Tens of thousands of Buddhist disciples, seeing Zhou Yan's immense power, were utterly astonished. They never imagined he could be so formidable.
Their Buddha Lord, defeated in a single move by this man—it was simply unbelievable, a profound shock.
Upon seeing the golden-hued True Buddha, the multitude of disciples rose to their feet and addressed him, "We pay respects to Gu Buddha Wuxing."
"Amitabha. Benefactor, is there any offense we have committed? This humble monk offers his apologies here," Wuxing approached Zhou Yan, his demeanor sincere as he bowed in apology.
Zhou Yan's aura was too potent; he was undoubtedly a being of even greater power than Wuxing. The Buddhist sect could not afford to antagonize such an individual. Wuxing wished to resolve the animosity between them.
"That Jiesha, in his attempt to control the evil corpse, has already slaughtered over a million souls. We happened to be passing by, and he escaped using a one-time divine artifact. We pursued him to this place."
"I am here to kill Jiesha. If you obstruct me, I will annihilate the entire Buddhist sect. What I say, I will do," Zhou Yan declared with overwhelming force.
Previously, they would have dismissed Zhou Yan's words as a jest. The mighty Buddhist sect, after all, was not something any ordinary person could simply threaten to destroy. However, their Buddha Lord had been defeated in a single move. Had Gu Buddha Wuxing not intervened, he would likely have perished, and even the sect's protective formation would have been shattered. This demonstrated that Zhou Yan was not merely jesting.
Upon hearing this, Wuxing glanced at the disciple behind him and asked, "Is this true?"
"It is not true, it is not true. I did not do this," Jiesha adamantly denied.
But Wuxing, with his profound cultivation, could sense the indelible resentment festering within Jiesha's soul.
"I have given you a chance. Since you do not repent, do not blame this humble monk for cleaning house."
Wuxing chanted Buddhist scriptures, and mystical, abstruse Buddhist phrases flowed from his lips. The entire Buddhist sect was suffused with a benevolent golden light, as if heaven and earth were singing ancient verses.
"This is the Scripture of Demon Annihilation. Those who are deeply sinful will be reduced to ashes!"
"Gu Buddha is truly powerful. This ancient scripture is profoundly difficult to comprehend; only a Gu Buddha can truly grasp it."
"I feel as though I have accidentally stepped on an ant, I am a sinner."
"I shouldn't have argued with my senior brother, I am also a sinner."
...
As this ancient scripture manifested, the Buddhist texts of the entire world surged forth, filling the Buddhist sect. However, these Buddhist texts had no effect on Zhou Yan and his companions. The moment they approached Zhou Yan, they were annihilated by an unseen energy.
"Ah!!"
Jiesha's soul erupted with clumps of black energy. This was resentment, resentment deeply ingrained in his soul, impossible to dispel through ordinary means. Such a vast amount of resentment stemmed from the vengeful spirits of those Jiesha had killed. The more he killed, the stronger the resentment etched into his soul. To accumulate such a colossal quantity of resentment, how many lives must he have taken?
Jiesha collapsed on the ground, writhing in agony. Streams of resentment emanated from his body, severely damaging his soul.
"How many beings has this Jiesha killed!"
"He was indeed right; this Jiesha has indeed slaughtered countless lives!"
"Despicable! We even wrongly believed him to be innocent. He is unworthy to be a member of the Buddhist sect!"
...
Everyone witnessed Jiesha's true nature. It could no longer be concealed. Jiesha had indeed taken countless lives, and they had indeed misjudged Zhou Yan and his companions. Not only Jiesha, but several other individuals within the Buddhist sect, steeped in grave sins, now emitted agonizing cries under the Gu Buddha's scripture. Soon, they were enveloped by golden flames and burned into nothingness.
No one had anticipated that hundreds of deeply sinful individuals were hidden within the Buddhist sect, using its name to commit various wicked deeds and tarnish its reputation. This disgusted many Buddhist disciples. However, the majority of them remained pure and focused on self-cultivation.
Zhou Yan observed that while the Buddhist sect did not perform many good deeds, they also did not commit many evil ones. It was merely some disciples who, under the guise of the sect, engaged in wrongdoing.
"Gu Buddha, I was wrong, I dare not... Spare me... Ah..."
Jiesha was overwhelmed by too much resentment. The suffering he now endured was commensurate with the lives he had taken. It was a just punishment, and no one would plead for such a man.
"You won't spare me? Then we'll all die together!"
Seeing that the Gu Buddha had no intention of stopping, Jiesha's murderous intent surged. He summoned the evil corpse, at the peak of the Demigod realm, from the void and attacked the surrounding Buddhist disciples.
"Pfft!!!"
Over a dozen Buddhist disciples, caught off guard by this turn of events, were directly annihilated by the evil corpse. This enraged Wuxing. "Stubborn and unyielding!"
"Stop your pretense. If I hadn't failed, what is the entire Buddhist sect to me?" Jiesha roared in anger and directly sacrificed his soul to the evil corpse.
"Since I cannot live, you all shall not live in peace either!" Jiesha declared furiously, his entire soul surging into the evil corpse.
Zhou Yan possessed the power to intervene, but why should he? This was an internal matter for the Buddhist sect. Zhou Yan produced a bag of sunflower seeds and offered it to Diao Chan and Zhen Mi. The two women each took a handful and began to crack them open.
Zhou Yan then offered some to Ye Xun, "Want some?"
Ye Xun: "ﾍ(*–-)ﾉ"
Ye Xun found this utterly speechless. Did he think this was incredibly entertaining? Ye Xun soon joined the ranks of onlookers, munching on snacks. The scene now featured Zhou Yan and his companions leisurely cracking seeds, observing the unfolding events within the Buddhist sect with an air of detachment.
Upon entering the evil corpse, Jiesha's soul caused its power to surge, granting it the strength of a peak Demigod.
"Abomination!" Wuxing's body erupted with Buddhist light, transforming into a golden Buddha hand that descended upon the evil corpse.
The evil corpse, not to be outdone, unleashed a torrent of powerful, dark energy, counter-attacking the Buddha hand.
"Boom!"
The two energies clashed, and ultimately, the evil corpse was at a disadvantage and was sent flying.
"Together, let us suppress this evil corpse!" The Buddha Lord once again unleashed a wave of Buddhist light, pressing down on the evil corpse.
"Yes!"
Tens of thousands of Buddhist disciples unleashed waves of Buddhist light, chanting scriptures amidst the air. Ancient Buddhist texts descended to suppress the evil corpse. A dozen powerful Buddhist experts ascended into the sky, sat cross-legged, and struck wooden fish, chanting scriptures. Waves of demon-suppressing Buddhist sounds washed over the evil corpse. A string of prayer beads flew towards the evil corpse's head, forming the Buddhist symbol "卍". Golden light enveloped the area, and the evil corpse let out roars and furious bellows as torrents of evil energy were annihilated by the Buddhist script energy. The evil corpse was thoroughly trapped. The sheer number of Buddhist experts present rendered its struggles and roars futile, unable to break through the blockade.