Eastern Travels, Realizing One's True Heart

The Eastern Region, vast and boundless, with magnificent mountains and rivers. Yet at this moment, this fertile land was shrouded in the dark clouds and bloodshed of the Witch-Demon War.

The sky sometimes turned crimson like blood, sometimes thick with Sha Qi. Heaven-shaking battle cries, roars of giant beasts, and the booming clashes of divine abilities rumbled like muffled thunder from the distant direction of Buzhou Mountain. On the earth, spiritual energy was in chaos, and Calamity Qi bred like poisonous miasma.

Countless weak creatures trembled in fear, while those heavy with Sinful Power took advantage of this cataclysmic upheaval and collapse of order to run rampant. They slaughtered living beings, seized blood sacrifices, plundered spiritual essences, turning this land into a hell.

A gray figure, amidst this turmoil and bloodshed, came from the west and set foot on the eastern soil.

Ming Xin.

He wore simple gray hemp clothes, his long hair casually tied up with a bone hairpin. His face was handsome yet carried an ancient coldness. In his left eye, a Nirvana Buddha Flame flickered faintly; in his right eye, a Demon Abyss vortex swirled deep. He did not ride clouds nor wield a sword, but walked like a mortal.

Step by step, he trod upon this land thick with Calamity Qi and seething with karma. Each step was exceptionally steady. Beneath his soles, an invisible flow of Dao seemed to circulate, quietly purifying the bloodstains and evil energy underfoot, leaving behind a faint, barely perceptible patch of purity.

His speed appeared unhurried, but with each stride, his form seemed to merge into the void, appearing far away—Shrink Ground to Inch—yet carrying a heavy, grounded sensation. His gaze calmly swept over the scarred earth: collapsed mountains, severed rivers, burning forests, and scattered, broken corpses of various races everywhere.

The air was thick with the pungent smell of blood, scorched odor, and lingering remnants of desperate wails.

"Karmic obstacles... so this is the karmic obstacle beneath a Calamity..." Ming Xin murmured in his heart, the Dark Gold Killing Buddha Wheel between his brows turning slightly. A cold, murderous intent flowed through his sea of consciousness. The scriptures of the Great Nirvana Killing Buddha Scripture echoed in his mind: "Killing to protect life, severing karma, not people..."

He had not come to participate in the core of the Witch-Demon War. Such a vast slaughter involving the fate of the Primordial World and the survival of races was beyond his control at his current early Primordial Unity Golden Immortal stage. His target was the neglected corners beneath this Calamity, the "karmic evils" breeding in chaos, like pus eroding the earth's foundation!

One day, he arrived at a valley shrouded in black mist. Inside, yin winds howled, ghostly wails pierced the air, and a thick stench of blood made one nauseous. Deep in the valley, a sinister altar built from bones was faintly visible. A withered figure in a black robe, surrounded by countless phantom resentful souls, danced wildly, chanting evil incantations.

Around the altar, piles of fresh corpses—belonging to weak Demon Race and other races—lay heaped. Blood flowed in streams, converging into a blood pool at the altar's center. The pool boiled, a filthy, evil power coalescing! The withered figure's aura was icy, clearly at the early Primordial Unity Golden Immortal stage!

He was using the blood and souls of myriad beings as sacrifices to cultivate a most vicious demonic art! Countless resentful souls wailed above the blood pool, their twisted faces filled with pain and despair. Crimson karmic karma, like solid chains, densely entangled the withered figure, thick and almost impossible to dissolve!

Ming Xin stood calmly at the valley entrance, watching this hellish scene. In his eyes, there was no anger, only a coldness that saw through the essence. "Karma-bound, karmic obstacles towering. Using the blood and souls of myriad beings to forge one's own demonic path... worthy of severance!"

Without extra words, without even drawing a sword. Ming Xin simply looked calmly toward the withered figure. His left eye's Nirvana Buddha Flame flickered faintly; his right eye's Demon Abyss vortex spun slowly.

Karma Life-Death Eyes—open!

In an instant, in the Wizened Old Devil's perception, heaven and earth changed color! He was horrified to "see" the countless crimson Threads of Karma around him—representing the blood debts, resentful soul curses, karmic obstacles, and death tribulations he had personally created—become unprecedentedly clear, ferocious, and lethal under Ming Xin's indifferent gaze!

What made his soul flee in terror was that he clearly "saw" two intangible, formless Karma Blades in the depths of Ming Xin's pupils, already raised, coldly locked onto several of the thickest, reddest "death threads" connected to the backlash nodes of his current demonic cultivation!

"No...! Who are you?!!" The old devil let out a desperate, shrill scream, trying to activate his demonic art to resist, trying to detonate the altar and blood pool!

But all struggles were futile under the lock of the Karma Life-Death Eyes!

Chii—!

A soft sound, only the old devil could "hear," as if the thread of fate had been severed. The old devil's body stiffened abruptly! The demonic energy boiling around him suddenly went out of control! The boiling blood pool on the altar, as if plunged into ten-thousand-year-old profound ice, instantly solidified! The countless phantom resentful souls wrapped around him let out sharp howls, and the backlash force erupted violently!

"Ahhh—!!!"

In the terrified gazes of the captured, yet-unslaughtered beings around, the once-overbearing old devil, who had treated them like grass, had his body crack inch by inch like broken porcelain! Sticky, filthy black blood mixed with shattered organs burst from the cracks! The demonic essence he had condensed within wildly backlashed, instantly igniting his Primordial Spirit and physical body together into a blazing, stinking black demonic flame!

In a few breaths, it burned to nothing but ash! Only the Bone Altar and the solidified blood pool silently testified to the horror just moments ago.

And those resentful soul phantoms clinging to his body—the moment the backlash erupted and Old Devil's soul scattered—the scarlet karmic chains of sin shattered inch by inch!

Twisted, agonized faces revealed relief, silently bowing once toward Ming Xin's direction before dissolving into specks of pure spiritual light, vanishing between heaven and earth.

The black mist in the valley swiftly dispersed, sunlight spilling down anew. The surviving creatures, as if waking from a nightmare, stared blankly at the valley restored to clarity.

Gazing at the vanished demon lord and altar, their eyes finally settled on the calm gray back retreating through the valley mouth, and they fell to their knees, tears and snot streaming, kowtowing without cease.

Ming Xin did not look back. His steps remained steady as he walked toward the next direction shrouded in sin.

Within his sea of consciousness, the scripture light of the Great Nirvana Killing Buddha Scripture flowed, and a glimmer of insight arose:

"To sever karma is not to slaughter the body, but to cut the cause of its wrongdoing, to end the fruit of its harm. To destroy the body, to release the bound resentful souls, to restore purity to this place—this is to protect life."

Another day, he arrived at the bank of a great river occupied by scattered remnants of the Demon Race's defeated troops.

These demon soldiers, routed under pursuit by the Witch Clan's main force, had turned savage, burning, killing, and looting along the way, using the villages of weaker races as blood rations, dyeing the entire river a pale red.

The leading Demonic General was a Winged Tiger Demon at the Primordial Unity Golden Immortal Middle Stage, fangs bared and ferocious, roaring as he commanded his underlings to assault a small race's stockade barely holding out with a crude formation.

On the stockade walls, young warriors fought bloodily; the old, weak, women, and children clung together weeping, the air thick with despair.

Ming Xin walked atop the waves as if on level ground, heading straight for the demon-reeking riverbank.

His arrival instantly drew the attention of every demon soldier, their vicious, bloodthirsty gazes locking onto him.

"Roar! Where'd this bald donkey come from, daring to meddle in my business? Perfect—extra rations for the boys!"

The Winged Tiger Demon roared, a stench of blood blasting forth. Its massive tiger claw, wreathed in demonic wind, tore through space and slammed down from above, intent on crushing this reckless cultivator into meat paste!

This time, Ming Xin did not use the Karma Life-Death Eyes.

He needed a more direct "karma severance"!

"Beast, you deserve death!"

The icy voice was like a wind from the Nine Netherworlds.

The White Bone Life-Death Sword instantly left its sheath!

No earth-shattering sword light—only a single, pale, deathly still sword shadow, its edges wrapped in dark red killing patterns, flashing past!

Where the sword shadow passed, space seemed frozen, then shattered!

The Winged Tiger Demon's descending claw, along with half its body, silently crumbled and annihilated like fragile glass!

It didn't even manage a scream!

"Kill him!" The remaining demon soldiers, terrified out of their wits, surged forward madly, demonic arts and techniques raining down like hail!

Ming Xin stood sword in hand, as steady as a rock. Behind him, the terrifying White Bone Life-Death Myriad Buddhas Kingdom vision abruptly unfolded!

The vast white bone earth rose and sank; Nirvana Demon Buddha phantoms cycled through birth and destruction beneath a sky woven with gray-white Buddha light and pitch-black Demonic Energy!

At the center, the enormous Dark Gold Killing Buddha Wheel turned slowly, radiating a dreadful pressure that suppressed all souls!

"Suppress!"

With Ming Xin's low shout, the vision domain crashed down!

Puff! Puff! Puff!

The demon soldiers charging into the domain were like insects thrown into an invisible millstone!

The weak ones exploded directly into blood mist; the slightly stronger ones were shredded by the Life and Destruction Cycle, pierced by the white bone earth, or torn apart by the Nirvana Demon Buddha phantoms!

In an instant, the riverbank was cleared of demonic presence!

The remaining demon soldiers, their guts ruptured with fear, let out a cry and fled in all directions.

Ming Xin did not pursue. He sheathed his sword, the vision behind him slowly fading. His gaze swept over the piled demon corpses and bloodstains on the riverbank, then fell on the stockade walls where the survivors, having cheated death, stared dumbfounded.

He said nothing. He merely raised a hand and pressed it toward the river surface stained with blood.

"Purify!"

The gray-white Nirvana Buddha Light rippled outward like water waves. Where it passed, bloodstains dissolved, demonic energy scattered, and the wails of resentful souls were forcibly redeemed!

The murky river water cleared at a visible pace, even emitting a faint sense of cleansing.

Having done this, Ming Xin turned, took a step, and his figure vanished above the river, leaving behind only the rescued stockade erupting in thunderous cheers and the weeping of those who had survived.

One step, one killing deed.

One sword, one life protected.

Ming Xin walked across the Eastern lands, like a silent judge and purifier.

He avoided the meat-grinder frontlines of the Witch and Demon armies, seeking instead the cancers festering in the gaps of war—

Demon lords slaughtering life to cultivate evil arts, scattered demon soldiers looting in chaos, Witch Clan degenerates enslaving the weak for sacrifice, and even certain beings fallen into the demonic path...

Every strike was precise and lethal.

Sometimes, just a glance—karma locked, sin rebounded, calamity self-destroyed (Karma Life-Death Eyes).

Sometimes, a single sword stroke—white bone shattered, life and death seized (White Bone Life-Death Sword Dao).

Sometimes, a vision unfolded—domain suppressed, all souls annihilated (White Bone Life-Death Myriad Buddhas Kingdom).

Sometimes, a single palm strike was enough—Nirvana Buddha Light sweeping through, purifying the filth (Nirvana Great Hand Seal).

His methods grew ever more refined, and his understanding of "killing to protect life, severing karma not people" deepened.

He no longer merely cut karmic hindrances; after every strike, he used Nirvana Buddha Light to cleanse the battlefield.

Dispelling the lingering resentment and filth, he left a sliver of breathing room for the trampled land and surviving creatures.

He gradually understood that protecting life wasn't just about saving those before him—it was about cutting the soil that bred evil karma, purifying this world polluted by the Sha Qi of the great tribulation.

The targets he slew grew higher in cultivation. From early Primordial Unity Golden Immortal, to mid-stage, even late stage!

Every battle was fraught with danger. The gray hemp robe on his body had long been soaked through with blood, then dried, leaving dark red stains.

The White Bone True Body was covered in cracks, then repaired, its aura growing more condensed, restrained, and profound through each life-or-death struggle!

The Great Dao of Killing, tempered in blood and fire, steadily advanced toward the threshold of fifty percent!

His use of the Karma Life-Death Eyes grew ever more exquisite, even able to briefly disrupt the karmic connection between an opponent and their treasures or formations!

His reputation, spread by thunderous strikes and bizarre deaths, quietly circulated like a plague through the Eastern Chaos Land.

"Gray-Clad Killing Buddha..."

"Walking Death God..."

"Demon Monk Who Cuts Karmic Hindrances..."

"Monster That Kills with a Glance..."

Fear and awe took root in the hearts of those steeped in Sinful Power. Wherever he passed, evil retreated, and the demonic atmosphere slightly receded.

Countless weak beings saw that gray figure as a faint glimmer of light in their despair.

Ming Xin paid it no mind. He pressed forward in one direction—toward the place where the world's Sha Qi and destructive will were most intense, like a massive vortex drawing the gaze of the entire Primordial World:

Buzhou Mountain!

The closer he got to Buzhou Mountain, the more shocking the scars of war became.

The shattered earth was pitted with bottomless craters, wounds left by the stomping of Primordial Witch true bodies or the self-destruction of great demons.

The sky was scarred by all manner of terrifying divine marks, spatial cracks like ugly gashes that refused to heal.

The thick, cloying smell of blood and calamitous Sha Qi nearly congealed into substance.

Patrols from the Witch and Demon races clashed in small-scale skirmishes with increasing frequency.

Ming Xin walked on a razor's edge, relying on his powerful Primordial Spirit perception and the early warnings of his Karma Life-Death Eyes to avoid large-scale conflicts time and again.

He focused solely on cleansing the "karmic hindrances" that clung to the war like hyenas gnawing at carrion.

One day, he arrived at the edge of a vast battlefield called the Weeping Blood Wasteland.

This was a place where the Witch and Demon races had ground each other down, where countless experts had fallen. The earth was soaked dark red with blood, barren of life, the air thick with nauseating sweetness and the unwilling wails of countless dead souls.

The dense blood Sha Qi even formed faint crimson mist.

Deep in the wasteland, a sinister fortress built from giant bones stood tall, radiating powerful demonic aura and sky-piercing resentment.

Above the fortress circled countless ferocious Demonic Birds, condensed from vengeful souls and blood Sha Qi.

Clearly, some routed demon soldiers or evil cultivators had occupied this place, using the residual Sha Qi and dead souls of the battlefield to cultivate dark arts.

Ming Xin stopped, gazing at the Bone Fortress. His Karma Life-Death Eyes shifted slightly, clearly "seeing" above the fortress.

A thick, crimson karmic cloud, like rolling dark storm clouds, formed from the resentment of countless unjustly slain beings and the karmic force of murder!

Its density far exceeded any target he had slain before!

Deep within the fortress, a hidden but extraordinarily powerful aura lurked, greedy and violent, frantically devouring the blood Sha and vengeful souls of the wasteland. Its aura had reached the peak of Primordial Unity Golden Immortal!

Only one step away from the Great Luo!

"A fine nest of karmic evil..." Ming Xin's eyes flickered with Nirvana Buddha Flame, icy killing intent radiating from his body.

"Cutting this karmic hindrance will cleanse the Weeping Blood Wasteland into a pure land!"

He no longer concealed his aura. One step forward, his figure like lightning, charging straight at the sinister bone fortress!

His gray robe fluttered, the White Bone Life-Death Sword humming with battle lust! The Phantom of the White Bone Life-Death Myriad Buddhas Kingdom flickered behind him!

A new round of slaughter was about to begin on this weeping blood wasteland!

His steps were firm, marching toward the final battlefield beneath Buzhou Mountain, and his Dao would face its ultimate tempering in the blood and fire of the great tribulation!