Yu Ling God marvelled aloud, sighing inwardly. Though her cultivation far surpassed Zhang Ruochen’s, when it came to sensing auras and piercing through illusions, she was far inferior.
Even ancient gods like Xue Li and Great God Mo Fei could not escape his pursuit.
The Blood Inscription Banner could not block his eyes.
And these abilities were merely the tip of the iceberg of his accomplishments.
She could scarcely imagine how powerful he would become upon reaching the Grand Void Realm.
Through the Mirror of Truth, they could see that the divine battle had ended.
“My Buddha is undying; Hell must be emptied.”
Ancient Buddha Pu Tuo let out low roars of sorrow and fury, but he was firmly suppressed by the ghost city and the altar. His divine realm world lay shattered, his golden body covered in bloody wounds from which Buddhist blood poured like waterfalls.
His aura gradually weakened.
Xue Li stood atop the gate of the ghost city, holding an island in his palm, triumphant and wild with joy in his eyes.
Sacred medicines grew in patches across the island, many of them Yuanhui-level, each one a rare treasure.
Yet compared to the divine medicine shrouded in boundless purple qi, those sacred medicines meant little to a Grand Void great god.
“Haha! I had intended to devour your Buddhist soul to heal my wounds, but I gained an unexpected harvest instead. With this Purple Zhi Orchid, my injuries will surely heal quickly, and I may even break through to peak Grand Void in one leap.” Xue Li was in raptures, already picturing himself at the pinnacle of Grand Void.
Great God Mo Fei laughed heartily. “Mu Tuo, Bei Shi, Old Fifth of Tiannan — they went to seize the Giant Spirit Divine Temple and must be locked in bitter combat with little to gain. How could they compare to us, obtaining such riches so easily?”
Xue Li glanced at Great God Mo Fei and said, “With my strength alone, holding Pu Tuo would have been nigh impossible. It is thanks to your assistance. Since we have the island, his divine soul is yours.”
Great God Mo Fei’s spirits soared. Excited laughter issued from the skull’s mouth. “Then this god will not stand on ceremony!”
To the Ghost Clan, refining the divine soul of a great god of the same realm was worth far more than ten thousand years of secluded bitter cultivation. It would greatly shorten the time needed for Great God Mo Fei to break into mid-Grand Void.
Was this not why Huang Tian said time was not the only shortcut to cultivation?
Plunder in war — was that not also a swift path to greater strength?
The Hell Realm had launched this war precisely to raise their power to its absolute peak in the shortest possible time. War itself was a process that weeded out the weak and tempered the strong.
Zhang Ruochen said, “You brought the Yasha Ancestral Divine Temple, yes? Are you confident you can slay Xue Li?”
Zhang Ruochen’s audacity stunned Yu Ling God once again.
This was a Grand Void great god of Fengdu Ghost City, a trusted confidant of Ghost Emperor Shendu. And he spoke of killing him so casually?
Yet she had grown accustomed to Zhang Ruochen’s boldness and rather enjoyed the thrill of it. Her eyes sparkled as she smiled. “If Xue Li were at full strength, it would be difficult to say. But he appears gravely injured.”
“He suffered severe damage to his divine soul from the Old Corpse Ghost, and roughly a third of his divine substance was eroded. Even at full strength, he could likely muster no more than seventy per cent.” Zhang Ruochen said.
“Your appearance…” Yu Ling God said.
Zhang Ruochen had already transformed into a Buddhist monk: white monastic robes spotless, youthful and refined, radiating a transcendent Buddhist aura. “When killing a great god of Fengdu Ghost City, it is best to be cautious.”
Great God Mo Fei exhaled billions of yin souls that condensed into a dragon shape and bored into the wounds on Ancient Buddha Pu Tuo’s golden body to devour his divine soul.
Ancient Buddha Pu Tuo chanted scriptures, but the thoughts of his divine soul emitted agonised screams.
Just as Great God Mo Fei laughed cruelly, Xue Li suddenly sensed something and roared, “Which divine being dares spy on us?”
Whoosh!
Blood scripts blazed brighter on the Blood Inscription Banner, which flew backwards and pressed down toward Zhang Ruochen and Yu Ling God.
“Break!”
Zhang Ruochen pointed into the void and uttered a single word. Instantly, before the banner could descend, space for thousands of li around shattered and collapsed into the Void World.
Zhang Ruochen and Yu Ling God shifted away in opposite directions, evading the banner.
Yu Ling God seized the moment perfectly. Like a graceful beam of light, she flashed into the Void World and struck with a palm. A sea of time imprint light appeared in her palm, driving the attacking Xue Li back into the Void World.
“Who are you? Declare yourself!”
Xue Li struck with the ghost city toward Yu Ling God.
From above, Yu Ling God hurled the Yasha Ancestral Divine Temple, smashing the ghost city that Xue Li had condensed from rule divine patterns. Divine arrays unfolded from the base of the ancestral temple, pressing down on Xue Li as he tried to retreat.
“Yu Ling God, how dare you oppose Fengdu Ghost City?” Xue Li recognised the Yasha Ancestral Divine Temple and roared in fury.
“Hehe!”
Yu Ling God naturally felt no fear. In the very first exchange, while Xue Li was unprepared, she had enveloped him within the divine arrays of the Yasha Ancestral Divine Temple.
From this point, she held overwhelming advantage.
No matter how many trump cards he possessed, how could they compare to the Yasha Ancestral Divine Temple?
As long as Zhang Ruochen did not falter on his side, the benefits of slaying two Grand Void great gods today would exceed everything she had accumulated in the past hundred thousand years. Truly a case of fasting for a hundred thousand years, then feasting for a hundred thousand more.
Yu Ling God dragged Xue Li deeper into the Void.
All of this had occurred in a flash of lightning. Great God Mo Fei had no idea what had happened and frantically carried the altar and Ancient Buddha Pu Tuo out of the Void World.
“Amitabha!”
A expanse of golden Buddhist light swept in from the east.
Great God Mo Fei looked closely and saw a radiant golden divine tree carrying an incomparably mighty aura. Waves of Buddhist chants that shook his divine soul issued from the tree.
“The Bodhi Tree! How can it be the legendary Bodhi Tree?”
Great God Mo Fei nearly scattered in terror. This tree had been planted by the Sixth Ancestor and had listened for aeons to the Sixth Ancestor’s scriptures and sermons, absorbing the true resonance of his Great Dao.
“Where do you think you are going? This poor monk shall today cleanse the world of yin and evil.”
Zhang Ruochen wielded the Bodhi Tree and swept again. The rules of heaven and earth were instantly swept away, and the entire starry sky resounded with lingering Buddhist chants.
With this strike, Zhang Ruochen sent the white-bone altar flying.
Ancient Buddha Pu Tuo, suppressed beneath it, was instantly freed.
“Many thanks, Great Master, for saving my life.”
Ancient Buddha Pu Tuo stared at the Bodhi Tree, astonishment flashing in his eyes. He formed seals with his hands, purifying the yin souls that had invaded his body, then pursued, striking with the Great Sun Divine Light Seal.
The seal blazed like a massive, brilliant star and struck Great God Mo Fei heavily.
The Bodhi Tree descended from above, radiating ten thousand rays of Buddhist light and countless Buddhist dao rules like golden divine chains.
“Ah…”
Great God Mo Fei screamed as the Bodhi Tree wounded him. He immediately employed a life-saving secret art and fled far away.
There was nothing else for it. Xue Li had been dragged into the Void World and had not returned, clearly facing a formidable enemy. Now another Grand Void great god wielding the Bodhi Tree had appeared, his cultivation unfathomably deep. Who could withstand this?
Of course he did not know Zhang Ruochen’s true cultivation and could only choose escape.
Zhang Ruochen dared not leave any trace and naturally could not let Great God Mo Fei flee. He intoned deeply, “The Bodhi spans three thousand li, slaying demons and suppressing ghosts.”
The Bodhi Tree suddenly grew, becoming a towering Buddhist root three thousand li high. Urged by Zhang Ruochen’s divine power, its might shook the star domain and struck Great God Mo Fei from afar hundreds of thousands of li away, exploding his ghostly body.
Zhang Ruochen stepped forward with divine strides, catching up in a few steps and suppressing him.
By the time Ancient Buddha Pu Tuo arrived, the battle was over. The Bodhi Tree grew in the void, branches lush and leaves abundant, containing boundless Buddhist essence. Great God Mo Fei was firmly suppressed, reduced to wisps of ghostly qi trapped beneath golden leaves.
Zhang Ruochen stood serene and detached beneath the tree, one sleeve billowing like clouds behind his back, the other hand somehow producing a string of Buddhist beads that he gently turned while chanting, the very image of an enlightened master.
Ancient Buddha Pu Tuo saluted once more. “Many thanks, Great Master, for saving my life. May I ask what connection the Great Master has with the Sixth Ancestor?”
“This poor monk is Yuan Chen. I do indeed have some connection with the Sixth Ancestor — half a successor, perhaps.” Zhang Ruochen spoke lightly, no longer the vajra demon-subduer of moments ago.
A strange light appeared in Ancient Buddha Pu Tuo’s eyes. “May I ask if the Great Master’s dharma name was bestowed by the Sixth Ancestor?”
The name was, of course, entirely fabricated by Zhang Ruochen.
Yet having begun the pretence, he could only continue. Zhang Ruochen merely smiled faintly and said nothing.
Ancient Buddha Pu Tuo hurriedly bowed deeply. “Greetings, Martial Uncle.”
Zhang Ruochen’s smile stiffened. “Ancient Buddha, please, there is no need for such ceremony.”
Ancient Buddha Pu Tuo said, “The Sixth Ancestor took ten disciples in his lifetime, all bearing the generational character Yuan. Only the Sixth Ancestor’s direct disciples may bear the Yuan character. By bestowing upon Martial Uncle the name Yuan Chen, the Sixth Ancestor clearly regarded you as his eleventh direct disciple.”
“This disciple Pu Tuo is under Yuan Yi Ancient Buddha.”
Zhang Ruochen was no longer certain whether he had given himself away or whether Ancient Buddha Pu Tuo was testing him. He said, “This poor monk has not seen the Master for many years. I have been cultivating and preaching in the remote wilderness universe and know little of affairs in the Western Heaven Buddhist Realm.”
Ancient Buddha Pu Tuo replied, “That the Bodhi Tree acknowledges Martial Uncle proves you are the Sixth Ancestor’s chosen successor to his mantle. Your status is incomparably noble.”
Zhang Ruochen relaxed slightly inwardly. It seemed Ancient Buddha Pu Tuo harboured no doubts about his identity.
Ancient Buddha Pu Tuo asked, “The great god who arrived with Martial Uncle — from whence does he hail?”
“A dao friend from the wilderness universe. His cultivation is respectable, but we are not close — mere acquaintances.”
Zhang Ruochen tore open space. His pupils turned golden, radiating the splendour of a Buddha as he peered into the Void World, yet he could not locate Yu Ling God’s aura.
He was not worried for her. Her cultivation already surpassed Xue Li’s, and she had the Yasha Ancestral Divine Temple besides. If she could not subdue him even so, Zhang Ruochen would have to consider whether to cultivate a new great god to manage the Hundred Clans Royal City.
Ancient Buddha Pu Tuo’s brows furrowed deeply; he clearly could not let go of losing Yunya Island.
“All dharmas are empty; only karma is not. The roots of all fortune and misfortune, gain and loss in this world lie in karma.” Zhang Ruochen said.
Ancient Buddha Pu Tuo gave a wry smile. “This disciple was attached to appearances. My Buddhist heart and realm are far inferior to Martial Uncle’s.”
Zhang Ruochen smiled wryly to himself. There was nothing else for it — you lost the divine medicine yourself. Being able to save your life today could be considered a blessing born of misfortune.
Had he not lost the medicine first, Zhang Ruochen would truly have felt awkward seizing it.
Whoosh!
A point of golden light ignited in the boundless dark cosmos, its fluctuations rapidly spreading.
Ancient Buddha Pu Tuo looked over. “This is bad! My martial nephew Jing Xiu is in danger and has sent out a distress Buddhist seal.”
……
As for who Jing Xiu is — he is a relatively minor Buddhist cultivator from the Western Heaven Buddhist Realm who appeared much earlier in the novel (around the time of events in the Kunlun Realm or related Buddhist arcs). He is a disciple under the same lineage as Pu Tuo, specifically Pu Tuo’s martial nephew, and has not been a major focus for a very long time, which is why the question “who still remembers” feels fitting. He is now apparently in peril and signalling for help.
