Yuan looked up with a hint of bewilderment, only to see a monk with a grim, ashen face seated before him. The monk stood an imposing ten feet tall, radiating a faint golden light across his body, from which a profoundly subtle aura emanated—a warmth that was surprisingly comforting.

Glancing down at himself, he realized his physical body was gone, leaving behind only a semi-translucent soul.

This… how was this possible? He was no cultivator; he was a demon! His flesh and soul had always been bound together inextricably. For ages, no demon had survived the destruction of their physical form, yet here he was, possessing an independent spiritual body.

Yuan, filled with shock, looked up at the monk looming close. He knew, instinctively, that this unbelievable situation must be the doing of the figure before him.

“Amitabha. Coming from emptiness, returning to emptiness. Do you not yet understand?” Seeing Yuan’s bewildered gaze, the grim-faced monk pressed his palms together and offered a respectful bow.

Coming from emptiness, returning to emptiness? Yuan paused, confused by the profound meaning.

“Shed the mortal coil, achieve true fruition, comprehend!” Seeing Yuan’s persistent confusion, the grim-faced monk suddenly pointed a finger at Yuan’s brow. A beam of golden light shot into him. Instantly, Yuan’s look of bewilderment melted into an expression of sudden, profound realization, as if struck by a divine enlightenment.

Streams of golden light converged upon him. His formerly semi-translucent soul grew clearer and clearer until it gradually solidified, achieving tangible form. He was actually using this golden light to condense a true body. As the light continued to pour in, a Sarira formed within him, followed by a second, then a third. Only when the ninth Sarira had manifested did the transmission of golden light finally cease.

Nine Sarira. Even the great Buddhas of the Primordial Era might not have achieved such cultivation. At this moment, Yuan’s power had more than doubled, yet his face showed no trace of joy. His expression remained as placid as an undisturbed ancient well. After offering a slight bow to the monk before him, he returned to his meditation atop the Nine-Petaled Lotus Platform.

The reason was simple: though he had forged a Buddha-body, his state of mind was still vastly inadequate. Even armed with such immense power, he could not wield it. He finally understood the monk’s words: as a demon, it was fundamentally impossible for him to attain Buddhahood, much like the Devas of the Eight Classes in Buddhism; though they converted, they could never become Buddhas, remaining only Dharma-protecting deities. But Yuan, because of Ling’s existence, possessed a human heart. A demon’s body, a human heart—once he shed that foul, mortal skin, he was no longer a demon, but a man, a soul belonging to humanity.

And this monk was none other than Amitabha, the sovereign master of Buddhism. Indeed, Tathagata Buddha, Daoist Jieyin—these were merely his manifestations. With his aid, Yuan had instantly condensed a true Buddha-body. From this moment forward, he was no longer a demon, but a Buddha.

Of course, Yuan knew there were no free lunches in the world. Amitabha expending such immense spiritual power to forge his body meant Yuan still held significant utility. But Yuan cared little for this; transforming from a disposable pawn into a crucial piece was already a vastly preferable outcome.

It was from this moment, too, that he understood that even his own father, despite his profound cultivation advances that seemed to suggest he had taken that final step and grasped the ultimate universal truth, had not truly escaped the status of a pawn. Even the several Primordial Sages manifested from the myriad Heavens and Realms had not entirely escaped this fate, despite their power surpassing that of Universe-level experts.

Meanwhile, under the peerless might of the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, both the Lord of Fear and the Lord of Greed, along with the remaining two Heavenly Kings, met their end beneath the Monkey King’s staff. Ye Jingyu himself stepped in, transforming them into their most fundamental essence. His divine abilities had advanced considerably; while he still couldn't conjure things from the Void, he was fully capable of using such colossal primordial power to forge true bodies for the several Heavenly Witches.

Yan-Extinguishing City was now impregnable, but the entire Earth Alliance had descended into chaos. Having lost three Lords and numerous City Lords, the order Yuan had painstakingly established was utterly shattered, resulting in widespread slaughter among the demons.

Ye Jingyu held no ambition to unify the demons. He merely secured Yan-Extinguishing City, gathering all humans living within the Earth Alliance.

Outside Yan-Extinguishing City now, Ye Jingyu had deployed the Twelve Heavenly Witches Annihilation Grand Array. The Monkey King, Jiufeng, Xiyang, Bingming, Nibbo, Taotie, along with Zhurong, Hanba, Tianwu, Gouzhong, Xuanming, and even the still-recovering memories of Ling’er, stood quietly, watching Ye Jingyu perform the rite.

Before him hovered a massive, ash-brown sphere of energy—the most primordial Chaos Force. Sensing the sheer magnitude of this energy, Zhurong and the others looked on with deep longing.

Ye Jingyu surveyed his surroundings, especially meeting the Monkey King’s eyes and receiving an affirmative nod. He suddenly flicked a finger, splitting the sphere of Chaos Force into six portions. Next, his hands moved rapidly through the air, conjuring six Bagua formations. The River Chart and the Luo Book, which resided within his body, slowly floated forth, showering the energy with golden light, completely enveloping it.

“Comrades, why hesitate? Now is the time to manifest!” At this moment, thick storm clouds gathered overhead, crackling with intense electrical currents, as if the world were facing its end.

But as Ye Jingyu’s words fell, six colossal phantoms surged out of the Void. Seeing the six masses of pure primordial energy, they lunged forward with palpable excitement.

In that instant, as the six masses of primordial energy were pierced by these phantoms, they began to undergo startling transformations, accompanied by roars that shook the Nine Heavens.

Feeling these earth-shattering cries, Zhurong and the others also grew visibly excited. They knew that their companions were finally about to coalesce their true bodies.

Such celestial disturbances not only alerted the entire Celestial Realm but were also sensed by the powerful figures residing in the Yuan Realm. Their brows furrowed deeply. With the Twenty-Four Heavens stolen by Jue, they could not dispatch forces down through conventional means. Furthermore, the Tongtian Divine Tree was largely destroyed and could not currently transmit anyone. Unless they abandoned their superior status and descended personally, they could never halt Ye Jingyu. But those accustomed to moving chess pieces could never willingly step onto the board themselves, becoming pieces in someone else’s game.