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

Chapter 463 The Incomplete Book of Life and Death

Chen Ye's gaze fell on the yellowed page in Fei Lian Demon Lord's hand.

For some reason, from the moment this tattered page appeared, he felt an inexplicable attraction.

Seeing Chen Ye's appearance, Demon Lord Feilian asked, "Do you know about this treasure?"

Chen Ye shook his head.

"I've never seen it before. I just feel... that it has some kind of connection with me."

"what!"

Upon hearing this, Demon Lord Feilian suddenly sneered.

"What a righteous leader! What a fortunate coincidence!"

Chen Ye looked at Fei Lian Demon Lord with a puzzled expression. What had triggered this?

The Demon Lord Feilian smiled so much that his eyes almost squinted, and said, "It's nothing, it's just that I've heard the phrase 'this treasure is destined for me' far too many times, but the people who said it to me are all dead."

Chen Ye immediately understood what Fei Lian Demon Lord meant, but he didn't really want to steal it; he genuinely felt that the fragment was related to him.

"My lord, please don't misunderstand. I was just curious, not trying to steal or plunder."

The Demon Lord Feilian laughed and said, "I have no misunderstanding. You are not worthy of my trickery and force."

These words made Chen Ye a little embarrassed. Although the two had just collaborated on researching secret techniques, their cultivation levels were indeed vastly different. If the Demon Lord Feilian wanted to kill Chen Ye, it would only take a few words.

The Demon Lord Feilian gently twirled the edge of the tattered page with his fingertips, his movements delicate, as if caressing a rare treasure. Then he said to Chen Ye, "Showing it to you isn't out of the question. But... what will you offer in exchange?"

Chen Ye frowned slightly and asked, "Is it just a glance? Does the Venerable One want more benefits?"

"how?"

With a flick of his wrist, the Demon Lord Feilian put away the tattered page and sneered, "You think you can accept this incredible opportunity for immortality with just empty words?"

Chen Ye thought to himself, even the Demon Lord is so stingy these days.

"What does Your Majesty desire?"

“If the Great Sage Who Overturns the Seas wants to kill me someday… then use your favor to save me.”

Chen Ye was quite surprised to hear this. He never expected that the Demon Lord Feilian would be so direct. The number one person in the Demonic Sect would so frankly admit that he was afraid.

Chen Ye thought for a moment, then said, "Then forget it."

The favor bestowed by the Great Sage Who Overturns the Seas is more precious than any magical treasure, and Chen Ye has no intention of wasting it so easily.

A favor can mean the loss of a life.

As for the treasures of the Demon Lord Feilian… Chen Ye felt that even after Feilian died, the treasures would still be his. As for when Feilian would die, Chen Ye figured he could outlive him, so he wasn't in a hurry.

Demon Lord Feilian was surprised by Chen Ye's resolute decision, which made him somewhat anxious.

"Didn't you say this was your destiny with the gods? This is a treasure that you can only come across once in a lifetime."

Chen Ye smiled and said, "To gain it is my fortune, to lose it is my fate, my lord. I have been very restrained since the first day of my cultivation."

Chen Ye spoke these words without a hint of guilt. When faced with the entire treasure vault of Guixu, he only looked for the magical artifacts he needed, and once he found them, he immediately left.

If Chen Ye had been even a little greedy and opened a few more treasure chests, he would have been blocked at the entrance of Guixu by that Azure Dragon Lord.

Demon Lord Feilian was furious with Chen Ye. He wanted to make an exorbitant demand, but this kid was as prickly as a hedgehog, impossible to approach.

Left with no other choice, Demon Lord Feilian could only say, "I'll give you this fragment in exchange for a favor that will save my life. Is that alright?"

Chen Ye continued to shake his head: "I don't even know what this thing is for. You should at least let me inspect the goods before you haggle over the price. In business, how can you not even let people take a look?"

"You cunning and treacherous little devil!"

Fei Nian Demon Lord snorted coldly, flicked his wrist, and threw the torn page, which flew accurately in front of Chen Ye.

Chen Ye quickly took it, and as soon as he touched it, he felt that the texture of the torn page was very familiar.

After fiddling with it for a while, not a single word appeared on the tattered page.

Chen Ye tried to infuse it with spiritual energy, but there was no reaction.

Chen Ye asked in confusion, "Master, how do we use this treasure?"

Feilian Demon Lord frowned. When he first encountered this fragment, his own life story was revealed on it. Chen Ye held it in his hand, but showed no change. Indeed, he was from the Immortal Realm; his background and origins were incredibly powerful.

"You say this is your destiny with the immortals, but you don't even know how to use it?" Demon Lord Feilian mocked, then explained, "Think of anyone you know, and then infuse spiritual energy into it. The fragment will then display their life story, from birth to death, in great detail."

Upon hearing this, Chen Ye exclaimed in shock, "Isn't this the Book of Life and Death?"

"Book of Life and Death?"

When Fei Lian Demon Lord first heard this name, he thought to himself that this kid really knew many secrets of the immortal realm, and hurriedly asked, "What is the Book of Life and Death?"

Chen Ye knew he had let something slip, but he still explained, "I read it in a book. This Book of Life and Death is related to the Six Paths of Reincarnation. It records the life and deeds of all mortals. Whenever someone dies, good deeds are rewarded and evil deeds are punished according to the records in the Book of Life and Death."

Feilian Demon Lord wondered what kind of book this was, as he had never heard of it before, but it was similar to what Chen Ye had said; the fragments of the book did indeed have such effects.

The Demon Lord Feilian couldn't help but ask again, "Do you have the complete Book of Life and Death in your possession?"

"How could such a treasure be in my hands..." Chen Ye was about to deny it, but suddenly remembered another treasure.

Chen Ye took out a sutra from his storage bag; it was the Ksitigarbha Sutra.

Sure enough, the feel was exactly the same.

The content of this sutra is completely different from the Book of Life and Death, and its effects are also different. Moreover, the Ksitigarbha Sutra is very complete, only missing some text, but the pages are not damaged.

The two cannot be the same book.

But Chen Ye had a strange feeling, as if the two were the same.

Especially that special tactile sensation, as if it were made of some unknown material, is exactly the same in both cases.

Just as Chen Ye put the two together for comparison, a sudden change occurred. The "Ksitigarbha Sutra" in Chen Ye's hand suddenly began to tremble violently, breaking free from his grasp, and the pages flipped and tumbled.

The original gold-embossed cover of the Ksitigarbha Sutra melted and peeled off rapidly, like wax being burned by flames, completely transforming it into something else entirely.

The mysterious fragment from Guixu seemed to be attracted by some invisible force, flying up automatically and fitting perfectly into a gap in the scripture.

The two merged instantly, without the slightest difference, as if they were meant to be one.

The scene before them caused Chen Ye and Demon Lord Fei Lian to fall into a brief silence.

It was Demon Lord Feilian who was the first to come to his senses. He glanced at Chen Ye and suddenly smiled.

"Now you can't return it."

Regardless of how extraordinary this so-called "Book of Life and Death" might be, Demon Lord Feilian wasn't particularly covetous. What he cared more about was confirming the deal they had just made. Now, Chen Ye owed him a life, which was the real windfall.

Chen Ye was also taken aback, but not because he couldn't return the item. Rather, it was because… the Book of Life and Death was actually the Ksitigarbha Sutra?

He carefully examined the changed scripture and found that the contents were still just a blurry mess of ink, with not a single normal character visible.

However, when Chen Ye tried to infuse a trace of his own spiritual energy into it, the three ancient seal characters "Book of Life and Death" clearly appeared on the cover.

When Chen Ye silently recalled a certain person's name, the previously blurry pages of the book changed, clearly revealing that person's life experiences.

Mo Ci, Qu Heng, Su Chunyi, Mo Suixin...

Familiar or unfamiliar names, as long as Chen Ye thought of them, their past details would appear on the pages of the book. It was as if there were no secrets in this world that could escape the record of this Book of Life and Death.

However, this Book of Life and Death was not complete at this moment. Chen Ye glanced through it and found that many pages were missing, clearly torn out by someone.

Chen Ye immediately raised his head and asked Fei Lian Demon Lord eagerly, "Lord, where did you find this fragment? Are there any others?"

The Demon Lord Feilian did not hide anything and briefly recounted how he found the fragment from the Ruins of Return.

After listening to his account, Chen Ye's expression changed several times.

After a long while, Chen Ye finally spoke, his voice tinged with a hint of melancholy.

"It seems that the Great Sage Overturning the Seas did not lie to us. That Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva was indeed the mastermind behind the shattering of the Heavenly Dao. I had been wondering before how the Great Sage Overturning the Seas could so easily trust Ksitigarbha and cooperate with this Buddhist Bodhisattva."

"Now it seems that Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva tore a page from the Book of Life and Death as proof of their cooperation. Only a treasure of this caliber could make the Great Sage Overturning the Sea truly believe in Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva's sincerity."

Although the Demon Lord Feilian knew very little about the secrets of those powerful beings in the Immortal Realm, he glanced at the Book of Life and Death in Chen Ye's hand. There were more than a dozen pages missing. When Chen Ye casually flipped through it earlier, he had seen at least a dozen torn pages.

If Chen Ye's guess is true, then wouldn't that mean that there are a great many deities cooperating with Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva?

Are there really so many people who want to rebel?

Why would these immortals, who have already achieved eternal life, rebel? Just how dark must Heaven's Dao be to make these high and mighty immortals risk their lives and annihilation to embark on this path against Heaven?

Chen Ye slowly closed the changed scripture and solemnly said to the Demon Lord Feilian, "This treasure is indeed my destiny, and I thank you for your kindness. If in the future, the Great Sage Overturning the Sea really intends to harm you, I will use today's favor to speak up for you. However, we agree that I can only ask for your help, and I cannot control whether he agrees or not."

"Slippery little devil."

Although the Demon Lord Feilian said this, he knew in his heart that once it really came to that point, life and death would be in the hands of others. Not only would Chen Ye be unable to control it, but he himself would also be unable to control it.

Unless... the cycle of six realms of reincarnation can truly be established. At that time, perhaps I will still have a chance to be reincarnated and start over.

Thinking of this, Demon Lord Feilian waved his hand and said, "Put away your treasure. First, see what's going on with this black stone, then hurry up and study your clay-creation technique."

Chen Ye then remembered that the reason the two of them had rushed here was because of that black stone that had inexplicably sprang up and injured people.

He turned his head and looked at the strange stone that was still floating in the center of the ruins. Although it was temporarily suppressed by the Flying Demon Lord's words, the stone was still trembling slightly, like a trapped beast struggling unwillingly.

Chen Ye blinked, and a faint golden light instantly appeared in his pupils.

He activated his spiritual eyes and carefully scanned the area, but he did not see any special changes in spiritual energy on the black stone.

Chen Ye said with some doubt, "If it's a magic weapon, then someone should be controlling it in the dark."

Demon Lord Feilian had already used his divine sense to scan the surroundings, but found no signs of anyone lurking. He could only speculate, "Could it be that this magical artifact possesses its own spiritual energy?"

Upon hearing the words "self-generated spiritual energy," Chen Ye couldn't help but recall the scene when he took his master, Mo Ci, into the Ten Thousand Souls Banner.

At that time, he disguised the Myriad Soul Banner as a magical artifact with its own spiritual energy. Fortunately, he encountered Su Chunyi at the time; if it had been someone else, it would probably have been snatched away long ago.

The so-called self-generated spiritual energy is actually the magical artifact gradually developing its own intelligence and consciousness over a long period of time, and possessing the ability to act on its own.

This awareness may still be vague, and it may just be an instinct, but a magical artifact with this characteristic is far more precious than an ordinary magical artifact.

It's hard to say how powerful it is, but one thing is certain: it is extremely rare.

Chen Ye slowly walked to the black stone, circled it twice, and examined it for a long time, but still couldn't figure it out. He then asked the Demon Lord Feilian, "Your Excellency is so knowledgeable, do you not know the origin of this black stone either?"

After a moment of contemplation, the Demon Lord Feilian slowly explained, "Perhaps, the name 'Black Moon' does not refer to the Black Moon Demon Lord himself, but rather to the supreme treasure he personally forged—the Supreme Black Moon."

"Supreme Black Moon?"

Chen Ye thought back carefully and realized that he did indeed hear his master mention this ancient legend. The legend tells of an invisible black moon that hangs high in the sky. On dark and windy nights, terrifying evil creatures would fly out from that black moon to prey on mortals.

"You mean, Your Excellency, this stone is a fragment of the Supreme Black Moon? Then why did it suddenly attack the Old Demon of Ten Thousand Bones? And why did it suddenly attack and hurt people?"

"Who knows?"

Feilian Demon Lord was too lazy to study it in detail, and he had no interest in the Black Moon Demon Lord's legacy. He opened his mouth and said to the black stone, "Things from the old era should go with the old era. Shatter!"

The divine power of "words become law" was used once again, and a cracking sound came from the black stone.

This black stone had been collected by the Ancestor of Ten Thousand Bones for hundreds of years, and he had tried every means to scrape off not a single fragment. However, under the power of the Flying Demon Lord's words, countless cracks appeared.

Immediately afterwards, the black stone shattered with a loud crash.

Most of the black parts peeled off into fragments smaller than a fist, but as these black stone fragments fell, the original indestructible effect seemed to dissipate, and it quickly turned into ashes.

Chen Ye was about to say that yet another thing from an old era had passed away, but then he saw that after the black stone turned into powder, it left behind a large amount of colorful and crystalline fragments on the ground.

(End of this chapter)