Righteousness and Devilry, Buddhism and Devilry

Upon hearing this, Hu Mang remained expressionless, but Rogue Person Yunxiu was the first to express his dissatisfaction.

"You little monk, let's not even talk about how much you know about the mysteries of this place. Let me ask you this: isn't the one who takes lives and devours good and evil the Thunder God of this place? And those who plot against the Thunder God of this place, trying to open the Demon-Subduing City, aren't they giving the living beings of this place a way out? How can you not distinguish right from wrong?"

Jingtu ignored the other party and instead stared at Hu Mang, saying, "Boy, how about we make a deal?"

What transaction?

"Buddha has some information that you'll definitely find interesting—about the Prison-Subduing Official, about the prison, about the Thunder God. I can tell you everything, but in exchange, you have to help me find someone and kill someone."

"Who?"

"That fake monk, Wei Fotuo, that old fellow is a bit slippery. I've tried to kill him several times, but he's always managed to evade me. Now that my time is running out, I naturally need to get rid of him as soon as possible. Your eyeball will be of great help to me."

After pondering for a moment, Hu Mang nodded and said, "Alright, but after killing the other party, I want to see the Buddhist Cultivation Method in Wei Fotuo's hands."

"Haha, you kid, you don't actually intend to follow the path of a monk in the Form Realm, do you? This Huayan Monastery Temple is a very strict temple when it comes to accepting disciples. You have talent, but your Sha Qi aura and fierceness are impossible to hide."

Jingtu laughed heartily, stood up, and his body, which had been covered in bloodstains, had now scabbed over, and some of the wounds had even been smoothed out. Hu Mang had never seen such exaggerated strength of Qi and Blood, except for that Lightning Puppet.

"Alright! Anyway, I'm planning to change careers. If you want to see this Form Realm's skills, so be it. But even if that Wei Fotuo really has the skills of the Huayan Monastery, he hasn't even mastered them himself. Do you think you can learn them? I doubt it. Buddhist Divine Ability and fundamental teachings are not the same thing."

"That's none of your concern," Hu Mang said indifferently.

My buddy may not have a bunch of bald monks behind him, but he does have a bunch of bald programmers. With such a powerful combination, who's afraid of who?

"Alright, then I'll get straight to the point."

"First, before the Buddha blocked this place, he had entered the prison and fought with the Prison-Subduing Official once. The Buddha fought him to a draw, but the jailer's condition was very strange. Although it seemed that he had failed to advance, it seemed that not only was there a problem with him, but also with his priesthood."

"Secondly, when the Buddha was blocking this place, three remnants of the Divine Dynasty tried to enter. The Buddha originally intended to detain them, but they bribed him with some treasures that interested him, so the Buddha let them pass."

"Third, the existing Good and Evil Mechanism are likely no longer effective; however, with the appearance of the new Thunder God, new mechanisms will begin to function."

What new mechanism?

Jingtu grinned, revealing a mouthful of bloody teeth.

"The Judgment of Righteousness and Devilry".

"Whether they're Rogue Cultivator, priests, or those old ghosts hiding in the corners of the world, once they're deemed 'righteous' by the heavens—or rather, by some kind of rule," his tone was full of sarcasm, "then they'll have to obediently go and exterminate demons. These 'demons' could be some Devil Creature roaming the city, or some unfortunate rogue cultivator who's fallen into demonic Rogue Cultivator, or even—"

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the pale-faced Rogue Person Yunxiu and Zhou Tong in the distance, finally settling on Hu Mang. His smile widened further, "Even somewhere long forgotten, a former demon-suppressing place," the Demon Realm that everyone now avoids like the plague, you'll have to go in, to kill, or be killed."

"On the contrary," he held up a bloodied finger and shook it, "once you've been 'judged' as a demon, it's even simpler. Either you kill a designated 'righteous person' and use their head to wash away the demonic name; or—"

He slowly opened his fan-like palm, the lines of which seemed to still bear traces of undried blood. "Go and gather enough fresh, piping hot Essence Blood to feed those insatiable creatures," he chuckled, "the more they consume, the more securely you can play the role of 'demon.'"

"In short, only good and evil can be saved, and the righteous and the demonic will inevitably perish. Isn't that interesting?"

97

Upon hearing this, Hu Mang's eyes narrowed into slits, with occasional flashes of demonic light. Rogue Person Yunxiu's expression changed upon hearing this, while Zhou Tong's face turned deathly pale.

"Where did you learn of this news, fellow Buddhist?" Rogue Person Yunxiu immediately asked.

However, Jingtu ignored the other party and stared at Hu Mang, saying, "Once you've finished your business here, just go find the Buddha. You know where the Buddha is anyway. But you'd better act quickly, because if the new Thunder God takes over and the Righteousness and Devilry Mechanism kicks in, forcing the Buddha to fight you to the death, that would be awkward."

"What would happen if we didn't do it?" Hu Mang raised an eyebrow and asked in return.

"That's simple. The Devil Subjugation Restriction in this city will simultaneously 'blast' both the righteous and demonic factions until they're all reduced to ashes."

After speaking, Jingtu waved his large hand without looking back, picked up the wine jar, and staggered away, chanting verses loudly as he went.

Where the sword-like leaves have fallen, my flowers have bloomed.

All living beings are but decaying shells; how can we know they are not the Tathagata?

Once the Buddha fed a tiger; now I cook all living beings for a feast, sending them early to the cycle of rebirth, lest they be reborn into a foul-smelling body!

Hu Mang watched the other party leave, but in his heart he was thinking, "Are all loan sharks in this world so cultured? No, when I get back, I have to become Heavenly Gate copyist and copy a few poems. Otherwise, who can stand being shown off to their face every day?"

According to the knowledge provided by the priests, the Demon-Subduing Prison has four levels: the first level is the Mortal Devil Prison Corridor ", the second level is the Vicious Yao Prison Area", the third level is the "Evil Cultivator Devil Prison", and the fourth level is the Mystic Gate Law Prison ".

The reason why the art style of the fourth level is different from that of the first three levels is quite simple: the main opponent of the Orthodox Mystic Gate Jade Firmament Divine Dynasty back then was the Xuanmen Orthodox Mystic Gate Sect, which is now the Seven Orthodox Sects. Not only the Seven Sects, but most of the righteous sects evolved and split from them.

However, back then, they were not official forces; from the perspective of the Jade Firmament Divine Dynasty, they were standard rebels.

Of course, these things not only include knowledge about "clerical duties," but also explanations related to Rogue Person Yun.

According to this old man, if that Zhen'ezi wanted to hide, he would most likely have to hide on the fourth floor, because this Mystic Gate Law Prison "could not only restrict the Law Power of Xuanmen cultivators back then, but also prevent them from escaping."

In other words, "If we can prevent the other party from escaping, we can also prevent certain people from breaking into the prison." In the current environment, this is a very good environment for healing.

The first level is a grid of crisscrossing corridors leading to the Mortal Devil Prison Corridor, with eerie iron lamps hanging from the dome.

The lamplight is a purifying demonic fire that suppresses Yao Qi, continuously eroding the Demon Power.

The walls of the cage are inlaid with tiny magic stones, which continuously absorb the Demonic Qi of the Devil Creature.

But now, the purifying fire has been replaced by a deeper demonic fire, and all the mountain spirits, wandering souls, and vengeful ghosts that were originally imprisoned have been released.

In the shadows of the corridor, ghostly figures loomed, accompanied by unintelligible howls, sobs, and the greedy grinding of teeth.

Occasionally, scarlet eyes would flash in the darkness, only to quickly disappear again.

Broken bones, dried bloodstains, and torn fragments of talismans lay scattered on the cold stone floor.

A repressive chaos was spreading, and an invisible malice wove itself into a web; only the dark red demonic flames that had replaced the purifying demon fire flickered silently, illuminating everything in a bizarre and surreal way, like the underworld.

However, the next moment, a pure golden light suddenly appeared from a certain direction deep in the corridor, sweeping in like a tide.

The light was not dazzling, but it carried an indescribable penetrating power and a gentle majesty; wherever it passed, the flickering dark red demonic flames, like snowflakes sizzling under the blazing sun, quickly dimmed, retreated, and were extinguished completely.

The pungent, putrid, and sulfurous smells that filled the air seemed to be swept away by an invisible hand, instantly fading and dissipating, replaced by a faint, calming sandalwood scent.

The crimson eyes peering from the shadows let out a sharp, short shriek the moment they touched the Buddha's light, then burst like bubbles. The sobbing, teeth grinding, and howling stopped abruptly, as if a giant hand had choked them.

The invisible malice that raged within the corridor melted away under this light.

Moreover, this Buddha's light did not vanish in a flash; it was like a living tide, slowly receding after sweeping across the sky.

Five to ten breaths later, a new wave of Buddha's light emerged from the depths, brighter and more solid than before, and seemingly covering a wider area; within the light, faint, intricate Sanskrit phantoms flowed, carrying an even stronger power of purification and soothing.

It wasn't that there weren't places where Demonic Qi accumulated. For example, in a certain demonic prison, the light was dim and pitch black, and countless black smoke and demonic mists swirled and coiled within the cage. Even with repeated exposure of Buddhist light, they could not dispel it.

However, in the next moment, a figure of cyan jade and glazed glass suddenly appeared opposite the prison door in the Buddha's light. It transformed its palm into claws, and five sharp claws that looked like hooks pierced directly into the prison bars. The next moment, rolling Demonic Qi was continuously sucked into it, like a whale drinking water.

The Buddha's light gradually dissipated, and in its place, the demonic light in the Hu Mang's eyes grew brighter and brighter until the Demonic Qi was completely devoured. A thin layer of black frost covered the Hu Mang's skin, and only then did the scene inside the cage become completely clear.

Demon-binding iron shackles, bone-piercing iron spikes, and a human skeleton corpse with spikes on its head.

The source of this Demonic Qi was the ring of black spikes on the top of the corpse's head.

As for the opposite side of the gate, with a "sudden cracking" of the ice, the icy Hu Mang broke free again, its three Yin meridians of the hand bulging noticeably, and its three Yin meridians of the foot also filled up by nearly a third.

Hu Mang ignored the black spikes that were clearly materials for refining treasures, and instead pressed his wrist and squeezed upwards, creating a distinct black line.

With a look of surprise, doubt, and disbelief on his face, Hu Mang muttered to himself.

"So the methods of Buddhism and demonism really can transform into each other."

Is Binary Buddhism really that amazing?