Chapter 471

(Second update of the first day) (Second update of the first day)

The ultimate light shattered the heavens; the world-burning force released from the first ash had already sealed its finale.

That six-winged fallen one, using countless hell demons as sacrifices, opened the path to heaven; beneath the dim stars, He was the sole light in the endless night.

He would not permit hell's existence; He sought to send the demons' souls to heaven, wielding the original authority of the fallen angel, as the apocalyptic flood descending from the primordial God's will swallowed all!

The choir's sacred hymn echoed, and scorching light instantly reached the boundary of the transposition space, engulfing it; the sound of shattering crystal walls never ceased.

Only then, in a pure white silence, Count Chimoke watched the demons being devoured and the frozen ice evaporating beneath the expanding pillar of light, and slowly lowered his staff.

He turned to walk toward his demon gate, but found outside it a handsome man with silken black hair and sharp, deep facial features, holding a dull, lusterless sword hilt, staring at him.

The count's face twisted grotesquely; his human body swelled and deformed, his horns twisting and extending as he returned to his true demon form.

Four hooves trod the void, and a slightly solidified, towering goat emerged from it; his four legs shattered space, and with each breath from his nostrils, a temperature capable of freezing all things appeared.

As a crystal-clear snowflake drifted down, his horns flared crimson light; terrifying energy capable of destroying an entire star cluster coalesced upon them; his goat pupils expanded into rectangles, and time and space froze in that instant.

At the very least, it would crush this arrogant Reincarnator and drag his soul back to the surface lands of the Abyss!

In the blink of an eye, a sword light surged forth, unstoppable and invincible.

"You call this"

"an A-rank Reincarnator squad?"

Shi Hao stepped out from an endless waterfall of runes, lifted the massive goat head in one hand, glanced at the mountain-sized goat body on the ground, and smiled happily.

Outside the Guanyin Zen Temple, Li Hantian and the others who had just escaped had barely met the Huangyu squad, before they could exchange intelligence.

A white light piercing heaven and earth inverted upward, shooting into the clouds, illuminating the thirty-three heavens.

A shadow with six black wings gazed down from within the light upon the mortal world.

"The Ten Saints squad, abandoning the team battle Instance and accepting punishment!" Li Hantian said immediately.

As his words fell, all members of the squad, including Li Hantian, vanished without a trace.

Wu You of the 【Huangyu】 squad froze; she hadn't expected Li Hantian to surrender so utterly—what had he seen before she arrived here?

Just what was the nature of that scripture-seeking squad…

"Teleport! Destination: Southern Sea Purple Bamboo Grove!"

Wu You and Canglang's figures blurred and vanished into the black wind mountain forest, where ravines competed for flow and cliffs vied for grandeur.

"I've wanted to ask—when did he develop the fallen angel form?" Lu Mingfei whispered to those around him.

He watched Sanzang, who was arguing with Shi Hao, visibly furious, pointing at the goat head and jumping up and down.

Lu Mingfei recalled that the first time he used this form was in Li Huowang's world, and then again during the tractor race.

"Maybe he just bought it—you know how insane his sourcing channels are," Kleine said, several demon knight puppets trailing behind him, planning to build a cross-world puppet army.

Li Huowang shook his head and asked Lu Mingfei instead: "Aren't they all glowing? White wings and black wings—what's the difference?"

"You probably never watched Digimon as a kid," Lu Mingfei retorted.

Holy-type Digimon can challenge higher-rank Fallen-types, but Su Lin's case is the opposite of Huangfu Tiangang.

Nearby, at the ruins of the Guanyin Zen Temple, Su Lin, surrounded by a circle of pure white armor, broke down: "Big brother! Can you stop thinking about eating for once?!"

Shi Hao transformed using the Eight-Nine Heavenly Art into a broad-mouthed, fanged form, his body growing fat, and asked puzzled: "I, Zhu Bajie, don't understand what you're saying."

"Rebellious disciple! Is your soul shattered?!" Su Lin gazed sorrowfully at the fallen demon count, slapping his chest in distress:

"This is future family—we just need to reason with him, let me preach the Bible to him, maybe he can enter heaven. No—"

"Let this monk preach the Mahayana Dharma to him; perhaps he can be converted into our Buddhist fold, and reform himself!"

"How could you kill him? You've robbed him of the chance to abandon evil and embrace goodness!"

The former Count Guna was forgivable—after all, it was our first encounter, we didn't understand.

But this time, I've recognized the true value of a demon count—he's a tycoon with an entire plane as his domain!

With repeated practice, I might just liberate him, bring him into our Buddhist fold, let him contribute his value to the modernization and high-quality development of our Buddhist system, optimizing the supply side of the Abyss demon hierarchy.

Su Lin sorrowfully touched the goat carcass still radiating terrifying demonic aura, his face filled with regret; a faint light passed over his hand, dispelling the chilling demonic energy.

"Ah, well." Su Lin stared at the goat head with unblinking eyes: "Braised or steamed?"

Shi Hao pulled out the large stockpile of "Heavenly Dao Green Onions" he'd collected earlier, smiling: "Let's start with scallion-braised."

He glanced at the massive goat head, thought for a moment, and burned off all its fur with the True Phoenix Flame.

Su Lin didn't stop Shi Hao's wasteful behavior again, but quickly used the Azure Jade Void Sword to peel off the hide and stash it in his storage bag:

"Rebellious disciple… rebellious disciple."

Are you planning to liberate him with words alone?

Meng Qi's eyelid twitched—he felt that, in some sense, Master Sanzang really was compassionate, but he still gave Zhu Bajie a thumbs-up.

"But… can you even eat these Abyss demons?" Meng Qi poked the goat with the Ruyi Jingu Bang, hesitating:

"Even if you remove the stench, it looks like a goat—but isn't it still fundamentally a demon? Do you even know how to cook it?"

He wasn't as unselective as Shi Hao; this demon count's flesh contained heavy negative energy, similar to the Jiuyou creatures of their world.

But purifying it with Su Lin's "holy light" would compromise food safety.

How to put it—if you absolutely must eat it, better leave it to professionals.

At least the taste would be tolerable.

"Just give it to Master Wei," Li Huowang said. "He should be a professional, right?"

Indeed, Master Wei had a system—he was a man who grew stronger through cooking, so trying a new cuisine was like a cultivator exploring a new cultivation system.

It shouldn't be a problem.

【System Prompt: Abyss demons holding noble titles or Wang Wei can respawn on their demon thrones. Consuming their flesh will attract the hatred of the respawned demon. This ingredient's rank is "Count."】

【System Prompt: You have obtained the achievement "Abyss Demon Dish—Even Dogs Won't Eat It." You have received the Abyss Chef Belgris's demonic kitchenware series: "Torture Cleaver" and "Demon-Exorcising Techniques."】

【Demonic Kitchenware Series (Torture Cleaver): This cooking knife cannot kill a respawning Abyss demon, but synchronizes the demon's soul with the agony of its flesh being sliced apart, and ensures the cook is hated by the demon.】

【Previous Bellgris's message: Fellow travelers, we captured a lone Abyss Demon; its magical energy is three times that of a Hell Demon—but equally, preparing it to be delicious is an ultimate torment for any chef. (The secondary function of your cleaver can help you sort and excise the chaotic, shit-like Abyss Demon magic clusters; believe me, you won't want to eat that stuff.)】

"Can I refuse?"

Weigong Shilang's lips twitched violently as he stared at the cleaver now in his hand—the cold gleam so blinding he considered whether he should even proceed with this dish.

Why are there Abyss Demons in Journey to the West?

Could this be a Sino-Western co-production of Journey to the West?

Letting diners starve while waiting is not the act of a true chef. Since the ingredients have come to us, how could we refuse such a challenge?

Do it?

Do it.

After a complex psychological struggle, Weigong Shilang brought down the specially crafted blade.

"Namo Amitabha Buddha. It was God who made me do this. Don't blame me."

One cut, two cuts, three cuts—each blade stroke sharp, clean, precise.

Nightfall. Hei Feng Mountain, Hei Feng Cave.

Deep cliffs, perilous gorges; clouds rise over the ridges, murmuring streams whisper, the forest dark and rustling.

By the bonfire, Meng Qi tentatively sipped the mutton soup and asked: "A moment ago, weren't you about to say something?"

"I learned some things from that Reincarnator's memory," Su Lin said, pulling out the crow trapped between life and death:

"It's not just the Heavenly Court killing the Journey Pilgrims assigned by the Reincarnation Space; often, the members of this Soul-Sweeping Squad also kill the Pilgrims—but this Reincarnator named Crow doesn't know the exact reason, only follows his team's orders."

"What about the others in his team?" Shi Hao's voice came muffled from behind the giant scallion-braised lamb leg.

Su Lin fell silent for a moment, organizing the information, discarding the nauseating personal xp memories of the other, then sent out several divine thoughts.

Crow, whose real name is simply Crow, came from a world devastated by a phenomenon called "Urban Legend Made Real"—a disaster that kills people, yet can be controlled by those who find its patterns.

After enduring over a decade of Urban Legend disasters, he became one of the world's top Urban Legend handlers; during the incident where the previous generation of Urban Legend experts vanished en masse, he chose to enter the Reincarnation Space.

He joined his current team, 【Soul-Sweeping】, starting from the Instance "Death Comes," and has now completed 29 Instance experiences.

Team leader 【Hirbak】, currently one new member, seven veteran teammates: 【Wei Wu】, 【Mu Yan】, 【Rarode Sak】, 【Honokawa Umi】, 【Kane Lati】—Kane's return from Tang Dynasty caused Lingshan's closure?

"Excuse me," Kleine raised his hand: "Could you explain what's going on between this Kane and Lingshan?"

"You're asking me?" Su Lin pointed at himself: "What's this got to do with me? Do you think I know these things?"

Li Huowang glanced at Su Lin; though he felt this was deeply sinister, since Brother Su Lin said so, he'd comply.

Lu Mingfei remained silent, hugging his bowl of sesame paste–tossed tripe behind Han Li, pulling his neck in, his body trembling slightly.

Han Li looked at the man, then at Su Lin, and chose silence: "."

The Annals of Time is a team-wide artifact purchased by the team with massive points and fifty S-rank medals from the Reincarnation Space, originating from the Instance "The Adventures of Cheng Long," but without the original Instance's level effects.

It was thanks to this artifact they learned of the Heavenly Court's world reboot—each time the Heavenly Court reboots a world, prior history leaves records upon it.

This artifact, capable of such feats and modifying personal timeline bugs, is countered by a super "Weird" artifact held by the Pilgrim team.

Weird artifact.

Su Lin turned his gaze toward Kleine.

"My friend, your openness rivals that of the Intis Republic—I am utterly astonished," Kleine said sincerely.

If the Miracle Master's wishes were omnipotent, or if there existed an omnipotent Holy Grail War, he would absolutely join to wish that Su Lin never turn dark or meet a grim end in old age.

"Promise me, Master," Shi Hao wiped his mouth, stepped out from behind the lamb leg, and spoke heavily: "If one day you choose to bury yourself, use the Three-Era Bronze Coffin—I'll go find it for you."

"You..." Su Lin's face twitched several times: "Say it one last time—I don't know."

Honestly, he could understand the fear in Crow's mind; even just from textual description, it was genuinely chilling.

But!

His enlightenment of Kane ≠ Kane's Weirdness is connected to him—how can others not grasp such a simple logic?

"The key is the mysterious team leader—you're focusing on the wrong thing."

Hirbak: specific personal details unknown.

He acquired partial divine authority of "Pluto·Hades" from some unknown Instance world; since then, he abandoned all prior enhancements and walked the path of soul dominion.

After several Western Buddhist saints departed beyond the heavens, under his leadership, this team allied with Niu Mowang of the Sixth Desire Heaven, who transformed into Shakyamuni, tricked the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas into gathering, and forced them into Nirvana.

The closure of this world's Underworld was precisely because this team leader, during the vacuum of the Three Realms, infiltrated the Underworld using a special artifact to seize souls.

To this day, he still strengthens his divine path within the Underworld.

This team leader is unquestionably the core of the group; even in Crow's memories, he remains utterly enigmatic.

Beyond this, the information they could obtain were details about other team members and the memories of these Reincarnators killing Pilgrim Reincarnators.

"It's not just the Heavenly Court hunting Reincarnators," Kleine mused, chin in hand: "The Heavenly Court kills Reincarnators to prevent them from completing the Western Journey and handing over fortune and merit to the Reincarnation Space."

"Then why do these Lingshan Reincarnators repeatedly kill Pilgrim team Reincarnators, stopping them from reaching Lingshan?"

In one memory fragment, a group of Reincarnators had nearly reached Xuan Ying Cave—when suddenly, Crow and several other Reincarnators escorting them turned and attacked the Pilgrim team.

This makes no sense. It defies logic.

"The Heavenly Court must be hiding something from us," Han Li said.

Everyone fell into thought, but Meng Qi lifted the Ruyi Jingu Bang and gently stroked it; in his eyes flickered the subtleties of cause and effect, as if peering through a hazy fog.

"Perhaps..." Meng Qi spoke: "The original Tang Seng and his disciples may have died, but never vanished."

Su Lin looked up, stunned; after a moment, he slowly turned his gaze to the nine-ring staff resting beside the fire.

The firelight flickered with the wind, illuminating the uneven wear marks upon it.

(End of Chapter)