The Buddhist Sect's leaders relaxed when they saw how easily Buddha had subdued the Great Sage Equal to Heaven.
"Yes."
They soon turned into golden meteors and flew toward the Heavenly Court.
But a closer look would have shown that despite their confident smiles, they were flying at a crawl—slower even than a Heavenly Immortal.
The reason was simple: they were following their leader's example.
They knew exactly what Buddha had in mind, so they were in no hurry to reach the Heavenly Court.
Let the Heavenly Court and the Extraterrestrial Demons wear each other down in a fight to the death. Then they could reap the rewards.
Once everyone had gone, Buddha looked at the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, pinned beneath his hand.
But he looked far from relieved. Instead, he frowned.
The Sages... why haven't they appeared?
With something this momentous happening, Jieyin and Zhunti should at least have sent him a message, even if they did not appear in person.
But this time, he had heard nothing from either of them.
That was why he had not suppressed the Great Sage Equal to Heaven outright.
He was afraid of disrupting the Sages' plans.
Yet he could not keep stalling forever. At the critical moment, he had sent the Bodhisattvas and Arhats to support the Heavenly Court, then dispatched the rest of his forces.
He wanted to see whether any Sage would intervene.
So far, none had. Did that mean they had no objection, or had the Extraterrestrial Demons tied them up so thoroughly that they had no time to deal with him?
Am I free?
At the thought of freedom, a faint thrill ran through his body and Divine Soul.
How long had it been since he had felt anything like it?
Ever since becoming Buddha,