Chapter 69 The problem in punishing evil is not scarcity but inequality; the problem is not poverty but instability…
The disciples in Kunlun had never heard of any supreme treasure hidden inside the statue of the Heavenly Fragrance Goddess, nor did they know where those Five Evils had obtained this information.
The moment Dongtang swallowed the spirit pearl, black energy suddenly surged up from the ground, transforming into a large hand that tightly enveloped Dongtang, trying to pull her underground.
This black hand exuded a dense, chilling aura, making it more terrifying than any of the Boundless Beings I had ever encountered.
The notification sound that had been gone for a long time reappeared in Shen Cangyu's ears. She stared at the black hand in front of her and knew that the thing in front of her was the divine messenger Amitabha who had been hiding behind the followers of Wuliangsheng.
Although the Amitabha Buddha that Shen Cangyu had seen in the past had perished, his soul still took on the form of a human. But the Amitabha Buddha before him had even abandoned his human form.
"Spirit Binding Array." Shui Linglong made a hand seal and pressed it to the ground. Layers of light circles expanded outward like ripples, wrapping around the black hand on the ground, trying to trap it. However, the spiritual energy of the Spirit Binding Array passed through the black hand without touching it at all.
This attack is useless against it.
Shui Linglong stared at Amitabha in the distance, feeling only that it was a troublesome situation.
Shen Cangyu swung her sword, the Kunlun Sword flying from her hand, aiming for Amitabha, but it was violently deflected. Shen Cangyu's consciousness was connected to the sword in her hand. As the blade of the Kunlun Sword collided with Amitabha, she seemed to hear a series of dense buzzing sounds crashing into her brain. Her head throbbed with pain, and she couldn't help but press her temples. Blood flowed from her ears, which were filled with noise and buzzing, and she couldn't even see clearly.
Dongtang swallowed the spirit pearl. Seeing this, Amiga had no choice but to save her and planned to take her underground so they could escape Kunlun together.
At this moment, the statue of the Goddess Tianxiang looked down at them, and the surrounding white mist followed closely behind, binding them. The white mist wrapped them up layer after layer, and from a distance, they looked like a giant cocoon.
As expected, to subdue Amitabha, a creature that is neither ghost nor monster, one still needs the divine power of the Heavenly Fragrance Goddess.
At this moment, layers upon layers of voices echoed through the mountains, as if ten thousand people were speaking at once: "Old man, your strength has long since dwindled, yet you still want to stop me? Do you want to fight me and then be reduced to ashes?"
The expression on Tianxiang Niangniang's face remained unchanged, still showing that compassionate look. However, the hand that was pointing into the distance slowly opened and then suddenly clenched.
The white mist suddenly tightened, causing Amitabha, who was bound within it, to emit a series of strange noises.
The sound reached everyone's ears, and upon hearing it, they couldn't help but cover their ears, letting out painful howls, and blood oozed from their ears.
Suddenly, the disciples of Xingxiang Hall, who had been covering their ears and wailing, lowered their hands. Their eyes were vacant, and they muttered incantations as they walked toward the statue of the Goddess Tianxiang.
Some people picked up the hammer from the ground, some stepped on the scriptures on the ground, and some raised their hands to retreat towards the statue.
At this moment, they were all of one mind and really wanted to knock down the statue of the Goddess Tianxiang.
"What are you doing!" Shui Linglong raised her voice, and changed the direction of the Spirit Binding Array in her hand, binding the group of Xingxiang Hall disciples.
"The Heavenly Fragrance Goddess says she cares for everyone, but why are other people so lucky while my life is so unlucky? Can't she change my fate?"
"Since fairness is impossible, I'll just destroy everything so that no one benefits, and then I'll feel better."
"Why are you stopping me? I've wasted the first half of my life in Xingxiang Hall. Now that Xingxiang Hall has fallen, everything I've done has been in vain. Am I wrong to destroy it with my own hands?"
These were all resentments buried deep in the hearts of the disciples of Xingxiang Hall, which erupted all at once under the influence of Wuliangsheng.
One voice after another rose up, piling up like the voice of ten thousand people speaking when Amitabha was speaking.
"This world has changed long ago. Even if I die, countless more will appear. You will never be able to eliminate them." Even though he was bound by the white mist, Amitabha still let out an arrogant laugh.
Empress Tianxiang looked down at everything beneath her, as if these scenes were already within her expectations.
"Stop it, all of you!" Shui Linglong pressed her hands to the ground, channeling a continuous stream of energy into the Binding Immortal Rope, tightly binding those people and stopping their movements.
But the resentment within them was too intense; they wanted to break free from all constraints, to vent their anger, and to destroy the god they had created with their own hands.
The statue swayed precariously, dust and debris falling from its top. She silently watched the crowd, then collapsed with a crash as they pushed and shoved her.
The floor cracked, sand and gravel flew everywhere, and the sky and earth shook.
The scriptures flowing from her ruptured abdomen resembled her blood, splattering all over the ground.
Just then, the crisp sound of a cane hitting the ground came from behind. Shui Linglong looked back and saw Elder Xu Mei stepping onto the last step and standing on the platform.
She looked at the scene before her, her face showing neither shock nor anger, as if she had known all along that this was destined to happen.
The disciples of Xingxiang Hall who had pushed over the statue looked at the collapsed statue before them, and their reason, which had been corrupted by Wuliangsheng, gradually began to awaken.
Elder Xu Mei, leaning on her cane, walked towards the group of disciples of the Xingxiang Hall and asked, "This is what you wanted to do, but why are you crying after you've done it?"
The disciples snapped out of their daze, looked at Elder Xu Mei, and couldn't help but kneel down.
"Elder..."
"Master..."
Elder Xu Mei interrupted them, saying, "The statue of the Heavenly Fragrance Goddess has fallen, which means that the faith in the Heavenly Fragrance Goddess has come to an end. The ability to see the secrets of heaven may still exist, but the Heavenly Fragrance Goddess is no more, and I am no longer your master."
Some people tried to explain that all of this was a conspiracy by Wuliang Sheng, and that if Wuliang Sheng hadn't controlled their minds, how could they have done such absurd things?
But... these are indeed the dark desires buried deep within their hearts.
When they entered Kunlun and Xingxiang Hall, they had the most beautiful vision: to cultivate diligently and to worship the Heavenly Fragrance Goddess. Even if they couldn't achieve true enlightenment in the end, they could still have a clear conscience.
But on their path of cultivation, they have seen too many people and things, and they don't know when it started, but they care more about what they have gained than about cultivation itself. They can't help but see the karma of others and the benefits they have received. They can't help but wonder why others are so lucky, why it is always others who are favored.
In their eyes, they were clearly more diligent, more knowledgeable, and more sincere in their prayers to the Goddess of Fragrance than those others… but sometimes, the one-in-a-hundred spot is reserved for those who are far inferior to others. Perhaps it is the unfairness of fate, or perhaps it is bad luck, or perhaps it is a life full of twists and turns. There will always be someone who is destined to be the Purple Star, but that Purple Star will always belong to someone else.
They kept their resentment to themselves and comforted others by saying that it wasn't that they were bad, but that the world had changed.
The more they continued on the path of cultivation, the more unwilling they became, because neither the Heavenly Dao nor the Heavenly Fragrance Goddess could ever bestow good fortune fairly upon everyone.
It is not scarcity that we worry about, but inequality; it is not poverty that we worry about, but instability.
Since that's the case, let's just destroy everything.
Destroying the faith of Xingxiangtang was indeed what they wanted. Regardless of whether the outcome was worse, it was all their doing, and they have no one to blame but themselves.
It turns out that it wasn't the five evils who destroyed faith, but themselves.
Before they were about to exorcise the five evils, they suddenly realized that they were no different from the five evils.
The statue of the Heavenly Fragrance Goddess collapsed, but the white mist swirling in the air did not dissipate. Amitabha's laughter changed tone: "Wait, why hasn't it disappeared yet? Weren't you dead?"
The white mist tightened, shattering everything it bound.
Amika screamed.
The black mist exploded within, turning into scattered fragments, and Dongtang, which was enveloped in the black mist, was also exposed to the white mist and was pulverized along with it.
Dongtang watched as her body disintegrated into fragments, swept up by the white mist, and flew into the air like snowflakes, like willow catkins, and like butterflies...
It's a pity that her fragments are black instead of white; otherwise, they could have blended in with the snowflakes and white mist.
What a pity.
She thought.
As Dongtang's soul dissipated, the crystal-clear bead fell to the ground, rolled to the side, and landed at Shui Linglong's feet.
Shui Linglong snapped out of her daze and picked up the bead, holding it in her hand.
Although the beads are clear and transparent, they shimmer with an unusual and dazzling light, and you can feel a warm sensation when you hold them in your hand.
Is this the supreme treasure that Wuliang Sheng is vying for?
Shui Linglong felt that this bead was just an ordinary gem, and apart from being dazzling and containing rich spiritual energy, it was no different from other gemstones.
Just then, someone ran up the mountain path, stared at the scene before them for a moment, and asked, "What happened?"
Looking at her, Shui Linglong recognized her as Qiu Sheng from Wanqi Guixin and replied, "Wuliang Sheng attacked Xingxiang Hall and destroyed the statue of Tianxiang Niangniang."
"Attack Xingxiang Hall? Why would they attack Xingxiang Hall?" Qiu Sheng asked, frowning, his gaze suddenly falling on the spirit pearl in Shui Linglong's hand. "What is this?"
Shui Linglong said, "This is what Wuliangsheng wants to take. It is said to be a precious pearl, but I have never heard of its existence in the records of the Scripture Pavilion."
“The precious pearl…” Qiu Sheng pondered, “I have never heard of it either. Perhaps the sect leader knows about this precious pearl.”
As they were talking, a voice suddenly came from afar: "Senior sister, didn't you say you had just developed a new sword control technique? Why didn't you fly over with your sword? Why did you come all this way?"
Qiu Sheng waved his hand casually and said, "I came in too much of a hurry and left my sword in the courtyard."
But the next moment, the Kunlun Sword suddenly appeared, its blade pressed against Qiu Sheng's neck.
Shen Cangyu stared at the "Chou Sheng" in front of him and said, "Senior Sister Chou Sheng stopped using a sword a long time ago. If you are not Senior Sister Chou Sheng, then who are you?"
The person in front of her suddenly lunged forward, trying to snatch the bead from Shui Linglong's hand, but the Kunlun Sword severed her head without hesitation.
Shui Linglong was shocked and stepped back. She saw the person in front of her decapitated, but the expected scene of blood splattering did not occur.
Something fell to the ground with a thud. They looked down and saw that it was a paper effigy. The effigy's face was covered with gold paper, which shone brightly and reflected their faces like a mirror.
Shen Cangyu stared at the paper effigy on the ground and read its name: "Hundred-Eye Mirror".
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