124: So what if it's weird?

Eerie Buddhist chanting, a gloomy Buddhist hall.

This Holy Land of Buddhism, which should have been solemn and dignified, now gave one a feeling of terror and dread.

Inside the Buddhist hall, the Buddha Statues on both sides opened their eyes in unison. Their half-closed pupils held not a trace of compassion, but rather the mockery of looking at an ant.

Zuo Qianyue was greatly alarmed; he immediately drew his Heaven-Heavy Blade and shouldered it.

"Fellow Daoist, have we stumbled into an illusion? Watch your surroundings."

Shen Lian, however, revealed a wild look in his eyes. He looked at the Buddha Statues on both sides and retorted sternly: "You insignificant evil images dare to act presumptuously before me? Who gave you permission to look at me with those eyes?"

Immediately, he raised his hand and swept it, causing the Yin and Yang Dao Rhyme to roar forth.

Boom—with a loud noise, the wave of Qi swept past the Buddha Statues on both sides, turning them, along with the Buddhist hall, into ruins.

Yet, from within the shattered Buddha Statues, bright red blood mist sprayed out, instantly filling the air.

"Buddha body stained with blood, sinful Buddha repents for Karma, Prajna repents for sins, Karma is self-incurred!"

"So what if it is a Buddha? When a Buddha harbors greed, it becomes an evil obstacle; when the Bodhisattva sits in reverse, all living beings suffer!"

"You insignificant eerie Buddha, you dare to act presumptuously before me!"

Zuo Qianyue was speechless. He had never seen such an arrogant person in his entire life.

Shouldn't an ordinary Cultivator in a place like this calmly deal with every crisis?

But him? He completely disregarded common sense.

Sure enough, once the Buddhist hall was destroyed, a monk dressed in yellow robes appeared under the pitch-black night sky.

However, the monk's neck, Face, arms, and even his exposed chest were covered in pulsating tumors, making one nauseous just to look at him.

"What kind of rat dares to enter my eerie Buddhist hall and act so presumptuously!"

Shen Lian closed his Folding Fan, raised his left hand, and instantly condensed a mass of vast Spiritual Qi.

"Demon Monk and strange Buddha, your crimes deserve death!"

With that said, he struck with his palm, and the Spiritual Qi, condensed into a sphere, blasted out with a roar.

The tumor-covered monk did not expect his opponent to have such a violent temperament. He immediately pressed his palms together, attempting to resist the incoming immense power.

"Ah~" The result was a scream. The Spiritual sphere rammed into his body, directly causing the tumor-covered monk to explode and die.

The moment the tumor-covered monk died, those disgusting tumors immediately sprayed out clumps of pitch-black blood.

Seeing this scene, Zuo Qianyue was completely dumbfounded: "Hey, hey, hey, Fellow Daoist Shen, when people traverse a Secret Realm, they at least use their brains. Your violent methods are really not giving them any Face, right? Blowing people up at every turn is simply too exaggerated."

Shen Lian glared at him upon hearing this and said coldly: "Do you still remember the rules on the stone tablet in front of the Three Purities Hall?"

Zuo Qianyue thought for a moment: "I seem to have forgotten some of it."

"You should remember the last one: all fear stems from insufficient strength. As long as you possess absolute strength, this kind of evil atmosphere and eerie path, are nothing but low-class tricks!"

After saying this, Shen Lian pointed to the sky again. "Come, whatever other tricks you have, just use them!"

"I have even slaughtered the entire Ancient God Clan; how long can you, a mere eerie Buddha, possibly last?"

Suddenly, the distant Buddhist chanting surged closer. An eerie power shook the ground, causing it to rumble continuously.

A long while later, a burst of Buddha light descended, and a Buddhist Practitioner with a sarira on his head landed.

"Since you have entered the eerie path, you should abide by the rules of the eerie path. Is your reckless behavior a sign that you regard my eerie realm as nothing?"

"Hahahaha—" Shen Lian laughed up at the sky.

"You insignificant eerie creature, playing with the world using low-class tricks, and you dare to mention rules before me? Then let me, Shen Lian, set new rules for you!"

"How · bold!" The Buddhist Practitioner was enraged. With a deep shout, he radiated evil Buddha light from his body.

"Since the eerie path descended into the world, you are the first person to dare to be so reckless. Let this seat see what ability you actually have to dare to treat the eerie path with such contempt."

Shen Lian stood with one hand behind his back and replied: "I allow your ignorance, and leave you with a fate of regret!"

"Evil Buddha Dharma Seal!" The Buddhist Practitioner was furious. He raised his hand, condensed a reversed Buddha wheel, and threw it at Shen Lian.

Shen Lian did not dodge or evade. He channeled his true essence, and the Void Concealment power was already coursing through his eight extraordinary meridians.

The moment the Evil Buddha Dharma Seal struck Shen Lian, it was directly neutralized into nothingness.

"Is this the strength of the eerie path?" Shen Lian turned around, revealing a mocking smile.

"Then I can only say that compared to the Dao-suppressing power brought by the Ancient God Clan, you are so gentle that I can't bear to hurt you."

With a wave of his hands, the surrounding Qi waves immediately gathered toward Shen Lian's palms like a mountain-toppling, sea-draining force.

In just a moment, his left hand became Yang, and his right hand became Yin. The dual flows of Yin and Yang fused with the power of the heaven and earth root within his body, forming a vast Origin Qi capable of devouring the great wilderness.

"Void Concealment · Yin and Yang Combined Flow!"

With the ultimate move unleashed, the Buddhist Practitioner was suddenly terrified and decisively activated his technique. "Evil Aura Body Protection."

Soon, a pale green Buddha manifestation appeared around the Buddhist Practitioner, wrapping him tightly within it.

However, wherever the Yin and Yang combined flow of Qi passed, mountains were destroyed and rocks split; even heaven and earth were shaken by it.

The moment the move blasted against the Buddhist Practitioner's Qi defense, it directly tore his physical body to pieces.

Watching the rain of blood falling from the sky, Zuo Qianyue couldn't help but say: "Comparing it this way, you seem even more terrifying than the eerie path."

"Hmph." Shen Lian said nothing more. Seeing that the surrounding crisis was resolved, he simply took a step and continued walking forward.

"Wait for me." Zuo Qianyue glanced at his surroundings, couldn't help but shiver, and hurriedly followed.

Not long after Shen Lian and Zuo Qianyue left, the originally destroyed Buddhist hall unexpectedly reappeared.

At the same time, an extremely oppressive laughter came from within the Buddhist hall.

"Hehehe hahaha, I didn't expect that after entering the eerie path, there would still be someone so insane. Very good, very good. The more such people there are, the more worth it they are for this old man to conquer. Let me show you what true fear is like..."

Walking in the courtyard of the Golden Immortal Temple, one could hear the sound of monks chanting scriptures everywhere, but not a single monk could be seen.

In a distant Buddhist hall, candles were brightly lit, and the sound of a wooden fish echoed rhythmically in the empty courtyard.

Shen Lian focused his gaze and then stepped forward.

"Ugh..." Suddenly, Zuo Qianyue groaned softly, sweat dripping down his cheeks like raindrops.

"Fellow Daoist, have you noticed that the Spiritual Qi in your body is constantly draining away? I feel like my dantian sea is seemingly out of control."

Upon hearing this, Shen Lian closed his eyes and examined his own state.

Indeed, the Spiritual Qi in his body began to leak continuously, as if a water pump was constantly extracting the Origin Qi from his dantian sea.

However, Shen Lian had the heaven and earth root to rely on. The more Spiritual Qi was lost, the faster it recovered; to him, it had absolutely no impact.

"You stay here, don't move." Shen Lian left this sentence behind and slowly continued walking toward the Buddhist hall opposite.

Upon hearing this, Zuo Qianyue immediately sat cross-legged on the ground and began to regulate his breathing to recover his Origin Qi.

Just as Shen Lian approached within ten steps of the Buddhist hall, the scene before his eyes suddenly changed: the Buddhist hall that was close at hand was instantly pulled away by a hundred zhang, and a long corridor filled with eerie Buddhas appeared under his feet.

"Hmm, is this a spatial displacement technique?" Shen Lian mused, and then stomped his foot.

"You want to disturb my mind with such petty tricks? What a joke!"

"Two Poles Heavenly Stellar Array." Immediately, Shen Lian formed a Dao seal with his hands, and a burst of pure Origin Qi poured into his feet.

He took another step, and a circle of Dao marks immediately appeared on the soles of his feet as they landed on the corridor, stepping toward the illusory and unbridled Buddhist hall one step at a time.

The eerie space began to distort, seemingly intending to repeat the same trick. However, it was held tightly by the Two Poles Heavenly Stellar Array and could not move a single bit.

Shen Lian walked the hundred-zhang distance with composure until he stepped in front of the Buddhist hall, where he saw a Buddha Statue covered in talisman papers, with blood-written scriptures all over its body.

Around the Buddha Statue were one hundred and eight desiccated corpses, their hands pressed together, unmoving. Looking closely, their bodies were covered in spider webs, and they had long since died.

On the offering table, patches of maggots were wriggling, making one's scalp tingle at the sight.

Shen Lian frowned and looked again carefully; the Buddha Statue was wrapped in exactly one hundred and eight threads, which happened to be connected to the one hundred and eight monks.

In an instant, Shen Lian immediately understood what had happened here.

"Heretical evil spirits, self-proclaimed as Buddhas, nourishing spirits with blood, attempting to act in a Heaven-Defying manner!"

He slowly opened his Folding Fan. "Unfortunately, not everyone has the ability to defy heaven. ants may shake the sky, but moths are not worthy!"

A provocation shook the entire Buddhist hall. Amidst the shaking, maggots kept falling from above Shen Lian's head. And the Buddha Statue itself unexpectedly radiated an eerie evil light.