A master of comedy!

Upon hearing Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva's exclamation, Zhou Sheng fell silent for a moment.

He thought of the Buddha Mother, the head of the fox spirits under Bixia Yuanjun. Although the Buddha Mother had fallen into demonic possession, she seemed to have seen through the demonic thoughts in the end and chose to draw a clear line between herself and the demon.

While it may not be completely better, at least it won't become an accomplice to evil.

"What exactly are those extraterrestrial demons?"

At this moment, Zhou Sheng was extremely curious. It was simply unbelievable that the powerful immortals of China could be forced to this point.

When asked about this question, Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva showed a complicated expression.

"This matter needs to be told from the beginning."

"From the beginning?"

Zhou Sheng asked doubtfully, "From the late Tang Dynasty?"

Monkey King quickly devoured the peach, tossed the pit aside, and laughed, "It's not from the end of the Tang Dynasty, it starts from where you came from."

"I'm here—"

Zhou Sheng was taken aback, then seemed to realize something and his spirits lifted.

"Let me ask you a question first. If you had a house and lived in it for a long time, and suddenly one day you discovered that the foundation of the house was damaged and it was about to collapse, what would you do?"

Just as Zhou Sheng was listening attentively, Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva suddenly asked a very strange question.

"Then they must escape from this house and build a new one."

Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva nodded and said, "That's right, that's exactly what we did back then."

"The spiritual energy of the Chinese world is gradually depleting. For the gods, it is like fish out of water. No matter how powerful they are, they will eventually run out of energy."

"The five signs of decay in the heavens and man cause the three flowers on the head to wither and the five turbidities in the chest to become mixed. The immortals are terrified and the Buddhas are uneasy. It is like a house that is about to collapse. The building is about to fall. Even immortals and Buddhas will suffer a catastrophic disaster."

"So, despite our deep reluctance, we were forced to leave, to cross the void, and to find the next place where we could build a house."

Hearing these words, even the naturally optimistic Monkey King sighed and looked somber. His good elder brother, the Great Sage Equaling Heaven, the Bull Demon King, and his junior brother Sha Wujing, who was conferred the title of Golden Arhat, had all perished in the Five Signs of Decay of the Celestials.

This is a kind of "incurable disease" even for gods.

Buddhist scriptures describe these as the five signs of decay that appear when beings in the heavenly realms are about to die: soiled clothes, withered flowers on their heads, sweating under their armpits, foul body odor, and displeasure with their seat.

In the fading spiritual energy of the Chinese world, even celestial beings who transcend the Three Realms and are not bound by the Five Elements cannot escape this calamity.

The gods departed in order to save themselves.

"Traversing the void and traveling through various realms is inherently a very dangerous thing, but along the way, immortals and Buddhas joined forces and worked together to find a world suitable for building a 'new house'."

Zhou Sheng's heart skipped a beat, and he asked, "Is this the world?"

Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva nodded and continued, "When we first arrived here, this world was a desolate wasteland, almost devoid of life, plagued by frequent natural disasters, and rife with demonic energy. Some of the weaker immortals and gods were even in mortal danger."

That was an environment far more dangerous than the ancient, primitive times in China, where even weak immortals and gods could be killed.

"However, the spiritual energy in this world is extremely abundant, no less than that in ancient China, and even more so, so we decided to stop here."

Zhou Sheng frowned slightly, puzzled, and asked, "Then why is the history of this world so similar to that of China?"

Upon hearing this, Monkey King chuckled and said, "It's simple. We weren't used to living in this new house, and we missed the old one, so we built a new one based on it!"

Zhou Sheng suddenly understood.

Nuwa created humans, Cangjie invented writing, Suirenshi discovered fire, and Shennong tasted hundreds of herbs...

This was something they had done before, so doing it again wouldn't be difficult for them; in fact, they were quite adept at it.

Simply put, it means to reshape the world according to the image of Chinese civilization, artificially creating a "hometown." Humans all have a longing for their homeland, and gods are no exception.

Everything went very smoothly until the end of the Tang Dynasty, when the situation suddenly changed dramatically.

"This world has indigenous people."

Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva sighed, “They are a group of demons born in this world, devouring all living beings like gluttonous beasts. After they have eaten all the other living beings in this world, they go to devour other worlds, bringing endless disasters.”

"Many years later, when they had eaten their fill and were about to return to rest and sleep, a great war broke out."

A group of demons who had devoured countless worlds and were regarded as calamities and overlords returned from a hunting expedition to find their home gone.

As for the gods and Buddhas of China, this world has already been successfully transformed. The once desolate land has become vibrant with life, and the human race has flourished once again. They cannot stand by and watch their people become food for the demon gods.

This battle was unavoidable.

That period was the end of the Tang Dynasty. After that, the gods and Buddhas were busy with wars and no longer had the heart to "build houses". The course of history began to change.

“We tried to establish rules with them so that we could coexist, but those demons were impossible to negotiate with. They were a group of beasts controlled by their instinct to devour and kill. In their eyes, gods with abundant spiritual energy were the best food.”

“Even if we were willing to give up, they would not give up.”

"This battle is destined to be a fight to the death."

Zhou Sheng's expression hardened as he recalled the terrifying monster inside the Vajra Hall that tried to crash into the wall. Although he hadn't seen its appearance, he could still feel its extreme chaos, greed, distortion, and malice.

It pollutes the entire world like an abyss.

Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva fought with that demon for over a thousand years. Even after his death, the two continued to fight. The demon was trapped in an illusion by Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva's power, and it seemed to be gaining the upper hand.

And that was just one of many demon gods.

"It seems that the power of these demon gods is even greater than I expected."

Zhou Sheng couldn't help but sigh. He thought that reaching the eighth tribulation was almost the end, but now it seems that even a ninth tribulation celestial immortal is probably quite different from those demon gods.

"powerful?"

Upon hearing those two words, Monkey King immediately let out a disdainful laugh and said, "I don't know how many of those demons I've killed!"

After a pause, Monkey King snorted, "But no matter how many times we kill them, they can always revive. It's really... annoying!"

Monkey shook his head, his hair standing on end, as if fire was shooting from his head.

resurrection?

Zhou Sheng was taken aback and looked at Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva.

The Bodhisattva nodded and said, "In terms of magical power, we are not afraid of so-called demons and gods. However, no matter how many times we destroy them, they will recover. Even if we suppress them, it will be of no use. They will die automatically and then be reborn."

"Cannot be killed, cannot be imprisoned, cannot be converted."

This is the most troublesome aspect of the demon god, and the key reason why the gods and Buddhas of China have fought for thousands of years without being able to win.

"Is there... really no way to deal with them?"

Zhou Sheng couldn't help but ask.

"Have."

Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva raised his eyes to look at him, his gaze profound: "It is you."

"Whether we can win this battle depends on you, Zhou Sheng."

...(End of this chapter)