Cling!
With the sound of bells, souls were stirred.
The demonfolk that were already in a frenzy became even more chaotic, turning against one another and swinging their blades at everything living before their eyes.
The Upraised Light abbot abandoned the group of monks and charged onto the battlefield, following where the sound of bells came from. He searched around without any regard like he was possessed.
“Where?”
The monks from the World of the Nine Provinces had never heard of the White Bone Bodhisattva before. They only sensed the blasphemy instinctively, which was why they viewed her as a buddha nemesis.
However, as a monk that had attained two fruits of buddhism, that was not the word that the Upraised Light abbot thought of. Instead, he wanted an answer.
“Bodhisattva, oh bodhisattva! Why, why did you betray the buddha?”
He felt extremely sorrowful inside. His appearance became older as well. He neither dared nor could bring himself to view that one as an enemy.
“Didn’t you swear a great oath to turn the world into a pure land of paradise?”
She was the greatest of the Pure Land sect, carrying the legacy of Mahāyāna, attaining the fruit of Arhat as a bhikkhunī and obtaining the personal teachings of the buddha, the Wordless scripture. That had once been the glory of the entirety of buddhism, as well as the Pure Land sect.
Then she faced the eighth heavenly tribulation. If she succeeded, she would be the first mortal to attain the fruit of bodhisattva since the four great bodhisattvas.
Beyond the Nine Heavens, the six realms cycled. Throughout buddhism, all watched closely, only to be met with a skeleton of white bones that even swore four cursed oaths: The boundless creatures, I vow to slaughter; the endless afflictions, I vow to fell; the limitless dharma, I vow to destroy; the unsurpassable buddha way, I vow to end.
The buddha grieved, and buddhism was rocked to the core. The foundations of the Pure Land sect were shaken, such that even now, they had yet to recover. Many eminent monks of the Pure Land sect became lost, such that their cultivations halted.
Even if his flesh, blood, and soul would be incinerated by the flames, never to be reborn, he still had to ask, What exactly was this all for?
But when he found the origins of the ringing bell, all he discovered was a tiny Skeleton Demon carrying a bell, cackling away as it hopped from head to head.
Its head swivelled, and it saw the Upraised Light abbot too. It crouched down on the head of a Demon King that had gone crazy. Its eye sockets burned with two specks of pale flames as it tilted its head at him as if it was asking, What are you looking for?
“You’re not…”
The Upraised Light abbot returned to his senses and also sensed the differences. The Samādhi Flames of White Bone were under delicate control, only burning the demonfolk and not the humans. That truly was strange. Even for a successor of white bone, it was still far too strange. If that legendary path of white bone had such a great distinction between good and evil, there would be nothing to criticise it for.
On the chaotic battlefield, between the sounds of the bell that stirred and hypnotised the soul, he brought his palms together and knelt down on the ground. “If you are a successor of white bone, please give me a reason. I will die without regrets.”
“A monk?” The Demon King beast’s remaining sliver of sanity was swallowed by fury, lunging towards the Upraised Light abbot. Its mouth was lined with sharp teeth as foul air filled the Upraised Light abbot’s mouth.
A wisdom king descended from above, lopping off the Demon King beast’s giant head, which rolled over to the Upraised Light abbot. The Skeleton Demon stood on it like a ball and could not bother with cackling anymore. It finally stopped and gazed at the Upraised Light abbot, spitting a stream of Samādhi Flames of White Bone at him.
The Upraised Light abbot dismissed the wisdom king. He neither dodged nor blocked. His gaze was determined. The pale-white flames filled his face. Right when they were about to reach his eyebrows, it formed sixteen words in the air.
“Form itself is emptiness, and emptiness itself is this form. Form is no other than emptiness, and emptiness is no other than form.”
“The Heart sutra!?” The Upraised Light abbot was stunned, but all he saw was that the Skeleton Demon had already bounded away. The sound of bells vanished into the distance, replaced by chaos.
The Upraised Light abbot furrowed his brows as he sank deeply into his thoughts. The wisdom king watched over him, constantly killing the demonfolk.
In the half-dry riverbed, a set of white bones were buried in the sand.
This novel is available on Hosted Novel.
Xiao An thought, I’ll fool this monk for now, just in case he causes trouble. If I burn these mortals, Qingshan definitely won’t be happy. It was not easy to distinguish between mortals and demonfolk, but she did not want to make him feel bad unless she had no other choice.
With a Skeleton Demon serving as an eye, she carefully controlled the Samādhi Flames of White Bone, gathering at times and dispersing at others, sometimes rising and sometimes falling.
When they gathered, they were like blooming white lotuses, swallowing relatively stronger existences like Demon Generals and Demon Commanders. When they dispersed, they were like petals drifting through the air, landing on countless demonfolk.
When they rose into the air, they were like pale-white hands, grabbing the demonic beasts in the sky. When they fell, they sank deeply into the mud, seeping into like water, and even setting the bones buried deep beneath the battlefield alight.
She constantly paid attention to Li Qingshan’s situation as well.
With a thunk, brains splattered everywhere. “Taowu” used his full strength and crushed Li Qingshan’s head.
Tu Wancheng said viciously, “Let’s see how you survive that!”
“Taowu” laughed at the sky. His voice reverberated through the surroundings.
“Qingshan!” Xiao An sat up.
The expressions of the direct disciples all changed. He had staged such a powerful return, yet he still did not stand a chance against the weakened “Taowu.”
The headless Li Qingshan landed a punch on “Taowu’s” face, smashing apart his smile.
Li Qingshan did not die. Strand by strand and fragment by fragment, his shattered head reassembled. Not a single droplet of blood was spilt, and not a single strand of hair was lost.
Tu Wancheng’s laughter froze.
The Blade Spirit of Frenzy Flower laughed. “You fool, don’t you know what the undying body of asura is?”
Under the blessings of the blood-red swirl, Li Qingshan had almost become a true Asura Sovereign. The so-called “undying body of asura” was not limited to revival from death. It was truly an undying body. Let alone having a head smashed in, even if the entire body was smashed in, it could reassemble instantly.
Only the depletion of power remained an issue. After complete exhaustion, it was still possible to die. However, there was the endless earth right beneath his feet, as well as the ox demon’s ability, the Strength of the Earth.
With the two combined, it became a true body of undying.
It was as if the Asura realm was trying to express good will. Come, have a taster first. The Asura realm is where you truly belong.
Li Qingshan laughed. “You can’t kill me! You can die now!” He threw his head against “Taowu’s” body. With a crack, his skull shattered, but he was unconcerned.
He had used the Ox Demon Butts its Horns far too often. Only the Tiger Demon Digs out the Heart came close. Even without horns, he was not afraid. He could still butt people with his head, and he could even pour in more power of tremors!
“Taowu” reeled backwards. The infuriated Tu Wancheng unleashed a maddened series of attacks at Li Qingshan. “I’m going to butcher you! Butcher you!”
Under the storm-like barrage, Li Qingshan’s head was ruptured again. His body collapsed bit by bit, basically reduced to mince meat. “Taowu’s” lone eye shone with demonic light, splitting him in half.
“Hahahaha!”
The two halves of Li Qingshan’s mouth laughed away at the same time. He downright abandoned all defence and fought back madly, swinging the frenzied blade around, landing a “Myriad Flowers” on “Taowu”.
The wind from the swings flew violently, scarlet like surging flames. Most of the time, he was a monster without a complete figure, and the mad laughter he produced did not resemble the sound that a human could let out either. Instead, it seemed like it originated from the blood-red swirl in the sky, constantly shaking “Taowu’s” proud, brutal spirit.
Xiao An laid back down peacefully again.
Everyone was stunned by the sight. Wan Jianfeng thought, My sword probably can’t cut down someone like that. Then he asked Dai Mengfan, “Senior sister, should we lend a hand?”
Dai Mengfan sighed. “This is no longer something we can interfere in. Let’s keep our distance!” Seeing this, it was only a matter of time before Li Qingshan overwhelmed “Taowu”. If they went up to help out, not only would they fail to provide any help, but they would be dragged down to their deaths instead. It was not worth it at all.
The battlefield on the ground was like a raging fire. The morale of the soldiers climbed, constantly advancing. The flood of metal was unstoppable, no longer requiring their assistance.
They all eased up and smiled in relief. Sure enough, the Spirit Reverend of Ocean Returnance was still far-sighted. It was all thanks to him, or even if half of everyone here died, they could not necessarily achieve victory- no, it would still be certain defeat.
“It’s the will of the heavens! The will of the heavens!” Le Tian was reinvigorated. His grey hair turned black, and all of his wrinkles vanished. “Senior and junior brothers, are you convinced with your defeat now? You don’t even need to wait thirty years. Once this battle ends, he’s a direct disciple. He might even become the first senior brother!”
Ke Xin praised as well, “Sister Yaozhu truly has sharp eyes!” Someone like that could not be measured up to just with the measly realm of Human Sovereigns. Even the previous first senior brother Lin came nowhere close. If she could become his cultivation partner, she would be willing to marry him.
They had already reached the final moments of the battle. The terrifying shadow seemed to be dispersing.
But at the same time, the Demon Sovereigns all became startled when they heard what Ying Zhe said.
The Twelve Citadel Demon Formation of the Ominous could construct an embodiment of a Demon God through the totem poles. Although the construct possessed the spirit and will of the Demon God, it lacked self-consciousness. It had to be controlled by a Demon Sovereign.
With Tu Wancheng’s strength, it was actually extremely difficult and forced for him to wield such tremendous power. The troops led by every single Demon Sovereign or Human Sovereign were basically around five hundred thousand in number. That was the limit.
As a result, despite the tremendous power that “Taowu” possessed, it had only demonstrated a total of three moves so far, a slap, a stomp, and a glare. It was even simpler and more brainless than a fight between regular people. It had not even unleashed a third of its battle prowess.
When Ying Zhe said they would summon a true Demon God, that obviously was not a Demon God in person, but summoning the consciousness of a Demon God and pouring it into the embodiment. Immediately, it would erupt with a hundred and twenty percent of battle prowess or even more than that. After all, “mortals” like them could not imagine the methods of true gods.
However, even Demon Sovereigns like them did not wish to see a situation like that. First of all, the Demon God might not necessarily answer the summoning. They were not common servants that obeyed their beck and call. There were countless important matters that required their consideration and management. A “local war” like this might not even be worth them splitting their attention. The price for the victory of a battle in a corner of the chessboard might be a disadvantaged position across the entire board.
Secondly, even if the Demon God answered the summoning, they had to have sacrifices. That would be a Demon Sovereign, so Tu Wancheng, who was currently inside “Taowu”. The twelve Demon Gods were all temperamental as well. The consequences of disturbing them without any good reason might not be something they could bear.
The Demon Sovereigns exchanged glances and thought, This old guy has been planning to summon the consciousness of the Demon God right from the beginning, offering up Tu Wancheng as a sacrifice. Isn’t he afraid the Demon God will direct his wrath towards him? He really is from the Hundun lineage after all! No matter how prudent and far-sighted he seems on the surface, he is still a madman at the core.
“You’re completely right, fellow Ying Zhe. Tu Wancheng is a piece of trash. We should have sacrificed him a long time ago.”
Ying Zhe said, “If that’s the case, let’s begin! Everything comes down to this!”
“Everything comes down to this.”
The core to the Twelve Citadel Demon Formation of the Ominous began to flicker.
Tu Wancheng shivered inside, like he was facing his doom. Suddenly, he looked back. “Ying Zhe, you old dog, don’t you…”
A consciousness descended from above and pierced his sea of consciousness, destroying all of his will.
