Primordial Era: A Counterattack Against Hongjun Daozu at the Start

Upon hearing this, all the Western disciples blushed with embarrassment.

Several of Jin Chanzi's disciples, who had previously suffered losses alongside him, had their veins bulging, and their prayer beads were clenched so tightly they made a cracking sound.

Ksitigarbha's gaze darkened slightly as he secretly pondered the other party's intentions. This brute seemed to speak without restraint, but in reality, every word he uttered contained hidden meanings.

Ksitigarbha knew perfectly well: the other party first labeled them as "trespassing on forbidden territory," thus cloaking the witch clan in the righteous guise of protecting reincarnation.

Then, they used vulgar language to provoke him, clearly intending to induce their side to take the initiative and use force first.

If they were to actually take action, regardless of victory or defeat, the Western Religion would be branded as being in the wrong.

"Hey! You shameless barbarians, how dare you insult my sect!" A young disciple finally lost his temper, and his body radiated a burst of Buddhist light, with his illusory image appearing and disappearing behind him.

The other practitioners also formed hand seals, and it looked like a chaotic battle was about to break out.

Just as Ksitigarbha was about to speak to suppress it, the bull-headed ghost suddenly grinned and laughed, his steel fork sweeping across the room and bringing with it gusts of cold wind: "Well done, Grandpa was just worried about not having enough sales today."

The several horse-faced ghosts behind him spread out in unison and actually formed a battle formation in front of the Bridge of Reincarnation.

"Slandering my Wu tribe for using underhanded tricks? If this gets out, it'll be a laughing stock that collapses Mount Buzhou!" The bull-headed, human-bodied Wu soldier laughed loudly, his bronze bull horns gleaming coldly in the ghost fire.

The Western believers looked at each other in bewilderment, their hand gestures, which were about to form mudras, frozen in mid-air.

Everyone in the Three Realms knows that the Witch Clan always acts directly. If they were to say that they understand intricate schemes, even the Listening Beast of the Underworld would laugh their heads off.

These muscular warriors have always believed that the fist is the only truth, and when faced with a problem, they never hesitate to smash half a mountaintop down first.

"This is outrageous!" The robes of the Arhats in the front row fluttered without wind, and veins bulged on their foreheads. The eighteen prayer beads snapped in response, and the Buddhist light, carrying the fury of Vajra, rushed straight at the faces of the sorcerers.

The moment the glazed Buddha light touched the bull-horned sorcerer, a bizarre scene unfolded. The towering, robust body rose like a kite, tracing an exaggerated arc in the air, and upon landing, it left spiderweb-like cracks on the bluestone along the banks of the River of Oblivion.

"Ahem, how dare you wage war before the Hall of Reincarnation!" The sorcerer's lips oozed with ghostly blue blood, his voice booming like a bell, causing the red spider lilies along the Road to the Underworld to sway in the breeze. "Inform Yama immediately! The Western Sect intends to destroy the foundation of the Six Paths!"

The Arhat who made the move stared blankly at his still burning palm, realizing that he had only used three-tenths of his strength in that Demon-Subduing Seal.

The other followers were even more confused. How could the arrogant and domineering witch general not even use the most basic protective qi?

The fingers beneath Ksitigarbha's robe suddenly tightened, and the wick in the glass lamp burst into dazzling sparks.

When he caught a glimpse of the talisman he had secretly crushed as the sorcerer fell to the ground, the nine-ringed staff was too late to stop the scattering ghostly flames of communication.

Deep within the underworld, the Minotaur staggered and fell to the ground, dark red blood trickling down from the corner of his mouth.

He raised his hand tremblingly and pointed directly at Ksitigarbha, the muffled thunder rumbling in his throat making the hearts of the Western Sect members leap.

The Ksitigarbha's robe moved without wind, and the string of the prayer beads in his palm suddenly broke, the sound of each sandalwood bead bouncing on the ground clearly audible.

The sky suddenly darkened by three degrees, and the thunderous sound of war drums echoed from the depths of the eighteen levels of hell. Countless black iron chains descended from the void, the clanging of their rings causing the Yellow Springs River to flow backward.

A dark military formation emerged from behind Yinshan Mountain, with Yuqiang's battle flags fluttering in the wind, each flag shrouded in a visible aura of ferocity.

The twelve dragon flags at the head fluttered in the wind, beneath which stood the Ten Kings of Hell, their pens still bearing the wet ink of life and death.

"How majestic is the Venerable Ksitigarbha!" Yama's black crown jingled, and the tiger-headed guillotine at his waist gleamed coldly. "Leading three thousand monks, you have trespassed into the Samsara Court and injured my underworld officials. Are you trying to emulate the two venerable monks, Jieyin and Zhunti, who forcibly brought mortals across the river of dust?"

Before the words were finished, the ten Kings of Hell simultaneously took half a step forward, and the three thousand witch guards behind them shouted in unison, the sound waves causing the mirror surface of the Mirror of Karma to crack.

The Western Buddhist monks looked at each other in disbelief, their prayer beads oozing crimson blood. This was clearly the activation of the Twelve Heavenly Gods and Demons Formation of the Witch Clan.

Ksitigarbha glimpsed the dark red bloodstains beneath the Minotaur's body, which had congealed into a six-path reincarnation totem, and his pupils suddenly contracted. This was no accidental conflict; it was clearly a meticulously planned trap to destroy his spirit.

"What a cruel cycle of cause and effect!" Ksitigarbha suddenly burst into laughter, the illusory golden lotus beneath his feet crumbling inch by inch. "Now that you're trapped, let's see what happens. But I'm curious, how could the good deeds sown by the Earth Goddess when she was reincarnated have yielded such a terrible result?"

As he spoke, the Buddha-light surrounding him receded like a tide, and wisps of black energy seeped from the solemn and dignified necklace patterns on his robe.

King Yama sneered and waved his sleeve, causing the Mirror of Retribution to suddenly rotate, revealing a scene in the mirror of Western Sect disciples striking the Ox-Headed Underworld Messenger with their staffs.

Even more bizarrely, the image in the mirror was shimmering with a golden halo unique to the laws of Heaven, which was clearly irrefutable proof that it had been witnessed by the Heavenly Dao.

The magical implements in the hands of the monks present suddenly became as hot as branding irons, and many disciples with shallow cultivation screamed and released their hands.

"Does Your Excellency know what it means to be trapped in your own web?" King Qin Guang raised his hand and lightly tapped the Book of Life and Death, the sound of the pages turning like the wailing of ten thousand ghosts. "When you secretly converted eight million souls, did you ever consider that the Ten Courts of Hell still exist?"

Upon hearing this, the sound of chains dragging on the ground echoed simultaneously in the eighteen levels of hell, and countless souls forcibly converted by the Western religion manifested as phantoms amidst mountains of knives and cauldrons of boiling oil.

Ksitigarbha swayed slightly, and the golden wheel of merit behind his head flickered. Only now did he realize that, ever since that wandering soul lingering by the Bridge of Helplessness half a year ago, every step he had taken had been on a carefully designed calamity by the Witch Clan.

Looking up, the phantom of the Six Paths of Reincarnation Wheel faintly appeared behind the Ten Kings of Hell, with the laws of Heaven flowing endlessly within it. This was no ordinary contest, but a causal reckoning that threatened the very fabric of the universe.

Victory or defeat would lead to a predicament. The evidence that the Western Sect forcibly entered the forbidden land of reincarnation and injured the underworld forces is irrefutable. If they were to truly win, they would incur the wrath of the Ancestral Witches, who would bring the power of heaven and earth to punish them.

Even if the two saints, Jieyin and Zhunti, try their best to refute the truth, they will find it difficult to reverse Yin and Yang. Know that those who covet power in the Six Realms are not limited to the West; powerful cultivators in the heavens will surely seize the opportunity to launch an attack.

If they are to lose, the consequences will be even more dire, and the Western religion will become a laughing stock. Regardless of the outcome, this has become a hot potato for them.

If handled improperly, it could lead to a terrible disaster. At that time, Ksitigarbha, as the person in charge, would be the first to suffer. Not only would he be rejected by the saints, but he would also lose his chance to attain enlightenment forever. For the Bodhisattva of the Underworld, whose ambition is higher than the heavens, this is a matter of life and death.

"You have trespassed into the forbidden land of reincarnation and injured my underworld servants. How can this matter be resolved peacefully?" Yama's gilded crown trembled, and the authority of the underworld transformed into a howling gale that swept through the palace.

"How does the underworld intend to resolve this?" Ksitigarbha lightly touched his prayer beads with his fingertips, secretly letting out a sigh of relief. Since they were willing to negotiate, there was room for negotiation.

"Since it is the lineage of the sages..." Yama's black robes billowed like ink, "then let the twelve innate spiritual treasures atone for the sin."

Ksitigarbha's pupils suddenly contracted.

Since the beginning of the Dragon-Han era, the spiritual veins of the Western religion have been depleted. When the sage crossed the sea to the east to beg for alms, he was ridiculed by the Three Pure Ones. The disciples of the religion lived in extreme poverty.