The First Field of Merit

A Field of Merit was created through the Golden Land master's compassionate Law Power: it brought salvation as the blessing, and used a living being's body as the field.

Anyone brought to salvation as a Field of Merit:

In life, they served as claws and fangs to protect their master, obeying every command without complaint or regret; in death, they became rich, nourishing soil, continuing to nourish the Golden Land.

Wentesi was now bringing salvation to his first Field of Merit, the gnoll Walker.

Come to think of it, this was his first time doing so.

The golden chains formed from Hairy Head Sun Law Power shone brilliantly. The more Law Power Wentesi poured in, the tighter they drew.

Like red-hot golden branding irons, they sank into the gnoll Walker's fur and bones, while strands of Hairy Head Sun Law Power flowed into him along the golden chains.

Every time it entered his body, Walker let out a heart-rending howl, shrill with pain.

Actually, this was Wentesi's fault too.

This was Wentesi's first time using the method of bringing salvation to a Field of Merit. He was rather unpracticed at operating it, and the Law Power he poured in was uneven, now strong, now weak, now fast, now slow.

It was precisely those fluctuations in speed and strength that made Walker's pain like flesh being cut with a dull blade, then bone pierced by a sharp one.

The scorching Hairy Head Sun Law Power spread through Walker's limbs and bones, battering every inch of his meridians and his internal organs. Wherever it passed, it was as though countless fine needles stabbed and burned him again and again.

The Great Sun Earth Buddha Sutra was clearly a true Buddhist teaching, yet in Wentesi's hands it had become torture more agonizing than death by a thousand cuts.

"Aah!! Master! Stop! Please... aah! Please stop!"

Walker collapsed on the ground, his whole body convulsing. More than a hundred golden chains bound him, leaving him unable to escape.

His wolf claws, barely able to move, gouged deep furrows in the ground. His green eyes were bloodshot and full of terror:

"Master... I submit! I submit to you completely! Don't... don't torture me anymore!"

By the end, Walker's howls had turned hoarse; he was in too much pain to speak.

The wretched howls echoed back and forth through the dragon's lair. Wentesi's thick brows knitted slightly, and he found the noise grating.

With a thought, he drew another strand of gold from the chains and sealed Walker's mouth shut, blocking his whimpers and pleas in his throat.

Only muffled, beastlike gasps remained in the dragon's lair.

Suddenly, the gnoll lying on the ground began to tremble violently, blood seeping from his mouth, eyes, nose, and ears. Even the golden chains could not hold it back.

"Hmm, I got distracted just now. I poured in too much."

Wentesi could see what had happened.

A moment ago, Wentesi had been distracted by using the golden chains to plug his mouth, and had accidentally increased the amount of Hairy Head Sun Law Power he was injecting.

He had not expected this gnoll to be so fragile, nearly done in after only a couple of surges.

Just then, a strange change came over the gnoll Walker.

An evil power, tainted with sulfur and blood, welled up from Walker's marrow, instinctively resisting the influx of Hairy Head Sun Law Power.

Then, under his gaze, the gnoll writhing on the ground began to change.

The fur atop the gnoll's head slowly split apart, and two pitch-black horns burst through his flesh. His originally green eyes were gradually steeped in blood-red, finally turning a murky dark red.

The presence of a devil from the Nine Hells of Baator spread uncontrollably.

"So that's it."

Wentesi's draconic eyes turned cold. He finally understood why the gnoll had suddenly been able to break through the level-five threshold.

The gnoll had accepted the blessing of the devil in the sealing ring and become a half-devil gnoll, forcibly raising his life level with the devil's power.

In other words, he had even changed species and could be considered half a devil.

The devil's power, having just emerged from his marrow, rampaged through his body, attempting to force the Hairy Head Sun Law Power out.

But the Hairy Head Sun Law Power did not retreat from the sudden attack. Instead, it jolted fiercely, its blaze swelling like a fire fed fresh wood.

In an instant, the Hairy Head Sun Law Power sent the newly emerged evil power scurrying for cover.

Growing stronger against evil and prevailing whenever it encountered demons were inherent traits of the Hairy Head Sun's Dao.

As it happened, this devil's power was just what it countered.

"Since it's delivered itself to my door, I'll refine it along with the rest."

Wentesi snorted coldly and increased the speed and force with which he drove his Law Power.

The Hairy Head Sun Law Power surged back up the meridians and bore down hard on the demonic power, sweeping through like a blade splitting bamboo to destroy all the devil's power in the gnoll's body.

Wherever the golden light passed, the cold devil's power melted away like ice and snow beneath the blazing sun.

The black horns atop Walker's head shrank visibly until they vanished, while his dark red eyes faded back to their original green.

The presence of the Nine Hells of Baator on him grew fainter until it vanished entirely. As the devil's power was completely rooted out, his life presence plunged, falling from level five to level four.

Washed through in this way, Walker's head lolled to one side, and he passed out from the extreme pain.

Wentesi did not stop.

Bringing salvation to a Field of Merit required the Golden Land master's Law Power to permeate it completely, until it connected with body and soul. Fall short by the slightest amount, and it could not be considered a success.

He continued pouring in Law Power, golden light flickering ceaselessly inside the cave.

Time passed bit by bit. After twenty minutes, once he had completely filled the gnoll with Hairy Head Sun Law Power, he slowly withdrew it.

He had finally succeeded!

His first Blessed Land was complete!

By now, the Hairy Head Sun Law Power in his body was nearly exhausted, and he was mentally fatigued as well.

Filling a Blessed Land with Law Power did indeed take quite a lot. Fortunately, unlike a human body, Wentesi was not limited in how much Law Power he could store, or he really could not have done it.

At the same time, a mystical connection formed between him and the gnoll on the ground.

With the slightest movement of his mind, Wentesi could clearly sense that he could control the body's every movement at will, from the twitch of a fingertip to the contraction of its heart, all as easily as moving his own arm.

It was even easier than controlling his own limbs!

Wentesi's playfulness surged, and he tried using his thoughts to guide the gnoll's movements.

The next moment, the gnoll, still unconscious on the ground, rose under Wentesi's guidance, though his posture was rather strange, with his front thrust out and his rear sticking up.

Once on his feet, the gnoll's limbs were terribly uncoordinated. He twisted and swayed comically, like a robot that had drunk counterfeit liquor.

Wentesi tried to guide him out of the dragon's lair with his mind, only to find that it simply did not work. He staggered from side to side and managed to fall three times over a distance of one meter.

All this left the gnoll Walker covered in dirt.

"Forget it. That'll do."

Wentesi lost interest and gave up on guiding the gnoll's movements. The next second, the gnoll fell to the ground.

The gnoll did not remain unconscious after falling. His whole body shuddered, and his eyes snapped open.

His gaze fell directly on Wentesi. As if prompted, he looked as though he had seen a supreme being, and came scrambling and crawling over.

The gnoll slammed his forehead heavily against the ground with dull thud, thud, thuds. The viciousness and cowardice on his face had vanished, leaving only fervor and worship.

Only after he had bloodied his forehead did an excited, muffled roar emerge from his throat:

"Buddha!! Buddha!!"

Wentesi raised a draconic brow, somewhat surprised.

He had not revealed so much as a Buddhist name to this gnoll, so why did the other party call him Buddha the moment he woke?

Could this be the effect of the Great Sun Earth Buddha Sutra?

Wentesi sensed his first Blessed Land and entered his mind directly, searching for memories he could examine, but he found no source for the title Buddha.

"What did you call me?"

Since he could not find it by searching his memories, Wentesi decided to ask directly. The gnoll Walker was now his Field of Merit, and could not possibly resist his command.

But Walker acted as though he had not heard the question. He just kept kowtowing and muttering "Buddha" over and over, his eyes vacant yet fervent, like a devout believer who had lost his mind.

Wentesi tried communicating with him through the Golden Land and probing his sea of consciousness, but found only chaos. Let alone a complete Divine Sense, he could not find even half a clear thought.

"Could I have blasted him stupid with my Law Power just now?"

Wentesi looked at the devout fool Walker had become and shook his head.

"That's an unexpected development. I'll go take a look at the devil in that sealing ring first."

He muttered to himself and looked at Walker, who was still kowtowing, finding him even noisier than his screams had been.

Without another word, he directly controlled Walker and silenced him.

Walker's voice stopped abruptly, his mouth clamping firmly shut. His body remained prostrate, and his eyes were still fervent.

With some peace and quiet at last, Wentesi was much more satisfied. He then ordered Walker to take the level-two sealing ring off his claw and hand it over.

Wentesi cautiously wrapped the ring in Hairy Head Sun Law Power before slowly examining it.

He sent the magic power he had not used in a long time into the ring, and the sealing ring responded with an obscure abyssal presence.

The sealed space inside the ring instantly unfolded in his perception, and a curled-up evil shadow slowly stretched itself out.

The shadow seemed to have been startled awake from sleep.

A devil's voice, tinged with the scent of sulfur, sounded in his sea of consciousness:

"Lowly gnoll Walker, did you trick him into giving you the Dragon Blood Blessing? Hmph! If you didn't, you know the penalty under the contract..."

Wentesi did not speak. He silently searched his draconic inheritance for information about the devil before him.

"Something's wrong! Where did this Power of the Rule of Light come from?! You're not Walker!! Who are you?!"

The devil noticed the Hairy Head Sun Law Power and let out a piercing shriek.

Wentesi found the information on the devil and, after a brief analysis, reached a conclusion: this devil posed very little danger, even less than a newborn piglet, and he could suppress it absolutely.

What more was there to say? Attack!

"Who am I? Hmm, from now on, you can call me master."

As he spoke, Wentesi forcefully drove his Hairy Head Sun Law Power into the ring.