Gentlemen, it's time to enter the Banner of Ten Thousand Souls.

Chapter 100 It's a pity not to become a demon.

On the distant, solitary peak, after the golden flames on the group of rogue cultivators had died down, the Venerable Lord finally withdrew his gaze.

The lord sighed helplessly, "In the end, we lost a move."

A golden light suddenly appeared, hovering beside the Venerable One, and a deep voice came from it: "Amitabha, Junior Brother, you have been standing by and watching, of course you will lose. If you were ruthless and controlled that boy, you would win this round."

The Venerable Master laughed and said, "If I had really listened to you, Zhang Qi's sword would already be on my head. If I were to die, this Crimson Serpent Buddha would become the property of the Nirvana Sect. Senior Brother, you've got a good plan."

The Crimson Serpent Buddha has been formed and will not perish, but the Venerable One can be killed, which would then benefit the Nirvana Sect for nothing.

Both sides maintained restraint in this bet.

The Lord did not force anyone to commit a crime; at most, he simply made it impossible for Mo Suixin to track his whereabouts.

The resistance of rogue cultivators must be spontaneous. If the Venerable Lord forcibly controls them to take action, then he is giving the righteous path a reason to kill.

Should we kill a rogue cultivator who rises up in resistance, or a puppet controlled by a demon?
The two are completely different.

At least for the head of the Qinghe Sword Sect, the difference was significant.

Zhang Qi has not made a move until now because there is no suitable reason.

Zhang Qi is very reasonable, which is why his sword is so powerful. But precisely because he is reasonable, he cannot draw his sword at will.

The Lord does not want to die, so why would he personally offer his neck?

The only mistake in this gamble was that he underestimated Chen Ye's abilities; he didn't expect that Chen Ye could actually calm down those rogue cultivators with just a few words.

By forcibly breaking into the Incense Burning Sect's territory and capturing Wei Changsheng, Chen Ye's move was indeed brilliant. Otherwise, no one would have believed him no matter how hard he tried.

Now that the rogue cultivators are safe and sound, and Chen Ye has evidence in hand, the five righteous sects have no choice but to bow their heads.

Although the righteous path still lost, the winner was not him, but that mere Qi Sea Realm cultivator.

The Venerable One sighed, "The rogue cultivators don't ask for much to begin with, but those in power aren't even willing to give them this much. If someone can say that, then my defeat isn't entirely unjust."

The mysterious figure in the golden light asked again, "So, junior brother, what are your plans next?"

The Venerable One said helplessly, "I originally intended to use the rogue cultivators of Hundred Seas Valley to threaten the five righteous sects and make them swear an oath to allow my Crimson Serpent Holy Sect to re-establish itself. Now the plan has failed. Next, the five righteous sects will only vent all their anger on me. Hundred Seas Valley cannot be allowed to remain."

The Lord's initial idea was to re-establish the Holy Sect, transforming it into a side sect, so that the disciples of the Crimson Serpent Holy Sect could once again roam the world.

Now that we've lost our leverage, there's no longer any possibility of negotiating with the righteous path.

In this gamble, the righteous path lost, and lost badly. They will no longer be polite to the Venerable Lord, and those old guys will definitely go all out to completely wipe out the Crimson Serpent Holy Sect.

The man in the golden light smiled and said, "Amitabha, the gate of the Nirvana School is always open to you."

"Hehe, senior brother is very kind, but I don't want to send lambs to the wolves for the time being."

“Amitabha Buddha, junior brother, you have misunderstood. Monks are compassionate and merciful, how could we possibly harm you?”

The lord looked at the golden light and smiled without saying a word.

Everyone knows what kind of people the Nirvana School is; they're all demons, so there's no need to waste time debating their doctrines.

The man with golden light sighed, "Alas, it seems that Junior Brother still harbors too deep a prejudice against the Nirvana Sect. In that case, I will have no choice but to personally invite Junior Brother to the Nirvana Sect for a reunion."

Golden light shimmered, and eighty-one golden lotuses bloomed from the void, while the golden body of the Dharma rose from the boundless light.

From a fist-sized golden light to a ten-zhang-tall phantom of a Buddha, it all happened in the blink of an eye.

The Buddha chanted, "Lay down the butcher's knife and become a Buddha on the spot! Junior brother, turn back before it's too late!"

The Buddha's palm descended from the sky, pressing down on the Venerable One. Space seemed to be distorted by an invisible giant hand, and countless cracks appeared in the air.

The phantom of the crimson serpent behind the Venerable One appeared, barely blocking the golden Buddha's palm.

The endless golden flames clashed with the Buddha's large hand, but they seemed to be no match for the Buddha. The golden flames were constantly being compressed, while the Buddha's large hand pressed down little by little, almost pressing down on the Venerable Lord's head.

"Amitabha, junior brother, your protective golden flame needs resentment and unwillingness. Now that those rogue cultivators have been subdued, how can your little bit of willpower compare to my willpower accumulated over a thousand years? Lay down the butcher's knife and become a Buddha on the spot. Junior brother, you'd better not resist." The Venerable Lord laughed out loud at this critical moment.

"I knew you wouldn't let me go. How could I not know what the Nirvana Sect's ways are? Did you think I was completely unprepared?"

The golden Buddha remained silent, only continuing to press his palm down.

It's useless to say anything now. The key is to suppress him first and bring that Crimson Serpent Buddha into the Nirvana Sect.

However, the Venerable One was not bluffing. Just when the Crimson Serpent Buddha was about to be overwhelmed, another Buddhist chant came from beside him.

"My Buddha is compassionate!"

An even larger and taller Buddha appeared, with his hands clasped together, and struck towards the golden Buddha of the Nirvana School.

With a clasp of his hands, the evil Buddha of the Nirvana Sect was reduced to countless fragments of gold. As the evil Buddha shattered, a scream and a furious curse rang out: "You will surely die from being pierced by a thousand blades, and you will never be reborn!"

As the light faded, two kind-looking monks appeared beside the Venerable One. One of them was Monk Fangyuan from Cixin Temple, and the other was Abbot Kongyuan from Cixin Temple.

Abbot Kongyuan clasped his hands together in gratitude to the Venerable One, saying, "Amitabha, thank you for risking your life to lure out that demon."

The Venerable One politely replied, "It's just a mutually beneficial arrangement. I was also worried that the Nirvana Sect would cause me trouble, but now it seems that I will have at least several decades of peaceful days ahead."

Abbot Kongyuan asked, "Benefactor, you are neither a great villain nor a direct descendant of the Crimson Serpent Demon Sect. Why do you willingly degenerate and become a demon? With your intelligence and talent, achieving immortality is not difficult for you."

The Venerable Master laughed and said, "You monks all love to meddle in other people's business. It's just that you're forced by circumstances, why ask so many questions? We're just cooperating once, and our goals are different, so please don't speak too much with someone you don't know well."

Abbot Kongyuan sighed, "Amitabha, it was this humble monk who was impolite."

Seeing that the Venerable One was unwilling to say any more, the two monks, Kongyuan and Fangyuan, could only bow and pay their respects before disappearing without a trace.

Once there was no one else around, the Lord's previously calm and composed face instantly turned ashen.

He clutched his chest in agony, countless golden flames erupting around him, and even the phantom of the crimson serpent was struggling in pain.

After a long time, he suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood. The blood was as black as ink and did not disperse when it fell to the ground. Instead, it turned into dozens of tiny black novice monks, each the size of a finger, who rolled around in a ball laughing and joking.

After laughing a few times, these little monks, formed from black blood, revealed their ferocious and malevolent appearances and began to fight each other.

Limbs and severed arms flew everywhere until all the young monks turned back into black blood and the chaos subsided.

The Venerable One wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and sighed, "The methods of the Nirvana Sect are indeed formidable. No wonder they have been able to entangle themselves with the five righteous sects for a thousand years."

The Lord waved his hand, and the disciples of the Crimson Serpent Demon Sect who had been hiding nearby appeared one by one and knelt before him.

The Venerable One said to everyone, "We have lost this round. Since we cannot force the five righteous sects to sign a pact, our Holy Sect can only continue to hide in the darkness."

The disciples each had their own distinct expressions, but they all kept their heads down and dared not utter a single question.

The Lord laughed and said, "I know some of you are resentful, feeling that I wasn't ruthless enough, which is why I lost this battle. But it doesn't matter, you can think whatever you want, because you are all going to die eventually."

Upon hearing this, all the disciples were startled, but before they could react, the Crimson Serpent Buddha behind the Venerable Master let out a roar, and the dozen or so disciples of the Crimson Serpent Demon Sect froze on the spot as if they had lost their souls.

The Venerable One waved his hand and said, "Go, go and show yourselves in front of the five righteous sects. They need to kill a few demons to vent their anger right now. Don't worry, your sacrifices will not be in vain. The Crimson Serpent Holy Sect will one day truly revive."

As the Lord gave the order, the disciples of the Crimson Serpent Demon Sect walked down the mountain with numb expressions.

After doing all this, the Lord did not leave. Instead, he gazed in the direction where Chen Ye was and murmured to himself, "If I had met you earlier, we might have been able to cooperate. What a rare talent."

The Venerable One couldn't help but recall that during the last time he entered the dream, Chen Ye said that he had some connection with the Crimson Serpent Demon Sect.

Although it may seem like nonsense uttered while begging for mercy, in retrospect, it may not have been entirely false.

"If that's the case, you really do have a connection with my Crimson Serpent Holy Sect."

The Lord pondered in his heart: "This young man dared to break into the door and kidnap people, which shows his courage and strength. He can also calm the anger of the crowd, which shows his wisdom. Such a brave and resourceful person is a rare talent. It is a real pity that he did not become a demon."

(End of this chapter)