"Merits cannot erase sins, so a life must be paid."
"But where there is merit, there must also be a reward."
Su Bai’s voice was calm. His body moved with the wind, and in an instant, he dispersed into millions of motes of light:
"The bloody debts of this life shall be paid in this life."
"On the day the God-Sealing Platform is complete, I will personally guide you into the cycle of Reincarnation and grant you the chance to retain your spiritual awareness in the next life, allowing you to walk the path of cultivation once more!"
As his voice lingered in the air, Su Bai had already vanished into the void.
All that remained were dense, golden motes of light, which scattered on the wind and spread across the vast sky, sealing the mountains below.
"Senior!"
Huaisheng Daoist hadn’t expected Su Bai to leave so abruptly; he didn’t even have time to cry out.
As worry crept into his heart, he watched as the surrounding void seemed to slowly congeal and stagnate under the influence of the spreading motes of light.
At this moment, the wind stopped blowing, the clouds stopped drifting, and it seemed as if even light itself was frozen in the vast sky.
And among the mountains, countless Demon Ghosts, great and small, were all sealed in place.
If one were to look down from above,
they would see the thousands of mountains and ravines of the Mo Long Cave, looking as if they were encased in amber, or perhaps like a colossal landscape painting rendered in splashed ink!
A long while later, as Huaisheng Daoist, Chen Qin’Yin, and the others watched, the Cangying King, still kneeling amidst the ruins, threw his head back and let out a wretched laugh:
"Thank you for your grace, True Master. Thank you for your grace..."
His words were tinged with laughter, but no one who heard his long cry would think he was truly laughing.
BOOM!
His laughter echoed across the vast sky as the Cangying King suddenly leaped up, soaring a thousand zhang into the air. With a shake of his body, he transformed into his true form and manifested a Dharma Aspect thousands of zhang tall.
In an instant, wind and clouds clashed violently high in the firmament, unleashing bolt after bolt of lightning.
A hurricane swept through the mountains, kicking up clouds of dust and debris!
"What... what is he doing?"
Chen Qin’Yin couldn’t help but clutch the Soldier Nurturing Gourd she had just recovered, her expression fraught with tension.
The Summoning Technique had drained nearly all her True Qi and Magical Power. In her current state, she couldn’t possibly defeat a Great Demon at the Void Realm, to say nothing of a Feathered Great Demon.
No one could answer her question.
The Confucian Daoist Venerable and the others also wore grave expressions, their gazes fixed on the sky.
SCREEECH!!
The next moment, an eagle’s cry resounded throughout the entire Mo Long Cave.
Then, a gale erupted between heaven and earth. Whirlwinds tore across the wilderness, crisscrossing the mountains like raging Dragons.
They finally merged into one, forming a colossal tornado thousands of zhang high.
The Cangying King then swallowed it in a single gulp.
The scene was like a great Dragon drawing water, but this hurricane contained neither water nor simple wind.
It was a maelstrom of countless demons, fiends, and ghosts of all kinds, all of them howling, shrieking, and screaming in misery!
...
Between heaven and earth lie the Four Seas and Five Continents.
The Central Continent is where destiny converges, the Eastern Continent is where the sun rises, and the Western Continent is where the sun sets.
WHOOSH!
Starlight poured down like water, draping the boundless, vast sea of sand in a silvery-white veil.
The searing heat of the day had completely vanished, replaced by an extreme, bone-chilling cold.
The Western Continent’s day-night temperature difference was the greatest in the world.
The Western Continent was also the only continent uninhabited by civilized life. All it had were the countless, utterly malevolent, and venomous creatures nurtured within its vast sea of sand.
SHHH...
A light breeze swept by, and the yellow sands flowed and rolled like ocean waves.
One after another, ferocious giant scorpions emerged from the waves of sand, their gazes fixed on the far distance. There, in the very center of the vast sea of sand, stood a mysterious, tall platform that rose into the clouds like a Divine Mountain.
The platform was a brilliant gold from top to bottom, as if forged from pure Gold, without a single impurity.
And atop this platform, amidst the howling wind and sand, a monk sat in the lotus position.
His features were stern, his presence solemn and majestic. At a certain moment, as if sensing something, he gazed down from his perch.
Everywhere he looked, the vast yellow sands churned, like a desert sea roaring in fury, raising monstrous waves.
Faintly, one could see an innumerable, densely packed army of venomous insects swept up within the Desert Sea.
And deep within the endless sands, a pair of scarlet eyes as large as mountains.
"Amitabha Buddha. How virtuous, how virtuous."
The Rebirth Buddha Venerable placed his palms together and quietly chanted the Buddha’s name:
"It seems this humble monk must once again unleash a great slaughter today."
Amidst the swirling gales, the Rebirth Buddha Venerable’s voice carried an immeasurable distance, resonating in all directions like the tolling of a great Copper Bell in a temple.
VMMMM!
The high platform vibrated.
A wisp of blood-red vapor suddenly rose from the platform, which had seemed to be forged from pure gold.
As the red mist spread, the faint scent of blood began to drift on the air.
The wind could not disperse it.
The Western Continent Sea was a boundless desert, without a single oasis to be found.
There might be many Heavenly and Earthly Treasures within the Desert Sea, but collecting them was far too difficult.
Moreover, they were far from enough for him to construct a God-Sealing Platform.
Therefore, for the past five years, the Rebirth Buddha Venerable had been doing only one thing.
Slaughtering demons and taking their bones to forge the God-Sealing Platform.
By now, the outline of the God-Sealing Platform was complete; only the final part remained.
"Counting this batch..."
The Rebirth Buddha Venerable lowered his gaze and murmured to himself:
"It should be about enough...."
ROAR!!
As the Rebirth Buddha Venerable muttered to himself, the endless yellow sands whipped into a boundless, frantic tide.
An innumerable horde of venomous insects, layered one atop another, rose even higher than the waves of sand, reaching a height of thousands of zhang.
Like a series of towering city walls, they crashed down viciously upon the God-Sealing Platform!
...
The starry sky was vast, with countless stars twinkling within. A bright moon was set in the night’s curtain, a magnificent sight.
Beneath the night sky, the Da Yu Capital City was a swathe of darkness, with only scattered lamplights twinkling faintly.
WHOOSH!
In the Da Yu Capital City, atop the Central Continent’s God-Sealing Platform.
At a certain moment, Su Bai seemed to sense something and slowly opened his eyes.
He looked to the west and murmured to himself:
"The Western Continent’s God-Sealing Platform is complete."