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

Even though he had seen countless deaths and experienced countless massacres, such a large-scale massacre targeting ordinary civilians who had no power to resist, purely for the purpose of achieving some sinister goal, still made him feel a chill and anger from the bottom of his heart.

"The Western Paradise... What a magnificent Western Paradise! What a beautiful blue lotus banner!"

Lin Zhu's voice was low and laced with suppressed rage. After the sneak attack by Liuli Huanguang, he thought he had already redefined his understanding of the limits of the Western Heaven, but he never expected they could go even lower! To achieve their goals, they could so recklessly trample on living beings, using the lives of billions of mortals as pawns!
He had long anticipated that the White Lotus Child's purpose in provoking war and causing massacres was to lure him out, and then launch a deadly sneak attack when he was "forced" to be distracted to protect or save those threatened mortals, soldiers, and even the Tang Emperor!

Therefore, he did the opposite, locking onto the White Lotus Child the moment he appeared, and without hesitation used all his strength, imbued with the Heavenly Origin Demon Stone, to unleash that merciless, deadly shot! What he wanted was to catch his opponent off guard, to deliver a thunderous blow at the moment when the opponent thought his scheme had succeeded and was at his most relaxed and complacent!

Unfortunately, it was just a little short; they couldn't kill him on the spot, leaving a future problem.

Lin Zhu couldn't help but feel a little regretful.

At this moment, Li Shimin, supported by his ministers, stumbled over.

The emperor looked haggard, his eyes were red and swollen, and his dragon robe was covered with dust and bloodstains. He had lost his former majesty and was left with only endless grief and the bewilderment of surviving a catastrophe.

He came to Lin Zhu and bowed deeply, his voice hoarse and trembling.

"Many...many thanks to Lord Prison God...for saving my life! For saving my Great Tang from collapse...please...please accept my bow!"

Lin Zhu raised his hand in a gesture of support, and a gentle force prevented Li Shimin from bowing.

He looked at the heartbroken king, sighed inwardly, and spoke.

"Your Majesty, there's no need for such formality. The root of this matter lies with me."

Li Shimin suddenly looked up, his swollen eyes filled with confusion and bewilderment.

Lin Zhu spoke calmly, yet with a heavy weight, as she slowly revealed the truth.

“That demonic child just now was named White Lotus Child. He was the personal attendant of the Western Sage who guided the people from beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens. The blue flag in his hand was called the ‘Azure Lotus Treasure Flag,’ which was also bestowed upon him by the Sage.”

"A saint... a child?!"

Upon hearing this, Li Shimin and the surrounding ministers all gasped in shock, their faces filled with horror.

They guessed that the other party was of extraordinary origin, but they never expected that he was directly from the supreme saint! And he was even the saint's personal attendant!
"The Buddhist sect in the Western Paradise wants to advance the 'Journey to the West' project. The key figure, Jin Chanzi, has had his physical body destroyed and can only be restored with the 'Nine-Turn Great Rejuvenation Pill'."

Lin Zhu continued.

"And currently, the only known entity in the Three Realms to still possess this pill is in my possession."

He paused, his eyes growing even colder.

"They are unwilling to communicate and trade normally, or perhaps they think that I will not hand it over easily. So they resort to this despicable scheme, sending a sage's attendant with a sage's treasure to the mortal realm to slaughter the people of your Great Tang border city, creating boundless bloodshed and human unrest. First, to put pressure on the Heavenly Court; second, to lure me down to the mortal realm; and third... I'm afraid they also want to take advantage of my distraction while I'm saving people, to launch a sneak attack, steal the pill, and kill people."

"Just...just for...a single pill?"

Upon hearing this, Li Shimin was struck dumb, staggered back two steps, and was firmly supported by the ministers behind him.

His face was drained of color, his lips trembled, and his eyes were filled with absurdity, disbelief, and even deeper grief and indignation.

"Just for... a single pill... they... they wouldn't even communicate, they directly... directly slaughtered 145,623 of my people?! Using their lives... to threaten you? To... to set a trap?!"

The cold logic, the ruthless methods, and the despicable purpose behind this completely overturned Li Shimin's understanding of "immortals and Buddhas" and "sages"! He originally thought that even if there were selfish motives and calculations in the struggle between immortals and Buddhas, there should still be some bottom line and some considerations.

But reality brutally taught him that in the eyes of certain beings, the lives of mortals are not even worth as much as ants; they are numbers and bargaining chips that can be discarded at will to achieve their goals!
"Hehe...haha..."

Li Shimin suddenly laughed, a laugh that was shrill and desperate, tears streaming down his face.

"I...I thought...the Buddha of the Western Paradise, even if he was scheming, should still have some compassion...the sage...the sage is even more supreme, his virtue matches heaven and earth...but now...hundreds of thousands of lives!"
Overnight! All for… a single pill? A trap? This… this is the way of the sages? This is Buddhist compassion?!

His faith, his understanding, his pride and responsibility as an emperor—all were utterly shattered at this moment. The White Lotus Prince's "ant theory" now echoed in his ears like the most vicious curse.

Lin Zhu looked at the distraught Li Shimin and remained silent.

He can understand the other person's feelings.

He patted Li Shimin on the shoulder and said in a deep voice.

"The Western Heaven has always acted this way. It's just that this time, it's particularly shameless. Your Majesty, please accept my condolences. The most urgent task is to stabilize the morale of the army and the people, handle the aftermath, and guard against any further actions by the Western Heaven."

Upon hearing this, Li Shimin trembled, abruptly wiping away his tears. Though grief still lingered in his eyes, a resurgence of imperial resolve and determination rekindled within him. Yes, now was not the time to collapse! Hundreds of thousands of soldiers were watching him, and hundreds of millions of his people needed him! He took a few deep breaths, forcibly suppressing his turbulent emotions, and nodded emphatically.

"Your Excellency is absolutely right! I was out of line."

He looked at Lin Zhu, his eyes filled with the last glimmer of hope, and asked in a trembling voice.

"Lord Prison God... Jingde... Jingde... is there any hope for him?"

He was referring to Yuchi Gong.

Lin Zhu turned his gaze to the side, where the soldiers had carefully placed Yuchi Gong's body on a flat stone slab and covered it with a clean cloth.

He walked over and waved for everyone to step back.

The emperor and his ministers held their breath, watching with a mixture of tension and anticipation.

Lin Zhu raised his hand and pressed down, and Yuchi Gong's body slowly floated into the air.

He condensed a wisp of pure innate spiritual energy at his fingertips and slowly channeled it into the terrifying void in Yuchi Gong's chest.

However, the moment the spiritual energy entered, it vanished like a clay ox sinking into the sea, or like water being poured into a leaky bamboo basket, quickly dissipating without any chance of condensing life force, much less awakening the already dormant body. Lin Zhu frowned slightly.

He carefully examined the situation with his divine sense, his expression gradually becoming solemn. Not only had Yuchi Gong's physical life force been completely severed, but his three souls and seven spirits had also left his body. According to the normal laws of reincarnation, he should already be in the Netherworld, waiting in line before the Wheel of Reincarnation.

Death is one of the most fundamental orders in the Three Realms. How easy is it to reverse it? Ordinary methods, such as infusing spiritual energy or consuming ordinary elixirs, are completely ineffective for those whose souls have already dispersed and entered the cycle of reincarnation.

Unless one possesses a divine pill like the "Nine-Turn Great Rejuvenation Pill" that can seize the creation of heaven and earth, or has immense supernatural power to forcibly "snatch" the soul back from the cycle of reincarnation, or... like the Jade Emperor who possesses the great supernatural power of "reversing yin and yang," perhaps one could forcibly distort the laws of life and death in a localized area within a very short time after death.

But none of these are available at this moment.

Lin Zhu looked at Yuchi Gong's resolute yet lifeless face, then at the soldiers around him whose faces were filled with sorrow and expectation, and at Li Shimin, who was suppressing his grief and whose eyes still held a glimmer of hope.

He was silent for a moment, then suddenly closed his eyes.

When he opened his eyes again, his gaze was incredibly resolute.

He stopped trying to infuse spiritual energy and instead slowly opened his left palm.

A glittering, warm golden light, imbued with boundless goodwill, merit, and aspiration, emerged from his palm. Initially the size of a bean, it slowly expanded, radiating a peaceful aura that calmed the mind and seemed to wash away all pain and despair.

Merit! And it is extremely pure and abundant merit!

Lin Zhu was about to do something extremely difficult, even defying the heavens—to use his own supreme merit as a bridge to forcibly communicate with the elusive and unpredictable "Six Paths of Reincarnation" law that governs the cycle of life and death in the world!
He wanted to try using this immense merit, enough to make even Buddhas and Bodhisattvas envious, as a "bribe" or "price" to remove Yuchi Gong's soul, which might not yet have been reincarnated, from the cycle of reincarnation.

"Buy back" or "pull back"!
This is not the proper way; it is a shortcut, or even exploiting loopholes in the laws of nature! The cost is unimaginable, and the success rate is not 100%.

But Lin Zhu did not hesitate.

He guided the golden light of merit, slowly pouring it into Yuchi Gong's cold body. At the same time, his divine sense, accompanied by the power of merit, attempted to penetrate the boundary between Yin and Yang in a mysterious and unpredictable way, to cross the bridge of reincarnation that connects countless souls...

A thousand merits... flow away like water, like a stone sinking into the sea.

Two thousand merits... still no word.

Five thousand merits... the barrier of reincarnation is as thick as an ancient glacier.

Ten thousand merits... seemed to touch upon some vague, fading aura.

Twenty thousand merits... The aura became a little clearer, but the pulling force was enormous, as if it were fighting against the entire cycle of reincarnation.

Thirty thousand merits... Lin Zhu's forehead was covered in sweat, but his eyes remained focused, and the golden light of merits continued to pour in as if it were free!

Forty thousand merits... The sound of merits flowing away seemed to echo across the silent battlefield.

The dazzling golden light completely enveloped Yuchi Gong's body, and even faintly illuminated the bleak scene around him.

Lin Zhu disregarded the cost, seeking only a sliver of hope.

Li Shimin and his generals watched with bated breath as Yuchi Gong's body, enveloped in a dazzling golden light of merit, floated in mid-air. The golden light swirled, spreading a peaceful and warm aura that slightly dispelled the bloodshed and sorrow of the battlefield. It caused the tension in their hearts, which had been taut with fear and anger, to ease slightly, giving rise to a faint but real hope.

However, Lin Zhu's expression did not lighten; instead, it became increasingly solemn.

His eyes were slightly closed, a faint light swirling between his brows, his entire being immersed in the profound process of using merit as a bridge to connect the netherworld and reincarnation. In his extraordinary perception, a silent yet extremely dangerous "tug-of-war" was taking place.

He clearly "saw" that Yuchi Gong's soul, which had already left his body, was not confused or scattered, but maintained the resolute image he had in life. It was being drawn by an irresistible, immense force originating from the fundamental laws of heaven and earth, slowly sinking along a vague yet definite trajectory into the unfathomable depths of the netherworld, where reincarnation flows.

At the end of that trajectory, faint sounds of ghostly wails, divine pronouncements, and the blurry phantom of the Six Paths Wheel could be heard.

The golden light of merit released by Lin Zhu was like countless strong and warm golden threads, crossing the boundary between life and death, tightly wrapping around the limbs and bones of Yuchi Gong's soul, trying to pull him back from the downward trajectory.

Each ray of golden light of merit carries his unwavering will to save people and the immense essence of "good deeds." This is tantamount to directly "bribing" or "appeasing" the laws of heaven and earth that maintain the order of life and death with "benefits," in order to obtain a sliver of "leniency."

But how easy is that? Reversing life and death is a taboo subject of heaven and earth.

That reincarnation force that draws souls is profound, stable, and inviolable, representing one of the most fundamental orders of the Three Realms.

Lin Zhu's merit threads, rather than "pulling," were more like "slowing down" the rate at which Yuchi Gong's soul sank, and attempting to re-establish a faint connection between the soul and reincarnation, a connection belonging to "life."

Merit is being consumed rapidly.

As a thousand merits were poured in, the golden light intensified, and the downward momentum of Yuchi Gong's soul seemed to freeze for a fraction of a second.

With the infusion of two thousand merits, more golden threads were generated, binding them even more tightly, slowing the descent of the soul even further.

Five thousand merits flowed away like mercury spilling onto the ground. Lin Zhu felt that the barrier of reincarnation had "loosened" by an extremely subtle line, as if the cold iron wall had been slightly melted by the heat of his "good deeds".

Ten thousand merits! The golden light almost solidified, temporarily "fixing" Yuchi Gong's soul at a critical point, preventing it from sinking further, but also preventing it from rising. An even stronger suction came from the other side of reincarnation, as if it had been provoked.

Twenty thousand merits! Fine beads of sweat had appeared on Lin Zhu's forehead. This was not due to the depletion of his magical power, but rather the immense pressure brought about by his mind's struggle against the order of heaven and earth.

The golden light of merit surged forth like a river bursting its banks, partly used to maintain "fixation," and partly transformed into a more mysterious force, attempting to build a "bridge" from the underworld to the human world. Yuchi Gong's fingertips seemed to tremble slightly, but the connection remained as faint as a candle flickering in the wind.

Thirty thousand merits! Lin Zhu's face paled slightly. Merit is not inexhaustible, and such a massive consumption made even him feel a pang of fear. But the determination in his eyes did not waver in the slightest.

Golden light shot into the sky, even faintly reflecting some ghostly shadows, as if the outline of the Gates of Hell flashed by. The chest of Yuchi Gong's soul began to show extremely faint signs of rising and falling, and between it and the terrifying hole in the chest of his physical body below, a golden band of light, thinner than a hair but real, seemed to be established.

Forty thousand merits!!! The rushing sound of merits flowing away seemed to echo throughout the silent world, even causing the lingering smoke of battle in the distance to pause. The golden light enveloping Yuchi Gong's soul and body had become as thick as liquid gold, radiating a powerful life force and vast fluctuations of willpower. (End of Chapter)