Chapter 1177: Remember This Moment

“Hah. I thought it was too good to be true!”

It was at this moment a ridiculing chuckle appeared beside Devi Ruyi’s ear, causing her heart to skip a beat. She knew then that Ye Qing had found out about the secret regarding the dual-cultivation method.

“Scion—”

Devi Ruyi was just about to explain herself when suddenly, she felt an absolutely terrifying presence seeping out of her mind and consciousness. It made her tremble like a leaf both outside and inside, and yet there was absolutely nothing she could do about it.

At that moment, she felt as tiny as an ant, no, a speck of dust. At the same time, what felt like endless humility, panic, fear, and more emotions washed out of her heart.

From the day she practiced the “Ruyi Sacred Heart”, she could manipulate all arts as well as she could manipulate her own emotions. All Magias and secret arts came to her as easily as breathing, just as controlling her emotions took no more than a single thought.

It had been a long, long time since she felt such emotions. It was unfamiliar, new, and extremely uncomfortable.

She recalled the day when her parents were killed. She had been lying in her own pool of blood as loneliness, coldness, fear, and suffocation surrounded her. She had been helpless and in despair.

Slowly, her consciousness weakened and shrank. She could feel that she was seconds away from death.

Defiance filled her heart.

How could she die when she hadn’t yet taken revenge?

“I... don’t want to die...”

A weak but stubborn voice crawled out of Devi Ruyi’s throat.

As soon as she said this, she felt the darkness receding like a tidal wave. The pressure and emotions that had threatened to snuff out her consciousness entirely disappeared without a trace just like that.

“Cough! Cough... Hah... hah...”

Hugging her knees, Devi Ruyi panted heavily as large beads of sweat poured down her ashen white face. She looked as pitiful as a dying flower struggling to survive the wind.

“Remember this feeling. For your sake, I hope that this is the first and last time I have to do this,” Ye Qing said indifferently.

“Y-yes, my lord. Ruyi will never do it again.” Devi Ruyi hurriedly dropped to her knees and kowtowed to him.

Right here and now, she was well and truly scared. She never wanted to experience that horrible feeling again.

“I hope you won’t,” Ye Qing replied.

The reason Ye Qing did not alter Devi Ruyi’s spirit and consciousness using his Paranirmita Boundless Heavenly Demon Dependent Magia was because there were a ton of restrictions inside her mind. When she returned to the Mara Sect, she would need to deal with champions such as the Mara Sacrament Heavenly King as well. If he distorted her personality without thinking, it was possible that the Mara Sect would discover his manipulation. That would be unwise.

Devi Ruyi had already become his dependent anyway, so it did not matter. Although she was still in possession of her free will, the Magia would gradually influence her over time. Eventually, she would become his loyal servant. There was no need to demand her loyalty right here and now.

But why did Ye Qing allow Devi Ruyi to live in the first place? Contrary to what he claimed, it wasn’t because he coveted the Mara Sect. In fact, it was a pure whim. He had accumulated quite the sizable amount of force at this point, and one more did not matter. Besides, the age of chaos was nigh. When the time came, he would rather struggle with too many choices than lack thereof. Who knows, maybe there would be a day where he truly needed Devi Ruyi or the Mara Sect.

“I am Ye Qing. From hereon, just address me as young master.”

Ye Qing said, “I trust that you can handle your men without me. I’m going after the Buddha Emperor Mountain now.”

Ye Qing was already gone by the time he delivered his final message. He had never forgotten that the reason he did all this was for the Buddha Emperor Mountain.

Speaking of the Buddha Emperor Mountain and Mara Buddha Sovereign, they had slipped away while he was battling against the Mara Sacrament Heavenly King’s martial intent.

Unbeknownst to Mara Buddha Sovereign, Ye Qing had attached a wisp of demonic thought on him beforehand. He could run to the ends of the earth, and Ye Qing could still track him down with ease.

Ye Qing trusted Devi Ruyi to handle Jinpeng Moyun, the old woman, and the remnants of the group. Whether she decided to trick or silence them, he didn’t care. If Devi Ruyi couldn’t handle something so simple, then she might as well be dead.

......

“Let them fight! The longer the better! It would be best if they’re both dead!”

Right now, Mara Buddha Sovereign was both panicked and delighted.

He was panicked because Devi Ruyi was already beyond him, and the newcomer even more so. In fact, the newcomer was so strong that the Mara Sacrament Heavenly King himself had shown up. How could he, a small artifact spirit, bear to be in their presence?

To say it was a scary moment would be the understatement of the century.

𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

That said, he was also delighted by this turn of events. The war between the clam and the sandpiper was what gave him the chance to escape and live another day.

This was why Mara Buddha Sovereign hoped, no, prayed that the two sides would beat the shit out of each other. Ideally, he wanted both of them to drop dead. This way, his survival and his escape were wholly assured.

“Hmm? Why is it so peaceful all of a sudden?”

Suddenly, Mara Buddha Sovereign noticed that the foreign energies that permeated the air a moment ago had suddenly disappeared into nothing.

“Is it over already? How are they so fast? Who won?”

Mara Buddha Sovereign muttered to himself, “Should I head back and check out the situation? Maybe there is loot to be scavenged?” “Nah, forget it. What if I run head first into a trap? I better run!”

“Sigh. I’m just an artifact spirit. Whatever did I do to deserve such a fate?”

“I wonder. Maybe it’s because of the mountains of people you killed?”

It was at this moment a ridiculing voice appeared right beside Mara Buddha Sovereign’s ear. Caught completely off guard, the artifact spirit manifested the gigantic true body that was the Buddha Emperor Mountain and threw himself at the source of the voice.

At the same time, a bronze bell emerged from the clouds and clashed against the Buddha Emperor Mountain.

The Buddha Emperor Mountain was unbelievably huge and surrounded by a sheen of Buddhist light. It transformed into a sea of clouds where countless Buddhas were standing and shining like the sun.

In comparison, the bronze bell was only the size of a house and looked perfectly ordinary. Forget shining like the sun, there wasn’t even a wisp of air of Dao around it.

When the two objects clashed though, it was the Buddhist light and the sea of clouds that crumbled into nothing. The next moment, the gigantic Buddha Emperor Mountain flew back while Mara Buddha Sovereign cried out in pain, shock, and terror.

The bronze bell was just beginning. It quickly caught up to the Buddha Emperor Mountain and rammed it again, and again, and again.

No matter what the Buddha Emperor Mountain transformed into, no matter how hard Mara Buddha Sovereign tried to escape, it was futile. The bronze bell could always catch up to them and ram them like a truck.

For a time, Mara Buddha Sovereign could only scream impotently. It was about as useful as his attempts to escape the bronze bell.

Even scarier, Mara Buddha Sovereign could clearly sense the Buddha Emperor Mountain’s power vanishing rapidly with every impact.

More accurately, the bronze bell was devouring its power.

Each time it lost its power, the Buddha Emperor Mountain would become a lot smaller than before.

“Mercy, senior! I’m willing to serve you for—”

Realizing that there was nowhere for him to run or hide, Mara Buddha Sovereign had no choice but to cry out for mercy. However, he didn’t even manage to finish before the bronze bell descended on top of the Buddha Emperor Mountain—now only as big as a millstone—and engulfed it completely. His voice was cut short, and he would never speak again.

After devouring the Mara Buddha Sovereign, the bronze bell shook twice before shrinking back to its normal size. Then, it flew over to a young man and landed on his palm.

“Are you satisfied now?” Ye Qing asked while smiling at the bronze bell.

The Earthly Sovereign Bell shook once before sinking into Ye Qing’s forehead and suspending itself atop his yang god once more. For some reason, the way the Earthly Sovereign Bell gently swayed back and forth above his yang god’s head reminded Ye Qing of a slothful man who had just engorged himself upon a delicious meal.

“Haha...”

Ye Qing shook his head smilingly before unleashing his demonic thought. After he confirmed Yi Pin’s position, he ran toward the old Taoist.