446: Killing Heart and Sacred Heart

Tang Ku's hands were trembling slightly; this was the first time since he began fighting enemies that he had trembled due to his emotions.

"You... say that again!" Tang Ku said in a deep voice.

"I said... I... know... where Sun Wukong's... soul is!"

Gouchen the Great Emperor's speech was slurred, but his face was filled with a mocking expression, as if to say, do you really dare to kill me?

Tang Ku lowered his arm, and the War God Gauntlets vanished from his hands. He held Gouchen the Great Emperor by the neck, turned his head to look at the battlefield, and simultaneously deactivated his Ten Directions Invincible state.

"This technique is very powerful, but it has strong side effects..."

Tang Ku now felt as if the muscles all over his body were twitching slightly. An indescribable soreness and exhaustion washed over him, like a bodybuilder who had just completed a triathlon and then lifted weights for ten hours.

The battle on Great Immortal Zhenyuan's side had long ended. In reality, Wu Zhen's strength far exceeded those so-called Heavenly Soldiers and Generals. Even with Jidu Star Lord leading them and the blessing of Gouchen the Great Emperor's Warfare Laws, they could not easily harm the two. And there was no need to mention Little White Dragon on the side; he had already assumed his true form. Ordinary Heavenly Soldiers and Generals, even with the blessing of Laws, were still killed by a single swipe of his claw, with no power to fight back!

Especially when Gouchen the Great Emperor was beaten to a pulp by Tang Ku, the battle ended even faster. Of the thousands of Heavenly Soldiers and Generals, only a dozen or so remained in an instant, along with Jidu Star Lord, who had been acting like he was pumped with adrenaline just moments ago, but now looked like a wilted eggplant.

He looked toward Gouchen the Great Emperor with an ugly expression, but happened to meet Tang Ku's gaze, and immediately couldn't help but shiver in his heart.

Because he saw Tang Ku holding Gouchen the Great Emperor like a dead dog, and he knew that if Gouchen the Great Emperor hadn't been tough enough, he might already be a corpse.

"Get lost now, and you might still keep your life. If you stay any longer..." Great Immortal Zhenyuan squinted and said, "Who knows, you might all end up dead here!"

Jidu Star Lord gritted his teeth and pointed the long sword in his hand toward Tang Ku: "When the lord is humiliated, the subject dies. You hurt our Master, so I have no choice but to fight you to the death... I don't care about the other brothers, I... only represent myself!"

As he spoke, he fearlessly charged toward Tang Ku, clearly intending to save the half-dead Gouchen the Great Emperor.

Slap!

With just an effortless slap, the long sword in Jidu Star Lord's hand was bent into the shape of a bow, and he himself was sent flying like a shooting star, crashing into the dust, unconscious.

The remaining Heavenly Soldiers and Generals let out a cry and scattered like birds and beasts.

"Hmph, so noisy..."

Tang Ku carried Gouchen the Great Emperor to Great Immortal Zhenyuan and said in a deep voice, "Great Immortal, this guy has been beaten half to death by me. Is there any way to keep him alive? I need to ask him about Wukong's whereabouts!"

Great Immortal Zhenyuan smiled bitterly: "Don't worry, he is a Quasi-Saint after all; he won't die that easily... Besides, due to the suppression of the Law, he can no longer use his Warfare Laws or Power Law, so you don't have to worry about him making a comeback! Hmm, but your state seems a bit off... What kind of limit-breaking technique did you just use? It made you look so exhausted?"

Tang Ku's face was quite pale at this moment, and he was even breaking out in cold sweat, just like an overworked Mortal.

"It's nothing, just excessive consumption. I have the Kunpeng Mystic Skill protecting my body, which can autonomously absorb energy from the surroundings to heal, so it's not a big problem!"

Tang Ku said in a deep voice, "Trouble you to keep an eye on this guy, Great Immortal. I have other things to do!"

As he spoke, he handed Gouchen the Great Emperor over to Great Immortal Zhenyuan. Seeing Tang Ku's complexion, Wu Zhen said with great concern, "Ma... Master, you... don't push yourself too hard!"

Tang Ku waved his hand, then turned and descended on a cloud, arriving at the original ruins of the Stone Kingdom.

"The subjects of an entire kingdom, either forcibly possessed or killed by them. Above the city, countless wronged souls hovered, and resentment soared to the heavens!"

Tang Ku sat cross-legged on the ground. He activated Spiritual Awareness Microscopic along with the Spiritual Awareness Eye, instantly seeing countless lonely ghosts and wild spirits wandering above the city. They had no goal, no hope, and not even the opportunity to enter Reincarnation.

Their lives ended here, surrendered to those so-called immortals in the heavens, surrendered to the greed of these immortals!

"All living beings suffer..."

The long-lost Prajna Paramita Heart Sutra was chanted once again from Tang Ku's mouth.

Buddhist scriptures are good at delivering the dead and helping them be reborn. Some scriptures aim to negate worldly desires and obsessions, helping the dead to awaken and find liberation more quickly. Others emphasize that all things in the world are empty, helping the dead to let go of attachments and achieve transcendence; still others help the dead eliminate Karmic Obstruction and be reborn smoothly.

The Prajna Paramita Heart Sutra, however, can help the dead find liberation from pain and confusion, enabling them not to cling to past loves and hatreds, and to enter Reincarnation.

The Many Hearts Sutra can deliver others and also deliver oneself. When the spirits of the dead were lost, hearing those bursts of Sanskrit chants, the souls floating in the sky gathered little by little before Tang Ku. One by one, they revealed their true forms and listened to him chant. These souls, like the most devout believers, sat cross-legged before Tang Ku, using the Many Hearts Sutra to cleanse their own souls.

And while Tang Ku was chanting the scriptures, over the Daughter's Country, thousands of miles away, dark clouds swirled, and a thing resembling a space-time tunnel seemed to appear. Countless dead spirits drifted up from above the city, trembling slightly, crying as they entered that pitch-black tunnel.

In pain and confusion, they arrived in the blink of an eye before Tang Ku, the monk who had once promised to protect them.

They had died unjustly, but there was no resentment or hatred; there was only confusion and pain, exactly the same as the Stone Kingdom before him!

The Many Hearts Sutra was chanted dozens, even hundreds of times. All the souls were shrouded in a faint white light; whether they were the commoners of the Stone Kingdom or the spirits of the Xi Liang Womens Kingdom, they were all in this state.

Tang Ku suddenly raised his head, looking at these souls, and tears couldn't help but fall from the corners of his eyes.

"I'm sorry... It was I who failed to protect you... This Poor Monk... can only wait for the next life to repay you!"

Tang Ku pressed his palms together and prayed devoutly... He was a True Buddha, but for the first time, he felt that he, this True Buddha, was truly unqualified.

If one cannot even protect the people one wants to protect, then what is the point of talking about being a True Buddha? It is truly ridiculous!

Finally, all the souls reached their final moment. A spark of spiritual light dissipated, and the souls slowly sank into the Underworld.

"Karmic fruits will eventually be repaid..."

Tang Ku had delivered all the wronged souls, and his energy and spirit had actually recovered significantly. He turned to look at the half-dead Gouchen the Great Emperor, his eyes full of calmness: "Killing you directly would be letting you off too easily!"