393: Iron Law

After completing all this, Xiao Hei's cold gaze fell once again upon Ancient Buddha Huixin below, whose body was slightly stiff and whose face was filled with extreme shock and complexity.

He spoke slowly, his voice still cold, though it lacked a hint of the absolute killing intent from before:

"The items, hand them over."

Ancient Buddha Huixin snapped out of it, almost subconsciously, with a trace of unbelievable excitement and relief.

With his hands trembling slightly, he used Buddha Power to lift the three shimmering "Three-Life Bodhi Seeds" and respectfully presented them before Xiao Hei.

Xiao Hei didn't even look at the three Buddhist treasures that were enough to entice even an Ancient Great Emperor; with a single thought, he stowed them away.

Then, he stared at Huixin and cautioned him clearly, word by word, each word striking like a heavy hammer upon the minds of Huixin and all those secretly observing:

"The people, I leave behind."

"The culprits have been executed; the Karma has been cleared."

"The rest, I leave in your hands."

He paused, the coldness in his eyes almost freezing the Void Realm:

"Guide them toward goodness and cleanse this filth."

"Should evil arise again, or the forbidden laws be touched..."

Xiao Hei did not finish, but that icy killing intent made Ancient Buddha Huixin and all beings who heard these words understand the consequences.

"I hope you are a man of your word."

Once he finished speaking, Xiao Hei did not linger any longer.

The giant palm that had suppressed heaven and earth dissipated silently.

His figure also slowly faded, eventually merging into the Void Realm and disappearing completely.

It was as if he had never appeared.

All that remained was the absolute nothingness at the center, ten thousand miles of scorched earth, countless survivors who were lost and bewildered, and... Ancient Buddha Huixin, the Abbot of the Great Thunder Sound Temple, who stood holding a Buddhist salute, burdened with the heavy responsibility of reorganizing the Buddhist Sect, yet feeling a mountain of pressure under Xiao Hei's final warning.

Between heaven and earth, there was a deathly silence.

Wind blew across the scorched earth, kicking up dust.

The battle of sect extermination had come to a close in a manner that exceeded everyone's expectations.

Xiao Hei had shown mercy.

Was it because of Huixin's appearance? Because of those three Bodhi seeds?

Or was it because he only intended to punish the ringleaders and settle the Karma from the start?

No one knew.

Countless surviving monks and believers remained slumped on the ground, their gazes blank, as if they had not yet recovered from this earth-shattering upheaval.

The void left by collapsed faith and the daze of surviving a catastrophe intertwined in their hearts.

In the center of the ruins, the withered figure of Ancient Buddha Huixin stood quietly.

He looked at the void where Xiao Hei had disappeared, then slowly scanned the ten thousand miles of scorched earth below, the countless bewildered faces, and the absolute nothingness that symbolized the total end of the Buddhist Sect's glory.

He faced the east—perhaps the direction Xiao Hei had departed, or perhaps the direction where all living beings resided—and slowly and solemnly bowed, performing the most formal Buddhist salute.

"Amitabha."

A Buddhist chant, no longer filled with sorrow and despair, but carrying a calmness and strength gained after enduring a catastrophe and washing away all pretenses, slowly spread across this deathly silent world.

"This humble monk, Huixin, shall follow your decree, Fellow Daoist, and I thank you for leaving a glimmer of hope."

He straightened up, his gaze sweeping over the crowd below that was beginning to show signs of slight sobbing and commotion, his voice peaceful yet firm as it clearly reached the ears of every survivor:

"Today's calamity was not a natural disaster, but a man-made one. It was our Sumeru lineage of the Buddhist Sect that turned away from the true meaning of the Buddha; blinded by greed and violating the heavenly laws, we brought this upon ourselves."

"However, the Buddha is merciful and grants opportunities for repentance. Heaven has the virtue of loving life; that we were able to survive today is not because our Buddha manifested, but due to a single thought of benevolence from that existence."

"From this day forward, the Western Regions Buddhist Sect shall abandon illusory power and status, sever the habits of greed, and return to internal cultivation, cherishing compassion and delivering people with good intentions."

"We shall use our remaining years to cleanse past sins and guide lost souls, so as not to fail this hard-won chance at life."

His words, like a twilight drum or a morning bell, struck the hearts of the surviving monks, dispelling some of their bewilderment and bringing a faint but real sense of direction.

Though the road ahead was long and the ruins awaited reconstruction, at least a faint lamp had been lit in this darkness.

Soon, news of the Western Regions Buddhist Sect spread like a prairie fire, accompanied by the embers of destruction, sweeping through the entire Xuanhuang Great World with unprecedented speed.

"The Sumeru Ancient Monastery of the Western Regions Buddhist Sect has been wiped out!"

"An expert suspected to be at the level of an Ancient Great Emperor took action, crushing the ultimate foundation of the Buddhist Sect—three buddha imprints—with a single palm!"

"Five Quasi-Emperor Ancient Buddhas have fallen; the Supreme Emperor Weapon, the great sun demon subduing pestle, has had its spirituality heavily damaged, and the other two emperor weapons are cowering and dare not emerge!"

"The one who took action is suspected to be the Dao Protector behind the Eastern Region's Battle Asura, claiming to mete out punishment because the Buddhist Sect broke the Hundred-Year Pact!"

One earth-shattering piece of news after another exploded in the sky of the Xuanhuang Great World like billions of thunderclaps.

This ancient land was completely shocked into silence, before falling into an unprecedented state of ferment and horror!

The whole world was shocked! The heavens trembled!

"An Ancient Great Emperor?! There is actually an Ancient Great Emperor alive in this world?! How is this possible?! The emperors path has clearly been severed!"

This was the first and strongest thought that flashed through the minds of everyone who learned the news.

Even though the Forbidden Zone Supremess used their supreme authority to deny the possibility of a new emperor being born, the label of 'suspected Ancient Great Emperor' and 'possessing emperor-level combat power' was already firmly pinned onto that black-robed figure.

His deterrent power was already no different from that of an Ancient Great Emperor!

"One palm, just one palm! That was the Western Regions Buddhist Sect!

A colossus that has passed down its Legacy for eons, produced more than one true Buddha, possessed more than one Supreme Emperor Weapon, had several Quasi-Emperor Ancient Buddhas in slumber, and accumulated vast amounts of faith! It's just gone like that?"

Countless Cultivators felt their understanding was completely overturned, their worldview shattered to pieces.

The Holy Lands and Ancient Sects they once viewed as unreachable and worthy of awe were as fragile as clay chickens or pottery dogs before such an existence!

"Those over a hundred years old shall not take action against fellow Prodigies under a hundred years old."

Initially, when the Glazed Holy Land was destroyed, this rule might have just been a warning from that mysterious powerhouse, a rule worth being wary of.

But now, as the Western Regions Buddhist Sect—a colossus stronger and with deeper foundations than the Glazed Holy Land—had followed in its footsteps and been completely erased from the world for violating this rule...

The nature of this rule had undergone a world-shaking change!

It was no longer just a rule, let alone just a warning.

It had used the total destruction of two Holy Lands, the blood and souls of countless experts, and that patch of eternal nothingness...

...to announce its existence to the entire Xuanhuang Great World, especially to those old fellows accustomed to using their power to suppress others and the strong bullying the weak.

This was a law forged by the supreme will and sect-exterminating methods of an emperor-level powerhouse.

An Iron Law!

An impassable line of life and death!

"Pass the order! Immediately recall all Elders and Guest Elders over a hundred years old who are out gaining experience!

Without special permission, they are no longer allowed to interfere in the struggles of the younger generation!"