“The Heavenly Demon Holy Land! Back then, this child was sent to the Nalanda Temple to cultivate Buddhism as a demon. I slowly came to understand the difference between a buddha and a demon is just a thought. One can become a buddha with a thought, and one can become a demon with a thought. Now that I think about it, it was truly laughable. I initially thought that no one knew. Unexpectedly, Master Dried Lamp Buddha saw it the moment I stepped into Nalanda Temple. He gave his life to enlighten me. This child got enlightened in my previous life only when he died. That was why my personality split, separating into the good Gautama and the evil Gautama,” Gu Han said with a bitter smile.
“The Dried Lamp Buddha died for you?” Gu Hai frowned.
“That’s right. Master sacrificed himself, dying to enlighten me. This child gained enlightenment at that very moment. I discovered that aside from dealing with power struggles and ruthless fights among all life in the world, I had many other things to do. My past memories abound with sin. Although Master sacrificed himself to enlighten me, he still worried about me and did not let me succeed the Nalanda Temple, so I established the Spirit Mountain Sect. I worked to purify the world and guide people towards goodness and enlightenment,” Gu Han explained.
“Then what about evil Gautama, no, Jiang Gautama? Is he the evil portion of your heart?” Gu Hai frowned.
“Him? Hah! He was just the shred of goodness from when I was evil,” Gu Han sighed.
“Goodness? Isn’t he the evil Gautama?”
“Evil Gautama, yes. However, Father, have you ever seen Jiang Gautama do things overly harmful to all life?” Gu Han asked.
“No. Although he is cold and heartless, looking down on life, he does not appear too evil on the surface,” Gu Hai recalled.
“Indeed. During my previous life, I wors.h.i.+ped power. I would ma.s.sacre the surroundings at a disagreement. I was vicious and ruthless, resorting to all means to achieve my goals. I was a true heavenly demon, akin to complete blackness. Back then, Jiang Gautama was a shred of goodness in me. Although he was the goodness in me, he was far from comparable to true kindness and benevolence, more akin to gray. In comparison to me, he was good. When Master enlightened me, it was like I turned from black to white. However, he remained gray. So, he is the evil one in comparison to the current me,” Gu Han explained.
“The Dried Lamp Buddha made you change that much!” Gu Hai marveled.
“Jiang Gautama captured me and returned the golden body of my previous life, infusing it into me. These resentful spirits cannot kill me. However, there is overwhelming Resentful Energy here. Jiang Gautama’s purpose is for this Resentful Energy to awaken the evil that had vanished from my heart, turning me back from white to black,” Gu Han explained.
“Why?”
“Because I can tolerate him if I am evil, but I cannot tolerate him if I am good. If I turned from white to black, I would be tainted, like him. If we merged, I would be of great a.s.sistance to him. However, if I were good, I would always think of dealing with him, requiring him to maintain his guard against me,” Gu Han explained.
“However, what if you…,” Gu Hai said, still worried.
“Father, there’s no need to worry. We are one. He will not kill me, just like how I won’t kill him even though I want to deal with him. Although there are many resentful spirits here, this is an excellent cultivation ground. If this child purifies these boundless resentful spirits, I will accrue boundless personal beneficence and thoroughly wash away the sins of my past life. With my golden body, I can return to my peak, reaching the consummation of the Upper Heavenly Palace Realm,” Gu Han said gravely.
“Consummation of the Upper Heavenly Palace Realm? What about Jiang Gautama?” Gu Hai frowned.
“Jiang Gautama is already in the consummation of the Upper Heavenly Palace Realm. Father, you must be careful of him,” Gu Han said solemnly.
“Indeed, he is in the consummation of the Upper Heavenly Palace Realm.” Gu Hai showed a serious expression.
“It is not just him. There is another Heavenly Demon Holy Land peak master in the land of the living. Father, you must be careful,” Gu Han exhorted gravely.
Gu Hai suddenly narrowed his eyes. “Oh? There’s another one in the land of the living? Could it be the Southern Sea’s Purple Bamboo Forest?”
“Father knows already?” Gu Han said in shock.
“It was just a guess; I wasn’t certain. When the Purple Bamboo Forest’s Bodhisattva Nan Longnu went to the Spirit Mountain Holy Land, Jiang Gautama treated her like an honored guest. When the Southern Sea Dragon King made a request, most of the Spirit Mountain Holy Land peak experts besides Jiang Gautama went to a.s.sist, so I suspected the Purple Bamboo Forest had someone of the same level as Jiang Gautama,” Gu Hai explained, frowning.
“Yes, that is the Purple Bamboo Peak’s peak master, the Purple Jade Heavenly Demon. He entered the land of the living after I did and has yet to grasp many factions, so he is keeping a low profile. Father should not casually engage him,” Gu Han advised.
“Oh no!” Gu Hai’s face sank.
“Father, what’s wrong?” Gu Han asked.
“Shangguan Hen and Ao Shun headed to the Southern Sea’s Purple Bamboo Peak to rescue Ao Sheng. No wonder Sha still had sent no word despite a long time pa.s.sing. The Purple Jade Heavenly Demon?” Gu Hai’s expression turned terrifyingly sullen in worry.
“Oh?” Gu Han frowned slightly.
“Han`er, verifying your safety is sufficient. Father needs to return immediately. Do you need Father’s help with anything now?” Gu Hai asked.
“This child does not need any help. However…” Gu Han frowned slightly.
“However, what?”
“Before Father arrived, a group of dozens of people came and entered the corpse pit below me. This child is rather worried.” Gu Han’s frown deepened.
“Another group entered the corpse pit? They are neither Jiang Gautama’s nor the Corpse Worm Heavenly Demon’s men?” Gu Hai said in shock.
“Yes. They are very powerful, forcing six great resentful spirits into the central corpse pit. Then they followed those resentful spirits inside,” Gu Han said, frowning.
“Six great resentful spirits?” Gu Hai echoed in confusion.
“If this child recalls right, this Corpse Mound World has eight great resentful spirit kings, each of them a leader of resentful spirits. The strongest one, the Azure Dragon Resentful Spirit, got forced into the central corpse pit. Besides the six that were forced into the corpse pit, only two others remain: the Avian King Resentful Spirit and the Blood Shaman Resentful Spirit. Perhaps they escaped because they normally do not linger around the central corpse pit,” Gu Han said.
Gu Hai had not seen the Blood Shaman Resentful Spirit before. However, he had met the Avian King Resentful Spirit. Even Kong Xuan could not match it. There are eight of such resentful spirits?
Furthermore, a group of people forced six of them into the central corpse pit? What faction do they come from? To think they are so powerful?
“They initially wanted to deal with me. However, one of them—a black-robed man called Mister Starless—told them not to deviate from the plan. Then that Mister Starless did something incredible. He filled the sky with stars with a flip of his hand, forming a large ritual array with them that forced the resentful spirit kings into the central corpse pit,” Gu Hai recalled.
“Mister Starless?” Gu Hai frowned slightly.
“That’s right. One of them was called Emperor Kong?”
Gu Hai’s pupils constricted at the mention of Emperor Kong. “I know where they are from now. The Huang Heavenly Dynasty? Hah! I did not expect this. The Huang Heavenly Dynasty also has many experts!”
As Gu Hai felt shocked, a dragon’s roar suddenly came from the corpse pit below.
“Roar!”
A thunderous dragon roar resounded, seeming to shake the entire world. This was an overwhelming draconic might, the strongest Gu Hai had ever felt.
Even Ao Tianhuang, Ao Sihai, Ao Shun, and Ao Sheng could not roar as loudly if they combined their draconic might.
“The Azure Dragon Resentful Spirit? Its draconic might grew so strong?” Gu Han’s expression changed too.
Gu Hai extended his hand and waved. The surrounding fog immediately vanished. The resentful spirits covered by the Go Dao ritual array showed horrified expressions and fled in all directions.
“Roar!”
“Roar!”
Crack! Crack! Crack!
A series of deafening roars came from the central corpse pit, displaying boundless might. While they were weaker than the draconic might, it was not by much.
Buzz!
Suddenly, Gu Hai saw countless energy threads covering the entire Corpse Mound World.
These energy threads seemed crucial to the Corpse Mound World’s foundation. A s.h.i.+ning white object, like a crystalline book, connected them. This book had three words on it: Heavenly Soul Register.
“The Heavenly Soul Register?” Gu Hai’s eyes lit up.
The Heavenly Soul Register was in the center of the countless energy lines, appearing to drive the laws in the Corpse Mound World and suppress a vast number of relentless spirits within.
Now, a humongous, coiled azure dragon in the corpse pit below opened its mouth to swallow that Heavenly Soul Register. However, the Heavenly Soul Register controlled the Corpse Mound World’s laws, bringing tremendous pressure to resist the azure dragon.
“What a big azure dragon!” Gu Hai goggled in shock.
The azure dragon gave off the earlier draconic might, right? To think it is over thirty kilometers long! Ao Shun is just over three kilometers long, yet this azure dragon is over thirty?
“That is the corpse of an ancient azure dragon, the ancestor dragon. No, the earlier Azure Dragon Resentful Spirit possessed its corpse?” Gu Han said in shock.
The ancestor dragon’s corpse?
Gu Hai looked carefully. Indeed, while the thirty-kilometer-long azure dragon came to life, its eyes had no pupils, simply white. This is a dead dragon possessed by a resentful spirit?
It was not just the azure dragon. There were five other large ferocious beasts at the bottom of the corpse pit. Although they were not as strong as the azure dragon, they were close. The other roars came from them.
These six ferocious beasts had no pupils, all corpses possessed by resentful spirits.
Each of the six ferocious beasts had a group of black-clad men standing on them. These black-clad men drew various talismans, curses, and restrictions on the beasts’ heads, apparently to control them.
“Father, it’s them!” Gu Hai said in shock.
The corpse pit had initially been pitch-black. However, the Heavenly Soul Register seemed to activate, releasing a bright light that illuminated the corpse pit.
The black-robed men were controlling the six ferocious beasts to target the Heavenly Soul Register, which suppressed the many resentful spirits.
“Again! Break the barrier around the Heavenly Soul Register!” A bellow came from the corpse pit.
“That’s Emperor Kong’s voice. There’s no mistaking it; that’s him.” Gu Hai narrowed his eyes. Although he had met Emperor Kong only once, he had a deep impression of Emperor Kong’s voice.
“Yes!” The black-clad men on the six ferocious beasts responded in unison with loud shouts.
Buzz!
They activated the talismans, and the six ferocious beasts trembled. They showed savage expressions, radiating overwhelming might.
Boom!
The six ferocious beasts simultaneously soared into the sky and charged at the Heavenly Soul Register protected by a barrier of white light.