Invasion Myth: Starting with the Schoolteacher

Chapter 937 You Cannot Be Left Alive!

When the fear of annihilation finally overwhelmed his pitiful dignity as a senior demon, he actually... began to beg for mercy!

Xu Xuan frowned as he watched; he hated villains who lost their coolness at the very end.

Wouldn't this kind of behavior completely ruin the previously mysterious and unpredictable character arc?

But at this moment, the Demon Monk no longer cared about arc light or anything like that.

All he wanted was to live! Even just a little longer!
They even started resorting to emotional blackmail in a panic:
"Fahai! You and I both come from the Pure Land School. In terms of seniority, I... I might even be your senior uncle! Why should fellow disciples kill each other like this!"

"This humble monk... no, this lowly monk knows he was wrong! I sincerely repent for my transgressions! I vow to make a great vow to benefit humanity for five hundred years... no, a thousand years! To atone for my sins!"

"This mural magic is the culmination of my life's work. It was not easy to create and is extremely profound. Wouldn't it be a pity if it were lost forever? I am willing to pass on its essence to you!"

"...I have also secretly buried many divine treasures in the North! They contain endless rare and precious materials and ancient relics! If you spare my life, they are all yours!"

Finally, he even went so far as to utter nonsense that he himself probably didn't believe:
"Or...or you could take me back to the Pure Land Sect and have my senior brother imprison me forever in the Demon-Suppressing Ground beneath the Vajra Platform! I only ask that you leave me a wisp of my soul, so I can eke out a living..."

Unfortunately, these words held no appeal for Xu Xuan; in fact, they were somewhat laughable.

"I know where the Virgin Mary is!!!"

This was the last and, in his desperation, the most powerful bargaining chip that the benevolent but demonic monk had thrown out!

"Huh?" Xu Xuan's illusory spirit body paused noticeably, a genuine look of surprise appearing on its face for the first time. "You know that?"

He thought to himself: Then I can't let you live any longer!

Hearing the surprise in Xu Xuan's tone, the demonic monk seemed to have grasped at a straw!
He quickly pressed his advantage, spouting a string of lies: "Absolutely true! Three years ago, the Holy Mother's spirit revived, but she was extremely weak, and it was this humble monk... this humble monk who secretly hid her away! In the entire Three Realms, only I know where she is!"

He observed Xu Xuan's expression and continued to press his advantage: "I know! The entire Pure Land Sect wishes they could kill the Holy Mother as soon as possible! As long as you spare my life, I am willing to take you to find her immediately, help you subdue this great demon, and achieve unparalleled merit!"

Xu Xuan: "..."

Despicable! They actually want to betray the White Lotus Sect and sell out the Holy Mother?!
We absolutely cannot let you stay!
After that, he ignored the incessantly chattering demonic monk and rudely "crashed" through the lingering resentment.

"Get out of here, you defeated opponent, don't try to steal the show."

He strode up to the Dragon Pool Monk, who was on the verge of death.

At this moment, Meng Longtan's physical body had completely collapsed, with only a faint glimmer of light remaining in his eyes.

Xu Xuan's voice became calm and solemn:
"Meng Longtan, is there any wish you haven't fulfilled?"

With his last strength, Meng Longtan raised his head. In his eyes, which were about to glaze over, there was no fear of death, only a longing for complete liberation, and boundless admiration and awe for the "holy father" who had granted him final peace.

Since His Excellency has so compassionately inquired, he will surely reply directly.

"some."

Having finished speaking with his last breath, under the extremely ugly gaze of the demonic monk behind him, a faint but pure spiritual light flew out from between his brows and slowly fell into Xu Xuan's hand.

"My lord...in the spiritual light was information about that Taoist priest...and...a few people I encountered during my travels in the north over the past few years, people I felt...were very problematic..."

His voice was broken and intermittent, yet it carried a chilling edge.

"I beg you... to find them... to make them vanish... to pay the price..."

Meng Longtan still harbored resentment.

Anyone who is fooled and manipulated like this throughout their life will accumulate immense resentment!

He simply lacked the ability and time to discern the true nature of the "friends," "benefactors," and "enlighteners" he had encountered in his past life.

But I have a feeling that there must be some accomplices or similar figures among them, like the Demonic Monk.

He believed that the omnipotent Supreme Being would surely be able to discern the truth.

In that case... I will truly have no regrets.

Xu Xuan naturally agreed.

A phantom hand gently pressed against the Dragon Pool Monk's head, which was about to turn completely cold. The voice was solemn and compassionate, as if it carried the power to cleanse all dust:

“The mind is hard to find; when it is wide, it pervades the entire Dharma realm; when it is narrow, it cannot even fit a needle.”

"I seek enlightenment within myself, not from the Buddha, for I know that the three realms are empty of all things."

"If you wish to seek the Buddha, seek only your own mind; this very mind is the Buddha."

"I originally sought self-control within my mind, but I could not find it and had to wait for my mind to know."

"Buddha-nature cannot be obtained from outside the mind; when the mind arises, sin arises."

This hymn, imbued with profound Buddhist principles, is like a final baptism, or a final judgment.

After the eulogy was recited, the lingering resentment of the demonic monk who had clung to the monk of Longtan and was trying to make a final struggle was like a shadow being directly hit by sunlight. It let out a silent shriek, completely losing its last support in this world, and vanished without a trace, returning to nothingness.

He died silently, showing no trace of the powerful demonic figure who had once stirred up storms and plotted for hundreds of years.

At the same time, the last bit of pure divine soul essence of the monk Longtan detached from his dilapidated body and slowly floated out.

The rules of the underworld then came into play, and a familiar black void, exuding a chilling aura, suddenly appeared in the mountains and fields of the mortal world.

The power of the laws of the underworld descended upon this place. Behind the void, the majestic and ancient gate of hell loomed faintly, emitting an irresistible pull.

A chilling wind blew out from the black hole, entangling Meng Longtan's bewildered soul.

Having lost the protection of all magical power and cultivation, he is now nothing more than an ordinary mortal soul. How can he resist the erosion of the laws of reincarnation?

Suddenly, he became dazed and confused, his eyes vacant, and he lost all self-awareness, only able to instinctively drift towards the black hole.

Fortunately, there were old acquaintances from the underworld here.

"Slap!" Xu Xuan's illusory palm rose again and struck Meng Longtan's confused soul with precision.

This palm strike seemed to carry the supreme power of purifying the mind and enlightening the spirit, instantly dispelling some of the ignorance brought about by the laws of reincarnation and temporarily awakening his intelligence.

Immediately afterwards, a wisp of pure and incomparably refined Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva's original Buddhist power condensed at his fingertips and gently touched the core of Meng Longtan's soul, leaving a golden mark.

"Go. With this mark protecting you, you will have a more comfortable time down there."

With this authentic Ksitigarbha Buddha imprint, the monk, whose life had been filled with misery, would receive a completely different treatment in the underworld.

While I can't say I'll be able to skip the queue for reincarnation immediately, at least I'll suffer less after I go down to the afterlife, and my luck will be much better.

Ordinary ghost kings and demon kings, upon sensing the mark of this direct descendant of Ksitigarbha, would never dare to easily devour such a spirit with a "background".

Of course, Xu Xuan only left this one mark, and dared not infuse it with any more power.

If this mark is too conspicuous and is sensed by the demonic monk's past enemies in the underworld, then the old monk's fate would probably be many times more miserable than that of an ordinary wandering soul.

Knowing when to stop is true compassion.

As Meng Longtan's spirit completely fell into the deep, dark hole, Xu Xuan casually called out to those below, something along the lines of, "Old friends down there, please lend a hand and look after this new monk. He's had a really bad life. Please do me a favor..."

I don't know if it was just my imagination, but after those words were spoken, I felt as if the black passage that was about to close trembled very slightly.

It was as if even the gates of hell at the other end of the passage were speechless for a moment: Who's unlucky?

With the black hole completely disappearing into the sky, this unexpected "wall painting" mini-game has finally come to an end.

The story of the painted mural, which spanned hundreds of years and spanned both the righteous and the evil, came to a complete end with the passing of Meng Longtan, the last key figure involved.

Xu Xuan's illusory spirit turned to the three disciples, his gaze sweeping over them, lingering especially on Ji Rui.

Ji Gongzi felt a chill run down his spine, his back drenched in cold sweat, fearing that Master Xu would think his method of breaking through the restrictions was "too clever" and give him an even stronger "wake-up call".

However, Xu Xuan only said something meaningful:
"Very good. To think of this method to break the restriction, it seems your mind isn't completely clouded by those messy things."

Just as Ji Rui breathed a sigh of relief, he saw Xu Xuan precisely extract a piece of information from the remaining memory orb of the Dragon Pool Monk, transform it into a ray of light, and flick it into the hands of the three of them.

"Wuwei County on the other side of the river is now in your hands."

When the teacher is busy, the disciples should do the work.

Now, Xu Xuan can confidently delegate some tricky tasks to this group of energetic disciples.

Of course, incentives must also be in place. He added casually:

“If it’s not handled well…” His gaze fell on Ji Rui again, “then give Ji Rui a longer period of ‘wake-up call’ to help him completely purify his mind and desires and become a wise person.”

Ji Rui: "!!!"

He looked at Zao and Ning Caichen in shock. If things went wrong, it was a three-person problem! Why was he being singled out?!
Xu Xuan seemed to see through his thoughts and slowly uttered a sentence:
"Because I once said, 'The Three Heroes and Two Extraordinary Ones are all inferior to you.'"

Ji Rui choked for a moment, and then a strange sense of "mission" and "responsibility" surged into his heart!
It turns out that the reason why Teacher Xu "whipped" me so harshly and demanded so much of me was because he had high hopes for me!

I cannot let Master Xu down!
He immediately straightened his back and his eyes became "resolute".

Zao and Ning Caichen exchanged a silent glance: "..."

Well, this guy isn't as wise as he used to be.

After Xu Xuan finished explaining the task, his illusory figure vanished into thin air like wisps of smoke blown away by the wind.

It came suddenly and left just as abruptly.

He clearly had more important matters to attend to in Jiangbei.

Fu Tianchou only breathed a long sigh of relief after Xu Xuan's breath had completely disappeared.

His face showed a sense of relief that "the huge trouble is finally over."

When people in this world encounter things beyond this world, they are truly swept along by the current, unable to control their own destiny.

The immortals who were originally only in storybooks are now appearing one after another, and their conversations are often measured in centuries, which is really frightening.

Fu Qingfeng also loosened her grip on the sword; the day's experiences had sparked her great interest in the power of the outside world.

After all, practicing martial arts can no longer protect his family.

Seeing this, Ning Caichen straightened his sleeves, stepped forward, and his tone returned to its usual gentle and polite manner: "Lord Fu, since we have come to Wuhu by chance and are only a step away from the Yangtze River, why don't we escort your family across the river, so that we can finish what we started?"

Although Ji Rui was still pondering the relationship between "a wake-up call" and "full of wisdom," he nodded in agreement: "That's right. We've already escorted you all the way to the riverbank, so one more step won't make a difference. It'll prevent you from encountering any more blind and wicked Taoist priests or monks."

Zao replied succinctly, "Okay."

Upon hearing this, the Fu family father and daughter were naturally extremely grateful.

Their journey north had made them deeply aware of how invaluable it was to have these three "extraordinary people" escorting them across the river in these increasingly turbulent times.

“However,” Ning Caichen changed the subject, his expression becoming slightly more serious, “to cross the great river, we must first pay homage to the river god. We must first go to the riverbank to offer sacrifices to the Dragon King of the Yangtze River, and pray for calm waters before we can cross the river safely.”

This is an ancient custom that has been passed down along the Yangtze River and even throughout the Jiangnan region, and it is also the kind of reverence that practitioners should have when facing the natural deities.

Besides showing reverence, the people of Baoantang also have the habit of using facial recognition.

Master Xu once said that Dragon Lord was his best friend and the kindest senior on the path of cultivation.

As Master Xu's disciple, it is only natural that I should express my gratitude.

So, after tidying up briefly, the group met up with the Fu family guards and headed towards the Yangtze River bank to prepare for the ritual of worshipping the Dragon King.

This also heralds the arrival of new power in the north.

(End of this chapter)