Chapter 476

Blue Star Blue Star →: xbiqugu

Three Reincarnation teams, three demon kings; Bai Mingsheng's team turned traitor, wiped out the Huangban squad, and brought along Huang Fengguai to gather enough points before returning to the Reincarnation space.

Jinjiao Yinjiao

Don't count them in.

Thus, only the 'Huangyu Team,' 'Wenshu,' 'Guan Yin,' 'Muzha,' and a host of demons whose cultivation barely reached the Human Immortal stage remained.

Lu Mingfei picked up the black trench coat left by Bai Mingsheng on the ground, confirming it had no effect of summoning interdimensional tentacle monsters.

Like some kind of space equipment, but inside were only some bullets.

"Alchemical bullets?"

They are products of Dragon Clan alchemy.

Lu Mingfei stared at the spot where Bai Mingsheng had vanished, suddenly feeling that face was oddly familiar—as if he'd seen it in a dream.

Tiny beads of sweat emerged from the pores on his forehead; a possibility surfaced in his mind.

"Back from hell?" Su Lin mimicked the mouth technique he learned from Teacher Huang Yuan: "Mr. Li Jiatu, back from hell."

Kleine took on Lu Mingfei's face, merely adding some contour lines; he raised his revolver and said coldly: "I've returned from the very end of hell, DIO!"

So disgusting!

Two androgynous beings!

Lu Mingfei hastily threw the trench coat over his shoulders, flung out White Ivory and Black Ebony, and, with the Dragon Scale Sword on his back, walked toward the battlefield—he'd rather fight those demons and monsters.

"Ah, it's not that I'm envious or anything." Su Lin dug in his ear with his pinky, eyes vacant: "I've long known the gap between people, but, you know, Mr. Ke, what's it called again?"

"Basically, you're adventuring in another world while someone else is opening treasure chests—chests produced by their own company." Kleine offered a formulaic smile.

"Impressive. Nothing like a worker like me." Su Lin clapped his hands, then suddenly stood with his hands behind his back; a faint, lonely melody arose around him, and he sighed:

"The world says the Huang Tian Di suffers—but who suffers like me? I was born in the End Dharma Era, naturally endowed with the Ox-Horse Holy Body, lifespan no more than a few decades, spent half my life in labor, yet have no dharma companion, no freedom."

Shi Hao tore his gaze away from Huang Fengguai, blocked by the sandstorm, and looked at the man who seemed to bear too much suffering, his eyes twitching involuntarily.

His fists clenched inexplicably, yet he felt the man was pitiful.

"Turn off your speaker!" Meng Qi pressed his forehead, suppressing the rising torment of worldly suffering—this absurd ability was as cruel as the true Tightening Circlet:

"Master, shouldn't we first deal with the Reincarnation cultivators?"

His heart had already begun resonating with the music.

He feared that in a moment, a vivid image of the Red Dust 996 Heart-Testing Diagram would appear before him, forcing him to relive his past blessed life.

Not that this experience was bad—no, not that it was good either—this guy was just terrible at selection.

Su Lin widened his eyes: "Great Lord, Senior Brother, do you really expect me to handle this myself? By the way, how much longer until your coronation progress bar finishes loading?"

His index finger gestured twice between Meng Qi's head and the sky.

"You can see it?" Meng Qi said, then shook his head inwardly, thinking he was overreacting.

Others might be surprised, but for Su Lin, it was perfectly normal.

"What else?" Su Lin shrugged, seriously:

"This savior scene is tragic, but honestly, I sense the cosmic horror beyond is beyond what we can handle."

"I will complete the Western Journey." Meng Qi declared firmly, turned, retrieved Yinjiao, and resumed his form as the Great Sage Equaling Heaven, Sun Wukong: "Since I've come, I ought to do something."

He had considered that in this world, Buddhism and Daoism had conflicting interests, and that this Western Journey concealed some conspiracy—but now, having witnessed that oppressive scene and feeling the celestial Yuan, Shi, and Xuan energies gradually merging into himself, he began receiving lingering fragments of information.

If the universe is likened to a human, then the Void is the universe's nature, encompassing all dimensions and all worlds within them.

The thing called the Abyss… cannot be understood, cannot be described, yet one senses it—a disaster beyond the world, darkening the sky without direction; storms are but a tiny fraction of its whole.

It seems to be the shadow formed from the collapse of all worlds and dimensions, yet countless universes are swallowed along its path, dragging past, present, and future possibilities into it.

The Abyss is such a natural phenomenon; it passes from afar—if the world remains intact, it is like a person holding an unbreakable umbrella, untouched by rain from distant storms.

But now, that umbrella has a hole.

When rain soaks in, one is marked; unknown entities within the shadow extend tangible yet intangible hands, dragging this world toward the storm's center.

"I have already incurred karmic debt."

As the returning celestial purity merged with himself, Meng Qi felt an ineffable enhancement—not in cultivation or divine power, but in the weight of his own destiny.

"This is an opportunity for me," Meng Qi admitted: "Only by completing the scripture quest can I settle this karmic debt."

"I knew you'd be more eager than your master, you monkey."

Su Lin picked up the Nine-Ring Staff, stepped past Meng Qi, formed a Buddha seal; the rings clinked against the staff as he addressed the demons:

"I am Tang Sanzang, come from the Eastern Land of Great Tang, bound for the Western Heavens to retrieve the True Scriptures."

"To meet is fate. Let me reveal a secret: eating a piece of my flesh grants longevity."

"Guan Yin, Wenshu, why hide when you see me here? Come forth!"

He hurled the staff toward a spot on Mount Fuling; the mountains shattered into powder, snow-like dust falling as the earth trembled. Before the terrified eyes of the lesser demons, two translucent, pure Buddha-Bodhisattva forms appeared.

Instantly, boundless Buddhist light reflected off the snow, golden radiance bathed the earth, radiating purity and peace.

"Sanzang, if you knew we were here, why such disrespect?" Wenshu's lips bloomed with lotus flowers; his towering Dharma form fixed its gaze firmly on all.

Mu Yan glanced at Lu Sitela, recalled what happened last time in the Golden Throne Hall, and chose silence.

"Disrespect?" Su Lin, seeing these two Reincarnation cultivators cooperate so well, unconsciously slipped into Tang Sanzang's role and barked: "Wenshu, why don't you bow to me?!"

"Do you truly wish to oppose Lingshan?" Lu Sitela coaxed: "Unity benefits both sides. Whatever your demands, we can fulfill them to the fullest."

The Reincarnation space's medals, points, and items—if you agree, we'll give you everything our team currently possesses.

Everyone has invested too much; we must complete this promotion mission. The influence and rewards of an SS-rank team are incomparable to those of an S-rank team.

"Amitabha." Su Lin clasped his hands, solemnly: "Lingshan has always been ruled by me and Zhen Ding Buddha. How dare you speak thus?"

Wenshu's Dharma form stared at Su Lin for a moment, then lingered on Meng Qi for an instant—next second, his and Guan Yin's forms shattered into golden specks.

Boom—!

The sky instantly grew thunderous, and faintly two meteors could be seen piercing through the storm-laden heavens toward the west.

"Liu Li Ge," Su Lin asked the ancient-dressed man stepping out behind him, "is it done?"

"I only had time to set up thirty-six portable immortal arrays, seven Five Elements Chaos Domains, and one Ancient Killing Array," Han Li gazed toward the west, frowning.

Waves of shock rippled outward, releasing terrifying qi that instantly caused many lesser demons to collapse to the ground, utterly unable to resist.

Like firecrackers exploding, over thirty dazzling bursts of light filled the sky, their power dispersing the frost clouds to reveal the bright moon and countless stars.

Space twisted, and a blue lotus bloomed; Lu Sitela and Mu Yan stepped out from a lifeless pure land, their respective auras starkly different.

"Why the haste to leave?" Su Lin glanced at the jade vase in their hand, its willow branch sticking out. "This monk has recently gained some insight into Mahayana Dharma. I invite both Bodhisattvas to stay and discuss together."

"You think only you can set up arrays?" Lu Sitela glared up, clutching a stupa relic that emitted illusory light.

Heavy Sanskrit chants echoed as visions of Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Arhats, Vajrapanis, and Wisdom Kings lined the clouds, all radiating fury.

To trace its origin, it was the remains of over a dozen great beings burning within a shattered pure land.

A faint Buddha-light enveloped all around, as if standing before the Western Heaven's Lingshan; those within the array felt like mere specks of dust or blades of grass, sinking into the myriad worlds conjured by the Buddhas.

Stronger demons and devils were converted through repentance, surrendering their faith and souls to the Buddhas; weaker ones were continuously purified by the Buddha-light, perishing amid the terrifying energy flaring across the earth.

"Ten Thousand Buddhas Array?" Meng Qi, gripping the Ruyi Jingu Bang, sensed this array had broken through the world's natural restrictions, faintly forming its own Buddha realm.

If the Ten Thousand Buddhas acted, and the Buddha realm collapsed, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Fortunately, they were merely hollow shells—like water without a source; even if burning, they could hardly unleash their original power.

But the Reincarnators relied on far more than these.

Powerful mental force forged false laws, binding everyone in place; a black hole bomb was thrown—clearly, they had resolved to die to eliminate Su Lin's team.

"Let me handle it."

Su Lin did not activate his audio, merely gazing at the countless Buddha visions, seeing this as a chance to test his own power's application.

The Bright Jin Dan and Chaotic Nascent Soul surged forth, pouring boundless "spiritual force" into the Eternal Crucible; the Dao Treasury returned to origin, reversed, and transformed into pure Buddha-force.

Mind like still water, wisdom clear and bright, the Heavenly Buddha's Formless Body sat half-lotus upon a giant lotus, holding the nine-ringed staff, draped in brocade kasaya, protected by immeasurable merit.

He knew many things, truly many, but…

He could also be utterly pure!

The Heavenly Buddha's Formless Body stepped from Eternity into reality, merging with the real Su Lin.

His eyes lowered, as if all sentient beings of the ten directions were touched by radiant light, immeasurable compassion spreading everywhere.

The Tathagata realized perfect Dharma-nature, yet the Formless Body has no form, the Heavenly Buddha has no form, the Tathagata has no form!

The Buddha's eyes opened, and the prajna light born of self-nature burned away greed, defilement, and desire.

Behind him, the luminous halo was pure, wise, and mighty; the merit of saving the world hung like a radiant sun in the boundless clear sky, brilliant, flawless.

"Ten Thousand Buddhas Array?"

From now on, it is the Ten Thousand Buddhas Paying Homage!

The nine-ringed staff rested between his clasped thumbs; the crisp, melodious chime of the rings rang out, and the Buddha's palms erupted with infinite light, harmonizing the Buddha-sutras gathered from countless worlds with the fierce Buddha-light of the Ten Thousand Buddhas Array.

It erased the intent of universal salvation, striking against the Ten Thousand Buddha illusions.

The Buddha-chants reached the shattered pure land; the burning remains of Bodhisattvas and Buddhas opened their eyes, their last traces of true nature returning, lips curling into smiles of perfect fulfillment:

"All conditioned things are impermanent; they are phenomena of birth and death. When birth and death cease, nirvana is bliss."

"Namo Amitabha Buddha."

The Ten Thousand Buddha illusions shattered, leaving only countless threads of merit-energy, curling like smoke, spiraling upward toward the heavens, signifying the completion of the trial.

The Heavenly Buddha descended, Dharma boundless, Ten Thousand Buddhas Paying Homage, Tathagata extinguishes demons.

When he came to his senses, Lu Sitela saw only the nine-ringed staff hurtling toward his face—the opponent showed no mercy, and he himself felt as if trapped in eternity, unable to escape.

Tick, tick—

"No points? Oh, you're not on a team battle squad."

Mu Yan stared at the headless corpse, then at Master Sanzang holding the bloodied staff, his back crowned by the Buddha's Formless Body—her eyes filled with despair.

In an instant, darkness swallowed her vision.

"Master, aren't you being too tyrannical?"

A Chan master gripped the top of the staff; the residual windstorm scattered frost and snow, yet did not move his arm an inch.

"Even while cultivating on Futo Mountain, I saw your commotion. Of all sins, anger is the deepest; among the Three Poisons, none outweighs it. Why blame these two Bodhisattvas?"

The visitor was none other than Bodhisattva Mara, transformed into a Chan master. Had Su Lin's final act—killing with the staff—not differed so sharply from the Tathagata's ways, he might have hesitated, wondering whether this man was a hidden Tathagata ploy after the Ten Thousand Buddhas Paying Homage.

Wuchao Chan Master?

Su Lin stared at the suddenly appearing Chan master, recalling this place was near Futo Mountain—and among the most mysterious figures in Journey to the West was this very one.

"Master, you jest," he withdrew the staff, silently wary. "This monk merely dislikes those who usurp positions, desecrating others' bodies with false Buddhas."

Upon hearing this term, Mara felt a sudden chill, recalling the eerie scene he had witnessed long ago in Lingshan's Lei Yinsi.

It had only been a short while since then.

The moment he said the word, Mara remembered those "Buddhas" whose eye sockets writhed with feathers, untouched by reincarnation or time, their interiors filled with chaos.

"Merely skins. All is emptiness. If these two hold great vows, perform good deeds, understand Buddha's intent, and attain positions—who says they are not Buddhas?"

As Mara spoke, ten thousand lotuses bloomed, a thousand layers of auspicious mist wrapped the corpse and Mu Yan, making them vanish from sight:

"I possess one scroll of the Heart Sutra: fifty-four phrases, two hundred and seventy characters, capable of helping the Holy Monk dispel anger, calm the mind, purify the heart."

"Would the Holy Monk and your companions care to listen?"

As he spoke, his gaze swept across the history where Kleine's true body lay.

Meng Qi and Shi Hao stepped forward, flanking Su Lin on either side; Kleine and Li Huowang shielded Han Li behind them.

"This monk possesses 520 volumes and 657 scriptures of Mahayana Dharma," Su Lin said to the Chan master. "Would you care to hear them? Of course, if you cannot comprehend Mahayana Dharma—"

"This monk and his disciples also know a few martial techniques."

(End of chapter)