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Ch81 - Infinite Hell




The barrier enveloped the vast Red Maple Forest.
The five Daoist cultivators from the Gong family branch had been controlled by spiritual power. Elder Gong at the lead had now completely regained his composure, his expression cold.
“Hasn’t the World-Honored One always refrained from interfering in matters of the three realms? Although we came rashly and our manners were lacking, we didn’t harm the Eldest Young Master Zhuang or the Young Lord in the slightest. Why confine us here?”
The World-Honored One of Mount Sumeru never concerned himself with affairs of the three realms—all family elders knew this well.
Precisely because of this, they dared to create such upheaval in Red Maple Forest just a few li from the Buddhist hall.
Chongjue didn’t answer but looked toward the quiet Gong Handan beside them.
Gong Handan had already escaped Chongjue’s spiritual shackles. Her toe tips landed on the thick red maple leaves, ankle bells moving lightly with a clear sound.
She stared at Elder Gong in shock, her body trembling finely and densely, even the ornaments on her body making subtle sounds, as if she still hadn’t digested what Chongjue had just said.
Zhuang Lingge descended on the wind, his left hand transformed into the dragon clan’s sharp claws, dragon pupils carrying cold killing intent as he looked at Elder Gong.
“Training a sacred object like a bird, slaughtering cultivators and taking souls as lamp oil—violating Heaven’s Dao laws.” Chongjue said indifferently: “Gong Handan bears Gong family blood. Lingbo Valley in Shangyuan Prefecture has an obligation to know this matter.”
Elder Gong’s expression instantly darkened.
Chongjue produced several Five Emperor coins from somewhere, flicking his fingers slightly. They shot out with golden flowing light, instantly trapping the five Daoist cultivators, copper coins swirling around them to create illusory talismans.
The World-Honored One of Mount Sumeru’s cultivation was unfathomable. Even if they self-destructed spirit pills on the spot to escape with their souls, they’d probably be forcibly suppressed.
Elder Gong took a deep breath, not overestimating his ability to resist.
Going to Lingbo Valley was fine—as long as he remained alive, that would be a great fortune.
Elder Gong lowered his eyes, concealing the coldness within them. His hand hidden in his sleeve rubbed the artifact that could control Gong Handan. Hardening his heart, he wanted to activate spiritual power to crush the artifact.
Over these years, Gong Handan had been trained by him into an obedient bird. If Lingbo Valley saw her puppet-like appearance, they’d probably want to execute him by a thousand cuts and still not resolve their hatred.
No matter what, he couldn’t let Gong Handan return alive to Lingbo Valley.
If the Gong family wanted to exterminate them completely, using the Phoenix Bone matter might gain a thread of survival.
They’d lost the Silver-Carved Lamp—they’d surely want to obtain another sacred object.
Fortune favors the bold.
A cold light flashed in Elder Gong’s eyes as he suddenly activated his spiritual power.
But before he could act, Chongjue’s dark blue pupils seemed able to see through everything. His eyelashes moved lightly as he extended his hand toward Elder Gong.
His wide sleeve was lifted by the wind. His slender five fingers moved slightly, and Elder Gong’s entire body stiffened, eyes widening. The control artifact in his sleeve dropped unexpectedly, gently carried by spiritual power through the Five Emperor coin talisman pattern, slowly falling into Chongjue’s palm.
Elder Gong’s pupils trembled violently as he looked at him in shock.
Chongjue looked down at the complex artifact floating in his palm, his eyes ice cold.
“Puppet Array?”
Elder Gong bit his teeth hard, not knowing how to answer.
Chongjue’s heart turned cold to the extreme. Just as he was about to speak indifferently, he felt a tingling sensation in his right palm—Su Hansheng curved his finger and lightly scratched his palm.
Chongjue: “…”
The rare anger Chongjue had accumulated suddenly dissipated. He frowned and turned his head, feeling as if Su Hansheng’s restless paw was scratching all over his heart through his palm.
Truly presumptuous.
“What?” Chongjue asked.
The redness at Su Hansheng’s ears hadn’t faded. Not quite daring to look at Chongjue, he extended one hand toward him: “That artifact… give it to me. I’ll… see if I can break it.”
Belatedly remembering Su Hansheng’s Fuli clan bloodline, Chongjue didn’t say much and directly placed the artifact in his palm.
He was so straightforward that Su Hansheng was stunned.
Uncle… actually trusted him so much to break it, without even a moment’s hesitation?
Su Hansheng made an “mm” sound. Somehow his head was almost buried to his chest, and the back of his head was starting to steam.
Chongjue turned to face Elder Gong who’d attempted to harm the sacred object Silver-Carved Lamp. His pupils moved slightly, as if judging something.
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Chongjue’s hand fingering his sleeve paused slightly. Somehow a strange scene suddenly flashed through his mind.
Someone pointed swords at Su Hansheng, shouting harshly:
“Buzhou Mountain has fallen! The three realms’ living beings suffer! We ask you to surrender the Heaven’s Dao sacred object to repair the Heaven-Reaching Tower and save the people from disaster!”
Chongjue’s brows furrowed sharply.
Before he could think further, countless bone chains suddenly appeared, viciously shattering that illusory memory until it completely vanished without a trace.
“Just like Immortal Xuanlin back then.” Zhuang Lingge said: “More than ten years ago, the four sacred objects weren’t complete—only the Falling Abyss Dragon and Silver-Carved Lamp had appeared in the world. So when Buzhou Mountain tilted, the Immortal Lord could only sacrifice himself to save the living. Being in that position, even if unwilling, he’d be pushed forward by the words of people in the three realms.”
Once Su Hansheng’s identity was exposed and something went wrong with Buzhou Mountain, even if countless people protected him, he’d still be forcibly dragged to Buzhou Mountain for sacrifice.
Chongjue couldn’t save him.
Not in the past life, not in this life.
Zhuang Lingge’s bloodied dragon claws gleamed with cold light inch by inch as he said indifferently: “If the World-Honored One’s compassionate heart cannot strike, then I will.”
Chongjue couldn’t piece together those shattered memories. With a splitting headache, he looked up coldly: “If a sacred object is stained with blood, you’ll immediately transform into a dragon.”
Zhuang Lingge was startled.
How did he know?
But the World-Honored One had lived thousands of years—he should have seen the previous generation’s Falling Abyss Dragon. Knowing this was nothing unusual.
Su Hansheng was still studying that strange talisman. His mind raced, completely unaware of what Zhuang Lingge and Chongjue were discussing.
This talisman was much simpler than the previous one for taming Phoenix Bone that he’d researched and dismantled. Su Hansheng’s fingers flew with extremely fast movements. In less than a quarter hour, he heard the sound of metal striking stone.
That strange artifact suddenly bloomed like lotus petals in his palm—whoosh whoosh whoosh. After the “petals” made of dark iron unfolded, they revealed an exquisitely crafted lamp with intricate, ancient patterns inside.
That was the sacred object Silver-Carved Lamp.
Su Hansheng was delighted, uncontrollably shaking Chongjue’s hand as his eyes filled with light, claiming credit: “Uncle! Uncle, look, I broke it!”
Chongjue withdrew his gaze from coldly facing off with Zhuang Lingge. Even he himself didn’t notice his icy features had suddenly softened. He nodded: “Mm, well done.”
Su Hansheng, accustomed to causing trouble, had rarely received praise from childhood to adulthood. Hearing this, he was stunned, and his face inexplicably began burning again.
He coughed dryly, not daring to look at Chongjue’s eyes, and cheerfully ran to Gong Handan, holding the Silver-Carved Lamp out to her.
“Sister, your lamp.”
Gong Handan stared blankly at that lamp—clearly her original form yet something she’d never seen, strange yet familiar. She instinctively reached out to take it, but halfway there she seemed fearful, pupils trembling as she tried to withdraw her hand.
Su Hansheng grabbed her wrist firmly, forcibly placing the lamp in her hand, repeating once more:
“Sister’s lamp.”
Gong Handan’s eyes suddenly widened.
Not knowing if staring at the bean-sized candle flame burning endlessly in the Silver-Carved Lamp’s wick had hurt her eyes, Gong Handan’s eyes seemed covered with a layer of mist that quickly condensed into large, clear teardrops, silently rolling down along her lower lashes.
This was her lamp.
Su Hansheng had little experience comforting girls. Seeing large tears rolling down, he didn’t know what to do for a moment and could only stand there dumbly without speaking.
Having suffered so much torment over all these years, crying was good.
Chongjue’s fingers moved, forcibly restraining the five Daoist cultivators before him.
Zhuang Lingge’s spiritual power suddenly transformed into several illusory azure dragons floating around, saying coldly: “World-Honored One, releasing the tiger back to the mountain will inevitably leave future troubles.”
Chongjue met his gaze indifferently: “Indiscriminate killing is not the original intent of Heaven’s Dao bestowal. If I kill them…”
He withdrew his unfinished words, only looking at Su Hansheng not far away, saying in a low voice:
“No matter what happens, I will protect him.”
Zhuang Lingge’s dragon pupils suddenly contracted.
The Falling Abyss Dragon would immediately transform into a dragon upon killing—he had to be cautious. But why did Chongjue also have to hesitate when killing?
Could it be more than just a Buddhist cultivator’s compassion?
After seeing Gong Handan regain her freedom, Elder Gong had fallen into despair. Fortunately, he still had the “Phoenix Bone” leverage to gain a thread of survival at Lingbo Valley.
Even if Zhuang Lingge and Gong Handan wanted to kill the five to silence them, as long as the compassionate World-Honored One who never killed was present, they wouldn’t perish here today.
Elder Gong’s tightly suspended heart finally settled.
Su Hansheng sensed something was wrong, quickly running over and looking at Chongjue puzzled: “Uncle, what happened?”
Zhuang Lingge watched coldly from the side, planning to see how this compassionate World-Honored One would explain.
Chongjue looked at the confused Su Hansheng, raising his hand to gently touch the youth’s soft hair.
The youth who hadn’t yet come of age, even though he’d just been harshly rebuffed, still trusted his uncle wholeheartedly. His amber eyes held not a trace of murkiness, clear as a pond seen straight to the bottom.
He was so young. From childhood, he’d been locked in Yingxu Sect’s Hanmang Garden, that narrow “cage,” for years without freedom. Only now had he been out for a month, yet encountered a heap of filthy matters.
Those surnamed Gong would surely announce Su Hansheng bearing Phoenix Bone to the world. Not killing them meant placing Su Hansheng in danger.
But the five’s crimes should be determined by the three realms’ laws and regulations. His status was special—he couldn’t arbitrarily kill and take lives.
Chongjue appeared no different than usual, yet Su Hansheng seemed to sense something, suddenly stepping forward to support his arm: “Uncle?”
Had he used spiritual power, were the bone chains about to appear again?
Su Hansheng still had lingering fears about what happened last time the bone chains appeared. He quickly said: “Let’s go back first. We can handle this matter later.”
Though not clever, he keenly understood why Chongjue and Zhuang Lingge disagreed.
The World-Honored One couldn’t have killing thoughts. Combined with actually killing, the bone chains would definitely flare up more severely.
Su Hansheng felt grateful the evil side hadn’t surfaced. Otherwise, if his evil side had appeared, Chongjue would have beheaded all five without hesitation, and the bone chains would impale him like meat on a spit.
Chongjue was looking down at Su Hansheng.
The evil side that had been lurking in his consciousness suddenly surfaced somehow, saying nonchalantly: “Just kill them. Five measly lives—how can they compare to my Xiaoxiao’s importance? Why hesitate?”
As soon as the words fell, the consistently serene and composed World-Honored One suddenly opened his dark blue pupils, seeming to reveal a frivolous, strange smile.
Before Su Hansheng could recognize him, this smile startled him like a cat with its fur standing on end, nearly making him jump.
E-evil side had appeared?
Chongjue who’d crawled up from Infinite Hell had no taboos. He directly raised his slender fingers lazily, condensing a point of spiritual power and pointing toward those five people.
Su Hansheng’s goosebumps were rising: “Un-Uncle?”
Chongjue said with a half-smile: “The habit of excessive caution still hasn’t changed. Might as well let me…”
Before he could finish, his tall figure suddenly swayed twice. The smile on Chongjue’s face also disappeared as he held his forehead, cursing something lowly.
Then, the virtuous thought Chongjue filled with Zen Buddhist nature suddenly seized back control. He shouted coldly:
“Retreat.”
Seeing Chongjue instantly return, Su Hansheng silently breathed a sigh of relief.
He couldn’t control those bone chains at all. Once they appeared, he could only watch helplessly as Chongjue suffered.
Better not to kill.
“Uncle…” Su Hansheng was extremely considerate, saying quietly: “No need to kill them personally. Hand them to Lingbo Valley—they can serve as witnesses to help Sister return home.”
But Chongjue didn’t lower his raised hand. In his cold dark blue pupils, a crimson array was faintly reflected, seemingly connecting heaven and earth.
Boom.
The ground shook continuously.
Su Hansheng staggered and caught himself on Chongjue’s arm, then looked ahead in bewilderment.
With just one glance, he froze completely.
A massive crimson talisman array appeared out of nowhere on the ground layered with red maples. The patterns were so intricate that even Su Hansheng with his Fuli clan bloodline couldn’t understand the slightest bit. He could only feel that intense oppression from Heaven’s Dao, like contempt toward ants.
Countless withered branch-like hands silently extended from the array, reaching toward the five people bit by bit, like fierce ghosts from hell’s Yellow Springs coming to claim lives.
Su Hansheng’s pupils trembled violently. His knees went soft as he clutched Chongjue’s arm, almost falling.
That was…
The array that appeared when Heaven’s Dao punished sinners by casting them into Infinite Hell.
Chongjue looked indifferently at the five who hadn’t yet reacted: “Under Heaven’s Dao laws, there is never wrongful judgment.”
Elder Gong was well-traveled and reacted first. Immediately terrified with eyes nearly bulging out, he struggled to crawl outside the array.
“World-Honored One… World-Honored One, spare our lives! Our crimes don’t warrant this! The Silver-Carved Lamp murdered cultivators and beasts—those souls were all taken by her to make lamp oil. It has nothing to do with us!”
Chongjue remained unmoved. He raised one hand in a Buddhist mudra, lowering his compassionate eyes as his lips moved lightly, reciting the Rebirth Sutra.
“World-Honored One!”
Elder Gong had lived so long—even if captured and taken to Lingbo Valley, he’d rarely felt such fear. But now he lacked any hint of a great family elder’s dignity, practically crazed like a madman, his voice trembling violently with terror.
“World-Honored One! World-Honored One, I confess! We were blinded by greed—we abducted Gong Handan. The lamp oil matter was also caused by me. My crimes warrant death—please execute me on the spot! Don’t cast me into Infinite Hell!”
Once cast into Infinite Hell, one bore the eternal brand of betraying the Dao and violating cosmic law.
If one perished in the three realms, after several hundred years, one might reincarnate as human and cultivate again.
But if killed in Infinite Hell, the soul would be completely obliterated with no possibility of reincarnation.
Elder Gong was nearly collapsing, hysterically shouting: “World-Honored One! You are compassionate and merciful—please give us a way to live—”
Chongjue had already single-mindedly finished reciting a passage of the Rebirth Sutra. He opened his eyes without sorrow or joy, looking like a Buddha statue in a temple hall, unmoved by any external matters.
“It wasn’t my doing, but Heaven’s Dao laws judging you for harming a sacred object. The punishment is also decreed by Heaven’s Dao.”
It had nothing to do with him.
Elder Gong froze, his face suddenly losing all color.
The array decreed by Heaven’s Dao had judged the five’s crimes. The ghostly hands coiled below finally lunged forward, grabbing the five people with many hands, grinning wickedly as they dragged them inch by inch beneath the array.
Eight thousand zhang underground lay Infinite Hell.
“World-Honored One, spare us!”
“We…”
The final terrified pleas weren’t finished before countless hands completely dragged the five figures underground.
The array crashed with tremendous sound, suddenly dissipating.
The red maple leaves on the ground spun in circles in the air like encountering a waterspout, only drifting down after a long while.
Chongjue raised one hand again, reciting a Buddhist verse.
Suddenly, Su Hansheng, who’d been clutching his other arm, seemed unable to support himself anymore, his body going limp as he fell.
Chongjue was startled, immediately supporting him against his chest.
“Xiaoxiao?”
Su Hansheng had been lively just moments ago, but in just a short while, he seemed traumatized—breathing rapidly until he could barely catch his breath, only able to breathe with difficulty through parted lips. Even his usually bright eyes began to scatter and lose focus.
His temples were covered in cold sweat, black hair wet and sticking to his face, with a sickly pallor. His consciousness hazy, he murmured something.
“I… don’t want…”
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