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

The voice, the appearance, and especially the unique bloodthirsty and resentful aura of the Asura battlefield that was difficult to completely erase from the lightning around him, struck Li Jing like a thunderbolt. His eyes widened instantly, almost popping out of their sockets!

"In...Indra?! It's you?! How could you...become like this?! No—!!"

Li Jing screamed, his voice completely distorted by extreme horror and fear.

He recognized him! This wasn't Indra, the Buddha of the Ancient Buddha Dipankara; this was clearly Indra, the leader of the four great demon generals under the command of the Blood Sea Styx Ancestor, and a top-tier killing god among the Asuras! Yet, the other's aura, supernatural powers, and Dharma form were undeniably imprinted with a pure and powerful Buddhist mark! What on earth was going on?!
The shadow of death was like ice water poured over Li Jing's head, instantly sobering him up. He no longer cared about "putting on a show." The moment his body was locked by the black energy and the binding force began to tighten, he used all his strength to scream incoherently.

"Misunderstanding! A huge misunderstanding! Indra... no, Venerable Indra! I... I am Li Jing! Li Jing, the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King! I... I am also a disciple of Dipankara Buddha! His only disciple! We... we are fellow disciples! From the same source! We are on the same side! Please don't attack! Spare my life!!!"

He seemed to have grasped at the last straw, desperately emphasizing his identity as a "disciple of the Burning Lamp," trying to awaken any remaining "brotherly bond" between the other party, or at least to arouse their hesitation.

However, the majestic face of the "Indra" statue remained unmoved, displaying only a cold indifference as if executing a command. He seemed oblivious to Li Jing's screams and explanations, simply following the most basic instruction—to kill the first person to emerge from Snowstorm City.

"Noisy."

Indra uttered two cold words.

The next second, the radiant vajra in his hand did not strike down directly, but trembled slightly.

Instantly, the endless golden lightning that entwined around the Dharma image roared like a raging thunder dragon guided by a deafening roar, transforming into a raging torrent of pure destructive holy lightning light, which poured down on Li Jing, who was imprisoned in mid-air and unable to move!

"what--!!!"

That wasn't a single bolt of lightning, but a sea of ​​lightning! The blinding golden light instantly engulfed Li Jing's figure. The lightning wasn't fleeting; it was like a viscous glue, firmly enveloping, permeating, and eroding him! Li Jing let out a scream that was utterly shrill and beyond human comprehension.

The holy light of thunder not only scorched his immortal golden body, but also carried a strange binding and tormenting power, fixing him firmly in mid-air. Every inch of his skin, every strand of immortal essence, and even every wisp of his soul felt as if they were being repeatedly pierced and roasted by billions of red-hot steel needles!
His official robes instantly turned to ashes in the lightning, revealing his immortal body beneath, which rapidly turned black and cracked. His hair stood on end, emitting wisps of blue smoke.

The pale golden immortal blood that had just flowed out from the seven orifices evaporated immediately.

He was like a mortal who had fallen into a hellish inferno, enduring pain far exceeding the limits of a Golden Immortal.

While controlling the lightning to continue tormenting Li Jing, Di Shitian slowly turned his majestic thunderous eyes, his gaze seemingly piercing through space and landing on a seemingly empty cloud above the Snowstorm City—the very place where Lin Zhu and the others had hidden using the Sky-Covering Talisman.

His voice boomed, carrying a tone of provocation and coercion.

"Lin Zhu, the God of Hell! Hiding your head and showing your tail only makes you a laughingstock! Do you see the miserable state of this fellow? If you do not show yourself and surrender to Buddha, this scoundrel will be a model for us all! I will make him suffer the torment of soul refining for eighty-one days in this 'Purifying Thunder Light,' and then crush his soul inch by inch, so that he may never be reborn!"

Li Jing, caught in the lightning, was in so much pain that his very soul trembled, yet his consciousness remained unusually clear due to the extreme agony.

Hearing Indra's words, he was terrified and struggled and screamed in the sea of ​​thunder.

"Fellow disciple! We are fellow disciples! Indra! Have you forgotten?! It was Teacher Dipankara... it was the Ancient Buddha Dipankara who personally converted you, led you into the Western Paradise, and bestowed upon you the position of 'Indra' as a Dharma protector!"
I am the only disciple of the Chan sect personally instructed by our teacher. By all accounts, I am the senior disciple! How could you treat me like this?! Go and ask! Go and ask the White Lotus Child! Go and ask any Buddha or Bodhisattva! They all know!!

He desperately tried to prove his identity, his words broken and fragmented with pain, yet filled with a desperate will to survive.

"Hmph, spreading heresies and confusing my Buddhist heart."

The image of Indra responded indifferently, his tone completely calm.

"I am a guardian deity, enlightened by the ancient Buddha Dipankara. I am only ordered to vanquish evil and have never heard of any 'senior brother'. You traitors of the Heavenly Court are adept at fabricating lies. Even on the verge of death, you still falsely accuse others, adding to your sins!"

After saying this, he had a thought, and the holy light of thunder that enveloped Li Jing suddenly intensified several times over! The crackling lightning penetrated even deeper into Li Jing's body, and even began to erode the golden immortal primordial spirit that he had painstakingly cultivated for ten thousand years.

Li Jing's screams suddenly rose in pitch, becoming even more inhuman. The charred cracks on his immortal body widened, faintly revealing the pale golden bones and throbbing internal organs inside.

Above the snow-covered city, under the cover of sky-obscuring talismans.

Lin Zhu stood with his hands behind his back, quietly watching the cruel scene below.

His facial muscles twitched slightly, as if he was suppressing some emotion, which finally turned into a barely audible, cold shout squeezed out from between his teeth.

"How dare you!"

Standing beside him, Nezha had already turned away abruptly at the beginning of Emperor Shitian's torment of Li Jing, his back to the battlefield, his shoulders trembling slightly as if he could not bear it. The other key members of the Nine Heavens Prison, such as the Golden Turtle of the Abyss, also mostly showed expressions of "unable to bear to watch," some turning to the side, some lowering their heads, and some simply covering their faces with their hands, as if they could not bear to see their comrades suffer such cruel torture.

Indra's divine sense swept across the scene, taking it all in.

He had no more doubts—it seemed that Li Jing was indeed an important and fierce general under the command of the prison god Lin Zhu, and was quite popular. Even the infamous Nezha "couldn't bear" to watch and turned away to "sob".

This further strengthened his resolve to use Li Jing as leverage to force Lin Zhu to submit.

"Since you all 'value' this official so much, I'll let you see him to your heart's content!"

Indra sneered, and his Dharma form extended a finger wrapped in golden lightning, pointing it at Li Jing amidst the lightning.

"Sizzle—!"

A lightning rope, condensed to its extreme, shot out from the sea of ​​lightning like a venomous snake, binding Li Jing even more tightly, and then suddenly tightened! Li Jing's screams stopped abruptly, as if his neck had been choked, leaving only a hoarse sound of air leaking from his throat, his immortal body convulsing violently.

But that wasn't all. With his other hand, Di Shitian made a grasping motion, and a dagger about a foot long, entirely emerald green, shimmering with an eerie light, and with faint black runes flowing along its blade, appeared out of thin air at his fingertips.

The dagger emitted a chilling aura that stung even the soul, clearly indicating that it was coated with a malevolent substance specifically designed to corrode the soul and intensify suffering.

"This is the 'Soul-Devouring Jade Crystal Dagger.' How does it taste? You should try it."

Indra's tone was calm, yet it carried a chilling cruelty.

He wielded the dagger, transforming it into a streak of emerald light, deftly slicing across Li Jing's cheek. "Pfft!"

A piece of flesh, charred black and even containing a few pale gold bone fragments, fell to the ground. The wound didn't bleed profusely; instead, it instantly turned a nauseating dark green. The flesh rotted and dissolved at a visible speed, and the corrosive force, like a living thing, burrowed into the wound, reaching straight to the soul!

"Aaaaaaahh ...

Li Jing's scream pierced his throat again, a hundred times more shrill than before! It was not only the excruciating pain of the body, but also the extreme torment of his soul being corroded and torn apart by the venom.

He was in so much pain that he was almost going crazy. His eyes bulged out and were bloodshot. He stared at Di Shitian with a fixed gaze and still roared.

"I...I really am a disciple of Burning Lamp...Go ask...go ask!!!"

"Lin Zhu—!! It's all your fault!!!"

Overwhelmed by pain and despair, Li Jing turned his anger towards Lin Zhu, uttering venomous curses.

Seeing this, Lin Zhu's expression of "unbearable" seemed to deepen. He took a deep breath, as if he had made up his mind, and spoke loudly. His voice clearly echoed across the battlefield, carrying a hint of "urgency" and "helplessness".

"Indra! Stop! He...he is indeed the only remaining disciple of Dipankara Buddha! This is absolutely true! How can you kill your own disciple?!"

Upon hearing this, Li Jing, amidst the lightning, was first taken aback. Then, as if grasping something, he nodded frantically, his eyes blazing with hope. But then he realized something was wrong, shook his head frantically, and screamed wildly in Lin Zhu's direction.

"You...you shut up! Who asked you to speak up for me?! You bastard! You're going to get me killed! Di Shitian, don't listen to his nonsense! I...I..."

He was incoherent, hoping that Lin Zhu's "testimony" would have an effect, yet fearing that it would only anger Di Shitian, and hating that Lin Zhu's "cooperation" at this moment seemed so hypocritical and suspicious.

Upon hearing this, Indra indeed let out a mocking sneer, a laugh as sharp and grating as the friction of metal against metal.

"Lin Zhu, the God of Hell, you'd even fabricate such a clumsy lie to save this subordinate? What kind of status does the Ancient Buddha Dipankara have? Would he accept such a worthless coward as his only disciple? Even if we take a step back and assume what this fiend says is true..."

He abruptly changed the subject, his tone turning icy cold.

"So what? Today I am acting on the Buddha's decree, the command of the White Lotus Child! To slay the traitor and cleanse the demonic atmosphere! Let alone that he is merely a mere 'disciple of the ancient Buddha' whose true identity is unknown, even if he were, if he dares to aid you in your evil deeds and offend my Buddhist kingdom, I will betray all the Buddhas today and tear him to pieces to uphold the Dharma!!"

Before the words were even finished, the emerald green "Soul-Devouring Jade Crystal Dagger" once again turned into a series of afterimages!
"Pfft! Pfft! Pfft! Sizzle—!"

With a single stroke, a large patch of flesh was sliced ​​off Li Jing's shoulder, revealing the bones beneath, which were nearly carbonized by the scorching lightning.

With another cut, he slashed across his ribs, and dark green corrosive marks spread rapidly.

Another slash opened a charred gash in his abdomen, revealing fragments of internal organs that had been damaged by lightning and fire, wriggling slightly inside!

Li Jing's flesh and blood, mixed with charred fragments, pale golden specks of light, and dark green venom, continuously rained down from the sky.

His screams had become hoarse and distorted, reduced to incoherent, beast-like howls, each breath filled with blood and extreme pain.

"White Lotus Prince! Save me! I'm one of yours!!"

In a moment of intense pain, Li Jing screamed towards the depths of the Indian army, but there was no response from the silent Buddha's light.

He turned to Indra again, his voice weak but stubborn.

"Fellow disciple...please...go ask..."

Lin Zhu seemed "unable to bear" watching any longer, and turned her head slightly away, but quickly turned back, her face showing "anxiety," and explained loudly again.

"Emperor Shitian! Listen to me! Li Jing... he is not one of my generals! He is a special envoy sent to me by the Buddhist sect of the Western Paradise! He came to negotiate with the Heavenly Court alone, but... but the negotiations failed, and I temporarily detained him! His identity is special! Moreover... moreover, he is Nezha's biological father! Nezha is my deputy in the Nine-Layered Heavenly Prison. How can my brothers bear to see their biological father dying? Don't make another mistake!"

This explanation sounds reasonable, attempting to exonerate Li Jing from the perspectives of "diplomatic status" and "human relationships."

However, after hearing this, the mockery and coldness on Di Shitian's face almost solidified. He sneered, as if he had seen through the most clumsy trick.

"Hahaha! Prison God Lin Zhu, do you think I'm a three-year-old child? Special envoy from the Western Paradise? Private negotiations? With his mere Golden Immortal cultivation, entering your dragon's den for 'private negotiations' is no different from sending himself to his death! That's the first point!"

Secondly, you say Nezha is his son? Hmph, I have also heard of the name Nezha, the Third Prince, and I have heard that he has long been bound to your Nine-Layered Heavenly Prison, and their relationship is not shallow.

If it were truly a deep father-son bond, why is he merely turning his back and 'sobbing,' showing no intention of stepping forward to rescue him? Not even… a single word of pleading? This father-son relationship is far too cold-blooded and illogical! Your lie is full of holes and only makes you a laughingstock!

The logic was clear, and the rebuttal was powerful. Di Shitian didn't believe it at all; instead, he thought it was just a fabrication by Lin Zhu in a moment of desperation, which made him even more convinced that Li Jing was a core subordinate whom Lin Zhu valued highly and had no choice but to save.

"Since you care about him so much, I'll let you see him to your heart's content!"

Indra's killing intent intensified, and his manipulation of the Azure Crystal Dagger became increasingly brutal and precise. It was no longer a matter of slicing flesh with sweeping, sweeping motions, but rather like the most ruthless executioner, inflicting a slow, agonizing torture.

Amidst flashes of emerald light, thin slices of flesh, as thin as cicada wings, were precisely slaughtered from Li Jing's body. The combined effects of the dark green corrosion and the golden lightning at the wounds amplified the pain exponentially. Li Jing's screams had weakened, but the agony within them pierced the heavens, sending chills down one's spine.

His immortal body trembled and convulsed, like a candle flickering in the wind. The light of his primordial spirit dimmed and broke visibly under the erosion of the intertwined green venom and golden lightning.

"Lin Zhu... I... I'll haunt you even as a ghost... You tricked me... You ruined me..."

Li Jing's intermittent curses, mixed with wails, were filled with endless resentment and malice.

Meanwhile, Nezha, with his back to the battlefield, seemed to be shaking his shoulders even more violently, as if suppressing immense sorrow and unbearable pain. Only he himself knew that beneath those slightly trembling shoulders lay a cold and hard heart. His biological father? Countless times of coercion, betrayal, and indifference had already exhausted that pitiful familial affection. (End of Chapter)