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

Chapter 126 Inhumanity

When disaster strikes, everyone flees for their lives; that is the mark of a demon.

They don't even need to face imminent disaster; just the thought that disaster might be coming is enough for them to scatter.

That's how those villains squandered their great advantage back then.

Now, a thousand years later, things are not much different from what they were back then.

Qiu Chengye had expected Qiu Shuixian to run away, but he didn't expect her to run away so decisively. At least put on an act first. You haven't even seen anyone from the Qinghe Sword Sect yet, and you've already scared them away with just their names?
Indeed, that is the case; the phrase "terrified at the mere mention of their name" is not an exaggeration when applied to the Qinghe Sword Sect.

But it's one thing for Qiu Shuixian to run away, but where did this little devil come from, wielding the Ten Thousand Souls Banner and smashing it at him?

Let them smash it. I'm indestructible, why should I be afraid of ghosts?

Qiu Chengye soon regretted it.

He fought with the monk Bu Mei for a long time without losing a single hair, but when he was whipped by those evil spirits, he trembled all over in pain.

What kind of magical artifact is this? How could it be so outrageous?

He had practiced this Vajra Indestructible Divine Power for a long time. Ordinary magic weapons and spells couldn't even hurt his hair, so how could they possibly make him feel pain?

If it were just pain, that would be fine, but the excruciating pain was like knives churning his mind, bringing back long-buried memories.

At that time, he was not called Qiu Chengye, nor was he a disciple of the Nirvana School with the Dharma name Yushan. He had a name as lowly as wild grass, called Gegen.

That year, the village suffered a famine, to the point where even the tree bark was eaten clean.

His parents switched him out, muttering that they had been taken advantage of.

The girl was replaced by the girl from next door, and it seems the two were even betrothed as children.

Several years ago, this neighbor uncle had woven grasshoppers for Ge Gen and offered him half a sip of wine, laughing heartily at how Ge Gen's face turned red from choking.

But today, the withered old man raised his rusty wood-chopping knife and chopped at Ge Gen's head.

However, Ge Gen was faster and pierced his stomach with a bamboo skewer hidden in his hand.

At that time, everyone in the village was on their last breath. Ge Gen's stab caused him to lose his breath, and he convulsed and died.

The pot next to it was already heated, steaming hot, and Ge Gen knew what was going to be cooked in it.

The old man never expected that an eight-year-old child, after being hungry for so many days, would still have the strength to resist.

Ge Gen survived, and by midnight, he still had the strength to return home with his wood-chopping knife.

The girl he was betrothed to as a child has disappeared, just like her father.

Ge Gen walked to his parents' bedside, looked at his sleeping parents, and didn't understand why they could still sleep. Although he wasn't hungry anymore, he closed his eyes and couldn't fall asleep no matter what.

Then, the eight-year-old boy picked up the machete.

Ge Gen eventually survived the terrible famine, but he was no longer human.

They became outlaws, committing all sorts of crimes including theft, robbery, and kidnapping, and cannibalism even became a habit.

He spared no one, whether they were old, weak, women, or children; massacring villages and exterminating clans was nothing more than commonplace in his eyes.

Until one day, he met a monk from the Nirvana School.

The monk chanted "Put down the butcher's knife and become a Buddha on the spot," and as if possessed, he actually put down the butcher's knife.

Since then, he felt that he had been reborn and had become a Buddha. Whenever he circulated the spiritual energy in his body, his whole body would radiate golden light, just like the ancestral god that everyone in the village worshipped devoutly when he was a child.

However, back then, it was the village witch who used candles and bronze mirrors to create a mystery and deceive people by saying that the ancestral god had appeared. But now, he can truly emit light.

The former notorious bandit Ge Gen transformed into the monk Yu Shan, and began to read and write, and to recite scriptures.

However, he ultimately could not break his cannibalistic habit.

Fortunately, the Nirvana School does not prohibit this; one only needs to recite "Put down the butcher's knife and become a Buddha on the spot" a few times a day.

If you slaughter an entire village today, and lay down your butcher's knife tonight, you can be considered to have attained Buddhahood.

Monk Yushan had long since lost count of how many people he had devoured. He simply wielded the butcher's knife repeatedly, only to become a Buddha again and again, his cultivation growing ever higher. Many years passed, and he seemed to have forgotten all of this, following those monks in chanting Buddhist scriptures and practicing cultivation, never recalling his past for a long time.

But today was different; the pain had completely clouded his mind.

Forgotten memories resurfaced, and he found that he could never forget the terrible famine and the insatiable hunger.

Only now does he realize that he has no idea what cultivation is all about. Perhaps it is just to forget the past when he was so hungry that he went crazy, or perhaps it is just to avoid the day when he becomes someone else's meal.

The excruciating pain did not harm him in the slightest; his Vajra Indestructible Divine Power continued to operate. However, these memories drove him into madness.

With a massive copper hammer, he began smashing everything in his hand, forcing Chen Ye and the monk Bu Mei to temporarily retreat.

Chen Ye's ghostly spirit was ultimately too fragile; it dared not get too close, lest it be shattered by his hammer.

The monk Bumei asked in bewilderment, "How exactly did you break his indestructible Vajra supernatural power?"

"It didn't break his composure; instead, it provoked him. But it's good that he went crazy."

Chen Ye waved the Ten Thousand Souls Banner and ordered, "White Moonlight, let's see what you're capable of."

A white shadow, as soft as flesh, floated out from the Banner of Ten Thousand Souls and blew a breath toward the demon who looked like a mad tiger. A group of ghosts swirled around it, weaving spiritual energy into hundreds of runes.

Chen Ye and the monk Bu Mei couldn't see any changes in their surroundings, but the demon seemed to have suddenly seen something terrifying. His bloodshot eyes widened as he shouted, "How are you still alive! Die! All of you die! You all deserve to die!"

He swung the copper hammer even faster, but could only smash the air in front of him.

Chen Ye asked in confusion, "What did you show him? Why can't we see it?"

Bai Yueguang said smugly, "It's just letting him see the fear in his heart. This is the most basic method. His mind is already broken, so he is particularly susceptible to illusions. As for what he saw, I don't know. To fully reveal it would be too much effort. As long as the illusion works, everything else is useless."

Chen Ye thought to himself, "As expected of a professional, I've really found a treasure."

Although the demon was deeply immersed in a terrifying illusion, his indestructible divine power was truly formidable. He went mad and relentlessly destroyed everything, persisting for most of the day without ever running out of energy.

It wasn't until this magnificent mansion was reduced to ruins, and until the day of the Great Cold arrived, that this person exhausted the spiritual energy within him, and the golden light emanating from his body began to weaken.

Chen Ye and Monk Bumei attacked again. The spirits used magical artifacts to suppress his exhausted soul, and finally Monk Bumei shattered his indestructible divine power with a single punch.

The demon coughed up blood and collapsed. Then, just like before, the monk Bumei opened his eyes, and blazing golden flames burned the man's body.

Chen Ye shook the Ten Thousand Souls Banner and shouted, "Collect."

The demon's soul was also captured by the Myriad Souls Banner and tortured by a group of evil spirits.

Chen Ye finally breathed a sigh of relief. Two of the three demons at the Tongxuan Realm were dead. Master Zheng was the one in charge of the formation, and Qiu Chengye was the one with the highest cultivation.

The last autumn crocus was scared away and probably won't come back.

In this way, the crisis in Luoyan Town should be considered resolved.

However, before Chen Ye could rejoice, a strange light suddenly appeared in the distant sky. Chen Ye was startled, thinking that Qiu Shuixian had secretly gone outside the city to activate the formation.

But then he thought about it and realized that something was wrong. He had already sent Black Whirlwind to destroy one of the array's cores. The demon who could repair the array had already entered Chen Ye's Ten Thousand Soul Banner. How could this soul-refining array possibly be activated?
After waiting for a while, although the strange light did not dissipate, there was no problem with Luoyan Town. The Black Rope Hell did not appear and turn everyone into zombies.

"Could it just be a simple celestial phenomenon?"

Chen Ye felt uneasy and said to the monk Bu Mei, "Master Bu Mei, let's go out of the city and take a look. Perhaps it's Qiu Shui Xian who escaped that's still causing trouble."

The monk Bu Mei nodded and said, "Alright, if she remains stubborn, we will take her in as well."

The two rode the Black Whirlwind again and flew directly into the sky.

As they climbed higher, Chen Ye was surprised to find that this was not some strange phenomenon, but rather a dozen or so pillars of light shooting into the sky over the snowfield north of Luoyan Town.

Sensing the change in Chen Ye's breathing, Monk Bu Mei asked, "Benefactor, did you see something?"

Chen Ye could only sigh, "I see. It turns out there's far more than just Luoyan Town."

The pillars of light before them were all arrays for refining mortals. There were more than a dozen of them at a glance. If each array covered a town of tens of thousands of people, then this moment would mean the death of hundreds of thousands of mortals.

This Nirvana Sect is indeed a demonic sect, utterly devoid of humanity.

(End of this chapter)