On the surface, the nunnery appeared utterly ordinary, yet as Indra charged in astride his white elephant, he was immediately confronted by a boundless surge of violet mist, the air faintly perfumed with the scent of sandalwood and Bodhi trees. From the void above, the faint murmur of sutras descended—the Vajracchedikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra, which Indra knew intimately, having been forced to recite it countless times over the ages.

Across the vast, blinding white expanse of the sky, one hundred and eight ethereal figures of golden Arhats, each a hundred miles tall, slowly manifested. These Arhats grasped vajras, vajra-clubs, skill-implements, Dharma wheels, lassos, fire-nets, flying knives, and darts. In their left hands, they uniformly held a copy of the Vajracchedikā Sūtra, chanting it forth in voices as immense as thunder.

Furthermore, these golden Arhats did not chant in unison. Only when the first Arhat spoke the second character would the second Arhat begin the first character; thus, the chanting was staggered across all one hundred and eight Arhats. One hundred and eight voices rose sequentially, each one distinct yet merging into a continuous, deafening thunder that left Indra dizzy and disoriented.

His mount, the white elephant, proved entirely useless. Upon the appearance of the golden Arhats and the sound of the sutras, the elephant immediately fainted.

Indra staggered, nearly collapsing under the weight of the fallen elephant. In a rage, he brandished his lotus staff wildly toward the sky, roaring, “I am Indra, the Heavenly Emperor! You dare surround me with an array? You shall surely face heavenly retribution today!”

A cold, utterly impassive but exquisitely clear voice traveled from afar: “A mere unorthodox path dares violate the sacred grounds of the Buddha’s domain. Today, you shall receive the Buddha’s salvation. How dare you presume to speak of heavenly retribution?”

A female monastic, clad in dark robes, appeared out of nowhere in the void. Her beauty was peerless, possessing an endless grace akin to the jade willows by the Eight Treasure Merit Pool. In her hand, she held a golden alms bowl, from which flecks of golden sand continuously streamed, integrating into the bodies of the golden Arhats hovering in the void. She fixed her beautiful eyes upon Indra, her face flushed with visible fury, clearly hating him to the core.

Indra, however, was utterly undone. The moment he saw the nun, his entire body went weak, a surge of heat rushed from his lower abdomen to his scalp, and he nearly drooled. He hastily shouted, “Beauty! If you yield to me and spend one passionate night in my embrace, I shall make you my secondary consort!”

Poor Indra, his senses utterly clouded by lust, failed to notice that this nun possessed the cultivation of a peak-grade Grand Luo Golden Immortal—in terms of sheer power, she was slightly purer than him. Moreover, already trapped deep within the Buddhist formation she controlled, he still had the audacity to make lewd propositions. Could this be anything other than courting death?

The nun’s expression turned icy. With a casual gesture, she cast down a streak of golden lightning that struck precisely upon the crown of Indra’s head. The lightning exploded, releasing three fist-sized orbs: the ‘One Thought Light Sound Divine Thunder Seeds,’ refined over a thousand years by the nun from the collective profound Buddhist devotion and the astral winds and lightning from the Ninth Heaven. These seeds detonated successively above Indra’s head, shattering nearly half his skull, instantly reducing his armor and adornments to dust. With only a single pained howl, Indra was blasted into a grievous injury, collapsing onto the ground, utterly unable to move.

At this point, the Eight Winds Unmoved Vajra Zen Array had not even been activated; the nun had defeated Indra using only her own innate divine abilities.

Even the nun herself was momentarily stunned. She stared blankly at Indra and asked a question she knew was redundant: “Why did you not dodge?”

Indra’s face was slicked with blood. He let out choked, whimpering sounds, his expression impossible to discern.

For a dignified Heavenly Emperor to be so weakened by female beauty that he forgot he was on a battlefield, resulting in a direct hit from the nun—if this news spread, not only would it be the height of shame, but it would also ignite a hurricane of jealousy within his own harem. Recalling his wife, the Heavenly Empress Shezhi, only intensified the agonizing cries escaping Indra.

In the void, several golden Arhats slowly descended. Using ropes steeped in flame, they bound Indra tight, resembling a large steamed crab ready for market. They then erected a towering flagpole, a thousand zhang high, and hoisted Indra upon it.

A peal of thunder suddenly sounded above the Lichen Nunnery, the sky and clouds instantly changing hue. A golden flagpole slowly emerged, displaying Indra, stripped entirely bare and hanging from the pole. One hundred and eight golden Arhats sat cross-legged around him, silently chanting the Vajracchedikā Sūtra. The colossal fluctuations of their power enveloped Indra, threatening to crush him into powder at any moment.

The heavenly soldiers and generals surrounding the Lichen Nunnery panicked, falling into utter disarray. They glanced at each other, hastily abandoned Indra, and fled in a disorderly rush back to Sanlian City. Inside the city, countless celestial deities, Asuras, Rakshasas, and Yakshas immediately clamped their mouths shut. Save for the celestial deities, who remained silent, and a portion of the benevolent Yakshas who kept their lips sealed, most of the Asuras, Rakshasas, and the subordinate races spat out curses, violently denouncing the disgraceful Heavenly Emperor Indra. Great Celestial Gods like Kubera exchanged glances, heads bowed low, unable to utter a sound.

Especially conspicuous among the gods, surrounded by a group of beautiful celestial maidens, was an Asura beauty stamping her foot in fury. She shrieked, “Incompetent Indra! What ravishing beauty did he encounter in that nunnery to make him surrender so willingly?”

This Asura beauty—Heavenly Empress Shezhi, Indra’s wife—shouted fiercely, “Why haven’t you gone to save him? Yama? Where is your power of Death? Fan Yu, where are your flames? Kubera, where is your might that dominates the Three Realms? Go save that damned fellow now! How much longer must he endure this humiliation?”

Shezhi’s furious scolding forced the celestial deities to hang their heads in shame. Having lost their natal innate sacred artifacts, the strength of these deities had been greatly diminished. Even with their current power, they were not significantly superior to Indra. Should they attack the Lichen Nunnery, they risked suffering similar disgrace.

Kubera gave a wry smile and boomed, “Shezhi, our noble Heavenly Empress... the Heavenly Emperor’s safety is paramount. Before we can rescue him, we cannot employ brute force!”

While the deities stood helpless, the Rakshasas and Asuras below had cursed until their mouths were dry, and the Asura and Rakshasa Demon Kings were laughing so hard their bellies ached.

Although they failed to make Indra a sacrifice, witnessing the pathetic spectacle of this useless Heavenly Emperor was a supremely delightful event!

Even Vaimācitra, who was engaged in a fierce battle with numerous nuns in his own palace, rushed out enthusiastically. Standing stark naked, he gazed tens of thousands of li away at Indra, also naked, hanging from the flagpole.

The Asura Demon Kings were overjoyed. They hastily summoned their handmaidens and guards, bringing forth vast amounts of fine wine and delicacies. They sat atop the ramparts of their black iron city, happily drinking, laughing loudly, and enjoying the magnificent view of the Great Snow Mountains alongside the splendid sight of Indra dangling from the pole—boundless delight.

Even the most brutal of the Asuras refrained from charging out to pick a fight with the Buddhist cultivators. To witness Indra’s humiliation was such a rare fortune that even the most foolish Asura would never dream of intervening to save him at this moment.

The celestial deities were anxious and sorrowful; the demons were ecstatic and thrilled. Meanwhile, within a massive estate in a certain district of the Silver City, Gu Wuchen was laughing so hard he nearly suffered qi deviation. As he analyzed the Law Wheel of Pious Faith, Gu Wuchen witnessed the entire sequence of the unlucky Indra being captured alive by the nun. Unable to contain his boundless mirth, Gu Xiachen burst into loud laughter.

With one laugh, the Chaos Sacred Power within him, which had not yet been fully integrated, lacked one meridian channel, nearly shattering Gu Wuchen’s heart, which was as fragile as tofu pudding compared to the Chaos Sacred Power. The sharp pain in his chest nearly made Gu Wuchen faint. He quickly gathered his focus, managing just barely to guide the errant Chaos Sacred Power back into the proper meridian.

Sighing deeply, Gu Wuchen murmured, “You almost killed me. Hmm, Indra... wait, what are they doing?”

Just as the Chaos Sacred Power had malfunctioned, Gu Wuchen absorbed and adjusted the flow of energy in his body. A strand of Chaos Sacred Power fused with the newly formed Wheel of Wisdom, causing Gu Xiachen’s spiritual sense frequency to increase nearly ten thousand times. Gu Xiachen’s divine sense already covered the entire Polonimikabuyou Heaven; this sudden jump in frequency allowed him to perceive extremely subtle, minuscule details instantly. The frequency of divine sense was analogous to the mesh size of a fishing net: the higher the frequency, the smaller the mesh.

For a net of the same size, the area covered is equivalent, but the smaller the mesh, the more fish it can catch. Not just fish, but shrimp, pebbles, sand, and even the tiniest single-celled algae, provided the mesh is small enough, can be detected by this large net. Thus, the higher a cultivator’s divine sense frequency, the more capable they are of detecting minute details.

A higher divine sense frequency also makes it easier to find flaws and loopholes within Dharma seals and restrictions, allowing one to perceive things normally undetectable by standard divine sense frequency.

Accidentally activating the Wheel of Wisdom, Gu Wuchen’s divine sense frequency instantly multiplied by ten thousand. He immediately discovered two extremely faint dots above the Great Snow Mountain, emitting only the slightest residual Zen energy fluctuations.

Sweeping his Dharma Eyes over the two minute spots, Gu Xiachen instantly recognized them as entrances to Minor Thousand Worlds, derived from the Buddhist technique of Sumeru in a Mustard Seed. However, the auras emanating from the two spots were distinct—one seemed older and more profound, the other more dynamic and lively. Yet, both auras were equally pure and inscrutably mysterious.

Despite being derived from the same Buddhist minor-world Zen technique, the construction of these two Minor Thousand Worlds inherited two different streams of Buddhist inheritance.

One lineage was older and more aligned with the true essence of Buddhism; the other was clearly developed from the first but had undergone its own interpretation and refinement, making it easier to cultivate and offering greater variation, though its power was not significantly diminished.

Gu Xiachen smiled, nodding to himself. The aura that was ancient and distant must belong to the orthodox lineage of the two Buddhist Saints; the one that was more flexible and varied likely stemmed from Amitābha Buddha’s divine abilities.

Armed with the Buddhist scriptures provided by the Monkey, Gu Wuchen now understood the various divine powers of Buddhism thoroughly. His divine sense instantly simulated the aura fluctuations released by the two spots, carefully slipping into both Minor Thousand Worlds.

Before Gu Xiachen had comprehended the Wheel of Wisdom, although he could simulate the aura of Buddhist Zen arts with his divine sense, he could never achieve such perfection; there would always be deficiencies of twenty to thirty percent. But now, bolstered by the Wheel of Wisdom, he was as if born of Buddhism itself—he effectively became the Buddhist cultivator who constructed these Minor Thousand Worlds, perfectly mimicking the world's atmosphere to infiltrate them.

Both Minor Thousand Worlds were clearly temporary structures, each only about a thousand zhang in circumference, containing only a small thatched hut, within which three old monks sat.

The three old monks seated in the Minor Thousand World inheriting the orthodox lineage of the two Buddhist Saints were precisely the three monks from the isolated island in the Bottomless Abyss.

The mysterious old monk, still wrapped tightly, was diligently crushing and eating walnut kernels. Before the other two monks, a lotus flower appeared, upon which floated a cloud mirror several zhang square. They were using the Buddhist Celestial Eye divine ability to observe every movement on the Great Snow Mountain.

In the other Minor Thousand World, Pūrṇamāsa Bodhisattva and the Arhats Subduing Dragons and Taming Tigers, who served under Amitābha Buddha, also sat cross-legged in their thatched hut. Pūrṇamāsa Bodhisattva was happily engrossed in reading a ‘Vegetarian Cuisine Recipe Book’ originating from some unknown wilderness Zen temple in the mortal realm, while before the Arhats Subduing Dragons and Taming Tigers floated a purple-gold alms bowl, emitting a stream of vapor that similarly observed the battle unfolding over the Great Snow Mountain.

The six great monks in both Minor Thousand Worlds were silent, each adopting an air of inscrutable profundity.

Gu Xiachen suddenly recognized the auras of Pūrṇamāsa Bodhisattva and the Arhats Subduing Dragons and Taming Tigers. Back when he had just returned to the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths from the Chaos Space, someone had spied on him, only to be completely beaten away by his chaotic assault—it turned out three of these individuals were involved. Seeing their current pious façade, it seemed their injuries had fully healed. “Next time,” Gu Xiachen muttered internally, “I’ll hit harder.”

Pūrṇamāsa Bodhisattva suddenly shuddered, instinctively sensing that something was amiss. He cautiously surveyed his surroundings and quickly performed divination calculations.

Unfortunately, Gu Wuchen’s cultivation base vastly surpassed his own, and his overall power was immeasurably deeper. He could not calculate that Gu Xiachen had already resolved to teach him a harsh lesson. “I truly despise the calculating mannerisms of you chess players!”

Gu Xiachen smiled coldly. He genuinely despised those who styled themselves as grand strategists, especially those who considered him merely a piece on their board.

Now that his cultivation and power surpassed that of Pūrṇamāsa Bodhisattva and the others, how could Gu Wuchen tolerate this arrogance without playing them for fools a few times, treating them as pieces to be maneuvered?

His divine sense instantly pierced through the Polonimikabuyou Heaven, sweeping across the Three Realms and the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths. Gu Xiachen successfully located Grand Master Xuandu and others, who were currently preaching the Great Dao to a host of Grand Luo Golden Immortals in a certain blessed grotto-heaven within the Cave Origin Manifestation Heaven.

Looking at those Grand Luo Golden Immortals, Gu Xiachen nodded slightly. The Nine Nether Dao had forcibly subdued many leaders of the factions in the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths. Over the years, these immortals had stealthily infiltrated the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, taking large contingents of their followers and disciples down to the mortal realm to join the Nine Nether Dao.

Excluding the supreme overlords of the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths who allied with the Protector Heavens, approximately thirty percent of the immortal factions vanished without a trace, along with their lineages. Now, it appeared these immortals had been recruited by Grand Master Xuandu and his group.

After all, as the direct descendants of the Three Pure Ones’ orthodox line, it was easy to recruit a number of immortals simply by invoking the banner of the Three Pure Ones. Grand Master Xuandu and his faction were quietly accumulating power here. What were they planning?

With a few cold laughs, Gu Xiachen released his divine sense, instantly churning the Heavenly Secrets above that grotto-heaven into chaos. Regardless of how supreme their cultivation reached—the peak of Grand Luo Golden Immortal—Grand Master Xuandu and his group could no longer calculate anything nor perceive the changes occurring in the outside world.

Then, a thread of divine sense pierced directly into the Chaos Space. It effortlessly bound nearly a hundred exceptionally ferocious and violent Chaos Beasts and transported them over, forcibly confining them within the earth-vein spiritual nodes surrounding that renowned mountain and river.

He then extracted a massive amount of Chaos Spiritual Qi from the Chaos Space, condensing it into Chaos Heaven-Opening Divine Thunder. Gu Xiachen densely buried millions of these thunderbolts around the grotto-heaven where Grand Master Xuandu and the others hid. Gu Xiachen was extremely thorough; the quantity of buried Chaos Heaven-Opening Divine Thunder reached over a million. If this many divine thunders detonated simultaneously, it would be enough to obliterate nearly half of the Cave Origin Manifestation Heaven into chaotic nothingness. “To be the blade and the fish, to be the one who devours, I like this feeling very much! I like it!”

Gu Xiachen chuckled internally. The Protector Heavens intended to proceed to plunder other heavens after conquering Polonimikabuyou Heaven. He was simply waiting for these Protector Heavens to meet Grand Master Xuandu’s faction.

Of course, given the cautious nature of those three old schemers, they would not confront the Protector Heavens head-on. Therefore, Gu Xiachen had to force a confrontation. If their newly recruited disciples were all killed, Grand Master Xuandu’s faction would inevitably be enraged.

Having laid his ambush, Gu Xiachen retracted his divine sense. He monitored the battle on the Great Snow Mountain while carefully continuing his study of the Law Wheel of Pious Faith. He had grasped some of the mysteries underlying these Law Wheels; it seemed the fundamental reason the Saints established their doctrines lay within this Law Wheel.

It wasn't just the Saints establishing sects to guide sentient beings; the reasons why angels and the Sun God established their sects to absorb various forces of faith also seemed traceable to the root cause within this Law Wheel.

The power of faith, the power of thought, appeared to be an immensely significant force fundamentally linked to the transformation of the primordial spirit.

While dedicated cultivation could also render the primordial spirit transformation extremely potent, the power of faith seemed capable of accelerating the primordial spirit’s alignment with the Heavenly Dao and rapidly enhancing its cultivation.

The path of cultivation was an endless, boundless ocean, and the power of faith seemed to be a small boat floating upon this ocean. Though the boat might be small, it was enough to save vast amounts of time and effort during cultivation. Struggling forward alone in the boundless ocean versus sailing on a small boat naturally made the latter far easier and more comfortable.

The ocean water was also teeming with countless vicious fish constantly waiting to harm those crossing the sea—much like Heavenly Demons perpetually poised to attack cultivators.

But with this boat, the fish in the sea would have difficulty striking the cultivator. As the power of faith grew strong, the boat would grow larger, and even great sea whales would struggle to harm the cultivator aboard.

Of course, there were also hurricanes and tsunamis at sea, but having a boat was always better than having none. If the boat grew large enough, it could even withstand hurricanes and tsunamis.

More importantly, this boat could hold not just one person, but many.

The larger the boat, the more people it could accommodate, and the stronger their collective power would be to resist the fish and the storms in the sea.

The Ark of Faith accumulated by the two Buddhist Saints was likely large enough to shelter all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. This is why the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of Buddhism were said to enjoy eternal serenity, proclaimed to be indestructible through ten thousand tribulations.

As for the Vajras, Arhats, Heavenly Kings, Bhikshus, and so forth—excluding those few disciples with particularly profound cultivation or favored highly by the Buddhas—who else could board that boat? After all, this Ark of Faith was still not large enough!

Therefore, in order to forge an ever-larger boat, and to ensure more disciples no longer feared the myriad disasters on the boundless journey of cultivation, ever-greater forces of faith were needed, requiring ever-increasing numbers of believers! This is why there were disputes between sects! This is why there was contention for Fortune!

Such sectarian strife between Buddhism and the Three Pure Ones, and even within the Three Pure Ones themselves, was inevitable. After all, the Three Realms were only so large, and the total number of believers was fixed!

This is why Nuwa abandoned establishing a sect. She only needed one boat large enough to hold herself, preferring to drift alone upon the vessel, thereby escaping the terrible struggles, infighting, and bloodshed of sectarian conflict. This is why she could achieve pure tranquility.

A clear stream washed down from above, and Gu Xiachen felt his mind clear completely. He finally understood what the so-called struggles for lineage and sectarian disputes truly entailed. So, the concepts of ‘incense offerings’ and ‘believers’ served this purpose!

It made sense. If believers and disciples were merely a matter of appearance and status, then Gu Xiachen, with his disposition, wouldn't care for mere false prestige, let alone those who had long since attained Sainthood. When they contended for Fortune, lineage, and resources for establishing their sects, it ultimately boiled down to vying for the power of faith to continuously strengthen that Ark of Faith.

The Grandmaster of Heaven once possessed a massive ship, yet he insisted that all his disciples squeeze aboard. The boat was too small, the populace too numerous; the distribution of fortune was so thin that the vessel ultimately sank, leading to the demise of its passengers and the near-total annihilation of their doctrine. A spiritual light flickered in his eyes, and Gu Wuchen gained a deeper understanding of the so-called Heavenly Dao. His comprehension of what was termed incense, what was termed doctrinal lineage, became ever more profound.

No wonder that the moment the new universe was discovered, they rushed over without hesitation. It wasn't merely an issue of spiritual energy and Source; it was also about doctrinal lineage. How many people were there in total in this Three Realms? How many could it ultimately accommodate?

The population limit of this cosmic world was fixed. The believers they could develop, after expending countless efforts, were finite. But that new universe was vastly immense, trillions of times larger than this one, and the potential number of believers was also trillions of times greater. Not fighting to seize that universe would truly be absurd!

The Wheel of Wisdom continuously emitted a faint radiance, and Gu Xiechen once again gained a clear perception of the causes and consequences behind many matters.

As these realizations deepened, Gu Xiechen’s cultivation level surged higher and higher. He was enveloped by formless, colorless Holy Power of Chaos; his body was gradually becoming ethereal, merging with the void. The entire Three-Linked City remained under the control of Da Brahma and the others, but in reality, Gu Wuchen commanded the entire Three-Linked City.

Da Brahma and the others controlled every movement within the Three-Linked City; they governed this magnificent city from an observational high ground.

But Gu Xiechen controlled the city from the very root of its existence. Everything within the city was under his complete command. With the movement of his thoughts, if he willed the city to exist, it existed; if he willed its destruction, the Three-Linked City and everything within it would cease to be.

The Wheel of Heavenly Dao slowly manifested an infinite distance before Gu Wuchen. That giant wheel rotated sluggishly, echoing distantly with the Wheel of Balance and the Wheel of Wisdom within Gu Xiechen’s body. With a slight turn of the giant wheel, Gu Xiechen was no longer human-like, but transformed into a hazy aura.

The Wheel of Pious Faith began to spin faster, and wisps of Yin Qi of the Source were continuously injected into it. As Gu Xiechen's probing divine sense gradually permeated his body, a subtle new entity began to form within him, structurally identical to his original self.

"Faith."

"Believers."

"Speaking of believers... those dark creatures and the angels are the most suitable."

He chuckled deeply a few times, and Gu Xiechen closed his eyes, concentrating nine-tenths of his divine focus on the Wheel of the Law of Pious Faith, while the remaining small portion focused on the leaders of the Guardian Heavens, like Da Brahma.

Within the main control core of the Three-Linked City, Da Brahma, Shiva, and Vishnu hovered around the soul of the city—a crystal sphere about a hundred li in diameter, refined using Brahmanic Demonic Arts—suspended in the void in an equilateral triangle.

Every single action within the Three-Linked City was under the control of this crystal sphere; the city's immense energy was all managed by it. Originally, Da Brahma and the others had to expend tremendous mental effort to control the Three-Linked City, but now, with Dukat and Xiao Xiao, who was soul-bound to Dukat, this task became much easier. Xiao Xiao had merged into this main control crystal. Whatever Da Brahma and the others needed to do, they merely needed to issue a command to Xiao Xiao, and the task would be perfectly executed.

Naturally, only a command jointly issued by all three of them would be valid; any one or two could not issue an effective order. At this moment, the crystal sphere shimmered beautifully, displaying the battle situation on the Great Snow Mountain with perfect clarity.

Indra, stripped naked, was hung upon a flagpole. Countless Devas wished to rush out of the Three-Linked City to rescue Indra, yet they feared threatening his life. The Devas hesitated, daring not advance, while the Asuras roared with laughter.

Indra, half his skull blown apart, hung weakly in mid-air, gazing listlessly at the colossal Three-Linked City, his eyes filled with humiliation and entreaty. Well, there wasn't much humiliation left in his gaze; rather, the entreaty grew stronger.

As the Heavenly Emperor, being captured wasn't a first or second experience; Indra had a sufficiently robust nerve to withstand all these blows. But as the Heavenly Emperor, he had boundless blessings to enjoy, countless beauties awaiting his affection, and he hadn't drunk enough of his beloved Soma wine. Therefore, he didn't want to die, especially not at the hands of these Great Snow Mountain Buddhist cultivators whom he considered utterly weak.

So, he pleaded with his Deva brothers, pleaded with those damned Demon Kings—whoever could rescue him, he was willing to pay any price. "Even the demons; if they save me, I’d even offer them my princess in marriage."

Indra mumbled indistinctly, knowing that those great Demon Kings surely heard his soft murmur. Surely some Asuras or Devas, or some other young hothead coveting the Heavenly Emperor's princess, would come to his aid.

The female ascetic beside him also heard Indra's low mutterings. She slapped him across the face without hesitation, sending blood spraying from his mouth and nearly knocking him unconscious.

The female ascetic sternly shouted: "Enough nonsense! Listen well, you demonic fiends! Retreat immediately from the Parama-Nirvāna Heaven, hand over the Buddhist Sons you have captured, and surrender the chief culprits of this invasion of Parama-Nirvāna Heaven for us to deal with, and you might still have a path to survival."

She sneered a few times, tossing her head up haughtily, and declared: "If you do not retreat, this poor nun will immediately execute Indra!" The Devas were startled into movement, while the Asuras cheered loudly.

Pāpīyas suddenly leaped out of the Three-Linked City, transforming his body to a height of ten thousand li. He gathered his breath and roared: "Little nun, hurry up and kill Indra! This King is willing to marry you in return, hahaha! We can have a grand battle in the forbidden realm for three years as a reward! Quickly, quickly, kill Indra!" The crowd of demons roared with laughter, convulsing so hard they nearly choked.

Da Brahma’s voice suddenly echoed throughout the Three-Linked City: "Enough! In this state, how do you even speak of ruling the Three Realms? Rakshasas and Asuras, if we cannot cooperate wholeheartedly, the strength of us Guardian Heavens will be reduced several times over. Can we still achieve our predetermined goals?"

Shiva’s voice followed: "Enough, Pāpīyas, Rāvaṇa, you Demon Kings! Prepare for slaughter. Get the sacrificial fire ready! You can use these bald donkeys of the Buddhist sect as offerings, allowing us to gain even greater power!"

Vishnu’s laughter shook the Three-Linked City faintly. The massive city trembled, causing the very ground to undulate. Huge tremors spread continuously, and as Vishnu laughed, the Great Snow Mountain gradually collapsed and was destroyed.

Vishnu roared with laughter: "In this Great Snow Mountain are trillions upon trillions of Buddhist thieves! If we sacrifice them all, we shall gain infinite power. Be it the warriors of the Devas, the sons of the Asuras, the heroes of the Yakshas, or the brave Rakshasas—you all, prepare for battle!"

When Da Brahma, Shiva, and Vishnu disagreed, the Guardian Heavens dared to ignore them, knowing they could always seek protection from another titan after offending one. But when the three titans issued a joint command, from the Heavenly Emperor down to the weakest demon soldier, none dared to disobey in the slightest.

The forces of the Heavens began to assemble. Countless celestial soldiers and generals formed orderly ranks, beating war drums, sounding horns, and wildly shouting the battle cries of their respective tribes, charging out of the Three-Linked City amidst loud laughter.

The situation seemed as if heaven and earth were splitting apart, unleashing vast swathes of dark clouds. The dense cloud layer spread, hundreds of layers deep, obscuring the light of the sky and plunging the ground into darkness.

A magnificent rainbow light of seven colors erupted from the main control core of the Three-Linked City. Goddess Lakshmi, holding a golden vase and wearing a superior, serene smile, flew directly into the Great Snow Mountain, walked straight into the Li-Chen Nunnery, and lightly stepped into the Immovable Vajra Zen Formation of the Four Winds, casually plucking Indra down from the flagpole.

The female ascetic who had captured Indra let out a cry of alarm. She casually unleashed dozens of bolts of golden light lightning, carrying hundreds of grains of One-Thought Light Sound Divine Thunder Seeds, hurling them headlong at Goddess Lakshmi.

Goddess Lakshmi’s golden vase in her palm spurted out a rainbow light, effortlessly sucking the golden lightning and the Divine Thunder Seeds into the vase. With a mere tremor, they were transformed into abundant spiritual energy and merged into the precious vase. She smiled sweetly at the female ascetic and struck the Immovable Vajra Zen Formation of the Eight Winds with a blast of precious light from her backhand.

The powerful Zen formation dissolved into ice dust under the precious light. Goddess Lakshmi's innate divine ability could disrupt worldly restrictions and formations. With one strike, the formation's core was damaged; the accumulated Zen power and spiritual energy dissipated, and the one hundred and eight Vajras vanished into nothingness.

The great Devas, including Yama, Soma, Vanā, and Vāyu, along with the boundless Deva army, charged into the Great Snow Mountain from the center.

Led by the great Demon Kings like Pāpīyas, who stood tens of thousands of li tall and possessed countless arms of infinite might, the Asura army, along with the forces of several vassal races, charged into the Great Snow Mountain from the right flank.

Led by Kubera, the God of Wealth, countless Yakshas from the Yaksha nation roared loudly, riding a sea of blood-red dark clouds, charging into the Great Snow Mountain from the left flank.

Personally steered by Asura-Putra (Aśura-Putra), surrounded by ascetic immortals, they led the tribes of the Guardian Heavens—Gandharvas, Kinnaras, Mahoragas, and the Dragon Clan—transforming into a vast, menacing cloud of baleful energy that rammed and roared through the high sky, ready to reinforce the three armies below.

Goddess Lakshmi returned to the Deva formation with Indra. Numerous Devas rushed forward to welcome their Heavenly Emperor's return. Countless hymns were offered to Goddess Lakshmi; these Devas enthusiastically praised her as the single most powerful, boundless goddess between heaven and earth.

The moment the words "single most powerful, boundless goddess between heaven and earth" were uttered, the sycophantic Deva was smashed to pieces by a heavy scepter. Only a remnant of his soul managed to escape back to the Three-Linked City.

Boundless flames erupted from the void. Durgā appeared amidst the firelight, seated upon a black lotus platform. She looked down upon Goddess Lakshmi and laughed loudly: "Oh, the single most powerful, boundless goddess between heaven and earth! Are you willing to join Durgā in sparring with those bald donkeys?"

Three halos of light flashed above Durgā’s head. The black Demon-Subduing Goddess, the white Snow Mountain Goddess, and the crimson Bloodthirsty Goddess emerged from the light with laughter. They simultaneously employed Brahmanic Demonic Arts, conjuring countless bizarre, dancing phenomena that filled the sky, all provoking Goddess Lakshmi. Goddess Lakshmi tossed Indra aside, merely offering a polite nod to Durgā with a smile, then transformed into a seven-colored precious light and rushed back to the Three-Linked City.

Tuo Luo, merely offering a polite nod to Durgā with a smile, then transformed into a seven-colored precious light and rushed back to the Three-Linked City. Durgā’s expression darkened. She watched Goddess Lakshmi’s retreating figure and spat a cold curse: "A shameless, low-class woman with no courage or strength, only good at flaunting her charms."

Goddess Lakshmi heard Durgā’s words, but she ignored them, returning to the Three-Linked City with a beaming smile.

Durgā acted as if she had won a great victory. Seeing that Goddess Lakshmi offered no response to her curses, she sighed with satisfaction, leading her three divine avatars and countless divine soldiers towards the Great Snow Mountain. The three strong forces of the Guardian Heavens charged into the Great Snow Mountain, instantly turning it into a hellscape of blood.

The Buddhist divine abilities cultivated by the countless Buddhist cultivators within the Great Snow Mountain were skills that these Devas and Demon Kings of the Guardian Heavens excelled at exploiting. Since ancient times, the Guardian Heavens had been protectors of Buddhism, and their status and cultivation within the Buddhist sect were far superior to these current cultivators.

In terms of cultivation, magical power, combat experience, and even fighting will, the Buddhist monks of the Great Snow Mountain were vastly inferior to the Guardian Heavens.

Faced with the butcher's cleaver raised by the Guardian Heavens, the only thing the Buddhist cultivators could do was to hold their necks high, as straight as possible, to make it easier for the weapons of the Guardian Heavens to send their heads flying high.

Screams sounded continuously. Temple groves were burned to ruins, valleys were leveled, and famous monasteries turned to dust under the surging demonic flames.

Pāpīyas and the other great Demon Kings guided numerous Asura priests to ignite countless sacrificial fires along the way. Large numbers of Buddhist cultivators were thrown into the sacrificial fires and reduced to ashes. These cultivators were offered as sacrifices to the demonic gods worshiped by the Guardian Heavens, yielding immense power injected into the bodies of the Guardian Heavens. The beautiful female ascetics were seized by the Devas and Asuras and violated where they lay.

The handsome and sturdy monks were seized by the ugliest women of the Rakshasa clan and subjected to the same treatment.

Under the effect of terrifying demonic arts, the minds of these female ascetics and monks were confused, and they reacted intensely to the atrocities committed by the Guardian Heavens. The Guardian Heavens greedily enjoyed their prey; after satisfying their despicable desires, they tossed these victims into the sacrificial fires. Piercing screams rose to the heavens, and boundless resentment permeated the sky above the Great Snow Mountain.

The strength of the Guardian Heavens who attacked this time was greater than that of the Nine Nether Dao of the past. They were proficient in the vast majority of Buddhist techniques, and even more so in numerous demonic secret arts specifically designed to counter Buddhist Zen skills. Under the assault of these Guardian Heavens, the monks of the Great Snow Mountain scattered completely, suffering a crushing defeat.

In just two or three days, the front lines of the Guardian Heavens advanced over thirty thousand li; millions of monks died under their slaughtering blades.

If the Guardian Heavens hadn't been busy enjoying their spoils and looting every heavenly treasure and rare item they encountered, they would have already conquered the entire Great Snow Mountain. The slight power of the Buddhist cultivators was truly no match for them.

Of course, a few eminent Buddhist masters managed to display not weak orthodox Buddhist Zen skills to resist the attacks of the Guardian Heavens, but these masters were utterly defeated under Durgā’s frenzied assault. Durgā utilized the Brahmanic Sacrificial Demonic Art to transform them into a mass of pure energy to supplement herself. Durgā’s power grew ever stronger, while the courage of the Buddhist cultivators dwindled.

Gu Xiechen noticed that the six old monks from the two minor chiliocosms in the void finally showed signs of activity.

The old monk completely covered by a cloak let out a low cry: "The sea of suffering is boundless; the Buddhist sect is the shore. Devoutly submit, chant the sacred names of the Saints Guiding to the Western Paradise, Saint Jieyin, and Saint Zhunti—worship and prostrate with devotion, and you shall transcend the demonic tribulation and be free from demonic disturbance!"

As this voice sounded, sixty percent of the Buddhist cultivators within the Great Snow Mountain immediately knelt down. They shouted the Dharma titles of Daoist Jieyin and Daoist Zhunti in unison, reciting the Zhunti Mantra and the Jieyin Incantation, throwing themselves entirely into worshipping the two Saints.

The Wheel of Pious Faith, currently forming within Gu Xiechen, rotated slowly, and he sensed a vast amount of faith power being generated in the void.

The mysterious old monk suddenly brandished a seven-colored tree branch. As the branch appeared, a seven-colored precious light swept across heaven and earth, instantly illuminating the entire Great Snow Mountain.

Endless faith power continuously poured into the seven-colored tree branch, and a faint, hazy Daoist figure shot out from the branch.

Gu Xiechen was horrified. Could that tree branch be Zhunti Daoist's Seven-Jeweled Wonderful Tree? And that Daoist figure was clearly a wisp of divine left in the Seven-Jeweled Wonderful Tree, now gestating a clone amplified by the power of faith.

With a cold sneer, Gu Xiechen moved his divine sense. The small minor chiliocosm suddenly burst open like a balloon punctured by a needle. The three old monks were abruptly transferred into the Chaos Space, flailing in confusion. Dozens of Chaos Heavenly Thunders roared down, smashing the three old monks until they were utterly disoriented, spinning in place, smoking, and knocked unconscious.

The Seven-Jeweled Wonderful Tree, losing the control of the mysterious old monk, naturally lost its brilliance and could no longer absorb external faith power. The Daoist figure that had just emerged dimmed abruptly and soon vanished without a trace. Moon-Glow Bodhisattva, Dragon-Subduing Arhat, and Tiger-Taming Arhat also made their moves.

Moon-Glow Bodhisattva held aloft a Seven-Jeweled Relic Buddha Banner. He softly muttered: "The sea of suffering is boundless; bliss offers salvation. Why do you not devoutly convert to the Buddha Amitābha? What are you waiting for? Quickly recite the Supreme Tathāgata's Blessing Scripture; it can ensure your safety!"

But this time, it was even more direct. Before the monks in the Great Snow Mountain could even recite the scripture, a bolt of Chaos Heavenly Thunder crashed down. Moon-Glow Bodhisattva and the two Arhats also rolled their eyes and passed out. Being thorough, Gu Xiechen tossed the three old monks into the Chaos Space, placing them right next to the first three mysterious monks.

Fearing they might wake up and turn around, Gu Wuchen's massive divine sense circled through the void, locating a material called 'Kuiyin Crystal Iron,' reputed to have the highest tensile strength in the Three Realms. He forged several thin chains from it, shackling the six old monks together haphazardly. Hand to hand, foot to foot, and backside tightly pressed against backside, they were bound with an intimacy that defied description.

The Buddhist cultivators of the Great Snow Mountain lost their last shred of hope. The six monks, who had intended to display great divine abilities to save these cultivators from fire and water during their crisis and ultimately reap their near-death faith power, were secretly dealt with by Gu Xiechen. These cultivators could only rely on their own strength to resist the onslaught of the Guardian Heavens. But how could they be a match for them? Vats of sacrificial fire blazed up everywhere in the Great Snow Mountain, and countless monks were thrown into them. Gu Xiechen watched all this, merely nodding coldly.

The cause of today is the result of yesterday. Back then, they schemed against Fu Ya in the Netherworld; today, it was Gu Wuchen’s turn to scheme against them.

In the past, more than half of Gu Xiechen's Nine Nether Dao dark creatures were killed by these Buddhist cultivators; today, an equal number of lives would be used to sacrifice to them! Gu Xiechen smiled faintly; the Great Snow Mountain was completely lost. Chapter One: One hundred and six thousand-plus characters; Chapter Two will be updated shortly...

The speed of the Qidian backend... Yuán Yǔ C.