Chapter 479: Search Every Last Bit Clean, All of You

"The Three Pure Ones Battle Buddha" and "Journey to the West: The True Buddha" are currently in theaters.

"Liu Li Ge, want more popcorn?" Kleine manifested a pile of popcorn and asked.

"No need." Han Li shook his head: "Shouldn't we leave now?"

The moment that monk appeared, Kleine dragged him into the Source Fortress and manifested a cinema here.

"About done." Kleine glanced at the cocoons around him; sadly, these fellow countrymen couldn't truly see this movie.

Kleine turned the cinema back into gray mist, snapped his fingers, canceled the grafting ability, and brought them to the Divine Land of the Mysterious Realm on the ground, then dissolved the divine land to return to reality.

Light and shadow shifted; a clear radiance surged toward him, stopping precisely one inch before Kleine's brow, while the sound of a hammer cocking echoed beside his ear.

"Are you going to kill me, friend?" Kleine tilted his head in confusion, pushing the pistol from his temple with his cane, his eyes innocent.

Lu Mingfei's hollow gaze gradually regained its luster, staring at Kleine, whom he had pointed at, and Han Li, surrounded by the Seven Deadly Sins, his eyes filled with bewilderment.

Kleine pulled out a handkerchief and handed it to Lu Mingfei: "Crying like a bullied little girl—you really should stick to skirts, my friend."

Boom—!

"Sorry, slipped." Lu Mingfei holstered his still-smoking pistol and turned to face the earth-shaking chaos behind him.

Though he didn't know how he'd suddenly exploded in power, he still remembered what had happened—but this art style—

"You want to be supreme, huh?!"

A massive bench forged from Buddha-light crashed down onto the already smoke-obscured land of Mount Fuling, carving an endless abyss.

"You want to spread scriptures, huh?!"

Immediately after, a vast, ancient, lifeless, yet secretly vital river of blood-yellow surged forth from a colossal hand-bone, flooding into the spot where the bench had struck.

"What's going on with those two guys over there?" Lu Mingfei's lip twitched.

Li Huowang: "."

Fortunately, the monks from his world didn't witness this scene—otherwise, they might have had their faith shattered.

"Buddha's Palm," Shi Hao observed from afar, gripping the Great Luo Sword Embryo: "I should learn it someday—next time, I'll capture a few Sect Lord-level ingredients as tuition."

This scene didn't last long; a phantom black lotus bloomed suddenly, and as Buddha-light poured from the heavens, its petals gradually sealed shut.

"So it really is Bodhisattva Mara."

The next day, morning.

"Holy Monk, take care!" Gao Taigong's eyes brimmed with reluctance.

This wasn't any holy monk—this was the Buddha himself descending to earth!

What kind of demon could possibly require the Buddha to come down personally to subdue it?

"Amitabha Buddha." Su Lin clasped his hands in return and turned to walk down the broad, straight road.

The newly paved road from last night was far smoother and offered a much wider view.

Behind him, Shi Hao carried the Nine-Toothed Rake, its body hung with numerous bags; after replacing Zhu Bajie in bidding farewell to Gao Lao and the relatives, he found a reason tied to karma with the Buddha and set off westward.

All these rations were stuffed into his bags by the people of Gao Lao Village—if Su Lin hadn't forbidden taking family members, they'd have tried to send a few people along too.

"Come back soon!" Gao Cuilan waved from behind.

Shi Hao's step suddenly sank into the ground, leaving a footprint; his lip twitched twice, then he hefted the now heavier Nine-Toothed Rake and caught up with the group.

Only when the silhouette of Gao Lao Village vanished from sight did the Nine-Toothed Rake grow slightly lighter.

"Young Lady, the groom is out of sight now," the maid reminded her. "Don't worry—the groom said he's accompanying the Holy Monk to the West to fetch the scriptures."

Gao Cuilan murmured dazedly: "After fetching the scriptures… will he come back?"

The glazed Buddha-light, neither ceasing nor diminishing, the radiance of wisdom, illuminates and dispels all the darkness of ignorance.

At the peak of Lingshan, a black lotus slowly bloomed, each petal brimming with profound destruction and darkness, yet the Buddha seated at its center glowed pure white.

Behind His head, the light of the Great Sun flickered intermittently, while the six desires of demons swept across like shadows.

"You say Jinjiao and Yinjiao knelt and called him 'Master,' yet he's truly a reincarnator?"

"Yes."

"Not Tang Sanzang?"

"No."

The wound on Bodhisattva Mara's forehead gradually healed, yet numerous scars resembling lightning remained visible.

His breathing was ragged; palm prints marred his chest and back—the front deep, the back shallow—while utterly filthy energies, seemingly from the Nine Heavens, corroded his body.

"Why didn't you tell me then?"

"You teleported me straight back to Lingshan—I didn't have time."

Mu Yan looked at Bodhisattva Mara and spoke honestly.

The chaotic, weakened aura of Bodhisattva Mara's true body, the imperfection of the Buddha's form, sent waves of shock through her and the other reincarnators beside her.

"Good, good, good," Bodhisattva Mara chuckled bitterly. "I've brought this suffering upon myself."

Who else but the Supreme One could Jinjiao and Yinjiao call "Master"?

Under the Buddha's desperate path, he invited demons into his body, fulfilled his long-held wish, and caused the elders of the Three Realms and Six Paths to perish—had he not gone to the Outer Heaven battlefield, their shattered remains wouldn't have even found the way back.

I thought from now on, I could freely enjoy myself in this world, turning others into playthings, playing at will.

But I never expected—

"Clever trick," Bodhisattva Mara said, then his body suddenly trembled, and faint signs of soul separation appeared.

After a long while, once he stabilized, he clenched his fist tightly, a thread of hatred appearing on his face.

"The Monkey King was impersonated by the Supreme One—no wonder the Heavenly Court's useless lot acted so strangely, nothing like their usual behavior."

"But that pig, the man-eating demon, and that… monk— who are they?"

"And I saw with my own eyes in the Outer Heaven that the Three Pure Ones had been utterly annihilated while holding the line for other great beings."

Bodhisattva Mara's face was full of confusion; he turned to the other reincarnators and asked:

"You said there are countless universes with similar histories—could this Taishang have come from another world?"

Wei Wu was also pondering this question, but after thinking it through, he had never heard of anyone in the Cycle Space inviting background figures out of similar instance worlds.

Besides, wasn't that an A-class Cycle Team?

Wei Wu recalled the combat abilities displayed by those Cycle members during his observation at Lingshan, and developed deep doubts about the Cycle Space's mission-matching mechanism.

Could it be that the true team opposing missions are carried out by our own Dang Hun Team?!

"Call your captain back," Bodhi said. "I have words for him."

Wei Wu remained silent.

Helbak stepped forward from the side, his form like a ghost: "I'm back."

"Find nothing?" Bodhi glanced at him.

"The Underworld won't budge, and there's nothing we can do—but the collapse of this world's Abyss is merely a matter of time," Helbak tossed out a Buddha-luminous stupa, saying:

"When hell is empty, you too may become a Buddha."

"There's a saying: the wise adapt to circumstances. If only they had your foresight."

Bodhi took the stupa and cradled it in his clasped palms, smiling: "Glory and splendor are pasts they refuse to abandon. If they agreed to you so easily, it would be unnatural—besides, you are among the chief culprits."

"We're merely lackey ghosts; even without us, there are countless others," Helbak sneered: "Offering this stupa means they face utter disappearance—and they're not as calm as they pretend about the external horrors."

Bodhi said: "For any side, the Western Pilgrimage must be completed—but this time, the scripture-seeking party is a variable."

"Isn't that perfect? At least they're unlikely to die at the hands of something returning from beyond heaven," Helbak glanced at Wei Wu, then at the other team members, and said:

"All souls of the Underworld have been absorbed into the Nether Realm. I will lead you to complete this mission without fail."

"Once we control this place, everyone's home worlds can be added to the whitelist."

"Through countless evil deeds, one attains supreme enlightenment; great desires and great vows must be guided by both demons and Buddhas," Bodhi's voice rang solemn and ethereal, the Ksitigarbha stupa in his hand radiating light.

Before Shakyamuni's extinction and Maitreya's birth, he vowed to liberate all beings of the Six Realms, rescue all suffering, and only then would he attain Buddhahood.

"In the Pure Land, all beings desire to be reborn in my Pure Land."

In the chat group

Xiao Yan: "Guys, Bodhi's already shown up—y'all watching Black Myth?"

Song Shuhang: "This classic mind-training setup seems great. Seniors, do you feel your inner selves more complete, your spiritual power greatly increased, your will more resolute?"

In the stories Song Shuhang had read before, and in previous versions of Journey to the West, mind-training plots were never absent.

After passing through, one often gains tremendous benefits to one's willpower and even cultivation level, and the protagonist's inner strength grows stronger.

Shi Hao: "For a moment, I did feel my inner regrets were patched—this space had something strange about it—but after leaving, I felt nothing else."

Meng Qi: "Yes—I must go to the Western Heaven and crack his crown with a single blow! Does that count as unwavering will?"

He'd lost his wife less than a year after marriage—even if fake—he couldn't help wanting to curse when recalling that scene in the mental world.

But it also reminded me: since getting the chat group, my life's been too smooth.

Outside, blessings never end; at home, my beloved is in my arms—I've grown too attached to what I have, giving the Heavenly Demon an opening.

Lu Mingfei: "I'm fine—I just had a nightmare, felt nothing."

Su Lin: "So you've let go of that sword? @Meng Qi"

Meng Qi: "I don't know what you're talking about—I'm all about looks. I was smitten the moment I saw Xiao Sang."

Su Lin: "The Master of Strings and Sword is gone? Really?"

Miss Kelaien: "I'm more curious what Bodhi showed you. @Su Lin"

Song Shuhang: "+1"

Yi Leina: "+1"

Xing: "Waiting for gossip."

Ye Fan: "You're the only one who didn't speak."

Su Tuoni: "I'm in a church—right now I'm praying to God to tell me some gossip."

Meng Qi: "Everyone's willing to share—no one's hiding anything, right?"

Su Lin: "Those scenes are a paid segment."

Meng Qi: "?"

Ge Xiaolun: "How much?! Name your price!"

Lu Mingfei: "You got hooked?! Envious, you beast..."

Lu Mingfei: "Hypocrite! I, Lu, refuse to be associated with you!"

Su Lin: "Those were just background. I just chatted with him for a while—he told me a bunch of big truths."

Zhongli warned: "If the rumors are true, Bodhi's goal is to corrupt cultivation. The truths he speaks must be treated with caution."

"No, I think what he said makes real sense," Su Lin replied: "Life is short—enjoy it now. Sometimes don't set your standards too high; lowering them a bit makes you happier."

"Like me—if I have no morals, I won't be bound by them hahaha~~~"

Miss Kelaien: "."

Weigong Shilang: "."

Lu Mingfei: "."

Su Lin closed the chat group, riding his horse and whistling. Sensing the surrounding glances, he asked, puzzled: "What? Just a joke—don't take it seriously."

They had already left Wusang Realm. Perhaps because the commotion at Mount Fuling was too loud, they hadn't seen so much as a single hair of a demon.

According to the map given by Taibai Jinxing, Wuzhuang Temple lay just ahead.

Other places could be skipped—it was just a formality. Given the Cycle members' habit of stripping the land bare, if Zhenyuanzi wasn't there, the place would've been stripped down to the last leaf long ago.

Even if the Cycle members didn't act, the Heavenly Court would surely try to transplant it.

But even so, Wuzhuang Temple must be checked—just in case there are any roots left behind.

Su Lin glanced at Han Li, who gave him a slight nod.

'This is what makes the farming stream worthwhile?!'

Su Lin infused the horse beneath him with numerous Divine Light Arts as buffs, making it swift as lightning.

Clank, clank.

What Su Lin didn't see was that Kleine, left behind, pulled out his revolver 'Death Knell' and loaded it with round after round.

'You get it, right?' Lu Mingfei was also loading a magazine. 'We can't afford to lose.'

Kleine said without expression: 'I only wanted to watch the show. I must ensure Boxun's influence vanishes after his death.'

'This is dangerous,' Lu Mingfei said, sweat pooling in his palm. 'Are you ready to save the world?'

'If necessary, I'll awaken the First Creator! When you become a Great One, come back and resurrect me.' The magazine clicked back into place, speaking of its owner's resolve.

Shi Hao looked at the two of them, sensing a shift in the atmosphere since earlier—he had no idea what their exchange meant.

There's no life-or-death crisis here. Is this really necessary?

'Captain.'

'Speak.'

'This is too strange. I want to go home.'

'Shut up, you spineless fool.'

Pine slopes were cold, bamboo paths were clear and quiet.

The Piaomiao Danxia's Wuzhuang Temple resembled a fairyland: white cranes flew through drifting clouds, the main gate towered grandly with multi-tiered buildings, moss clung to stone steps, and wildflowers bud in quiet anticipation.

'But—but this is too strange!' said a young Daoist acolyte, his teeth chattering as he gazed into the distance. 'Wasn't it said there's no Zhenyuanzi? And that Zhenyuanzi…'

'Do you have enough points to abandon the mission and accept punishment?' interrupted another acolyte. 'If not, shut up! After last failure…'

Boom!

With a streak of rainbow light, the second-story wooden door exploded outward, shattering the palace behind them.

The two stared wide-eyed, horrified, toward the doorway.

Dust swirled, then a clear voice rang out: 'Disciples, search every corner thoroughly.'

(End of Chapter)