My cultivation disguise has been exposed by Xiao Sizi.

Li Chen walked over, picked up Si Zi with one hand, and lifted up Fatty Si, who had turned back to his original form, with the other hand.

With a flash, he transformed into a streak of light and rushed back to the ground through the large hole cleaved open by the sword energy.

The sunlight shone on the brother and sister again.

The once magnificent Cibei Temple has now been completely erased from the map of the ancient city.

All that remained was a vast, devastated ruin.

And on the edge of the ruins.

The abbot, draped in a tattered crimson robe, was kneeling on the ground.

His hair was disheveled and his face was covered in blood.

Looking at Li Chen and his sister lying before him, the abbot's eyes held no pleading, only deep-seated resentment.

"You...you two are demons!"

The abbot gritted his teeth, his voice as shrill as an owl's.

"Do you know what the consequences will be if you destroy that altar?"

"Those elixirs were offerings to the Bodhisattvas of the Upper Realm!"

"If you stop offering sacrifices to the Bodhisattva, the Bodhisattva will certainly not let you off!"

Li Chen looked down at him, his eyes filled with indifference.

"Sacrificing the lives of hundreds of children to refine elixirs, just to curry favor with the false Buddha above?"

"You bunch of bald monks, you've lost all basic human decency, what right do you have to talk about Buddha?"

"Hahaha! Mortals and ants, how could they know the might of Heaven!"

The abbot suddenly burst into hysterical laughter.

He knew he was doomed to die today, and since he was going to die anyway, he was going to drag these two devils who had ruined his plans down to hell with him!

The abbot suddenly ripped open the tattered cassock.

On his chest, there was an extremely complex Buddhist talisman tattooed in gold paint.

That was the biggest trump card of the Compassionate Temple, and also the direct means to communicate with the Lesser Thunderclap Temple in the upper realm.

"I offer my hundred years of life as a sacrifice! I offer my golden Buddhist statue as a conduit!"

The abbot's eyes widened, and the corners of his eyes ruptured, streaming down two lines of bloody tears.

Without hesitation, he turned his right hand into a claw and plunged it fiercely into his own heart!

"Pfft!"

The scalding hot blood of his life force gushed out, instantly staining the golden talisman on his chest red.

"This disciple begs with tears of blood!"

"We respectfully invite the Venerable One from the Upper Realm to descend and subdue demons and protect the righteous path!!!"

With the last ounce of his strength, the abbot looked up to the sky and let out a desperate roar.

"Buzz—!"

His lifeblood was completely absorbed by the talisman.

The abbot's once-obese body, like a dried-up tree, instantly shriveled up, turning into a skin-and-bones mummy.

But at the same time.

The scenery of heaven and earth suddenly changed color!

The once clear sky above the ancient city was suddenly filled with large swaths of thick, golden auspicious clouds.

These auspicious clouds gathered and tumbled at an illogical speed.

In just a few breaths.

The entire sky was dyed a dazzling bright gold.

Even the sun's rays were forcefully suppressed by this extremely domineering Buddhist light.

"Clang—Clang—"

A grand and ethereal bell tolled from the heavens above.

Accompanying this was the sound of thousands upon thousands of overlapping chants.

The chanting was no longer a calm and peaceful teaching, but rather carried an unyielding authority and a sense of oppression.

Golden lotus petals fell from the clouds like raindrops.

The hundreds of thousands of people living in the ancient city.

Whether they stayed at home or stood on the street watching.

Faced with this terrifying pressure from heaven and earth, his knees buckled uncontrollably.

"Thump, thump..."

Countless people knelt on the ground in droves, like wheat being harvested.

Although their hearts were filled with hatred for the Compassion Temple, their bodies trembled and they lowered their heads under the suppression of this higher-dimensional life force.

That is the instinctive awe that mortals feel when facing "gods".

Just as the entire city was trembling with fear.

The thick, golden auspicious clouds in the sky slowly parted to both sides.

A colossal golden phantom, too enormous to be described in words.

Deep within the auspicious clouds, its true form gradually revealed itself.

That was a projection of a Bodhisattva.

He sat cross-legged on a huge nine-petaled golden lotus, draped in a radiant cassock.

He held a jade vase in his left hand and made a hand gesture of plucking flowers with his right.

A dazzling golden wheel of merit hangs behind his head, radiating a majestic light that is impossible to look directly at.

The projection was enormous, almost taking up half the sky.

Before him, the entire ancient city appeared like an exquisite sand table model.

High above, compassionate, yet exuding absolute coldness.

"Who dares to disturb my peaceful meditation?"

A grand, ethereal sound, seemingly resounding from all directions, exploded in everyone's mind.

The bodhisattva's illusory figure slowly opened its enormous, slightly lowered eyes.

Two golden gazes, almost tangible, pierced through the clouds and the ruins.

It pinpointed Li Chen, who was standing in the center of the square, with unparalleled accuracy.

When you see the scene below, especially when you feel the presence of the destroyed underground altar.

The Bodhisattva's illusory eyes instantly turned cold and sharp.

"mortal."

The Bodhisattva's voice transformed into rolling thunder, exploding above Li Chen's head.

"You have destroyed my lineage of cultivation in the lower realms and cut off my incense offerings."

"Do you know that this is an unforgivable and heinous crime?"

The immense pressure, like ten thousand mountains, poured down on the area where Li Chen was located.

Under this invisible pressure, the surrounding bluestone slabs shattered inch by inch, turning into dust.

"I appreciate the difficulty you have made in your spiritual practice."

The illusory image of the Bodhisattva lofty above, his tone revealing a nauseating sense of charity and arrogance.

"Kneel down immediately and cripple your cultivation."

"Come with me to the Avici Hell, where you will be subjected to the punishment of having your tongue pulled out and being boiled in oil for 90,000 years to cleanse your karmic burdens."

"Otherwise, I will annihilate you today, soul and all, so that you may never be reincarnated!"

Heaven and earth were completely silent.

Before this Bodhisattva, who seemed to be a true god descending to earth, even the wind stopped flowing.

Fatty Si, lying at Li Chen's feet, had his fishbone-like features tightly contracted.

It sensed an unprecedented sense of crisis and let out a low, wary growl.

The little ox was so shocked by the loud noise that it covered its ears and hid behind Li Chen.

Faced with this overwhelming projection of a Bodhisattva, spouting wild words.

Li Chen did not kneel down.

He didn't even bend his knees an inch.

He stood there, his tall and slender figure as straight as a sword.

A gentle breeze ruffled the hem of his blue robe.

Li Chen slowly raised his head, meeting the two dazzling golden gazes.

A chilling, mocking laugh suddenly appeared in his deep eyes.

"Make me kneel?"

Li Chen's voice wasn't loud, but enveloped in true essence, it clearly reached the ears of the Bodhisattva in mid-air.

He casually patted the dust off his sleeve.

Then, a defiant smile appeared on the lips of the Prince of Qin of the Tang Dynasty.

He slowly raised his right hand, his five fingers slightly spread, aiming at the arrogant golden phantom in the sky.

"A mere projection of a separate body."

"How dare you act like a big shot in front of me?"