King of Assassins

Ksitigarbha King bared his teeth in a grin at Gao Xuan, a grin that was ferocious and sinister, completely lacking the demeanor of a Buddhist monk, resembling more a beast fresh from devouring prey.

"Your smile is quite unsightly."

Gao Xuan curiously asked, "So, have you changed into someone else again?"

This Ksitigarbha King before him, though identical in appearance to the previous one, had a distinctly different inner temperament, even the power he wielded was vastly different.

Ksitigarbha King put his hands together in greeting to Gao Xuan: "Thank you for your help. You’ve saved me a lot of effort."

"Oh, so you’re saying you’re not Ksitigarbha anymore?"

Upon hearing the statement, Gao Xuan roughly understood the situation.

Ksitigarbha King shook his head: "I am still Ksitigarbha, but the Ksitigarbha who vowed to save all evil spirits has died, and I am the Ksitigarbha that wants to turn all beings into evil spirits."

"That sounds much more ambitious."

Gao Xuan, with a scientific spirit, discussed with the other, "So, it’s the benevolence of Ksitigarbha that’s died, and the divinity and power are now ruled by malice?"

Ksitigarbha King thought for a while, then said: "Your interpretation is interesting; precisely speaking, I am Ksitigarbha’s demonic nature."

"So, you’ve been corrupted?"

Gao Xuan asked, "Has your strength increased?"

Ksitigarbha King laughed heartily: "Naturally. Benevolence was born later, reinforced by the precepts of Buddha Venerable, remaining unbeaten for thousands of years. But only one thin layer was left. Your palm shattered that benevolence and broke the last precept left by the Buddha Venerable. I’m free now."

Suddenly, Gao Xuan asked: "You said you wanted to thank me earlier, how do you intend to do so? A powerhouse like you wouldn’t express gratitude with just words, right?"

Ksitigarbha King was slightly taken aback by the question, a peculiar expression appeared on his ink-black face, and the dark red flames in his eyes dimmed slightly.

This question truly hadn’t occurred to him, nor had he anticipated that Gao Xuan would take his words seriously.

Ksitigarbha King thought for a moment, then said to Gao Xuan: "I’ll spare you a way out. How about that?"

"Okay."

Gao Xuan promptly waved his hand: "Farewell."

As he swept his sleeve, ready to leave this realm, an enormous dark red lotus flower rose in the void.

The gigantic unfolding lotus flower enveloped both Gao Xuan and Ksitigarbha King.

The dark red lotus wasn’t just enormous; its layers of petals formed a series of invisible spatial barriers, completely isolating Gao Xuan from the outside world.

The space covered by the dark red lotus also turned a shade of dark red, clusters of dark red flames danced in the air, causing the space’s temperature to rise continuously.

Gao Xuan turned to Ksitigarbha King, faintly frowning: "Breaking your word is a behavior I most detest."

Ksitigarbha King bore a sinister smile: "I just remembered, I am Demon Buddha; keeping one’s word is not what people like me do."

"I’m not afraid of you, just unwilling to fight."

Gao Xuan found Ksitigarbha King’s smile repugnant, "If that’s how you want it, I won’t hold back."

"What can you do?"

The dark red flames in Ksitigarbha King’s eyes suddenly surged, turning into two dark red lotus flowers.

World-Ending Red Lotus, nurtured by the endless filthy forces of the Abyss into a peerless Spiritual Object.

Even thousands of years ago, Ksitigarbha King succumbed to temptation and absorbed the World-Ending Red Lotus. His original intention was to absorb this lotus to transform into Buddhist sect cultivation and remove all corruptive forces from himself.

However, the World-Ending Red Lotus proved to be much stronger than he imagined. Powerhouses in the depths secretly scheming caused him to fall into the Demon Abyss, unable to resist.

Ksitigarbha King, although striving to maintain consciousness over the millennia, was mostly in a stupor, unaware of his actions.

Ksitigarbha King was aware of the irregularities in his condition, yet his cries for help remained unanswered, or responses perhaps unseen.

Millions of years ago, Ksitigarbha King discovered his demonic nature had transformed into an independent Divine Soul within himself. Though this independent demonic Divine Soul split from his original Divine Soul, it stood in complete opposition to his true nature.

Despite trying every method, Ksitigarbha King couldn’t rid himself of his demonic nature. Under Abyss’s corruption, his demonic nature instead grew stronger.

When Gao Xuan’s palm shattered his essence, the benevolence of Ksitigarbha King was completely destroyed. His split Divine Soul thus unified.

The current Ksitigarbha King inherited all memories and abilities of the original body, though his temperament had shifted entirely to another extreme.

Ksitigarbha King, regardless of Gao Xuan’s background or identity, since action was taken, he aimed to eliminate Gao Xuan. His grand wish was to turn all beings into evil spirits!

Ksitigarbha King urged the World-Ending Red Lotus True Flame, a dark red lotus flame abruptly ignited on Gao Xuan’s body, blossoming fiercely.

The World-Ending Red Lotus True Flame, pure to the extreme, tainted and toxic, specifically restrains all living beings in the heavens.

The stronger the opponent’s Divine Soul, the greater the power of the World-Ending Red Lotus True Flame.

Ksitigarbha King, seeing the impending annihilation of an exceptional Earth Immortal, felt triumphant, his face beginning to overflow with a sinister smile.

At this moment, the dark red lotus flame suddenly shattered, and a slender, jade-like hand pierced through the flame, pressing directly on Ksitigarbha King’s head.

Ksitigarbha King sensed something amiss, the flames around him suddenly intensified, and the World-Ending Red Lotus beneath him transformed into World-Ending True Flame.

"Foolish."

Within Gao Xuan’s clear voice, fierce unmatched Palm Force erupted, the fiery Ksitigarbha King and the burning World-Ending Red Lotus together shattered explosively.

No matter how intricate the law of the World-Ending Red Lotus True Flame, nor how formidable its power, it ultimately couldn’t withstand the infinite might unleashed by the Innate Primordial Chaos Dao Body.

The World-Ending Red Lotus, enveloping thousands of miles, completely collapsed. Ksitigarbha King’s Divine Soul projection was utterly annihilated.

The original body of Ksitigarbha King in the Abyss also awakened, he frowned, contemplating, already aware of what had transpired.

His original body constantly produced Divine Soul projections, each possessing the characteristics of the original body, perpetually rotating between benevolent and demonic paths.

Ksitigarbha King patted the monster beside him, which pricked up its ears to listen for a moment, its eyes filled with void, no longer seeing any existence.

Ksitigarbha King sighed: "Let the uninvited guest go."

The monster snorted and lay flat on the ground again.

Ksitigarbha King cast his gaze towards the Abyss below, where several massive tentacles kept flailing.

Beneath this tentacle creature, countless giant tentacles were waving.

These creatures, born from dead energy and resentful forces, couldn’t be killed, and possessed powerful corrosive Divine Soul powers.

Ordinary living beings merely glimpsing these creatures would instantly go mad.

Even Earth Immortals encircled by these creatures would eventually go mad.

Ksitigarbha King felt he had already gone mad, yet he held the Nirvana Pearl, unable to fully succumb.

Frequently, he teetered between madness and sanity, unsure of his own condition.

Consequently, his Divine Soul projections would appear erratic and act extremely bizarrely.

Ksitigarbha King persisted, awaiting intervention from the Buddha Venerable.

This chaotic state in the Abyss demanded the combined efforts of three Buddha Venerables to possibly regain control.

Ksitigarbha King maintained this hope, continually suppressing the Abyss.

Contemplating thus caused another dizzy spell, his gaze manifested an unidentifiable giant octopus.

The giant octopus boasted thousands of tentacles, each studded with eyes. A closer inspection revealed countless eyes staring intently at you.

Ksitigarbha King reflected a sinister smile simultaneously, murmuring to himself: "The heavens will inevitably collapse, the Abyss is where everything returns..."

The creature at Ksitigarbha King’s feet let out an eerie howl and its body twisted and deformed, morphing into a flabby creature.

Ksitigarbha King closed his eyes in silence for a while, then abruptly opened them again, his expression restored to clarity, hesitantly muttering to himself: "What just happened, seemed like someone entered the Netherworld Realm?"

The canine-like creature at Ksitigarbha King’s feet returned to its original form, raised its ears, and shook its head, indicating that nothing had happened.

Ksitigarbha King sighed deeply, "It’s hard to say when the Buddha Venerables might arrive; I’m afraid I can’t hold on much longer..."

Behind Ksitigarbha King, an enormous eyeball coldly watched him. Oblivious to this, Ksitigarbha King remained unaware.