From Under One Person: Sincere Journey Through the Heavens

It doesn't mean that breaking this one individual would solve all ten Kings of Hell, but rather that this one individual completely connects the other nine individuals.

Based on human magnetic induction, Jiang Liu concluded that when this individual was broken, the mobility of the "Golden Yama" and the individual hiding behind it, with a wider chest and abdomen that could accelerate the recovery of the other individuals, was reduced.

Based on the abilities of these Ten Kings of Hell, Jiang Liu roughly guessed their prototypes:

The Buddha's Ten Great Disciples!

Sariputra, the wisest of all, is said to have mastered all kinds of worldly skills and could resolve many doubts. After being possessed by demons, he became the one in charge of decision-making.

Maudgalyayana, the foremost in supernatural powers, is said to be able to fly to any of the ten directions with the lightness of a divine foot. Therefore, after "becoming" a demon, he is extremely fast and even has the power to take flight.

Mahakasyapa, the foremost ascetic, was said to be the most capable of enduring asceticism, and thus developed a golden body that could withstand all attacks.

The first of the three eyes, Anuruddha, as the name suggests, is a method of observation, or the ability to observe qi, thereby observing the flow of qi between the human body and the environment, and thus observing a person's state.

Subhuti is the first to understand emptiness.

Compared to the other nine, this disciple of the Buddha can be considered "famous". Subhuti, the patriarch of Lingtai Fangcun Mountain and Xieyue Sanxing Cave in "Journey to the West", is often regarded as one of the Buddha's ten disciples.

This interpretation will not be discussed for now.

Subhuti was the foremost in understanding emptiness.

What is emptiness?

Buddhism has the concept of "form and emptiness." Form refers to things that are temporary, constant, and unchanging; emptiness refers to things that are eternal, changing, and in motion.

The two things are the same, just like a flower. Seeing one of its states, whether it is in full bloom or withered, is the "form". The so-called "emptiness" is equivalent to seeing the whole process of a flower from bud to bloom and then to wither.

The term "Wukong" means to understand the essence of the world, neither clinging to form nor clinging to breaking through form to pursue "emptiness".

That is, one can enjoy the fleeting beauty of "form" and also comprehend the cyclical nature of "emptiness" in order to attain "Nirvana".

From the perspective of understanding the essence of the world, Jiang Liu affirms that the Buddha's practice must have involved exploring the natural atmosphere of reality, and this atmosphere is the most direct way for Buddhist practitioners to understand the principle of "form and emptiness" in nature.

Therefore, when a ghost or monster possesses the image of Subhuti, it can comprehend and even utilize the energy field... but it is limited to this and cannot go any further.

Purna, the first in expounding the Dharma, and Katyayana, the first in discussing doctrines, were respectively able to expound the Dharma extensively and distinguish its meanings, and Katyayana, the second in expounding its profound meanings and expounding the doctrines of Taoism.

The two complement each other.

In short, Purna was responsible for preaching the Dharma, while Katyayana was responsible for explaining the Dharma in a way that was easier for Buddhist disciples to understand, so as to directly touch their hearts.

Therefore, after the Buddha statues of these two people were possessed by ghosts, they gained the ability to confuse people and affect their minds.

Upali, the foremost in upholding the precepts, was said to have taken them extremely seriously and never violated them. Now, however, he is used by demons and spirits for killing.

Rahula, the foremost in secret practices, never broke the precepts and could recite them without laziness. He was the son of Shakyamuni before he renounced the world. The fact that a demon possessed the Buddha statue suggests that he had experienced "unwavering diligence," which enabled the powers of these ten individuals to connect and continue uninterrupted.

The last one, Ananda, who was the most learned, could know the time and things, similar to the combination of shifting stars and changing constellations and understanding all things in the four methods of innate symbols and diagrams.

therefore!

Ananda is the "soul" of these ten people, and even more so the foundation of the "Ten Kings of Hell"!

"The Buddha's ten great disciples?"

Chu Xuan pushed up his glasses, his face expressionless. "I'm not interested in religion because it's unscientific."

"I think it's quite scientific."

Jiang Liu, however, had a different view: "I also understand Western science. It's just a system that breaks down experience into individual structures and teaches people how to learn step by step."

Don't you think that the religion you're talking about is also a self-contained system?

Chu Xuan was silent for a moment, then acknowledged Jiang Liu's words, saying, "It does indeed form its own system, but religious figures have defined a different set of terms, methodologies, and research systems than modern science..."

"Hey!"

Zhang Zhiwei rushed between the two, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and shouted at Jiang Liu, "If you two want to 'discuss the Dao,' shouldn't you at least consider the location and the situation?"

at this time.

The Ten Kings of Hell have all recovered, their half-benevolent brows and half-angry eyes now fixed on them with predatory intent!

These Ten Kings of Hell also possess the characteristic of being immortal and indestructible, so even if you destroy "Ananda" among them, it will not change the fact that you cannot kill them.

It was only built for the purpose of casting spells that this uniquely aura-filled Senluo Palace was constructed... The peculiar aura also caused their recovery speed to be much slower than that of the Underworld Emperor and the Four Great Ghost Emperors.

"You two came here to test which Yama or Ghost Emperor the celestial meteorite is hidden in, right?" Jiang Liu rushed out, his iron rod heavy, his target "Ananda". Even when "Kasyapa" tried to stop him with his golden body, he was pushed aside by Jiang Liu's rod.

Just as the staff was about to strike Ananda, the golden circlet on it converged and transformed into a blade.

A white blade flashed and severed Ananda's head, then quickly cut his body into hundreds of pieces.

Which one do you think it is?

Zhang Zhiwei, enveloped in golden light, blocked the incredibly fast "Maudgalyayana," his palm crackling with white lightning that shattered it, before turning his gaze to Jiang Liu.

"All of them!"

# Chapter 369 Temporary Evacuation from the Temple of the Underworld

"All of them?"

Zhang Zhiwei met the attack of "Upali" with a palm strike, which was wielding a hand knife. Golden light burst forth, but the attack was shattered by the "Upali" who was skilled in killing. He had to dodge to the side and press his palm against the back of the "Upali," unleashing another bolt of lightning that shattered the "Upali" into pieces.

"The first thing I cultivated was the ability to reverse the eight directions and control the magnetic field, making me extremely sensitive to the magnetic field on Daheishan Mountain," Jiang Liu said, as his staff rolled and unrolled with his arm, and his qi flowed with his heart.

In an instant!

The staff swept across a sea of ​​clouds, shattering "Sariputra," "Anuruddha," and "Subhuti" into dust.

"After learning about the existence of the radiance of the Heavenly Spiritual Realm from Zheng Zha, I guessed that this was a 'revenge'!"

Jiang Liu continued.

Just like in "Journey to the West," when Tang Sanzang crossed Lingyun Ferry in a bottomless boat, only a part of his clear spirit remained on the boat, while his physical body sank to the bottom—

Tang Sanzang freed himself from the afflictions of consciousness and desire, leaving only his pure primordial spirit.

Isn't the birth process of this Heavenly Palace in the Black Mountain similar to this?

However, there were no real immortals or Buddhas in that heavenly palace; it was merely a collection of innocent consciousnesses that had been separated from the spirits of wronged souls yearning for liberation under intense desire.

The consciousness and desires filled with the five poisons, six desires, and seven emotions exist by relying on the Yin spirits of the Great Black Mountain in this world. When they accumulate to a certain degree, quantitative change leads to qualitative change, and ghosts and monsters are born. Do they even consider themselves a part of the abandoned soul shell that those pure consciousnesses shed after 'ascending to the heavenly palace' have inherited the memories and emotions within it?

After the Great Black Mountain took shape, the ability of the Heavenly Star Meteorite to attract souls was no longer comparable to that of the Great Black Mountain itself. Therefore, it was very likely that it was integrated into every inch of the Ten Kings of Hell and the Five Ghost Emperors, which is why they were able to achieve immortality!

It is precisely because the Ten Kings of Hell and the Five Ghost Emperors are based on the composition of meteorites that no matter how powerful we are, as long as we cannot reverse the nature of stones into their most basic Qi state and convert them into energy, we cannot cause them any real harm.

That was probably a vessel carrying the radiance of the earth's spiritual realm; only in this way could their recovery be limitless! The energy came from the Great Black Mountain and the billions of ghosts and monsters on it!

"Then how do we retrieve the celestial meteorite?" Golden lightning erupted from Zhang Zhiwei's hand, shattering "Furuna" and "Upali".

At this moment, only the indestructible golden body of "Maha Kassapa", the eloquent and eccentric "Kathayana", and the unyielding "Rahula" still retain their complete forms.

"It's not clear yet, but I suspect that we need to defeat all fifteen of them at the same time, and the timing cannot be off by even the slightest bit, otherwise it is very likely to be ineffective."

Jiang Liu pondered that since a certain "collective consciousness" seeking revenge had split the celestial meteorite into fifteen parts to carry the radiance of the spiritual realm of the earth and connect them with the entire Black Mountain, then simultaneously defeating the Ten Kings of Hell and the Five Ghost Emperors might disrupt the connection between them, thus causing the celestial meteorite to manifest.

"That's it!"

Upon hearing this method, Zhang Zhiwei released another bolt of golden lightning, took a deep breath, mustered all his strength, and shattered "Katyayana." "Even you can't kill the Ten Kings of Hell and the Five Ghost Emperors at the same time."

First, find a way to leave the Ghost Realm and pass this information on to the others.

But even if we select thirteen more skilled individuals from outside, how can we ensure they can cooperate with us to kill these fifteen demons at the same time?

"We don't need to think about getting out for now, and this is just my guess, it may not be accurate."

Jiang Liu shook his head, and at the same time thrust his staff forward. The golden hoop on it transformed into a spearhead, and the Qi energy followed the person's magnetic field. In an instant, it struck "Kasyapa" at his heart and began to spin at high speed like a drill.

Click!

It shattered the golden halo around its body and penetrated its heart.

Then, the spearhead transformed into hundreds of sharp blades, and the iron spear became an iron mace. By rotating the mace, the mace that had pierced "Kasyapa's" body began to spin, shredding his entire body into pieces.

Then, with another flick, it slammed into Rahu's head with a "bang," shattering it into pieces.

Just as the shattered "Ten Kings of Hell" were about to be restored, Jiang Liu gathered his Qi in his dantian, took a step, and quickly arrived at the left wall of the Yama Palace.

The steel needles on the iron mace in his hand contracted, and the golden hoop converged at one end, with a dragon and a jiao coiled around it. It circulated nine times with the flow of the river's qi, forming a nine-turn pattern, and then burst forth, smashing hard against the wall!

The force increased layer by layer until it reached the ninth layer—

Boom!

The bombarded walls produced ripples that spread throughout the entire Yama Palace, affecting even the Ten Kings of Hell who were still recovering.

The area struck by the iron mallet revealed a large opening leading to the ghost realm. As the air currents from the ghost realm rushed in, Ananda and Rahu, who had already recovered among the Ten Kings of Hell, staggered.

It's obvious!

The special energy field within this Senluo Palace has been broken, and they can no longer cast spells or use supernatural abilities!

"withdraw!"

Jiang Liu uttered a single word and then disappeared through the hole.

There's no point in wasting any more time with these ten Kings of Hell; it's best to leave for now.

Zhang Zhiwei quickly lifted Chu Xuan up, dodging the attack of the restored Ten Kings of Hell, and crawled out through the broken hole.

Afterwards, Jiang Liu condensed a Water and Fire Yin-Yang Qi Pill, transformed it into a Qi Monkey, pressed it into Chu Xuan's body, and activated it, causing Chu Xuan's broken leg to be reattached.

Chu Xuan, pale-faced and much thinner, looked like skin and bones, but in this ghost realm, being able to move was more useful than being a burden!

"Tsk, you really have a lot of tricks up your sleeve."

Seeing this incredible skill, Zhang Zhiwei looked amused and then said, "But can I have this 'Ruyi Jingu Bang' you have? I remember you said I was a 'Mind Monkey'? It's a perfect match for me!"

"Did I say that? You're mistaken!"

Jiang Liu tucked the iron rod diagonally behind his back, using his magnetic attraction to bind it. Even without ropes, it could stay firmly attached to his back.

"Don't be so stingy! Let me borrow it for a couple of days!"

Zhang Zhiwei pursed his lips, dusted himself off, and seeing that Jiang Liu wouldn't lend him any, he could only ask about the important matter, "What should we do next? Without disrupting the energy of this Black Mountain, with just our little bit of 'living' yang energy, we can't possibly overlap the ghost realm with reality within eleven days."

"Actually, the main reason I came here this time is to retrieve the weapons and then explore the southern side."

Jiang Liu faced south, his gaze seemingly passing over mountains of knives and seas of fire, finally catching sight of that secluded manor. "That corresponds to Beiguo County in the outside world; it's worth paying attention to."