Super Combat Soldier

Chapter 1931 - 1929: Battle Within the Belly, Victory Uncertain

The great battle has finally erupted!The Young Buddha faces off against the Peacock Great Bright King!

Their battleground is inside the belly of the Peacock Great Bright King. It is rumored that the Peacock Clan has inherited the bloodline of the Immortal Phoenix, making them true descendants of immortal birds. Within their stomachs lies a formation that can refine anything. Anything ingested will be reduced to ashes, even the mighty Taotie Clan, known for devouring heavens and earth, is taken aback by it!

At this moment, the Peacock Great Bright King roared. If the Young Buddha loses to him, he must obediently watch him eat people and even catch people daily to provide for his consumption. If the Young Buddha wins, then the Peacock Great Bright King is willing to acknowledge him as a master and serve as a protector for the Buddhist Sect for life. After his taunting, he launched a punch aimed at the Young Buddha’s head.

"Great Ming King Fist!"

With a mighty shout, the fist light from the Peacock Great Bright King exploded with an earth-shattering force. This powerful release caused the entire space to tremble incessantly, even the formation within the Peacock Great Bright King’s belly began to shake. This couldn’t help but make the Young Buddha frown as he muttered to himself, "The nature of the Peacock Clan is indeed violent. It’s hard to suppress such a proud and unyielding nature. Are they willing to destroy the formation in their own belly just to kill me? Impressive!"

Pa!

The Young Buddha clasped his hands together. Facing such a powerful attack from the Peacock Great Bright King, he couldn’t remain calm and seated with crossed legs. Instead, he clasped his hands together, then when they opened, a small Buddha Hand Seal shot towards the fist light of the Peacock Great Bright King.

Bang dong!

With a thunderous sound, a powerful force permeated the belly of the Peacock Great Bright King. The clash of such mighty forces, not to mention flesh and blood, even a sprawling Iron Mountain would be shattered to pieces. However, when the two forces collided, as they battled fiercely, suddenly the formation within the belly seemed to be activated. Waves of refining power blocked these forces from scattering. If they were allowed to spread, the Peacock Great Bright King would have faced annihilation!

"Legend says Buddhism praises salvation and rescuing, helping all beings. Unfortunately, for me, the Peacock Great Bright King, it’s all nonsense. It can’t save a powerful being like me!" The Peacock Great Bright King said fiercely to the Young Buddha.

"Buddha said, there is no one beyond saving. I have come here to transform the Ming King!" The Young Buddha said with a smile.

"Little monk, you look like you’re just over ten years old, yet you possess such a mental realm, such incomprehensible power. Indeed, you are an anomaly in the world. I think you should follow alongside me, the Peacock Great Bright King, and I guarantee you’ll become a revered power!" The Peacock Great Bright King said coldly to the Young Buddha.

"Haha, Ming King, as long as you promise not to eat people anymore, I don’t mind at all!" The Young Buddha said fearlessly.

"Such greatness, such selflessness, truly admirable. Unfortunately, with me, Peacock Great Bright King, there’s no term to agree on!" The Peacock Great Bright King said fiercely.

"Then let’s battle. You and I have yet to decide a winner!" The Young Buddha shook his head and said.

"The winner hasn’t been decided yet because I haven’t used my full strength. Since you, little monk, are ignorant of life and death, and can’t discern the situation, it’s not my fault. The next move will decide the victor!" The Peacock Great Bright King frowned and said.

Ye Tianchen watched the scene intensely, frowning deeply. According to the mortal world’s rumors of the Peacock Great Bright King, the "truth" he saw was quite different.

The Peacock Great Bright King has two legends:

First,

According to Central Earth’s Buddhist Sutra, after a peacock was born, it was inherently cruel, loved to eat human flesh, and could devour people from 40 or 50 miles away. In the Great Snow Mountain where it lived, within a radius of 500 miles, there were no people. One day, the Buddha traveled to the Great Snow Mountain and was swallowed whole by the peacock, absorbing the Buddha’s tall golden body into its belly. The Buddha had no choice but to break out from its back. In his own words, "I originally wanted to exit through its convenient opening, but feared it would contaminate the Buddha’s body, so I broke out through its back and stepped onto Ling Mount."

Later, after the Buddha "stepped on Peacock to the Ling Mount", he harbored murderous intent in his heart, unable to swallow this grievance, and thus said to his subordinates, I wish to extinguish it for all beings. Upon hearing this, all the Buddhas thought it was unreasonable. Not to mention that when the Peacock’s parents, the Phoenixes, were born, even the Buddha’s Bodhi Tree had not yet appeared, and that the Peacock’s brother, the Golden Winged Great Peng, was not an easy foe to contend with either. (The Golden Winged Great Peng was known for its fondness for eating dragons.) So a thousand Bodhisattvas, Buddhas, Arhats, and Revered Ones all advised in unison: "Respect arose from its body, harming it would be like harming the respected mother." Our revered Shakyamuni weighed the pros and cons, found a way out, and later propagated that his reason was "to forgive it, and seal it as ’Peacock Great Bright King Bodhisattva’, granting the supreme free blessing and emptying its nature."

In essence, this was the prequel to "Great Sage Equalling Heaven", trapping the Peacock, who had enjoyed so much freedom, on Ling Mount with the title "Buddha Mother Peacock Great Bright King Bodhisattva". And as expected, the Golden Winged Great Peng eventually rebelled, storming the Western Paradise, causing such chaos that even the gods and Buddhas lost their bearings. In the end, the Buddha had no choice but to devise a strategy, and agreed to a duel with the Great Peng after several days, calling forth all beings from the Buddha Realm, and after several days and nights of battle, finally captured him. After bringing him back to Ling Mount, he was sealed as Roc Ming King and similarly trapped. However, since the Great Peng is the Peacock’s brother, the Buddha still respectfully called him Uncle in public.

II.

In the beginning, chaos split open. The clear and light rose to form the sky, while the thick and heavy sank to create the earth. Once the sun and moon shone clearly, stars circled around, and myriad things began to grow. All beasts bowed to the Qilin as their emperor, and all birds revered the Phoenix as their king.

The Phoenix, male being Feng and female being Huang, when heaven and earth united, gave birth to nine types: Golden Phoenix, Colorful Phoenix, Fire Phoenix, Snow Phoenix, Blue Phoenix, Peacock, Great Peng, Thunder Bird, and Great Wind. Among the birds, the Peacock was the most beautiful, dazzling and radiant, causing flowers to blush and clouds to pale in comparison. Yet it was haughty and unpredictable. The Buddha once tried to interact with it, but failed, angering him, thus challenging it to a great battle under Kunlun Mountain. The Peacock was fierce, swallowing the Buddha whole. The Buddha arduously broke out from its back, in great fear, wanting to kill it. The Emperor said: Impossible. The Peacock is the most cherished by the Phoenix, killing the Peacock would hurt the Phoenix, have mercy, have mercy. So it was cast into the Abyss, exiled beyond the Three Realms — the Demon Realm.

The Peacock fell into the Demon Realm, seeing devastation all around, bones everywhere, it was puzzled and asked an old demon. The demon replied sorrowfully, the Demon Realm originally shared equal parts with the Three Realms, enjoyed the energy of the sun equally, and absorbed the essence of the moon together. However, the Buddha detested their ugly looks, abnormal forms, and cast the entire Demon Clan into the Abyss, sealing them with a boundary. Within the Abyss, there was no sun or moon, pitch black everywhere, causing the Demon Clan to dwindle day by day. Occasionally, a talented Demon King would break free, only to be accused of disturbing the Three Realms, causing the gods to unite against him, all ending badly.

After hearing this, the Peacock felt enlightened, achieving great realization, and then wholeheartedly cultivated in the Demon Realm, mourning the pain of the Demon Clan, lamenting their anger. During this time, only the Ksitigarbha felt pity for its misfortune, frequently helping it. The Emperor once heard of the Peacock’s situation, knowing it, playfully calling it ’Satan’.

Fifteen hundred years later, the Peacock led the Demon Clan to break free, directly attacking Dark Sky, igniting a clash that was recorded in history as the ’War of Gods and Demons’. During this time, clouds of sorrow were unceasing, unsettling the Three Realms. After prolonged warfare, the Demon Clan gradually weakened, only the Peacock flaunted its power, showing no sign of defeat. Breaking through the Three Immortal Eight Isles, Nine Kings and Ten Stars, not one god or Buddha could stand against it. Yet as the Demon Clan’s defeat became apparent, the Peacock was helpless. Ksitigarbha bitterly admonished it to say, the Demon Clan has its sorrow, the Three Realms have their suffering, in times of chaos, none can find peace. Now, battle has raged for a hundred years, the Three Realms are withering, already resembling the Demon Realm! The Buddha also said, willing to grant the essence of the sun and moon to the Demon Realm. The Peacock raised its head to the sky and sighed, then ceased.

The Three Realms returned to their places, the Demon Clan returned to the Abyss, and the Peacock also wished to go, but the gods earnestly advised against it. Returning to the Western Paradise, managing the affairs of the Demon Realm, drawing the essence of the sun and moon, irrigating the Four Realms. The people of the entire world all felt grateful for its grace. The Buddha was greatly pleased, bestowing the title ’Peacock Great Bright King’.

The world was pacified, the Peacock roamed the blue seas, standing on a rock, looking up to the sky and wailing: Looking through ancient and modern, seeing gods and demons in one body, only I, the Peacock!

At this moment, in this village of hundreds of people, several hundred mortal commoners were still kneeling on the ground, not pleading for the Peacock Great Bright King to forgive them, but praying in their hearts, hoping that the handsome little monk could truly rescue them, and also hoping that this handsome little monk could subdue the ferocious Peacock!

Now, in this village of hundreds of people, everyone was watching the sky, only to see the Peacock Great Bright King transformed into a human form, sitting cross-legged on a nearby high mountain, motionless. Meanwhile, from the Peacock Great Bright King’s belly, sounds of battle could be heard, they knew it was the Young Buddha in a fierce fight with the Peacock Great Bright King.

"Grandpa, do you think that big brother can win?" the little girl holding flowers asked worriedly.

"He certainly will, he is very strong!" the leading elder said firmly.

"Unfortunately, we are powerless, unable to help at all!"

"No, we still have the power of faith, let us all pray in our hearts, together recite the Buddhist Scriptures taught by the little monk, supporting him in our hearts!" The leading elder clasped his hands together, starting to recite scriptures.

At this moment, the hundreds of people in the entire village began to chant scriptures together, the power of one person is small, ten people’s strength is not small, a hundred people’s strength is great, soon everywhere was filled with the floating Buddhist Scriptures, even affecting the Peacock Great Bright King who had already turned its Divine Thought inward.

"These mortals really support you, but unfortunately, little monk, your fate is destined to end here!" the Peacock Great Bright King said with a cold smile.

"Ming King, is it the support of all beings for me that makes you, a Demon King who kills without mercy and always acts on your own, feel afraid?" the Young Buddha asked while looking at the Peacock Great Bright King.

"Nonsense, it’s just the Buddhist Scriptures, let me show you my Peacock Great Bright King Curse!" the Peacock Great Bright King said disdainfully. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, feel free to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets on qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)