The ancient battlefield beneath the sea

Those eyes were enormous, without eyelashes, bloodshot, and stared at the crowd without any emotion.

Then, cracks appeared in the ground, each crack being an eye. Some were the size of a normal person's eye, while others were as large as a wheel, a water tank, or a pond, with no fixed size.

But one thing remains the same: their gaze is more terrifying and chilling than that of an ancient killer.

The eyes on the distant mountain range suddenly darted around and fixed their gaze on Du'e. Immediately, all eyes turned to Du'e.

Immediately afterwards, countless pupils began to tremble violently.

The Fate warned him once again, Du'e's heart, a chill that penetrated to his very bones. His first feeling was not fear, but humiliation.

One's own insignificance.

The other party seemed to be the embodiment of the will of heaven and earth; just by looking at him, Du'e couldn't help but kneel down and submit to the will of heaven and earth.

This feeling is something I've never experienced even when facing Bodhisattva.

Not only him, but also Chu Yuanzhen, Li Miaozhen, Daoist Jinlian, and Sun Xuanji, who were in the distance, shared the same feeling.

Magnificent, vast, and majestic—these words are insufficient to describe those eyes, that being.

If I had to find a suitable word, it would be "sky"!

A sense of humility arises spontaneously in everyone's heart.

The insignificance of being born human.

After entering the Transcendent, they had never had such an experience before. Even when Daoist Jinlian faced Luo Yuheng's Heavenly Tribulation, he never had this feeling.

"Walk!"

Du'e had just finished shouting when he turned around and found that only Hengyuan was left beside him; Asuro had already fled.

Without hesitation, Du'e unleashed a burst of Buddhist light from the nine-petaled lotus platform, propelling him away like a golden ray of lightning.

Master Hengyuan followed closely behind.

Mahayana Dharma, Mahayana Dharma

A terrifying roar came from behind.

Li Miaozhen and the others, who were watching warily from a distance, saw the plain come to life. The ground surged up like waves, transforming into towering earthen walls hundreds of feet high that blotted out the sky, crashing towards Arhat Du'e and Hengyuan.

As the giant wave chased after it for miles, clods of earth and sand scattered, revealing its true form: dark red flesh and blood, covering the sky and the earth, just like the flesh and blood of the ocean waves.

The feeling of inferiority disappeared.

Although the opponent was still terrifying, so strong that it inspired trembling and fear, the sense of humility inherent in being human vanished from everyone's hearts.

Dark red flesh and blood coalesced into a gigantic hand that blotted out the sky. As soon as this enormous hand appeared, it broke through the distance of space and enveloped Du'e, Asuro, and Hengyuan.

The Pilgrim Dharma Idol, and his heart filled with dread Du'e.

The three of them rode the wind without stopping, each Fuxian Second Rank Slayer of Thieves Fruition above their heads, their seven-colored, dazzling light reflecting off each other as they attempted to withstand the capture.

Li Miaozhen and Daoist Jinlian simultaneously reached out their hands, frantically bestowing blessings upon the three of them.

At the critical moment, the giant hand collapsed.

The flesh and blood that made it up seemed to lose its power, suddenly collapsed, and crashed to the ground. In an instant, it was like a mountain collapsing, the ground shook violently, and dust rose up.

Asuro, Du'e, and Hengyuan, having narrowly escaped death, still dared not stop until they returned to Li Miaozhen and the others, at which point they dared to turn back and look.

The dark red flesh and blood were slowly merging into the ground until they disappeared.

"That scared the hell out of me!"

Asuro patted the bald head.

Although Arhat Du'e and Hengyuan did not speak, judging from their expressions and eyes, they probably shared the same thoughts as Asuro.

"He did not harm me when I approached him last time."

Du'e pondered for a moment and said:

"Just now, the Fate warned me that it wanted to devour me and reclaim its Fate."

Everyone was in a state of confusion, with all sorts of questions flashing through their minds. Daoist Jinlian said:

"We'll discuss this later. Let's leave the Western Regions first and return to Leizhou to await Shenshu's arrival."

After returning to Leizhou, the group landed on a deserted mountaintop and sat cross-legged under an ancient pine tree.

Chu Yuanzhen, the top scholar with a strand of white hair on his forehead, took the initiative to start the conversation, saying:

"That... is that the Buddha?"

The Orange Daoist Cat and the Arhat Du'e nodded.

Master Hengyuan clasped his hands together, his brows furrowed in a deep frown, his expression solemn.

Why did the Buddha appear in this form?

No one answered.

Their bodies transformed into mountains and rivers—an unprecedented phenomenon, beyond their comprehension.

Daoist Jinlian looked at Arhat Du'e and said:

"The master said He wants to devour you and reclaim his Fate?"

The Arhat Du'e nodded.

Daoist Jinlian slowly nodded and expressed her opinion:

"Although we didn't dare to cross His path to the Western Regions, Arhat Du'e said was mostly true."

He was referring to the Buddha devouring the creatures of the Western Regions, transforming them into mountains, rivers, and cities.

Li Miaozhen frowned and said:

"But when we arrived, we did see many living people who hadn't been devoured by the Buddha. There's no reason for Him to only devour half."

Before she could finish speaking, Asuro interrupted, his voice deep and magnetic:

"Did you notice that when the Buddha made his move, there was a noticeable change halfway through? The earth and rocks collapsed, revealing dark red flesh and blood. The feeling I got from the two states before and after was different."

"He remains terrifying, but seems to have lost a certain awe-inspiring power."

"A power to shake one's mind? He described his abandonment of Du'e and Hengyuan and his hasty escape in such a refined and elegant way." Li Miaozhen muttered to herself.

However, she could understand what Asuro meant by "shaking the mind".

She experienced that sense of humiliation as well.

The Arhat Du'e nodded and said:

"And the places where He lost this power are precisely the areas He failed to assimilate."

At this moment, he saw Sun Xuanji wave his sleeve, take out a plan of self-preservation, pen, ink, paper and inkstone, and begin to write furiously.

Chu Yuanzhen seemed to have a sudden realization and summarized:

"Could it be that the establishment of Mahayana Buddhism caused the Buddha to lose some of his Fate, preventing Buddha from expanding further? This explains the significant change in the Buddha's attitude towards the Arhat Du'e had overcome difficulties."

His conjecture was based on the premise that Transcendent Rank require Fate, combined with the changes in the Western Regions and the warnings about Fate from the Arhat Du'e.

The Orange Daoist Cat stroked his whiskers and said:

"I also believe that Mahayana Buddhism's move has been remarkably effective."

"Without the support of Fate, it seems the Buddha cannot continue his expansion. As long as we don't enter the Western Regions, we should be safe."

The crowd agreed.

They immediately noticed that Sun Xuanji was holding a pen, frozen in place.

He leaned closer and saw that he had written on the paper:

"The Buddha has lost his Fate and can no longer absorb it."

The rest of the text couldn't be written down because Chu Yuanzhen had already said it all.

"Oh, this..." Flying Swallow Heroine said with a word of comfort, "Bring Protector Yuan next time."

"Protector Yuan is just a Fourth Rank minor demon; he shouldn't be undertaking these adventures that are beyond his cultivation level," thought the kind and simple Master Hengyuan.

"Great idea! That'll scare that damned monkey to death!" This was the sentiment of everyone except for the Arhat Du'e.

Chu Yuanzhen immediately sent the results of everyone's discussion to the Earth Book chat group.

[One: The deduction is correct; that's roughly the case. I inquired with Duke Wei and Academician Zhao. They weren't very familiar with the Buddha's unusual behavior, but Academician Zhao said it was most likely related to the so-called Great Kalpa.]

The Buddha's appearance truly represented a great calamity; if He were allowed to expand unchecked, the consequences would be unimaginable. Members of the Heaven and Earth Society deeply understood this.

[One: Xu Ningyan, Xu Ningyan, have you seen the message?]

I asked several times, but no one answered.

[Nine: Xu Ningyan is still overseas and has not yet returned.]

Without that crude, First Rank Martial Warrior, everyone always feels insecure.

[Seven: Will that bastard Xu Ningyan escape overseas and never come back? If he can't advance to the Half-Step Martial God, he'll most likely run away, after all, he's so philandering and lustful.]

Shouldn't it be about being afraid of death? What does this have to do with being a womanizer? That Li Lingsu is taking this opportunity to smear Xu Qi'an again. The members of the Heaven and Earth Society thought to themselves.

[Second: Senior brother, have you arrived in Southern Frontier yet?]

[Seven: We've arrived and are waiting for Master Shenshu to emerge from seclusion. Speaking of which, the beauties of the Fox Race are truly extraordinary. Especially Yeji's sisters, each one is a beauty that could easily surpass yours, Junior Sister.]

[Second: Senior brother, when we get back to the capital, I'll tell my wives this. Well, unless you tell me how many Ji there are in Southern Frontier.]

[Seven: Senior brother was wrong. Senior brother has something to discuss with the three beauties, Youji, Lingji, and Qingji. Take care, everyone.]

In the deep sea.

The enormous trench was bottomless, so dark it seemed to swallow up light.

Xu Qi'an scattered a handful of fiery red seashells, and detonated them with his energy as they fell into the trench.

The fire element contained within the seashells suddenly exploded, expanding into clusters of fireballs in the pitch-black seabed.

The undercurrents suddenly surged.

In the flickering light, Xu Qi'an and the Nine-Tailed Fox saw a thick tentacle emerge from the trench. It was as enormous as a giant python that could swallow the sky, and each of its suckers was as big as a water tank.

The surface of the tentacles was marked with incomplete patterns.

Is this Transcendent Rank Gods and Devils a giant squid? Xu Qi'an was somewhat disillusioned. With a sense of curiosity, he kept looking forward to seeing what the other party's true form looked like.

The tentacle twisted and coiled around, sweeping fiercely towards the Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox.

The underwater currents instantly boiled, and Xu Qi'an could only hear the rumbling sound of the colliding currents.

He was even more sensitive to the descendants of Gods and Devils. Xu Qi'an raised an eyebrow, stood by and watched, and did not intervene to help the fox spirit defend herself.

The Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox didn't even use her strongest weapon—her tail.

With eight fluffy fox tails flapping like jellyfish tentacles, she propelled them forward, her clenched fist unleashing a burst of bubbles.

Bang!

A muffled sound echoed from the seabed, like a torpedo exploding.

In Xu Qi'an's vision, the area in front of him was instantly covered by dense bubbles, and surging undercurrents swept in all directions like shock waves, slamming into his chest.

The Nine-Tailed Fox fox flew backward, leaving a vacuum trail in its wake on the seabed.

Seeing this, Xu Qi'an had a clearer estimate of the tentacles' power.

Although the ruler's strength is not as great as that of a warrior, as a descendant of Gods and Devils, his physical strength definitely surpasses First Rank of other first-rank beings.

But in that purely physical attack, she was clearly no match for the tentacles.

The stronger it is, the greater my gains will be after I devour it. Perhaps I can even step into the Half-Step Martial God Realm in one fell swoop. Xu Qi'an transmitted his voice:

"Your Majesty, help me entangle it, I'm going down to find its true form."

The Nine-Tailed Fox hummed in response, her tone unchanged. Although she had lost the contest, she was not injured.