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

Chapter 231 Fighting
"What is this?" Chu Xiu's pupils suddenly contracted.

In his line of sight, just now, an invisible tentacle extended from Tianlong's body and connected to the resident. Immediately, the two established some kind of connection, quickly bringing the person to Tianlong's side!

"Is this the divine power of the Heavenly Dragon? Besides its extremely vast energy storage, it can also grant power to its followers!"

Ordinary people cannot use the power of the Heavenly Dragon, but as long as they have the thought of "wanting to go to the Heavenly Dragon's side", the strange golden light can grant them the power to complete their task!
"Tianlong, in mythology, is a deity who grants the wishes of ordinary people."

"Is this its supernatural power?"

A cold glint flashed in Chu Xiu's eyes.

In this way, the last obstacle to the other side's plan was overcome.

Chu Xiu watched coldly as one of his vengeful spirits tried to stop the person enveloped in golden light, only to be smashed into dust!
Seeing this, Chu Xiu snorted coldly, and four refining corpses rushed out from behind him!

The iron armor on the Ironclad Corpse multiplied rapidly, forming a huge shield in front of it, while the three Poison Claw Corpses lurked behind it, ready to launch a sneak attack at any moment!
Although the combat power of these four refining corpses is somewhat unable to keep up with Chu Xiu's current combat intensity, it does not mean that they are weak.

The Iron-Clad Corpse could block Li Zhan's slashes, but even a tiny bit of the Poison Claw Corpse was enough to melt a King-level opponent!

Although they are only general-level corpse refiners, in some aspects they are comparable to high-level kings!
Chu Xiu's idea was simple: since he couldn't stop you, why not just kill your main body?
While he may have lost his Blood Demon incarnation, it's impossible for him to be in perfect condition after destroying the barrier of the paradise and exerting such a strong energy output!

Of course, Chu Xiu only sent these four refined corpses as a test.

He has other, even more powerful methods up his sleeve.

However, to his surprise, the four corpses fell without any obstruction!

"clang!"

The Poison Claw Corpse's long claws gripped the Heavenly Dragon's skin, but with a flash of golden light, the Poison Claw Corpse was thrown far away.

Chu Xiu's gaze sharpened slightly.

Next, he manipulated four mutated corpses to launch numerous attacks, and in the end, he even summoned the entire ghost army!

However, when faced with the siege of tens of thousands of ghosts, the golden light protected the Heavenly Dragon completely. It simply lay there calmly like a giant guardian deity, neither attacking nor getting angry, but as steady as Mount Tai. The ghosts' bites were as ineffective as ants biting an elephant.

"Tsk."

Chu Xiu clicked his tongue lightly, having figured out the key point.

"This celestial dragon's power is unbelievably strong, just like an earth dragon's physique exceeding 20,000, far stronger than Mahoraga's original form!"

"Furthermore, as a deity as ancient as the Celestials, having existed for so many years, it must have accumulated power far exceeding that of its other subjects!"

"However, it may have some problems with controlling power. Like a strictly programmed robot, it can only use 'power' if certain conditions are met."

This is actually a very reasonable guess. In fact, Chu Xiu had this idea even before he met Tianlong.

Otherwise, how could a living person travel back and forth between this place and space day after day for seven hundred years? And how could there be no sign of resistance after the abyss descended, when all the other members had awakened their own will?
If he guessed correctly, this celestial dragon had completely lost its own will.

"From the current perspective, although the Celestials harbor extreme resentment towards me, they ultimately still want to live. As long as they can maintain their rule, it's not a big deal for them to abandon their hatred and become cowards, just like they have done in the past."

"Even after the fusion, he certainly wouldn't be able to fully control the power of the Heavenly Dragon, so he used this method to leave after collecting a sufficient number of residents."

"With a time limit of twelve hours, I'm afraid he'll need another twelve hours to 'restart' Tianlong and fly deeper into Peach Blossom Spring."

Even after figuring out the key point, Chu Xiu's brows furrowed even more deeply.

The Heavenly Dragon's enormous size meant its physical defenses were already incredibly strong. Back when it fought the Earth Dragon, Chu Xiu's True Demon Blade of Judgment only left a wound; it didn't even sever the bones.

The Heavenly Dragon's defense and vitality will only become stronger!
Below the level of a fierce ghost, it probably wouldn't even be able to gnaw off a tiny bit of skin! Even a fierce ghost would at most leave some minor wounds that are completely insignificant for a dragon of Tianlong's size.

Therefore, although the ghost army seemed to be very powerful, Tianlong only needed to guard against attacks from ghost generals and above. In this case, Chu Xiu's side actually suffered more losses!
The ghost army was unable to inflict any effective damage, and Chu Xiu's golden embryo essence was too depleted to be recovered in a short time.

Even worse...
Chu Xiu looked at the crowd he was protecting.

If a direct assault proves ineffective and a battle of wits to retrieve the player becomes necessary, then his earlier attack was undoubtedly a major setback.
Sure enough, whispers arose from the crowd.

"Did you just see that? The person who wanted to leave was protected by the Buddha's golden light and successfully arrived beside the dragon!"

"That's right! Those hideous demons tried to stop us, but they were smashed into dust!"

"Look, everyone! The demon has launched an attack in a fit of rage, but it hasn't managed to damage the dragon at all!"

"But why doesn't the dragon retaliate?"

"Are you stupid! Didn't the holy monk say that these are all tests for us? If the dragon could kill the demons in one go, how could it be a test? I reckon that once everyone has made their choices, the dragon will unleash its divine power to destroy the demons!"

"Yes!"

There was much discussion among the crowd, and most people were filled with doubt and unease.

Of course, some people support Chu Xiu because, judging from the current situation, it was Chu Xiu who saved them from the successive disasters, not that ethereal Buddha!

But that's how religion is; it doesn't need explanation or questioning. A simple phrase like "Buddha's test" can answer all doubts.

This is the terrifying aspect of religion: through a double-binding model, it gradually instills in people the habitual mindset that they will unconditionally obey even the most outrageous commands without thinking.

The specific manipulation involves giving an instruction with two options, but regardless of which option is chosen, negative feedback is given. Over time, the person being suppressed will go from doubting themselves to losing themselves, and then to unconditionally obeying orders.

This is a common method used in training animals, but it is also effective for humans.

Under prolonged Buddhist indoctrination, many residents began to waver, and some "clever" people incited others to leave while they themselves remained silent.

In this situation, as time went on, the number of wavering people did not decrease, but instead increased!
Within minutes, thousands of people had left!

"Damn it, these fools!"

Even Chu Xiu couldn't help but feel a surge of irritation. If it weren't for the trial requirements, would he care whether these people lived or died? He wouldn't even blink an eye if he killed them all!
Of course, this emotion only rose for a moment before Chu Xiu suppressed it.

Emotions do not help in completing the trial.

He took a deep breath to calm himself, and then, in a flash, appeared beside Liang Zhan. At this moment, Liang Zhan was trying his best to persuade the residents who wanted to leave, but because his identity had been labeled by the Celestials as an accomplice who had been bewitched by evil spirits, his persuasion sometimes had the opposite effect among the people who had been brainwashed by Buddhism for a long time.

"Sir, what should we do now?"

Upon seeing Chu Xiu appear, Liang Zhan wiped the sweat from his forehead and asked anxiously.

"Keep trying to persuade them; we've reached the final stage."

"I can't help you with this. Given my current status, anything I say will only arouse suspicion."

"In other words, how many people can be saved depends on you, General Liang."

As Chu Xiu finished speaking, Liang Zhan's expression became even more solemn, and he clearly realized the burden he was carrying.

"And what about you, sir?" he asked.

Chu Xiu looked up and pointed to the sky: "I need to find a way to safely send those who trust us back."

After calming down, Chu Xiu realized that even if no one was bewitched, he still faced the problem of how to send these 20,000 people back to the Corpse Demon World.

So now, he no longer has time to worry about whether people believe him. He can only leave that to Liang Zhan. He needs to solve the problem of how to return to the Corpse Demon World first!
Fortunately, Chu Xiu already had a plan.

With a wave of his hand, the massive body of the earth dragon descended from the sky!

"boom!"

As the enormous object crashed into the ground, a cloud of dust rose up in the air!
This caused another gasp from the residents.

However, the appearance of the earth dragon did not win back any points for Chu Xiu in everyone's hearts; on the contrary, it had the opposite effect.

The reason is simple: the earth dragon is much smaller than the heavenly dragon, and because it is a resurrected corpse, its body is covered with rotten flesh and blood. Even after a long time, you can smell a foul stench. Compared with the golden heavenly dragon, it is simply worlds apart.

This made the bitterness on Liang Zhan's face even more pronounced.

But Chu Xiu had no time to worry about it. He pointed his finger, and the unused life energy stored in the spirit flesh storage pouch began to flow into the earth dragon's body.

Not only that, Chu Xiu waved his hand, and dozens of drops of blood flew to the side of the earth dragon, instantly exploding into pure life energy!

This blood was something he had previously exchanged from the Blood Pool to quickly improve the completion rate of the Sky-Connecting Blood Vine. Each drop of blood contained abundant life energy and was extremely valuable.

He had no time to conserve his energy, so he sent it all into the earth dragon's body and then activated [Perfect Refinement].

He wants to use his massive life force to maximize the integrity of the earth dragon, so that it can perform a similar transport function as the heavenly dragon!

Fortunately, when Chu Xiu dealt with this monster, he killed Mahoraga, who was symbiotic with it, thus preserving its body in good condition.

At this point, all that's needed is to repair and restart the dead cells and nerves.

With the influx of massive amounts of life force, the earth dragon's strength attribute increased at an astonishing rate! Its once dull and decaying flesh and blood also regained their luster!

"Because of gravity, the air here does not dissipate quickly, and oxygen is continuously replenished from the depths."

Although Chu Xiu didn't know the complex physical diffusion equations, he could roughly estimate that it would take at least a day for the oxygen concentration here to drop to a level where ordinary people could not survive.

"There's enough time!"

With this in mind, Chu Xiu devoted himself entirely to refining the earth dragon.

Meanwhile, Liang Zhan also began to persuade the others.

"Gentlemen! Don't rush to make a decision! I, Liang Zhan, have something to say. I hope you will listen to me patiently, considering my twenty years of guarding the front line!" Liang Zhan said sincerely.

But clearly, no one bought his words.

“General Liang, you have protected us for many years and we are very grateful, but the holy monk says that you have been bewitched by evil spirits! How can we trust you?”

"Yes, who knows if you deliberately let the evil spirits in?"

"General, let's keep things separate. You've been guarding the front lines, and you're not without a salary. Bringing this up now seems a bit suspicious, doesn't it?"

Hearing the continuous questioning from below, Liang Zhan's expression turned somewhat ugly. After pondering for a while, he stopped talking and asked the Buddhist supervisor to bring out the recording device and start playing the footage of Chu Xiu fighting with a group of hungry ghosts.

Soon, the image was projected into the sky and, with the help of several Buddhist elders, expanded so that everyone in the room could see it clearly.

Initially, the people only heard about how Chu Xiu saved them from the soldiers on the front lines, and they didn't really believe it. Many even suspected that Chu Xiu was staging the whole thing.

But when they saw the dense, boundless army of hungry ghosts, like ocean waves, the scene immediately fell silent.

The scene of countless hungry ghosts roaring and swooping in is something that cannot be imagined by mere description!

When the camera panned to the two thousand high-ranking hungry ghosts that filled the sky, everyone gasped in shock.

Although they have never been to the front lines, it does not mean they are unaware of the terror of the superior hungry ghosts!
In the stories passed down by word of mouth, in the accounts of soldiers on the front lines, and in the records of ancient texts, the highest-ranking hungry ghosts are the strongest demons, comparable to Buddhist elders!

At this moment, such powerful beings could be counted in the thousands!
This completely overturned everyone's worldview!

When Chu Xiu charged into the horde of hungry ghosts and began his rampage, the scene fell silent. Everyone stared wide-eyed, watching the footage playing in the air with bated breath.

The Buddhist elders were like gods in their hearts, but Chu Xiu's strength far surpassed that of the Buddhist elders by hundreds or thousands of times!
Who else but the Buddha could possess such power? If they were truly evil demons, how could they have survived until now?
Liang Zhan's voice rang out again: "Everyone, I don't want to use my position to persuade you to make any decisions. I only implore you to put aside your blind faith in Buddhism and think rationally."

"I can guarantee with my twenty years of military service that such a massive tide of hungry ghosts cannot be stopped by any defense line. The three thousand soldiers on the front line cannot stop it, nor can the Dharma protectors in Buddhism!"

"If what's truly before you is a demon, you could simply lead a horde of hungry ghosts to attack. Why go through all this trouble putting on an act?"

"I want to ask you all, who has repeatedly saved us from life-or-death crises? And who disregarded our lives and manipulated the dragon to trigger natural disasters?"

"Without the Buddha's protection, everyone present would have been turned into minced meat under the boulder by now!"

"Can all of this be simply dismissed with a mere 'test'?"

(End of this chapter)