Chapter 620: There Are No Two Identical Flowers in the World

"Mingxin let them go, so what about you? Do you not intend to strike at them either?"

"No need."

Under the Bodhi tree, Ren Yidao raised an eyebrow and looked at the Demon Buddha sitting cross-legged to the side, asking with a smile: "By tacitly allowing them to leave like this, can it still be considered a complete destruction of Buddhism?"

The Demon Buddha lowered his head and drooped his brows, eyes half-closed, raising a hand to stroke the revitalized Bodhi tree, ignoring Ren Yidao's teasing.

Seeing the other party not take the bait, Ren Yidao lost some of his amusement; he crossed his arms and nodded with a lack of interest, sighing: "I see. Heh, it seems both of you are quite hypocritical."

Ren Yidao pursed his lips, looked the expressionless Demon Buddha up and down, and said faintly: "Mm, both of you are the type whose hearts are softer than your mouths."

Demon Buddha:?

The palm he was stroking the Bodhi tree with paused, and he almost couldn't help but look at Ren Yidao.

What kind of nonsense is this brat spouting?

Calling me soft-hearted?

Calling someone who just destroyed their own orthodoxy soft-hearted—has this guy gone mad?

The Demon Buddha's movement was slight, but it could not escape Ren Yidao's eyes; seeing him break his composure, the youth nodded with satisfaction.

Success.

However, he did not dwell on this small matter, and after a moment of silence, he turned to ask: "So, is the matter here finished?"

"..."

The Demon Buddha was silent; he naturally knew what Ren Yidao was referring to with this sentence.

Has the matter of destroying Buddhism ended?

Has it ended?

Mingxin let those devout monks go; they know the vast majority of the scriptures of Spirit Mountain, and as long as they are given time, it won't be long before they can revive Buddhism.

When that time comes, can his own destruction of Buddhism... still count? Wouldn't his previous efforts have been in vain?

To let them leave like this, isn't that a betrayal of himself?

The Demon Buddha remained silent for a long time, and Ren Yidao did not urge him, just rubbing the Divine Path Bell that had transformed back into a Bell, chatting with his master hiding inside.

He was not in a hurry at all.

Not only because the life or death of those monks had nothing to do with him, but also because whether Buddhism could be revived was not in his plans.

It was even more because Ren Yidao knew the Demon Buddha would surely make the most correct decision.

Sure enough, after a long silence, the Demon Buddha finally gave a response.

He shook his head, gazing at the precious Bodhi tree, his expression gentle, and said softly: "There are no two identical flowers in the world; the precious Bodhi tree is the same. It no longer recognizes me, nor does it remember the past."

"Buddhism is the same."

The Demon Buddha looked at the group of people outside Spirit Mountain who looked worse than beggars, ragged and torn, yet full of vigor and eyes filled with dazzling will, and shook his head slightly.

"Even if they are allowed to re-establish Buddhism, so what? With the lessons of the past, they will not make the same mistakes again."

Ren Yidao raised an eyebrow upon hearing this, chuckling: "Will they not? But why have I heard others say that the only lesson the Human Race can learn from the past is that they will never learn from the past?"

A fall into a pit, a gain in your wit—that is the most idealized result.

A greater possibility is that people will always find various ways, relying on their astonishing creativity, to repeat the same mistakes.

Regarding the credibility of humans in remembering lessons, Ren Yidao expressed deep skepticism.

The Demon Buddha chuckled and shook his head, not debating scripture with this guy who argued just for the sake of arguing.

He raised his hand to snap a branch with tender leaves from the Bodhi tree and simply flicked it toward those who had gone far away.

The branch flew out from the peak of Spirit Mountain, arriving in an instant, and landed steadily in the hands of the person in the lead.

"This is!? A branch of the precious Bodhi tree!?"

After their initial shock, those people all revealed expressions of excitement.

If the "Fox Immortal" raising his hand to spare them was merely letting them escape by luck, then the appearance of the precious Bodhi tree at this moment truly brought them hope.

With this precious Bodhi tree, they could have more confidence in reviving Buddhism.

They looked back, wanting to see clearly who had thrown it down from Spirit Mountain, but they could see nothing.

In the end, they seemed to understand something and bowed in unison toward the direction of the mountain peak.

"Many thanks!"

Then, they stood up without hesitation and continued their journey along the original route.

And this time, their steps were even firmer, and the hope in their eyes was even clearer.

Ren Yidao witnessed the whole process and looked at the Demon Buddha with amusement.

But the Demon Buddha did not offer any explanation for his actions, only saying calmly: "... The matter here is finished."

Here, the matter is finished.

The Buddhism of the past will never appear in this world again.

Even if it does appear, it will only be a nascent orthodoxy that has the appearance of the past but a completely different core—a semblance of the original.

It has nothing to do with him, and there is no need to deliberately target it anymore.

The affinity has ended.

The Causality has been cleared.

And as the Demon Buddha severed the Causality with Buddhism, the aura on his body plummeted rapidly, sliding all the way down from the peak of the Ascension Realm, finally barely stopping at the early stage of the Ascension Realm, nearly falling into the Wenda zhi Jing.

His physical body showed signs of fatigue, but his eyes appeared exceptionally peaceful, as if he were not at all surprised by such a change.

This was the price.

Everything about the Demon Buddha was bound to the Western Desert and related to Buddhism.

And when the Western Desert had another master, and when Buddhism was no more, he would naturally bear this price.

Not to mention, his own state was not stable to begin with, having previously been in a state of overdrawing his potential.

It was at the cost of abandoning future opportunities that He exchanged for a brief burst of power; no one knows how much He truly paid in the battle against the "Buddha," or if it was really as effortless and relaxed as it appeared on the surface?

All of this, no one is clear about.

Ren Yidao also does not know what the Demon Buddha paid in this series of layouts, schemes, and the final outburst, but he knows His future.

The early stage of the Ascension Realm is not the end; His strength will continue to fall until He completely perishes.

He is about to pass away.

Together with the Buddhism He destroyed with His own hands.

One prospers together, one suffers together.

Born for Buddhism, departing with Buddhism.

This is His ending.

However, the Demon Buddha does not intend to leave so soon.

He chose to self-seal, forcibly staying in the Ascension Realm for a while longer.

It is not because of any attachment to the mortal world, but to buy the most precious period of time for the Western Desert.

Because before the moment of death truly arrives, no one dares to test Him easily, and no Immortal God is willing to waste their own life on this dying person.

They will not come to provoke, nor do they even dare to approach the Western Desert, not daring to stretch their hands toward the Western Desert in the slightest.

The Demon Buddha is destined to die; there is no need to get angry with a dying person. Letting Him jump around for a while longer is just a trivial matter of no consequence.

This means that before it is truly confirmed that the Demon Buddha has passed away, this world of the Western Desert is temporarily safe, becoming a forbidden land for Immortal Gods, and will not be touched by any Immortal God.

This has also bought precious breathing time for the Western Desert, allowing all living beings to quickly recover from the confusion of the replacement of Buddhism.

Regarding such a person, Ren Yidao dares not say he can fully understand Him, but there is still mostly admiration in his heart.

He may be harsh toward Buddhism, and the way He treats the living beings of the Western Desert is also somewhat cruel and ruthless, but overall, He still loves this world.

The spring silkworm spins its silk until it dies, the candle turns to ash before its tears dry.

Whether in life or after death, the Demon Buddha has already poured out all of His being.

He never asked for their thoughts, nor did He seek any return.

This is a ruthless bigot who harbors great love in His Heart Star.

In all fairness, Ren Yidao cannot become a person like Him.

Great love, he has.

But Ren Yidao cannot achieve true ruthlessness.

Of course, the Demon Buddha actually didn't achieve it either, leaving a trace of selfishness at the final moment.

But even so, He had already done enough before that.

"So, will the Fozhu stay in the Western Desert until He can no longer hold on?"

"Hmm, that is indeed the intention."

The Demon Buddha showed no surprise when He knew that Ren Yidao understood the situation; He seemed to think it should be this way, believing that he should have such an ability to see through the essence.

"And you, fellow Daoist? Will you stay in the Western Desert? Or choose to leave?"

"Naturally, I am leaving; this is not my home." Ren Yidao answered without hesitation, not even thinking about it for a moment.

I'm going home!

I originally only intended to come out to save a disciple and go back, who knew that due to twists and turns so many things happened, dragging me all the way from Zhongzhou to the Western Desert.

I! Want! To! Go! Home!

The Demon Buddha was not surprised by Ren Yidao's choice, but still added one more sentence: "You are the current Master of the Western Desert; if you can stay in the Western Desert, it will be of great help to your cultivation, and I can also help you understand the Heavenly Dao of the Western Desert more."

But facing such sincere words, the youth who was single-mindedly returning home still chose to refuse.

"No, let me just take it slow myself."

Ren Yidao curled his lips and asked the Demon Buddha in return, "Besides, I should ask you, do you think I look like the kind of person who needs this little bit of help?"

"……Indeed."

The Demon Buddha thought about it and understood where Ren Yidao's confidence lay.

Before, when refining the Heavenly Dao, He actually did not help much with the details; it was all relied upon him to comprehend it himself.

This is true innate talent.

A person with such outstanding endowment like Ren Yidao could never be trapped by those barriers in the eyes of ordinary people.

"That's right!" Ren Yidao laughed and shrugged easily: "For me, since there is no big difference between staying here and going back, why must I stay here?"

Better to go home—

To sleep! A! Good! Sleep!