Dragon-Marked War God

As for searching for the God Suppressing Monument, the fewer people together the better. With their current strength, even if they ran into the legendary Reincarnated Living Buddha, they were confident they could defeat him. Why would they need more people getting in the way?

“Amitabha.”

Yuan Qing the Enlightened nodded and pressed his palms together. Everyone had their own aspirations. Being together did not necessarily mean they would gain anything. Since the people of Tianluo Temple wanted to leave, they could not stop them.

After the Arhat Hall dissipated, the group lost any chance of cooperating. Everyone went their own way. A force like this, no matter how many experts it had, was just a heap of loose sand. Tianluo Temple and Zhongsheng Temple had no intention of cooperating in the first place. It was only because the places where the storm gathered were close to each other that they had entered together. To say they had truly joined forces was impossible. They had only one goal. The power of the God Suppressing Monument was beyond doubt, and its significance to the entire Buddhist Realm was also extremely profound.

Jiang Chen and the others continued forward. Inside the Great Thunderclap Temple, everything was peaceful and serene, except that there was not the slightest trace of life anywhere between heaven and earth. It could be said that the world here was like a beautiful painted scroll. Mountains, rivers, streams, grass and trees, everything was there, except for any sign of life.

On the high mountains stood jade palaces and towers. Waterfalls plunged a thousand zhang, and rainbows spanned the clear waters and the long sky.

In the distance, a palace that flickered in and out of sight emerged once again. The clouds and mist parted, and the world suddenly opened up. An ink-black hall appeared at the top of the void. Everyone flew up and headed straight for that enormous black palace. From the sky above, an unparalleled pressure came crashing down. Jiang Chen felt as though the whole world was pressing down on him. Everyone felt the same. It was as if heaven was falling and the earth was splitting, with all things bearing down on them.

The black palace gave off an extremely domineering feeling. It did not even feel like a Buddhist hall full of peace. But everyone still braved the enormous pressure and rushed toward the black hall, wanting to find out what it was.

Although the six people from before had disappeared into the void without anyone knowing how, no one knew where that Arhat Hall had gone in the end. It had vanished without a trace like an autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves, taking several Late Hierarch experts with it. Yet the black hall was like an invisible treasure trove, drawing everyone in, making them all want to find out what was inside.

The Buddhist Realm of the ancient world was an unsolved mystery to anyone, let alone the Great Thunderclap Temple, the number one place in the Divine World that had vanished hundreds of millions of years ago yet still filled people with deep longing.

It was not only Jiang Chen who was curious about the rise, fall and destruction of the Buddhist Realm. Even the people of Zhongsheng Temple wanted to know what had happened hundreds of millions of years ago, the past that had led to the destruction of the entire Buddhist Realm. It had been an era that could not be described, and it remained an unsolved mystery of the Buddhist Realm.

“What a terrifying aura of death.”

“Yeah, just what kind of hall is this?”

“These are characters from ancient Buddhist scriptures. Eminent monks of Zhongsheng Temple, what hall is this exactly?”

Everyone looked solemnly at the three experts of Zhongsheng Temple, Yuan Qing, Yuan De and Yuan Bao.

“Amitabha, this is… the Hall of Ksitigarbha!”

Yuan Qing the Enlightened said with a grave expression.

“The Hall of Ksitigarbha?”

“Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva? This is a hall of a Bodhisattva. There wouldn’t happen to be some incredibly powerful treasure inside, would there?”

“Hard to say. Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva is the Bodhisattva said to control the punishments of the underworld. He’s one of the most powerful Bodhisattvas in the Buddhist Realm.”

“Then should we go in and take a look or not?”

Everyone was filled with fear and unease. Because the Arhat Hall had quietly vanished earlier, they had already developed a fear of these Buddhist halls. Moreover, this ink-black hall was the hall of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva. They were afraid that this terrifying aura of death would envelop them and dissolve a lifetime of cultivation.

Jiang Chen narrowed his eyes. This hall of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva was definitely unusual. Compared with those halls that sparkled with golden light, it was extremely powerful, its might awe-inspiring. In the end, this hall of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva seemed like a divine court from hell, something people kept at a respectful distance and feared like a tiger.

“Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva is one of the most powerful Bodhisattvas in the Buddhist Realm, not inferior even to Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva. Even the supreme one of the Buddhist Realm treated Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva with great respect.”

Goddess Luo said in a low voice. She had read some legends about the Buddhist Realm in the ancient books of the God Luo Clan.

“Amitabha! What the lady benefactor says is quite right. Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva rules the underworld, and life and death are entirely in his hands. It could be said that in the Divine World countless years ago, the Buddha was the supreme one among the living, while Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva was the supreme one among souls. After death, everyone would become a ghost under Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva. Whether you were one of the gods and Buddhas above the ninth heaven or a peerless divine beast of the wild lands, none could escape the Dharma eyes of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva.”

Yuan De the Enlightened said quietly, his expression devout, full of respect for Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva.

“Do you think this Hall of Ksitigarbha might vanish into thin air too?”

Dou Tianhuang said uneasily. The Arhat Hall from before had left a deep impression on him, so now no one dared to take risks lightly. Standing in front of the hall of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, everyone wanted to go inside and find out what was there, but the outcome was hard to predict.

“If you don’t enter the tiger’s den, how can you catch the tiger’s cub? I’m definitely going to find out what’s inside this divine hall of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva.”

Dou Bai wore a stern expression, completely unafraid. At this moment, he actually wanted to go in and take a look. After all, the Arhat Hall from before and this divine hall of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva could not be mentioned in the same breath. Perhaps there would be unexpected gains inside this divine hall of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, who could say.

“Tianhuang, stay close to me.”

Dou Bai glanced at Dou Tianhuang, and the three of them from the Battle God Clan walked step by step toward the divine hall of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva.

Carved on the doors of the divine hall were two dark giant beasts, looking down with disdain, with bloodthirsty fangs. They were lifelike and filled with a sinister, terrifying air.

Jiang Chen was also curious, because this divine hall of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva filled his heart with doubts. There seemed to be a trace of the aura of the Dragon race about it. For some reason, Jiang Chen wanted to go inside and find out what was there. That hope, that expectation, was extremely strong.

Moreover, this feeling put Jiang Chen’s body under so much pressure that it was extremely painful, and his face turned a little pale.

“Are you all right?”

Lan Luo glanced at Jiang Chen. With his strength, facing the divine hall of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva seemed to be extremely difficult for him.

“I’m fine. I just feel a bit of pressure.”

Jiang Chen shook his head.

“Not strong enough, yet still forcing yourself to hold on. One day, you’ll pay the price for your recklessness.”

Lan Mao said coldly. With Jiang Chen’s strength, death was only a step away from him.