Chapter 867

Brother Qian Chen slashed a cut behind the skin's ear with his broken blade, then extended a finger—immediately, the skin writhed like a living thing, flipping inward along the cut, exposing its inner lining.

The Great Nirvana Golden Body stood over one zhang tall, a Buddhist golden form clad in pure gold kasaya, bare-chested and bare-armed, with four arms and three faces.

But when it flipped over, it became an eight-armed, three-headed grotesque demonic form.

Li Zhong couldn't help asking: "How can both sides of this skin differ so drastically?"

Brother Qian Chen rebuked him: "I embroidered the Twenty-Eight Deva and the Three Worlds of Buddhas onto this skin—thus, the skin itself became a world."

"Or rather, the inside and outside of the skin are two separate worlds! This stupa and the skin have fused into one entity; when the skin flips, you think you're merely turning the pouch—actually, you're reversing the outer world with the inner world within the skin!"

Li Zhong looked puzzled, so Brother Qian Chen told him to look out the window.

"The window?"

Li Zhong suddenly turned around and saw a window had appeared behind him—he pushed it open and realized they stood atop the stupa's peak.

The six-story stupa, beneath the moonlight, appeared utterly transparent, yet its shadows stretched downward—nine layers deep!

Only then did Li Zhong understand: Brother Qian Chen had flipped the skin to invert the world, sealing the original world inside the skin, while unleashing the dark world hidden within the golden body's skin.

More vividly, the skin was like a pouch.

Outside the pouch was one world; inside the pouch was another.

As the pouch was turned inside out, the world outside was sealed within, while the world inside was released, replacing the outer world.

Strictly speaking, if the world itself remained stationary, Brother Qian Chen had just sealed all of them inside the golden body's skin.

"Which of these two worlds is real, and which is false?"

Li Zhong still didn't understand.

Brother Qian Chen smiled mysteriously…

The group stood before the skin, when Cao Cao Xuanwei murmured gravely: "These nine heads of the Womb Demon seem each to represent a source of demonic path!"

Li Zhong asked blankly: "Isn't it the three-headed, eight-armed demon?"

Tan Tan Wuchen frowned slightly: "The monk I saw was a ferocious Buddha image wrapped in black demonic fire."

Brother Qian Chen said calmly: "The Womb Demon—by name, it refers to the innate, stubborn demonic nature hidden within every being. What you see is not Little Murong Chui's full true form—it is merely your own demonic nature reflected. To comprehend Little Murong Chui's Dao seed, you must first shatter your own demonic nature—only then can you behold the true demon!"

Brother Qian Chen's scheme never intended to kill Little Murong Chui; his Conquest Dao Seed, so long as his outer self remains unbroken, will regenerate even if his true body is slain—it merely destroys his inner self.

As long as the Conquest Dao Seed still exists in heaven and earth, as long as anything still belongs to him,

his outer silhouette will allow his inner self to be reborn.

Thus, to kill Little Murong Chui, you must first shatter the Conquest Dao Seed.

And to shatter the Conquest Dao Seed, you must first unravel its most fundamental secret: what does it rely upon to anchor its outer self?

A man's wealth, possessions—all physical things—are theoretically part of him—but without law, without property rights, without consensus, without others' recognition, the 'outer self' has no meaning whatsoever.

Law, property rights, consensus, and others' recognition are the anchors of the outer self.

Law, property rights, consensus, and others—all are part of human Dao. Beyond human Dao, only the Great Dao can serve as the anchor for the outer self—only then, when others seize your wealth, land, or private property, can consensus Ningju sovereignty, law protect your 'outer self,' and these mechanisms summon the violence of human Dao to defend your 'outer self!'

Little Murong Chui's law for protecting his outer self can only be the Great Dao's Faze —he must have anchored it within the Great Dao.

The Conquest Dao Seed can be said to be the Great Dao's anchor, signifying the Great Dao's recognition that these things belong to Little Murong Chui.

But there is a paradox: before achieving the Conquest Dao Seed, one must have an anchor—but only after achieving it does the Great Dao become available as an anchor.

Therefore, before achieving the Conquest Dao Seed, Little Murong Chui must have had an anchor to sustain his outer self.

Brother Qian Chen suspects this anchor is the title of Great Supreme Supreme Tian Mo Sovereign.

All subsequent schemes stem from this…

"I lured the Womb Demon, the Cao prince, and the He Chi Lian Bo heir—those avatars containing Little Murong Chui's essence—into this skin and sealed them within. Beforehand, I arranged a Buddhist Dharmadhatu Mandala inside the skin, transforming the golden body's skin into a Pure Land. When Little Murong Chui sought to break the seals, he had to expend all his strength to tear through the skin—and in that struggle, we used the skin to fight him with all our might, imprinting every one of his Dao and principles onto the skin!"

Brother Qian Chen said softly: "This was my goal."

He no longer concealed it; Cao Cao Xuanwei nodded slightly, relieved: "Venerable, no need to explain—Little Murong Chui is the common enemy of our Great Wei and the Buddhist sect, and of all orthodox Dao."

"This demon is cunning and cruel—how could he fall into a trap so easily?"

"To find this demon's root—even if my identity was used to lure him—I feel no resentment whatsoever."

Cao Cao Xuanwei was remarkably open-minded: to lure the Great Supreme Supreme Tian Mo, what is a mere Northern Wei crown prince? Though he possesses the potential of a Primordial Spirit, hailed as Cao's future hope, the prodigy destined to become the next Cao Lin—

Yet Cao Lin himself was killed by Little Murong Chui.

Now Little Murong Chui is targeting the Cao clan again—if the Cao family had to choose, sacrificing one crown prince to kill Little Murong Chui, they would not hesitate a moment.

Li Zhong took the Great Xia Daxia Daxia Longque Blade Brother Qian Chen tossed him, staring at the broken blade and smiled bitterly: "What do I have to do with the He Chi Lian Bo heir? I don't want any connection with that madman…"

"Now that you've received the Great Xia Daxia Daxia Longque, you must also accept its karmic burden!" Brother Qian Chen said coolly. "But Little Murong Chui is the most dangerous karmic thread upon this blade!"

"He Chi Lian Bo hid within this blade a strike prepared for Little Murong Chui. Just now, I fused its intent with the Four Spirits Form and struck Little Murong Chui once… Hmph! That strike aimed at Little Murong Chui was nothing special—my Four Spirits Form is far superior. I made Little Murong Chui suffer a great loss, and severed his primordial split spirit!"

Brother Qian Chen glanced at the broken blade and told Li Zhong: "Now the karmic debt is settled—you may use it without hesitation."

Cao Cao Xuanwei glanced at the two, feeling puzzled—he sensed Brother Qian Chen treated Li Zhong with greater closeness and care.

But he recalled that Li Zhong had met this Buddhist Venerable before the rest of them, so he knew Brother Qian Chen was aware of his mission to pay respects to the Guardian True Person—hence his odd demeanor.

Cao Cao Xuanwei now understood slightly, watching Brother Qian Chen gaze at the intricate Dao traces upon the skin.

"Little Murong Chui is truly a Great Supreme Supreme Tian Mo of Yu Jiuyou—his demonic cultivation is boundless, nearly encompassing half the scriptures and lineages of Yu Jiuyou's demonic path."

Brother Qian Chen touched the single eye at the center of the middle head of the three-headed, eight-armed demon: "The Supreme Supreme Supreme Tian Mo Perception of the Demon Perception Sect! He removed the Amala-vijñāna of the Yu Jiuyou Demon Ancestor and replaced it with his own ninth consciousness, enabling him to dominate and control the 'eight consciousnesses' of others and even inanimate objects."

"This is a complete reinvention of a demonic scripture—I would name it the 'Heaven-Subduing Demon Perception Scripture'! It may serve as an esoteric transmission outside the Demon Perception Sect!"

This skin, recording Little Murong Chui's entire demonic cultivation, had its flaws—it could not imprint Little Murong Chui's full wisdom, only the traces of his cultivation.

Thus, even if the Demon Perception Sect's 'Supreme Supreme Supreme Tian Mo Perception' was known to Little Murong Chui, since he never practiced the original version, it would not be imprinted here.

The same applied to all other demonic arts.

Brother Qian Chen pointed out the traces of these demonic arts: "Over one thousand seven hundred and eighty demonic scriptures—Little Murong Chui's knowledge and diligence are indeed vast."

"Along his path, he fully comprehended the essence of every method he practiced, integrating them into himself. The true value lies not in the traces left by these demonic scriptures, but in his process of synthesizing them and reshaping his own demonic Dao!"

"Truly, he refined a hundred scriptures into a furnace, forging his own unique school!"

"This skin contains Little Murong Chui's entire lifetime of cultivation—though still far short of the Yu Jiuyou Supreme Supreme Tian Mo Strategy, it is among the supreme scriptures of this world!"

Brother Qian Chen casually pulled out a brush and, with the wisdom of his own demonic source, fused the myriad scriptural rhythms of Little Murong Chui into one.

He dipped the brush and wrote upon the skin: "The Great Supreme Supreme Tian Mo Scripture!"

This Yixing demonic trace was the scripture's outline—Brother Qian Chen concealed the key to unlocking Little Murong Chui's entire legacy within the title, leaving it for future generations.

Cao Cao Xuanwei frowned slightly: "This demonic scripture…"

He glanced back at his subordinates—each stared wide-eyed, desperately memorizing every trace upon the skin, attempting to decipher the Supreme Demon Scripture.

Though none could grasp its full profundity, establishing a true transmission-level demonic scripture was certainly feasible.

Cao Cao Xuanwei felt a flicker of concern: if Little Murong Chui's Warlike Demon Sect failed to break the Northern Frontier Array, perhaps the Six Garrisons' warrior descendants would instead absorb demonic Dao and establish their own sects first!

This skin and the stupa had fused into one entity, becoming a spiritual treasure.

Or rather—Womb One-Paragraphe!

Womb: innate nature; One-Paragraphe: root of evil.

The stupa's name now perfectly matched its function: the skin's front bears Brother Qian Chen's Five Seals of Shakyamuni and the Future Buddha's Birth Sutra; within the skin lies one of the supreme demonic scriptures—the Great Supreme Supreme Tian Mo Scripture.

Womb One-Paragraphe—the name fits perfectly!

The thousand armored iron cavalry, upon seeing this opening line, could barely discern the scriptural traces upon the skin.

Instantly, everyone began silently memorizing: the Supreme Demon Scripture is here!

In this world, few opportunities exist to comprehend a transmission of this caliber!

Yet all would be disturbed by their own Womb Demon nature—their perception of the scripture would be tainted by their inner demonic bias.

Only by correcting this deviation could they walk the true path of demonic Dao.

Otherwise, following such bias would only swell their Womb Demon nature until they plunged utterly into demonic corruption.

Brother Qian Chen paid them no mind—demonic Dao was always thus: the struggle against demonic nature, using demon to subdue demon, was the essence of demonic Dao from beginning to end. The true path of demonic Dao was always to subdue one's own demon, letting the true self-demon reign supreme!

He merely silently calculated, selecting one karmic thread.

"The Supreme Supreme Tian Mo reappears—the River Yin Scripture emerges!"