The Black Bone Hall shook with world-shattering force, yet inside the gu jar, there was only deathly silence.
Chen Zhou stood with his hands behind his back, his feet resting on a lotus pedestal condensed from white bones. Black smoke swirled around him, shielding him from the death qi that attempted to erode his form.
This was the golden light of merit of the dragon carp, now obscured.
Floating opposite him was a phantom figure.
The Thousand-Eyed Toad Saint was no longer a colossal mountain of flesh; instead, he had taken a semi-human, semi-toad form.
In the center of his forehead was a vertical, tightly closed eye.
Chen Zhou’s gaze was sharp as he stared at the Toad Saint. "You locked yourself in this jar and then swallowed me. You neither move to kill me nor let me out."
"What is it? Are you planning to invite me for tea?"
As Chen Zhou spoke, his eyes fell upon the lingering black mist surrounding the Toad Saint.
He hadn't been able to see it clearly outside, but now, within this enclosed space and at the very source of the seventh-stage death qi, Chen Zhou finally saw it for what it was.
That wasn't death qi the Toad Saint had cultivated himself.
It was a shackle.
Strands of black Sanskrit characters, resembling chains, were embedded deep within the Toad Saint’s soul, slowly devouring his origin.
Chen Zhou let out a cold laugh. "This death qi isn't yours at all. It’s borrowed, isn't it?"
"Or should I say... something is parasitizing your body?"
Hearing this, the Toad Saint looked at Chen Zhou and suddenly laughed, though it was a desolate sound.
"The Bone Temple Master truly has a keen eye."
The Toad Saint laid his cards on the table, slowly sitting down cross-legged.
"I do indeed wish to borrow your hand."
"Because I thought you were a branch of the legendary Buddhist Bone Temple, someone who had truly achieved the White Bone Golden Body."
"Only power from the same source can suppress, or even kill, the thing inside me."
The Toad Saint pointed to his chest, where a mass of death qi was writhing frantically.
"Five hundred years ago, I and another great demon were the only two kings of this Southern Region. We weren't as strong as we are now, but at least we lived freely."
"Until that day, when a mad monk arrived in the Southern Region."
"Ksitigarbha of Great Vows?" Chen Zhou blurted out.
He remembered Ku Chan mentioning that name—a ruthless figure of the Aspect of All Beings lineage, a lunatic who stopped at nothing.
The Toad Saint nodded in surprise.
"Correct, it was him."
"'All beings have their aspects, and all aspects can become Buddha.'"
"He claimed that mountains, rivers, plants, birds, beasts, and even the ghost domains of the human heart all possessed Buddha-nature and could achieve Buddhahood."
"He wanted to turn this world into a colossal gu pot, using all living beings as nourishment to aid his own ascension to Buddhahood."
"He took an interest in me, in my body of myriad venoms, wanting to claim me as one of his gu."
The Toad Saint took a deep breath. "I refused, and so I fought him."
"Unfortunately, my skills were inferior, and I lost. Before that old monk left, he parasitized me."
Chen Zhou frowned. "So, that old monk parasitized you and is still inside your body? Why don't I see him?"
The Toad Saint gave a cruel smile, momentarily revealing the aura of a seventh-stage demon king.
"No, it is not Ksitigarbha of Great Vows himself, but merely a disciple with a sixth-stage cultivation."
"He wanted to parasitize me and turn me into his Arhat Dharma body."
"But what he didn't know was that he, too, was a gu raised by the old monk."
"I had a life-protecting destiny... aided by the other demon king at the time, Su Xue. With Su Xue's help, I turned the tables and ate him instead."
The Toad Saint licked his lips as if reminiscing about a meal that had been far from delicious.
"I digested his flesh and his soul, but I could not digest his death qi."
"The death qi took root in my body, merging with my demonic power, forcing me to become this creature you see today."
"By using his death qi, I broke through my bottleneck, but in doing so, I entered into a symbiosis with it."
Chen Zhou looked thoughtful. "A seventh-stage symbiosis?"
He recalled the seventh-stage realm the lady in the court dress had mentioned in the Fallen Dream.
Using a contract as a guide, one invites the energy of evil spirits into the body until finally achieving complete symbiosis with the death qi.
Each contract is a hurdle. Beneath the Five Symbiosis Contracts, the boundary between human and ghost blurs. One must survive the five shackles of human-spirit fusion without being completely enslaved by the death qi.
"Correct, the Symbiosis stage. But it isn't a true first symbiosis contract; I haven't fully mastered it."
The Toad Saint smiled bitterly. "I thought I had won. I gained immense power and unified the Southern Region."
"But for these past five hundred years, I have been tormented by this death qi every single moment. It is assimilating me, enslaving me."
"It wants to turn me into that dead monk, into a gu insect for Ksitigarbha of Great Vows."
"I must constantly devour flesh and engage in slaughter, using life force to fill the void left by the death qi just to maintain a shred of sanity."
"And in a moment of lost control, I... I hurt Su Xue..."
The Toad Saint then informed him that it wasn't just the Southern Region; the demon king of the Northern Region had also been attacked by the Aspect of All Beings.
Chen Zhou indicated he understood.
It wasn't just the two regions. Through the rifts in secret realms, Chen Zhou had seen traces of the Aspect of All Beings in other provinces, such as the Smiling Face in Kushi County.
The monk planted seeds of death qi in various great demons and fiends, waiting for them to take root and sprout so he could eventually harvest the ripened fruit.
He wondered what expression Ksitigarbha of Great Vows would make when he realized all the gu he had raised were being harvested by Chen Zhou instead.
Chen Zhou listened quietly to the old toad’s narrative, his expression showing no ripples of emotion.
He understood this struggle, this tightrope walk between power and destruction.
But that didn't mean he felt empathy, and it certainly didn't mean he approved.
In this world, the rules were naked and raw.
Either devour others to survive, or become a stepping stone for someone else.
Hardships? Every being that had survived until now had a story or two.
He showed not a hint of pity for the Toad Saint’s plight.
Understanding the cruelty of the world and condoning the atrocities committed within it were two different things.
'Your struggles and your desperation are no excuse for penning up and slaughtering the human race.'
'As the God of the Way of Humanity, I hold the providence of the human race; my heart is naturally biased.'
'What do your hardships have to do with me?'
'Your karmic sins must still be settled.'
The Toad Saint, of course, knew this.
"My thanks to you for helping me remove the gu insect formed by the death qi."
The Toad Saint looked at Chen Zhou, his eyes reflecting the composure of a ruler.
"In our battle just now, your every strike was ruthless. You seemed to be destroying my body, but in truth, you were helping me vent the excessive death qi built up inside me."
"I, the old toad, acknowledge this favor."
"Enough, don't flatter yourself," Chen Zhou said, crossing his arms and speaking coldly.
"I simply wanted to tear apart the shell you were hiding in like a coward."
Hearing this, the Toad Saint smiled indifferently, then his expression turned solemn.
"But I also know that my time is running out."
"That thing is about to wake up."
"Once it fully awakens, this body will become nothing more than a walking corpse. I am the King of the South; I can die, but I will not spend my last moments as a kneeling gu for Da Yuan."
At this point, the Toad Saint seemed to remember something, a hint of nostalgia entering his expression.
"Heavenly Doctor... Su Xue, she is still outside, isn't she?" the Toad Saint suddenly asked an unrelated question.
Chen Zhou raised an eyebrow. "Her? She's doing fine. She just brought people to wreck your place."
"That’s good, that’s good."
The Toad Saint let out a soft sigh. "She is a Rabbit Orchid—very timid, and very soft-hearted."
"A place like the Southern Region doesn't suit her."
Chen Zhou looked at the old demon with interest. "The Southern Region can produce kind-hearted demons? I thought you were all of the same cloth."
The Toad Saint shook his head, his gaze distant. "A thousand years ago, the Southern Region wasn't like it is now."
"Back then, the mountains were green, the waters were clear, and all things lived in harmony. It was I who was blinded by power. I was the one who turned this place into a hell."
"I am guilty, but the many demons of this land do not all deserve death."
The Toad Saint looked at Chen Zhou and bowed solemnly with hands cupped.
"Bone Temple Master, I wish to make a deal with you."
"I am willing to hand over these ten thousand miles of Southern Region territory, along with this seventh-stage venomous body I have cultivated for a thousand years."
"I can see that although you walk the path of white bones and act ruthlessly, you have your own vision and sense of order."
"Since you can tolerate three weak flower demons and allow paper people and skeletons to fight side by side, can you also accept the demons of my Southern Region?"
Chen Zhou’s expression was peculiar as he looked the Toad Saint up and down.
'Is this old toad trying to entrust his orphans to me?'
'He wants to dump this mess of the Southern Region on me?'
"Listen, friend, isn't that a bit much?" Chen Zhou curled his lip, looking disgusted. "I'm not some waste reclamation center that takes in any old scrap metal."
"Those monsters under you eat people without even spitting out the bones. What would I want with them?"
Faced with Chen Zhou’s mockery, the Toad Saint did not get angry. Instead, he nodded candidly.
"You are right. The Southern Region as it is now is indeed a mess."
"Those great demons who, like me, were consumed by desire deserve to die. Once you take over, whether you kill them or skin them alive, that is your right and a necessary means to cleanse this land."
At this, the Toad Saint broke into a heroic smile.
"Of course, empty words won't win your promise."
"I know you don't care for a handful of remnant soldiers, so I have included myself in the deal."
The Toad Saint pointed toward the north, a flash of killing intent in his eyes.
"Although you have suppressed the death qi in my body, my end is near."
"Rather than letting this seventh-stage demon body rot in the ground, it is better to let it serve one last purpose."
"In a few days, I will head to the Northern Region."
"The Moon-Swallowing Wolf Saint there is just like me—a gu insect planted with a death qi seed by Da Yuan five hundred years ago. But that old dog isn't as strong as me; he has already been completely eroded by the death qi."
"I am going to kill him."
When the Toad Saint said this, his tone was casual, as if he were merely going to visit a neighbor.
"I will drag that old dog, along with Da Yuan’s entire layout in the Northern Region, down to hell with me."
"At that time, the flesh and blood essence of two seventh-stage demon kings will be my pledge of loyalty to you."
"What do you think of this bargain?"
After hearing this, a flash of surprise finally crossed Chen Zhou’s eyes.
The old toad was ruthless—ruthless to himself and even more so to his enemies.
He didn't just want to die; he wanted to die with a world-shaking bang, making his death worth every bit of its value.
This was not a plea; it was a transaction that only the strong were qualified to participate in.
"Aren't you afraid I’ll take the benefits and not do the work?" Chen Zhou countered.
"You cultivate the Great Dao of Life and Death, which emphasizes the cycle of karma." The Toad Saint laughed, a very open laugh. "I believe in your character, and I believe even more in Sister Su Xue’s judgment."
"I only ask you..."
The Toad Saint’s voice was low and powerful. "If there are small demons who still harbor kindness and haven't completely lost themselves, can you leave them a path to live?"
"And Sister Su Xue—I have wronged her. I ask that you do not let her die in this chaos."
Having finished, the Toad Saint stared at Chen Zhou, saying no more, simply waiting for an answer.
Chen Zhou fell silent for a moment.
Then, he let out a light huff and turned around, his back to the Toad Saint.
"I was already in an invincible position."
"If one possesses a human heart, why care if they are demon or fiend?"
"Whether they can live... depends on themselves."
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