Chapter 365 - 233 Mankind

"During the Zhenguan Period of Your Majesty’s reign, there was an Official of Humanity who dreamed of slaying the Dragon King. Today, this Demon Monk possesses evil arts to protect himself, why not follow the precedent and appeal to Heaven and Earth to slay him through the Official of Humanity?"

The moment the Emperor heard this, his eyes immediately brightened, for the tale of Wei Zheng dreaming of slaying the Evil Dragon had long been considered a folk legend, yet within the Imperial Family, there were clear records confirming the veracity of the tale.

Each time he thought of the Demon Monk’s previous attempt to turn him into a puppet, this sovereign would feel a surge of endless rage from within. To a ruler who stood above all, the experience of life and death being controlled by another was indeed profoundly impactful.

"Very well, if that’s the case, I shall make my appeal to Heaven and Earth."

Meanwhile, an eerie silence had fallen over the execution grounds, where the Arhat’s body proved harder than anyone had imagined, and no solution could be found for the moment.

The Execution Officer sitting above, also at a loss for what to do, could only sit awkwardly and wait for the Imperial Court’s response.

After a while, an elderly man with white hair, holding an imperial edict, slowly made his way through the crowd.

"Elder Lord Wang!" The Execution Official quickly stood up and said with utmost respect, recognizing the real power behind the throne, a veteran of three dynasties, with disciples all over the government—a veritable powerholder in the current Great Tang Dynasty.

"How could we trouble you to come to such a bloody place?"

"How dare this Demon Monk create chaos in the world! If we do not execute him with righteous law, how shall we face our sages in The Underworld?" Elder Lord Wang said in a solemn voice.

Having said that, he held the imperial edict and slowly walked towards the execution platform.

"By the decree of the Son of Heaven, who has received the Mandate of Heaven, it is announced: The Demon Monk has beguiled the Emperor, and his crime deserves execution; let all immortals bear witness!"

As the Arhat listened to the old man’s voice, he felt a panic rising. He saw an invisible force emerging from the dense crowd around him, the power of All Living Beings.

The faith of All Living Beings could create Divine Spirits and bear the fruits of their deeds. Naturally, their anger and hatred could also give birth to a fearsome power, one that could cause Immortals and Gods to fall.

The power of All Living Beings gradually converged, forming inscrutable chains that emerged from the void, firmly binding the Arhat.

The Arhat was terrified to discover that with the appearance of these chains, his prideful Golden Body was rapidly dissipating, and with that, he was meeting his death.

The face that had once been filled with a hint of mockery now suddenly bore an expression of terror. He wanted to cry out loudly, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t make a sound.

"Commence the execution!" Elder Lord Wang held the imperial edict and shouted sternly.

"Kill him!"

"Kill him!" the surrounding populace quickly replied, their fearsome shouts piercing the heavens, a manifestation of the will of All Living Beings.

The executioner, looking at the crowd whose passions were inflamed, felt his own blood flow quicker. His face reddened and deep within, he had an indescribable premonition that this time, he would surely succeed in beheading the Demon Monk.

"Ha!" With a loud shout, he raised the sword in his hand and forcefully swung it downward.

A flash of the blade passed by, and the sword struck the Arhat’s neck. This time there was no sound of metal against metal. Without his Golden Body, the Arhat had fully become a mortal.

Bright red blood spurted high into the air, and a large head tumbled to the ground, the eyes still filled with disbelief.

An Arhat thus died in Dongsheng Shenzhou, without even a hint of resistance.

Whether it was the Immortals in the Heavenly Court or the Monks on Mount Ling, at this moment, they all shut their mouths.

"How is this possible?" someone murmured to themselves, finding the reality before their eyes hard to believe.

A mere mortal had slain an Immortal, and without any anomaly, as if killing an ordinary human, a scenario unimaginable in the minds of many Immortals and Arhat Bhikkhus.

The many years of cultivation seemed utterly useless, and that terrifying power of all living beings made them all feel a chill at their necks, as if they were the ones whose head had been chopped off and had died both in body and in their path of practice.

Many then suddenly realized why the Heavenly Court had up till now remained still, allowing the Buddhist Sect to wildly spread its teachings in Dongsheng Shenzhou; it turned out that Dongsheng Shenzhou was not a land of benevolence at all—its people did not hold nearly as much reverence for Immortals and Buddhas as one might imagine.

All eyes now turned to the Supreme above the Nine Heavens, who seemed to have been aware of this situation all along. That’s why he had stood by, letting things develop to this point, probably waiting for this very day.

Meanwhile, the Jade Emperor, the focus of everyone’s attention, revealed a slight smile at the corner of his mouth and whispered, "The Human Clan, the protagonist of Heaven and Earth, how could they be so weak? One must remember that the Human Emperors of old were comparable to the Heavenly Emperor himself."

"The long passage of time seems to have made all living beings forget that the Human Clan’s status nowadays has also been fought for bit by bit. The saints of the Human Clan back then were not so easy to deal with."

Having said this, the Jade Emperor but recalled some faces from those times—truly a group of people with endless potential. If they had embarked on the path of Immortals, perhaps he himself would not sit securely on the throne of the Jade Emperor.

However, those people were not overly interested in being the Master of the Three Realms; they were more concerned with propagating their teachings, their ideas, to take root and flourish on this land.

It was for this reason that he had been able to sign a covenant with them, thenceforth leaving each to their own.

But the Buddhist Sect had broken that covenant, so Mankind would retaliate in the most frightening way possible, for these were covenants made under the witness of the cosmic laws between humanity and the divine.

The Buddhas of the Buddhist Sect were now filled with shock and rage. Their gaze had always been fixed on the Buddhist Sect, neglecting the most inconspicuous of all living beings.

After all, they had long dwelled in the Xiniu Continent, where the Human Clan was completely different from that of Dongsheng Shenzhou—less pride born in the marrow, more worship of the Immortals and Gods.

It was for this very reason that the Buddhist Sect was able to establish the Buddha Kingdom on this land.

The Jade Emperor had deliberately obscured the Heavenly Secrets, and the emergence of the power of Mankind had blocked the news from spreading, resulting in the Buddhist Sect only realizing that such a terrible thing had happened in the distant Dongsheng Shenzhou at the moment the Arhat’s head was cut off.

"How dare they, how dare these mundane folk?" a Buddha said in disbelief.

That was an Arhat, who even if had not attained the Bodhisattva stage, had still practiced for many years, possessed a Golden Body, and wielded vast Divine Skills, yet had been beheaded by an ordinary person with a slightly nicked blade.

It was a great indignity, as if someone had rubbed the face of the Buddhist Sect on the ground forcefully.

"We must respond, else where do we put the face of our Buddhist Sect!" someone called out loudly.

They hoped the Buddhist Sect would wage war against Dongsheng Shenzhou to regain their dignity.

However, the Bodhisattvas and Buddhas of the Buddhist Sect, with their vast Divine Skills, furrowed their brows one after another. They did not act impulsively but quickly deduced the ins and outs of the situation.