Gentlemen, it's time to enter the Banner of Ten Thousand Souls.

Chapter 335 Buddha's Palm Plucking Flowers
After witnessing the destructive power of these hungry ghosts, Chen Ye realized that this was no longer a treasure hunt or adventure, but a deadly predicament concerning the survival of humanity.

We must not let any hungry ghost escape; it would be best to destroy this small world altogether.

However, neither Chen Ye nor Qu Heng seemed to have the ability to destroy an entire small world. The only thing they could do at the moment was to first eliminate the remnants of the Nirvana Sect, and then completely seal the entrance to the cave, cutting off the possibility of the hungry ghosts running rampant.

Just as they were pondering this, the last two Nirvana Sect disciples were breaking free from the hungry ghosts' bites.

Their robes were tattered like blood-stained banners, and their bodies radiated dark golden Buddhist light, keeping the hungry ghosts at bay, while they still tried to rush back to the mountain peak.

But would Chen Ye give them that chance?

The Ruyi Divine Weapon in his hand transformed into a white rainbow piercing the moon, its cold light piercing through the two of them.

The two monks were already severely injured; their protective golden aura and magical treasures had been completely devoured by the hungry ghosts, leaving them barely clinging to life.

Chen Ye launched a sneak attack with the Ruyi Divine Weapon, catching them completely off guard and leaving them utterly dead.

His physical body fell and was devoured by hungry ghosts. He wanted to escape with his soul, but Chen Ye had already made preparations.

The image of the Great Emperor of Fengdu suddenly expanded, his sleeves billowing out like a sky-covering canopy, instantly traversing hundreds of feet and gathering all the struggling souls into his sleeves.

On the sleeves of his robes, a grotesque ghost face roared incessantly.

Chen Ye sneered: "Now that you're under my Ten Thousand Souls Banner, enjoy the punishments of hell."

Once inside Chen Ye's Ten Thousand Soul Banner, even a Nascent Soul cultivator would not be able to escape without a backup plan for reincarnation and possession, because the Great Emperor of Fengdu still possesses the divine powers of hell.

The deity's sleeves trembled slightly, and a mournful wail immediately came from within. The struggling spirit's strength gradually weakened, clearly indicating that it had been subjected to torture.

Ignoring the departed souls, Chen Ye continued to control the Emperor of Fengdu, driving the hungry ghosts to climb to the mountain peak. Qu Heng also cooperated fully, the Crimson Dragon Buddha bypassing the golden Buddha palm and continuously bombarding the mountain, seemingly trying to completely shatter the entire mountain.

Just as the Buddha's palm was about to fall into the abyss without any support, the five fingers of the Buddha's palm suddenly bent, as if they were holding something soft and fragile between their fingers.

The Buddha's palm holds up a flower; in that instant, time stands still, and all things come to a standstill.

The howls of hungry ghosts, the cracking of rocks, the howling of the wind... all sounds fell silent.

Even Chen Ye and Qu Heng's movements suddenly froze, as if they were imprisoned by an invisible force.

The whole world fell into an eerie silence.

Only at the tip of the Buddha's palm did an illusory golden lotus quietly bloom, its radiance becoming unique in the world.

Chen Ye was unable to move his body, but he was still conscious.

Looking at the frozen space and time before him, Chen Ye felt as if he had returned to the Ruins of Return. Back then, he was bound by seawater by the beings deep within the Ruins of Return, unable to move even a finger.

But this time it seemed even more serious, because Chen Ye was really only left with consciousness; he couldn't even make a sound by vibrating the air with his spiritual energy.

Because this little world had truly come to a complete standstill, even the flying debris and dust were frozen in mid-air.

Qu Heng's Crimson Dragon Buddha remained motionless like a sculpture, while the golden lotus continued to radiate light and slowly unfold its petals.

Until the golden lotus fully unfolded, a mummified corpse resembling a hungry ghost wearing a cassock appeared within it.

Chen Ye was shocked. Could this be the monk Jin Ming?

He too had transformed into the appearance of a hungry ghost, while the previous disciples of the Nirvana Sect were plump and full of flesh and blood, which seemed inconsistent with the Demonic Sect's habit of sending their disciples to their deaths first.

What exactly did Monk Jinming do? What is the meaning of this Buddha's Palm and this world that resembles the realm of hungry ghosts?

Countless questions churned in Chen Ye's mind. The desiccated corpse in the golden lotus opened its mouth and let out a long sigh. "Qu Heng, why are you so relentlessly pressuring me?"

It was indeed the voice of Monk Jinming. The dignified master of the Demon Sect, an old demon who survived the great war between good and evil a thousand years ago, had now turned into such a hideous form.

Qu Heng seemed unable to respond and remained silent.

Monk Jinming seemed too lazy to waste words and stepped down from the golden lotus with extremely slow movements.

One foot is in the air, yet it feels like stepping on flat ground.

Although the hungry ghost Jinming had reason, for some reason his movements were extremely slow, and he could only wriggle and crawl toward the huge body of the Crimson Dragon Buddha.

At this distance and at this speed, Chen Ye estimated that it would take him more than half an hour to climb to reach the destination.

But the whole world is in a state of stagnation, whether it's half an hour or half a year, the result seems to be the same.

As Chen Ye pondered how to break the deadlock, he saw the monk Jinming stop what he was doing and turn to look at him. His dark green eyes were glowing, as if he had seen some rare treasure.

Chen Ye had a bad feeling, but the monk Jin Ming had already turned around and was crawling towards Chen Ye.

Although the movements are still very slow, and Chen Ye is even further away, he will eventually get closer.

What's wrong with that old bald monk?! Why is he coming at me?!

Chen Ye felt somewhat bewildered. How much effort would it take to freeze a small world? Instead of quickly dealing with Qu Heng, this formidable enemy, they were taking the long way around and crawling towards Chen Ye. What if the time-stopping effect disappeared? Wouldn't the Crimson Dragon Buddha whip the monk Jin Ming into a spinning top?

What's wrong with this old bald monk that he has to argue with a junior like him?
As Chen Ye watched the hideous creature slowly crawl toward him, he could only anxiously try to think of a solution.

Struggling alone is useless. Qu Heng's cultivation is far superior to his own, and he can't move either. So, he can't break free of the restraints around him by struggling.

"It's not that time has truly stopped, but rather that the flow of spiritual energy has been sealed off, as has space. So I can think, but I can't access the spiritual energy within my body, and I can't make any movements, not even blink... But why is this old bald monk crawling towards me? Is there something on me that's attracting his attention?"

Chen Ye has now transformed into the form of a dragon, but since they are both dragons, why not devour the huge dragon in the sky instead of catching a small one like him?
It wasn't because of the dragon; this monk Jinming wasn't the Azure Dragon Lord, so the dragon shouldn't have any appeal to him.

What else could be the reason?
Because Chen Ye just manipulated the hungry ghosts to kill the disciples of the Nirvana Sect?
That's unlikely. The Demonic Sect doesn't have that much compassion. Their disciples are meant to be used for attrition; if they die, they die.

So, what else about him is different that would attract this old bald monk?
Ruyi Divine Weapon, Flood Dragon Pearl, or some other magical treasure... Chen Ye pondered for a long time before finally coming up with a possibility.

"Could it be the copy of the Ksitigarbha Sutra that I have?"

Even if the Nirvana School is considered heretical, it is still a Buddhist sect.

Although we don't know the origin of their lineage, nor why they don't even know the names of many Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, we can tell from the Buddha's palm holding up a flower that they must have a very deep connection with the true Buddhist sect.

Although Chen Ye also had a deep connection with Buddhism, the only treasure he truly cherished was the "Ksitigarbha Sutra".

If he's just here to retrieve the treasure, that's fine; at worst, he can just let this old bald monk take the scriptures. But if he also takes a bite out of Chen Ye, then Chen Ye will only be waiting to die.

Life-or-death matters cannot be left to luck.

Chen Ye carefully recalled everything related to this scripture, thinking about how to activate this magical artifact in advance to resolve the current crisis.

But upon closer reflection, Chen Ye suddenly realized something was amiss.

It seems that this scripture only responds when Chen Ye faces a desperate situation.

(End of this chapter)