Chapter 87 Blasphemy 36. Spreading the Dharma throughout the world.

"Dead... He's definitely dead!"

King Fusheng of the neighboring county was horrified; his face turned ashen, and he dared not look any further.

The world had long heard rumors that Xu Ming commanded an army seemingly composed of gods and demons, but no one knew what they actually looked like. Only a few gods who refused to submit, even unto death, had ever seen them; naturally, they too eventually perished.

King Fusheng had secretly speculated about the strength of this army of gods and demons. He thought he had imagined it to be strong enough, but seeing it today, he realized that his expectations were far from being met.

The Buddha of Western Wu, the White Flesh Immortal of Eastern Feng, the Elephant-Headed Jade Guanyin of Southern Qi, the Phoenix of Northern Pearl, and some other evil gods and demons, though not famous, had already condensed into Dharma forms tens of feet long, lined up to protect the four great deities who could be considered righteous gods in all four kingdoms.

Such a powerful army of gods and demons could not even withstand a few moves from King Fusheng, let alone a group of mortals.

No matter how powerful a mortal is, even if they receive the strongest divine gift and become a Primordial Martial Master, they are still just that. Can they possibly surpass gods and demons?

This fascinating battle of mortal prowess is likely coming to an end.

"pity……"

King Fusheng sighed secretly.

I don't know what I'm regretting or lamenting.

On the city wall of Yangcheng, the captain gripped his silver spear tightly, his teeth chattering, his eyes bloodshot. He stood in front of the prefect, gazing at the battlefield northeast of Chaohe, at the countless gods and demons in the sky, and a look of despair appeared on his face.

"Gods and demons..."

For over two hundred years, gods and demons have been tyrannical. While countless mortals have become numb and powerless, there have also been those who rebel and those who are clever, who have tried to carve out a path for humanity to survive.

Some have lofty ambitions to exterminate all the gods and demons in the world and return the Nine Provinces to the mortal realm. However, gods and demons are inherently powerful and can be born from any plant or rock at any time, making it impossible to exterminate them all.

Some claimed to promote humanity, enabling mortals to rival gods and demons, thus introducing the concept of the Innate Realm, honing their bodies, and stimulating their essence to eventually become Innate Grand Martial Masters. However, even at their peak, they could only fight ordinary demons and monsters, ultimately falling short of their goal.

Ordinary people struggle and feel lost, unable to find a way out.

If they were fortunate enough to know the contents of the book featuring Wang Jiu, they might understand that, barring unforeseen circumstances, they would find nothing even after two hundred years, or even tens of thousands of years.

Because this is the kind of world we live in.

It revolves around gods and demons, telling stories of love and hate between gods and demons in bed, rather than stories of ordinary people bowing their heads and toiling in the ground.

No matter how many or how good the masses are, they are all nothing more than human sacrifices.

Whose livestock could break free from its pen and kill its owner?

With a casual flick of the whip, they could be brought to the brink of death.

The army of gods and demons appeared in the world, high above, occupying most of the sky. If it weren't for a small statue of a god standing on the south bank of the Chao River, which blocked many things, they could have crushed the entire Yang City with their mere pressure.

"Gods and demons...it's gods and demons!"

Countless whispers, some in awe, some in terror, some in numbness, were all cast upon a backdrop of despair.

In Yangcheng, on the battlefield, and inside the Shenzhao camp, the moment the Divine Demon Army appeared, no one could believe that the hundred men still had any hope of survival.

Mortals are just mortals, how can they be compared to gods and demons?

"For a mortal to achieve this level is the strongest I have ever seen, so I can say I have no regrets..." Yuan Su said.

"Who cares about strength? No matter how strong they are, they still have to bow down before our Divine Illumination!" Wu Bao chuckled, smugly.

Yuan Su twitched the corner of his mouth, but did not respond. His tiger-like eyes darkened, and he sighed silently.

"Perhaps... there will still be a chance?" the Prefect of Xiling murmured. "Having defeated the Divine Illumination Army and won against the Divinely Bestowed Ones, why shouldn't we dare to dream of more?"

But is it really okay to indulge in wishful thinking?

Just as everyone was filled with fear and trepidation, in the northeast of Chaohe, which was the focus of everyone's attention, the Buddha's giant palm had already fallen.

"Fellow disciples, make your move!" the young man in blue shouted.

A thousand swords were unleashed simultaneously, their clanging echoing through the heavens, piercing straight at the red sun.

The Buddha's smile remained unchanged, showing no regard for them, and he simply pressed down his palm. However, just as the countless flying swords were about to touch the giant palm, they suddenly lost their physical form and transformed into streaks of brilliant sword light.

The sword light condensed and converged, and in just a moment, it became a phantom giant sword, which collided violently with the giant palm.

The stalemate lasted only a moment.

The next moment, the sword suddenly thrust forward, and with a soft "poof," the sound shook the heavens and earth. The giant hand was pierced, the red sun fell, plummeting from the sky like a winding trail of blood weeping from the heavens.

A moment of silence fell over the surrounding area, followed by the Buddha's agonizing scream.

Screams... Who is screaming?

...God was screaming in agony.

God is screaming in agony!

"This is insane!"

King Fusheng stared in disbelief, and unable to hold back any longer, leaped out of the statue.

"How is that possible!"

Everyone was bewildered, thinking they were in a dream.

But the ensuing roar immediately confirmed what they had seen.

"You...you actually dared to hurt me! You dared to hurt me!" The Buddha's smile vanished, all compassion gone, replaced by a bloodthirsty, furious expression. "Insects, you deserve to die!"

Enraged, He ceased his playful palm strikes and instead revealed His hundred-foot-tall Dharma form, unleashing a divine attack.

The elephant-headed one from the south scoffed, "Even the Buddha of Karma is still so greedy and angry."

The fairy from the East lowered her eyes: "These ants are rather strange. I observed them with my divine eyes and found that they have all condensed divine embryos and seem to have turned them into their own. This is something I have never seen before. It is possible that this is some kind of trick of Shen Xiangjun. Everyone should be careful."

The Northern Mountain Phoenix said, "Let the Buddha of Karma try it first."

The Buddha of Karma was enraged and paid no attention to the thoughts of the three gods. He simply swung his palm down, and the human staff was spat out, turning into a blood and flesh rosary, which swung and slashed down.

"kill!"

The cultivators drew their swords to meet them.

The sword light, intertwined with the light of the five elements of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, poured out with all its might, almost engulfing the entire land.

Blood and flesh splattered everywhere.

The Buddha's palm was severed, and a young man flew backward, his blood splattering in the air. His prayer beads cracked, and an old man's sword broke and his arm snapped. He tumbled and fell, his Dharma form staggering. Then, one after another, figures crawled, propped themselves up on their swords, and stood up, their divine power shining like stars.

Shouts of battle soared to the heavens, darkening the earth.

The Buddha suddenly knelt down, and his Dharma form showed signs of collapse.

"How could this be... how could this be!" the Buddha roared. "You are not mortals... what are you? What are you!"

"We are... mortal cultivators, mortal cultivators capable of slaying gods!"

The young man in blue, his eyes covered in blood, roared hoarsely.

"A mortal cultivator?"

"Mortal cultivators... what are those?"

Upon hearing this, everyone was astonished and suspicious.

"I knew it! They're different! They're different!" The governor abandoned his composure, his eyes fixed on the scene of mortals slaying gods, his hand stroking his beard trembling. "They can even contend with gods and demons of a hundred-foot dharma form!"

An unprecedented light flashed in the captain's eyes, but it only lasted for a moment.

"This is just one god; there are so many more in heaven..."

In the sky, the White Flesh Immortal sighed softly, "We can't wait any longer. They are indeed strange, possessing the power to strangle the Buddha of Karma. Although we may not succeed, we cannot gamble."

The elephant-headed jade Guanyin said, "The leader of the mortals who killed the gods cannot be opened!"

Before the words were finished, the heavenly drums sounded, and the earth trembled.

The phoenix, its wings fluttering in countless strands, descended from the sky.

Immediately afterwards, the White Flesh Immortal, the Elephant-Headed Jade Guanyin, and dozens of ordinary demons around them all revealed their Dharma forms, the stronger ones being hundreds of feet tall and the weaker ones being tens of feet tall, and they all crashed into the battlefield.

The cultivators screamed in agony, and most of them collapsed.

Upon seeing this, the young man in blue's eyes sharpened. He knew that their magic and divine power alone were insufficient to deal with the situation, so he immediately shouted, "Form the formation!"

Upon hearing the sound, all the cultivators who were still able to move gathered together, spreading out like the wings of geese, stepping on the five elements, their thoughts intersecting, their divine power communicating, and all converging.

"Imprisoning God Formation!"

Five-colored light burst forth, the heavens and earth overflowed with spiritual energy, and all things were filled with murderous intent.

Intricate and illusory runes lit up beneath the feet of all the cultivators, instantly spreading to the entire northeast bank of the Chao River, covering everything above and below, as if a giant cage had risen from the ground.

"not good!"

The gods and demons, including the White Flesh Immortal, were startled, sensing something was wrong. But before they could react, countless five-colored divine chains appeared out of thin air and shot towards them.

Some minor demons were caught off guard and were immediately bound. They knelt down as if suppressed, their forms and bodies unable to move, only their roars remaining.

"What a bizarre formation! Let's all attack together and kill those mortals who set up the formation. Once we kill them, no matter how bizarre this formation is, it will collapse on its own!" Bai Rouxian, as the deputy commander of this army of gods and demons, immediately gave the order when he saw that things were not going well.

The gods and demons ceased their mockery and unleashed their full power, swiftly charging forward.

The divine chains shot out wildly, either piercing through it or binding it, desperately trying to stop it.

However, this alone can only stop a small number of them.

These cultivators have limited divine power and realm; it's a miracle they've managed to hold on this long. They've relied entirely on the grief of two hundred years of mortals that they borrowed. They can't go any further.

With a flick of the White Flesh Immortal's finger, the protective spells shattered layer by layer.

The practitioners bled from their mouths and noses, their eyes blazing with resentment and anger.

"An ant is still an ant."

The White Flesh Immortal chuckled and lowered his second finger.

Several cultivators fell, the great formation cracked, and it was on the verge of collapse.

The third finger is raised—

"That's enough," a white light came from beyond the sky, "this training session is now over."

Before the words were finished, a crimson Dharma image sixty feet tall suddenly rose from the banks of the Chao River, its folding fan unfolding like ink clouds, precisely blocking the white flesh immortal's thunderous finger strike.

The White Flesh Immortal turned his head, and his pupils, which were swirling with countless soft white intestines, suddenly contracted: "Gods and demons... no, mortals, mortals... how can mortals have a Dharma form!"

"mortal?"

"Dharma form?"

Both inside and outside the battlefield, screams of surprise erupted as Bai Rouxian uttered his words.

Yuan Su's face trembled. Unable to hold back any longer, he shoved Wu Bao aside, strode across the tent, leaped onto the highest watchtower, and looked around.

On Mount Mang, Xu Ming's huge, closed eyes twitched slightly, and slowly opened a crack.

Why can't ordinary people have the Dharma form?

Shen Mingxin raised an eyebrow and sneered: "Today I will tell you that mortals can not only have a Dharma form, but also a divine embryo, divine power, and a cultivation method that leads them step by step into the future. In the end, being able to stand shoulder to shoulder with gods and demons and even slay them is not just a dream!"

"The method of cultivation... to rival gods and demons, to slay gods and demons..."

Regardless of whether they were friend or foe, all mortals who heard these words were greatly shaken.

The White Flesh Immortal and the others seemed to sense a tremendous crisis that even gods and demons could not withstand. Trembling, they roared in shock and anger, "How dare you, you ants!"

Suddenly, a demon rushed in.

Shen Mingxin didn't even raise his eyes. He twirled his folding fan, and a drop of ink flew out, piercing through the demon's brow and penetrating its form.

The demon stared in astonishment, took two steps forward, then slowly stopped, fell to the ground, and its divine form shattered into pieces.

Seeing this, the White Flesh Immortal's smile vanished, and he coldly shouted, "Attack him together!"

All the gods and demons in the sky were stirred.

With Shen Mingxin's strength at the Golden Embryo Realm, fighting four great deities of a hundred zhang in size alone, without any cultivator's help, he would inevitably be at a disadvantage. However, the Imprisoning God Array was still in place, and he sat at the array's core, his spells and folding fan flying around, coordinating with the Imprisoning God Array's divine chains, and for a time he managed to fight the four great deities and dozens of lesser demons to a standstill.

Is this the cultivation method of mortals? Is this what it means to be a cultivator among mortals?

A mixture of sorrow and joy gradually rose within Yangcheng, and there was also an uproar within the Shenzhao Army, who continued to be beheaded.

Just as this clamor, formed by the gathering of countless ants, grew increasingly intense, almost shattering the heavens and earth.

A soft, faint sigh came from Mangshan.

"Shenxiangjun, if you want war, then let's fight. Why resort to these underhanded tricks to deceive the masses, just to undermine my incense and faith?"

Deceitful tricks and deception?

As soon as he spoke, all the noise on both sides of the Chao River seemed to be swept away, and the world fell into a deathly silence.

"Don't try to fool me with that little statue's spirit. I know you've come," Xu Ming said.

Golden light spread, and a colossal Dharma image, three hundred feet tall, appeared, towering into the sky and standing firmly on the ground. It was incredibly solid, and its breath was like the pulse of heaven and earth. Its aura was far beyond what the divided spirit seen in Wangqiu Mountain could compare to.

Faxiang raised his hand, and with a deafening roar, the earth shook, and Mangshan rose from the ground, transforming into a giant mountain hammer that smashed down on Yangcheng.

On the waterside platform, Chu Shenxiang stood up, the pebble between her fingers disappeared, and when it reappeared, it was in the sky above Yangcheng.

Mountains collide with stones.

The pebbles remain, but the mountains are reduced to dust by the wind.

On the south bank of the Chao River, the small statue disappeared and entered Shen Mingxin's heart. On the platform, it was replaced by a blue Dharma image that had just reached a height of two hundred feet.

"Not much progress," Xu Ming scoffed.

Chu Shenxiang raised her eyes indifferently: "The Heavenly Venerable has made great progress, now he knows to come and willingly face death."

"You dare to be so arrogant after winning against me by sheer luck?" Xu Ming's face was stern as he slowly stepped forward. "Evil God, you deserve to die here!"

Before the words were finished, the sun and moon appeared suddenly, launching a sneak attack from an unknown location to Chu Shenxiang.

However, the white lotus lamp seemed to have anticipated this, immediately blazing brightly to block it. The light continued to spread, covering the entire city of Yang and preventing the divine war from affecting the city.

The void trembled, lightning exploded, and the golden and azure Dharma images collided into the clouds and mist of the sky, engaging in a fierce battle!

Below, the White Flesh Immortal and other gods and demons attacked again, fighting against Shen Mingxin.

The spring rains of Qingming have stopped sometime ago, and an extremely terrifying atmosphere is stirring up the world, both above and below. On both sides of the Chao River, the water has stopped flowing, the wilderness has cracked open, and the mountains have collapsed, as if it were the end of the world.

This was perhaps the longest day ever experienced by the people of Yangcheng.

It was so long that they once thought they were already dead and that everything they saw was just a hallucination before their death.

Even the longest day eventually comes to an end.

With a deafening roar, a massive crack appeared in the sky.

Within the crack, a divine image was pinned down by a sword and crashed onto the vast earth, causing gods and demons to cry out in alarm.

"Shen, Xiang, Jun!"

Xu Ming roared, and the shattered sword struggled to its feet.

Chu Shenxiang took a step forward, and the white lotus lantern flew up. Her blue robe sleeves slowly drifted down, suppressing the golden Dharma image once again.

"Impossible, this is impossible!"

The golden Dharma form roared, and the power of heaven and earth around it surged once more: "I have made full preparations, transformed the power of this world for my own use, and even gained some fortune. The incense offerings are also stable. Why am I still no match for you!"

Chu Shenxiang lowered her eyes and brought her sword down, directly shattering the power of heaven and earth.

"Nothing is impossible," the azure Dharma image said, majestic and indifferent. "You are entangled in karmic evil. No matter how well you are repaired, you are only a beautiful exterior; your insides are already rotten to the core. If it weren't for the love of heaven and earth, you would have died with the first sword strike. In half a year, I have indeed not improved much, but killing you is enough!"

Chu Shenxiang raised her hand, and the divine chains of the Imprisoning God Array danced. Countless gods and demons shrieked, but could not escape and were all nailed down.

The divine chain, drawing upon the blood of dozens of gods and demons, condensed into a single strand, rising high like a powerful thunderbolt that suddenly struck down!

"How dare you!"

Xu Ming let out a long howl.

As the sun and moon revolved, dark clouds churned, the sky shook, and a massive golden imperial edict descended from the heavens, colliding with a thunderclap!

"Heaven and earth are ruthless, so what do I have to be afraid of!"

Chu Shenxiang, with her robes fluttering, glared angrily at the sky. The white lotus lamp shone brightly, and countless runes overflowed, both strong and gentle, yin and yang, black and white, manifesting the Tai Chi, from which all things are born and die.

The imperial edict and the thunderclap both vanished silently.

The last vestige of the divine chain lingered between Chu Shenxiang's fingers.

He held the divine chain, the Heaven-Slaying Sword, and the lotus lantern, and stepped onto the golden Dharma image!

"You deserve to die."

Chu Shenxiang's lips were bleeding: "Not because you are my enemy, but because all living beings are innocent."

The divine chain appeared, the heavenly sword fell, and the lotus lantern shone like water.

The golden Dharma image wailed and shattered inch by inch.

"No! No—!" Xu Ming's shriek gradually distorted and finally dissipated into the world.

For a time, all of China was at peace.

Chu Shenxiang ignored him, and spoke in her Dharma form amidst the endless golden rain: "Today is Qingming Festival, the evil god has been punished, and I will spread the Dharma to the world. All those who have gained wisdom, whether mortals or plants, can practice it."

"This method is called the 'Refining the Spirit Dao Method,' and it is divided into four realms: Divine Embryo, Foundation Building, Golden Embryo, and Primordial Spirit. It simulates the interaction between heaven and earth, and forms the Divine Embryo within the body..."

"Heaven and earth give birth to the Way, which covers and obscures all things..."

On both banks of the Chao River, inside and outside Xiling, throughout the nine provinces and four seas, all mortals and gods and demons heard this mysterious voice at this moment.

In countless temples, the statues of gods weep blood. In countless mortals, tears stream down their faces.