The Eye of the Demon Wind, within the Kingdom of Amitabha.

This was a colossal, eye-shaped nebula composed of billions of stars. The surrounding stars were in their vigorous prime, brimming with energy, casting a scarlet glow that dyed ninety percent of the area around the Eye of the Demon Wind a deep crimson.

Near the core of the Eye of the Demon Wind, nearly two-tenths of the stars had already entered their senescence. Their light was dim, some tinged black, already nearing the final stages of their lives. Occasionally, a star would suddenly collapse, unleashing an endless storm of energy that violently disturbed the surrounding desolate sky. Through the surging void, three golden longboats, each a hundred li in length, sped onward.

Each longboat measured a hundred li long and six li wide, featuring a tiered pavilion several li high at its center. From bow to stern, nine massive masts stood erect, their hundreds of sails, shimmering with a faint golden light, were driven by the energy storms from stellar eruptions, propelling the longboats rapidly through the void.

On the lookout tower at the bow, more than a dozen robed cultivators gazed ahead at the vast, empty stellar path with grim expressions. The once safe route was suddenly choked with innumerable meteors of all sizes, hurtling at high speed. They scraped against the dense belt of stardust, throwing up flames of extreme temperature, making the space ahead blaze scarlet, resembling a sea of fire.

The three longboats were forced to halt before this devastating meteor field. The pale gold sails on the masts slowly lowered. The three vessels drifted before the meteor belt, and more cultivators emerged onto the decks, watching the frantically churning sea of fiery meteors ahead with helplessness.

Suddenly, a wild beast's roar erupted from within that sea of fire and meteors. A monstrous creature, shaped like a fire qilin but possessing eight legs and twelve pairs of sharp horns, flashed momentarily amidst the boundless firelight. Dozens of meteors, each over ten li in diameter, were violently agitated by an unseen, immense force. They abruptly changed course, hurtling toward the three longboats like flies drawn to carrion.

The cultivators aboard the longboats shrieked in panic. They hurriedly hoisted the sails and hastily performed hand seals, urging the longboats to retreat along their original path. But those dozens of meteors approached too swiftly; escape was not an option.

With a flash of firelight, the rearmost longboat was struck by dozens of meteors. Its hull, protected by dozens of defensive formations, was utterly shattered. The massive bow section was pulverized by the impacts. Thousands of cultivators maneuvering the boat hastily escaped as beams of sword light, fleeing toward the two forward vessels.

Scarcely had these cultivators fled the destroyed longboat when tens of thousands of ultra-fine streams of fire shot out from the flaming meteor swarm, swiftly encircling and ensnaring them. The protective sword lights surrounding the cultivators instantly dimmed before their flying swords were destroyed by the intense heat, exploding into scattered plumes of firelight. The cultivators screamed, burned into orbs of flame, and within the blink of an eye, their souls were scattered, and their flesh and bone turned to ash.

The two longboats that had narrowly survived retreated desperately along their former route. From one of the vessels, a streak of brilliant, snow-white sword light suddenly shot forth, flashing once before vanishing without a trace. This was a sword light specifically forged for transmitting messages, traveling thousands of times faster than the longboats themselves.

The strange beast within the sea of fire roared once more, and several dozen more meteors flew up to pursue the sword light. However, they could never match the sheer velocity of the fleeing beam, so they eventually gave up. The Kingdom of Amitabha lay precisely at the core of the Eye of the Storm.

Centered around a colossal star on the verge of ending its lifespan, the eighteen planets orbiting this star all constituted the territory of the Kingdom of Amitabha. Each of the eighteen planets was massive, roughly ten thousand times the size of the original Earth, and they housed an immense population—the total citizenry of the Kingdom of Amitabha numbered three hundred billion souls.

Yet, due to the kingdom's precarious location, the stars in the core region of the Eye of the Storm were beginning to collapse and perish. Within the foreseeable future, all the stars surrounding the Eye of the Storm faced the possibility of unpredictable, catastrophic changes. The Kingdom of Amitabha was truly standing on the razor’s edge; a single misstep could lead to the annihilation of the nation and its people.

The successive rulers of Amitabha had always been figures of great talent and ambition, enabling the kingdom to grow from a minor state tucked away in a corner of a remote planet into the vast empire occupying eighteen worlds within a single star system today. When the current monarch realized the peril facing the kingdom, he immediately mobilized all the cultivators within the realm to expand their territory outward.

After a thousand years of strenuous effort, the cultivators of Amitabha finally located a place of supreme fortune outside the Eye of the Demon Wind—a planetary system whose stars were in their vigorous prime, offering superb conditions environmentally and otherwise. The Kingdom of Amitabha then mobilized the strength of the entire nation, forging countless flying longboats to gradually migrate its populace to this newly discovered system.

That streak of snow-white sword light successfully bypassed the interception of the sea of fire and meteors, transforming into a mile-long sliver of cold light that flew directly toward the capital city of Amitabha, landing on a solitary island within the eighth planet of the system.

This was a vast island spanning a thousand li. Every structure on it belonged to the Amitabha royalty. The sword light descended straight onto the pinnacle of a towering spire in the island's center, which spiraled skyward like three coiling dragons. An elder, clad in black robes and observing the celestial movements atop the tower, received the sword light. He merely brushed a finger over it, instantly absorbing the information contained within.

The elder’s previously composed expression instantly fractured. He stomped his foot hard, swiftly transforming into a shower of silver light that plummeted from the tower. In a flash faster than lightning, he arrived at a royal garden on the edge of the island within a few quick movements.

The current sovereign of Amitabha, King 'Yi Luoduo Ge', clad in white robes, sat upon a throne surrounded by blooming flowers, frowning as he observed several monks before him. These monks were twelve zhang tall, faintly enveloped in golden light, and spoke ceaselessly and incessantly, their words flowing like a torrent.

In the native tongue of Amitabha, 'Duo Lu Yi Ge' meant 'Immeasurable Wisdom.' King Duo Luoduo Ge was indeed the most sagacious of all Amitabha's emperors. Under his reign, the unification of the eighteen planets in this system was finally achieved. It was also he who led the countless cultivators of Amitabha to invent the flying longboats, granting them the capability for system-wide long-distance voyages.

Before King Duo Luoyi Ge, the cultivators of Amitabha only possessed the ability to travel within their own star system, much like the Void Realm cultivators of Earth’s Daoist cultivation world, who could navigate freely within the Solar System. It was only after King Duo Luoyi Ge led many cultivators to build the flying longboats that Amitabha gained the power to roam the cosmos, and its citizens gained the possibility of interstellar migration.

King Duo Luoyi Ge possessed a majestic bearing, and his own cultivation base was formidable. He held the rank of Mid-grade Golden Immortal, placing him among the top ten experts among Amitabha's billions of cultivators.

With restless eyes, King Yi Luoyi Ge narrowed his gaze at the monks, his fingers tapping impatiently on the soft cushion beneath him. Several palace guards of Amitabha stood behind his throne, glaring menacingly at the monks.

These monks, of unknown origin, had suddenly appeared within Amitabha territory three years prior. They possessed miraculous power and a tongue so agile it could seemingly raise the dead. As soon as they arrived, they seduced the populace of Amitabha into believing in their so-called Buddhas, urging them to pursue so-called liberation and the so-called Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss.

Since the appearance of these monks, the previously stable political situation in Amitabha had begun to drift toward the uncontrollable. The forces opposing Amitabha’s rule, which had seemed to vanish, had reignited. Wars flared across all eighteen planets.

Intelligence reports from the secret organization controlled directly by King Duo Luoyi Ge indicated that these armed resistance forces seemed to be receiving aid from the monks. They were deliberately and unintentionally shaking the populace's faith in Amitabha’s rule, proclaiming to the citizens that all the suffering they endured was the fault of King Duo Luoyi Ge.

And today, they had dared to approach King Yi Luoduo Ge directly, attempting to propagate their doctrine and persuade him to believe in their supposed Buddha!

With a cold laugh, King Yi Luoyi Ge waved a hand, cutting short the monks' eloquent sermonizing. He mocked them, "Your Masters have said much, yet I fail to grasp most of it. In essence, your core philosophy centers on the word 'Compassion'?"

The monks smiled in unison, cupped their hands, and chanted, "Our Buddha is compassionate. Your Majesty having discerned the word 'Compassion' from our teachings is proof of Your Majesty's great wisdom and profound affinity." With a chuckle, King Yi Luoduo Ge suddenly straightened up and roared, "If you are compassionate, why then did you incite the fires of war within our borders?"

Slamming a hand on his throne, King Yi Luoduo Ge glared at the monks and furiously denounced them, "War rages, living beings suffer, and the populace is displaced—is this your so-called compassion? Nonsense! It stinks of falsehood! You wish to use the conflagration to make my subjects lose faith in their hearts so they will trust your Buddha! Preposterous! Such (heretical/demonic speech) and audacity to display such arrogance before me?" The monks looked toward King Yi Luoduo Ge with expressions of self-reproach, yet the smiles on their faces never wavered.

A monk wearing a pink lotus pendant on his chest chanted a Buddhist salutation, then chuckled softly, "Your Majesty, please calm your anger. This matter was done with our best intentions."

King Duo Luoyi Ge’s eyes went stiff with rage. These monks had stirred up countless conflicts within his borders, leaving him scrambling to extinguish them everywhere. Tens of thousands of his cultivators had been killed or wounded, and the civilian casualties numbered in the tens of millions. And this was supposedly their 'good intention'?

With a long sigh, the monk smiled faintly and continued, "We merely passed through your domain by chance and found the hearts of your people to be pure—truly a blessed land. However, the people within are born carrying inherent sins, and ruin is imminent. Therefore, we merely employed measures ahead of time to save a portion of the populace."

Another monk, from whose palm a faint golden light emanated, took up the conversation with a gentle smile, "It is like a festering sore; the pus must be drained first before gradual healing can begin. These innate sins must first have their malevolent energy vented through the disaster of war, and only then, through the supreme divine abilities of our Buddhist sect, can they be truly transcended and dissolved."

King Yi Luoduo Ge merely sneered coldly, watching the monks, eager to see what further justifications they offered.

The monk wearing the lotus pendant smiled faintly, cupped his hands together, and said, "Now that the three-year tribulation of war has passed, several hundred million people in your kingdom have already converted to our Buddha. The time is ripe. That is why we have sought an audience with Your Majesty, to lead Your Majesty into our faith, accumulate infinite merit, and resolve the disasters facing the Kingdom of Amitabha."

King Duo Luoyi Ge's face grew increasingly grim. The conversion of hundreds of millions of subjects into Buddhist followers was the most direct consequence of the three-year calamity of war—in the midst of continuous warfare and mountains of corpses, ordinary people struggled merely to survive. Offer them a sliver of hope, and they would naturally have no other choice. All those who had become Buddhist adherents came from the regions where the rebellion had been most intense.

Although King Yi Luoyi Ge had mobilized his armies to crush the rebellious forces and the leaders of those forces had been executed one by one, the people in those regions had aligned with Buddhism during the three years of continuous conflict. This infuriated King Duo Luoyi Ge.

In three years of warfare, any citizen who believed in Buddhism remained safe; any citizen who did not convert suffered heavy losses amidst the chaotic armies. King Yi Luoyi Ge was a king of great wisdom; not even a pig would fail to grasp what was truly behind this scheme.

With a cold laugh, King Duo Luoyi Ge stated calmly, "Know this: a mere few hundred million subjects cannot shake My resolve."

He glared coldly at the monks and spoke in a frigid tone, "No matter how eloquently you speak, I shall heed none of it. Today, I have finally found the main culprits behind the continuous military disaster. Today, I shall issue a decree: 'Exterminate the Buddhists'!"

The expressions of the monks shifted slightly. They shouted in unison, "If Your Majesty does this, then no one can save the Kingdom of Amitabha from great disaster!"

King Yi Luoyi Ge threw his head back and laughed loudly. He shook his head and sighed, "What great calamity could my Kingdom of Amitabha possibly face that requires your salvation? What a joke!"

Before the words had faded, a cascade of silver light rushed in from outside the garden. The nearby palace guards dared not intercept it, making way for the shower of silver light to reach King Yi Luoyi Ge. The light abruptly condensed inward, revealing the figure of the black-robed elder. King Duo Luoyi Ge’s face changed, and he hurriedly stood up, asking with alarm, "Grand Celestial Observer, what urgent matter brings you?"

The black-robed elder hurriedly pulled from his sleeve a snow-silver flying sword, about a foot long, shaped like a feather, extremely light and thin, emitting a faint chill. He presented it reverently to King Yi Luoduo Ge. This sword was the physical form of that mile-long, bright sword light.

King Yi Luoyi Ge took the sword, lightly ran his finger along the edge, and extracted the message contained within the light beam.

His body violently shuddered. King Yi Luoyi Ge’s face turned ashen, and a trickle of blood suddenly ran from the corner of his mouth. He looked at the Grand Celestial Observer with horror and asked, word by word, "How could this have happened?"

The Grand Celestial Observer let out a tragic laugh. "The one leading the flying longboat fleet was Your Majesty's most loyal general. How could they dare deceive you on this matter? Of the three hundred flying longboats, only two remain. Our Kingdom of Amitabha will be unable to forge a new longboat fleet for ten thousand years."

Coughing a few times, the Grand Celestial Observer continued with a pained smile, "But our mother star has at most three thousand years left of life. After three thousand years, the mother star can no longer sustain its current form. Once the mother star dies, within ten years at most, the citizens of Amitabha..."

Without the central guidance, without the light of the star, the three hundred billion citizens of Amitabha would likely perish entirely within less than a decade.

King Yi Luoduo Ge rapidly performed calculations with his fingers. After calculating for a long time, he managed to comfort himself, "There are still two flying longboats, only two. Each flying longboat can transport three million citizens at a time; two means six million. In three thousand years, perhaps, perhaps..."

The Grand Celestial Observer staggered, suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood, and lamented hoarsely, "But one round trip from Amitabha to the new territory takes fifty years! In three thousand years, even if the population of Amitabha did not increase by a single soul, three hundred billion souls, three hundred billion souls!"

"How could this be? How could this be?" King Yi Luoyi Ge roared, his voice raw with anguish. "One hundred flying longboats, hundreds of thousands of Amitabha's strongest cultivators, and yet... and yet..."

The monk wearing the lotus pendant by the side suddenly smiled and whispered, "Your Majesty, if you join our Buddhist sect, eternal security is assured!"

King Yi Luoyi Ge's expression shifted, and he suddenly turned to look at the monks.

The Grand Celestial Observer’s face grew even uglier. He pointed at the monks and roared in fury, "Audacious fiends! Did you attack the longboat fleet?" The monks inscrutably cupped their hands together, continuously chanting the Buddha's name. After a long moment, the monk whose palm emitted golden light sighed condescendingly, "Past life's sins are repaid in this life... everything is as fate dictates."

King Yi Luoyi Ge laughed coldly. He pointed at the monks and commanded sharply, "Guards! Seize them! Torture them severely!"

Suddenly, thousands of streaks of sword light shot up from the dense forest surrounding them. Thousands of palace guards of Amitabha materialized in formation, setting up a killing array in the void. Countless sharp energies subtly aimed at the vital points of the monks.

The sound of heavy footsteps echoed as a dozen generals of Amitabha’s Imperial Guard advanced. These generals were encased in armor that blazed with light, their muscles knotted beneath it, possessing cultivation levels around Early Golden Immortal. However, their physical bodies were extraordinarily tough, comparable to Taiyi Golden Immortal level body cultivators.

These Imperial Guard generals unleashed their divine senses, locking firmly onto the monks. In their hands, they carried silver chains forged using an Amitabha secret technique, made from the sinews of giant pythons that had lived for ten thousand years in the mountains. These chains were thin as strands of hair, stretching over twenty zhang long. Once they closed in, they pierced acupoints, specifically designed to seal off all channels and vital points in the body. Even a Taiyi Golden Immortal bound by them would be utterly immobile. Gazing at the monks, King Duo Luoyi Ge sternly commanded, "Capture them!"

The dozen Imperial Guard generals lunged forward simultaneously. The silver chains in their hands hissed like pythons, transforming into a dozen streaks of silver light that coiled down toward the heads of the monks. The silver light was like snow, shimmering and swirling across the sky, carrying a chilling frost that swept in all directions. It seemed certain that the monks would be trapped by the silver chains and unable to move.

Just then, a long, resonant laugh rang out. The six monks simultaneously chanted the Buddha’s name, and a golden light erupted from above their heads. Within the golden light were one, two, or three śarīra relics, respectively.

These relics, varying in size from an egg to a fist, emitted a dazzling brilliance. Before the silver chains could even approach the bodies of the six monks, they were blocked by the pure light, unable to get near. King Yi Luoduo Ge was terrified and shouted, "Guards! Seize them!"

The Imperial Guard generals roared in unison, their fists striking like thunder and lightning, stirring up gusts of wind and crackling electricity as they lunged toward the six monks. As Imperial Guard generals, their specialty lay in body cultivation techniques, focusing on charging into battle and close-quarters combat. These generals summoned heavenly lightning and earthly fire to adhere to their bodies, launching heavy punches that materialized as unyielding thunderbolts against their enemies.

The six monks sat cross-legged, smiling faintly. They watched the Imperial Guard generals descending from the high altitude, shaking their heads in pity and disdain. In their eyes, the techniques of these generals were pitifully crude. Although their momentum was fierce and grand, they were riddled with flaws everywhere.

The monk wearing the lotus pendant sighed deeply, "The boundless wonderful manifestations of our Western Pure Land await. Why do you not quickly submit?"

With a casual gesture, he pointed lightly into the void. Dots of golden light flew from his fingertips, transforming into dozens of golden lotuses that curled upward. The dozen Imperial Guard generals felt as if their fists were striking a vast, boundless ocean; the force was soft and yielded no resistance, instead rebounding with infinite gravitational pull.

With a snort of anger, the dozen generals were thrown backward by the impact of the golden lotuses. The immense rebound force injured their internal organs, and thick, pale golden blood spurted simultaneously from all seven orifices. In a single exchange, the strongest dozen generals surrounding King Duo Luoduo Wang were utterly defeated.

The Grand Celestial Observer roared in fury. He suddenly drew a small black five-pointed magic staff, hopping and skipping excitedly for a moment. Then, he spat a mouthful of blood onto the staff, mumbled an incantation while gesticulating wildly, and suddenly pointed toward the sky.

A dozen stars in the void abruptly brightened, and a hazy starlight sprinkled down everywhere, instantly condensing into twelve pitch-black pillars of light that swept viciously toward the six monks. The light pillars solidified as if they were tangible objects. As the starlight descended, a piercing storm sound echoed throughout the surroundings. The starlight seemed almost substantial, whipping up huge sonic booms in the air.

The monk holding the golden light in his palm nodded in surprise. "Not bad, not bad. To actually provoke stellar power to attack—but this divine ability is still too shallow!"

In any universe, the power of the stars is the most vital and crucial form of energy. Stars are the condensed essence of heaven and earth's energy, and stellar power belongs to one of the most profound rules within the Heavenly Dao. To be able to provoke stellar power to attack proves that the Grand Celestial Observer possesses a considerable understanding of the trajectories and rules governing the celestial bodies, enabling him to summon stellar force.

However, his cultivation was ultimately insufficient. The Grand Celestial Master could only summon the faint power of twelve stars, which was hardly enough to deal with these monks.

The monk whose palm continuously spat golden light casually raised his hand toward the void. Golden radiance erupted from his palm, transforming into two massive golden hands that firmly blocked the space above, shielding the six monks. The twelve dark pillars of light descended heavily, managing only to make the two golden hands tremble slightly, rippling without disturbing the monks' true forms in the slightest. "A mere glow from a grain of rice—take this slap from this humble monk!"

Having effortlessly neutralized the Grand Celestial Master’s all-out strike, the monk with the lotus pinned to his chest smiled calmly, his eyes narrowing as he cast a faint glance at the Grand Celestial Master. A wondrous brilliance flashed in his eyes, and boundless illusions sprang into existence from thin air. The Grand Celestial Master’s body convulsed, and a wisp of his soul was instantly sucked into the illusion within the monk’s eyes.

Celestial maidens danced wildly, and an endless stream of magnificent and unbelievable phenomena unfolded. The Grand Celestial Master’s aged face twitched, and blood misted from his seven orifices. A verdant, eerie flame began to burn slowly from beneath his soles. Inner demons erupted within the Grand Celestial Master, drawing that wisp of yin fire to gradually incinerate his vital essence. Once this yin fire burned from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head, the Grand Celestial Master would instantly be reduced to ash, his soul scattered and gone forever.

King Yilu Zangu observed the Grand Celestial Master’s dire predicament and could not help but roar in anger, "Evil fiends! How dare you injure others with wicked arts?"

King Yilu Yigu, boiling with rage, let out a mighty shout. Thousands of palace guards in the air cried out in unison, and thousands of streaks of sword light simultaneously descended, hacking down toward the six monks. As the close personal guards of the King of Zhimituo, the weakest among these palace guards possessed the cultivation equivalent to the peak of the Celestial Immortal realm, their physical bodies formidable, their magical power surging and mighty.

The flying swords they wielded were also treasured artifacts of the Immortal-grade, accumulated over the successive dynasties of the Zhimituo Kingdom. Although they were the most unremarkable of the low-grade Immortal Artifacts, the descent of thousands of such artifacts created an astonishingly grand momentum.

The six monks dared not underestimate this attack; even many could overwhelm the few. A combined strike from thousands of Immortals, if one were careless enough to capsize in a ditch, would not only cause them immediate losses but also invite ridicule from their peers back home—they could not afford to lose face.

With a cold sneer, the six monks joined their palms, and their profound Buddhist power merged into one. They chanted the Buddha’s name in unison, and a ball of crimson flame suddenly erupted from within them, transforming into a towering pillar of fire that rushed to meet the myriad sword lights showering down from the sky.

Within that crimson flame, subtle lotus blossoms could be faintly seen circling. In the blink of an eye, these lotus blossoms converged to form an immeasurably vast crimson lotus pedestal. The true form of a Wisdom King, possessing a horse’s head, eight arms, and towering thirty-six zhang high, materialized in the air upon the lotus pedestal.

This Horse-Headed Wisdom King threw back its head and laughed, casually sweeping its hand across the sky. The thousands of flying swords struck as if hitting iron blocks, creating a cacophony of ding-ding-dang sounds as they were all flung away by the Wisdom King’s arms. The thousands of palace guards high in the sky had their primordial spirits injured by the backlash, and they fell to the ground vomiting blood.

The Horse-Headed Wisdom King sneered and heavily waved its hand. A streak of fire light accompanied by a clap of startling thunder shot from its palm, tearing open the night sky and piercing toward a colossal mountain soaring into the clouds in the distance. With a faint whirrr sound, that mountain, along with about one-third of the area of the island where the Zhimituo Imperial Palace was situated, vanished without a trace amid soaring flames.

King Duolu Yigogu’s expression shifted. He gazed at the six monks and roared, "Bold! Truly audacious!"

A streak of golden light shot up into the sky beside him. King Duolu Yigogu activated a high-grade flying sword secretly passed down through the Zhimituo Kingdom’s dynasties, condensing his Dharmic power into a single, dazzling golden beam that stabbed directly toward the monk with the lotus on his chest.

The lotus pinned to the monk’s chest suddenly flashed with a soft light, transforming into a pink, lotus-shaped sphere of radiant light the size of a rice bushel, which blocked King Duolu Yigogu’s full-strength strike. Buddhist light flickered, and the sharp piercing force contained within King Duolu Yigogu’s sword light was completely absorbed. Following this, a repulsive force surged outward, causing King Duolu Yigogu to grunt and be swept back over ten zhang by a wash of Buddhist light.

The Buddhist light swept over King Duolu Yigogu’s entire body, instantly draining him of all strength, as if all his energy had been siphoned away. He fell to the ground in a miserable heap, struggling violently, yet only able to twitch like a lifeless dog with its tendons cut, unable to move a single finger.

"Insolent wretches! Insolent wretches!" King Yilu Yigu realized in horror that the cultivation level of these six monks had reached an inconceivable realm; even the full might of the Zhimituo Kingdom might not be enough to subdue them. No wonder they had been able to cause such upheaval in the Zhimituo Kingdom over the past few years. Without needing to ask, the misfortune of the Flying Dragon Boat Fleet must also have been their doing.

But along its journey, the Flying Dragon Boat Fleet had either encountered terrifying cosmic storms, been trapped by the gravitational pull of black holes or neutron stars, or been attacked by incredible cosmic beasts. If all of this was orchestrated by these six monks, just how much power did they possess? And how powerful was the force behind them?

Having crushed the defenses of the Zhimituo Imperial Palace with destructive force, and with even King Yilu Yigu defeated and lying immobile on the ground, the six monks stood up proudly, clasped their hands, chanted the Buddha’s name, and the monk with the lotus on his chest asked affably, "Your Majesty, will you grant our request? Establish our Buddhism as the state religion of Zhimituo, and appoint my fellow disciples as the National Zen Masters of Zhimituo. From now on, Zhimituo will experience smooth sailing."

King Yilu Yigu looked coldly at the six monks, his mind racing through the trump cards he still held in reserve.

Seeing King Yilu Yigu’s demeanor, the six monks suddenly sighed heavily.

One monk sighed at length, "In that case, today we must invite Your Majesty for a tour of the Western Pure Land. As for the Zhimituo Kingdom, fortunately, there are still those capable of ruling it."

The monk with the lotus on his chest smiled subtly, "Is it perhaps the current Crown Prince of the Bamiluo Kingdom, which was destroyed by Zhimituo six hundred years ago?" Another monk smiled, "Senior Brother is absolutely right; it is indeed Crown Prince Bosi Tuo!"

The monk whose palm continuously spat golden light nodded and praised with a chuckle, "A brilliant plan! Crown Prince Bosi Tuo is a man of great fortune and immense destiny, possessing great compassion and great affinity for the Buddha. He is precisely the best choice for the ruler of Zhimituo."

King Duolu Yigu trembled with rage as he listened to the monks discussing amongst themselves. He shouted fiercely, "Impossible! Bosi Tuo is vicious-hearted, having slaughtered over a hundred thousand innocent people to cultivate wicked arts! How could such an evil person become the sovereign of Zhimituo?"

The monks spoke in unison, "Put down the butcher's knife and achieve Buddhahood immediately. Crown Prince Bosi Tuo possesses great wisdom and great resolve. After our guidance, he has already become one of us in the Buddhist sect. How could such a person of great fortune, great destiny, great wisdom, and great resolve not become the lord of Zhimituo?" As the monks’ words echoed in the air, a mocking, derisive laugh suddenly drifted from afar. "Blathering nonsense, disgusting!" "A mouth full of moralizing essays, a belly full of black and yellow dog filth—foul, foul!" "Feigning piety on the surface, yet harboring every sort of depravity within! How can the Buddhist sect produce such utterly despicable wretches?"

"Heh, 'Put down the butcher's knife, achieve Buddhahood immediately.' Are these six bald donkeys not ashamed? With their low-grade cultivation, they are still worlds away from achieving Buddhahood themselves, yet they dare to speak of becoming Buddhas and Patriarchs! With their character, how can they redeem others to Buddhahood?"

Amidst the fit of mocking laughter, nearly a hundred monks and nuns, who were unusually tall, robust, and non-mortal in appearance, strode in. The personal guards near King Duolu Yigu had all been struck down by the six monks and were still groaning on the ground; thus, not a single one barred the way of these monks and nuns.

The six monks stared blankly at this group of nearly a hundred aggressive monks and nuns. The monk with the lotus on his chest exclaimed in surprise, "Which Venerable Senior Brothers come from afar? We are disciples under the seat of the 'Precious Flame As-You-Wish Buddha,' a direct disciple of Amitābha Buddha in the Western Pure Land. This humble monk is the Precious Light Lotus Monk!" The monk emitting golden light from his palm quickly cried out, "This humble monk is the Precious Light Myriad-Skill Monk!"

The other four monks were far inferior to the Precious Light Lotus Monk and the Precious Light Myriad-Skill Monk. Although they were all disciples under the Precious Flame As-You-Wish Buddha, they merely clasped their hands in salutation and did not announce their names, clearly leaving everything here to be handled by the Lotus Monk and the Myriad-Skill Monk.

The approaching group of monks and nuns glared menacingly at the monks led by the Lotus Monk and the Myriad-Skill Monk. The leader, a monk with a fair complexion, rosy cheeks, and a faint red glow emanating from his body, sneered, "I am the Founding Great Disciple, the Sun-Light Bodhisattva, under the seat of the Great Accomplishment, Great Wisdom, Great Intellect, Bright Nature, Bright Virtue, Bright Dao Emperor Venerable King Buddha of the Western Pure Land. Have you six bald donkeys heard of this Buddha's title?"

Another tall, robust monk covered in muscle knots, holding a Demon-Subduing Pestle, roared, "I am the Founding Great Disciple, Molian, under the seat of the Great Might, Great Wisdom, Great Intellect, Bright Nature, Bright Virtue, Bright Dao Emperor Venerable King Buddha of the Western Pure Land. Meeting a monk upon setting out—my luck is truly terrible today!"

Furthermore, an ugly, robust female nun sternly shouted, "This humble nun is Tuo Long. My master is precisely the Great Flourishing, Great Wisdom, Great Intellect, Bright Nature, Bright Virtue, Bright Dao Emperor Venerable King Buddha of the Western Pure Land. You six bald donkeys clearly aren't good people. Trespassing into someone's palace backyard, are you intending to commit acts of **abduction and plunder? Speak quickly, why have you come here?"

These monks and nuns were precisely the Sun-Light Bodhisattva and Molian, Great Disciples under Fuyaming, accompanied by Tuo Long Shi Da, an inner disciple, along with eighty-one disciples they had taken in at the Returning Goose Great Snow Mountain. They were traveling the world spreading their doctrines after leaving the Pure Land of the Ultimate Bliss bestowed by the two Saints, Jieyin and Zhunti.

This was their very first day traveling since leaving the Pure Land of the Ultimate Bliss, and they ran right into the forced proselytizing of the Lotus Monk and the Myriad-Skill Monk, which is why Molian said, "Meeting a monk upon setting out, my luck is truly terrible today."

The Lotus Monk, the Myriad-Skill Monk, and their four junior brothers stared dumbfounded at this group of ferociously grim monks and nuns. After a long pause, the Lotus Monk stuttered, pointing an accusing finger at the Sun-Light Bodhisattva, and roared, "Pre-presumptuous! The Sun-Light Bodhisattva is one of the Eight Great Venerables of our Buddhist sect! Who are you, demonic monk, what bald donkey have you sprung from, daring to usurp the title of Sun-Light Bodhisattva?"

The Sun-Light Bodhisattva opened his mouth and roared with laughter, "So there is another Sun-Light Bodhisattva? Heh, next time I’ll ask Master to pinch that Sun-Light Bodhisattva to death, and this Dharma title will be exclusively mine! Wonderful, wonderful!" The Myriad-Skill Monk pointed at Molian and furiously rebuked, "Insolent! How dare you! Molian is one of the Ten Great Disciples under the Buddha Ancestor! You, you, you have the audacity to usurp his esteemed Dharma name? Aren't you afraid of heavenly retribution?"

Molian glared at the Myriad-Skill Monk and sneered, "Afraid? What do we fear? They have Saints backing them; do we not have Saints backing us? Not only Saints, but your group of bald donkeys' ancestors!"

With a wild laugh, Molian waved his hand behind him, pointing at the six monks and roaring, "Junior Brothers! Attack! Hack and slash wildly! Kill them dead!"

Raging killing intent surged forth. The eighty-one junior brothers behind Molian grinned wickedly, dense Buddhist light soaring up from their bodies, instantly transforming into eighty-one overwhelmingly powerful light-rainbows charging toward the six monks. Alas, the cultivation of the Myriad-Skill Monk, the Lotus Monk, and their six companions was only that of Taiyi Golden Immortals.

Yet, these inner disciples taken in by Fuyaming at the Returning Goose Great Snow Mountain, through her diligent cultivation over the years, and the painstaking efforts of Saints Jieyin and Zhunti who spared no expense—even using their vital essence to wash and reshape their tendons and marrow—had long since reached the realm of Grand Unity Golden Immortals, the weakest among them possessing mid-grade Grand Unity Golden Immortal cultivation! Eighty-one Grand Unity Golden Immortals ganging up on six Taiyi Golden Immortals—what a sight this was!

In just one collision, the six monks cried out mournfully and fell to the ground, their magical power completely bound by at least a thousand Buddhist restrictive seals. Eighty-one heavy Buddhist weapons—staves, convenient rakes, vajras, demon-subduing pestles, treasure wheels, pagodas, and more—rained down upon the six monks, smashing their bodies until every bone pa-pa-pa-pa shattered into dust.

In the blink of an eye, the six monks, who moments ago were hale and hearty, were reduced to six piles of bloody, mangled sludge on the ground.

Pitiable were these six monks, who today encountered those of their own Buddhist lineage. The eighty-one fierce monks and nuns had not even warmed up before they turned them into meat paste, yet they were not satisfied. Dozens of beams of Buddhist light shone down, quickly restoring the six monks to their original state. Then, eighty-one heavy Buddhist weapons smashed down upon them again, grinding them into meat paste once more. Afterward, another wash of Buddhist light descended. Another barrage of weapon strikes... Another round of Buddhist light sprinkled down... Another round of weapon strikes...

Piercing, miserable screams tore through the night sky, startling the countless birds and beasts in the gardens of the Zhimituo Imperial Palace into flight.

King Duolu Yigogu, along with the Grand Celestial Master, over a dozen Imperial Guards commanders, and thousands of palace guards, stared at this harrowing scene in stunned silence, trembling so much they couldn't utter a word.

There are always stronger ones among the strong, and evil requires evil to temper it. These six monks were considered vicious and sinister in their schemes, but facing ruthless figures like the Sun-Light Bodhisattva, Molian, and Tuo Long Shi Tai, they were a hundred thousand times more pitiful than white rabbits under a tiger’s paw!

The Sun-Light Bodhisattva swayed his massive body and bowed respectfully with a beaming smile toward King Yilu Yigu, "Judging by your attire, demeanor, and bearing, you must be His Majesty, the Emperor of Zhimituo, which is composed of eighteen planets?"

King Yilu Yigu instinctively shuddered, chuckling dryly, "May I ask... who are you seniors?"

The Sun-Light Bodhisattva nodded his head back and forth, patting King Yilu Yigu’s head cheerfully, and boomed with laughter, "It's good that you are the Emperor! Hey, young man, let me tell you, you and your subjects are in luck! Hahaha, this is the first time our Master, the Great Might, Great Wisdom, Great Intellect, Bright Nature, Bright Virtue, Bright Dao Emperor Venerable King Buddha, has sent us out to spread the doctrine. For you, I’ll offer discounts on all the benefits!"

The Lotus Monk, who was being mercilessly beaten, suddenly popped his head out and shrieked, "Of billions of Buddha Lands and countless Buddha Realms, there is not another Great Might, Great Wisdom, Great Intellect, Bright Nature, Bright Virtue, Bright Dao Emperor Venerable King Buddha! This is a false Buddha, a pseudo-Buddha! You group of Buddhist degenerates, you will receive retribution!"

Before the words finished, over a dozen thick arms seized the Lotus Monk, dragged him into the crowd, and another round of inhuman beating began.

Molian smiled at King Duolu Yigu with a grin that did not reach his eyes. He shook his head, "Do not believe the ravings of those few bald donkeys! Our Master’s Buddha status was personally conferred by a Saint. There is no Buddha more orthodox than our Master! Alas, quickly convert to our Master; there are benefits!"

King Duolu looked dazedly at Molian, then closed his eyes, gritting his teeth as he asked, "What if this King refuses?" The Sun-Light Bodhisattva forced a smile and asked softly, "What if we transfer all three hundred billion subjects of the Zhimituo Kingdom to a new land of your choosing right now!"

King Duolu stared at the Sun-Light Bodhisattva in disbelief and roared, "Is this true?"

Tuo Long Shi Tai sat down heavily on King Duolu Yigu’s throne, grabbed the various fresh fruits from the side table, and began stuffing them into her mouth. While eating and drinking heartily, Tuo Long Shi Da mumbled, "Nonsense. Our words represent our Master's honor; they are certainly truer than pure gold!"

King Yilu Duogu nodded solemnly, "If you can truly do that, what does it matter if we bestow upon you the title of National Zen Master of Zhimituo? Your sect can also become the state religion of Zhimituo! But you must transfer my subjects out as quickly as possible!"

King Yilu Yigu recalled the titles the Lotus Monk and the Myriad-Skill Monk had demanded of him earlier, so he mimicked them.

Molian slapped King Yilu Duogu’s shoulder and roared with laughter, "Smart boy! Heh heh. If you don't submit to our Master, we won't beat you or kill you. We’ll just take these bald donkeys and leave. We’ll see how your Zhimituo Kingdom weathers this great calamity!"

The Sun-Light Bodhisattva cheerfully helped King Duolu Yigu up and smiled, "Isn't this much better now? We help you solve your troubles, and you simply convert to our Master’s teaching. All we ask for is a small amount of faith and incense; we aren't snatching your daughter to be a bandit queen. You lose nothing, but gain great advantage—how profitable!" King Yilu Duogu's smile looked strained.

Tuo Long Shi Tai grunted vaguely from the side, "As long as you wholeheartedly lead all your subjects to submit to our Master’s seat, we’ll take care of things like favorable weather and smooth winds for Zhimituo in the future. With my Master looking out for you, you will reap many benefits!"

King Yilu Yigu sighed heavily and was about to speak when a cold laugh, sharp as an awl, suddenly came from the distance: "Audacious! Who gave you the gall to compete with my Precious Flame As-You-Wish Buddha for believers?"

The Lotus Monk and the Myriad-Skill Monk, still being beaten, frantically stretched their necks and screamed with all their might, "Master, save us!" Smack, smack—a few staff blows landed, and the monks were once again smashed into meat patties.

A faint reddish Buddhist light suddenly shot up from afar. A Buddha image, standing sixteen zhang tall, draped in glorious necklaces, and radiating boundless bright light, floated slowly on lotus blossoms. This Buddha was followed by a neat formation of thousands of monks, big and small, their faces all contorted with rage. The weather is getting cold, and Piggy is sleepy... always unable to muster any spirit.....mF