Chapter 165: Buddhist Intent

"Zhang Ruyue fell into the abyss and her fate is unknown entirely because she saved me. If you expect me to remain indifferent to that, am I even still human? If you insist on severing ties with me, then get the hell out of here right now!" I roared, violently shaking off Ling Xinyue's grip, and jumped down without a moment's hesitation.

"Qin Feng!" Ling Xinyue lunged forward, only to watch my figure swallowed whole by the demonic flames.

"Idiot." Ling Xinyue's red lips trembled slightly, panic and bewilderment filling her eyes. Clenching her teeth, she took a decisive leap and plunged into the deep pit as well.

However, halfway down, a raging tide of demonic flames surged upward. The searing, intense heat nearly caused her to faint.

The primal instinct for survival jerked her body to a violent halt. Propelling herself upward once more, she managed to land back on the edge of the pit.

"Qin Feng, go to hell! Go to hell with your little mistress!" Ling Xinyue cried out bitterly, two teardrops flying from her eye sockets as she transformed into a phantom and darted toward the exit.

...

I plummeted at high speed. The demonic flames had been fierce at first, charring me completely black, but they quickly subsided.

*Thud.*

Just as I was about to hit the bottom, a fissure in the underground floor suddenly spewed a wave of high-pressure steam, breaking my fall just enough before I crashed onto the stone ground.

I scrambled to my feet. This was a subterranean chamber crisscrossed with cracking fissures, venting scorching steam and dim firelight.

It was then that I spotted Zhang Ruyue lying not far away, alongside the blood-armored giant.

I rushed over, half-lifting Zhang Ruyue into my arms, and shouted with a hoarse voice, "Zhang Ruyue, wake up!"

Zhang Ruyue had reverted from her corpse-transformed state. Her complexion was as pale as paper, her body icy cold, with no pulse or breath. It was impossible to tell whether she was dead or alive.

"Zhang Ruyue, open your eyes for me! Open your eyes right now!" I shook her body in my arms, roaring at the top of my lungs.

At that exact moment, a puff of ghostly corpse-qi escaped Zhang Ruyue's lips, and her eyelids slowly fluttered open.

She looked at me, blinked, and slowly raised a hand to gently wipe away the tears I hadn't realized were streaming down my face.

"You're crying..." Zhang Ruyue murmured, staring blankly at me.

Seeing that she was awake, I froze for a second. Then I whipped my head away, wiping the moisture from my face, and muttered awkwardly, "You're seeing things."

Zhang Ruyue offered a faint smile. Though her heart was not beating, she felt as if it were racing endlessly.

*Crack.*

Suddenly, the sound of grinding metal rang out. Startled, we both spun around to look.

The blood-armored giant was actually standing up. I pulled Zhang Ruyue up and retreated several steps.

The crimson light in the giant's eye sockets grew increasingly intense, and the terrifying malevolent energy radiating from its body surged higher and higher.

Yet, at that very instant, the Soul-Demoking Jade inside the giant's mouth shattered abruptly, and a golden halo washed over its entire body.

The blood-armored giant, right in the middle of charging forward, was suddenly trapped as if caught in an invisible net, unable to move an inch.

"Kill this humble monk!" the blood-armored giant suddenly roared urgently.

Zhang Ruyue gritted her teeth, preparing to undergo corpse-transformation, but a wave of sharp agony wracked her entire frame. Her body had suffered devastating injuries.

...

I pushed Zhang Ruyue aside and gripped the blood-red Fiend-Slaying Blade in both hands, layering murderous intent and malevolence to their absolute peak.

This blood-armored giant was monstrously powerful; ordinary attacks could never kill it. Besides, it was clear the willpower holding it together was on the verge of collapsing.

"Nether Dragon True Form!" I let out a low roar. The Nether Dragon Eye on my chest grew scorching hot, unleashing a vast torrent of nether power.

Above me, the projection of the Nether Dragon solidified completely, its terrifying might sweeping across a radius of hundreds of meters.

Immediately after, a cyan giant eye popped open between my brows, and a beam of cyan light fused into the dragon projection.

"Die!"

With a frantic roar, I swung the Fiend-Slaying Blade. The Nether Dragon roared and charged toward the blood-armored giant.

A howling gale swept through the area, making the entire cavern feel as though it had been dragged straight into the underworld.

The blood-armored giant instantly turned to stone. Then, a fissure split open right down the center of its brow, and boundless evil energy vented out in a torrent.

The Nether Dragon image vanished. I drove the Fiend-Slaying Blade deep into the ground, and suddenly a mouthful of blood sprayed from my lips. My body began to crack open like the earth beneath me, with fine lines of blood spurting from every fissure.

Using an attack far beyond my actual cultivation level meant I was bound to suffer a severe backlash. My current physical state simply could not withstand such terrifying power.

Consequently, both my physical body and my soul suffered catastrophic damage.

At that moment, the phantom of Great Master Cangyang drifted out from the body of the blood-armored giant, completely free of ghostly aura now, glowing instead with a faint golden light.

"Amitabha. This humble monk is finally liberated and may now journey to the Western Paradise."

"The way of the Buddha is boundless, the cycle of reincarnation limitless. Well done, well done."

The phantom of Great Master Cangyang dissolved into golden light, and countless Buddhist runes rained down, sinking directly into my body.

My legs gave out, and I collapsed onto the ground.

*Rumble...*

Two peaks of the Wolong Mountain Range collapsed simultaneously, instantly flattened into level ground.

Dressed in pristine white, Ling Xinyue stood in the distance, staring expressionlessly at the rising billows of dust, her delicate hands clenched tightly together.

"Senior Sister... Sister-in-law's husband..." Chunwan stood beside Ling Xinyue, glancing at her timidly before speaking up.

"He's dead! Don't ever mention his name in front of me again," Ling Xinyue said coldly.

"Oh." Chunwan lowered her head. The current Ling Xinyue frightened her and felt utterly unfamiliar.

"Let's go back," Ling Xinyue said, turning on her heel. Chunwan hurriedly followed behind her, casting frequent backward glances.

...

In a deep pool nestled within the Wolong Mountain Range, a waterfall cascaded down, kicking up a mist that filled the air.

Suddenly, two heads broke the surface of the pool. It was Zhang Ruyue, dragging my unconscious form as she swam laboriously toward the shore.

Zhang Ruyue hauled me beneath a large tree and collapsed onto the ground herself, completely exhausted.

After a long while, she rolled over, propping her head up with one hand. Lying on her side, she stared blankly at me.

She reached out, gently tracing her fingers across my face, only to pull her hand back as if she had been shocked by electricity.

The corners of Zhang Ruyue's mouth curved upward. She had thought she would never see me again, yet fate was truly wondrous—the two of us had reunited right here in the Evil Emperor's Tomb within the Wolong Mountain Range.

At that moment, she noticed my eyelids twitching and hastily sat upright.

"I'm not dead yet, it seems," I said weakly.

"Only the wicked live for a thousand years," Zhang Ruyue teased with a smile.

I turned my head to look at her and grinned. "Ruyue, seeing you again makes me feel like this world is simply wonderful."

Hearing this, Zhang Ruyue was initially pleased, but she soon noticed that my gaze had drifted straight to her chest. Soaked through by the water, the curves of her full breasts were now outlined in vivid detail.

"Jerk!" Zhang Ruyue shot me an indignant, exasperated glare, gave me a light smack on the head, and angrily stood up. She walked a short distance away, and with a flick of her corpse-qi, instantly dried her clothes.

"Ruyue, we haven't seen each other in so long. Do you really have to be this violent?" I winced in mock pain.

"Hmph, if your eyes dare wander like that again, I'll dig them out," Zhang Ruyue scolded playfully.

Leaning back against the tree, I looked up at the sun in the sky, pulled a cigarette from a specialized pack, and lit it. Taking a deep drag, I felt for the very first time that being alive was such a wonderful thing.

I checked my internal condition and was amazed to find that the backlash injuries I had suffered earlier were almost entirely healed. Moreover, my soul now harbored a strand of pure Buddhist intent.

It seemed the Buddhist intent left behind by Great Master Cangyang's phantom had repaired my bodily damage. Such intent was a unique spiritual flavor possessed only by high monks with profound understandings of Buddhism and the Buddhist path.

If I were to cultivate Buddhist secret arts right now, I would undoubtedly take to them like a fish to water.

However, I hadn't nearly had enough of the mortal world yet; I certainly had no desire to become a monk.

"Ruyue, how have you been getting by all this time?" I asked.

Zhang Ruyue pursed her lips, fell silent for a moment, and replied, "Nothing much to tell."

"Alright then. What are your plans now?" I asked.

"What plans can a half-human, half-corpse freak like me possibly have?" she murmured softly.

"And what's wrong with that? I think you're just a uniquely gifted Onmyoji. Besides, the situation right now is critical. There's a nether rift in the Wolong Mountain Range leading directly to the netherworld. You know about that, right?" I asked.

"I've heard a bit. I heard that any Onmyoji can go there now; joining the Bureau 9 is no longer mandatory," Zhang Ruyue said.

"Is that so? I suppose I'm out of the loop," I said in surprise.

As it turned out, numerous Onmyoji factions and ancient families across China had always stayed hidden from the public eye, equally reluctant to be reined in by official authorities.

Now, with the crisis looming and the netherworld threatening, those restrictions had to be lifted to cope with the danger.

Any registered Onmyoji in China could now enter the netherworld. Much like the nether cultivators who once crossed over to hunt us, they were free to form groups and head into the netherworld to slaughter and plunder at will.