Chapter 372

372. Chapter 365: The Dao Was Originally Born from a Single Thought of Buddha, Demon, and Buddha

Liao Qing, Wei Jian, and Zhu Bi's faces were filled with shock, and they couldn't help but stare at each other.

They had heard that the Sha Gui Sect's Soul Infant Banner had undergone a secret upgrade, and was now called the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, but they never expected the upgraded Ten Thousand Souls Banner to be so powerful that it could quickly lure the souls of cultivators within their spiritual bodies to join the myriad ghosts, thereby causing their spiritual bodies to be crippled and completely lose function.

The three cultivators of Lu Yan Valley were all struck dumb like cicadas in winter; even if a soul without a spirit disintegrated, the remnant spirit combined with the physical body in the real world would lose consciousness, henceforth becoming a living dead.

Lu Yan Valley again cultivated cultivator cauldrons using poison cultivators, rapidly enhancing strength through the cultivator's cultivation within the cauldron; Elder Fan Ru becoming a living dead would certainly be seized by the sect's elders for use as a cauldron, and his hundreds of years of idle cultivation would become another's wedding dress.

"Elder Wei Jian, your strength is the strongest among us.

The two of us will order disciples to assist you in sending out the Tian Lun Shuttle, breaking open a path of survival.

We must fight desperately, otherwise none of us will have a chance to escape." Zhu Bi and Liao Qing exchanged a glance, took two deep breaths, and said.

"Not bad, success or failure turns to nothing in an instant.

Success is Carefree Wanderer, failure is Carefree Wanderer." Liao Qing clenched his fists, two fierce lights flashing in his eyes.

"The two fellow Daoists share my thoughts exactly; let us fight to the death.

The Tian Lun Shuttle is a sect secret treasure; perhaps the situation is not as bad as we think." Wei Jian spoke angrily and frustratedly, in a hurry.

"Follow me, disciples, to break through the four-directional ghostly qi mire; upon returning to Lu Yan Valley, you will all be promoted to core inner disciples."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Bi's vast voice rang out in the air.

Boundless divine power burst forth from his body; what was originally the smooth skin of Ying'er, who resided in China, rapidly aged at a visible speed, and finally his entire head of black hair turned crystal clear like snow.

The world laws of the Primordial Spiritual Realm seemed to sense it, as heavenly thunder raged wildly in the sky—this was the warning of the precept laws; Zhu Bi's strength, after being triggered by his lifespan, had already reached a point only a hair's breadth away from the Heavenly Spirit Realm.

The precept laws of the Primordial Spiritual Realm absolutely forbid cultivators beyond the Earth Element Realm from existing within it; once manifested, they would surely be mercifully erased to the point of soul annihilation, which is also why Zi Tian Du and others, even if they would rather be captured, dare not rashly let their strength exceed the Earth Element Realm—the longer they live, the more they cling to life, the more they fear death.

Roar.

The Tian Lun Shuttle received the surging infusion of spiritual power from within Zhu Bi's body, directly letting out a long cry; the terrifying sound wave attack power rolled the clouds in the sky, and a ferocious beast shadow burst forth from within the Tian Lun Shuttle, rapidly growing large by absorbing the power of the three Lu Yan Valley elders and over a thousand Lu Yan Valley disciples, gathering the power of the Nine Heavens wind and thunder for use in quickly solidifying.

The giant falcon-eagle beast manifested in the sky, completely covering the entire heavens; compared to the bodies of Song Ze, Sun Min, Qing Wei, Duan Wu Liang, Li Shi Xiong, and others, it was as if the great sun stood shoulder to shoulder with a candle flame.

Qing Wei Dao Zhang's eyes flashed twice, and a solemn look appeared in the depths of his gaze.

That giant falcon-eagle beast is the artifact spirit within the Tian Lun Shuttle; it evolved from a single strand of the giant falcon-eagle's soul when its beak material was used to forge the Tian Lun Shuttle; now, having received nourishment from the cultivation and blood qi of all Lu Yan Valley cultivators, it has been fully revived, truly becoming a terrifying divine punishment bird.

"We shall see whether it is your Sha Gui Sect's heavenly ghost tide that is fierce,

or the peerless bird spirit within the Tian Lun Shuttle that is utterly ferocious."

Wei Jian's voice rang out in the air; the ghostly qi and ghostly flames in all four directions were scattered by the ferocious might on the beast's body; he stood in place, his face fierce, gathering the strength of all Lu Yan Valley disciples into himself, transforming into a sky-full of sword shadows that shot toward the ferocious shadow of the giant falcon-eagle beast.

Roar roar roar.

The ferocious shadow of the giant bird fused with the myriad sword qi, emitting a hysterical howl, as if enduring the pain of being torn apart into myriad fragments; its body continuously trembled, and slowly, layer upon layer of faint golden light covered its feathers.

Roar.

The ferocious beast roared to the heavens, its violent aura shaking heaven and earth; fierce winds rose all around, countless buildings turned to dust, countless cultivators near Yin Duan City were swept in all directions, and the terrifying power caused the surrounding electric currents to compensate, with fierce light soaring to the heavens.

Duan Wu Liang and Sun Min, etc., wore solemn expressions; the fierce beast and Wei Jian's entire body of sword dao profundity had already completed their transformation; cultivators fundamentally cannot approach, or else they would be instantly annihilated into meat paste by the two terrifying forces.

"Do not wait any longer, set up the Nine Nether Prison Dragon Grand Formation."

In the four-directional ghost tide, Sun Zhenbang manifested his form, the ghostly inscriptions on the Ten Thousand Souls Banner above his head making up for the void, landing in the center of the battlefield, the overwhelming netherworld killing qi directly splitting the battlefield in two; on the Ten Thousand Souls Banner were dense, dense tadpole-like runes all making a gurgling sound, weaving in the air into a black six-pointed star grand formation.

Sun Zhenbang's Ten Thousand Souls Banner sat at the center of the grand formation; a huge ghost puppet burst forth from within the banner, roaring; it was the soul monarch, the master soul of the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, having devoured countless souls and already fully transformed, giving birth to spiritual wisdom, its strength rushing directly toward the great completion of the Earth Element Realm.

The ghost puppet roared to the heavens; Song Ze, Sun Min, Qing Wei, Duan Wu Liang, Li Shi Xiong, and Fifth Lord, holding their Ten Thousand Souls Banners, were drawn by it and fell respectively to the six corners of the six-pointed star; all the souls contained within the six thousand Ten Thousand Souls Banners gathered toward the ghost puppet at the central Ten Thousand Souls Banner.

The ghost puppet roared to the heavens; its body shot up to a height of ten thousand feet, countless scales formed on its body, a pair of pitch-black horns flashing with diamond-black light pierced its forehead, absorbing the power of the ten directions' fierce evil for use, it stepped fiercely toward the heavens, its body continuously rolling with netherworld ghost flames, letting out a heaven-shaking dragon cry.

A huge black pterosaur, crowned with overwhelming ghost tide, soared and danced in the air; wherever it passed, all things withered, not a blade of grass grew, and the deep death power caused all living beings around to rapidly crumble and collapse.

"Kill."

Sun Zhenbang let out a great cry to the heavens, gathering the strength of Song Ze, Sun Min, Qing Wei, Duan Wu Liang, Li Shi Xiong, and Fifth Lord into one body, letting the netherworld ghost power after the fusion of the Ten Thousand Souls Banner reach an unprecedented extreme.

This is the power of the fused Ten Thousand Souls Banner researched by earthly cultivators under the guidance of demon masters; it is the first manifestation of extreme ghost power by earthly cultivators, to be matched against Lu Yan Valley's secret treasure, the Tian Lun Shuttle.

Wei Jian's eyes were cold and stern, gazing at the evil and strange ghostly object, killing intent rising, demonic energy rolling, as it came slaughtering heavenward; he dared not be the slightest careless, for his cultivation of the supreme sword dao emphasizes advancing without hesitation, and now his entire body of sword dao profundity fused with the artifact spirit of the Tian Lun Shuttle, he represents that heaven-descended ferocious bird, the giant eagle.

Boom—

The entire heaven and earth, because the two extreme powers touched together, the power to destroy heaven and earth caused the void to wildly twist together into a vortex, bursting forth with terrifying devouring power, swallowing all flying sand and stones, broken walls and ruins around.

Bang.

The Nine Nether Prison Dragon and the ferocious beast collided completely; the destructive power touched and mutually accommodated each other, a black and pale gold spherical light shield fused and appeared, enclosing both ferocious beings within.

Then the black and pale gold interwoven color light ball suddenly contracted inward, then flashed like lightning and expanded tenfold, then contracted inward by half again, then suddenly expanded tenfold, and then completely exploded.

The violent spiritual power swept the surroundings; countless buildings became ruins, countless plants turned to flying ash, countless dead spiritual bodies were ground to bones and scattered as ashes.

In that destructive storm, some strong cultivators resisted with secret treasures, some strong cultivators joined forces to resist the crisis, and some weaker cultivators spat blood and clung to the few remaining buildings, preventing them from being swept away by the destructive storm.

The violent force dispersed; the Tian Lun Shuttle fell from the sky above, and Lu Yan Valley and the disciples fell in disarray upon the earth.

Above the sky, a banner of the Ten Thousand Souls Banner, its runes made up, was guarded by six Ten Thousand Souls Banners at the center, emitting black electric sparks; at this moment, countless wandering souls and wild ghosts were obliterated by the destructive force, and even the banner face runes in the central Ten Thousand Souls Banner disappeared not a few.

Sun Zhenbang and others gasped heavily, their clothes ragged, blood trickling from the corners of their mouths, their bodies trembling uncontrollably; they seemed to have had their vital essence sucked dry, appearing extremely wretched.

Among the seven Ten Thousand Souls Banners, Qing Wei Dao Zhang, Fifth Lord, and Song Ze's had not yet fully grown, failing to condense a perfect Nine Nether Prison Dragon, so their Ten Thousand Souls Banners bore most of the attacks, losing countless resentful souls.

Sun Zhenbang felt heartbroken.

These were all the vital essence he had painstakingly accumulated in the Primordial Spiritual Realm, and now the souls in the Ten Thousand Souls Banner had lost eighty percent, even that round and plump master soul now, as if its essence had been sucked dry, became bone-thin like firewood, a picture of malnutrition.

"Damn it, I must find a way to make up for it."

Sun Zhenbang pondered for a moment, and an idea came to mind.

He reached out and grabbed, directly pinching the Tian Lun Shuttle in his hand.

The artifact spirit within is the soul of a ferocious bird transformed; he will take it back to Da Ci Zhai to have Professor Zhou Yi, newly entered into the Primordial Spiritual Realm, study it, analyzing whether the ferocious bird's soul can be extracted.

The ferocious bird's soul is terrifyingly powerful; if it can be used, it can precisely make up for the loss of the soul monarch in the Ten Thousand Souls Banner.

"The Tian Lun Shuttle cannot be taken away!"

Liao Qing struggled to climb up from the ground, stood in place, his face full of dazed stupidity, and spoke.

The Tianlun Shuttle is a formation-breaking treasure of Luyan Valley, forged from the accumulated wisdom of countless generations of artifact and formation masters of Luyan Valley; if it were lost, upon returning to Luyan Valley he would be crushed to ashes on the spot.

Now that Wei Jian and Zhu Bi have fallen, Luyan Valley is left with only him and dozens of Luyan Valley disciples; he wants to seize it back but is powerless to do so.

They underestimated the power of the Shagui Sect this time, misjudging the investigation into the Shangqing Sect and Shagui Sect; the mysterious foul poison, the sect-protecting grand formation, and the adhesive liquid that can bind movement, among others, were not in the intelligence, causing them to suffer a major loss this time.

"Hmph hmph, even your lives are mine."

Sun Zhenbang controlled the Wan Hun Banner to press down from above, while Qingwei Daozhang, Song Ze, and others simultaneously waved their Spiritual Power to pour into the Wan Hun Banner to assist.

The Wan Hun Banner fell like the seven demonic pillars that fix the heavens, completely sealing off all vitality of the Luyan Valley cultivators; the surging ghost tide stirred the winds and clouds in all directions, spreading boundless deathly energy, as countless wandering souls and wild ghosts surged forward in a mass to slaughter the Luyan Valley disciples.

The Luyan Valley disciples felt their minds dizzy, and after regaining consciousness, they discovered that the connection between their souls and divine souls had been severed; they could only stare in horror as their souls were dragged by the countless wandering souls and wild ghosts toward the Wan Hun Banner.

Qingwei Daozhang and others slowly exhaled a breath; the crisis of Luyan Valley was finally considered resolved.

"It's a pity the master of Xiguangsi is not here.

Otherwise, he could have gradually dissolved these vanishing divine souls and dispelled the killing qi around Yindu City." Qingwei Daozhang's expression shifted between overcast and clear as he spoke in a heavy tone.

The Shangqing Sect he had newly established these past few months was now completely destroyed; in the days ahead, it would need to be rebuilt, and as for those cultivators who betrayed the Shangqing Sect in the great war, they would be permanently expelled; only those who assisted the Shangqing Sect through peril, shared life and death with it, would become the backbone and elite of the Shangqing Sect henceforth.

"Namo Amitabha.

An old friend calls me—I must come."

The abbot of Xiguangsi manifested in the sky, behind him dozens of Xiguangsi monks each holding a wooden fish; a faint red halo appeared behind the monks' foreheads, but the abbot's red halo was the most intense—clearly, they had recently performed many liberation rites for Huanyu cultivators, and the red halo behind Xiguangsi was so deep it seemed ready to drip blood.

"Old monk, are you truly a Buddha or a demon Buddha?"

Qingwei Daozhang stared at the abbot of Xiguangsi, his expression drastically changing as he asked.

Since learning of the Primordial Spiritual Realm, the monks of Xiguangsi have sought to save all beings; monks' halos behind them are usually golden or multicolored, but this monk's halo is so crimson it seems ready to drip blood.

"Namo Amitabha.

To kill is to protect life; to sever karma is not to sever persons.

Though Buddha and demon lie in a single thought, they are merely two aspects of the Buddha-mind.

All phenomena are empty; Buddha is demon, demon is Buddha."

As the abbot of Xiguangsi chanted the Buddha's name, the crimson halo behind him blazed even brighter.

Qingwei and the other cultivators actually saw the boundless resentment and karmic force condense above it; they were utterly stunned—that halo's so-called merit golden wheel was nothing but a deception, formed from the resentment and karmic force of living beings.

"Old monk, what terrible deeds have you done, wearing a resentment blood halo above your head, yet still claiming to save all beings!

I don't believe you a bit." Qingwei Daozhang concealed nothing of the contempt in his eyes as he spoke doubtfully.

"Old friend, after evolution, the resentment blood halo becomes the merit golden wheel.

The Dao is originally the Buddha; you simply do not understand."

The voice of the Xiguangsi abbot echoed in the air.

He chanted the Buddha's name, his two fingers dancing in the air, the wooden fish sounding repeatedly, as the Pudu True Sutra transformed into the supreme sacred runes of Buddhism, flying in all directions toward Yindu City.

"The unsurpassed profound and subtle Dharma, difficult to encounter in hundreds of thousands of eons; I now have heard and received it, wishing to explain the true meaning of the Tathagata."

"Holy one, beings of Jambudvipa, creating karmic differences"

"Thousands of worlds, and even lands, whether there are hells or not, whether there is Buddhist Dharma or not, even to the hearers and solitary enlightened ones, likewise—not only is the retribution of hellish sins onefold."

"When this world decays, one takes refuge in another world; when that world decays, one turns to refuge elsewhere; when that elsewhere decays, they mutually take refuge in turn."

The monks of Xiguangsi chanted the sutras, and the runes from the recitation fell upon the earth, transforming into golden lotuses; one after another, mysterious Buddhas with palms joined spoke the true and correct sutras and wondrous Dharma; the mysterious power of the Dharma wrapped those vanishing divine souls, then purified their killing qi and deathly energy into radiant golden illusions, which slowly turned into points of light drifting in all directions.

Qingwei Daozhang discovered something astonishing: among the purified divine souls, some bore deep, thick red karmic patterns that did not fully dissipate, but were entirely absorbed by the resentment blood halo behind the Xiguangsi abbot.

Qingwei Daozhang's heart involuntarily clenched.

The monks of Xiguangsi, in their effort to save all beings, truly left no means untried; they actively absorbed the karmic force of beings that could not be liberated, seeking to suppress themselves with the karmic force of all beings, forcing themselves to attain the golden body and Buddhahood.

"Namo Amitabha."

The abbot of Xiguangsi chanted the Buddha's name again; golden lotus light intertwined across the ground, and a vast, immense image of the Ten Thousand Buddhas unfolded upon the earth, at its center a colossal golden lotus rising toward the heavens, seeking to envelop the entire Yindu City for purification. (End of chapter)