Fellow Daoist, Are You Willing to Become a God?

Boom!

A bolt of heavenly lightning, three feet thick, crashed down from the sky.

Heavenly lightning carried the magnificent Positive Chi that could destroy all in its path, as though it had cleaved its way into this foul and evil Dharma Realm from beyond the heavens.

Before the lightning even arrived, the Great Black Buddha Mother's dharma body shuddered violently.

The resentment and superiority on her face cracked for the first time!

"Impossible! How could it be heavenly lightning?!"

The black-clad old woman let out a shriek so piercing it nearly tore through the soul. All seven arms rose at once, black threads danced wildly, and overwhelming resentment and bloody light surged skyward, trying to block that bolt of heavenly lightning.

Rumble!

The lightning struck the dharma body head-on.

The Great Black Buddha Mother's dharma body, pieced together from black threads, essence blood, and resentment, was instantly covered in cracks. The cracks spread rapidly, splitting from her head down through her seven arms and into her gaping abdomen.

"No... that's not right!"

"Why would a righteous god intervene personally?!"

"This is unfair!"

The madness in her voice finally turned into genuine terror. What exactly had changed?

Why would a righteous god target her personally?

She had clearly avoided the territories controlled by those gods as much as possible.

The next moment, the lightning exploded completely.

Bang!!!

Blinding white light swept in every direction, forcefully ripping a massive gash through the pitch-black Dharma Realm. The endless dark canopy collapsed along with it.

The churning pool of blood evaporated beneath the lightning. Sheets of pale ghostly hands reaching out from it turned into black smoke before they could even scream, burned utterly clean.

The Great Black Buddha Mother's dharma body bore the brunt of it.

Four of her seven arms exploded first. The remaining three twisted and snapped as well.

Her vicious old face was struck directly by the lightning. Half her face instantly collapsed, and black fragments mixed with foul-smelling blood mist flew everywhere.

"Ahhh!!!"

Amid her shrill screams, her entire dharma body burst apart.

"As expected of one of the finest Thunder Arts in the Three Realms."

"No wonder Thunder Arts have always been regarded as the most righteous of all righteous methods."

Beneath the golden light, Huang Bai clicked his tongue in amazement.

Among the various methods of the Three Realms, Thunder Arts were the most tyrannical lineage, specially made to destroy evil entities.

The Great Black Buddha Mother was merely an evil god nurtured on blood offerings and curses. Even true great demons with some real power would have to retreat when faced with Thunder Arts.

On the other side, Chen Lixing finally could not hold on any longer.

Inviting a god to possess one's body already consumed one's life force. After enduring the Dharma Realm head-on for so long, he had long since reached his limit. As the Great Black Buddha Mother's Dharma Realm shattered, the blue face paint quickly faded from his face, and the guardian deity's manifestation receded like a tide.

Chen Lixing's legs gave out, and he nearly dropped to his knees on the spot.

"Master Chen!"

Had Huang Bai not caught him quickly, the old man would likely have fallen straight to the ground.

Chen Lixing's face was deathly pale, his chest heaving violently. He looked as though he had just been dragged out of water; cold sweat had soaked through his back, and even raising a hand took effort.

"Damn it..."

He took several ragged breaths, his voice terribly weak.

"This time, I nearly threw away my old life..."

"Rest first. Don't make any rash moves. Let's assess the situation."

Huang Bai kept his eyes fixed tightly on the Great Black Buddha Mother.

By then, the pitch-black Dharma Realm had vanished, and every trace of Negative Chi had disappeared. The surroundings had returned to the secret passage.

Li Ruonan's corpse lay on the ground, her eyes still open in death.

"It's finally over." Chen Lixing let out a sigh of relief.

If not for the spell cast by White Crane Boy, they likely would not have escaped this calamity.

"Not yet."

Huang Bai glanced at his left arm. The Heavenly Dao Talisman Edict had not changed.

The Great Black Buddha Mother might have deceived everyone else, but she could not deceive the Heavenly Dao Talisman Edict. Therefore, she had not been destroyed.

Huang Bai silently recited the Brightsight Curse, his gaze piercing through the surrounding Yin energy.

At last, he ordered the Yaksha to find a sandalwood box three inches beneath the earth at the base of the Buddha statue.

Through his divine sense, he sensed a palm-sized black lotus inside the box. It was not truly a lotus; its texture was almost fleshy, and it was covered in Tantric scriptures.

"Could it be an Immortal Garment?"

An Immortal Garment was a placenta. This should be the Great Black Buddha Mother's true body.

Besides that object, there was also a thick manual titled Dharma Teaching's Yin Altar Spirit Cultivation Method.

It seemed to be a Mount Mao spell technique related to refining soldiers through a Yin altar.

"Come, bind it with iron chains."

Huang Bai knew that destroying the object would kill the Buddha Mother and allow him to return to the ancient temple. Yet upon seeing it, he was no longer in such a hurry.

There were still quite a few things in this world worth learning.

"Alright, it's over. The Great Black Buddha Mother will no longer harm the living."

Huang Bai walked out of the cave.

Without realizing it, an entire night had passed.

The east began to glow pale, and countless golden rays pierced through the darkness.

The convoy returned to the city, and everything was finally settled.

"This time, our merit has come to a satisfactory end as well." Color had returned to Chen Lixing's face. "Come sit at the temple sometime when you're free."

"Certainly."

Huang Bai had been thinking the same thing.

The group returned to Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva Temple.

Chen Lixing informed White Crane Boy about the matter. The incense flames swayed for a moment, indicating that he understood.

"Big Brother Director!" Duo Duo came out from the back courtyard and immediately hugged Huang Bai's leg. "I don't have nightmares anymore. The bad thing is gone forever."

"That's good. As long as you're alright." Huang Bai crouched down and asked with a smile, "Duo Duo, do you like it here?"

On the way over, Huang Bai had already discussed it with Chen Lixing. Chen Lixing liked the well-behaved little girl very much and had agreed to handle the adoption procedures.

"It's fun. All the older sisters like me... but I still miss Mommy. Big Brother Director, when will Mommy come to see me?"

Duo Duo gathered her courage and spoke. She wanted to tell her mother the good news. She had so, so much she wanted to say to her mother: to share her daily life and tell her that she had made new friends.

"Mommy has gone somewhere very, very far away. As long as Duo Duo behaves, Mommy will definitely come back." Huang Bai said with a smile.

He would never let the girl learn that Li Ruonan was already dead.

From the moment Li Ruonan entered the cave, she had been nothing more than a walking corpse with an empty shell.

In the days that followed, Huang Bai, having secured tens of millions in investment, became a hands-off boss. He spent every day at Ksitigarbha Temple, exchanging experiences with Chen Lixing.

There, he learned much common knowledge about spirit-writing.

Of course, he had no intention of becoming a spirit medium. A spirit medium had to become a god's believer and offer wholehearted worship.

That night.

All was silent, and even the temple's statues seemed to have fallen asleep.

Huang Bai sat cross-legged, holding the Inner Elixir as he breathed in and out, refining the pill's medicinal power.

His divine sense extended fifteen meters, clearly perceiving everything around him as his soul slowly grew stronger.

After undergoing Corpse Liberation once, his soul far surpassed that of an ordinary person.

If he chose to debase himself, he could even become the next Great Black Buddha Mother directly.

Jingle...

A dharma bell rang softly, and sandalwood incense filled the air.

In the unseen darkness, it seemed as though something sacred had descended.

Huang Bai's divine sense touched the incense offerings, and his consciousness entered a new world in an instant.

An endless Incense Ash World, a temple shrouded in mist, and the White Crane General standing before it.

"Congratulations, Fellow Daoist, on subduing demons and exterminating evil." White Crane Boy clasped his hands in thanks.

"I merely benefited from the General's aid. Without your divine power, how could I have destroyed the Great Black Buddha Mother?"

White Crane Boy went straight to the point and asked:

"You have gained merit from killing an evil god. If you are willing, you may ascend to the Spirit Realm and become a guardian spirit child under Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva. You will enjoy eternal lifespan in the underworld, receive incense offerings, and become a god. Are you willing?"