Mount Sumeru’s Great Bodhisattva Mingzhi perished more than five hundred years ago!

Mingzhi’s senior brother, Xingnian’s master, the revered Zen Master Minghong, who was widely expected to attain Buddhahood, entered the demon realm nine times during his lifetime, each attempt proving futile. His lifespan was prematurely exhausted, and the cause of his demise was directly linked to the Heard Bell. Before Mingzhi and Minghong, generations of monks from Mount Sumeru had met their end pursuing this very bell. How many had perished for its sake?

The supreme treasure of the mountain gate, how could it be reclaimed after a hundred generations?

Xingnian, a renowned Divine Diviner known throughout the realms, a Great Bodhisattva who cultivated the *Future Star Host Tribulation Sutra*, had deliberately withheld the fruits of his cultivation for five hundred years. His sole purpose was this very day: to pen a certain future and, for the sacrifice of Mount Sumeru’s successive generations of monks, add the final, complete stroke.

The thirteen scattered volumes of the *Buddha Says Fifty-Eight Chapters* contained content that he had personally altered. Every single correction was a strategic move, paving the way for the reclamation of the Heard Bell.

The will of Heaven is capricious, and karma is impossible to fully calculate. Moreover, this Divine Firmament Gambit involved the intricate machinations of countless peak powerhouses. To discern the interwoven threads within this web was a task of ten thousand difficulties.

Of the thirteen chapters scattered throughout the demon world, only these three had finally found their way into the Divine Firmament Land. But with these three chapters, it was already enough.

This current moment was the absolute optimal time.

Move a step forward, and the Divine Firmament Gambit would only be nascent; the layouts of other players would be exceedingly difficult to discern, the variables far too numerous.

Move a step backward, and the contention for the Heard Bell would already be settled. Even if he shattered the board and won everything, it would be difficult to reclaim the bell.

At this precise moment, Ji Xingkong and Chan Fayuan were locked in fierce combat. The timing for other players to harvest their pieces was not yet ripe. The disparity between the time in the Divine Firmament Land and the time in the demon world had created this labyrinth of time, providing sufficient opportunity to seize the bell.

Regardless of whether it was Hu Taisui, Luximing, Ji Xingkong, or Chan Fayuan, none of them had the opportunity to enter the gambit at this moment. Only the power of Great Bodhisattvas like Ji Xingkong and Chan Fayuan, being untraceable, had created a necessary gap in this gambit.

He employed his means, compressing the timeline of the plot, and leaving this gap for Zhuyi’s karma. If Zhuyi chose not to come, considering her own layout, that was fine. He would simply depart with the Heard Bell. If Zhuyi dared to enter the gambit, he would kill her, fulfilling the regret of his martial uncle Mingzhi’s demise five hundred years ago.

Tracing back time and repeating the battle situation was made possible by borrowing the wreckage of the *Flying Light* treasure ship and the unique nature of the Divine Firmament Land – these were things he had already discerned in the future. Borrowing momentum to create a layout was precisely his specialty.

At this moment, reversing karma, exchanging the cage for the bird, and detaining Zhuyi’s true essence here was the true display of his strength.

Zhuyi was most skilled in the arts of puppetry and sealing; in the past, she hadn’t deeply understood the path of karma. It was only after Zhu Lanyuo was born and she began researching the divine ability of the Lan Yin Xu Guo that she started to ponder it somewhat. Of course, this ‘not too understand’ still meant she wouldn’t lose to idle true demons who merely researched this path. She could even utilize it for a layout in the Divine Firmament Land, echoing with Zhu Lanyuo, who was personally present within it.

But this level of karma path, compared to Zen Master Xingnian, who had observed karma for a long time and spied upon the future, was no different from someone showing off their meager skills before an expert.

For Zhuyi, karma was merely the conduit for descending power. The manipulation of Zhuyong’s headless corpse and the weaving of ten thousand spider silks for sealing were where her true power lay.

But at this moment, the importance of karma was magnified; karma had already been inverted. Zhuyi’s ‘coming’ had changed to ‘going’. Her true body remained in Moyun City, yet her true essence was detained here. To kill this essence body was akin to killing Zhuyi herself!

The illusory head of Zhuyi temporarily replaced Zhuyong’s head. Her power still resided in the demon world and could not be fully summoned forth. But her true essence was unexpectedly locked within the very body she manipulated. This was the cause of her taking action, and she was now reaping the bitter fruit of a trapped beast!

The terrifying divine ability of the Lan Yin Xu Guo, with which Zhu Lanyuo was born, was merely something Zen Master Xingnian had casually stirred and arbitrarily woven.

And that large golden hand that had grasped the Heard Bell’s shadow into a small bell, this time, it swung open the golden threads entwined upon its five fingers, clenching into a fist. Within the descending fist, the sound of a bell echoed – that was the call from Gudan Mountain to the Heard Bell.

But it was all suppressed within the heart of the fist.

This fist descended.

Instantly, it shattered the solidified space and broke Zhuyi’s path seals. Afterward, ten thousand dried silks wove into a golden threads kasaya.

The fist descended like a divine mountain, the kasaya subdued the demon!

But since Zhuyi had chosen to place a piece in the Divine Firmament Gambit, since she had chosen to allow Zhu Lanyuo to enter the gambit, how could she expect to gain without preparation? Even though the timing was not yet ripe, and the matter she sought could not be achieved, her prepared means were still in place.

That Zen Master Xingnian had stolen the *Buddha Says Fifty-Eight Chapters* from the Tianyao Pavilion and spent five hundred years laying a piece for this gambit was indeed beyond her expectations, and no one among the several Tianyao in Moyun City had anticipated it. Zen Master Xingnian’s ability to reverse karma, exchange the cage for the bird, and capture her true essence was an even more unfathomable divine ability.

But to say that Zhuyi was thus without the ability to resist would be an underestimation of a Tianyao! At this moment.

That Zhu Lanyuo, who had cut down Zhuyong with qin strings and possessed an appearance of exquisite beauty, had been playing the qin ever since Zhuyi completed the manipulation of Zhuyong’s corpse and her voice resounded within the Divine Firmament Land. She was playing a tune called ‘High Mountain Flowing Water’.

She was using her own power to borrow upon the karma of her ancestor Zhuyi.

And at this moment, suddenly, her ten fingers pressed down, the qin sound stopped, and blood stained the seven strings! Exquisitely beautiful as she was, with a panicked yet resolute posture, she stood up, held the seven-stringed qin inverted, and fiercely smashed it towards the azure giant stone by the spring.

The qin strings scraped against the azure stone, emitting a ‘beng beng’ zheng sound.

Very heavy, very mournful, very painful! All seven strings broke, and the qin body also shattered. From the cracks in the qin body, dense wood fibers could still be seen, entangled with each other, as if reluctant to part. This was truly a top-quality qin.

What a pity this destruction! But looking at the beautiful woman’s resolve in smashing the qin, the firmness in her eyebrows and eyes.

What was there to pity? The world held no bosom friend, so the strings were broken.

With this mournful sound, the Heard was awakened! The shadow of the Heard Bell, wrapped within the heart of the fist, seemed to ring out again.

But it was still firmly suppressed.

The Heard Bell was originally the supreme treasure of Mount Sumeru. Although it had been enshrined in Gudan Mountain for ten million years, the monks of Mount Sumeru were far too familiar with this bell and had too many methods to counter it. That huge golden fist did not cease its pressure for even a single breath due to the bell sound.

It pounded down like a mountain cover.

*Ka cha!* The illusory head of Zhuyi seemed to be truly pressed down by an inch. Zhuyong’s headless corpse was already showing clear cracks from which blood was spurting.

But at just this inch, it stopped.

Beneath the golden fist, above Zhuyi’s cloud chignon, a thin water bubble quietly formed. Within the water bubble was half an inch of water, still as a calm wave. The fist pressed it down, pressed it down, yet it could not break through.

The sound that covered the bell’s ringing was a ‘gu gu gu’ sound of water.

The sound of bubbles from the spring eye! No matter how Zhu Lanyuo hid her cultivation, no matter how outstanding her talent, she was merely a Demon King in cultivation. It was absolutely impossible for her to participate in a struggle of this level.

But the Not Old Spring could!

Just as Zen Master Xingnian had created his layout by borrowing the wreckage of the *Flying Light* treasure ship, becoming successful by borrowing momentum. Zhuyi’s layout also involved borrowing power, borrowing from the already dead Not Old Spring. The Not Old Spring, having already lost its spirituality, possessed a kind of divine decay power, transitioning from the extreme of life to the extreme of death.

Within the entire Divine Firmament Gambit, there were six competing teams, twelve young demons. Zhu Lanyuo was the first to find the Not Old Spring, the first to arrive here.

She had already completed the relevant layout. At this moment, she was merely using a hidden hand prematurely. The so-called smashing of the qin strings was a mournful sound to summon the Heard.

It wasn’t the Heard Bell she was summoning, but the Heard of the Not Old Spring!

Within the passage of time, an aged, decayed voice sighed thus.

“The Not Old Spring is dead. Who in the world speaks of longevity?”

“How many years have all of you been born?”

“How much life have you gained?”

“How much joy?”

“How much suffering… cough cough cough! Suffering too!”

This voice did not exist in the present but in a certain segment of history. It seemed to be the sigh of a certain witness during the decline of the Not Old Spring.

After this absolute sound of smashing the qin strings with a single sound.

History’s sigh, a sigh for those who came after to hear.

That Not Old Spring, whose water was still and waveless, opened up ripple after ripple. From the center point of those dense ripples, endless, divine decay power emitted.

“Great Master, look again!” Zhuyi lifted her eyes and said, “Life is determined by Heaven. Why must you force it?”

The divine decay power of the Not Old Spring was being continuously channeled by her. The water bubble suspended above her head seemed to reflect countless illusions within it. There were humans, demons, beasts, flowers, birds, insects, and fish, diverse and all dissolving.

And at the same time, the golden giant fist pressing down on the water bubble was unexpectedly dripping golden liquid, which was rapidly dissolving! Zen Master Xingnian wanted to extinguish her true essence; she would then use the power of the Not Old Spring to first dissolve Zen Master Xingnian’s remaining life!

Dimly, Zen Master Xingnian’s voice echoed again: “Is this your prepared means, Zhuyi?”

“Old yet not old, born yet not born, Lan Yin Xu Guo, all former ties ending in a dream is a wonderful dharma!”

“It is a pity that I have already seen one step ahead!”

Zhuyong’s headless hand grasped that volume of the *Buddha Says Fifty-Eight Chapters*, and suddenly began to turn the pages. Although half of it was tightly grasped, the other half continuously turned upwards. Every page was turning. That kind of violent force was like countless giant dragons overturning heaven and earth within his palm, wanting to shatter the universe. Zhuyi could only hold it with all her effort.

But the other two volumes of the *Buddha Says Fifty-Eight Chapters*, suspended high in the air, also began to slowly turn their pages. The Sanskrit characters from the book jumped out one by one. Like warriors charging, vying for the forefront, they rapidly gathered behind the golden giant fist.

Accumulating earth to form a mountain, accumulating water to form a river, accumulating characters to form a golden body. For many years, Zen Master Xingnian had decomposed himself, turning into tiny particles, hiding within these numerous characters. At this moment, those golden Sanskrit characters molded into golden arms, a golden torso, golden legs, a golden head, and even eyebrows, and even a nose, lips, and even a mouth and ears.

Lifelike, vivid, with a benevolent Buddha nature.

Zen Master Xingnian’s true appearance, in the form of this golden body statue, appeared before the crowd of demons for the first time. He was quite handsome, his nose like a towering mountain, his Buddha eyes deep. Especially his shiny bald head, like a mirror reflecting the world. Jiang Wang felt a sense of intimacy and immediately wanted to step out and strike up a friendship, but gave up, fearing it would affect Zen Master Xingnian’s battle.

Zen Master Xingnian’s golden body statue was suspended high in the air, and the process of the golden giant fist dissolving also stopped thus! The golden liquid that had already dripped down paved the ground golden.

Golden bricks pave the ground, the Buddha ancestor lectures the sutra.

Then this single fist grasped even tighter.

More real, more profound. The bones and joints were clearer, the textures more distinct! *Hong hong hong!* The sound of the fist bones moving seemed to be that of a mountain moving.

Zen Master Xingnian was suspended high in the middle of the divine mountain, pushing his fist downwards. The fist had five peaks! All five peaks displayed characters.

Dense, engraved in gold and carved in jade, it was a large sutra.

No need to look closely, the characters already leaped into the eyes.

Its characters said: If one cultivates good fortune, it will arrive.
If one commits evil, disaster will be summoned.
The reason is clear and bright.
Yet few believe and awaken.
Since born together in this five turbid evil world.
The five aggregates cause troubles, the three poisons flourish.
The wheel of birth and death turns endlessly.
In the time when the former Buddha was in the world.
The number of people was like the sands of the Ganges.

This is, the *Future Star Host Tribulation Dry Buddha Names Sutra*!

Its majestic voice resounded: “Not Old Spring, Not Old Spring!”

“This present world’s treasure, how many years has it been in the demon world?” The fist fell down unstoppably again, Zen Master Xingnian’s voice like a heavenly drum.

“Today is a good day, now the good karma is exhausted.”

“To me, when will you return!” That water bubble, hooked and connected to the power of the Not Old Spring, was thus shattered by a single punch, water spraying everywhere, waves rolling, unexpectedly surging into a river in the air. Zhuyong and Zhuyi’s heads were soaked, appearing extremely wretched.

Zhuyi was originally in a severely injured and unrecovered state. Her layout within the Divine Firmament Gambit was merely borrowing force and momentum. Now, her true body was still isolated outside the Divine Firmament Gambit, with only her true essence residing in this body, fundamentally insufficient for a full display.

Before the full burst of Zen Master Xingnian’s power, her struggle seemed powerless! At this very moment, Zen Master Xingnian did not immediately follow up with another punch to kill Zhuyi, but calmly turned his body and punched the void.

The crowd of demons was terrified!

However, they saw that a huge gully was blasted out of the void. They could not see what was on the other side, only that the heavenly wind was like knives, killing souls and extinguishing spirits, the abyss endless, the depth beyond measure.

Only Zhuyi could see clearly that this was a segment of ‘distance’, the distance between the Divine Firmament Land and the present world, unexpectedly manifested by Zen Master Xingnian in such a manner. From ‘nothing’, he had given birth to ‘something’ within endless possibilities, finding such a possibility! Although it was said that the Divine Firmament Land was extremely special, although it was said that karma was always difficult to measure, although it was said that the *Future Star Host Tribulation Sutra*’s fame spread far and wide.

But this was truly unbelievable! Even with her Tianyao’s eyesight, she was temporarily startled! Although the other shore could not be seen, one could imagine that the Ten Thousand Demons Gate should be standing there. Because to exit from the demon world, there were no other possibilities. Either the Chaos Sea or the Ten Thousand Demons Gate. All other possibilities had already been cut off by human race powerhouses in past times.

Although Zen Master Xingnian had gone from the demon world to the Divine Firmament Land and then to the present world, it could still be considered coming out of the demon world. Hence, he would eventually have to pass through the Ten Thousand Demons Gate. But it was fortunate that he had traversed the vast land of the demon world, shaking off the interception of countless demon race powerhouses within the vast world.

However, this segment of distance between the Divine Firmament Land and the present world, although it had been blasted out and manifested here, was also a huge gully, vast and immeasurable from top to bottom, this shore unable to see the distant other shore. It was an eternal heavenly barrier, difficult to cross even for birds, a sorrow to attempt passage between life and death.

How would Zen Master Xingnian fly across?

This thought, this doubt had just arisen, and it was instantly extinguished by the surging waters of the Not Old Spring. Zhuyi suddenly discovered that the extreme death and divine decay power she had designed to channel from the Not Old Spring had all returned to the spring water and was now pouring into the huge gully in the void.

The Not Old Spring water was like a heavenly river, filling and burying the space between the heavenly barrier. The level of the heavenly river water rose, and looking now, one unexpectedly couldn’t see the depth of the heavenly barrier! That terrifying gully, caused by recklessly grasping the future and manifesting distance, was filled and buried by Zhuyi’s backup plan. Zen Master Xingnian had calculated deeply, but unexpectedly, he had allowed Zhuyi, a dignified Tianyao, to act like a child playing, building a staircase in vain! But the decayed water of the Not Old Spring might not be so easy to wade through. The extreme death and divine decay power, coupled with the immeasurable danger of the heavenly barrier, would cause even a Yandao Zhenjun great hardship.

If Zen Master Xingnian recklessly became involved with the water’s edge and used his means slightly, perhaps he could kill her halfway. But the Demon Kings in the field were all insufficient to be used. One could only see if Moyun City’s side would arrive in time to break the time labyrinth.

Zhuyi was just thinking,

When she saw Zen Master Xingnian’s golden giant fist blast upwards again. This time, it didn’t open any heavenly barrier, but from within its secret depths, a copper bell fell! Around the ancient copper bell, the faint voices of many monks reciting sutras still lingered.

This bell grew as it saw the wind, falling into the heavenly river and transforming into a ferry boat. Zen Master Xingnian opened the golden giant fist, and the Heard Bell’s shadow, tightly grasped within the heart of the fist, flew down onto this ferry boat, turning into the boat’s sail.

On the demon world’s side, the monks of Gudan Mountain, unknowingly, vigorously called for the Heard Bell. Yet they were confused by the karma within the time labyrinth, helping Zen Master Xingnian from within its secret depths, pushing the Heard Bell out, transforming it into the ferry boat of this moment to assist him in crossing the heavenly river and returning to the present world!

Zen Master Xingnian had simply calculated everything, leaving no stone unturned. Zhuyi finally understood at this moment what was meant by ‘today is a good day for the good karma to return’! It was on this very day that the Not Old Spring returned, the Heard Bell returned, and Zen Master Xingnian also returned!