The disciples of Qian Kunlun and Zhongnan stood arrayed in neat formations. Sitting sternly before them were the bloodied corpses of nearly a hundred pirates, strewn haphazardly, serving as a stark warning to the two thousand or so miners huddled inside the cavern. Those miners timidly kept their distance, daring not approach the group of fiends who had clearly gone berserk, their eyes red with slaughter. Nearly eight thousand disciples from Kunlun and Zhongnan surged toward the pirates like a tide, attacking with desperate fervor, utilizing every crude tool at hand. Even though these disciples were as frail as ordinary men, and though the pirates were genetically modified and **strengthened warriors, after sacrificing over two thousand of their own lives, every pirate was finally slain.

Imprisoned for a hundred years, the disciples of Kunlun and Zhongnan finally revealed a spark of fierce spirit.

The remaining disciples of Kunlun and Zhongnan sat cross-legged on the ground, utterly still and silent. Fury blazed in their eyes; a current of killing intent coiled around every heart, a venomous resentment soaring to the very heavens, causing chilling winds to sweep through the cavern, turning it into a ghost realm.

The disciples of the Nine Nether Path watched the sudden outburst of the Kunlun and Zhongnan disciples with detached indifference, coldly delivering their final ultimatum: they must return to work within one Xuán Zhōng. If they remained seated after another quarter of an hour, all would be executed immediately.

Seconds ticked by, one by one. The disciples of the two sects, seated before the cave entrance, remained unmoving. Their nearly insane gazes fixed upon the Nine Nether Path disciples, as if they were utterly oblivious to the approach of death.

As the final minute waned, dozens of small automated turrets slowly descended from the cavern ceiling. The turrets, bristling with high-energy cannons, locked onto the seated disciples of the two sects. A light screen flickered across the turrets, displaying glaring, blood-red numbers that ceaselessly counted down.

Sixty-five, fifty-nine, fifty-eight, fifty-seven... Ten. Nine, eight, seven...

As the countdown approached its final seconds, the high-energy cannons on all turrets began to charge. A sharp hissing sound of surging energy echoed throughout the cavern. The miners in the distance fled in panic, terrified of being caught in the crossfire.

Just as the number on the screen neared zero, an aged Daoist stepped out from the depths of the cave. He shouted sternly, "We will return to work now! All Kunlun and Zhongnan disciples, obey the order, resume work immediately, do not delay the schedule."

The garrisoned disciples of the Nine Nether Path wore strange, thin smiles. They watched with satisfaction as the disciples of the two sects slowly rose, moving like walking corpses toward the bubbling lava lake. To torment enemies physically, to abuse them mentally—what a supremely delightful spectacle!

Look at what the once arrogant and powerful disciples of the two sects had become after a mere hundred years.

While inwardly mocking the Kunlun and Zhongnan disciples with smug satisfaction, suddenly, more than a dozen disciples of the two sects began to run madly, screaming hysterically, "Our Sect Masters suffer such utter disgrace; what face do we have left to remain in this world?"

With a few muffled puffs, more than a dozen figures plunged into the sea of lava. Only a few wisps of green smoke rose from the churning surface before these individuals were incinerated beyond recognition. A fresh wave of grief, as if the world had ended, swept over the disciples of the two sects. Several elders knelt by the lava lake, hoarsely crying out the Daoist titles of their senior brothers, junior brothers, or their own disciples.

The disciples of the Nine Nether Path laughed mockingly, their hissing sounds continuing. They taunted relentlessly: if the disciples of the two sects possessed true backbone, why didn't they all leap into the lava and commit suicide?

The disciples of the two sects pretended not to hear the cold mockery from the Nine Nether Path members. Mechanically, they picked up their crude tools, donned their tattered asbestos suits, and resumed their shifts by the lava lake, risking their lives to mine the rare metallic solutions erupting from the molten rock.

A Celestial Immortal, transformed from a Green Feather Dove, let out a strange, cackling laugh. Its body suddenly dissolved into a demonic gust of wind, soaring upward and vanishing instantly, its trace utterly imperceptible to the naked eye. This dove employed a means of escape, flying into the cave guarded by the disciples of the two sects, silently penetrating to the deepest chamber, a cavern roughly a hundred square meters in area.

Unlike the other empty, barren caves, this one was partitioned into five separate rooms and contained several tables and chairs carved from stone. In the main compartment, serving as a reception hall, rested a long table made of white stone, flanked by several stone stools.

In the four compartments designated as bedrooms, there was each a blue stone couch, a blue stone table, and a few stone stools.

The cavern was brightly lit, a stark contrast to the dimness of the other caves, which relied only on the faint red glow from the lava eruptions. Inside, dozens of meticulously polished Zakla crystals emitted a brilliant light, illuminating the surroundings. Several grease torches also burned on the cave walls, further enhancing the radiance of the Zakla crystals.

This grease was rendered from the subterranean ground mice collected by the disciples of the two sects; their subcutaneous fat was boiled down to create an oil that burned with intense heat, produced absolutely no smoke, and carried a subtle fragrance. It was hardly inferior to precious ambergris or sandalwood.

The former leaders of the two sects—Baishui, Hanhe, Zhengyi, and Xiao Zhang—sat listlessly beside the white stone table in the reception hall. The four young women whose bodies they now inhabited had, over the years, grown into breathtaking beauties. Normally, the souls of the four elders controlled the bodies, while the young women, who revered them like gods, voluntarily remained dormant, ceding control of the flesh.

Baishui and Hanhe looked at Zhengyi and Xiao Zhang with strange expressions. Whenever their gazes momentarily met, they would simultaneously let out a helpless sigh.

After a long silence, Baishui finally asked in a low voice, "Are the two of you unharmed?"

Zhengyi and Xiao Zhang shook their heads simultaneously. After a pause, Daoist Xiao Zhang spoke with a grim face and low tone, "We momentarily allowed Qingshan and Qingye to awaken and take control of the bodies. They endured everything. They were so terrified that their three souls and seven spirits nearly collapsed. We have now ordered them to rest properly..."

Daoist Zhengyi frowned and spoke coldly, "Nothing else, just that our entire bodies ache terribly."

Hearing of the acute pain, Baishui and Hanhe’s expressions shifted again. After a long moment, Hanhe tried to soothe them, "This... this is also part of the tribulation. But every tribulation has an end. Once we are free from these bodies, we will compensate Qing, Qingye, and the others well enough."

The four elders looked at each other. After an immeasurable period, Daoist Xiao Zhang slammed a fist onto the stone table: "A fine Gu Xiechen, a fine Penghua! What deep-seated hatred do we bear that they would resort to such vile methods to entrap us?"

Daoist Zhengyi, grinding his teeth, violently struck his forehead against the stone table. He roared, "If we ever escape this trial, I, I..."

Suddenly, Daoist Zhengyi felt a spasm below his abdomen, a wrenching pain that made him shriek aloud. The wound in his lower body, which had just barely healed from his earlier violent movement, had reopened, and a large amount of blood gushed out, causing him to scream uncontrollably.

The demon immortal, transformed from the dove, watched the shrieking Daoist Zhengyi with malicious glee, feeling an immense surge of satisfaction.

Taking a deep breath, Immortal Dove smugly turned and phased out of the cavern. With the mine entrance and exit guarded so tightly, what could a group of powerless old Daoists possibly do to revolt? The deeper their resentment, the happier the disciples of the Nine Nether Path would be.

Once Immortal Dove departed the cavern, the expressions of the four elders changed abruptly, and they simultaneously let out cold snorts.

Xiao Zhang and Zhengyi struck the stone table in unison. With a crisp crack, a fist-sized shard broke off the table. This type of stone was extremely rich in metallic content, making it harder than raw iron. The fact that they could split off such a piece with a casual strike demonstrated that their skills were not as feeble as they appeared.

"Today's ultimate disgrace, we shall repay a million times over in the future," Xiao Zhang and Zhengyi muttered the curse in unison, their bodies trembling violently. The events of this day would undoubtedly become their inner demons, impossible to eradicate in this lifetime. When the dove immortal was present, they had pretended to awaken Qing Beast and Qingye to take control of their bodies, claiming the two young girls’ souls bore all the sensory input.

In reality, Xiao Zhang and Zhengyi were practicing some secret art, striving desperately to recover their Daoist cultivation and magical power. Qing Beast and Qingye had remained deep in slumber within their bodies; waking them up was not an easy feat. For the first two hours of the pirates' abuse, they had personally experienced every sensation.

It was a nightmarish scene. Cold sweat streamed down Xiao Zhang and Zhengyi’s faces. Suddenly, they collapsed onto the ground and began to vomit violently.

Baishui and Hanhe looked at the two disciples with impassive faces. They reprimanded them in low voices, "One must endure the bitterest hardships to achieve the highest state. The disciples of the Nine Nether Path have advanced their state of mind through ten thousand years of torment. In just a century, look how many of their followers have seen their cultivation skyrocket."

Pointing at Xiao Zhang and Zhengyi, Hanhe lectured, "The initial acts of targeting the Nine Nether Path disciples were incited by you two. Retribution is due; this suffering has fallen upon us. What is there left to complain about?"

True Master Baishui was silent for a moment, then suddenly sighed, "Over ten millennia, countless disciples of the Nine Nether Path have perished at the hands of our two sects. We drove them to build palaces, mine mountains, and some disciples even seized the primordial Yin and Yang essence of the Nine Nether Path followers to repair their own congenital deficiencies. We have accumulated all sorts of sins."

Daoist Xiao Zhang grinned maliciously, "So, does that mean we deserve this suffering?"

Daoist Zhengyi sneered, "Does that mean their revenge should be this cruel?" Baishui and Hanhe remained silent for a long time, finally just shaking their heads and sighing.

Xiao Zhang and Zhengyi exchanged a glance. They simultaneously used the excuse of needing deep recuperation and utilizing secret methods to nourish their primordial spirits and restore their divine powers, retreating into their respective bedrooms and closing the doors.

Putting aside Daoist Zhengyi returning to his room, the moment Daoist Xiao Zhang shut his door, a burst of pink light and shadow erupted inside the cavern. A hazy pink mist rapidly enveloped the entire space. As light and shadow shifted within the cavern, the small space suddenly became boundless, seemingly infinite. Looking out, it was as if one were standing in the starry heavens.

Beneath his feet was soft, tender, grassy ground, surrounded by ever-blooming flowers and eternally green trees within sight.

Magnificent landscapes and strange mountains rose abruptly from the earth. Exquisite pavilions faintly revealed their presence amidst the scenery. With the slightest movement of Daoist Xiao Zhang's foot, a flash of light crossed his vision, and his body rapidly arrived before a tall, grand palace.

This palace was entirely golden-yellow, constructed from large stones of a smooth and refined texture. In the plaza before the main hall, nearly a thousand statues of various forms were erected on the left and right: Heavenly Dragons, Celestial Maidens, Yakshas, Rakshasas, and even monstrous deities with a hundred heads and a thousand arms, or a thousand arms and ten thousand eyes.

In the span of a single stunned moment, the center of the plaza collapsed, revealing a pool nearly a hundred li long and wide, with clear springs flowing within. Jade-green lotus leaves began to sprout upon the water's surface, soon followed by pale-gold lotuses emerging from the leaves. Countless Bodhi groves suddenly sprang up around the pool. As the wind blew, vast swaths of Bodhi leaves drifted down; once they landed in the pool, they solidified into golden ripples spreading outwards.

In the very center of the expansive pool, a cluster of flourishing, large lotus leaves, several zhang in radius, suddenly rose up, cradling a multicolored lotus bloom, above which spanned forty-two white rainbows. That flower bud, large as a house, slowly unfurled, revealing a lotus seat within, and upon it, a tiny infant, standing one foot and two inches tall, as white and tender as if sculpted from fine paste.

This infant had a crimson mole on its brow, from which grew a single white strand of hair, thirty-six zhang long. The hair constantly swayed and scattered, stirring up a spray of mist. The infant's head was adorned with miniature spiral stupa-like temples, resembling fa towers.

The infant lay supine on the lotus seat in the posture of a reclining Buddha. As the stunned Daoist Xiao Zhang looked upon him, the infant slowly opened his eyes, rose gradually, and took a few steps in all directions. Then, pointing one finger to the sky and the other to the earth, he lightly roared like thunder: "Above heaven and below earth, I alone am supreme!"

With this single shout, everything around—the lotus pond, the Bodhi grove, the statues, the plaza—dissolved into nothingness. Daoist Xiao Zhang found himself in a boundless, pitch-black void. Existing alongside him was only the white-glowing infant dozens of li ahead.

The infant quietly observed Daoist Xiao Zhang, then suddenly commanded in a low voice, "As the Sect Master of Zhongnan, you were forced into a female body and suffered all manner of humiliation. Do you hate it?"

Daoist Xiao Zhang's body trembled. He stared blankly at the infant for a full quarter of an hour before coldly sneering, "Why ask me only now?"

The infant smiled faintly, "I have been observing you all for a century. The reason I address you at this precise moment is that your opportunity has arrived."

Daoist Xiao Zhang paid no heed to this so-called opportunity. Since this infant had been watching him for a hundred years, he understood that the "opportunity" was whatever the infant wished to weave it into. Having suffered such humiliation today, his heart still full of venom, he desperately craved an immensely powerful force to settle accounts with Gu Xiechen and the others. This must be the so-called opportunity.

Smiling coldly at the infant, Daoist Xiao Zhang sternly demanded, "Who are you?"

The infant looked back coldly, his body suddenly scattering into countless motes of white light. Speck by speck, the white light merged into the surrounding black void until, gradually, the entire boundless space brightened. Far in the distance ahead, a single point of white light slowly appeared.

That ball of white light seemed extremely small, but this was only due to the immense distance between Daoist Xiao Zhang and it.

Within that hazy white light, a strange celestial being lay reclining, possessing four arms, each holding a Chakra weapon, a conch shell, a bow and arrow, and an immortal staff made of lotus. The deity was adorned with golden and silver threads strung with countless jewels and pearls, its crown manifesting the celestial realms, within which the Eightfold Heavenly Dragons vaguely shimmered.

From the navel-eye of this celestial being, a slender stalk grew, bearing a gigantic lotus. Seated atop it was a four-faced deity. This deity had one head with four visages, draped in ornate garments, its hands raised high, supporting the infinite void, within which countless stars shone.

"You are..." Daoist Xiao Zhang was stunned. He seemed to have some recollection of this form, but since it had little connection to Daoism and was entangled with Buddhist karma, he could not immediately recall the figure’s origin.

"I am Vishnu! Master of a thousand names, the maintainer of cosmic order," the four-armed deity boomed at Daoist Xiao Zhang. "We are the Lords of the Universe, the true gods—what the Buddhists call Brahmins, symbols of the heretical path. We possess infinite power, yet we were subdued by the Buddha and made protectors of Buddhism."

Watching Vishnu cautiously, Daoist Xiao Zhang demanded, "What do you want with me?"

Vishnu roared with laughter that shook the heavens. His crown manifested his Ten Incarnations. Each incarnation unleashed a terrifying pressure that threatened to shatter Daoist Xiao Zhang’s physical body and soul simultaneously. Each incarnation possessed the power of a peak Daluo Jinxian, radiating boundless divine energy, infinite light, and heat.

Matsya (Fish), Kurma (Tortoise), Varaha (Boar), Narasimha (Man-Lion), Vamana (Dwarf), Parashurama (Rama with the Axe), Rama, Krishna, Buddha, Kalki—Vishnu’s Ten Incarnations roared at Daoist Xiao Zhang. Xiao Zhang’s physical body instantly shattered, and his two souls drifted out aimlessly.

The soul of the young Daoist girl, Qing Beast, who had accompanied Xiao Zhang for a hundred years, suddenly saw so many fierce gods and screamed in terror.

Vishnu touched his hand, and a lotus flower materialized from thin air, wrapping around Qing Beast’s soul. In a short while, a devastatingly beautiful woman drifted out from the lotus, ecstatically examining her new body, which was a thousand times more exquisite than her former flesh.

As Qing Beast’s new body stepped out of the lotus, celestial music drifted through the void, and golden flowers began to spurt from within her, scattering in all directions. A faint, ethereal fragrance rose from Qing Beast’s form, drifting around—a bodily scent potent enough to intoxicate even heavenly gods.

"Ah, Apassara's body is ever so beautiful!" Vishnu gazed at Qing Beast and praised with genuine admiration.

Daoist Xiao Zhang's eyes narrowed. Apassara. That was the companion of a Gandharva among the Eightfold Heavenly Dragons, the most beautiful goddess among the Brahmin deities, the embodiment of all beauty born from heaven and earth—a supreme delight sought by all gods.

Even though he was merely a wisp of a soul, upon seeing Qing Beast’s seductive figure, peerless beauty, and unparalleled charm, and hearing the celestial music surrounding her, the floating golden flowers, and the subtle fragrance, Daoist Xiao Zhang felt an immediate surge of primitive impulse.

"I will bestow upon you an incomparably powerful physical body, grant you immense divine abilities and magical power, giving you the strength to take revenge on your enemies. In exchange for all this, you must join us and serve us wholeheartedly. Can you do this?" Vishnu suddenly asked the soul fragment of Daoist Xiao Zhang.

"What if I refuse?" Daoist Xiao Zhang wished to maintain his last shred of dignity.

"Then, I shall bestow upon you the body of Apassara, making every man in the world mad for you!" Vishnu's reply was utterly crisp.

"Then, what must I do?" Without hesitation, Daoist Xiao Zhang immediately knelt before Vishnu and bowed deeply in homage.

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