Chapter 116: The Terror of the Ten Thousand Spirits Banner

"Don't panic! This is merely their magical artifact! No matter how powerful the artifact, it still requires sufficient true qi to activate—he's still just one man!"

As monks of the 【Arhat Fu Long Temple】, Guanghui was clearly far superior to Guangming, and far calmer; at least he immediately stabilized the situation, unlike Guangming, who only knew how to deceive and flee. Soon, the assembly of Buddhist cultivators formed a defensive line centered around him.

The next instant, countless witch ghosts surged forward.

"Amitabha Buddha!"

The foremost Buddhist cultivator let out a thunderous roar, his body blazing with golden light, and punched forward—eradicating the witch ghosts before him in an instant.

Yet nothing could help.

The subsequent witch ghosts showed no hesitation, even devouring the corpses of fallen comrades to grow stronger before charging again.

Boom!

The witch ghosts didn't even bother fighting—they exploded upon approach, the bursting yin evil corroding the Buddhist cultivators' Golden Bodies like poison.

"When I attain Buddhahood, if the heavenly beings and mortals in my land are not all of true golden hue, I shall not attain Supreme Perfect Enlightenment."

At the center of the formation, Guanghui unleashed all his true qi, reinforcing the surrounding Buddhist cultivators with the "Great Spell of True Golden Body." Vast Buddhist light instantly vaporized all yin evil.

"Hold firm! These witch ghosts aren't strong!"

Guanghui no longer cared about compassion—he wore a grotesque, twisted expression, desperately trying to rally morale, and he wasn't lying.

In truth, though the witch ghosts within the Ten Thousand Spirits Banner were numerous, only eight were comparable to Cultivation Foundation's peak, and all were key components of the 【Yanmo Palace】; Lu Yang could not possibly deploy them. Thus, every witch ghost engaged so far had been below Cultivation Foundation's peak—no match for the Buddhist cultivators.

But with a higher rank bestowed, things were entirely different.

The next instant, a witch ghost of only Mid-Cultivation Foundation lunged before the foremost Late-Cultivation Foundation Buddhist cultivator, unleashing a weak stream of evil qi.

Pfft!

The Late-Cultivation Foundation cultivator's Golden Body—supposedly indestructible—suddenly weakened a thousandfold and shattered under the tearing force of that evil qi!

"Ahh!"

The Buddhist cultivator screamed, desperately unleashing his true qi to shake off the witch ghost clinging to him—but instantly, over a dozen more witch ghosts surged forward, burying him beneath a tide.

"How could this be?"

Seeing this, Guanghui nearly shattered his Buddhist teeth. With his experience, he immediately understood: the feeble witch ghosts had breached the Golden Bodies only because they'd received a higher rank's blessing—while his side, lacking sufficient rank, had suffered a sudden, drastic drop in power.

At this moment, Guanghui was utterly baffled.

The True Lord above—Foundation Establishment True Persons were not permitted to enter the secret realm! At the very least, no Foundation Establishment True Person could possibly deceive the True Lord's divine sight.

So… this demon isn't Foundation Establishment?

This damn thing isn't even Foundation Establishment!?

But the battlefield left no time for further thought—the outermost Buddhist cultivators were already collapsing, their Golden Bodies crumbling under yin evil corrosion.

"Only… beheading will do!"

Guanghui raised his head, his gaze locking onto Lu Yang behind the sea of witch ghosts. A bitter smile touched his lips, then vanished, replaced by resolve.

"When I attain Buddhahood, if there are any hells, hungry ghosts, or animals in my land, I shall not attain Supreme Perfect Enlightenment."

"When I attain Buddhahood, if the heavenly beings and mortals in my land, after death, are reborn again into the three evil paths, I shall not attain Supreme Perfect Enlightenment."

"When I attain Buddhahood, if the heavenly beings and mortals in my land are not all of true golden hue, I shall not attain Supreme Perfect Enlightenment."

As his lips moved, Guanghui spat out three great mantras at once—vast Buddhist light erupted from him, rapidly spreading outward.

Within the Buddhist light, a temple faintly emerged.

Inside the temple, monks chanted morning sutras; thunderous Dharma teachings rang out—a venerable monastery with ancient bells. Above its main gate, three bold, swirling characters were inscribed:

【Arhat Fu Long Temple】!

The next instant, all Buddhist cultivators dissolved within the Buddhist light, vanishing—countless rays of light converged into one towering Golden Body manifestation.

"Dragon-Elephant Vast Power Jin Gang Body!"

This was the ultimate combat technique of the Pure Land Buddhist cultivators.

Pure Land cultivators practice the "Path of Profound Joyful Extinction," extinguishing their own selves, realizing that their own ephemeral existence is merely another "I" created by the Supreme Buddha to liberate the mortal world.

Thus, the more a Buddhist cultivator realizes his "true self," the closer he draws to the Buddha who founded the Path of Profound Joyful Extinction—and the greater his divine power and magic power become.

This unique trait granted Buddhist cultivators a skill unlike any other sect: when multiple Buddhist cultivators jointly activated a secret technique, unifying their consciousness into a single "I," they could transcend their realm's limits and borrow a higher rank from the Profound Joyful Pure Land.

The higher the rank, the greater the number of cultivators required.

For example, Cultivation Foundation-level cultivators needed all Eight Buddhist Legions assembled to borrow a single Foundation Establishment rank.

A single legion alone could at most summon a rank approaching Foundation Establishment—the Guardian Jin Gang—making it the highest rank attainable at Cultivation Foundation.

At this moment, Guanghui unified the entire 【Dragon Legion】, over a hundred Buddhist cultivators merging their selves into one—ultimately manifesting the "Dragon-Elephant Vast Power Jin Gang," the pinnacle of such a union!

"Spirits and demons—must be slain!"

No sooner had the words left his lips than Guanghui's Jin Gang body revealed its wrathful visage, charging into the witch ghost horde, pushing through the tide toward Lu Yang.

But the next instant, that wrathful face twisted into unspeakable despair.

For at the heart of the ten thousand witch ghosts, a magnificent palace rose from the earth, commanding the nether and absorbing the arcane—and from within stepped a stunningly beautiful, regal woman.

Guardian Spirit Su Nü!

Though she lacked the earth vein's blessing since she was not on Skull Mountain, she still possessed a Foundation Establishment rank—far beyond what Guanghui could challenge.

Boom!

Su Nü merely lifted her jade hand and gently pressed downward—the Dragon-Elephant Vast Power Jin Gang body Guanghui had formed was flung violently upward, crashing into the dust.

The once-brilliant Golden Body shattered into countless cracks, golden light oozing from every fissure. Each drop of blood that seeped from the wounds transformed into a Buddhist cultivator with eyes wide open in eternal agony. When the blood finally drained, the "Dragon-Elephant Vast Power Jin Gang" collapsed of its own accord.

In that instant, Guanghui felt as if plunged into an icy abyss.

He even felt a flicker of resentment toward the Buddhist True Lord above—how the hell were you overseeing this? How could a Foundation Establishment cultivator slip into the Dao-Seizing battlefield?

Beast!

At this moment, Guanghui could no longer even see Lu Yang's figure—his vision filled only with endless yin evil, witch ghosts, and the majestic Yanmo Palace.

"Demon! Have the courage to face me one-on-one!"

Beneath the Banner of Ten Thousand Spirits, while listening to Guanghui's furious roars, Lu Yang calmly played with the sword pill in his hand; cursing the enemy before death was merely the howling of the defeated.

Besides, when Guanghui had led over a hundred Buddhist cultivators to attack earlier, he had shown no intention of fighting one-on-one; now he wanted to fight one-on-one?

"I am fighting you one-on-one right now."

You, one, against my crowd.

Soon, after a quarter of an hour, the Buddha light completely extinguished, leaving only corpses strewn across the ground.

"All are talents; they cannot be wasted."

Lu Yang activated the Banner of Ten Thousand Spirits; the deceased Buddhist cultivators rose again, including Guanghui, who had just been roaring at him, his face now filled with loyalty.

Behind Lu Yang, Qin Tianhe came trotting over cheerfully, carrying a bald head.

"Senior, I caught one who was trying to flee."

After speaking, he cautiously glanced at the group of Buddhist cultivators standing up again behind Lu Yang; while marveling at the sight, he could not help but sigh in his heart:

The two of us are truly amazing.

"There are actually fish that escaped the net?"

Lu Yang paid no attention to Qin Tianhe's sigh; instead, he looked at Guangming, whose face was a mess, in Qin Tianhe's hand. Seeing this, Guangming immediately raised both hands:

"Don't kill me! I have important intelligence to provide!"

"Upper cultivators, spare my life!"

(End of this chapter)