Xuanyuan pondered for a while, and made up his mind, âNo, no. I canât help you.â
âAre you fucking kidding me?â it was a weirdly hilarious sentence to have come out of Mochouâs mouth. In fact, it was the Nightmare Ghost who said that.
âThe Vajrapani came to the Land of the East just to seal you. The two of you were both severely injured and he has already fallen. He confined you here by the power of the Vajrapani Earth. Right?â Xuanyuan speculated.
âThatâs right. What about it?â
âWhy would the Vajrapani travel so far? Just to seal your power? If thatâs so, then you must be a cruel and deceiving man. You even absorb other peopleâs souls for your own sake. Even if you swore the blood oath not to kill me, I canât stop you from killing innocent people. If I release a mass murderer, itâs on me. Iâm not a good person. But I wonât harm innocent people.â Xuanyuan spoke his mind slowly.
âHahahahaâŠ. how funny.â The voice had a tinge of anger. âThe only rule in this world is survival of the fittest. If he didnât have help from the monks and nuns or if I wasnât already injured, I wouldnât have been defeated. You asked why did the Vajrapani want to seal me? He thought I didnât deserve to be alive. He thought I had lived for too long so I should die. Does that satisfy you? Do you believe that?
The Immortal began with a group of friends who believed we could conquer death and defeat gods. We created the method of soul practice to prolong our lives. This was what I wanted. But after a while, my friends decided they should rob other people of their souls. They killed people and they stirred up wars just to satisfy their needs. I didnât agree with that so I left. After that, the Vajrapani targeted me. They defeated me. I couldâve killed to replenish my power, but I didnât. I escaped to the Land of the East to hide in this swarm.
âThis is a badland. Everyday, there are numerous beasts and souls wandering. I cure myself with their souls. Do you think Iâm wrong? Those I once regarded as âfriendsâ from the Immortal found out I was in the swarm. They started the rumour that I have the secret of the Immortal to lure all the Sects and Schools to attack me but I created the Technique of Immortality so I wouldnât be defeated by them. They were either killed by me or went back without any result. Life like this passed day after day, year after year. And they still wouldnât let me go. So this is the place they rest their souls.
âIt is their greed who killed them. They want my secret; they want me dead. Why shouldnât I ask for their souls in return? So believe it or not. You have to decide for yourself.â
Mochou was out of breath after the speech.
âXuanyuan, I think heâs telling the truth.â This was Mochou speaking. Greed also agreed with her.
âThe Nightmare Ghost was a free spirit. The Devouring Emperor also wanted to go into the Nightmare Swarm but he was impressed by the Ghost so he didnât want to take away what was in his grave. Heâs respectful of the Ghost but The Emperor has fallen. And the Ghost, who everyone considered to be dead, is still aliveâŠ.â
âAlright. Iâll believe you. Take the blood oath. I shall be able to ask for three things from you. You shall not harm us. You shall help me tame the Vajrapani Earth. You shall give me a hundred jins of the Source Energy of All Ghosts and a mine with Source Energy.â Xuanyuan closed his eyes. A dark red talisman with writings of the most terrifying blood oath floated in front of him. A stream of thought slipped into the talisman â Xuanyuan knew that the Ghost had already sworn the blood oath.
He put the Source Energy of All Ghosts on the ground and receded three miles away with Mochou and Bai.
The block of stone melted into the ground. A force rushed to the surface of the ground, cracking the earth. A golden light shone out to the sky and exploded. A crater of a hundred square metres appeared. There was an earthquake so strong that they thought the world was going to be torn apart. Creatures and beasts surrounding the area clearly had the same thought so they ran for their lives.
Xuanyuan felt two forces were battling each other. The hundred metre hole became a thousand metres. The Qi was shaking so violently that even his armour was activated automatically to protect him.
The struggle between the two forces continued for an hour. In the deep crater, a blood red light and a golden light were tangling together.
âXuanyuan, heâs calling us. We should go over there.â Mochou said.
When they reached the edge of the crater, they were all shocked by the scene. There were three thousand metres long dragon bones inside it. They were dead, but still imposing.
Youxue knelt down because of the Qi. He said coarsely, âMaster, these are the bones of the Emperor Realm guards from the Yin family. Theyâve Refined the elixir of cloud dragons in them. And they passed in hereâŠâ
âHaha, these three little dragons were greedy. They had already taken a lot of crystals and source energy but they still wanted more so I made them stay. Their souls strengthened me. Thatâs why I have the power to release myself from the seal today.â Someone was talking from the crater. Xuanyuan followed the voice, there was a blood red heart and a golden light struggling together. The Nightmare Ghost didnât need Mochou to pass on messages anymore. âWhat are you waiting for boy?â
Xuanyuan nodded. Behind him, the Woodland Dragon King appeared. He was holding a giant stick full of dragon taming carvings.
The golden light was the Vajrapani Earth. It sent out powerful thoughts to Xuanyuan, âWhy do you help this monster who doomed the world. If he didnât create the soul absorbing Technique then less innocent people would have been killed. Young boy, you can distinguish good from bad. I can tell so reconsider doing this. Activate the Fire of Red Lotus and help me seal the Ghost again. Iâm willing to give you my power.â
Xuanyuan smiled. He knew that Vajrapani was a Buddhist figure from his last life. He remembered the common Buddhist saying, âNamo amitÄbha. Buddha loves life. Why donât you let the Nightmare Ghost go?â
The Vajrapani Earth trembled. An even more powerful thought slipped into his mind, âWho are you? You said, Namo amitÄbha⊠How do you know this? Iâve almost forgotten the saying⊠However, if you are unwilling to help me, Iâll use the last of my power to reseal the monster!â
âStop!â Xuanyuan said urgently. He didnât really understand what had happened. Did the Temple of SukhÄvatÄ« had anything to do with Buddhism in the previous world he lived in? âWhat has happened has already happened. Why should you cling onto the past and future? Vajrapani Earth, you should let it go. Put down your troubles.â
âHow? How do you know our teachings? You must have deep connections with Buddha.â The Vajrapani Earth was astonished. But Xuanyuan was only repeating what he remembered from his previous life about Buddhism, a common and widespread religion. Of course, he has no connection to any Buddha.
âBuddha is man in the future and man is Buddha in the past. You should find your core essence and let go of your anger and trouble. Let the past be the past.â
âWho are you? Why canât I see who you are?â The Vajrapani Earth couldnât fathom the mystery of Xuanyuan. This boy was familiar with the sutra teachings!
âFace is only transitory. Many faces are no face at all. As Buddha is not permanent.â Xuanyuan searched all of his memories and finally found one Buddhist saying he remembered but couldnât understand, though it sounded relevant. He clearly bet correctly.
âI understand, your honorable.â the Vajrapani Earth shone brighter. The figure of a formidable man appeared.