Chapter 728: Golden Core Battle

‘The White-haired True Monarch is already difficult enough to deal with, and now there’s a Bodhisattva who counters me even more…’

As a Golden Core Fierce Beast, its intelligence was far greater than that of an ordinary person.

This made it unable to stop the thought of retreat from surfacing.

“Venerable One, we…”

Han Shi’s Divine Thought was filled with the fervent hope that Xu Yunfan would order a retreat.

With three Golden Core Level existences in a standoff, the mere pressure leaking from them made Han Shi, a Foundation Establishment Perfection Sword Cultivator, feel as if his Divine Soul would shatter.

He felt like a lone skiff in a storm, in danger of being crushed at any moment.

Naturally, Xu Yunfan paid no mind to Han Shi’s inquiry, merely saying casually that it wasn’t time yet.

“Watch and wait.”

Xu Yunfan, however, kept his Divine Thought locked firmly on Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva. He pushed his Triple Cause and Effect Secret Technique to its limit, trying to capture the slightest flaw or intention.

‘True Monarch Pu Du has been inactive all these years. Could this Puchen Bodhisattva’s sudden appearance also be related to that senior brother in charge of the Primordial Sect?’

‘He had to be sure.’

‘After all, the methods of a Mid-Stage Golden Core True Monarch are bizarre and unpredictable.’

Above the Sea of Suffering, a deathly silence spread, interwoven only with the low whimpers of the bloody waves and the faint, almost imperceptible chanting of lost souls.

Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva’s Buddha Light was like a Stabilizing Needle, suppressing the turbulent flows of violent energy.

The gray-white Life and Death Qi around the White-haired True Monarch roiled erratically, like a volcano on the verge of eruption.

The Qiu Long’s skeletal body rose and fell slightly, its joints making a grating sound that set one’s teeth on edge as it gathered its power, ready to strike.

The auras of the three parties pulled and pushed against one another, forming a fragile and dangerous equilibrium.

The slightest disturbance could detonate a world-shocking battle, one powerful enough to tear apart a corner of the Sea of Suffering.

High above the White Bone Island, the Taiyin Nether Dragon Fruit hanging from the branch of a gnarled, grotesque tree still emanated a cold and alluring radiance.

Concealed within the Yin Nether Cloud Qi eight hundred li away, Han Shi remained perfectly still and dormant, restraining his entire aura under Xu Yunfan’s absolute control.

At this very moment, the White-haired True Monarch’s expression was a chaotic mix of emotions, like a spilled painter’s palette.

‘He never would have imagined Ksitigarbha would stick his nose in at such a critical moment—and that it would be *this* one, the most troublesome of all.’

‘He had clashed with Ksitigarbha ten thousand years ago, and the Bodhisattva’s methods were absolutely vile.’

‘This Dao Fruit is my only lifeline. Giving it up means abandoning all hope of reaching the Golden Core realm again. I would be forced to watch my Immortal Golden Nature be ground away bit by bit through endless cycles of Reincarnation, until I eventually sank completely into the mortal world, unable to even awaken my Innate Wisdom.’

The White-haired True Monarch took a deep breath, and the aura of rot and decay around him seemed to stagnate for a moment.

He forcefully suppressed the roiling Life and Death Qi, and when he spoke, his voice was hoarse, carrying a rare, conciliatory tone.

“Bodhisattva, you are compassionate and seek to deliver all living beings. This Taiyin Nether Dragon Fruit is a matter of life and death for me; my entire path of cultivation depends on it. I wonder what it would take for the Bodhisattva to take a step back? I am willing to pay a price.”

This was the greatest concession he could possibly make.

Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva held one hand vertically before his chest, the Fearless Seal as steady as a mountain. His voice remained tranquil.

“Amitabha Buddha. Benefactor, you are mistaken. It is not that I will not retreat, but that I have a duty to fulfill, a grand vow to uphold. I once made a great vow: ‘As long as Hell is not empty, I swear not to attain Buddhahood.’ This Taiyin Nether Dragon Fruit contains the Reincarnation Yin Essence and is in harmony with the Sea of Suffering Origin. Refining this fruit will help me restore order to Reincarnation more quickly, pacify the resentful spirits of the dead, and achieve my grand vow sooner, delivering all from their suffering. This is a matter concerning the salvation of countless lost souls and the balance of Yin and Yang in the heavens and earth. How can it compare to the cultivation path of a single person? I ask that you, Benefactor, consider all living beings, sacrifice your personal gain for the greater good, and hand this fruit over to me. I can promise that if you are willing to return with me to the Pure Land to cultivate in peace, listen to the Buddhist Dharma to dissolve your malevolent energy, I will use the Dharma to help you stabilize your remnant soul and slow its decay. Perhaps you may even find a chance to turn things around.”

‘Sanctimonious!’

‘So full of righteous conviction!’

After hearing this, the White-haired True Monarch felt a surge of rage so intense he could taste blood.

‘He finally understood. Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva hadn’t come to mediate at all; he was here for the Dao Fruit.’

‘And he’s doing it under the banner of his “grand vow” and “for the sake of all beings,” seizing the absolute moral high ground. If I try to take the fruit by force now, I’ll be making myself an enemy of the “salvation of countless souls.”‘

‘The most ironic part is that his so-called promise is nothing more than an invitation to go to the Puchen Pure Land and become a converted specimen, just to prolong my pathetic existence.’

‘This is completely antithetical to the pursuits of my Dao Heart.’

There was no way out.

A spark of desperate madness, like a wildfire, ignited in the White-haired True Monarch’s deathly, listless eyes.

He whipped his head around to look at the Qiu Long coiled beneath the grotesque tree. Its blood-red eye flames were also pulsing violently, provoked by Ksitigarbha’s words.

In that instant, two mortal enemies who had been trying to kill each other moments before, now facing a more powerful, external threat, read the grim determination in each other’s eyes.

“Old serpent!”

The White-haired True Monarch’s Divine Thought was like a blade, sharp with the ferocity of one who had burned all their bridges.

“Did you hear that? Not only does that bald-headed bastard want to steal the Dao Fruit, he wants to use us as stepping stones to fulfill his bullshit grand vow. If he gets the Dao Fruit, do you, its companion Fierce Beast, think you’ll be left alive? You’ll either be ‘purified’ of all your malevolent energy until your soul dissipates, or you’ll be suppressed beneath a pagoda, never to be liberated for all eternity. Let’s put aside our grudge for now. We kill this bald-headed bastard first, and then we can discuss who gets the Dao Fruit. What do you say?!”

The Qiu Long’s enormous skeletal head snapped up. The blood-red flames in its eye sockets flared, and it let out a roar that shook the heavens and the earth.

Although its recovery had been delayed by Xu Yunfan’s array and it had been plotted against for years by the White-haired True Monarch, as a hegemon of the Sea of Suffering and the companion Fierce Beast to the Dao Fruit, how could it allow its dignity to be trampled on by some foreign monk?

The purifying power emanating from the Bodhisattva filled it with an instinctual, extreme revulsion.

The White-haired True Monarch’s words were harsh, but they had struck its deepest fear.

If it lost the Dao Fruit, its companion body, a form condensed and granted by the fruit itself, would surely be completely purified by the Buddha Light.

“ROAR! Bald-headed bastard, you’ve gone too far! I’ll tear you to shreds first!”

The Qiu Long’s roar was like a deafening clap of thunder. Its thousand-zhang-long skeletal body snapped taut, and the Taiyin Frozen Qi it had been accumulating for so long erupted with a BOOM. It transformed into a ghastly white torrent of frost, carrying a supreme cold that could freeze souls and bring destruction to all things, as it swept toward Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, launching the first attack.

It aimed directly for the Purified Sea Surface where he stood, attempting to freeze his Buddha Light Realm.

“Hmph! Stubborn fools! Then I’ll ‘deliver’ you both!”

The White-haired True Monarch let out a hoarse, sharp cry. Not to be outdone, the last trace of hesitation vanished from his face, replaced by a savage killing intent.

Black light erupted from his withered body as his hands flew through a series of seals. Behind him, the colossal, illusory image of a constantly revolving, gray-white millstone manifested.

The Millstone of Life and Death Reincarnation.

The mournful wails of countless tormented souls echoed from it. He forcibly extracted a vast Power of Reversing Life and Death, which transformed into gray-white chains wrapped in Death Qi. Like vipers from the Nine Nether Hell, they started after the Qiu Long’s attack but arrived first, coordinating with the torrent of frozen qi to strangulate Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva from all directions.

“Amitabha Buddha. So be it. Since you Benefactors insist on being obstinate, this monk has no choice but to display the Vajra’s Furious Gaze and vanquish these demons!”

Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva’s compassionate voice suddenly turned severe, booming like a great temple bell and resonating across the entire Sea of Suffering.