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Nether Spring’s footsteps fell upon the viscous Blood Sea, producing a faint but clear TAP... TAP... sound.

In the dead silence of the Blood Sea Nether Realm, the sound was magnified infinitely, like a countdown to death, each tap hammering against the Bixuan Dragon King’s crumbling defenses.

Nether Spring drew closer, step by step. His blood-red eyes were placid and still, yet they terrified the dragon more than any monstrous expression could.

Within the Bixuan Dragon King’s dilating pupils, the vicious, sinister aura swirling around Nether Spring gradually condensed into a grotesque face that grinned and laughed silently at him.

"Don’t... don’t come any closer..." The Bixuan Dragon King’s adam’s apple bobbed as he made a hoarse, gasping sound. His supporting arms trembled like a candle flickering in the wind, and the shaft of his shattered Dragon Spear traced chaotic ripples across the Blood Sea.

He wanted to retreat, to struggle, but the Spiritual Power in his body had long been suppressed to the point of freezing. His grievous wounds made it nearly impossible to move even an inch.

The next moment, a shadow fell over him.

A pale, slender hand with well-defined knuckles, as if reaching from the Netherworld itself, easily clamped around the Bixuan Dragon King’s thick neck.

"Gah...!" The Bixuan Dragon King’s body convulsed violently, his dragon eyes bulging from their sockets.

The hand was bone-chillingly cold, yet its touch had a cloying, suction-like quality. It felt as if it weren’t grasping his skin, but latching directly onto his Divine Soul and the very source of his life!

Then, a terrifyingly tyrannical and insatiably greedy suction force erupted from the palm!

It was like countless slender, bloody tendrils instantly boring into the veins of his neck. They spread like wildfire through the crisscrossing meridians and blood vessels of his draconic body, racing toward his limbs, his Purple Mansion Dantian, and even the Dragon Soul within his Sea of Consciousness!

"Ghh... ghhhh..."

The Bixuan Dragon King could feel his own vast Dragon Essence, his pure Dragon Blood, and even the very source of his Dragon Soul—all cultivated over ten thousand agonizing years—gushing out like a river bursting its dam, uncontrollably pouring into the hand clamped around his throat!

He could clearly feel his Life Force, his Cultivation, and even his comprehension of the Water Element Dao being savagely stripped away and devoured!

His body began to wither and shrivel at a rate visible to the naked eye!

His once-turgid muscles collapsed. His resilient dragon scales lost their sheen, turning gray and brittle, clinging tightly to his rapidly shrinking skeleton.

Even the pair of magnificent horns on his head began to develop fine cracks, their luster fading.

This clear sensation of being sucked dry, bit by bit, was more terrifying and despair-inducing than any torture imaginable.

Nether Spring leaned in slightly, drawing close to the Bixuan Dragon King’s face, now a mask of agony and terror. Reflected in his blood-red eyes was the dragon’s slowly dimming gaze.

The corner of his mouth curved into an almost gentle arc, his voice soft and comforting:

"Don’t be tense."

"Feeling light-headed is normal."

The gentle words, paired with the cruel reality of his life force being ravenously devoured, created a stark contrast that sent a chill of absurdity through the Bixuan Dragon King’s fading consciousness.

’It’s over... It’s all over...’

’The Dragon Monarch abandoned me... I’m going to die here... Sucked dry into a husk by this fiend...’

Endless regret, venomous hatred, and the most profound fear overwhelmed him.

Just as his consciousness was about to be dragged into complete darkness, his dragon form so emaciated it was little more than skin stretched over bone, with even his Inverted Scale starting to loosen and detach—

An overwhelming will to survive—mixed with resentment toward the Dragon Monarch for his abandonment, bone-deep terror of Nether Spring, and the primal urge to simply *live*—erupted like a final, fleeting burst of lucidity from the depths of his nearly extinguished Dragon Soul!

"No... I can’t... die like this..."

Using his last ounce of strength, the Bixuan Dragon King’s claw shot toward his own neck, grabbing at the spot beside his Inverted Scale.

It was a special scale, one that looked no different from the others, but was in fact secretly circulating a faint glimmer of light!

RRIP—!

The scale was brutally ripped off, drawing a trickle of pale golden Dragon Blood.

Beneath the scale was not flesh, but a string of Buddha Beads—only nine beads in total, but each the size of a thumb, glowing with a warm, auspicious golden light and inscribed with intricate Sanskrit.

The aura of these Buddha Beads was pure, solemn, and full of Compassion, utterly incongruous with the monstrously foul environment of the Blood Sea.

The moment they appeared, they spontaneously emanated a gentle, pale-golden ring of Buddha Light, resisting the corrosive Power of the Blood Sea and shielding the Bixuan Dragon King’s last wisp of life.

The Bixuan Dragon King stared intently at the string of Buddha Beads as if it were his last life-saving Talisman. He used every ounce of his Power of Soul to let out a hoarse, broken cry, one filled with desperate piety:

"I... am willing to abandon the way of the dragon... to enter the Buddhist Sect... to take refuge in the Buddha... to become a... Dharma Guardian Celestial Dragon... to uphold the precepts and cultivate... in search of liberation..."

"Masters... come quickly... save me—!!!"

His last cry was a blood-curdling shriek!

As his voice faded, the string of Buddha Beads inscribed with Sanskrit suddenly erupted in brilliant light!

The nine Buddha Beads shone like nine miniature golden suns, linked together as they began to spin at a furious pace!

A vast and majestic Buddhist Will Power—completely different from that of the Dragon Race or the Blood Sea, and carrying the intent of "Enlightenment" and "Guiding"—erupted from them!

"OM—MA—NI—PAD—ME—HUM—"

A faint Brahma Chanting of the Six True Words resonated through the Blood Sea, temporarily forcing back the surrounding waves of blood!

At the center of the spinning Buddha Beads, space warped violently, as if an invisible, giant hand had torn a rift in reality!

Within the rift lay a solemn passageway paved with golden light, where illusory lotuses bobbed and Sanskrit characters drifted through the air. It led to some unknown destination.

Then, two figures calmly and unhurriedly strode forth from the golden passageway.

They were two Buddhist Cultivators clad in simple, moon-white monastic robes. One had a broad, magnanimous face and held a string of Bodhi Seed Beads;

the other was powerfully built and wielded a Crescent Shovel.

A solid, pale golden Light Appearance spun slowly behind each of their heads. Their auras were profound; they were both clearly at the Arhat Realm!

The broad-faced Arhat’s gaze first fell upon the Bixuan Dragon King, who was at death’s door but kept alive by the Buddha Beads’ protection. A smile of both pity and relief spread across his face, and his voice was gentle.

"Amitabha Buddha. Bixuan Dragon King, you have found your way back from a lost path, attaining enlightenment at the moment of life and death. Your wish to renounce your dragon form, enter our Buddhist Sect, and become a Dharma Guardian Celestial Dragon is a matter of great and virtuous karma.

"The Buddha is compassionate and offers salvation to all sentient beings. Today..."

Before he could finish, the two of them had fully stepped out of the passageway and onto the surface of the Blood Sea.

Only then did their senses fully acclimate to this realm, allowing them to take in the surrounding scene.

His words died in his throat.

The compassionate smile on his face froze instantly.

Where was the repentant Dragon King, waiting to be guided back from his lost path?

There was only a terrifying vista of a mountain of corpses in a sea of blood, a scene of absolute annihilation where all life had been extinguished!

An overwhelming stench of blood and resentment too thick to disperse, a viscous and foul scarlet ocean, and in its center... a young man in blood-red robes. He was unnervingly handsome, and with one hand, he was holding the Bixuan Dragon King by the neck as if pinching a chick. The dragon was now so withered he was little more than a dragon-skin sack of bones.

As for the Bixuan Dragon King, his breath was a faint wisp, his eyes were vacant, and he was just one final gasp away from his soul scattering completely.

What made the two Arhats’ hearts pound was that the instant they arrived, the boundless Blood Sea seemed to have been provoked, and it began to seethe violently!

Countless blood waves roared without a sound. A foul, cold aura swelled, spontaneously crashing against and eroding the Protective Buddha Light around their bodies, filled with a primal sense of disgust and rejection!

The gaze of the blood-robed man had already shifted from the Bixuan Dragon King. Slowly, coldly, it settled on the two of them.

It was not the way one looked at a living being. It was the way one looked at... prey.

"Oh?"

Just then, the stoic Nether Spring let out a soft sound of genuine surprise.

The moment the two Buddhist Cultivator Arhats stepped into the Blood Sea Nether Realm, the very core of his being—the power that originated from the Blood Spirit Scripture and the Blood Sea Dao, the Blood Sea Dao Intent that perpetually resonated with the external Blood Sea—had pulsed with an unprecedented, incredibly clear and intense urgency.

It wasn’t the wariness one feels for a powerful opponent, nor was it the greed one has for "food."

Instead, it was something more fundamental: a revulsion and killing intent born from the mutual repulsion of two opposing Daos!

This tremor, born from the very instinct of his Dao, was so intense it urged him to immediately, without a moment’s hesitation and at any cost, tear apart and annihilate the two figures before him who were emitting that "annoying golden light."

In the spaces between spaces, it was as if an ancient voice whispered to him.

Kill them... and be greatly rewarded!

Nether Spring’s blood-red pupils contracted slightly as thoughts raced through his mind.

’That’s it... The Blood Sea Dao is the convergence of the world’s Supreme Yin and filth, of slaughter and death, of resentment and karmic sin!

’While the path of the Buddhist Sect emphasizes purity and liberation, compassion and enlightenment, the extinguishing of karma...’

’One gathers filth, the other purifies it. One masters slaughter, the other preaches against it. One drowns in the sea of karma, the other transcends it...’

’They are fundamentally... conflicting Daos with mutually exclusive Dao Principles! Like fire and water, they are innately incompatible!’

’No wonder the Blood Sea has such an instinctual aversion...’ Nether Spring’s gaze swept over the string of Buddha Beads around the Bixuan Dragon King’s neck.

’So this old dragon was secretly in league with the Buddhist Sect and had this trick up his sleeve.

’Right. The Dragon Race lives long but faces many tribulations. For certain dragons who are trapped with no way out, or for those who simply crave an easy life, the position of a Dharma Guardian Celestial Dragon in the Buddhist Sect is a decent escape route...

’No wonder the Dragon Monarch left so decisively.

’He probably knew about this old dragon’s treacherous nature all along, which is why he wasn’t willing to lift a finger to help.’

All these thoughts passed in an instant.

Meanwhile, the two Arhats on the other side, having been stunned by the horrific scene and then feeling the undisguised malice of the encroaching Blood Sea, found their expressions turning grim.

The burly Arhat slammed the butt of his Crescent Shovel down, his voice booming:

"What manner of demon are you, to commit such an act of annihilation here and defile Heaven and Earth!

"Release the Bixuan Dragon King at once and return with us to our mountain to await judgment!"

Upon hearing this, Nether Spring slowly, very slowly, broke into a grin.

His smile held no trace of gentleness or amusement. All that remained was pure, cold killing intent, like something dredged up from the deepest trenches of the Blood Sea.

"Ah, bald donkeys of the Buddhist Dao..."

He murmured, as if speaking both to himself and to the seething Blood Sea within his body.

"Looks like..."

"I’ll have to have this extra course after all."

Before the words had even left his mouth, he tightened the hand clamped around the Bixuan Dragon King’s neck!

CRACK!

The crisp sound of shattering bone echoed.

The Bixuan Dragon King’s last spark of life—along with all his lingering fear and regret—was snuffed out. His withered head slumped limply to the side.

Nether Spring casually tossed the feather-light dragon corpse aside like a piece of trash, allowing it to be devoured by the churning waves of blood.

His gaze locked completely onto the two Buddhist Cultivator Arhats, who now stood as if facing their greatest foe.

...

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