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

Chapter 128 Inviting You All to Enter the Banner of Ten Thousand Souls

Chen Ye should have been quite happy to hear that he was going on a treasure hunt.

Who doesn't love treasures when cultivating immortality? Who wouldn't want to have more powerful magic weapons in their possession?
Having just witnessed the annihilation of hundreds of thousands of people, Chen Ye had no intention of taking advantage of the situation. However, seeing that the Venerable Lord was willing to reveal his true form to recruit him, he couldn't help but ask, "You need me to work for you again, right? After that sword strike, the Qinghe Sword Sect has taken notice of the demons here, and you're even less likely to act rashly. So you want me to solve the troubles on the way for you. Those civilians who have been turned into zombies, or the remnants of the Nirvana Sect who haven't quite died yet."

The Lord sneered, "Being too smart isn't a good thing, kid. This isn't a dream."

Chen Ye could hear the threat in his voice, but he calmly said, "I know you can kill me in the blink of an eye, but if you kill me, no one will clear a path for you, and you won't be able to seize that treasure. And if you kill me, you will also expose your whereabouts and be hunted down by the Qinghe Sword Sect."

"The Qinghe Sect Leader is currently eyeing these ruins, yet you still risk going there, which means that treasure is very important to you. If you kill me, you'll suffer a huge loss, a loss so great that you'll slap yourself for the rest of your life whenever you think about it. Am I right?"

The Lord's face finally turned gloomy, his eyes turning into the vertical pupils of a snake, staring fiercely at Chen Ye, as if he would open his mouth and swallow him up at any moment.

Chen Ye met his gaze without fear. Now that things had come to this, retreating would only allow him to be outmaneuvered by this venerable master time and time again.

Chen Ye was right after all. No matter how angry the Lord was, he didn't kill him with a slap. Instead, he simply said, "Name your terms."

Chen Ye shook his head and said, "I have no conditions, I just want to make you feel bad. Your Excellency, your cultivation is extraordinary, while I am just an ant, but I hope you remember that even an ant can make you feel bad."

The lord said in disbelief, "A quarrel over pride? I never thought you were such a naive person."

Chen Ye sneered, "You know that hundreds of thousands of people are to be sacrificed, but you only told me about Luoyan Town, the key point, because you want the Nirvana Sect to continue the blood sacrifice so that Zhang Qi can severely damage the Nirvana Sect with a single sword strike. In your eyes, these mortals are nothing but pawns you have put to use. If a demon like you could remember me, an ant that makes you suffer, when you are harming people, perhaps you would be able to harm fewer innocent people."

After listening to what Chen Ye said, the Lord remained silent for a long time.

His anger seemed to have subsided, replaced by a hint of doubt. The Lord couldn't help but ask, "You brat, did you grow up in Qinghe? Where in this world could you be raised to be like this?"

When you're in a high position, who can see the people below you? That's human nature, that's common sense.

If Chen Ye had not received an extraordinary education, he could not have developed such compassion.

The Venerable One was very curious about who had taught Chen Ye, thinking it would be a pity if he didn't join the Qinghe Sword Sect.

Chen Ye was too lazy to say more. He had only said a few words to the Lord out of righteous indignation, but he also understood that he was indeed like an ant and could only cooperate with the Lord now.

"Let's go and find your treasure. But before we set off, let Master Bu Mei go back first."

The Venerable One had no ill intentions towards Monk Bumei. Upon hearing Chen Ye's words, he casually pointed a finger and woke Monk Bumei up.

Before Chen Ye could even speak to the monk Bu Mei, he was pulled into the air by the Venerable Lord, who urged him to hurry towards the ruins.

"The residual power of Zhang Qi's sword has dissipated, and righteous cultivators will arrive within half a day at most. We don't have much time."

Chen Ye had no choice but to summon Black Whirlwind and rush towards that scorched hell.

"What treasure are you looking for?" Chen Ye asked curiously.

The Venerable One explained, "It's alright to tell you. It's an item from the Immortal Realm. I don't know exactly what it is, but back then, it was this treasure that allowed the Nirvana Sect to establish itself and become one of the demonic sects."

Chen Ye asked in confusion, "The Immortal Realm? Isn't it said that those who ascended to heaven never returned, nor did they send back a single word? How can you be sure it's something from the Immortal Realm?"

Even before the Great War between Good and Demon, some people had already achieved Dao and ascended to immortality. It is said that once they reach a certain level, they will sense an omnipresent gravitational force that will carry them away from this place.

Once ascended, there was no further sound.

I've never heard any legends about the celestial realm; it seems to be a place of no return.

The Venerable One laughed and said, "You'll see when you see it; it's definitely not something that exists in this world."

Chen Ye asked curiously, "What's the use of that treasure?"

The Venerable One said impatiently, "Nonsense! Didn't I say that the Nirvana Sect established its sect after obtaining it, and it has never perished to this day? How can I rebuild the Crimson Serpent Holy Sect without this treasure? Do you think I want to hide like this?"

Chen Ye wanted to ask a few more questions, but the Lord impatiently urged him to speed up.

It was clear that the Lord was indeed very anxious to obtain the treasure. Chen Ye could only urge the Black Whirlwind to fly faster, and soon they arrived at the first tribe that had been sacrificed.

Before they even landed, Chen Ye smelled a stench—the smell of burning corpses.

The Lord, however, said nonchalantly, "Quickly, go down. Every blood sacrifice formation could lead to a treasure vault. Go down and search for it."

Chen Ye had no choice but to let Black Whirlwind land and enter the ruins filled with black smoke.

What I saw was extremely tragic; almost everything had been burned to ashes, but in that charred blackness, many mutilated humanoid figures were slowly writhing and howling.

These are ordinary people who have been transformed into zombies, but because the ritual was interrupted by the Heaven-Splitting Sword, many of them are in a state of near-death and are still suffering.

The Lord began searching everywhere for the so-called treasure vault entrance, while Chen Ye sighed, wondering if he could find any survivors.

With each step, he crushed a lot of ash under his feet, not knowing whether it was a tent or a charred human body.

Chen Ye clasped his hands together and slowly recited the Rebirth Mantra: "Namo Amitabha..."

Countless vengeful spirits, having heard the truth, gathered together, their wails and screams echoing endlessly.

This was Chen Ye's first attempt at performing a ritual to deliver the souls of the dead, and he didn't know if the "Rebirth Mantra" could quell the suffering of these vengeful spirits.

As Chen Ye chanted the mantra, the gathered vengeful spirits seemed to sense Chen Ye's compassion, and their suffering began to lessen, their twisted and hideous appearances slowly returning to human form.

Once they regained their senses, they surrounded Chen Ye, bowing and worshipping him while speaking in a barbarian language that Chen Ye couldn't understand.

Chen Ye was puzzled. He couldn't understand these languages. He should have brought the monk Bu Mei along. He was from the northern frontier and should be able to understand these languages.

However, it should be a good thing to free them from resentment, right?

Chen Ye continued chanting the Rebirth Mantra, and more and more vengeful spirits gathered there, their ferocity turning into calm as they repeatedly bowed to Chen Ye. But as time passed, the originally calm vengeful spirits became anxious, their worship turning into inquiries. They all looked excited, as if they were talking about something important.

Chen Ye wondered, could it be that the Rebirth Mantra is ineffective against the barbarians because of their different beliefs?

That doesn't make sense. The ancestral god worshipped by the barbarians was created by the Nirvana Sect. Although the Nirvana Sect misinterpreted the scriptures, it is still a Buddhist tradition, so it should make sense.

The Venerable One, who had been carefully searching nearby, was also drawn to Chen Ye's elaborate display and couldn't help but ask, "What did you do?"

Chen Ye explained, "I'm just performing a ritual to help the vengeful spirits find peace."

The Venerable One asked, "Liberation? How do you liberate them? Where can you guide them? They are all asking you this."

Which way to go?

Chen Ye had never thought about this question before, but now that he thinks about it, without the six realms of reincarnation, how can one talk about the next life?

If there is no afterlife, how can we perform rituals to help the deceased transcend?

More and more vengeful spirits gathered, their cries for answers grew louder, and those who had died tragically saw the light and only wanted Chen Ye to grant them release.

But there was no way forward, so they stopped there.

The pain I had just tried to forget surged back into my heart, and the vengeful spirits once again took on a ferocious look.

The Lord looked at Chen Ye with great interest, wanting to see how he would deal with these vengeful spirits.

As Chen Ye watched the vengeful spirits around him grow more numerous and agitated, he remained calm and instead said to the Venerable One, "Please help me translate, Venerable One."

The Venerable One nodded and said, "Alright, what do you want to say?"

Chen Ye sighed and took out the Myriad Souls Banner, then said, "Please let them enter my Myriad Souls Banner. Although there is no paradise yet, there will be one in the future."

(End of this chapter)