Mythology

Chapter 476 A soft target? A tough nut to crack!
Lu Dongbin gasped for breath. He had been resisting cultivation all along, his Dao heart filled with the fear of going astray, but his realm was still improving, and he was just around the corner from the third realm of Guixu.

This feeling is extremely uncomfortable; you feel completely powerless.

"Senior, how can this disciple... avoid transforming into... a demon..."

Click.

The crisp sound of the index finger interrupted Lü Dongbin's question. A sharp bone spur pierced through the joint, making the index finger look more like a beast's claw.

Lü Dongbin retreated several steps, his Daoist mind already somewhat out of control.

But having lived for hundreds of years, he quickly calmed down, which in turn led to another improvement in his cultivation level, creating a vicious cycle.

Yang He thought Lü Dongbin would completely collapse, but to his surprise, he managed to stay calm.

"Lü Dongbin, I'll give you two choices."

"I will be in seclusion at Huasheng Temple for a few days. If you follow me in your cultivation, I can guarantee that your demonic possession will not worsen."

Yang He paused for a moment, then said that the only way to eradicate the problem was to eliminate the person behind it.

Even if Lü Dongbin leaves Chang'an, he will probably return for some reason, but his situation will likely be one of being unable to live or die.

"Or I could abolish your cultivation, which would spare your life, but you would have no hope of becoming an immortal in this life. Ultimately, the choice is yours."

Yang He estimated that once Lü Dongbin's cultivation was abolished, there would be new Lü Dongbins like Zhang San and Li Si, and he would not give up until he achieved his goal.

"This disciple does not mind becoming a mortal, but could you postpone this for a few more days?"

Lü Dongbin quickly made a decision: staying by Yang He's side would be pointless even if he survived. He was not afraid of death or becoming a demon; he just wanted something more meaningful.

"Yes, you should be able to retain a trace of your intelligence before you become an immortal."

Yang He stared out of the side hall, a hint of murderous intent rising in his eyes.

Don't think your methods are foolproof, you old schemer. When I, the Daoist, clashed with the Sage, you were still hiding in some nook and cranny.

Since you're treating me like an actor, don't blame me for tearing down the script!
"call."

Lü Dongbin let out a long breath, "Senior, this disciple does not seek to live, but wishes to fight for a chance for the people before I die..."

"Just follow your heart's desire, and leave the rest to me, whether it succeeds or not."

As soon as Yang He finished speaking, Lü Dongbin stopped looking back and took out his knife and slashed hard, causing his mutated index finger to fall to the ground.

The index finger kept twitching, and it even seemed to be turning into a little demon.

Snapped.

Lü Dongbin stomped on it and simply bandaged the wound.

"Senior, I have another request. Are there any immortals or Buddhas hiding in Chang'an?"

Yang He placed his finger on Lü Dongbin's forehead, and Lü Dongbin immediately saw Buddha statues cast from corpses, as well as immortals and gods transformed into mortals.

Lü Dongbin lowered his head, tears streaming down his face.

He recalled the time when he was fifteen and traveled the world with his grandfather, all to save the people. He also remembered the scenes of evil spirits wreaking havoc on the world that he had witnessed in Taiping Dao. He trembled uncontrollably.

Infants were boiled in boiling water, women were disemboweled, men were hung upside down with pieces of flesh hanging from their bellies, and villages became dens of demons...

Lü Dongbin once did not understand why Zhang Jiao wanted to demolish temples and monasteries and why he refused to worship the local earth god. In the end, he died under mysterious circumstances.

They also didn't understand Yang He's mention of causing havoc in the Heavenly Palace. His cultivation had already reached the heavens, yet he offended both the immortals and the Buddhas, and was forced to cultivate in the mortal realm.

Now I understand.

Immortals and Buddhas are different beings; ordinary people will eventually be reduced to livestock.

"The Blue Sky is dead, the Yellow Sky shall be established!"

"Heaven shouldn't be like this, the world shouldn't be like this!!!"

Lu Dongbin was nearly driven mad, no longer resisting his rapidly increasing cultivation. Before turning into a demon, he only wanted to figure out what the immortals and Buddhas were after.

With a thought, Yang He sent a ray of five-colored divine light into Lü Dongbin's Niwan Palace.

The five-colored divine light isolates the soul, allowing Lü Dongbin to hold on a little longer.

He watched Lü Dongbin leave the Dizang Pavilion, his murderous intent intensifying. He summoned the black cat and gently stroked its head, ignoring the spying.

Frustrated?
If this were placed in the Investiture of the Gods, it would definitely be extremely frustrating.

It's different now.

A group of rats, once caught, can be crushed one by one.

"I'd like to see just how powerful your supernatural abilities are."

The five-colored divine light enveloped the corpse, refining it while also signifying Yang He's willingness to enter the game and become the male protagonist of the "Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea" story, namely Han Zhongli.

"It's just acting, right? I'm an expert at that."

Yang He could feel a lot of eyes watching him, but he was too lazy to pay attention. After the five-colored divine light wore away the corpse, a ray of white light was revealed.

The essence of the Nirvana Treasure Light (Nirvana Ghost) is very similar to that of the Five-Colored Divine Light (Five-Colored Ghost).

Both are invisible lights.

The black cat refined the Nirvana Treasure Light into a subordinate divine power, which immediately aroused the resistance of the Nirvana Ghost.

Meow!!!!

Yang He did not interfere. The black cat's Buddha light surged, suppressing the Nirvana Treasure Light, and then it uttered scriptures to directly convert to the spirit of the Nirvana Ghost.

Inside the Ksitigarbha Pavilion, the sound of chanting rose and fell like waves, gradually transforming from initial murmurs into deafening chants.

Yang He did not restrain himself, and the strange phenomena he caused became increasingly obvious.

Five-colored divine light soared into the sky, and yin energy converged towards Huasheng Temple, causing cracks to appear in the ground and the courtyard walls to begin to collapse.

Because Huasheng Temple was not far from the imperial city, a large number of guards were immediately mobilized.

Daming Palace was protected by layers upon layers of security.

Li Shimin, with a large belly, sat on a chair made of Phoebe zhennan wood. Although he was in his prime, his temples were already gray, and his imperial robes had not been changed for three or four days.

He heard the sound of Huasheng Temple and opened his eyes, still half asleep.

"My dear minister, is there any trouble in Chang'an?"

"My dear!"

"Where is my subject?!"

After calling out several times, two novices finally entered the hall.

"emperor!"

The novice monk calmly replied, "Your Majesty, the Tang Dynasty is now in its golden age. Even immortals and Buddhas recognize you as the supreme ruler of the Nine Dragons in Heaven. How could there be any misfortune?"

"Indeed, I am the Supreme Ruler of the Nine Dragons."

Li Shimin continued to sleep soundly. The novice monk moved the desk and found the emperor tightly bound by iron chains.

The commotion at Huasheng Temple escalated, but then abruptly stopped.

The woman flicked her willow branch, and raindrops streaked across the sky, stopping the five-colored divine light from spreading further; the old man, who was the immortal of longevity, tapped the willow tree by the river, and the cracks in the ground healed; the apprentice tidying the counter of the pharmacy lit a candle, and the yin energy returned to calm.

Those mortals who were actually immortals or Buddhas continued their busy work.

Yang He smiled coldly and stopped probing. It was obvious that the immortals and Buddhas had already divided up the cake of Chang'an and certainly didn't want to get their hands on it. Heh, there was even less reason for him to let the immortals and Buddhas have their way.

There's no rush. Whoever rushes will be the first to reveal their weakness.

.........

Meanwhile, in a teahouse in the western part of Chang'an.

The shop was packed with tea drinkers who had come from far and wide to hear the storyteller's tales and cheer loudly.

"Han Zhongli led Lü Dongbin to the edge of a cliff, pointed to the bottomless abyss, and said, 'Jump down, and you will become an immortal.' Lü Dongbin closed his eyes and sighed, 'This disciple is willing to risk his life to seek the Dao!' He then leaped into the air."

The storyteller, over seventy years old, abruptly closed his fan and continued, "Suddenly, he felt a lightness in his body, and five-colored auspicious clouds rose beneath his feet! Han Zhongli revealed his true form, pointed with his whisk: 'This foolish child is teachable!' He immediately imparted immortal techniques to him. From then on, the mortal world lost a scholar named Lü, and the immortal realm gained a sage named Lü Chunyang!"

The audience cheered, and donations poured in.

The storyteller sang loudly: "Ten trials in the mortal world refine the Daoist heart, a touch of pure Yang dispels the fog! To know how Lü Dongbin later reunited with the Seven Immortals, listen to the next chapter where the Eight Immortals attend the Peach Banquet!"

The tea drinkers clamored for him to say more, but the storyteller waved his hands repeatedly.

Squeak.

The teahouse doors opened from the outside in, and the hunchbacked old man slowly walked into the hall. Seemingly no one paid any attention, but the storyteller's eyes suddenly became cloudy.

When the storyteller came to his senses, it was as if he had become a completely different person.

Snapped! !

The gavel struck.

The noise suddenly stopped, and all the tea drinkers remained motionless.

The hunchbacked old man was the incarnation of the Immortal of Longevity. As he walked, he was chewing something in his mouth. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a few ounces of Tang Monk's flesh.

"Cough cough cough, as expected of someone who has attained enlightenment by swallowing the cultivation of nine Ksitigarbha Bodhisattvas, his supernatural ability to manipulate cause and effect is impossible to guard against."

As Shouxian spoke, he sat on a young man's lap.

The young man's bones creaked under the strain, his lifespan drained in a short time, his body withered and emaciated, and soon even his joints solidified, forming a human flesh chair made of mummified material.

"To be precise, there are eight." The storyteller carefully examined the Longevity Immortal.

"There is another Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva whose body was possessed by Yang He. If I cannot refine him, I will never be able to become a complete Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva."

Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva smiled slightly, staring at the Immortal of Longevity with a hint of wariness.

"Shouxian, if I remember correctly, you were once the senior disciple of the Chan Sect, weren't you? What? Are you here to persuade me on behalf of Yang He?"

Shouxian remained silent, stroking his beard as he continued to swallow Tang Sanzang's flesh.

Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva said calmly, "If I were to refine the last Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, I would still be thinking about the position of the Seven Sages of Buddhism. Yang He is destined to be the stepping stone for my sainthood."

“I’m not trying to persuade you.” The Immortal of Longevity grinned, revealing his gleaming white teeth. “The Antarctic Immortal is the Antarctic Immortal, and the Immortal of Longevity is the Immortal of Longevity. They are not comparable. I am also very interested.”

"Hahaha."

Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva stood up. "This humble monk spent a full hundred years plotting against Yang He, and even so, I had to proceed cautiously step by step. Do you, Longevity Immortal, intend to reap the rewards?"

"I think your methods are not enough, far from enough."

Shouxian paused for a few moments and added, "You know how many people are waiting for you to test Yang He. He's the target of everyone's anger."

"It's alright." Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva opened his mouth, and a ghostly eye emerged from his throat.

A faint glint appeared deep within his pupils, reflecting Yang He, who was in seclusion at Huasheng Temple, where the refinement of the Nirvana Treasure Light was nearing its end.

Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva said nonchalantly, "This humble monk is not in his true form in Chang'an. What right does Yang He have to injure me, let alone kill me?"

"What a trick!"

Shouxian stared blankly into his pupils, "If this old Taoist were here, you..."

Snapped!
"see a visitor out!!"

With a strike of the gavel, the teahouse returned to its lively atmosphere.

Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva packed his things and left the teahouse. Seeing this, Shouxian remained silent and his consciousness left the hunchbacked old man's body.

Such scenes were merely a daily occurrence in Chang'an.

Chang'an has become a chessboard for immortals and Buddhas.

Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva walked through the street, keeping an eye on Yang He's every move, while his right arm reached into Yang He's abdomen to manipulate his intestines.

"No, some immortals and Buddhas have already noticed Yang He. We can't test him any further."

"Even if I can't get the position of one of the Seven Sages of Buddhism, I will force Yang He to hand over the last Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva. Otherwise, I will not be able to contain hell for a long time, and my fruition will be difficult to advance further."

His body was filled with yin energy, and in the space formed in his abdomen, his intestines were connected to eight corpses like puppets on strings.

The body is divided into two sides, yin and yang, which were stitched together by the Eight Immortals and the rest of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva.

The corpses of Han Zhongli and Lü Dongbin were headless.

Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva gently touched it, and Lan Caihe's head suddenly disappeared.

There were ten Ksitigarbha Bodhisattvas in total, and each of them was in a different hell realm.

His bias towards cause and effect and reincarnation means that, if he wanted to, the three to four million mortals in Chang'an could indirectly influence the hell realm.

Whether intentionally or unintentionally, a scholar brushed past Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, and the moment the scholar turned his head, the flesh on his face twitched.

In just a few breaths, the scholar's appearance had transformed into Lan Caihe.

"Thanks to the corpses of the Eight Immortals that this humble monk found in the Yellow Springs."

"The Eight Immortals were originally destined to ascend to immortality, but it seems that they died and disappeared because of the Ruins of Return, and their corpses have a special purpose."

Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva stopped and gradually spread the Eight Immortals out.

Then he used the Hell Path technique again, binding Han Zhongli with invisible causal threads.

Yang He has finished his seclusion. The Annihilation Ghost has been successfully absorbed into the black cat's body, and at the same time, it is completely unable to escape the control of the Hell Path.

Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva smiled as he saw Lan Caihe inadvertently passing by Huasheng Temple.

The cause and effect line is tightened.

Lan Caihe, recalling the helplessness of failing the exam, walked into Huasheng Temple in a daze.

Overwhelmed with grief, he stumbled and fell into the well.

"Help...help me!" Lan Caihe regained consciousness and tried to climb out of the well with all her might, then repeatedly called for help.

His gaze fell on Yang He, who had just walked out of the side hall.

"Help me!!!"

Lan Caihe felt utterly exhausted. Yang He's indifference only fueled her deep resentment. Why wouldn't he save me?!

puff.

Lan Caihe sank to the bottom of the well, his fingernails scratching the well wall.

After struggling for a while, suffocation cut off his life force, but he was still not dead. The yin energy transformed into a strong demonic energy, stimulating his body and soul to become distorted.

Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva sneered. Regardless of whether Yang He saves Lan Caihe or not, the connection between the two already exists, and it will inevitably trigger the cycle of cause and effect.

After Lan Caihe transforms into a demon, he will haunt Yang He; if killed, he will once again become an evil spirit.

The Eight Immortals are immortal and indestructible. Their cultivation will become increasingly terrifying with each lifetime, even exceeding the control of the Hell Path. At that time, the causal threads will have penetrated deep into their bones and become completely inseparable.

Even if Yang He is very strong, he will still be busy running around.

Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva then noticed that the fates of the Eight Immortals were beginning to intersect.

A lame beggar on the street harbors resentment because Yang He ignores him; a courtesan, seriously ill and dying, feels that Yang He bears a striking resemblance to the husband who drove her into prostitution.

There were also elderly people selling donkeys and horses, and street performers playing music and singing outside the alleys...

Yang He did nothing, but his unintentional actions made the causal threads intertwine even more tightly.

It seems there was no preparation whatsoever.

Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva shook his head. He had originally thought that if the Eight Immortals could not shake Yang He's foundation, he would step in to make peace, but now it seemed that it was no longer necessary.

"he……"

"Huh? Where's Yang He?!"

(End of this chapter)