Honghuang: My understanding is beyond belief. I am the first immortal of Jiejiao.

The wolf-tooth arrow that Li Shimin wielded, imbued with the emperor's wrath and the blessing of destiny, was silently reduced to dust three feet in front of him.

The White Lotus Boy remained expressionless, not even a twitch of his lips. He seemed completely oblivious to Li Shimin's roaring questions, offering no response whatsoever. It was as if the 140,000 lives, filled with blood and tears, the earth-shattering roar, and the chilling arrows, were nothing more than a gentle breeze brushing against the rocks, unable to stir the slightest ripple in his heart.

The White Lotus Child's eyes were indifferent. Facing the rain of arrows below, which swarmed like locusts and contained the extreme rage and killing intent of the mortals, he did not even show the slightest intention to dodge or defend.

He merely shifted his gaze slightly, landing on the armor-piercing wolf-tooth arrow that Li Shimin had fired in anger, entwined with a wisp of pale golden imperial aura.

The arrow pierced the air with a shrill whistle, heading straight for his face.

The White Lotus Boy's lips curled down almost imperceptibly, an expression that was extremely subtle yet filled with utmost contempt and impatience.

He didn't make any big moves, but there seemed to be invisible ripples spreading out from the depths of his ethereal and indifferent eyes.

The next moment, something strange happened.

The wolf-tooth arrow, which flew swiftly towards the White Lotus Boy, seemed to have crashed into an invisible and viscous amber when it was still more than ten feet away from him. Its speed decreased sharply, and it finally came to an abrupt stop in mid-air! The arrow trembled violently and emitted a reluctant hum, but it could no longer advance even an inch.

Immediately afterward, the arrow was turned around! The arrowhead was no longer pointing at the White Lotus Boy, but rather... below, in front of the Tang army formation, stood a burly general clad in heavy armor, wielding a steel whip, his eyes blazing with fury, ready to protect the emperor at any moment—Yuchi Gong!

"Om-!"

With a slight tremor, the wolf-tooth arrow seemed to be endowed with ten times the speed and power of before, transforming into a golden-black streak that was almost impossible to see with the naked eye, shooting back at a speed far exceeding that of sound!

"General Yuchi, be careful!!"

Someone exclaimed in surprise.

However, it was too late.

Yuchi Gong's cultivation was remarkable; he had been cultivating for over five hundred years. Although he had not yet achieved immortality, he was already among the top martial artists among mortals. Moreover, he had experienced countless battles and had extremely fast reflexes.

He sensed a deadly threat, roared, and his blood and qi surged. His protective aura instantly condensed to its maximum, and he instinctively held the steel whip horizontally in front of his chest.

But all of this seemed so pale and powerless in the face of that arrow, which was imbued with a trace of the White Lotus Child's will and magic.

"Pfft—!"

A soft sound, like a hot knife cutting into solidified butter.

His protective aura was pierced through as easily as paper. The steel whip, forged from refined steel mixed with rare metals and which had accompanied him in battle for many years, was precisely struck in the center by the arrow tip and then... shattered into pieces!
The arrow continued its trajectory without waning, and under the incredulous, wide-eyed gaze of Yuchi Gong, it passed right through the center of his chest without any obstruction!

A spray of warm blood mixed with fragments of internal organs shot out from behind him, flying dozens of feet before disappearing deep into the hard rock behind him, leaving only a bottomless hole.

Yuchi Gong's burly body stiffened abruptly. He looked down at the terrifying, bowl-sized, open hole in his chest, where his heart had vanished.

He opened his mouth as if to say something, but only gushing blood flowed out.

The light in his eyes quickly dimmed, and his once fierce body, which had struck fear into the hearts of his enemies, crashed backward like a mountain collapsing and a jade pillar falling, slamming heavily to the ground and kicking up a cloud of dust.

This founding hero of the Tang Dynasty, one of Li Shimin's most trusted right-hand men, a fierce general who had cultivated Taoism for hundreds of years, actually... died! He died so easily, so suddenly, without even being able to utter a proper roar or last words.

"General Yuchi!!"

"Respect for virtue!!"

Li Shimin and the surrounding generals and civil officials were all stunned, and then let out heart-wrenching screams and cries of grief! Everyone rushed forward without regard for anything else and surrounded Yuchi Gong's body.

The towering man stared wide-eyed, his face still showing shock and resentment. Blood was still gushing from the terrifying hole in his chest. He was dead, and his soul had been completely shattered by the fierce Buddhist power the moment the arrow pierced his heart!

"Jingde... Jingde, oh Jingde—!!"

Li Shimin rushed to Yuchi Gong's body, reaching out his trembling hand to try and cover the terrible wound, but to no avail.

He looked up at the still indifferent White Lotus Child in the sky, and boundless grief and anger, like a volcanic eruption, completely overwhelmed his last bit of reason and restraint!

"Demon child! Demon lord! Bald monk from the Western Paradise—!!!"

Li Shimin's voice was hoarse and distorted from extreme grief and anger. He suddenly stood up, pointed at the White Lotus Boy, and with all his might, let out a roar and declaration that shook the heavens and earth and pierced the heart.

"I, Emperor Li Shimin of the Great Tang Dynasty, hereby swear! From this day forward, the Great Tang Dynasty and the Western Paradise are sworn enemies! We are irreconcilably opposed to you treacherous, murderous, and treacherous Buddhas! Every citizen of the Great Tang Dynasty has the right to kill you! This hatred and enmity cannot be washed away even if the waters of the Three Rivers and Five Lakes are poured out! Blood debts must be repaid in blood—!!!"

This is not merely a declaration of war against the Buddhist kingdom of Tianzhu, but also a direct attack on the Western Paradise behind it! The king's words, imbued with the destiny of the nation and the aspirations of all people, seem to instantly bind an invisible shackle and cause and effect upon their utterance.

From this moment on, the Tang Dynasty in the Eastern Land of Jambudvipa and the Buddhist Kingdom of Tianzhu in the Western Land of Aparagodaniya, along with the Western Buddhist sect behind it, became completely opposed in terms of human destiny! The human destiny that might have been integrated due to the Journey to the West was reversed from this point on, and the murderous and violent atmosphere began to rise, sowing the seeds of boundless killing karma!

The white lotus prince in the air, upon hearing Li Shimin's tragic and resolute declaration of war, showed no emotion whatsoever. Instead, he let out a very faint but clearly audible sneer.

The laughter was filled with undisguised mockery and a condescending indifference that transcended ordinary understanding.

"The roars of ants are always so noisy, and so... laughable." The White Lotus Child's voice was ethereal and melodious, yet cold and devoid of any emotion.

"Li Shimin, you are just an ordinary emperor, sitting in a well and looking at the sky. How can you know the vastness of the world and the immensity of the universe?"

He tilted his head slightly and spoke in a tone as if stating the simplest truth.

"In your eyes, those 140,000 mortals are your subjects, vibrant lives. But in my eyes, they are no different from the busy ants on this ground. Slaughtering a city and pouring hot water on an anthill are essentially just cleaning up some insignificant, unsightly dust."

His gaze swept over the grief-stricken Tang army below, over the burning ruins of villages, over the still-warm body of Yuchi Gong, and finally settled on Li Shimin, who was trembling and had bloodshot eyes. His tone became increasingly indifferent.

"The love and hatred between Jambudvipa and Aparagodaniya, the separation and death of mortals, and the rise and fall of dynasties are nothing more than an insignificant ripple in the long river of time, or even... not even a ripple, just a boring drama of a few ants waving their antennae and fighting for a few grains of rice."

All that you are angry about, that you bleed for, that you fight to the death for, is meaningless to me.

These words not only completely negated the value of the hundreds of thousands of lives below, but also trampled the meaning of the entire human world and the entire mortal civilization underfoot!

This is a kind of ultimate indifference towards all living beings and even ordinary immortals and Buddhas, which transcends ordinary gods and Buddhas and originates from a higher level of existence!

The White Lotus Child served the Sage of Guidance for countless years, witnessing the Sage's methods and participating in the primordial calamity. In his understanding, below the Sage, even Great Luo Golden Immortals, Buddhas, and Bodhisattvas were merely "ants" who were slightly larger and knew more about the rules, let alone these mortals who lived only a day and died at night.

Li Shimin was struck dumb, frozen in place. Boundless grief and indignation still burned in his chest, but the White Lotus Boy's words, so cold and indifferent, were like a bucket of icy water poured down his throat, making him feel a chilling powerlessness and...confusion that came from the depths of his soul.

Yes, what does it matter to this terrifying being who regards all living beings as ants, who can destroy cities and countries with a wave of his hand, and who can not even withstand a casual strike from a general like Yuchi Gong?
What could he do for his people? What could he do besides watch them being slaughtered, besides uttering this pale and powerless roar and declaration of war?
An unprecedented and immense sense of powerlessness and humiliation, like cold vines, entwined Li Shimin's heart, almost suffocating him.

For the first time, he felt so clearly how fragile and ridiculous the power and responsibility of an earthly emperor were in the face of true, transcendent power.

The White Lotus Boy was completely oblivious to Li Shimin's inner turmoil and confusion.

He raised his hand again, and this time, although the movement was still casual, it was clearly more purposeful.

He spread his five fingers wide, facing the vast sky and earth below, and gently clenched them.

In an instant, the weather changed dramatically! The spiritual energy of heaven and earth, the five elements, and even the dense, lingering blood energy, resentment, and killing intent above the battlefield seemed to be summoned by an irresistible force, and they frantically converged towards his palm!
The sky suddenly darkened, a gale howled, and sand and stones flew everywhere. An unimaginably huge, dark red "meteorite" formed by the compression and condensation of pure energy and matter rapidly took shape above his head at a speed visible to the naked eye!
The "meteorite" was over a thousand feet in diameter, its surface flowing with a crimson light like lava, its edges swirling with black, destructive energy, radiating a terrifying, suffocating pressure! Its very existence caused the earth below to crack and the mountains to tremble. Countless Tang soldiers were forced to retreat by the invisible pressure, some even spitting out blood and collapsing to the ground!
"Last night's massacre of the city was carried out using such a petty trick."

The White Lotus Child spoke in a calm tone, as if introducing a toy.

"Today, I will grant you ants the honor of experiencing what...the might of Heaven truly is."

He specifically emphasized "Tang army" and "honor." Because he was well aware that Li Shimin was currently on the border battlefield. Although he was still protected by the fortunes of the people and the nation, the protective power had been greatly weakened compared to when he was in the Chang'an Imperial Palace and the core of the Southern Continent. Moreover, his fortunes were connected to those of the soldiers behind him and could not be completely isolated.

More importantly, he is currently located outside the border of the Southern Continent, and to some extent, he has already "escaped" the area covered by the core of human destiny! This is exactly the perfect opportunity that the White Lotus Child has been waiting for, an opportunity to act at will!

"No--!!"

Li Shimin's eyes were bloodshot as he looked at the terrifying meteorite that was slowly descending like a catastrophic star, and at the soldiers below who looked desperate but still held their weapons tightly, trying to protect him. Boundless grief and resentment turned into hot tears that streamed down his face.

He knew that this blow would not only wipe out hundreds of thousands of the Tang Dynasty's most elite border troops and the civil and military officials who had accompanied him, but would also completely break the backbone of the entire Tang Dynasty! Without these pillars of strength, the Tang Dynasty would have no power to resist Xiniu Hezhou, and from then on, the nation's fortunes would decline, the people would suffer, and it would become a puppet controlled by others!
And he, the emperor who prided himself on protecting his people and creating a prosperous era, could only watch helplessly as all of this unfolded! This sense of powerlessness was more painful to him than death itself! He hated it! He hated his own incompetence! He hated the injustice of Heaven! He hated the cruelty of the Western Paradise!
'I... have failed the people!' Li Shimin wept blood, feeling utterly hopeless.

Even if he were to survive by chance, witnessing the deaths of all his loyal ministers and generals, and the fall of his country, he would be nothing more than a walking corpse burdened with endless shame and regret.

The dark red meteorite fell slowly, not fast, but with an overwhelming and despairing force.

Wherever it passes, space distorts, light is extinguished, and everything seems to tremble in its shadow, awaiting its ultimate fate of turning to ashes.

However, in this desperate moment when heaven and earth were about to collapse and all things were about to perish—

A clear, calm voice, yet seemingly imbued with supreme laws and unparalleled majesty, resounded without warning, like the first ray of dawn piercing the darkness, reaching the ears of every living being and even echoing deep within their souls.

"break."

There is only one word.

Simple and unremarkable.

But the instant that word was uttered!
"laugh--!"

A black light, its color indescribable, seemingly capable of devouring all light and life, and condensed purely from the meaning of destruction and annihilation, arrived in an instant from the distant horizon, like a world-destroying thunder that tore through the sky, or a vengeful spear thrust out from the deepest part of the netherworld!

Its speed surpassed perception and time! The instant it appeared, it traversed the sky, striking the very center of the slowly descending, dark red meteorite, a thousand feet in diameter, with unparalleled precision!

There was no earth-shattering explosion, no explosive surge of energy.

The terrifying meteorite, capable of destroying an area of ​​hundreds of miles and instantly vaporizing an army of hundreds of thousands, began to disintegrate, annihilate, and disappear silently the moment it was touched by the black light, just like snow under the scorching sun or dust thrown into a black hole!

It didn't collapse into fragments; rather, it was utterly erased from its most basic particle structure by the destructive power contained within the black light—a power that transcended ordinary laws! Not even a speck of dust or a trace of debris remained! It was as if it had never existed at all! (End of Chapter)