Chapter 353: The Thunderous Convergence
by xennovelThump, thump, thump – the sound of a wildly pounding heart that seems to stir every drop of blood in the body.
Inside the chest.
A Dao Fruit bounced energetically, and many other Dao Fruits followed suit.
A surge of emotion rippled outward, spreading through every drop of blood, every muscle, tendon, bone, and cell!
It felt as though the entire body was being propelled into motion.
“It’s the Thunder Magnetic Conduit!”
Beneath the black-and-white divided Underworld Yama Mask, Li Che’s eyes shone brilliantly!
The Divine Xiao Thunder captured by the Huang Mei Great Master at the Heavenly Gate made Li Che’s Dao Fruit, imbued with the Thunder Magnetic Conduit, pulse crazily and violently.
Exhilaration!
Overwhelming excitement!
It was like XiXi’s thrill when she caught the aroma of her Mother’s red-braised pork!
It was irresistibly fragrant!
Made one want to devour it!
With every vigorous thump of the Dao Fruit, it was as if electric currents surged throughout his entire body.
Yet Li Che remained rational!
After all, this was a Divine Xiao calamity – a thunderous trial that even masters in the Divine Calamity realm treated with utmost caution.
Of course, Li Che wouldn’t recklessly charge in just because the Dao Fruit smelled enticing.
What if he were struck down in a flash—
There’d be no time for tears.
In this world, with a wife and daughter to care for, Li Che had every reason to tread on eggshells.
Yet he could sense the surging aura from Huang Mei – its source, that descending Divine Xiao Thunder connected from the Heavenly Gate.
A niggling feeling of unease stirred within him.
He could feel the overwhelming pulsation of the Dao Fruit––
Li Che slowly closed his eyes.
When he opened them again, a subtle stirring ignited in his heart.
He impulsively stimulated the Dao Fruit.
And the Dao Fruit burst forth!
A divine manifestation––
Divine Xiao!
The true method of Divine Xiao: rapid like the beat of a drum, with pure thunder encircling and untouched by calamity!
Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!
Countless flashing bolts of thunder danced around Li Che at breakneck speed, snaking like writhing serpents before converging on his body to form an exquisitely crafted set of thunder armor.
Divine Thunder Armor!
Every inch of Li Che’s flesh was now imbued with the power of Divine Xiao, even his hair touched by its might!
His body leaned forward as a torrent of violent wind swept, tousling his hair!
Then, with a shattering impact as if breaking a mirror.
From beneath that black-and-white mask, his eyes erupted in surging bolts of Divine Xiao Thunder!
The Triple Calamity of Divine Xiao – even divine calamity forces would shrink away!
But Li Che pressed on, advancing instead of retreating!
His speed was blinding – like a bolt across the heavens – and in a few agile steps,
he found himself right beneath Huang Mei’s Heavenly Gate.
At that moment, Huang Mei was locked in fierce combat with Lü Taibai, their duel ignited by the formidable Tao Calamity energy. Huang Mei exuded boundless confidence, as if he had transcended to another realm.
He doubted that even the Underworld Yama could stir any significant tide.
Thus, he paid no heed to the Underworld Yama’s movements.
So Li Che advanced unimpeded beneath the Heavenly Gate, directly facing that Divine Xiao Thunder Dragon!
He stared at the terrifying, reality-twisting thunder that exuded a nightmarish power!
Li Che drew a deep breath.
With a twist of his body, he surged forward like a cannonball.
He crashed into one of the Triple Calamity’s Divine Xiao Thunders!
His Divine Thunder Armor shone brilliantly!
‘With Divine Xiao, I bear the might of Divine Xiao!’
Boom—
At the moment of impact with the thunder,
Li Che felt as if all of creation fell into complete silence.
Only a suppressed cry managed to escape his throat.
“Ah, sublime!”
Boom, boom, boom!
A savage, interweaving torrent of wind roared as it assaulted the world with relentless force!
Even within Mo City Shandu, conjured by his divine arts,
an ominous, leaden cloud manifested – a sign that the very fabric of the world could alter wherever it roamed!
This was the awe-inspiring, peerless might of a top-tier martial artist standing atop the pinnacle of the martial way!
Huang Mei, standing at the summit of martial cultivation, opened the Heavenly Gate wide, as if unleashing a torrent of divine energy from beyond, merging the sacred with the martial in a near-perfect union!
It was the very foundation of divine might and the beginning of the divine calamity!
Ambitious as ever, Huang Mei had no intention of merely stepping into the divine calamity –
he aimed to elevate his martial path to the divine realm, becoming not just a martial saint but a true martial god!
After the Heavenly Gate, divine energy boiled over!
A golden bolt of thunder intertwined, roaring like a dragon’s cry, shattering the air with its explosive force!
It resembled a golden divine dragon, its scales vibrant and alive – a true thunder dragon nurtured high in the heavens!
This was one of the Triple Calamity’s Divine Xiao Thunders!
An utterly terrifying bolt of thunder – even a peak martial saint would meet instant death or grievous injury by merely touching or drawing it!
Even top-tier saints, when opening the Heavenly Gate and channeling divine energy, could barely withstand it!
This was the calamity of divine trials!
The force of the heavens made manifest!
There’s a saying that every disaster and trial embodies the concentrated will of the heavens, delivering punishment in tangible form!
Resisting the Triple Calamity is essentially battling against the heavens!
It’s a gradual transcendence over worldly limits!
At this moment––
Mo City Shandu trembled as endless darkness was dispelled, the ink-dark surroundings suddenly bathed in a golden light!
That was the resplendent radiance of the Divine Xiao Thunder flung wildly from the Heavenly Gate!
Far hotter and more overwhelming than any Buddha light – a glorious, magnificent radiance that melted everything in its wake!
The Divine Xiao Thunder, descending from the Heavenly Gate, connected to Huang Mei’s unleashed Tao Calamity energy!
That energy was surging and flowing – a lethal, murderous Tao energy!
Huang Mei had cultivated a murderous Tao energy, a furious divine method of unleashing Divine Xiao Thunder!
It was like an evolved manifestation of the Diamond Fist formation!
Extremely formidable!
Although Lü Taibai’s Tao Calamity Sword technique was powerful, he wasn’t confident it could slay Huang Mei once his divine energy fully converged!
Moreover, the Divine Xiao Thunder proved even more domineering and fierce in its assault!
However,
Just as Lü Taibai withdrew the Tao Calamity Sword, attempting to merge it with the Taibai Sword for a killing blow,
he was met with Huang Mei’s furious, inhuman roar!
“What are you doing?!”
Lü Taibai––
He glanced upward; his silver hair streaming, his expression momentarily frozen in a bizarre shock.
That Underworld Yama––
Was he really charging straight toward the Divine Xiao Thunder?
Has he lost his mind?!
A madman, indeed!
That was one of the Triple Calamity’s Divine Xiao Thunders – even a peak martial saint like Huang Mei, who had long stood at the Heavenly Gate’s summit, would never dare to touch it lightly, only attempting to channel it into his Tao energy for fusion.
This meant that when the true Triple Calamity Divine Xiao Thunder struck, his chosen Tao path would be predetermined – a road that required relentless cultivation.
One had to proceed cautiously – the calamity was simply too fearsome.
It had been tested by countless peak martial saints and Divine Nucleus Great Gods with their lives!
It was built upon countless piles of bleached bones!
For the Underworld Yama to dare confront the Divine Xiao Thunder so head-on––
He was bound to die, wasn’t he?!
Lü Taibai’s eyes narrowed.
In the next instant, an expression of utter shock and horror emerged from deep within his eyes.
Because he saw that the Underworld Yama, adorned with the black-and-white Star Mask, was like a stunned idiot, charging straight into the Divine Xiao Thunder drawn out from Huang Mei’s Heavenly Gate!
A massive, unyielding Divine Xiao Thunder – like a true golden thunder dragon spanning across!
Utterly terrifying!
Hooooo!!
The Underworld Yama’s brutal collision occurred right at the junction of the Divine Xiao Thunder and the connection to Huang Mei’s Tao Calamity energy!
Crash, bang––!!
A terrifying explosion erupted; in an instant, the Underworld Yama was engulfed by dazzling thunderbolts, the rupturing arcs of lightning warping space and shattering the void, sending violent shockwaves circling outward!
Lü Taibai looked on in dumbfounded awe, as the brilliance of the golden light reached an almost blinding white!
Within that white brilliance, Lü Taibai could no longer see the Underworld Yama’s shattered form.
Instead, the Underworld Yama spread his arms wide as if embracing the massive Divine Xiao Thunder, allowing it to batter his body.
With a deafening explosion, he used his flesh as a barrier to halt the thunder’s advance.
He hovered in midair!
On his body, over eighty thousand pores flung open simultaneously, greedily absorbing the raging thunder!
The oppressive weight of the Triple Calamity made even the very air of Mo City feel impossibly viscous.
The Underworld Yama was repeatedly struck down by the Divine Xiao Thunder, crashing back to Earth.
Yet, at the very least––he managed to intercept Huang Mei’s Divine Xiao Thunder!
Severing its connection to the Tao energy!
“Yama, you’re incredible!”
Lü Taibai clicked his tongue in admiration!
What raw power was this?
What kind of flesh was he displaying?!
Surely the Underworld Yama’s body had reached the pinnacle of the peak martial saints’ endurance?
To be able to withstand a Divine Xiao Thunder – that was extraordinarily rare!
Huang Mei roared in furious disbelief!
His eyes wide with shock and anger, his twin golden brows furrowed as he felt the break in connection between the Divine Xiao Thunder and his Tao energy – losing nearly twenty percent of its strength in that moment.
Moreover, as time passed without the connection being restored, the power of his Tao Calamity energy would continue to wane, eventually dropping below seventy percent!
Thus, Huang Mei, with murderous determination in his Tao Calamity method, smashed Lü Taibai’s God Extermination Wind Calamity Sword with a single punch!
His body surged, shattering the surrounding air currents.
With a leap, he advanced toward the Underworld Yama, intent on eliminating him first!
Previously, after unleashing his Tao Calamity technique, Huang Mei had completely disregarded the Underworld Yama.
Even a pure peak martial force would be no match, taken down in three moves.
Therefore, Huang Mei’s main focus had been on Lü Taibai.
Who would have thought that the Underworld Yama, whom he’d overlooked, could inflict such damage!
“Hahahaha––
——”
“Old Bald Huang Mei, why run? Come fight me! My sword has been starving for a challenge!”
Lü Taibai’s silver hair billowed; every strand was suffused with overwhelming sword aura.
An invisible wind howled as the God Extermination Wind – though just a single wisp – manifested, part of the feared Triple Calamity!
It merged with the sword aura, concealed within the great river of sword energy!
Boom––!
Lü Taibai roared with laughter at the sky!
His booming laugh filled the air as he raised his hand, the Tao Calamity Sword surging!
He unleashed a full-force strike!
Gripping the Taibai Sword, with no elaborate technique, he simply swung upward!
In that instant, the already trembling Mo City Shandu trembled as if the heavens and earth were in uproar!
With the naked eye, a torrent of silvery sword energy, like an enraged tide, pierced the void and surged upward, rolling into the sky!
In an instant, it cleaved through hundreds of meters of explosive air!
This wasn’t a mere sword technique – it transcended ordinary martial skill. A single strike, like a gust from the heavens, hidden within the wind, left no trace as it swept mercilessly!
Even more awe-inspiring, its edge was unmistakably lethal!
Killing intent radiated from every fiber!
Boom––!
What appeared as a gentle, wind-like strike was charged with ruthless ferocity – empowered by Huang Mei’s fusion of Divine Xiao Thunder and Tao Calamity energy, an ultimate trump card!
This was his secret, unstoppable finishing move!
In that moment, a fierce storm of wind and sword energy swept across Mo City Shandu!
It threatened to annihilate everything – freezing souls, erasing existence with its deadly, slicing sword wind!
Buddha’s light shone as an enraged Buddha’s roar echoed!
Faced with such a world-shaking, almost divine strike, even Huang Mei, hidden behind his Tao Calamity guise, dared not flinch – he had to brace himself!
Buddha light and crackling thunder reformed into a horrifying thunderous Buddha palm!
It seemed almost tangible, like a celestial curtain, descending upon the sword strike!
The sword energy raged as Buddha light exploded!
The Buddha palm appeared scorched as if seared by a branding iron, slowly melting like an ice cream!
The Buddha light transformed into tangible, golden droplets that dripped steadily onto the ground, etching pit after pit into the ruined Mo City!
Huang Mei’s face shifted subtly!
“No––my Tao Calamity energy is weakening now! Without the Divine Xiao Thunder to sustain it–– it’s fading fast!”
“If Lü Taibai’s sword severs my Tao Calamity energy…”
A deep, abyssal fear flickered in Huang Mei’s eyes.
“I will die!”
Boom!
Lü Taibai’s ferocious sword energy slammed back into the ground, shattering it with a deafening roar.
Huang Mei’s five fingers clenched tightly as the Qian Kun Jade radiated iridescent light.
At that moment, four golden wood carvings, the Holy Hand Divine Eagle statues, floated around him in the guise of golden Arhats!
Huang Mei bit his finger, spraying four droplets of deep crimson!
Each crimson drop landed on the brow of the four golden Arhats, as if awakening them with newfound life!
A breathtaking surge of vital energy burst forth – accompanied by a looming Buddha visage, shattering barriers with explosive vigor, interwoven with Buddha light and the vitality flowing like living blood through every vein, as if imbuing the statues with true life!
Boom––!
In an instant, the four Arhats transcended, igniting into four beams of golden light, rocketing toward the frenzied Underworld Yama, intent on halting his ravenous absorption of the thunder!
They aimed to disrupt the Underworld Yama’s predatory assault!
Lü Taibai’s brow furrowed as with a snap, he unleashed another sword strike.
A single flash of sword energy pierced through, targeting the ephemeral, burning divine essence of the golden Arhats!
Though fleeting, that attack carried peak-level might; even a brief interference could allow Huang Mei to reclaim his Tao Calamity power!
In this life-or-death moment, Huang Mei grew brutally ruthless as he shattered the sword energy with a furious punch and clashed savagely with Lü Taibai – their blows cracking the very manifestation of divine energy as they exchanged relentless strikes!
Huang Mei knew full well that unless he restored the connection to his Tao Calamity energy, he would truly die!
Yet, in a heartbeat, his heart sank into despair.
Because––
A chubby figure, grinning broadly, interposed himself in front of the four burning Arhats!
“Yue Huanglong?!”
Huang Mei felt a surprising ease.
Lü Taibai, behind his Hunter King Mask, shared the sentiment.
What––
Why was Yue Huanglong here?
Yue Huanglong remained silent; in an instant, his corpulent exterior evaporated, his aura surging as the potent Qimen Divine Seed flared up!
A dark, ominous gate of netherworld energy spanned the skies!
Then, Yue Huanglong ascended to peak martial saint levels, engaging in battle with the four golden Arhats!
The golden Arhats, blazing with divine essence and reaching a first-rate peak level,
were nonetheless overpowered by Yue Huanglong – within a few moves, he viciously demolished them into countless splinters of wood!
As if struck by sudden realization, Yue Huanglong’s expression twitched.
He was heartbroken, thinking of his master’s greedy nature!
These Arhats were precious treasures!
Damaging even one would ache in his heart for a long time – a perfect chance to please his master!
Instantly, Yue Huanglong shifted tactics, abandoning his plan to shatter the Arhats and instead subdue and erode their divine essence until he could absorb them.
The situation––
Seemed to have reached a deadlock.
Meanwhile,
Li Che was hurled by the Divine Xiao Thunder onto the rooftop of a strange rectangular structure, as if struck by celestial lightning.
A single Divine Xiao Thunder roared mightily!
Bathed in thunder, Li Che clearly sensed his Dao Fruit – with its unprecedented vigor – ravenously absorbing this one of the Triple Calamity’s Divine Xiao Thunders!
Under the barrage of thunder, every rib and bone in Li Che’s body became outlined like steel reinforcements!
He could feel the Dao Fruit maturing at an explosive rate under the onslaught!
He lost track of how long the ecstasy lasted––
Li Che sensed the Divine Xiao Thunder gradually weakening, its strength dwindling to a feeble thread.
Heat waves surged, the void itself warping.
In the distorted void, faint cracks began to appear as if reality was being shattered by the blasting thunder.
It was said that only forces from the Divine Calamity realm could break through the mortal void!
The Divine Calamity was renowned as the realm of true mortals-turned-immortals!
To break the void, one needed to channel full Tao Calamity energy – a power that even Lü Taibai and Huang Mei barely managed to muster.
A gust of wind swept across.
Li Che spread his arms apart, slowly emerging from his euphoric trance.
After enduring relentless hardships, his body felt incredibly invigorated.
Before him, a golden prompt materialized.
His eyes scanned it:
[Dragon Elephant Furnace: Pure Martial Purity (90%)]
Even though absorbing the Divine Xiao Thunder wasn’t the primary attack of the Dragon Elephant Vajra Dao Fruit, the leaked thunder energy helped temper his body, significantly refining his pure martial form!
Li Che’s pure martial body surged to ninety percent purity!
A ninety-percent pure martial body!
Li Che’s fingers clenched as powerful energy surged through him; every pore burst forth with incredible strength!
The Qi Hai Golden Pool expanded within the Dragon Elephant Furnace, suddenly spanning a hundred zhang!
A hundred-zhang Qi Hai Golden Pool!
A deep, low laugh resonated from Li Che’s throat!
He had grown – he had grown even stronger!
With a twist of his body, his gaze fell upon Huang Mei, who had been completely suppressed by Lü Taibai.
“Old Bald Huang Mei, it’s time to move on!”
Standing atop the Dominator Tower, Li Che spread his fingers wide.
At that moment, figures emerged from the ruins of Mo City – every single Guardian Spirit’s face lit up with fervor and excitement!
Each Guardian Spirit’s ink-dark threads, eternally linked to Mo City, surged madly toward Li Che’s outstretched palm,
as if controlled by a puppeteer.
In a heartbeat, as Li Che’s fingers flexed, the collective power of the Guardian Spirits raced along those ink threads, flooding into his body,
empowering him further with the strength from the six awakened Qimen Divine Seeds –
along with the vital energy of Huang Jianjiu, You Liqing, Su Lei Ba, and Yan Jing – the primordial Qi and blood of the peak Qi Hai Martial Saints!
And not to mention the might from Yue Huanglong,
plus the strength of the fallen experts of Xiao Lingyin Temple––
It surged in a frenzied tide!
The entire city, its people united,
their collective strength channeled into his formidable body!
Boom––!
Li Che strode down heavily; the entire building exploded in an instant as clouds of dust billowed like a mushroom cloud!
Yet his form rose like a blazing sun from the chaos of the mushroom cloud.
In that split second, his brilliance ignited as if it were his life’s crowning glory.
The searing, pure martial golden blood was like the fabled Sun-Golden Crow in full flight!
“Kill––!”
A resounding roar!
At that moment, the Underworld Yama, amidst a swirling sea of boiling, radiant blood, hurled a mighty punch!
The shockwaves boomed like thunder; the fist’s brilliance rivaled lightning!
A divine dragon and a colossal elephant!
Dragon Elephant Convergence!
Myriad Transformations of Dragon Elephant!
Achieving the Transcendent True Martial Way, a unique seed martial art created by Li Che himself,
all his cultivated insights and practices converged into that single punch!
Not to mention the boundless killing intent and fury!
Recalling how Huang Mei had dared to use underhanded means to trigger the Yulian Fire within XiXi’s body – a move that threatened to burn her life and detonate that dreaded time bomb –
Li Che’s fury boiled over uncontrollably!
He vented every iota of it into that punch!
Boom––!
That punch blazed so intensely; the phantom of the Dragon Elephant seemed to span the void as torrents of energy surged relentlessly, crashing like tidal waves above Huang Mei’s head!
“This punch––Transcendent True Martial Way! So domineering, so fearsome!”
“Is this the full-force punch of the Underworld Yama?!”
Lü Taibai gripped the Taibai Sword; its aura trembled violently.
That punch–– truly astonishing, truly mighty!
It could easily rank among the top five powers at the Heavenly Gate!
Huang Mei, looking upward, even as his cracked Tao Calamity visage – splintered by Lü Taibai’s Tao Calamity Sword – raised his head in bewilderment.
Almost in a daze, he stared at the falling punch from the skies.
Boom––!
The blast reverberated, and the entire Mo City seemed to collapse inch by inch!
Meanwhile, with the loss of the sustaining Divine Xiao Thunder, Huang Mei’s Tao Calamity energy plummeted to peak martial levels.
His Tao energy scattered like untethered floating weeds, dissolving into Mo City Shandu’s ruins.
But in that instant, Huang Mei couldn’t afford to care.
That one punch shattered the Diamond Fist formation!
Without losing momentum, from beneath the split black-and-white mask, his eyes blazed with murderous intent.
The Underworld Yama crashed before Huang Mei as his fist slammed out!
Each blow met blow, as the exchange resounded like the strike of an Arhat’s fist!
Pfft!
Huang Mei spat blood as he took blow after blow – his Three-Life Body cutting off his past and future, leaving only the present!
Once his current self perished, he would truly be gone!
No means of revival, no chance to recover later!
It was over for him!
Huang Mei’s face trembled violently, a flush spreading across it – never had he imagined dying this way!
The Underworld Yama advanced with overwhelming momentum, and Huang Mei felt as if he were fighting not one enemy, but thousands!
In the backdrop, shadowy figures appeared like ghosts, fixedly staring at him as the Underworld Yama unleashed another punch!
Pfft!
Pfft!
Huang Mei took several brutal blows, blood spurting continuously!
Lü Taibai sheathed his Tao Calamity Sword; his face was pale, utterly drained.
Maintaining the power of his God Extermination Wind, he knew full well that Huang Mei was at the end of his rope.
Even without the aid of the Tao Calamity Sword, with the Underworld Yama crushing him from all sides––
Huang Mei’s fate was sealed!
Pfft––!
A shard of sword energy pierced Huang Mei’s chest!
A crushing blow landed on his crown!
Circular ripples of energy, like surging tides on the Grand Canal, pushed countless shards of Mo City’s ruins to its borders!
Silence.
Oblivion.
In the blink of an eye, the Underworld Yama and Lü Taibai vanished.
Only Huang Mei remained, staggering, as if a drunken monk unable to stand.
“Hahaha––, hahaha––”
“This poor monk––I’m going to die.”
“Buddha, oh Buddha–– I am doomed…”
Huang Mei’s mouth, nose, and eyes dripped with blood; his pitiful form, ravaged and aged in an instant, had lost every trace of youth.
He gaped open as blood poured from his mouth.
Then, his arms spread wide as he looked skyward, weeping and laughing manically, as if completely unhinged.
“I, Huang Mei–– am really going to die…”
Suddenly, his voice grew low.
He slumped to the ground.
A thin streak of blood oozed from his mouth.
“I, Huang Mei, began practicing Buddhism at the age of three, hailed as a once-in-a-millennium Buddhist prodigy! A reincarnation of the True Buddha, with a naturally pure Buddhist heart!
At six, I left Xiao Lingyin Temple, journeyed through three hundred cities along Xiling Road – witnessing frozen bones of the poor, endless laments as people sacrificed their children, their flesh and bones stripped raw––”
“This is no holy land; it’s a living hell, a true purgatory!”
“Back then, my heart trembled with Buddhist fervor – I rebelled, refused to believe, and fought against fate––I wanted to forge a new path in Buddhism, to transform this wretched state so that hell would be emptied, and the sacred land freed from its torment––”
“From age six to ten, to twenty, thirty, fifty, even a hundred––”
“Now, this old monk is seven hundred and thirty-six years old––”
Huang Mei looked upward––
Tears and blood flowed abundantly.
“I’ve long forgotten the great vow I made at six. Here I sit, right in the hell awaiting my fate – cultivating a Buddhist art that draws blood from the people, becoming the master of this hellish Buddhist nation.”
“At six, I dreamed of pioneering a new Buddhism, but a lifetime was wasted, and now I––have become the ruler of this fiery Buddhist purgatory.”
“Hahaha––”
Huang Mei’s bloodied eyes glared at the Underworld Yama and Lü Taibai with Hunter King masks––
Trembling, he clasped his hands together.
He opened his mouth, attempting to recite the pure Buddhist verses he had learned at three,
But––
His cracked, bloodstained lips parted slightly, trembling,
Yet he had forgotten every syllable.
Not a single Buddhist verse could emerge.
When he was three, he was earnest and full of yearning.
His Buddha heart shone clear and radiant––
So why––
Can he not utter a single word now?
A solitary tear, clear as crystal, silently rolled down.
It fell to the ground like shattered porcelain, splintering into fragments.
Then, Huang Mei’s head slumped.
His breath faded away.
Lü Taibai’s face, behind his stark mask, grew deathly pale as he gazed upon the lifeless body of Huang Mei, feeling not triumph but a profound loss.
“Xiling Road, adjacent to the Buddhist lands of the West – in this purgatory of Buddhist nations, one Huang Mei dies, yet another will rise…”
“Their killings are endless, never ceasing––”
“Yama my friend––if one day my sword tires, will it still be enough to end them all?”
Lü Taibai raised the Taibai Sword.
The Underworld Yama with his black-and-white mask showed no trace of emotion.
Golden streams of blood and mist swirled about him, making his form all the more enigmatic and elusive.
“In this world, there is no force that can be completely eradicated––
It’s only that your resolve isn’t strong enough!
It’s only because your sword isn’t sharp enough.”
Lü Taibai’s eyes flickered.
For his sword––was it really not sharp enough?
Suddenly, Lü Taibai’s gaze froze on a ring of steadily burning Yulian Fire visible on his golden fingers––
Without the shielding of Buddha light, it flared up violently, consuming all of Huang Mei’s flesh in its raging inferno.
In the end––
Only a gleaming golden skeleton remained, draped in tattered monk robes and Kasaya, sitting slumped on the ground.
That year, in a hell that never emptied, a three-year-old monk made a monumental vow.
Now, at seven hundred and thirty-six,
the little monk had become an old one.
Yet the hell remained unemptied.
Then––
A torrent of golden bloodish energy surged forth as the Underworld Yama reappeared before the golden remains of Huang Mei.
Slowly, his five fingers rose to press upon the golden skull.
In a low, almost mocking tone, he spoke:
“The slayer of dragons eventually becomes a vicious dragon himself. But you, you have already become a vicious dragon.”
“Before a vicious dragon dies, a single tear of repentance is shed, as if it could wash away all sins – as if then one could rest in peace?”
“If you seek redemption, hell is no sanctuary.”
“Hell is too crowded to accommodate you.”
“Come, walk with me through the Underworld.”