Outside the Capital.
Deng Mengcheng, wearing a red short-sleeved shirt and white pants, stood inside a patch of woods.
After landing, instead of seeking out other Monsters to fight, he came straight here.
"Come out. Although you can hide from others, you're not good enough to face me." Deng Mengcheng looked arrogantly toward the back of a large tree dozens of meters away.
"Amitabha!" A Buddhist chant entered his ears from all directions.
Screeech! A ringing sound echoed, and the world in front of Deng Mengcheng began to undergo drastic changes.
The surrounding trees vanished, darkness emerged, and the light overhead rapidly diminished.
In just an instant, he arrived in a world of complete darkness.
Thump, thump, thump!
Rhythmic sounds of a wooden fish being struck came from the surrounding darkness.
'This is the Spiritual World!' A look of vigilance appeared in Deng Mengcheng's eyes.
A faint white light appeared around his body. As a Level Five Mental-type Awakened One, he did not fear any mental attacks, even if his opponent was also Level Five Mental-type.
When he was still in the sky, he had sensed a powerful spiritual force here, which is why he sought it out immediately.
Whoosh! Candles lit up all around.
Following the lighting of the candles, Deng Mengcheng could barely make out some of his surroundings. He was inside a temple, surrounded by monks wearing gray robes and sitting on prayer mats.
In the dark environment, he could only see the monks' profiles illuminated by the candlelight. Their faces held deathly still expressions, and their eyes were completely devoid of emotion.
They uniformly struck the wooden fish in their hands and looked up towards the front.
"What is this!" Deng Mengcheng followed the monks' gaze, his pupils contracting. On the offering table directly above them,
a black Buddha sat cross-legged, its right hand raised in front and its left hand lowered, staring at him with empty eyes.
As the man and the ghost stared at each other, the sound of the wooden fish abruptly stopped. All the monks pressed their palms together and began reciting scriptures in emotionless voices.
"Namo Underworld Sovereign Buddha, sitting on the Asura Lotus Throne upon withered bones."
"Black silk binds the neck, locking the Three Souls; black banners shroud the eyes, sealing the Seven Pneuma."
"No life and no death before the steps, neither waking nor awareness within the hall."
"Listen to what I recite, listen to what I say: the flesh is a yoke, desire is a lock."
"Do not struggle, do not hide; once the temple gate closes, eternity descends." — (Pure fiction)
The sound of the scriptures continued to echo inside the temple. The empty, emotionless voices, combined with the surrounding pitch-black environment, made everything seem incredibly bizarre.
The white light emanating from Deng Mengcheng, who stood in the center, began to flicker, as if being eroded by something invisible.
"Interesting. This is the first time I've encountered an ability like this." Facing this bizarre scene, Deng Mengcheng grinned, revealing an arrogant smile.
His ability meant that the firmer his will, the stronger his spiritual body became, even inside an enemy's Spiritual World.
He firmly believed his spiritual power was invincible.
"Then, I'll just blow this place up first!" Deng Mengcheng waved one hand, and white light surged from his body.
Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle! The surrounding darkness made contact with the white light, emitting crackling sounds.
The Ghost Buddha above remained unmoved, watching the scene unfold.
Below, Deng Mengcheng wore an arrogant expression. He raised his left hand, and a three-meter-long white spear adorned with intricate patterns appeared above his head.
"Go!" Deng Mengcheng aimed at the Ghost Buddha above, and the spear, materialized by his spiritual power, shot out abruptly.
Swoosh! The spear, emitting a faint white light, was about to hit the Ghost Buddha when it suddenly stopped one centimeter in front of it. A surge of black energy emerged from the Ghost Buddha, firmly blocking the weapon.
The Ghost Buddha did not counterattack. Instead, the monks below continued reciting the scriptures, and the black energy on its body grew slightly stronger.
Its ability development leaned towards trapping enemies. It might be able to kill lower-level opponents, but it could only trap Mental-types of the same level.
Buzz! Deng Mengcheng showed no surprise as he watched the spear being blocked. He waved his hand again, and behind him,
a two-meter-tall soldier appeared, entirely encased in white armor, including its head. The soldier held a broad, Greatsword.
"Slay them." Deng Mengcheng's gaze swept over the surrounding monks. In the Spiritual World,
everything was a manifestation of both parties' spiritual power, and every presence had its significance. These monks who appeared at the start might be the culprits who dragged him in here.
The white armored soldier received the command, and the Greatsword in its hand immediately swung towards a monk on the left.
Splat! The monk was instantly sliced in half, turning into black energy.
Whoosh! This black energy suddenly surged toward the armored soldier. When the soldier tried to swing its sword to disperse the black energy,
it found that the black energy bypassed it lightly like air and flowed into its body.
Sizzle! A corrosive sound rang out, and the white light on the soldier's body dimmed slightly.
Deng Mengcheng had been observing everything that happened, and a sneer gradually appeared on his face: "There are twenty monks here in total. Killing one only consumes one-tenth of the soldier's energy."
He looked at the Ghost Buddha, a wild smile spreading across his face: "But materializing one soldier only consumes one percent of my spiritual power. I'd like to see how you can outlast me, ha ha ha!"
With a thought, another soldier appeared. The two soldiers began hacking wildly at the surrounding monks.
Splat! Sizzle!
Splat! Sizzle!
The sounds continuously echoed inside the temple. In just a moment, all the surrounding monks were slain, and the two soldiers also dissipated.
Even the black energy on the Ghost Buddha's body had faded significantly, and the spear that had been blocked by the black energy was slowly piercing into the Ghost Buddha's body.
Below, Deng Mengcheng stood with his hands in his pockets, an invincible expression on his face as he sighed emotionally: "As expected, even a Monster at the same Level Five can't keep up with my spiritual power. If I hadn't reached Level Six yet, the title of Number One Under Heaven might already be mine."
Crack! Following his words, cracks appeared on the Ghost Buddha's body, and large amounts of white light burst forth from the fissures.
At this exact moment, within Nanwu Country, outside Town City, inside a special prison.
This prison was managed by the Xuanjian Division and guarded by a Fourth-level Awakener. Those imprisoned inside were Monsters or members captured for their association with the Monster Association.
Inside a cell, A Wen leaned against the wall, utterly devoid of life.
'Amitabha,' an empty Buddhist chant, suddenly appeared in his mind, and he was instantly overwhelmed by a terrifying sensation.
A Wen's expression was horrified, and he instinctively yelled, "No!!!"
Whoosh! The next moment, A Wen, who had been terrified, suddenly displayed a look of benevolent serenity.
Snap! Crack! Crisp sounds emanated from his body, and his entire person suddenly exploded like porcelain, leaving behind fragments of Human Porcelain scattered everywhere.