At this moment, an utter silence fell.

"Huh?"

Guang Ming stood frozen in place, his entire life flashing before his eyes. Cold sweat began to stream down his face uncontrollably.

'What have I done?'

'I became the Buddha's Son, leader of the Pure Land. I plotted across the realm, schemed against the four territories, and held the world's destiny in my hands... But was that really damn me?'

'That wasn't me at all!'

Guang Ming knew himself all too well. He was just a simple man with no great ambitions, someone who just wanted to live a good life with enough to eat and drink. He would never have taken the risk to do something so world-shaking. And yet, through all these years, he hadn't sensed that anything was amiss!

'What in the world was I doing?'

Guang Ming stared blankly at his own hands. His Golden Body, normally full and robust, now seemed to be nothing more than a thin layer of human skin.

'...Ah.'

Guang Ming raised his head and looked at Demon-Vanquishing Perfected. His eyes were brilliant and bright, but the emotion that finally surfaced in them was not shock or resentment.

It was helplessness.

'I see. I'm already dead.'

He was different from the others. They were not the Buddha's Son; when their connection was severed, they could return to their former selves. His very life, however, had long been entrusted to another.

When Demon-Vanquishing Perfected severed the link between him and the Bhagavat, it was like being completely uprooted. He couldn't even utter a single word. All he could do was press his palms together and let the Buddha Light on his body flicker, stall, and then disintegrate, finally turning into a sky full of fine, golden dust.

Immediately after, a soul drifted down into the cycle of reincarnation.

Guang Ming was dead.

But the Buddha's Son did not vanish. Behind where he had stood, the magnificent Victorious Will-Born Clarity Tathagata's World Appearance stirred for the first time.

"Amitabha!"

The grand Buddha's Name resounded throughout the Pure Land, but it did not elicit the usual chorus of responses from the Pure Land Buddhist Cultivators. Instead, the Monks were all looking around, their faces blank and confused.

'A demonic obstacle... A demonic obstacle!'

At last, an old Arhat with a white beard and hair moved. His face was a mask of shock and rage, like a fledgling that had lived its whole life in a nest suddenly seeing the boundless sky.

"How dare you? How dare you do this!?"

He pointed at Demon-Vanquishing Perfected and roared, "You have ruined the very foundation of our Pure Land... You have destroyed our foundation! You are a great Demon! A world-shaking Demon indeed!"

"Kill him!"

Normally, before the old Arhat had even finished speaking, the other Monks would have already swarmed forward. At this moment, however, all the Monks reacted differently.

The next second—

BANG!

A recently ascended Arhat suddenly squeezed his eyes shut, and then with a thunderous boom, he decisively self-detonated. His soul drifted down into the cycle of reincarnation!

The old Arhat turned back in astonishment. "Why!?"

To enter the cycle of reincarnation and have his soul cleansed, especially now, when the connection to the Bhagavat was severed... This meant he wanted to completely sever his ties with the Pure Land!

"How utterly foolish!"

The old Arhat was so angry his hands were shaking. "The Bhagavat is compassionate! His light shines upon us Lower Cultivators, creating this paradise in the West. Why would you ever think of leaving?"

He couldn't understand.

Therefore, he could only attribute it all to Demon-Vanquishing Perfected's actions, believing that the Demon before him had corrupted the purity of the Pure Land and bewitched the other monks.

But seeing this, Demon-Vanquishing Perfected suddenly smiled.

.......

「Great Heroic Treasure Hall」

The rising and falling clamor was now fading into the distance. When Demon-Vanquishing Perfected came to his senses, he found a young man had appeared before him at some unknown time.

His features were ordinary, common even. Demon-Vanquishing Perfected found him vaguely familiar but couldn't recall where he might have seen him. It was as if all the facial features in the world had been gathered together to sculpt this one face. And at this moment, the man was looking at him with great interest.

The next moment, the young man spoke.

His voice was gentle, like a graceful woman's, yet it held a masculine strength. It sounded like a dying old man's, yet it was filled with the vitality of a young child.

"Amitabha."

Hearing this single Buddha's Name, Demon-Vanquishing Perfected's expression immediately grew solemn. He stared at the young man with utmost gravity, a hint of disbelief in his eyes.

'...The Bhagavat?'

"I'm afraid I must disappoint you, Benefactor."

As if guessing Demon-Vanquishing Perfected's thoughts, the young man shook his head. "I am not the Bhagavat. The Bhagavat is far too lofty; he would not personally come to meet a fellow Daoist."

Hearing this, Demon-Vanquishing Perfected's thoughts raced, and he instantly understood. "I see. Fellow Daoist, you are... that Dharma Appearance."

The Victorious Will-Born Clarity Tathagata's World Appearance!

At this thought, Demon-Vanquishing Perfected frowned again. "Why did you wish to see me, fellow Daoist?"

"I am troubled by a question."

The young man pressed his palms together and said calmly, "Benefactor, your Sword Intent is sublime, and you cleverly borrowed the power of the yet-to-be-formed Fruit of Sword Dao to execute that slash."

"However, it is ultimately an unsustainable power."

"Aside from those Monks who chose dissolution and entered the cycle of reincarnation, once you die, fellow Daoist, the connection between the other Monks and the Bhagavat will soon be restored."

"That being the case, what is the point of what you have done, Benefactor?"

"Is that so?" Demon-Vanquishing Perfected wasn't disappointed to hear this. Instead, he smiled.

"How could it be meaningless? Didn't you say it yourself, fellow Daoist? Several Monks have already entered the cycle of reincarnation. I consider those people saved."

"That is the point."

The young man's expression remained unchanged as he continued to question him. "Benefactor, you decry our Pure Land as a wicked path. But you, who have taken countless lives and single-handedly decided the fate of so many—is that not just another form of a Pure Land? By rejecting the Pure Land, are you not, in essence, also rejecting yourself?"

At these words, Demon-Vanquishing Perfected's smile grew even wider.

"How can you even compare the two?"

Those simple words left the young man stunned. After a long moment, he shook his head with a wry smile. "I nearly forgot. You are from the Sword Pavilion, Benefactor..."

But even after saying that, he still seemed unconvinced.

"But what about the Sword Pavilion? You've been constrained by the Sword Pavilion your whole life. Do you truly not hold the slightest grudge?"

"Of course I do."

Demon-Vanquishing Perfected nodded, not denying it. A smile played on his lips. "And that's why I left the Non-Killing Sword Intent and its Sword Technique with the Ye Family, isn't it?"

The Non-Killing Sword Intent was originally a goal of the Pure Land, so how could they not covet its associated Sword Technique? But to get it, they would have to get involved with the Ye Family. The longer the association, the heavier the karmic links would become. Demon-Vanquishing Perfected had deliberately left behind the Non-Killing but withheld the All Slash, all to set a trap for the Ye Family!

So devious!

"A lesson learned," the young man said, pressing his palms together with a sigh. "It seems, Benefactor, that your last wishes have truly been fulfilled. With no more attachments, you are ready to sacrifice your body for your sword."

Demon-Vanquishing Perfected had not changed his fate.

He was fated to die. If he did not die, if he did not offer his body as a sacrifice to his sword, the Fruit of Sword Dao could not manifest. That was the one result that could not be changed.

At this, the young man's expression became regretful. "I had thought that you might waver at the brink of death, Benefactor. After Guang Ming died, I found myself in need of a new vessel. If you had been unwilling to die and chosen to merge with me, it would not have been impossible for you to be reborn."

But Demon-Vanquishing Perfected had refused.

CRACK!

The surrounding scenery began to shatter, inch by inch. It was a sign that the Illusion Realm was about to collapse and reality was returning, and it also meant that Demon-Vanquishing Perfected's death was imminent.

And yet, even now, a peaceful smile remained on the face of the world's greatest Sword Cultivator.

He had upheld the principle of the Non-Killing for the better part of his life, and even in his final moments, he did not resort to a massacre. Instead, he chose to save people.

The next second, all visions vanished.

Lü Yang's Sword Dao Avatar looked up to see that Demon-Vanquishing Perfected's figure had vanished. All that remained was the Non-Killing Sword, hovering quietly in midair.

On the body of the sword, a line of inscription shone with brilliant light:

"To sacrifice one's life for righteousness is to hold righteousness more precious than life."

"Thus it is said: In all the world, nothing is more precious than righteousness."

In an instant, thousands of streams of Sword Qi converged. A sword's cry seemed to ring out between Heaven and Earth, yet it remained suppressed, as if stuck at the most critical step.

"This is..."

Lü Yang, who was standing nearby, looked astonished. He instantly understood Demon-Vanquishing Perfected's final, posthumous arrangement.

'He... he tied the formation of the Fruit of Sword Dao to the Pure Land! He pegged the foundation of the Fruit of Sword Dao to the Pure Land's Unity!'

Demon-Vanquishing Perfected had severed the Pure Land's Unity, using that very act to establish the foundation of the Sword Dao.

However, if the Pure Land were to restore its Unity later, it would be tantamount to subverting that very foundation. At that point, the nascent Sword Dao would instantly crumble...

'That brilliant bastard!'

For a moment, Lü Yang was utterly floored.

Unity was the foundation of the Pure Land, while the Sword Dao was something the Sword Pavilion was determined to obtain. Demon-Vanquishing Perfected had somehow forcibly turned the two into mortal enemies.

The Sword Pavilion wants the Sword Dao? Then they must continue to undermine the foundation of the Pure Land.

The Pure Land wants to maintain its Unity? Then they must destroy the Sword Dao.

Who said good guys don't play dirty?

Demon-Vanquishing Perfected was just too damn good at it!

He didn't do it often, just kept his schemes bottled up. But now, with this one move, he had set the biggest trap of all, ensnaring both the Pure Land and the Sword Pavilion in his machinations!