Yin Qi, along with souls, came from all directions, pouring into the Yin World, and also infected the earth veins of the Mountain of Mind and Heart.

In the Buddha Country Sacred Land, a mysterious and chilling ghostly aura suddenly appeared, causing each major sect on the Mountain of Mind and Heart to take action to suppress it. Streams of Buddha Light permeated, with Buddha's energy directly surging into the earth veins.

"Amitabha."

One by one, the Dharma Manifestations rose from the towering mountains; among them, a Bodhisattva Dharma Image, red in color, with the left hand resting on the Sun Wheel, the right hand holding a Manjusri Red Flower, as soon as it appeared, shone with Buddha Light, sweeping away the chilling ghostly aura.

However, when the Buddha Light entered the earth veins, it was repelled by an Invisible Power, unable to affect the layered ghostly shadows.

Nowadays, apart from the Awakened, there was not a single third or fourth-rank within the Mountain of Mind and Heart. The Wetu Bodhisattva responsible for fighting as a protector alongside the Eight Heavenly Dragons and Great Power Bodhisattva were also carrying out protective duties outside, sweeping away the heterodox and demons.

The Fire House Buddha Hell and the heterodox arose together, bewildering the people of the Buddha Country, precisely when the Dharma Protector Divine Generals should fulfill their duties. Thus, among the fourth-rank Buddhism within the Mountain of Mind and Heart, there was only the Sunlight Bodhisattva.

The Heavenly Monarch secretly incited, sending thousands of residual souls and ghost spirits into the Yin World, rendering the Sunlight Bodhisattva's formidable skills completely unable to obstruct the Heavenly Monarch's methods.

Even with both Weitu and Guangli Bodhisattvas present, the three could only suppress the ghost energy and could not affect the earth veins.

Within the Buddha Country, only the Awakened has such capabilities.

However, the No Buddha Temple remained silent.

At this moment, the Awakened still calmly sat cross-legged under the Bodhi Tree, unmoved by the changes in the Mountain of Mind and Heart.

He "watched" the winding Candle Dragon like a mountain range, while the projection of the Great Venerable also watched him.

"Not going to take action?" The red Dragon God emitted a low voice.

"No need to take action."

The Awakened said indifferently, "The Mazer has already done what he could do; the rest depends on Jiang Tanyue's own fortune. Besides, the Great Venerable and another have already made up their minds to act and naturally wouldn't disregard the possibility of the Mazer intervening."

Even though the Great Venerable had cut off divination and obscured cause and effect, the Awakened had already sensed the trace of another.

In such a situation, even if the Awakened had powers capable of reaching the heavens, it would be difficult to intervene in Jiang Li's matters.

If anything, his intervention would be less effective than non-intervention. The Awakened's constant calm observation compelled the Great Venerable and the Heavenly Monarch to be cautious.

Though, despite this, the Awakened's mental state of remaining unchanged in the face of a mountain collapse is still admirable. When it concerns one's own progress, how many in this world can stay steady and unmoved?

Beside him, Hui Neng listened to the Awakened's words, and thinking of the Great Venerable and another Supreme watching closely, felt his mind shaken, his face changing drastically, yet he managed to maintain his mental state and remained calm.

For that, the Awakened showed a slight expression of approval on his calm face.

He did not use his mind to converse with the Great Venerable but instead voiced it out loud, perhaps intending to test the disciple's disposition.

"The Awakened's calmness makes it difficult for my humble self to see the capabilities of the Heavenly Monarch and the Awakened," echoed the Candle Dragon's voice.

"Then, let my humble self watch with the Awakened to see what fortune my humble brother possesses?"

······

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On the other side, in Jiuhua Temple.

At the moment when Yin Qi changed, Jiang Li had already sensed it, but at that moment, he found it difficult to disengage.

A vast surge of Primordial Qi poured into the half-face of the Heavenly Mirror, the Heart of the Supreme reflected the other world, grasping the changes in the world within the Divine Realm, Jiang Li attempted to achieve Unity of Heaven and Man through the Heavenly Mirror, to leave a mark.

He had basically confirmed that the region shown in the mirror was the Heaven realm, and confirmed this path was feasible.

If it were before the End of Dharma, with all gods and Buddhas present, Jiang Li's actions would surely face the onslaught of a myriad of gods. His actions, fundamentally, are no different from what Sun Monkey did back in the day, it's all about "taking turns to be the Emperor, and next year it's my turn."

Jiang Li, however, even more so than Sun Wukong, violated more taboos.

Sun Wukong merely talked about it, but Jiang Li actually intended to do it.

However, now it was the Five Turbid Evil World, immortals, Buddhas, gods, and demons all had fallen, and in the vast Heaven realm, no one could stop Jiang Li, allowing him to gradually achieve Heaven and Man as one.

The only one who could pose an obstacle to Jiang Li was Heaven, yet Heaven was ruthless and selfless, showed its form through the Heavenly Eye, but never interfered with Jiang Li's actions. Even after exchanging a glance with Jiang Li, the Heavenly Eye dissipated of its own accord, fading into invisibility.

Since then, Heaven had never appeared again.

This was its appropriate behavior.

In those days, when the three clans joined hands to create Heaven, it was to protect the three clans, to protect the Human Race, not really to create one grand imposing figure to oppress them.

Heaven was indeed invincible, but to prevent it from going out of control, the three clans had long set up restrictions.

For this reason, the Heavenly Monarch dared to covet Heaven, going so far as to indulge in the mad fantasy of a serpent swallowing an elephant.

Yet Jiang Li still remembered his previous discoveries, suspecting Heaven might not be so simple, thus staying vigilant lest Heaven suddenly make a grand move against him.

However, Heaven didn't deliver a grand stroke to Jiang Li, but rather, another significant event is approaching.

The Yin Qi suddenly increased, with the sound of thousands of ghosts crying and gods wailing. Numerous souls intruded into Jiang Li's perception. At the same time, he could sense that another Yin World was approaching, and the boundaries between the two realms were about to reconnect.

After half a month, Earth Uncle found another opportunity, even thinking he could face the third grade without fear of obstruction.

"Woof!"

A red figure rushed into the Buddhist temple, Xiao Tian came with an obvious sense of urgency, and before even standing firm, transmitted the message with his Divine Sense in one go.

In Jiang Li's mind, a scene appeared of the Awakened deducing the future and conversing with someone nonexistent.

Clearly, Xiao Tian was present during the Awakened's deduction and overheard the Awakened's words.

And the Awakened also concealed Xiao Tian's presence, making it so that the Great Venerable could not detect Xiao Tian at all. The Great Venerable was able to intercept the deduction, but the Awakened secretly used methods during the conversation to cover up Xiao Tian's presence.

He had indeed intervened.

"You're quite clever."

After receiving the memories sent by Xiao Tian, Jiang Li approvingly patted the dog's head.

Not directly transmitting messages with Divine Sense in the No Buddha Temple greatly reduced the risk of being detected. At such a close range, Xiao Tian transmitting messages unfavorable to the Great Venerable would likely be sensed.

This dog finally knew how to use its mind for righteousness this time, rather than thinking of being a lackey for three families.

"My dear brother, you indeed knew…"

Jiang Li shook his head.

Long before he commenced his advancement half a month ago, Jiang Li had already considered the possibility of the Great Venerable intervening to stop him. If Jiang Li advanced to Emperor Yan, then the idea of accommodating the Emperor Dao Fruit would naturally fall through.

If the Great Venerable knew of this matter, he definitely wouldn't hold back.

However, Jiang Li himself was not afraid of divination, and with the Awakened's assistance concealing traces, he was actually hoping that the Great Venerable might not discover it in time.

Unfortunately, reality was not as he wished, and the Great Venerable still detected it.

Furthermore, a Heavenly Monarch also made a move.

"Secretly going to the Buddha Country, only to be obstructed by a Daoist Lord. Investigating the Yin World of the Yin Law Department just as Earth Uncle was also seeking this place, there were too many unexpected variables—it all feels like catching Shen Hou's bad luck."

Jiang Li shook his head helplessly, but his gaze fell upon the Karma Collection.

Rather than catching Shen Hou's ill fortune, he felt the root cause lay in the Karma Collection.

The side effect of the Karma Collection gathering causes and effects is that the surrounding causes and effects converge on Jiang Li, forcing situations upon him. Both good and bad things stick to him, in some ways making Jiang Li himself like a Plague God.

As he pondered, Jiang Li reached out, flipping the Karma Collection to a certain page, his gaze darkening as he looked at the text above.

"Ultimately, it still has to——"

"Boom!"

A sudden explosive sound interrupted, followed by the sound of tearing fabric, covering Jiang Li's self-talk.

A vast tear was ripped open in the sky outside the Buddhist temple, from which a powerful suction appeared, drawing countless souls into it.

"Wherever I am, there is the Nether Capital."

Even more terrifying Yin energy surged out than before, a pair of bloody hands clutching the rift, tearing it open, revealing a tiger head with sharp horns emerging.

The sound of howling emanated from the tiger's mouth, and with a single inhale, a large portion of souls vanished into its maw.

Subsequently, the tear spread to its limits, reaching several hundred zhang from top to bottom. The grand and mountain-like Netherworld God stepped out, and as its bull-like hooves stomped the ground, the scriptures manifested in Jiuhua Temple instantly shattered.

"You think you can still stop this old man, young one?"

The bull-formed Earth Uncle with a tiger head stepped into the Yin World where Jiuhua Temple was located. Shadows spread from beneath its feet, quickly occupying most of the square, where the vast, surging Yin energy of the underworld intertwined with the Yin energy of this world, causing the rift to spontaneously expand.

In the square, King Zhuanlun sat cross-legged on an animal-shaped stone statue, the Six Paths Roulette manifesting behind him, his expression unprecedentedly grave.

Excluding the Daoist Lords of uncertain ages, Earth Uncle might indeed be the eldest among the contemporary third grades.

He was a Ghost Cultivator, not subject to the depletion of vitality, with the Divine Skills of the Nether Capital, and no need to worry about erosion from the Five Vile Qi.

Lifespan would not be a concern for Earth Uncle, allowing him to focus his mind on the Dao Fruit, having long achieved Dao Fruit Perfection, further advancing his power by mastering the Yin Talisman Scripture this time.

Even if King Zhuanlun himself hid deeply, he could not possibly be a match for Earth Uncle.

The gap between the two was simply too vast.

Before King Zhuanlun could fully contemplate, the Nether Capital approached, its sinister momentum descending directly.

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