Weeping Blood Wasteland. The sinister fortress, piled high with bones, crouched like a giant beast, breathing out blood fiend resentment that filled the sky.
Ming Xin's lone figure charged toward the fortress, appearing incomparably small against the vast wasteland and the demonic aura soaring into the heavens.
Yet he carried a sharp, resolute edge, like a blade thrust into the heart of an abscess!
"Enemy attack!!"
Upon the fortress, the watchful demonic birds let out piercing shrieks, and countless pairs of bloodthirsty, brutal eyes instantly locked onto Ming Xin.
Arrows flew like locusts, wrapped in demonic fire and toxic killing intent as they tore through the crimson mist and rained down upon him! Several Demonic Generals with savage auras comparable to early Taiyi cultivators also appeared.
Roaring as they soared into the air, they swung massive axes and bone clubs, raising a stench of blood and wind as they smashed down at him!
Ming Xin's gaze was ice-cold, and he did not pause in the slightest.
"Those who block me from slaying karma share its guilt!"
The White Bone Life-Death Sword abruptly left its sheath! There was no flashy sword technique, only a concentrated, deathly pale sword light that seemed capable of severing time itself!
"One sword, life and destruction!"
Screech—!
Where the sword light passed, the dense arrows and demonic fire were erased by an invisible force, vanishing soundlessly!
The two Demonic Generals charging at the front, along with the massive axes and bone clubs in their hands, suddenly froze. Then their bodies split apart down the middle, yet no blood flowed from the wounds.
There was only a deathly grayish white, as if all life force had been completely severed in an instant! Their corpses fell limply.
But even more attacks had already reached him! A torrent of spells, sharp claws and fangs, foul curses... surged in from every direction, instantly drowning Ming Xin!
"Buddha-Demon Dharma Form, appear!"
Boom!!!
A colossal Buddha-Demon phantom, ten thousand zhang tall, propped open heaven and earth! Its left half was Buddha, holding a flower as Nirvana Buddha Light shone everywhere and purified evil.
Its right half was demon, roaring as Chaos demonic energy surged skyward and tore through all laws! One hundred and eight phantoms of Buddha-Demon ritual implements circled around it, blasting apart and annihilating every incoming attack!
"White Bone Life-Death Myriad Buddhas Kingdom, open!"
A terrifying domain phenomenon erupted outward with Ming Xin at its center! A vast land of pale white bones spread out, impaling and crushing every Demonic Soldier that entered the domain! Beneath the grayish-white sky of Nirvana and within the black vortexes of demonic energy.
Countless Nirvana Demon Buddha phantoms cycled through life and destruction, chanting slaughtering Buddhist verses as they forcibly dragged the Demonic Soldiers' souls into the Life and Destruction Cycle to be shredded!
The central Dark Gold Killing Buddha Wheel slowly turned, suppressing everything and weakening the myriad demons!
Ming Xin stood at the center of the domain, White Bone Sword in hand, like a god of death walking through his own kingdom.
Every flash of sword light reduced either a demonic general or swathes of Demonic Soldiers to ash. Nirvana Buddha Light and demonic energy flowed according to his will, purifying filth and tearing apart defenses.
However, the Demonic Soldiers within the fortress seemed endless. Empowered by the dense blood fiend resentment here, they were exceptionally fierce.
The peak Taiyi aura lurking in the deepest part of the fortress remained steady. With the mocking amusement of a cat toying with a mouse, it coldly watched the slaughter outside, seemingly waiting for Ming Xin to exhaust himself.
The battle fell into a stalemate. Though Ming Xin's sword arts and divine abilities were powerful, there were simply too many Demonic Soldiers. Relying on the fortress formation and favorable terrain, they launched frenzied counterattacks.
His magic power was being rapidly depleted. New cracks appeared across his White Bone True Body, while his gray hemp robes were soaked in demon blood. Beyond the domain remained a demon tide stretching as far as the eye could see.
When would such slaughter ever end? The thought flashed through his mind. Even if he killed every demon before him, could he truly slay all this Primordial Sin?
Under the Tribulation, where was not a Blood Sea? How was his slaughter fundamentally different from that of the Wu Yao on the battlefield? Was it merely because he did it to "protect life"?
Just as his mind wavered slightly, the Great Nirvana Killing Buddha Scripture in his sea of consciousness, burning with dark gold Nirvana Flames, suddenly began to shake violently!
The scripture shone brilliantly as countless slaughtering runes frantically combined, shattered, and reassembled!
An even colder, purer, more absolute killing intent suddenly awakened from the deepest depths of his soul, like an Ancient Fierce Beast emerging from slumber!
It was not the killing born of rage, nor the killing born of hatred. It was an absolute will that disregarded everything and existed solely for the sake of "killing" itself!
[ Ding! Detected the host's ultimate Killing Intent resonating with the core of the Great Nirvana Killing Buddha Scripture! Triggering an upheaval of the origin Killing Law! Deriving... Derivation complete! ]
[ Comprehended origin slaughter divine ability: Myriad Killing Art! ]
[ Core principle: Kill! Kill! Kill! Using Killing to Stop Killing! Kill all myriad sins!
Kill until heaven and earth are bright and clear! Kill until no one dares commit karma!
Kill until heaven and earth fall utterly silent! I was never some lofty god or Buddha and need not feign compassion! I am the killing tribulation itself! Attain the Dao through killing! Use killing... to protect life! ]
Boom—!!!
Ming Xin's eyes were instantly flooded by endless dark crimson Color of Slaughter! The Nirvana Buddha Flame in his left eye and the Demon Abyss vortex in his right both transformed into the purest, coldest killing will!
The aura around him abruptly changed. He was no longer a contradictory union of Buddha and demon, but became a terrifying incarnation existing purely for "killing"!
"Myriad Killing... Art!"
He spoke three icy words, like the voice of the Great Dao itself, yet they contained only the true meaning of "kill"!
He no longer employed exquisite sword techniques, nor did he maintain the vast domain. He simply gripped the White Bone Life-Death Sword tightly.
Then he swung it forward!
An indescribably colored Killing Sword Qi surged ahead like a tide of destruction!
Where it passed, space did not shatter. It was directly "killed," transformed into absolute, deathly void!
The surging Demonic Soldiers and Demonic Generals, along with their attacks, their protective demon light, their weapons, and even the "traces" of their existence.
The instant they touched the Killing Sword Qi, they were completely annihilated! They were not smashed apart, nor purified. They were "killed" and "erased" on a conceptual level!
With one sword, the area ahead for ten thousand zhang was cleared! Whether physical matter or energy, substance or soul, all were slain!
Before this absolute will of "killing," the fortress's defensive formation was as fragile as paper, instantly collapsing!
Ming Xin stepped forward. With each step, he swung a sword.
"Myriad Killing Art!"
"Myriad Killing Art!"
"Myriad Killing Art!"
There were no screams and no resistance, only soundless annihilation and absolute silence!
Like a cold killing machine, he forcibly "killed" his way through a path leading to the fortress core in the purest, most tyrannical manner possible!
Everything along his path was slain, leaving behind only nothingness!
Deep within the fortress, the peak Taiyi Demon King could finally no longer remain still. It released a roar of mingled shock and fury as vast demonic power mixed with blood fiend resentment that had devoured countless living souls.
It formed a savage giant claw that covered the sky and blotted out the sun, reaching out from the deepest part of the fortress to seize Ming Xin! The claw wind ripped through the void, entwined with the wails of resentful souls!
Ming Xin looked up, his slaughter-filled eyes turning toward the giant claw.
"Sinful beast... you must die!"
He abandoned his sword and raised his right hand, spreading his five fingers. No Buddha light or demonic energy appeared on that palm. Instead, countless fine dark crimson Killing Law runes emerged!
"Myriad Killing... Palm!"
He struck with one palm!
There was no sound, no collision of light. The monstrous, terrifying giant claw, at the instant it touched Ming Xin's palm seal.
Was like ice and snow cast into absolute zero. All its power, all its resentment, all its existence were instantly "killed," frozen, and reduced to the finest dust that scattered away!
Even the Demon King's terrified true body behind it was heavily wounded by this will of "killing," which spread along their connection of Cause and Effect. It let out a shrill scream!
Ming Xin stepped into the fortress core and saw the lurking Demon King—a massive Ancient Poisonous Flood Dragon covered in filthy blood scales, with a single horn on its head emanating ripples of resentful power!
It coiled within an enormous Blood Pool, where countless living souls floated in agony and struggle.
"Die!" Ming Xin wasted no words. He drove the will of the Myriad Killing Art to its limit and pointed with one finger! The ultimate true meaning of "killing" gathered at his fingertip, aimed at the poisonous flood dragon's brow!
Despair and madness erupted in the poisonous flood dragon's eyes. It suddenly opened its massive jaws, but did not attack.
Instead, it spat out a foul Demonic Core condensed from its lifetime of cultivation and the origin of countless living souls it had devoured, hurling it toward Ming Xin!
At the same time, its huge body violently exploded, attempting to detonate its demon soul and drag Ming Xin down with it!
"Hmph!" Ming Xin snorted. The will of the Myriad Killing Art formed an invisible barrier. When the foul Demonic Core struck it, it was as though it had met its natural bane. The resentful power and karmic sins entwined around it were instantly "killed."
The Demonic Core's light rapidly dimmed! Meanwhile, the terrifying energy produced by the poisonous flood dragon's self-destruction was forcibly "strangled" for the most part within the Myriad Killing Art's domain, failing to erupt completely!
In the end, Ming Xin shattered the dulled Demonic Core with one finger. The remaining finger force pierced through the void and completely annihilated the poisonous flood dragon's remnant soul as it tried to flee!
The fortress core instantly fell silent. Only the living souls within the Blood Pool continued their soundless wails.
Ming Xin stood beside the Blood Pool as the icy killing will around him slowly receded, revealing once more those eyes woven from Nirvana and the Demon Abyss.
He looked at the twisted faces within the Blood Pool and felt their endless pain and despair.
The Myriad Killing Art was powerful, and its slaughter was merciless. It could destroy sinful existences, but it could not save these tortured living souls. The ultimate "killing" seemed to have reached its end.
He fell silent for a moment, then slowly extended his palm. Yet rather than using a slaughtering divine ability, he gently pressed it toward the foul Blood Pool.
Just as his palm was about to touch the filthy bloodwater, Aberration Regeneration occurred!
Those living souls struggling within the bloodwater, those shattered souls devoured and tortured by the poisonous flood dragon for who knew how many years.
The ultimate pain, despair, unwillingness, longing for life, and memories of warmth that they radiated...
Countless torrents of primal, intense emotions belonging to living beings surged through Ming Xin's palm and wildly flooded into his sea of consciousness like a burst dam!
This was not an attack, but... resonance!
Ming Xin's body shook violently! He was not an emotionless spirit treasure. He had a soul as well!
Deep within his soul was branded the regret and unwillingness of dying in his previous life to save a young girl.
Branded with the pain and struggle of countless years spent being eroded by demonic energy before his Form Transformation, branded with his persistence toward "life" and his conviction to "protect"!
At this moment, the Suffering of the Mortal World carried by countless living souls within the fortress produced an unprecedentedly intense resonance with the Human Emotions buried deep in his soul!
The Great Nirvana Killing Buddha Scripture began to operate madly once more!
But this time, it no longer drew upon the origin of slaughter. Instead, it began frantically absorbing and analyzing the vast, boundless torrent of emotions from the sentient beings of the Mortal World pouring into him!
[ Ding! Detected an ultimate emotional impact from sentient beings of the Mortal World! Resonating with the host's innate "human" characteristic! The Great Nirvana Killing Buddha Scripture is passively deriving an evolution... ]
[ Comprehended law: Red Dust Law! ]
[ Comprehended divine ability: Great Red Dust Palm Seal! ]
[ Core principle: I was never some lofty god or Buddha! I came from the Mortal World, and I should return to the Mortal World!
My palm contains the vast Mortal World, the myriad forms of sentient beings, the warmth and coldness of reincarnation—all within a single palm! Only by saving others and saving hearts may I see my true self! ]
Buzz—!
The scene upon Ming Xin's palm as it pressed toward the Blood Pool suddenly changed! No slaughtering runes remained. Instead, bizarre and dazzling illusions emerged!
There was the clamor of markets, love and hatred, life, aging, illness, and death, sorrowful partings and joyful reunions...
It was as if the vast Mortal World, the countless forms of human life, and the warmth and coldness of reincarnation had all been compressed into one palm!
He pressed his palm down, into that foul Blood Pool!
There was no earth-shaking explosion, no Buddha light purifying evil.
There was only a soundless permeation, like spring returning to the land and snow melting away.
Under the palm force containing the Myriad Forms of the Mortal World and the warmth and coldness of reincarnation, the foul bloodwater.
Seemed to be granted the journey of "life," rapidly undergoing purification, settling, and sublimation... The living souls struggling painfully in the pool.
Their twisted faces gradually calmed. Their crazed wails turned into peaceful sighs. Within that palm, they seemed to see their own lives.
Letting go of their final obsessions, they eventually transformed into points of pure spiritual light carrying a warm aura, rising from the Blood Pool like fireflies.
They circled Ming Xin several times, carrying gratitude and relief before scattering into heaven and earth and entering Reincarnation once more.
The Blood Pool became a clear pool of sweet dew, emitting the faint fragrance of lotus flowers.
The residual resentment and killing intent throughout the fortress also vanished quietly under this palm of the Mortal World, as if brushed by Qing Feng, leaving only a tranquil peace that set one's heart at ease.
Ming Xin stared blankly at his palm, feeling the lingering aura of the Mortal World and the meaning of reincarnation that had not yet fully faded.
This palm neither killed living beings nor destroyed objects, yet it saved every grievance and dissolved every impurity.
"The Mortal World... sentient beings..." he murmured. The Myriad Killing Art was the ultimate extreme of the Dao, severing everything. Yet the Red Dust Law was another side of the Dao, embracing everything, understanding everything, and saving everything.
As he contemplated this newborn law, the purest gratitude, relief, and blessings from those saved living souls before they dispersed.
Did not vanish completely. Instead, like a hundred rivers flowing into the sea, they streamed into his body and merged with his magic power, nourishing his primordial spirit!
This power was pure, warm, and full of life force, completely unlike his original cold and murderous Nirvana slaughter magic power.
Yet it fused with it perfectly, making his power more harmonious and profound, as though it contained the weight of life itself!
"This is..." Ming Xin's heart shook as a new realization surfaced.
"If rivers and seas will not save you, if heaven and earth will not save you... I will!"
"With my power, I will save every grievance in the world and resolve the sorrows of all things... This 'salvation' can become my power as well!"
"This is... the Immortal Crossing Art!"
[ Ding! The host has comprehended the true meaning of "salvation," triggering one of the ultimate mysteries of the Great Nirvana Killing Buddha Scripture! Deriving... ]
[ Comprehended origin heart art: Immortal Crossing Art! ]
[ Core principle: Slaughter protects, salvation shows compassion.
Use killing to end karma, use salvation to soothe hearts. Only when I save all suffering in the world is my Dao true.
The Power of Salvation nourishes the self in return, becoming supreme Merit Immortal Power! ]
Boom!
Ming Xin's aura surged once more! This was not a rise in cultivation realm, but a qualitative transformation of his magic power!
Warm, vigorous pale gold Merit Immortal Power merged into his originally cold, murderous grayish-white Nirvana magic power!
Slaughter and compassion, Nirvana and life force—these two extreme powers achieved a higher level of balance and fusion within him!
His foundation became more solid and profound than ever before! At the center of the Dark Gold Killing Buddha Wheel upon his brow, within the hand of that Killing Buddha Dharma Image phantom.
Beside the Nirvana Killing Sword, there vaguely appeared another phantom of a Green Lotus bud, radiating gentle Power of Salvation!
Killing life was to protect life; slaying karma was not slaying people.
The Myriad Killing Art severed all sins!
The Mortal World Palm saved human hearts!
The Immortal Crossing Art gathered merit!
Ming Xin stood in the empty, silent fortress. His aura was harmonious and restrained, yet contained supreme power capable of severing Cause and Effect, saving the Mortal World, and attaining Nirvana Transcendence.
His Dao had finally reached perfection through repeated slaughter and salvation!
His gaze pierced through the fortress toward Buzhou Mountain, where killing intent soared into the sky and the slaughtering tribulation raged fiercely.
His steps became even more resolute.
The sword in his hand could slay karma, but it could also protect life.
The power in his palm could destroy, but it could also save others.
On this journey to Buzhou Mountain, he would use this newly perfected Dao to confront the heart of the Tribulation!
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