A Thousand Sails Passed, Leaving the Sunken Boat Steadfast (Two-in-One)

Time slowly passed once more.

The lineage master of the Patterned Civet Lineage followed soon after, ascending to the rank of Nascent Soul Dao Lord.

Within the Blessed-Land Domain, Purple Palace Realm spirit beast cultivators fought bitterly over heavenly treasures suited to their innate destinies, spawning one bloody battle after another.

The renewed changes in the Demon Refining Mystic Sect's Fortune Cloud made Liu Dongqing's perception of heavenly secrets and fortune clearer still.

"The first to attain the Dao will do so today!"

Almost the instant that thought crossed Liu Dongqing's mind,

near the Illusory Marsh,

a beam of gilded Buddhist radiance swept across the sky with the spiritual stirrings of tribulation.

Buddhist chants filled the heavens, every note brimming with the power to turn hearts toward the Dharma.

This was the Buddhist resonance of the Western Regions' Deliverance Lineage.

Then,

as the brilliant golden light faded, an aged horse demon monk in crimson robes appeared before the world, seated cross-legged in midair.

"Hmm..."

"The Western Regions finally have a Buddhist cultivator who's attained the rank of Spirit Transformation Dao Lord."

"By rights, it shouldn't have taken this long."

"After all, the Demon Race has managed the Western Regions exceptionally well these past years. With such flourishing prospects, they should have produced a Spirit Transformation Dao Lord long ago."

"Yet no Buddhist appeared in the first or second waves. They had to wait until the third to barely take the lead."

"It isn't as though they're in a bitterly cold place like the North Sea, disadvantaged from the outset."

"Could it be..."

"The ill fortune borne by my reckless use of the Blood Sea Boundless Wave-Cleansing Diagram years ago was supposedly directed toward the Demon Race's various branches. But ultimately, 'boundless' means even I can't say exactly where it went."