On the Dragon-Slaying Platform, I was executed and became Yang Jian's brother-in-law.

In the scene, a chilling wind blows, and on the road to the underworld, a dazed and confused soul staggers along.

It was the ninth incarnation of Jin Chanzi who died in despair.

In this life, because the inner demons planted by Su Bai and the Buddhist precepts fought fiercely in his mind, this high monk eventually suffered a mental breakdown and died with resentment, arriving in this netherworld before his lifespan was over.

At the Bridge of Helplessness, Su Bai stood with his hands behind his back, his eyes blazing as he stared intently at the departed soul.

Something's not right...

Su Bai frowned, the golden eyes of Yinglong reflecting the scene deep within the true spirit of Jin Chanzi.

Logically speaking, after experiencing the level of "Buddhist heart being corrupted by demons" in his previous life, Jin Chanzi's faith in Buddhism should have completely collapsed. However, at this moment, in Su Bai's perception, that golden light symbolizing the mark of Buddhism, although much dimmer and even cracked, still stubbornly lingered in the deepest part of Jin Chanzi's true spirit, like a maggot clinging to a bone, difficult to eradicate.

"I've gone to such lengths, not only changing his destiny but also corrupting his resolve, so why can't I extinguish this vestige of Buddhahood?"

Su Bai muttered to himself. This is not only unscientific, but also not mystical.

If he were to be reincarnated with this mark, by the tenth life, with just a little Buddhist guidance, Jin Chanzi would probably become the same "devotee to Buddhism" Tang Sanzang again. Wouldn't all his previous efforts be greatly diminished?

"Where did the problem lie?"

Su Bai's gaze swept around and finally settled on the huge soup pot that was steaming and emitting a strange aroma by the Naihe Bridge.

In this underworld, the final step before a soul is reincarnated is the Meng Po soup.

"Could it be...?"

Su Bai's heart skipped a beat, and in a flash, he arrived in front of the old woman who was simmering soup.

"Meng Po".

The old woman raised her head, her face deeply lined with wrinkles, her eyes cloudy, as if she had seen all the vicissitudes of life. But when she saw Su Bai's figure, entwined with the power of the Six Paths, she did not tremble with fear like the other ghost messengers. She simply bowed slightly and performed an ancient Taoist bow.

"This old woman greets Marshal Su."

The celestial beings in the real world who witnessed this scene couldn't help but marvel.

"Just who is this Meng Po? How can she remain so calm in the face of Su Bai, who now controls the underworld?"

Venus stroked his beard and said, "It is said that Meng Po was originally a minor official in the Heavenly Realm, not listed in the Investiture of the Gods, and did not practice the Way of Incense Offering. Only because she owed Houtu a great favor in the past, she voluntarily transformed into an old woman to guard this Bridge of Helplessness, just to share the burden of the goddess. She has always been neutral in the conflict between Buddhism and Taoism. I did not expect that Su Bai would come to her today."

In the scene, Su Bai cuts to the chase: "Meng Po, let me ask you, what is the secret of this Meng Po soup?"

Meng Po paused slightly in her stirring of the soup, a glint of light flashing in her cloudy eyes before she regained her composure: "Marshal, that's a strange question. Meng Po's soup is naturally meant to make one forget their past life and reincarnate cleanly."

"Is that so?" Su Bai sneered, pointing at the ghost of Jin Chanzi not far away. "Then why, after reincarnating nine times and drinking the soup nine times, are the Buddhist imprints from his past lives becoming more and more stubborn? Does this soup make one forget, or does it make one 'remember'?"

Meng Po was silent for a moment, then slowly put down her soup spoon and sighed, "The Marshal possesses the authority of the Six Paths and is the person chosen by the Empress, so I will not hide it from you."

"This soup has definitely been tampered with."

Upon hearing this, the faces of the Western Buddhas in reality instantly turned extremely ugly.

Oh no, this old secret is about to be exposed!

Meng Po continued, "When Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva entered the underworld, although he did not completely control the six realms, he still interfered with the recipe for Meng Po's soup. They added a powder made from ground Bodhi seeds to the soup, along with water from the Eight Treasures Merit Pool."

"This modified Meng Po soup does indeed have the effect of making ordinary souls forget their emotions. But for someone like Jin Chanzi, who possesses great fortune in Buddhism, it has the ability to 'lock the soul'."

"It can wash away the surface memories, but it can strengthen the Buddhist imprint deep within the true spirit. That is why, no matter how much suffering he experiences, as long as he comes into contact with Buddhism again, that imprint will awaken, allowing him to return to Buddhism."

Su Bai, enraged, laughed coldly: "What a Buddhist sect! What a Ksitigarbha! On the surface, they're all compassionate, but behind the scenes, they won't even let go of this last drop of soup! They've truly changed both the soup and the medicine!"

This is blatant cheating! They've firmly grasped the "final interpretation right"!

"Give me the soup." Su Bai held out his hand.

Meng Po did not refuse and served a bowl to Su Bai.

Su Bai took the bowl of seemingly clear soup and scanned it with his Yinglong Divine Eye. Sure enough, he discovered that deep within the soup, there were faint, scattered golden lights shimmering, exuding a nauseatingly hypocritical Zen-like aura.

"Now that I've discovered it, this rule needs to be changed."

Su Bai held the bowl, a ruthless glint in his eyes.

"Meng Po, I want you to brew a new pot of soup! This time, no merit water, no Bodhi powder! I want to use the 'Forgetful River's Evil Qi' from the deepest part of this Netherworld vein as a catalyst to completely wash away his skin!"

Upon hearing this, Meng Po looked troubled: "Marshal, it's not that I'm unwilling. It's just that Jin Chanzi's Buddhist mark is the accumulation of ten lifetimes of cultivation, and it has long been integrated with his true spirit. If we forcibly use evil energy to cleanse it, I'm afraid it will scatter his soul and make him completely mentally impaired."

"This is not washing away the mark, but destroying the true spirit. If that happens, the Great Tribulation of Journey to the West cannot begin, and the backlash from Heaven will be too much for even the Marshal to bear."

Su Bai frowned: "Then there's no other way?"

Meng Po gave him a deep look and slowly said, "Yes. But the price is extremely high."

"explain."

"Fight poison with poison, guide soul with soul." Meng Po's voice was very low, as if she were telling some kind of taboo. "If we want to remove the Buddhist mark accurately while preserving his sanity, we need a 'medicinal guide' to be integrated into the power of this earth vein."

"This medicinal ingredient must be a wisp of the natal soul of someone with whom he has an extremely deep karmic entanglement and who possesses great perseverance and supernatural powers!"

"Use this wisp of divine soul as the price to bear the karmic backlash during the cleansing process for him."

At this point, Meng Po paused, her tone becoming extremely solemn: "Marshal, you must know. Jin Chanzi's ten reincarnations have all ended in violent deaths, each accumulating immense resentment and karma. Add to that the countless acts of killing he is destined to commit on his future journey to the West..."

"If you use your divine soul as a conduit, all this karma, killing, and cause and effect will flow back onto your physical body through that wisp of divine soul!"

"At best, it will cause a decline in cultivation; at worst, it will lead to the rise of inner demons and utter ruin!"

"This price...are you willing to pay?"

In reality, Laozi, Buddha, and even Haotian all held their breath at this moment.

This is risking your own life to gamble with someone else's!

Is it worth it for Su Bai to sabotage the Buddhist sect's grand plan and for a future that is still uncertain?

In the scene, Su Bai listened to Meng Po's words without even a second of hesitation.

Looking at the bowl of Meng Po soup in his hand, which reflected his own face, he suddenly threw his head back and laughed, his laughter filled with unparalleled arrogance and determination.

"Hahaha! Utter ruin?"

"I, Su Bai, am a dead man! I am a madman who defies the heavens!"

"Buddhism wants him to be an obedient dog, but I'll make him a wolf that bites!"

"Don't even mention the karma of ten lifetimes, even if all the karma of all the gods and Buddhas in the heavens were piled on me, what would I, Su Bai, have to fear?!"

Before he finished speaking, Su Bai drew his right hand like a knife and plunged it into his own chest!

"Pfft!"

There was a muffled thud, but no blood flowed out. However, Su Bai's face instantly turned ashen, veins bulged on his forehead, and cold sweat poured down his face.

He is severing his own soul!

It was a form of torture ten thousand times more painful than slow slicing, directly affecting the very essence of the soul.

"Get out here, you son of a bitch!!"

With a low roar, Su Bai forcefully tore a wisp of golden soul light from his own natal divine soul. That soul light contained the arrogance of Yinglong, as well as Su Bai's obsession.

"go!"

With a casual wave of his hand, Su Bai sent the still trembling soul, along with the surging earth vein evil energy he had mobilized, into the pot of Meng Po soup.

"boom--!"

The soup pot boiled! The originally clear soup instantly turned as black as ink, yet it was mixed with a trace of grim blood red.

A terrifying force of cause and effect erupted instantly, slamming into Su Bai's body along the connection of that wisp of divine soul.

"snort!"

Su Bai groaned, a trace of golden divine blood spilling from the corner of his mouth. His body swayed precariously, as if he were carrying ten thousand mountains on his back.

That is the resentment of Jin Chanzi, who could not die a good death in ten lifetimes! That is the tribulation of eighty-one tribulations on his future journey to the West!

But he gritted his teeth and didn't fall down. Instead, he grinned maliciously at Meng Po.

"The soup is ready...pour it down his throat!"

Meng Po bowed deeply, this time with heartfelt reverence.

"Yes, Marshal."

Meng Po ladled out a bowl of the pitch-black "special Meng Po soup" and brought it to the dazed Jin Chanzi. Without the slightest hesitation, she poured it down his throat.

"Gulp... gulp..."

As the soup entered his stomach, Jin Chanzi's previously blank face suddenly showed an expression of extreme pain. The stubborn Buddhist imprint deep within his true spirit began to melt away with a "sizzling" sound under the overwhelming medicinal power.

The golden light was wailing, and the Buddha-nature was crumbling.

Instead, there was a vast expanse of pure white, and a trace of untamed spirit buried deep within Su Bai's soul!

After a long while, Jin Chanzi's spirit calmed down. The Buddhist light around him almost completely disappeared, leaving only a clean and pure soul with clear eyes, yet with a profound depth that was hard to fathom.

"Go." Su Bai wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, waved his hand, and said, "In your next life, you will be called Jiang Liuer."

"Remember, in this life, you are a human, not a Buddha."

The ghost of Jin Chanzi nodded in a daze, then turned and jumped into the cycle of reincarnation.

……

At the same moment, in a future scene.

The Buddha, who had been sitting upright on the lotus throne, suddenly changed his expression.

He suddenly clutched his chest, where the once crystal-clear causal connection between him and Jin Chanzi had become blurry, even... intermittent, and filled with noise!

An unprecedented feeling of panic welled up inside me.

"Something's not right...something's not right!"

The Buddha suddenly looked up, his voice trembling slightly.

"Is that Jin Chanzi... still my disciple?!"