Chapter 487: Forest of Corpses, Extermination of Demons

"Normally, we only need to reach Lingshan to complete the mission." Han Li scanned the surroundings, lingering for several seconds on the immortals who had "ascended" from the lower realms.

He did not continue, because everyone present understood Han Li's meaning.

He was asking whether they were willing to get further involved in this matter.

Meng Qi waved his hand to seal the space, concealing the Dao Palace; his face lost the deliberate sternness he had worn earlier, his expression now solemn: "It seems Tai Bai Taibai Jinxing's words were true—the enemy has truly seized all souls across the Three Realms and Six Realms, past and present."

What was just shown was merely the tip of the iceberg; countless souls—mortals, immortals, demons, and monsters—had been sacrificed to strengthen the Three Demons of Shi Tuo Ridge, granting them unprecedented power.

Thus, there are now too many factors to consider.

"What do you think of Jin Chida?" Su Lin asked Shi Hao.

Shi Hao licked his lips and said: "Weapons are no good. Before, it was a dozen or so; now, three should be about right."

The single-core DPS of Shi Tuo Ridge, Jin Chida, has already reached this level—and seemingly can still rise, as long as enough souls are available.

Of course, assuming Shi Hao wasn't joking about needing three more to get full.

"We know nothing about the captain of the Soul-Sweeping Squad—his current level, his abilities, any limitations," Su Lin rubbed his chin seriously. "Most crucially, we're essentially going to fight right inside the enemy's spawn point."

"You've done this before," Lu Mingfei muttered under his breath. "In the end, you always cheat."

The air fell suddenly silent. Miss Kelaien glanced sideways without speaking, while Meng Qi opened his mouth as if to speak, then closed it again.

"Cough cough." Li Huowang felt his throat itch.

The cough made Lu Mingfei snap back to attention. He looked ahead and saw Su Lin smiling at him. "It seems you have a slight misunderstanding of me. After all these years, you still don't know me. I'm a bit disappointed."

"You don't cheat," Lu Mingfei enunciated clearly.

He didn't understand why Su Lin kept emphasizing he didn't cheat—after all, in the real world, no one dared say anything about cheating in front of him; they'd get deleted.

"Listen carefully, Mingfei," Su Lin nodded slightly, shifting to a gentler tone. "Cheating means gaining results without paying any cost. I, however, have always paid a great price for everything."

Lu Mingfei froze, the word "price" echoing in his ears.

Indeed, all knew the Blue Planet had a cheat—its name was Su. No one knew where it came from or what it looked like, yet every universe's cheat was contained within it—yet no one realized there is no free meal. Though Su appeared benevolent before mortals, he was sometimes stingy, sometimes generous—surely his cheat had many restrictions.

Yet now, this Lu Shuaizai, ignorant of his hardships, unaware of his cost, spoke carelessly and wounded his heart.

With a sharp slap, Lu Mingfei struck himself, cutting short the literary sickness left over from his literature club days.

"What price did you pay?" Lu Mingfei asked.

Su Lin answered: "The future."

'Is it really that serious? Could it be that kind of situation where his future becomes someone else's vessel?' Lu Mingfei and the others each formed different guesses.

Su Lin turned to face the west, his voice tinged with melancholy: "According to the Law of Conservation of Luck, I'll probably sink every card draw from now on."

Miss Kelaien removed his hat and looked at the others: "Want some late-night snacks?"

"No expression on Lu Mingfei's face: "Peking duck."

Li Huowang scratched his head: "Noodles with some greens."

"Su Lin, make the call," Meng Qi rubbed his eyes and said:

"I don't want to drag you into my affairs. I'm only doing what I can do—I won't throw my life away. So if the risk is too great, you don't need to care about me."

He trusted his teammates would never cooperate with Lingshan's Reincarnators, but continuing would inevitably involve serious danger.

Just like when he undertook missions for the Lord of the Six Realms—he couldn't act purely on personal whim, even if he had the urge, he still had to consider others.

The reason he asked Su Lin was, implicitly:

Do you want to open it or not?

If he opened it, Meng Qi figured the enemy probably didn't have a Fusheng Tian to fight them; their concern would be how to maximize damage so they didn't look like they were just muddling through. If he didn't want to open it, then everyone could go their own way—no need to agonize over it, since it wasn't their own world. Help if you can.

What Su Lin had said earlier was indeed reasonable—the decision to pay the cost rested with him alone.

"Meng Qi," Su Lin did not turn around; his feet did not touch the ground as he walked through the Forest of Skulls: "What's the situation with your Shi Tuo Ridge?"

"I don't fully understand the state of this Xiyu world fragment yet. If you want to know, I can investigate for you later," Meng Qi replied.

"Is that so? No need." Su Lin shook his head.

On the horizon, at the western Lingshan, gale winds struck their faces; the illusory river of time seemed to cleanse heaven and earth, standing in equal opposition to another terrifying river.

Su Lin murmured to himself: "This is unexpected."

Miss Kelaien glanced once at Su Lin's back, then turned and walked toward the group of cultivators nearby. They grew tense as they saw him approach.

They had overheard fragments of the previous battle; now, they were both thrilled to witness a mythic figure and dared not overstep.

"No need to bow," Miss Kelaien looked at Qing Yao and several other cultivators with tear-stained faces, then at the several mangled corpses on the ground. "Are these your fellow sect members?"

"R-returning to my lord," Qing Yao didn't know how to address him, but since he was with Ling Bao Tianzun, she instinctively felt she should call him Tianzun:

"Disciple Qing Yao, seventeenth-generation disciple of the Tai Xuan Sect, lineage of the Eastern Ultimate Qing Hua Great Emperor. These are my master, senior brothers, and uncle—all slain by the Green Lion."

"Please, my lord, have mercy and save them."

"I'm sorry," Miss Kelaien shook his head slightly. "The Three Realms are broken. The souls of the dead vanish. How can one save someone without a soul?"

Qing Yao and the surrounding cultivators trembled. They knew the dead's souls vanished—but they never imagined even a mythic figure could do nothing. Recalling the earlier scene, despair welled up within them.

"I can do little, but I can fulfill your wish to see them one last time," Miss Kelaien met Qing Yao's gaze and spoke slowly. "If you wish it, make your wish to me."

"Wish?" Qing Yao stared for several seconds, then snapped back, voice trembling with tears: "Tianzun, have mercy—allow Qing Yao to say farewell to them."

Miss Kelaien snapped his fingers and turned away.

The Tai Xuan Sect cultivators stood motionless, silently watching the cold, unresponsive corpses on the ground.

As seconds ticked by, they realized the great ones had vanished.

"This!" someone began to speak, but then noticed the surrounding area had been swallowed by thick gray mist.

No way to find the exit—only to wait in silence.

When the mist finally cleared, the mountains and rivers were clear and beautiful, the air gentle and sunny, a mountain range bathed in Buddhist light.

Many monks walked in groups along forest paths, their vital energy withered, breath faint, each step requiring long pauses to catch their breath.

"Brother, Yao'er, how did you end up here?"

Qingyao and the others turned back and saw several familiar faces standing behind them, their eyes filled with confusion and joy.

"Shi Tuo Lin, Lion Camel Ridge."

Su Lin and the others walked through the square-shaped city of skulls; the city contained a corpse forest, but these corpses were being washed by gray mist, time flowing backward, restoring them to their original state.

"Speaking of which," Meng Qi, this Shaolin disciple, recalled his past cultivation with deep impression: "The Sutra on the Practice of Self-Sacrifice states: it encourages people to divide their flesh and blood after death and offer them to the corpse forest."

Miss Kelaien nodded: "In Sanskrit, corpse forest means 'corpse factory'."

"Huowang, what did Su Shi write in his poem 'Gift to Zhang Mo'?" Su Lin asked ahead, not turning back.

Li Huowang laughed: "Su Ge, this won't be on the college entrance exam."

Yet he was truly stunned by the scenes before him.

Day after day, year after year, like pilgrims, they came from all directions, dragging emaciated bodies, sometimes two or three carrying a corpse, arriving here.

"Abandon the body to the corpse forest; crows and kites leave it scattered."

Though Su Lin disliked the idea of sacrificing innocent people for the sake of great endeavors or the welfare of all beings, he had also considered it might be a desperate act born of no other choice.

The Buddhist practices of this world, witnessed firsthand, stirred an indescribable feeling within him.

Recalling what he had seen before—countless great beings sacrificing their bodies to mend the sky, abandoning ten thousand years of cultivation.

Unexpected, yet logical.

"Could such a world truly exist?" Su Lin walked on, traveling backward through time and history, even seeing Bodhisattvas and Buddhas arriving here to enter nirvana.

"All heavens and myriad transformations, Taiji and Yin-Yang—there are worlds where demons transform Zhen Yuanzi and sacrifice all beings, so naturally there are also worlds like this," Meng Qi said as he saw an old monk, whose face bore seven-tenths resemblance to Xuanbei, arrive and sit in meditation, fulfilling his vow. He paused, then added: "A world where one sacrifices oneself for all beings."

The group arrived at a skull palace, gazing at the Lotus Sun Wheel Throne, upon which stood two complete, fleshless human skeletons, entirely white, with one face and two arms: the right hand raised a skull club, the left hand cradled a skull bowl filled with fresh blood, standing on shells and conches atop the Lotus Sun-Moon Pad, in a dancing posture.

The bones, one male, one female, evoked no terror—only revealing that nothing in the mortal world is eternal: beings are born, age, fall ill, and die; clinging to delusions leads inevitably to the suffering of samsara.

Om...

A mantra sounded.

The white bones changed; above them appeared a phantom Buddha, pure, radiant, emitting boundless light—its true nature complete, wisdom enhanced.

A great vow echoed in their ears: to liberate all sentient beings of the Six Realms from samsara, one may attain Buddhahood.

"Samantabhadra Tathagata, Samantabhadra Buddha symbolizes light, and attains Buddhahood."

"These bones are the Lords of the corpse forest, couple; receiving their empowerment brings longevity and fortune, dispelling great calamities."

"Practicing the Law of the corpse forest Lords increases wealth, grants fortune, ensures rebirth; cultivators who follow the Buddha's path gain favorable conditions to attain enlightenment."

"So it is—this Lion Camel Ridge, or rather, the corpse forest, has always been one link in this world's ancient grand scheme; located beneath Mount Sumeru, it alone contains the four great trials of the scripture-seeking journey." Su Lin's eyes revealed a hint of shock.

To "treat" those devout Buddhists, Su Lin had never skipped a single lesson in another world; possessing vast Buddhist knowledge, he and the Shaolin defector beside him were, in a sense, "partners of Mount Sumeru."

"The corpse forest was originally the place where the Lord of Graves sacrificed his body; scripture-seekers must come here, receive merit amid calamity, and gain empowerment without even knowing it."

"And this empowerment has special effects against enemies and thieves."

Everything matched.

If the Soul-Shaking Squad wished to complete their mission, they had to submit their merit to the Samsara Space.

They probably never anticipated that in this world, Tang Sanzang was a lock—a lock sealing all merit within himself, within this world!

Bai Guang, disheveled, the Buddha phantom merely reenacting history suddenly opened its eyes; countless pure white swastikas emerged from the bone hall and surged toward Su Lin—the empowerment had begun.

"Setting aside the three demons secretly hunting, it turns out this is their origin," Meng Qi asked Su Lin: "Master, what do you say?"

"Isn't this fascinating? Indeed, fascinating," Su Lin stared fixedly ahead, his eyes trembling, causing everyone to freeze in unison: "All heavens and myriad worlds."

Spiritual will is also part of the scenery along the way; here, the powerful burn themselves in the coming winter, illuminating the path ahead—like a concept elevated to its utmost.

In the sky, countless golden lights rose from earth and mountains, flying toward nine different directions.

For some reason, Su Lin suddenly wanted to laugh out loud, like the immersive feeling he once had watching a film, yet deeper than that.

Unconsciously drawn, compelled to keep watching, to dive into the screen—even a mere mortal wished to see, even to participate.

Su Lin's lips curled into a smile; he stepped forward and picked up the nine-ring staff planted in the ground, saying: "Disciples, follow your master to the Western Heaven!"

Buddha's Palm loaded: From darkness, seek the truth of light; from chaos and confusion, perceive your true nature—all dharmas arise, manifest by mind.

"Amitabha Buddha, excellent, excellent."

"Master, what about your cost?"

"I'm happy! Isn't this more interesting than chasing Fusheng Tian?"

"Sorry, Su Ge."

"Why are you apologizing?"

"The Heaven Emperor issues this decree: a soul demon now ravages, obstructing the Great Repair, preventing all spirits from entering samsara, bringing chaos to the myriad worlds. Summon all sentient beings of the Three Realms and Six Realms to jointly destroy it!"

"Heavenly gods, heed my command: protect all beings of the ten directions, illuminate the Nine Provinces; even if your form and spirit are annihilated, you must exterminate demons and purge evil!"

"Underworld and netherworld, heed my command: melt their remains, offer the Nine Cauldrons, subdue the souls of the Six Realms!"

"Land gods and mountain spirits, heed my command: carry the incense and fortune of humanity into the Nine Cauldrons, subdue the human realm's myriad worlds!"

"All humans, immortals, gods, demons, beasts, ghosts, spirits, and phantoms, hear this!"

Tai Bai Taibai Jinxing hurled the imperial decree into the sky; as it shattered and dissolved into countless glimmers merging into the void, Heilbake's eyes trembled, his hands gripping the black Wang Zuo's armrests, veins bulging.

"Are you all mad?!!!"

Even Bodhi was frowning, asking: "You don't wait for the scripture-seeker to reach Mount Sumeru?"

He had guessed the Heaven Emperor's pride would never yield easily—but he never imagined even the most basic things had changed.

The Heaven Emperor had chosen this method of tearing open the facade—and at this exact moment?!

According to his calculations, he should have waited until the Buddha delivered the merit and fortune here, then moved to seize dominance or other gains—thus he had specifically recalled the three demons of Lion Camel Ridge.

But now, what purpose does this serve?!

"You've lost your chance!" Heilbake said coldly, face dark: "All living beings in this world—including you, you native gods—shall be cast into the Underworld. Vacate your places for the living."

The River of Blood surged, carrying the wails of countless souls from every corner of heaven and earth, swallowing all with the sharpest cold and darkness.

"What business of this world requires another's hand?" From within the imperial carriage, the lofty, fragmented shadow's voice held not a trace of emotion; he flung down a violet jade token of supreme yang purity and ordered:

"Exterminate the demons."