Young Noble Be Monster Slaying
Chapter 1003: The Devil Descends (I)

Chapter 1003: The Devil Descends (I)

 

The sky was murky as if dyed with black ink, and the ground was covered in frost.

Suspended high above, Baize was constructing a colossal reincarnation wheel above the Vault of Heaven to redirect the countless ghosts into her Yin-Yang Realm. The reincarnation wheel would distribute the ghosts into different zones based on the resentment-filled qi shrouding them.

When Deity Pan created the mortal world, the realms of yin and yang were established. Ghosts from the realm of the living were supposed to enter the netherworld. That was the strict order of the Heavenly Law.

However, there were simply too many spirits of the dead. Even the almighty Heavenly Law could not process them all. Over time, inevitable lapses occurred.

Souls burdened with too much resentment could not enter the cycle of reincarnation that the Heavenly Law governed. They remained in the mortal world—an error in the operation of the Great Dao of the Heavens and the Earth. Since ancient times, countless yin entities had been left behind in the mortal world because of those lapses, and they turned into evil spirits.

Baize intended to copy the netherworld and construct a new one for those yin entities. She would collect all the ghosts that had slipped through the cracks and failed to enter the netherworld, preventing further disorder between yin and yang in the mortal realm.

In simple terms, whatever yin entities the netherworld didn't collect, she would.

In terms of the manpower necessary, just patching up that error was as difficult as reaching the heavens. If she could pull it off, she would be worthy of ascending to the Profound Realm and becoming a Hallowed One.

Creating a new netherworld was a massive undertaking. Thankfully, Chu Liang had offered Baize some assistance, sparing her from going around the world to catch ghosts. She could now fully focus on constructing the new netherworld. The Mount Shu Sect also contributed manpower and labor, so she wasn't alone in this fight.

"It's almost ready…" Baize muttered to herself, her eyes lighting up with joy.

The rumbling incarnation wheel finished sorting out the batch of ghosts for the trial run, but it got overloaded with yin qi and stopped working. Nevertheless, this was just the trial run, so it wasn't a big deal. She just needed to resolve any issues that popped up.

Once the reincarnation wheel was fully constructed, the base form of her netherworld would be ready. Then she just needed to direct all the yin entities into it. If everything worked smoothly, then her aspiration would be fulfilled.

The newly constructed reincarnation wheel was only an enchanted tool for temporary use. It was incapable of supporting the new netherworld in the long term. In Baize's plan, once she ascended to the ninth realm, she would upgrade it using materials that were close in quality to legendary artifacts. For now, however, she didn't have the ability to do that.

Meanwhile, the Heavenly Star Grand Ancestor's Star-Gathering Formation only required eighty-one days to complete. It had already been running for over seventy days. If nothing unexpected happened, it would definitely finish before the new netherworld in Baize's Yin-Yang Realm was ready.

So, Baize's biggest challenge wasn't building the new netherworld; it was the race against time. If she wanted to defeat the Heavenly Star Grand Ancestor, she had to pick up the pace.

She initially had no chance of winning against the Heavenly Star Grand Ancestor, but thanks to Chu Liang's strategy of buying ghosts, she now had a sliver of hope. That alone was no easy feat.

Everything else will depend on my own efforts.

Now, only the final step remains…

The Profound Realm was the peak of cultivation in the mortal world. Those who reached it would have their name etched into the annals of history. They might even transcend the world and achieve supreme glory.

Even with the fall of a Hallowed One like the Ancient Nameless Buddha, it did nothing to stop those on the brink of ascension from yearning for the ninth realm.

Baize was lost in her thoughts as she stared at the frost on the reincarnation wheel. Then a wave of blazing light suddenly flared behind her, melting the frost and snow falling from above.

Baize stiffened.

She immediately figured out who was in that blazing light, but it was too late for her to do anything. The fact that the person could enter her domain without a sound proved that the power he possessed far exceeded hers.

However, Baize was on the brink of ascension, so how could anyone in the world be so much more powerful than her? There was no one else it could be except the Noble Dharma, who was supposed to have fallen recently.

Baize turned around, and just as she expected, she saw a man floating in midair. He was dressed in an ancient Buddhist monk robe, and his skin gleamed like polished jade. Blazing sunlight radiated from him, making his surroundings look like an illusion.

Judging by his appearance, the man was indeed the Noble Dharma, just several decades younger. The spiritual qi flowing through him was terrifyingly powerful. Every time the Noble Dharma took a breath, Baize faintly sensed tsunami waves of spiritual qi rolling through his corporeal body.

It appeared that the Noble Dharma had yet to attain full control of his spiritual qi. That was why he could not fully integrate spiritual qi into his corporeal body, causing strands of spiritual qi to leak out in ripples.

"You fused with a ninth-realm body?" Baize asked warily, eyes fixed on him.

"That's right," the Noble Dharma answered. 

He raised his hand, and the light around him wavered, as if following a swaying sun.

He explained, "That day, when they destroyed my Tree of Longevity, I thought I was going to die. Fortunately, a sliver of my spirit sense escaped and latched onto this body. But it wouldn't accept me. Without a host, I would've perished within a day. Lucky for me, that fool Wuchao stole this body, intending to refine it. He used the power of chaotic mass to weaken the power of the primordial origin within it, and that gave me the chance to take possession of the body.

"I've returned to what rightfully belongs to me… this ninth-realm body."

As the Noble Dharma spoke, he made no effort to restrain the light radiating from him.

The ghosts in the Yin-Yang Realm were being held in check and were lined up quietly, waiting for their turn in the reincarnation wheel. However, under the glare of the Noble Dharma's blinding radiance, they let out anguished cries and disintegrated into wisps of green smoke.

The Noble Dharma continued, "My soul has now recovered. My cultivation level surpasses even that of Evil Ksitigarbha at his peak. Baize… perhaps the fate of this world favors you, but what a pity for you—"

"This body belongs to the Ancient Nameless Buddha. You're nothing more than a devil who stole it after straying from the righteous path," Baize said coldly. "You have no claim to it."

The Noble Dharma shook his head and laughed coldly, "Hah. Call it becoming a devil or a buddha. I no longer care. All that once belonged to me, I will take back. Everything I left behind in this world back then, I'll be taking it with me this time."

Boom!

Before the Noble Dharma finished speaking, Baize had already torn open a passage in the Yin-Yang Realm. A white gateway split the air, and she darted toward it in a flash, attempting to escape. However, the Noble Dharma struck like lightning, shooting a beam of golden light through Baize!

Still, Baize persisted and burst out of her Yin-Yang Realm with a thunderous boom. Once she was out, the Yin-Yang Realm quickly began to warp. All the yin entities inside flickered with layers of black and white light before exploding violently.

Under Baize's control, the balance of yin and yang within that realm collapsed. The entities trapped in the chaos were torn apart between the forces of yin and yang, dying gruesome deaths.

Baize showed no hesitation in destroying the Yin-Yang Realm she had painstakingly built. From the very beginning of their conversation, she had resolved to attack the Noble Dharma by destroying the Yin-Yang Realm!

Nonetheless, things were never that simple.

The Noble Dharma was supposed to meet the same fate as the other entities within the Yin-Yang Realm. The black and white lights flickered repeatedly, but all they could do was swirl around him. They couldn't penetrate even half a step past his golden protective barrier.

"Fighting so desperately right until the end," the Noble Dharma said with a cold snort.

He took a step forward, turned into golden light, and vanished.

All that remained was a crumbling realm, torn apart by raging tides of yin and yang qi.

…

The moment Baize appeared above Mount Shu, she shouted, "Run!"

There was no time to explain. She knew the turbulent waves of yin and yang qi couldn't kill the Noble Dharma. All she could do was urge the Mount Shu disciples to flee.

It was midday, the time when Mount Shu was at its liveliest. The seas of clouds revolved around Mount Shu, along with countless beams of light. On Red Cotton Peak in particular, the light trails of cultivators flying to and fro had woven a sparkling web across the sky.

The moment Baize shouted her warning, the peaceful atmosphere disappeared. An unknown force blasted Red Cotton Peak away, pushing it out of the sea of clouds in the blink of an eye.

The other peaks didn't move, but the disciples on them swiftly dove into the sea of clouds to hide their presence. There were safe zones and escape paths hidden beneath the sea of clouds.

After just two breaths' worth of time, the Noble Dharma emerged, and the bustling and noisy Mount Shu had gone completely still.

Even someone with a lifespan of tens of thousands of years like him couldn't help but be surprised. Just how many times had this sect been destroyed in the past to develop such a rapid evacuation speed?

Nevertheless, his target hadn't escaped.

He had struck Baize with a beam of golden light earlier, and now, half her body was gone. A horrifying hole stretched from her left chest down to her abdomen, and strands of golden light nibbled away at her flesh like venomous worms.

Despite Baize's cultivation level, she couldn't even spread her spiritual qi over the wound to heal it. She knew she wouldn't get far in her current state even if she tried to flee. If the Noble Dharma caught her, that would be the end for her. Staying at Mount Shu might offer her one last chance at survival.

Sure enough, before the Noble Dharma could attack Baize again, the prow of a bronze ship came plunging down from the clouds!

Rumble.

Whenever there was war, the Mount Shu Sect's Vessel of God would always be the first legendary artifact to arrive. Shattering the void, it descended in full force.

Nonetheless, the Noble Dharma didn't even bother turning to look at the ship. His eyes flashed with brilliant light. In the next instant, he surged forward as a beam of golden light, charging straight at Baize!