It was said that when the Enlightened One attained enlightenment, the Demon King Mara came to stop him, conjuring boundless barriers of sinful desire. Yet none of them could do anything to the Enlightened One, and Mara ultimately retreated.
Later generations found it difficult to glimpse even a fraction of the clash between the buddha and Mara. Yet in essence, the changes taking place within Xue Zihou's heart at this very moment followed the same principle as Mara obstructing the buddha from attaining Buddhahood.
The various future outcomes conjured within his heart were all karmic obstacles of the mind. If he became immersed in them, he would naturally be trapped by them.
Meng Zhao had told him to calm his heart and still his thoughts precisely to prevent his thoughts from becoming tangled and chaotic, giving the Heavenly Demon Seed an opening. It could then use the Great Heavenly Demon Technique to leave a crack in his mind, planting the inner demon deep within him, so that he would one day be controlled by the master of this Demonic Seed.
Unfortunately, although Xue Zihou cultivated a secret art and used the vast, righteous aura of purple lightning to sever selfish thoughts and distracting desires, a thought was ultimately still born.
That thought concerned the Heavenly Demon Seed, as well as the Eight Demonic Saber Techniques and Demonic Saber Jingqing, which were intimately linked to it. From there, countless possibilities and countless futures unfolded.
The instant that thought arose, the Heavenly Demon Seed found an opening. It used it to conjure numerous illusions to test Xue Zihou.
The moment Meng Zhao saw Xue Zihou's complexion change and his expression flicker uncertainly, he knew that the man ultimately could not achieve a state where no thoughts arose.
Still, this had been within