Stranger Danger

It was gruesome the way the women splattered against the ground like eggs.

Madman Chu, Laughing Buddha and more did not try to save them not because they were all heartless, but because it could not be done.

They were already dead when they fell from the sky; their bodies turned into withered husks.

When they got close to the Death Sea, its deathly qi had pierced their defenses and turned them into a withered husk in an instant. There existed no medicine or art in the world that could save them.

This was why the Death Sea was labeled a forbidden zone. This was why this forbidden zone was open only to Grandmasters and ultimate geniuses.

More bodies were still falling from the sky. Even with Mistress Qu yelling at the top of her lungs, she could only save a handful of them.

Not only that, the Death Sea had conjured a wave and sent it surging toward Mistress Qu and her people again.

“I’m taking my leave now, Benefactor Chu. May we meet again.”

Laughing Buddha gave Madman Chu a nod before climbing to the heavens using a number of lotus flowers that appeared underneath his feet. At the same time, a long-eared, round-bellied Buddha wearing a kind, benevolent smile on his face appeared in the sky, his laughter shaking both heaven and earth.

Wherever the Buddha’s light traveled, the death qi of the Death Sea receded. Then, Laughing Buddha made an absolute mudra and met the incoming wave. Before it could claim any lives, the infinite light of the Buddha forced it right back where it came from.

“Namo Bhavishya[1] Buddha…”

With a chant, Laughing Buddha protected everyone and disappeared into the Death Sea. The Holy Son of Maitreya was with him, of course.

The Maitreya Sect worshiped Maitreya, and Maitreya was known as the Future Buddha of Saha[2] in Mahayana Buddhism. That was why their official Buddhist chant was “Namo Bhavishya Buddha”.

Logically, the Maitreya Sect should not have become a sect of the Nine Demonic Ways considering that they worshiped the Maitreya Buddha and fell under Mahayana Buddhism[3]. The problem lay with the word “future”.

Dipamkara, Shakyamuni, and Maitreya are often depicted in a triad representing past, present, and future. Together, they formed the roots of all living beings.

However, the believers of the Maitreya Sect only worshiped Maitreya. They did not believe in either the Buddha of the past, Dipamkara, or the Buddha of the present, Shakyamuni. In their radical belief, they claimed that the past was dust, and the present was filthy beyond imagination. Only by worshiping Maitreya, the Buddha of the future could they be freed from the troubles of the world and obtain the ultimate bliss, forever.

Based on that logic, the believers of the Maitreya Sect proposed that one should end the current world so as to usher in the future. And how should they end the current world? Through destruction, of course. Only through destruction could rebirth be achieved.

Long story short, the believers of the Maitreya Sect were madmen. As they often colluded with the Way of Taiping to stir up trouble, they were eventually lambasted as heretics and villains by the jianghu.

Of course, not everyone in the Maitreya Sect believed that ushering in a new future meant destroying the current world. Some people believed that they should practice the holy arts of Maitreya with the body of the present so they would be ready when the future finally arrived.

Of the Six Venerable Ones, Laughing Buddha and Weeping Buddha were the only ones who fell under this category of belief. It was also why Laughing Buddha wasn’t infamous despite being a high-ranking member of a sect of the Nine Demonic Ways.

“This monk really is something!”

On the ground, Madman Chu paid Laughing Buddha a compliment before asking, “Do you wanna go first, or should I take the lead, Six Yins?”

“I’ll go. Please make sure that no one interferes with my work, okay?”

Six Yins Boy said smilingly and appeared in the air before he finished talking. When a sea wave crashed down on him, he let out an eerie cackle and thrust his palm forward.

A massive hand covered in green flames appeared in the air. Although it was burning like an inferno, it was so cold that it froze the sea wave in an instant. The palm continued to press upward until it hit the sea and froze an entire patch of its surface.

“Death Sea? Looks like a normal sea to me!” Six Yins Boy chuckled before diving into the Death Sea in a flash of green light. It wasn’t until several breaths later that the ice covering the sea surface finally receded, and the Death Sea resumed its violent activity.

“Hahaha! Take care, little ones. Try not to die up there.” Madman Chu glanced at Chu Wangsun and Yun Qingxiao as he laughed. “Goodbye!”

As he spoke, the earth shook like an earthquake, and Madman Chu abruptly appeared in the sky. He didn’t wait for a sea wave to hit him and threw a punch first.

Buzz!

The world shuddered, and the Death Sea depressed upward as if it was a piece of fabric.

“Hahaha! A punch like spring thunder is most auspicious! Here I go!”

With that, Madman Chu disappeared into the Death Sea as well.

After Madman Chu disappeared, thunder rumbled in the sky as if responding to his words.

“His punch has no sound because the sound is hidden inside his fist. Senior Chu’s fists have already reached perfection,” Yun Qingxiao remarked with feeling as he listened to the thunderous rumbles and felt the fist intent in the sky.

“His fist leaves a lasting reaction. It is quite extraordinary.”

Chu Wangsun lowered his book and commented, “Let’s go. After all the commotion they caused, I’m sure that a lot of people are looking this way. It will be troublesome if they decide to gather.”

“Agreed.”

Yun Qingxiao nodded and soared to the sky seemingly without any aid whatsoever. It was as if gravity did not exist in his book.

When a sea wave was about to hit him, three celebratory clouds grew out of the top of his head.

The three clouds were arranged in a triangular formation. It looked a little like he was wearing a hat of flowers.

The clouds were pure, flawless, and shielding his whole body. Somehow, the sea waters were unable to touch even a hair on his skin.

Like a fish in the water, he casually entered the Death Sea like it was his backyard.

If Yun Qingxiao’s entrance looked cool and elegant, then Chu Wangsun’s was much more brutal and simple. While gripping his book in one hand, he blasted his righteous qi into the sea, carved a way through the sea waves, and entered the Death Sea just like that.

It was about this time the prowlers finally made their move as well. At first, they were worried and afraid when they saw the disciples of Li Hentian Palace falling from the sky like the rain. When they saw how easy Yun Qingxiao and Chu Wangsun entered the Death Sea though, a dozen of them lost their fear and raced toward the Death Sea in a hurry.

They shouldn’t have. Several people let out a bloodcurdling scream before turning into a withered husk and falling just like the Li Hentian Palace disciples. A couple more were caught by the sea waves and dragged into the Death Sea. Only they knew if they were alive or dead.

For a time, the scene was completely silent.

The deaths were like a bucket of ice water poured over the restless prowlers’ heads. It was only now they recalled that they were no Chu Wangsun or Yun Qingxiao, and they were definitely not favored by the heavens. They were just ordinary warriors who got dogshit lucky and somehow obtained a Dark Overlord Token.

They weren’t willing to retreat though. The Dark Overlord’s inheritance was right in front of them. How could they give out without having tried everything?

Ye Qing knew exactly what they were thinking, but he didn’t care. He had no desire to waste his energy and send them away using his abilities either.

Animals die for food, and humans die for fortune. This had been the ultimate truth since ancient times.

Ye Qing sighed. He had waited long enough. After staring at the Death Sea above his head for a moment, he jumped.

The Death Sea was located deep within Bei Mo, and normally, no one would venture to this location. However, Sun Sovereign, Madman Chu and Laughing Buddha hadn’t bothered to hold back when they entered the Death Sea, nor had they hidden their energies when they flew over here. Grandmasters were one with the world and so could naturally detect one another. It was very possible that their movements and activities had already caught the attention of some other elites.

In fact, Ye Qing noticed several waves of spirit and energy sweeping across the area after Six Yins Boy and Madman Chu were gone. Clearly, they belonged to powerful warriors.

Although the Ghost Tower had done well to keep the matter regarding the Dark Overlord’s inheritance under wraps—everyone had sworn an Oath of Burden to keep the matter a secret—but if Ye Qing had learned one thing after arriving in this world, it was that there was always a way to circumvent or overcome an obstacle. It was also possible that some people had learned of the Dark Overlord’s inheritance or the secret of the Death Sea through some other avenues.

In any case, the people were gathering, and where there were people, there was conflict. He did not want to be around when the secret of Dark Overlord’s inheritance was finally exposed either, so the sooner he entered the Death Sea, the better.

1. Bhavishya means future in Sanskrit. ☜

2. Sahā or more formally the Sahā world in Mahāyāna Buddhism refers to the mundane world, essentially the sum of existence that is other than nirvana. It is the entirety of conditioned phenomena, also referred to as the trichiliocosm. ☜

3. Buddhism has two major schools: Theravada and Mahayana. Theravada is a personal journey to nirvana, while Mahayana is a collective effort to help all beings reach nirvana. ☜

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