An invasion from the Abyss? I, a demonic cultivator, laughed.

Chapter 228 Buddha or Demon?

As one hideous ghost after another appeared in the town, the crowd immediately screamed in terror!
"Hungry ghosts! Hungry ghosts have entered the city!"

The old man, unwilling to leave, trembled, his face filled with fear.

Chu Xiu wasn't going to tolerate them. He immediately used a binding spell to tie all the residents together, along with their luggage.

Occasionally, a few older men were so frightened that they had heart attacks. A surge of life energy was sent to them, which easily saved their lives. A fierce ghost, like a packing of goods, tied several old men together, then carried them on its shoulder and ran away into the distance.

In fact, Chu Xiu only brought some food with him; he threw away everything else. Anyway, resources were scarce here, and once they got to the Corpse Demon World, they would have everything they needed.

On the other side, Liang Zhan was completely dumbfounded as he looked at the crowd that was almost crying with fear.

That's way too simplistic and crude!

However, he soon realized that it wasn't that Chu Xiu hadn't considered things thoroughly, but rather that the other party had entrusted him with the task of appeasing the people.

Knowing the situation, Liang Zhan gathered his inner energy and leaped a few times to the top of a tall tower. He then shouted down, "Don't panic! These beings are all Dharma protectors of the Buddha! They've come to help us evacuate!"

Liang Zhan unleashed his inner strength with this roar, and the sound clearly reached everyone's ears, containing a special calming effect.

The terrified crowd stopped fleeing, and the soldiers guarding the city paused slightly as they pulled the trigger.

After being reminded by Liang Zhan's roar, they gradually recovered from their fear. Once their consciousness was governed by reason, they quickly realized that these monsters had not harmed them. Instead, they helped them pack their belongings and transport the elderly and children with mobility issues.

Although the methods were somewhat crude, they were indeed helping them.

This caused everyone's expressions to become strange.

Are there really such ugly Dharma protectors?
Aren't the legendary guardian deities all as majestic and solemn as those in temples?

"Mom, this guardian is so scary!"

A child nestled in his mother's arms and whispered.

The mother nodded subconsciously, as she thought so too. But then, she saw several "monsters" dragging out several monks with broken legs from the Buddhist temple.

She recognized these people; they were all Buddhist monks who had previously opposed the evacuation.

The mother was startled and slapped her child on the head.

"Shut up! You are not allowed to disrespect the Dharma Protector!"

"Without such a majestic appearance, how can one scare away hungry ghosts?"

The child glanced at his mother with a wronged expression and obediently shut his mouth.

Similar scenes were playing out in various corners of the city.

After the initial panic, people quickly accepted the reality.

There are more of these monsters than people. Even if each one were to target one person, there would still be thousands left over. And there's a guy who calls himself Buddha sitting above them. Who would dare to have any thoughts of resistance?

For those with extremely firm beliefs, the solution is simple: just break their limbs and drag them away.

Chu Xiu only needed to bring these people back to the Corpse Demon World alive; he didn't care what happened afterward.

In this way, the speed of the residents' evacuation was more than ten times faster. In less than a quarter of an hour, almost all of them had left the guarded city.

With the ghosts moving at high speed, they arrived at the main city in another quarter of an hour.

The vast array of ghosts, like a great army, surrounded the edge of the city wall, waiting for the guards to open the city gate.

However, Chu Xiu, sitting on the cloud, frowned slightly.

At this moment, a layer of hazy spiritual light, like an inverted dome, enveloped the entire main city. The soldiers on the city walls had all their weapons loaded, including heavy cannons, large artillery pieces, and ballistae, all aimed at the residents below.

"It's so fast."

Although Chu Xiu had anticipated this, he still couldn't help but marvel at the stability of Buddhism's rule in this world.

"Fellow citizens, do not be misled by evil Buddhas!"

A Buddhist elder stood atop the city gate, his body radiating brilliant golden light, and shouted loudly.

"The monster in the sky wasn't a Buddha at all, but a wicked Buddha disguised as a hungry ghost!"

"His goal is to use you to force us to open the city gates and breach the main city's defenses!"

"The traitor Liang Zhan has already been bewitched and assimilated by the hungry ghosts during the long war with them!"

"I hereby convey the holy monk's decree to all citizens. I urge you to take up your weapons and join me in thwarting the evil Buddha's conspiracy! Even if you perish in battle, you will receive the Buddha's protection and be reborn in the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss!"

"But if one remains stubbornly unrepentant, one will surely be entangled by evil thoughts and fall into the eighteenth level of hell!"

The Buddhist elder's words rang out loudly, causing the tens of thousands of people below to look at each other in bewilderment, their hearts beginning to waver once again.

Indeed, Chu Xiu's attire was far removed from their impression of the Buddha, and these so-called Buddha protectors were more like hungry ghosts than protectors!

Some with firm convictions immediately realized what was happening and shouted, "I knew it! You demons, you dare to try and bewitch me!"

Without hesitation, he pulled out a dagger from his pocket and slashed at the ghost beside him!

Although this crude iron tool could not cause any harm to the ghosts, it did cause some disturbance, and even made many soldiers waver!
Seeing this, Liang Zhan couldn't help but show anxiety. He stood in the army and shouted loudly to stabilize the morale of the troops. However, the Buddhist sect's prestige was too great, and the idea that Buddhist words were the law and true words was deeply rooted. The Buddhist elder said that Liang Zhan was a traitor. The more anxious he was to maintain order, the more unrest his men became!

This scene brought a faint smile to the face of the Buddhist elder on the city wall.

The masses are always easy to fool, but believers are even easier to fool than the masses.

However, Chu Xiu in the sky was not worried at all about the commotion below. Instead, he shook his head speechlessly.

"boring."

As the two simple words fell, Chu Xiu's figure seemed to teleport, directly crossing a distance of hundreds of meters and appearing above the main city!

He stared at the massive array that covered the entire city and unleashed a punch without any fancy moves!
The next instant, the protective array, which was over 10,000 meters in diameter and composed of hundreds of thousands of energy relics and thousands of Buddhist disciples, shattered with a deafening roar!

"boom!"

A deafening roar resounded in the field, almost shattering the eardrums of those present. The shockwave from the explosion sent people on the ground flying and overturning!

When they looked up, the city's protective formation had already been breached! Fragments of shattered spiritual energy fell like snowflakes.

"This"

Everyone was stunned.

At this moment, Chu Xiu's calm voice rang in everyone's ears.

"I am invincible, why would I need to lie?"

Dead silence.

A deathly silence fell over the vast space, broken only by the cries of livestock. Even the Buddhist elder who had spoken earlier stared wide-eyed at Chu Xiu in the air, speechless.

Chu Xiu ignored the others, simply waving the Thousand Soul Banner to collect the ghosts, then urging the Flying Corpse to fly towards the pagoda.

He didn't worry that his departure would cause the people to rebel again.

What good is unwavering faith?
Strength is everything!
Even if a being can defeat a Buddha, he is still a sacred, supreme being, and worshipped by all!
A Buddha who cannot defeat a demon is called a false god of the old era!
Even if there are a few die-hards, Liang Zhan is more than capable of suppressing them.

What he needs to do now is to find out the strange being in the pagoda, beat it up until it is willing to confess everything!
Soon, at supersonic speed, he arrived above the pagoda.

At this moment, the towering pagoda, reaching a height of 100 meters, was radiating brilliant Buddhist light, and all the Buddhist creatures bathed in this light were greatly enhanced!

"Roar!"

As a series of roars rang out, one enormous figure after another shot into the sky!
The Eighteen Arhats! The Four Heavenly Kings!
"This pagoda is quite interesting; it can simultaneously increase strength, defense, vitality, and energy replenishment."

"It can be said that it has been strengthened in all aspects."

"Although the enhancement effect isn't particularly significant, it's still a [Legendary] item at least."

"Unfortunately, this item is not digitized, so I can't take it with me."

Chu Xiu shook his head with some regret. The next moment, the Blood Demon Avatar appeared behind him, and hundreds of bright red tentacles descended from the sky like divine punishment from the gods!

"Chuck! Chuck! Chuck!"

In an instant, all eighteen Arhats and four Vajra warriors were pierced and pinned to the spot!
Although these Buddhist creations are powerful, they are not as strengthened as the Eight Legions through the abyss. In the face of the Blood Demon incarnation, which far surpasses the average King rank, they are as fragile as clay!
The central pagoda was also mostly destroyed.

Destroy the Buddhist artifact, mission contribution +43.

Destroy the Buddhist artifact, mission contribution +108.

Destroy the pagoda, mission contribution +976.

[Items obtained: 18 Arhat statues, 4 Vajra statues]

[Item Obtained: Heavenly Dragon Tower (Legendary)]

"what?"

To Chu Xiu's surprise, destroying these creations also earned him mission contribution points and even dropped extra items!

The effect of those statues is simple: to summon these Arhats and Vajras in the form of puppets, similar to the [Young Titan] that Chu Xiu encountered when he was eliminating the calamity, which was used by the rich second-generation youth to save his life. They are [puppet creations] whose strength is not affected by the user.

Although they are of little use to Chu Xiu, these statues are quite powerful and could fetch a very good price. Many powerful families would be vying for them to protect their clansmen who are not yet fully grown.

The Heavenly Dragon Tower, on the other hand, is a legendary King-level structure with effects similar to Buddhist towers, capable of comprehensively enhancing the attributes of allies within its range.

This made Chu Xiu sigh. The drop rate of the Old Trials was ridiculously high. He had just casually obtained another legendary item, and it was even a King-level one.

Just as Chu Xiu was sighing, thick black smoke suddenly rose from the broken pagoda below!
"Is it finally here?"

Chu Xiu glanced down and saw the black smoke rising rapidly and transforming into hideous hungry ghosts in the air!
This time, the number of hungry ghosts is far greater than last time! Clearly, the strange being below has also realized Chu Xiu's strength and is getting serious.

but.
Sorry, I just needed to use the restroom!
Chu Xiu merely glanced down at them, and the hungry ghosts in the thick smoke suddenly stopped, their bodies bursting into golden flames!
The hungry ghosts formed from the thick smoke didn't even last a moment before they were burned to ashes!
【Burning Blood Golden Eyes】!
It must be said that the supernatural power of this strange being is indeed quite troublesome. Ordinary awakened beings, even if their level is higher than that strange being, would find it difficult to deal with. However, in the face of this supernatural power created based on true gods and demons, it is like a mouse encountering a white tiger, completely powerless to resist.

"boom!"

Chu Xiu didn't give the other party time to react. His tall figure descended from the sky, smashing through layers of pagodas, and punched the Buddha statue buried in the pagoda ruins!
"boom!"

The golden body of the Buddha statue shattered without any suspense, revealing a figure sitting cross-legged.

This was a young man with a handsome face, a red mole between his eyebrows, and a golden Dharma wheel floating behind him.

However, at this moment, the Dharma wheel seemed to have been polluted in some way, its golden light dimmed, and it was covered with dark green spots like mold.

The young man was also surrounded by an invisible aura of death, which made his face pale and his skin stiff and dark like that of a dead person.

After the Buddha statue was broken, he opened his eyes, his dark eyes staring silently at Chu Xiu.

Chu Xiu looked down at him and asked calmly, "Are you the reincarnated holy monk they speak of?"

After a moment of silence, the young man replied, "Yes."

After saying that, Chu Xiu smiled.

Sure enough, they became willing to communicate after being defeated.

He looked the young man up and down for a moment and asked, "You should also be one of the Eight Guardians, right? How did you end up looking like this?"

The young man fell silent again, seemingly deep in thought. But less than a second later, Chu Xiu's expression grew impatient. Seeing this, he sighed and, instead of answering Chu Xiu's question, said, "I can tell you everything I know and help you achieve your goal."

"But I have one condition."

"Do you think you're qualified to negotiate?" Chu Xiu sneered disdainfully.

"I'm worthy."

The young man nodded seriously: "If you want to know how to leave this place, I might as well tell you. Only the Heavenly Dragon can lead the residents of this place away, and the Heavenly Dragon is under my control."

"You guessed right, I am the Celestial Being, ranked first among the Eight Legions, and my ability is to control the other Legions."

The young man's words made Chu Xiu look thoughtful.

Just as he had guessed, the young man was indeed the legendary Celestial Being, and his ability was to control the other tribesmen. No wonder the other tribesmen became confused and ran into Paradise Lost after gaining power.

The only dragon left in the city became a tool for transporting supplies and replenishing energy.

However, this control is likely limited and cannot be completely achieved.

This is why the Celestial didn't keep the other followers by his side, but instead banished them to the Lost Paradise. This was most likely to maintain the stability of his rule, fearing that these beings with extraordinary power might cause some trouble.

At the same time, their hunting of hungry ghosts in Paradise Lost can also reduce the defensive pressure on the front lines.

and
Chu Xiu glanced at the young man, whose condition was clearly off, and made another guess in his mind.

I fear the abyss's influence on the Celestials will be completely different from its influence on the other tribes.

It strengthens the power of other tribes, but it is a kind of pollution to the celestial beings!

This is why those followers gradually regained their senses a few months ago; it is highly likely that some change occurred in the Celestial Being, rendering him unable to maintain control over the other followers.

As if seeing through his thoughts, the young man said leisurely:

"You're right, the abyss is not a blessing to me, but a disaster."

"My current state is known in mythology as the 'Five Signs of Decay'."

(End of this chapter)