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

Chapter 188 The Yellow Springs Sect Remains as Stable as Mount Tai

The Venerable One recognized the voice as that of Abbot Jinming of the Nirvana Sect.

The Venerable One was certainly familiar with Jin Ming. Looking back, the two had once shared a period of feigned friendship, even calling each other brothers. This man was a remnant who had narrowly escaped the last great war between good and evil, one of the few survivors of the Nirvana Sect's destruction. The reason for this was simply that, as the previous abbot's most incompetent disciple, he possessed no other skills, but his ability to assess situations and make a quick getaway was unparalleled.

It could even be said that Jin Ming's agile figure in fleeing the enemy was largely responsible for the fatal flaw that allowed Zhang Qi of the Qinghe Sword Sect to pierce through the Nirvana Sect's protective formation.

By that logic, he could be considered a "great contributor" in slaying demons and monsters.

Being greedy for life and afraid of death, hypocritical and cowardly—this is Jinming's true nature, and it is almost a "family tradition" passed down by the monks of the Nirvana School. They shout "Put down the butcher's knife and become a Buddha on the spot," as if they have already transcended the mundane world. But once they are truly faced with a life-or-death test, they will immediately reveal their true colors and revert to being cowardly men without any sense of responsibility.

The decline of the Nirvana School is not unrelated to this deeply ingrained flaw.

Therefore, the Venerable Lord scoffed at Jin Ming's blustering yet cowardly threat and didn't take it to heart at all.

His goal for this trip was clear: to find the entrance to the Lingtian Buddhist Kingdom and obtain the legendary Buddha statue. Only with this item in hand could the foundation of the Huangquan Sect truly be as stable as Mount Tai.

Seeing that threats were useless, Monk Jinming said to the Venerable One, "If the gate to this Lingtian Buddhist Kingdom were truly as easy to find as taking something out of a bag, do you think those hypocrites from the Five Righteous Sects would have waited until today? Think carefully, are they afraid, or do they not want to?"

The Venerable One retorted, "You're just changing the subject. Jin Ming, if you really have laid some kind of trap for me here, why waste your breath? The Five Righteous Sects are different from me, and their karmic entanglement with your Nirvana Sect is far less profound. Their divination and deduction could never be as accurate as mine."

"Hahaha..." Jin Ming's laughter echoed in the void, as if he scoffed at the Venerable Lord's rebuttal.

"Likewise! Qu Heng, I knew you were hiding your true abilities! I knew all along that your unpredictable divination skills were worthy of being called the best in the world! How could I be completely unprepared?"

Upon hearing this, the Venerable One's lips curled into a mocking smile: "Don't you find your words contradictory? If you had even the slightest bit of proper defense, how could you have been driven step by step to this half-dead state by the series of schemes I laid out before? The time at Hundred Seas Valley, the time at the Northern Snowfield... the foundation of the Nirvana Sect has already been reduced to ashes. Now that you are all alone, what defenses do you have left to speak of?"

Jin Ming laughed too, but his laughter carried a hint of desperate madness: "Yes, yes, I've contradicted myself. But why did you stop the divination? You haven't completely locked onto the entrance to the Lingtian Buddhist Kingdom yet, have you?"

The Venerable One's heart sank, and his clenched fist trembled slightly. He had indeed subconsciously stopped his final deduction of the entrance to the Spirit Heaven Buddhist Kingdom when Jin Ming was speaking.

After a moment, the Venerable One laughed and said, "The divine power of 'flowering tongues' is quite impressive. It seems you still have some strength left to spare."

Monk Jinming said smugly, “You can make excuses for yourself all you want, but no matter how you pretend, you are still just a demon. I may have a million possibilities that I'm just bluffing, but you wouldn't dare take that risk. You are still just a demon, a selfish and self-serving demon.”

"No matter how much you want to turn the Crimson Serpent Demon Sect into a heretical sect, you can never be as righteous and awe-inspiring as the righteous path. Back then, we slaughtered countless righteous sects, but even the young children who had just learned to meditate fought to the death. This is something we demons could never do."

"Even if I were to open the gates of the Lingtian Buddhist Kingdom now, you wouldn't dare to come in. Even if you couldn't bear to leave and insisted on coming in to investigate, your heart wouldn't be at ease. Are you really confident that you can escape unscathed?"

Jin Ming's voice was like a curse, each word piercing the heart: "Think carefully. The Nirvana Sect is like a candle flickering in the wind, and I, Jin Ming, am barely clinging to life, while your Yellow Spring Sect is thriving, and you yourself have the hope of immortality and a bright future. Why take such a risk at this time? You will definitely think that way, and you will definitely waver because of it!"

"If you push me to the brink, I may not be able to defeat you or take you down with me, but I can certainly injure you. What if even the treasures of the immortal realm can't heal these injuries? Are you willing to take the gamble?"

The Venerable One fell silent; Monk Jinming had indeed struck at his weak spot.

The Yellow Springs Sect is now taking shape and its influence is growing daily. Everything is developing in the direction he envisioned, and it seems that his grand plan is about to unfold. In such a favorable situation, taking risks seems to be the most irrational choice.

However, with just a little thought, the Venerable One would realize that Jin Ming's words were most likely a bluff, an attempt to use his "flower-splitting tongue" to bewitch the Venerable One's will.

The lord couldn't help but recall the past.

When he was all alone, facing this situation, he would not hesitate or fear in the slightest. Even in dire straits, he dared to scheme against the five major sects, daring to use himself as bait to lure the old fox Jin Ming step by step into the trap, ultimately suffering a tremendous loss.

But now, everything about the Yellow Springs Sect seems to have become a shackle for the Venerable Master.

The lord sighed helplessly.

"You're quite something, Jin Ming. I certainly wouldn't dare enter the Lingtian Buddhist Kingdom to hunt you down, but I can give this entrance to the Five Righteous Sects. Do you think they want to eradicate evil completely?"

Upon hearing this, Monk Jinming laughed instead of getting angry: "Hahaha, we've finally returned to the negotiation stage we're most familiar with. Junior brother, what do you want?"

"I want your Seven-Jeweled Umbrella, your Hundred-Kalpas Robe, and all the relics left behind by the Nirvana Sect."

Monk Jinming refused, saying, "You should know that it's pointless for you to ask for such an exorbitant amount. This is all I have left. Giving it all to you would be worse than slitting my own throat. I can only give you the Seven Treasures Umbrella."

The Venerable One said, "You can keep at least two treasures, and keep the relics for yourself."

"One item, the relic, is for you."...

After some negotiation, the Lord finally got his wish and obtained the two magical treasures.

Just as he had expected, Monk Jinming was at his wit's end and had almost no bargaining chips left.

The Venerable One remained calm, casually making a sweeping gesture towards the void. The space shattered as if it were fragile glass, from which two radiant magical treasures, each possessing a distinct aura, fell.

First, there is a magnificent umbrella, radiating brilliance and overflowing with precious gems. On its surface, seven rare and precious materials—gold, silver, glass, coral, giant clam shell, red pearl, and agate—are inlaid, shimmering and shimmering, dazzling and mesmerizing.

Secondly, there was a robe covered in patches and dark in color, as if it were randomly pieced together from countless tattered scraps of cloth. Compared to the seven-jeweled parasol, it looked like a robe worn by a poor monk who couldn't afford to eat, used for begging.

One is extremely luxurious, and the other looks simple and dilapidated. These are the two most powerful magic treasures of Abbot Jinming, and they are also the treasures passed down from generation to generation by the abbots of the Nirvana Sect!

That Seven Treasures Umbrella not only greatly enhances the spiritual energy of its holder, but each treasure inlaid on its surface also contains a Buddhist supernatural power. Once opened, the radiant light surrounding it is said to be impervious to all magic and to repel all evil.

That Hundred Tribulations Kasaya, though unremarkable in appearance, is actually a vicious magic weapon several times more powerful than the Seven Treasures Umbrella.

This item is not made of cloth, but rather of the human skin of hundreds of monks throughout the history of the Nirvana Sect, each of whom possessed at least the cultivation level of the Profound Realm.

Every inch of this treasure is imbued with the monk's deepest resentment and hatred before his death, making it a most vicious cursed object in the world, capable of killing people from thousands of miles away with invisible evil thoughts!

The Venerable One nodded in satisfaction, carefully put away the Seven Treasures Umbrella, and then, with a thought, summoned the Crimson Serpent Buddha.

With a flick of his finger, the terrifying Hundred Tribulations Kasaya transformed into a dark stream of light, which was precisely swallowed into the belly of the Crimson Serpent Buddha.

In an instant, the resentment that had accumulated within the Hundred Tribulations Robe for a thousand years erupted! The venomous aura emanating from hundreds of human skins transformed into a thick, ink-like black mist that almost swallowed light, spreading wildly as if to completely dye the surrounding air black.

Layers of golden flames ignited from the Crimson Serpent Buddha's body, each spark turning the thick black resentment into a vast expanse of golden yellow.

The black mist churned and roared, while golden flames burned fiercely. In an instant, all the black mist representing pain, hatred, and despair was transformed into pure and boundless golden flames, which were then swallowed whole by the Crimson Serpent Buddha.

The Nirvana Sect has a history of over a thousand years. During the heyday of the demonic path, this evil treasure, which embodies boundless sins, was stained with the blood and tears of countless lives.

Those monks who were skinned alive, those mortals and cultivators who died tragically under its curse, all accumulated endless resentment and despair energy over thousands of years, now transformed into resources for the Crimson Serpent Buddha's advancement, becoming nourishment for its transformation.

Having absorbed the immense resentment of this demonic treasure, the Crimson Serpent Buddha let out a silent roar.

The greatest sound is silent; ordinary people could not hear the roar of the Crimson Serpent Buddha, but the floor beside the Venerable One cracked inch by inch, and the surrounding tables and chairs were worn away as if by the wind.

The eerie white bone armor on the surface of the Crimson Serpent Buddha's body began to writhe violently, and pieces of white bone melted away, replaced by layers of bluish-black scales that shimmered with an eerie light.

Moreover, on its ferocious snake head, the frontal bone rises high, and a single horn, gleaming with a cold light, bursts out from the bone, appearing majestic and pointing straight to the sky!

The snake transforms into a dragon!

With the pure energy transformed from the Hundred Tribulations Robe, the Crimson Serpent Buddha finally broke free from the shackles of his innate bloodline.

From this day forward, the Red Serpent Buddha shall be renamed the Red Serpent Dragon Buddha.

After completing its transformation, the Crimson Dragon Buddha seemed to have gained sentience, coiling tightly around the Venerable Lord and staring at him with its vertical pupils.

Endless golden flames flew out from the dragon's eyes and poured into the body of the Venerable One.

It took a full day and night for the infusion of golden flames to finally end.

The Lord reopened his eyes, but his eyes had transformed into golden vertical pupils resembling those of a dragon.

The Venerable One sighed, "Unfortunately, there's still a long way to go. The Dao Integration Realm is indeed not so easy to break through."

With the added power of the Crimson Dragon Buddha, the Venerable Lord now has the confidence to withstand Zhang Qi's sword strike, which is enough to protect the Yellow Spring Sect.

(End of this chapter)