, five categories…

As for the five categories and hundred dharmas: the mind, mental factors, material form, the unassociated formations, and the unconditioned phenomena...

Though it seemed a lengthy process, in truth, from the moment Tu Zhe became a lump of charcoal to the beginning of his study and meditation on “The Treasury of Mind-Only,” barely a dozen breaths had passed in the outside world.

Tie Tou Lai Zha, the Great Demon Dragon King, stood calmly at the crest of the waves, watching Tu Zhe’s charred form floating in the air, as if waiting for something. He wished to crush Tu Zhe in his grasp, but could he?

Of course he could. But he must not.

The Naga clan had risked incurring the wrath of such powers as Mara, Old Rahu, and Mu Xiu Lou Tuo, marshaling their elite to ambush Tu Zhe. Why would they do this?

The reason was plain. Dragons die for treasures, birds perish for food; the multitudes of heaven bustle for profit, all striving for gain.

As an old saying goes: “No one rises early without profit!”

Did anyone think the Nagas were simply bored, courting trouble for its own sake?

It was all because of the temptation offered by Indra.

Not only did Indra reveal to Tie Tou Lai Zha that Tu Zhe had acquired the Great Thief Mani Ashu’s Sumeru Ring, he also vouched for the reliability of his words by asserting that the sudden rise in cultivation of Tu Zhe’s entire family and the Yaksha assembly must be due to their possession of numerous peerless treasures. He even speculated that some of these treasures might be unheard of in the entire Three Realms, perhaps even originating from other middle or great thousand-worlds, all stored within Tu Zhe’s ring.

Thus, Tie Tou Lai Zha was moved. While he could indeed reduce Tu Zhe’s charred remains to dust at any moment, he would not do so until he secured the Great Thief’s Sumeru Ring.

A pyrrhic outcome would benefit no one.

Tie Tou Lai Zha refrained from acting, knowing that even as a mere lump of charcoal, Tu Zhe would not be so easily seized.

For Mara was still present. Old Rahu was still present. Mu Xiu Lou Tuo was still present.

He would first gauge the reactions of these mighty ones.

Of course, to face all three alone was tantamount to courting death.

But was not Indra also involved?

The silence of the heavens of the Desire Realm was finally shattered by a furious roar.

To everyone’s shock, it was Indra who roared first!

At that moment, Indra’s robes snapped in the wind, his golden crown burst apart, and his hair—several zhang long—whipped about like serpents and dragons, his aura reaching its peak. With a wave of his hand, a giant palm as vast as the sky itself pierced through the Four Heavenly Kings’ Heaven, shooting toward the Great Saltwater Sea to seize Tu Zhe.

What was Indra raging about?

Was he seeking to destroy Tu Zhe? Apparently not.

His roar made his intentions clear:

“Who dares harm my little son of heaven—”

Plainly, he wished to retrieve Tu Zhe’s corpse. Did any of the great powers of the Desire Realm have grounds to stop him?

None, truly.

Who was Indra? Lord of Trayastrimsa Heaven, and by marriage, Tu Zhe’s brother-in-law. Tu Zhe was one of his own. From every angle, Indra had reason to reclaim Tu Zhe’s remains.

Was there a problem with this? Apparently not. If anything, the complication lay with Tie Tou Lai Zha.

By rights, Tie Tou Lai Zha should be the one most unwilling to let Indra seize Tu Zhe’s body.

Yet, Tie Tou Lai Zha did not cooperate with Indra. He merely stood atop the waves, making no move at all.

This strange reluctance in a moment of lightning action could not escape the notice of cunning Old Rahu, Mara, and Mu Xiu Lou Tuo.

Almost at the same instant, Old Rahu cast a concealment spell. Instantly, clouds and mist surged around Tu Zhe, rolling and roiling, though nothing more extraordinary occurred—Tu Zhe still floated in midair, a charred remnant.

Mara’s vertical eye between his brows opened, sending forth a beam faster than light, shattering the crystal wall between Lohuati Heaven, Tusita Heaven, and Yama Heaven. Quicker than Indra’s hand, it shot toward the Great Saltwater Sea, clashing directly with Indra’s palm.

It should be said that, apart from certain unspeakable secrets that forced him to hide his deepest abilities, Indra was known in the Desire Realm only as a peak emperor. To contend with Mara at such a level was pure folly. Mara could annihilate dozens, even hundreds, of Indras in an instant.

Yet Mara merely knocked Indra’s hand aside without harming him.

Indra’s face changed dramatically. He turned, looking up toward the heavens above, and coldly demanded:

“Lord of the Realm, what is the meaning of this?”

Mara’s frigid voice rang out:

“No meaning at all. Tu Zhe is my disciple. I should collect his remains. Do you object?”

Indra was nearly bursting with rage, his reply sharp:

“Tu Zhe belongs to my Trayastrimsa Heaven—he is also my brother-in-law. Should I not collect his remains?”

Mara sneered, “Oh? I’d forgotten you had that connection. So you’re Tu Zhe’s convenient brother-in-law, are you...”

At that moment, Mu Xiu Lou Tuo’s voice resounded:

“Whoever wishes to take Tu Zhe’s corpse must first have my consent. As for whether I have the right to interfere, you all know the Night Demon Roma—I need say no more.”

Indra hesitated, uncertain whether to play his ultimate card. After much deliberation, he restrained himself.

Who could have predicted Tu Zhe’s strength would prove so formidable? The plan had been for Tie Tou Lai Zha to kill Tu Zhe, then for the two of them to split the spoils. Now, events had spun beyond his control.

This was no mere trickery—it was a disaster!

At that instant, Tie Tou Lai Zha, who had not moved all this while, suddenly revealed his dragon claw, reaching directly for Tu Zhe’s floating, shrouded body. Mara and Mu Xiu Lou Tuo were too far away to intervene in time, and Tie Tou Lai Zha’s cultivation was not much inferior to Indra’s.

In a flash, amid Mara and Mu Xiu Lou Tuo’s furious shouts and the shocked outcries of billions of celestial beings, Tie Tou Lai Zha seized Tu Zhe’s charred form firmly in his dragon claw.