Chapter 57: Upside Down and Bewildered: Ksitigarbha Shitatia Devours the Demonic Body

One wave not yet settled, another rises!

Being intercepted along the way during his return trip was something Yi Beidou had never expected.

One must know that his whereabouts were normally untraceable, and backed by the Heavenly Demon Sense, he was capable of perceiving murderous intent and malice; yet, beforehand, he had not sensed even the slightest hint of danger.

This indicated that the person before him possessed a mind as perfect and unhindered as a polished pearl, remaining in a state of profound meditative stillness, further reinforced by various Feng Shui magnetic field techniques. Only through such means could one manage to keep their perception from leaking outward.

The Daoist cultivation of this person was truly not to be underestimated.

Hearing the words of the aged monk from the forest ahead, Yi Beidou immediately recalled the recent events in Wencheng.

At that time, after resolving his family matters, he had encountered people from Nanyang and learned that there existed masters in Nanyang who had achieved physical sanctification. They made grand vows to subdue demons and eliminate devils, but in reality, they merely indulged the growth of demonic hindrances.

It seemed this person before him was precisely one of them.

The Great Vow Baolian Supreme Master!

With subduing demons and eradicating devils as the fundamental basis of his cultivation, it was naturally impossible for this person to let go of Yi Beidou, the greatest demon in the world. However, constrained by the strength of Donghua, he had been unable to easily cross the border.

Now that Yi Beidou had left the nation's borders, this person had seized the opportunity and immediately made his move.

"To be able to cut off my path forward, it seems you too possess unique spiritual attributes."

Yi Beidou's expression remained unchanged as he spoke calmly.

Just as he possessed the Heavenly Demon Sense, other powerhouses who had achieved physical sanctification could also manifest extraordinary traits.

Given that this person had made grand and profound vows to suppress the purgatory of the mortal realm, and had entrenched himself in Nanyang for many years with extremely profound cultivation, it was entirely normal for him to be capable of sensing the demonic path.

Donghua was not the only place in this world harboring extraordinary figures.

"How could the extent of my Buddhist Dharma be limited to mere perception? Today, there is no escape for you. Blame only your own youthful vigor and failure to understand how to conceal your brilliance."

The voice of the Great Vow Baolian Supreme Master echoed from afar.

The next instant,

"Ma-mo-da-hong-hei——"

The lips of the Great Vow Baolian Supreme Master did not move in the slightest, yet from deep within his body came overlapping whispers resembling the chanting of scriptures. It was as if thousands of mouths were growing beneath his plain monk's robe.

When martial arts masters exerted force and breathed, they could generate the "tiger and leopard thunder sound." But when this person mobilized his vital blood and exerted his strength, the sound of sutras and philosophical canons actually accompanied his body.

Ma-mo-da-hong-hei!!

Seemingly coordinating with the sounds emanating from his body, layer upon layer of whispers and murmurs rose from various corners of the forest, continuously echoing and surrounding Yi Beidou from all directions, growing ever louder.

The sound of scripture chanting!

Moreover, it was not merely a matter of sound alone.

Centered around the physique and intent of the Great Vow Baolian Supreme Master, this chanting of scriptures was blended with elements such as spirit and magnetic fields, connecting with the earth's veins and producing an overwhelmingly powerful psychological and spiritual impact.

Yi Beidou swept his gaze around. Through the mottled moonlight filtering down, faint figures could be seen manifesting in various parts of the forest.

Some of these figures carried Buddhist shrines in their hands, some held Vajra bells, and others wielded pestles of subjugation. Each radiated abundant blood Qi, their hair standing on end with rage, surging with fierce malevolence and terrifying visages, resembling Arhats under the seat of the Buddha manifesting their demon-subduing forms.

The Great Vow Baolian Supreme Master had not come alone. Having spent many years subduing demons and conquering devils in Nanyang, he had taken eighteen heretical evildoers at the peak of the Soul-Seizing realm under his tutelage to serve him, known as the "Eighteen Demon Arhats."

The implements held in the hands of these eighteen individuals were all ritual objects he had refined over the years in temples using the gathered incense and aspirations. Combining these with the local terrain, they had set up this "Ksitigarbha's All-Evil Scripture Demon-Subduing Grand Array" to assist him in subduing the Freely-Transforming Heavenly Demon.

The sound of scripture chanting continuously overlapped and magnified, sounding as though thousands of mouths were whispering right beside Yi Beidou's ears, fouling his mind and stirring a growing sense of restlessness.

Tarnishing purity and throwing the six roots into chaos!

Simultaneously, the scene appearing before his eyes began to shift. Golden light bloomed around the elderly monk, and lotus flowers blossomed beneath his feet. Upon closer inspection, however, it was enough to break one out in a cold sweat.

The center of each lotus was not a bud, but rather a contorted, malevolent ghost face.

Lotus flowers concealing ghosts!

Tap!

The old monk's palms moved, his five fingers flickering like spiritual serpents in the night sky leaving afterimages, before abruptly forming a seal before his chest.

Vital blood, magnetic fields, spirit, valor, and Sanskrit chanting instantly merged as one with the hand seal, piercing straight into the depths of the human heart.

Tantric Great Handprint!

Boom!!

In the blink of an eye, the entire heaven and earth transformed. The surrounding scenery grew hazy, and those blooming lotus flowers had somehow reached his side. The ghost faces within the hearts of the lotus stretched out their bodies, clawing at Yi Beidou's form from all directions.

Upside-down and bewildering, like dreams, illusions, and water bubbles.

Yi Beidou felt as though he had returned to the time before his freedom was attained, an era when illusions ran rampant.

The strength with which this person's Tantric handprint technique combined with the array to create illusions was already capable of twisting the human mind and subduing one's fundamental thoughts.

It was precisely by virtue of this handprint technique that he had been able to gather so many heretical evildoers under his banner, making them utterly loyal and obedient to his every command.

"Mere illusions!"

Yi Beidou's spirit concentrated, his intent flaring. The baleful aura and murderous intent surged like a tidal wave, and the chaotic vision of lotuses before his eyes instantly vanished into nothingness.

Yet the very instant he shattered the illusion, he felt the hairs on the sides of his body stand on end. The Great Vow Baolian Supreme Master had already closed in beside him without a sound.

When masters of physical sanctification clashed, even a momentary blinding by illusions would cause one to instantly fall into a disadvantageous position.

The old monk's stature grew taller, swelling his wide monk's robe outward. A powerful aura reverberated, seemingly revealing a certain form of Dharma body. He launched an attack toward Yi Beidou's flank, thrusting his arm out from the monk's robe to reveal a horrifying sight.

His originally fair and tender skin was suddenly marked by bulging tendons and fascia. Muscle lines, fascia, blood vessels, and skin intertwined layer upon layer, forming intricate lotus patterns upon his arm. Upon closer observation, one would realize those were not lotus flowers at all, but rather countless ghost faces!

The Great Vow Baolian Supreme Master practiced the method of subduing demons and eradicating devils as his path of cultivation, and the demons he had subdued and delivered from torment all became a part of his own body.

The world only knew that he practiced the wondrous Dharma of Ksitigarbha, but little did they know he also took another method as his foundation.

The Secretly Transmitted Charnel Ground Protector Method!

The charnel ground referred to a burial ground for corpses, which could also be understood as a mass grave in the Central Plains. This type of method involved practicing amidst places of exposed corpses and mass burials, stimulating the spirit through all sorts of visceral and terrifying sights to pierce through the ultimate mysteries of life and death.

By combining the wondrous Dharma of Ksitigarbha with the method of the charnel ground, the Great Vow Baolian Supreme Master practiced both the Great Vehicle and the Small Vehicle simultaneously, forging a path entirely his own.

He subdued demons, and he also consumed demons.

Explained through modern science, after achieving physical sanctification, the gene sequence of the Great Vow Baolian Supreme Master possessed open characteristics. By consuming specific flesh and blood, his body could independently capture certain genetic fragments within them, thereby modifying himself and enhancing his physical strength to a certain extent.

Meanwhile, the grand vows of the Ksitigarbha Dharma helped elevate his state of mind while subduing demons, achieving a mutually reinforcing cycle.

This was none other than the "Ksitigarbha Charnel Ground Demon-Devouring Dharma Body."

This was also the fundamental reason why he had come to intercept Yi Beidou.

Heavenly Demons were hard to encounter, and the Freely-Transforming Heavenly Demon was even rarer in this world. If he could deliver Yi Beidou to the Western Paradise to meet the Buddha and subsequently consume his flesh and blood, both his spirit and physical body would likely sublimate simultaneously, reaching an entirely new realm.

He was not here for revenge; he was here in pursuit of the Dao!!

Boom!!

Yi Beidou swept out with a single palm, gathering baleful aura and murderous intent within his palm.

Law-Destroying Killing Tribulation!

However, this strike was not at its peak. Having been hindered by illusions cast by the Great Vow Baolian Supreme Master, his hurried response left both his exertion and intent incompletely condensed.

As their palms collided, Yi Beidou's body swayed, his legs sinking deeply as he forcefully neutralized the impact and anchored himself in place.

"What a magnificent Heavenly Demon body! Truly formidable. From today onward, it shall be put to use for my own sake!"

The Great Vow Baolian Supreme Master did not linger in a protracted struggle. With a flash of his figure, the Sanskrit chanting within his body erupted with blinding intensity once more, and the scripture chanting within the demon-subduing array grew even more fierce.

Forming hand seals with his hands, illusions once again emerged before Yi Beidou's eyes.

With the grand array assisting him, the longer one stayed within this formation, the deeper the Sanskrit chanting would infiltrate the mind, inevitably leading to mental confusion and an inability to maintain self-control sooner or later.

Right now, he was like a hunter battling a ferocious beast; what he needed to do was exhaust his opponent's energy to the utmost, rather than engaging in a desperate battle to the death.

This person was already a turtle trapped in a jar!