Chapter 46: Former Buddhist Realm, Light Shines Upon the Vastness
Once again, he had obtained a Grade A+ evaluation.
Had it been the former Jiang Yan, he might have beamed with delight, but at this moment he remained calm as still water.
Not because he was emotionless, but because he believed the path he walked was the right one—
Naturally, it would bring the rewards he deserved!
In professional terms, this was called...
Unwavering Dao Heart.
“Hahahahahaha!”
Mad laughter rang out, drawing Jiang Yan’s gaze.
The Abbot of Longevity Calamity looked utterly deranged, muttering, “No wonder... no wonder you were still smiling at me even before your death, never resisting. So in your eyes, I was always this foolish?”
“Clearly, we were friends at the beginning, dreaming together of creating a better new world. Why? Why did you choose a different path from mine?”
“If I refined you into my Protective Dharmic Form, wouldn’t we be together forever?”
“Was it me who changed, or was it you?”
He spoke to himself, seemingly lost in madness.
Understandably so—
What was called the Monkey King’s grudge was, in truth, the Heart Monkey born from fear, which had trapped him for thirty years.
Anyone would break under that strain.
Jiang Yan did not mock him. Since the mission was complete, the Ash Lamp flared, ready to collect the soul.
“This is...”
The King of Deception Beasts looked up, gazing at the dreamlike flame. His body trembled, and countless memories surged in his mind.
Whether it was when the Egg of the Heart Monkey appeared—
Or when he betrayed their friendship, changed his heart, and provoked the Heart Monkey to challenge stronger demons—
Or even when he extracted the Heart Monkey’s organs and molded them into a Golden Body—
He had always seen that flickering flame.
That faint firelight had guided him forward.
“So that’s it... everything is fate, and not the slightest bit is up to man.”
The Abbot of Longevity Calamity lifted his eyes to the heavens, tears falling from them. His body no longer struggled, his sharp claws slowly pressed together in prayer, and the fear in his eyes faded, replaced by serenity.
As if in the face of life and death, he had reached great enlightenment.
His gaze shifted from the Ash Lamp to Jiang Yan, and he said softly:
“Actually, you and I are the same—both just birds in a cage.”
Jiang Yan frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Buddha says, cannot be spoken.”
The Abbot of Longevity Calamity shook his head, chuckled lightly, and said, “Fate is ordained by ‘Heaven.’ If Heaven does not grant it, even if you grip it tightly with both hands, it will still slip through.”
“But... this poor monk hopes that you, Benefactor, can continue like today, seizing that thread of survival in this man-eating world.”
As he finished speaking, his soul voluntarily entered the Ash Lamp and transformed into a white candle.
Jiang Yan’s brow furrowed. Through the candle, he sensed that the guy had not lied. He had truly attained some realization at the end of his life.
Yet he refused to speak plainly—
All riddlers should die!
Jiang Yan grumbled inwardly and tossed his corpse to the Dark God Embryo, then turned to look at the other Deception Beasts caught by the Shadow-Winged Serpents.
Sensing his gaze, dozens of Deception Beasts trembled uncontrollably.
To keep control easy, the Abbot of Longevity Calamity had kept all the Deception Beasts at the Spirit Awakening Stage. Any that managed to break through would be devoured by him.
Over the years, within the dream illusion, they had constantly extracted their flesh to create Blood Peaches. Even though they consumed them again, some loss was inevitable.
As a result, they all looked malnourished and gaunt.
“So skinny... just right for making cold rabbit meat dishes.” Jiang Yan rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
That one sentence scared them so badly they nearly fainted.
As for Xiao Bai, she remained in human form, hugging her knees and sitting on the ground, her gaze vacant, indifferent to everything around her.
Life and death seemed no longer to matter.
The next second,
a multitude of Deception Beasts were thrown before her by the Shadow-Winged Serpents, raising a sky full of dust as their wails echoed unceasingly.
She slowly lifted her head and looked toward Jiang Yan, her gaze filled with confusion.
She did not understand what he was doing.
Wasn’t he supposed to take revenge on her?
“That bottle of Blood Qi Pills’ favor—I’ll repay it with them.”
Jiang Yan turned away with a graceful wave of his hand and said indifferently:
“What is lost is but an illusion.”
“If you see that appearances are not real, you will see the Tathāgata.”
“At that time, Xiao Hei will naturally return.”
As his voice fell,
endless Historical Dust engulfed him, and Jiang Yan departed from this Diseased Domain.
“Great! We’re saved!”
“All thanks to you, Xiao Bai!”
“Who would’ve thought we could survive the hands of such a terrifying monster—what incredible luck!”
“We’re truly fortunate!”
Numerous Deception Beasts rejoiced, not only having survived a calamity, but also freed from the oppression of their ‘king’. It was indeed a double blessing.
Xiao Bai watched this scene, her four ears twitching slightly, revealing a heartfelt smile:
“Indeed, very fortunate. I specially left you alive to complete the path for the Lie Segment.”
“What do you mean?”
The Deception Beasts, still basking in their celebratory mood, asked casually without much thought.
But in the next second...
Countless peachwood roots swept forth, piercing through their bodies and dragging them into the skull of the Heart Monkey’s corpse, instantly dissolving into blood to nourish it.
Within the once extinguished eye sockets of the skeleton, a trace of grey flame ignited.
Rumble!
The massive corpse of the Heart Monkey slowly stood up. Countless sand and dust fell from its body, billowing into the air.
Six arms formed various mudras—Meditation Seal, Lotus Seal, and more. Among them, the Seal of Three Mountains pointed toward itself, and from its previously hollow abdomen, five viscera and six bowels grew from nothing.
“Roar!”
With a deafening roar, the Six-Armed Heart Monkey erupted with vast spiritual energy, shaking all directions.
Xiao Bai stood atop the corpse’s skull, her clothes fluttering, her face becoming increasingly sacred and beautiful as she murmured:
“Xiao Hei is my Heart Monkey, and I... am I not also the Heart Monkey’s Inner Demon?”
“To refine the [Demonic Bodhi of Malice Reversal Old Talisman], one must stage a grand performance of betrayal and death by a close friend, constructing a prison of the heart.”
Using good and evil as materials, and the human heart as the furnace—only then can the ritual of rebirth through death be completed.
Originally, the flesh and blood of the King of Deception Beasts was meant to nourish it. Regular Deception Beasts would suffice too. The second-grade Old Talisman was successfully born, the Divine Ability Seed condensed, granting a glimpse of the possible fruit of Great Divine Ability.
Second-grade already allows reversal of reality and illusion. Who knows what kind of power the legendary first-grade Old Talisman might hold?
Xiao Bai muttered to herself. The reason for her daze was that she was digesting memories of the past.
Though the Heart Monkey had died, a new Inner Demon Monkey had been born from within the heart of the Abbot of Longevity Calamity.
And that was herself!
The Bodhi Heart Monkey and the Inner Demon Monkey had fused, successfully undergoing rebirth,
reaching a higher level.
“Lies are masks of the heart. Only with them can falsehood be forged into truth!”
She whispered softly, glancing behind her.
Xiao Hei, with her long black hair flowing and dressed in a black skirt, smiled and said,
“Sister, you’re back!”
“All thanks to one person.”
Xiao Bai smiled slightly. Looking toward the direction where Jiang Yan had departed, she recalled the words he had spoken to her. A blush spread across her cheeks, and her heartbeat quickened.
Her eyes were filled with a morbid possessiveness.
She whispered, “Sima Luoshui, we will meet again.”
A man with such a perfect heart—
should belong to her.
And she had given her heart to him.
In the literal sense.
“The Old Talisman has formed—it’s time to return to the Buddhist Realm!”
The Six-Armed Heart Monkey corpse formed a seal.
Buzz!
Countless illusory threads wove together, forming a mysterious Old Talisman like a dream or a mirage.
From it emerged an illusory bronze lamp burning with golden flames, flickering gently yet more radiant than the sun.
Its light illuminated the entire domain!
Rumble!
The Diseased Domain quaked, the earth shook and the mountains swayed.
Had someone viewed it from above the Historical Long River, they would have seen—
the entire Diseased Domain, like being tugged by invisible threads, was rapidly sinking deeper into the layers of the Old Days.