As Su Min pondered how to carefully break the complex seal on the Treasure Vault without triggering its self-destruction mechanisms, news of the event spread across the continent like a wildfire whirlwind.
The Future Maitreya Mountain, a super sect that had dominated the spiritual landscape for countless years, a pillar of the Buddhist order, had been utterly annihilated. Though they were doctrinally part of the broader Buddhist order, their sheer scale, history, and power had made them a genuine super sect in every sense of the word. What shocked everyone even more was that their destroyers were not the dreaded Fallen Ones.
Instead, it was the confirmed joint effort of the three strongest super sects in the world, the Heavenly God Sect, the Netherworld Sect, and the newly ascended Immortal Sect.
To put it in Earthly terms, this was akin to the U.S., Russia, and China setting aside all differences to team up and wipe out a major, nuclear-armed country. The geopolitical shockwave was unimaginable.
The news was so staggering, so unprecedented, that it left cultivators and sect leaders everywhere dumbfounded, struggling to process the new reality.
No one was particularly surprised that the Immortal Sect had acted. Future Maitreya Mountain had targeted their Grand Elder, Su Min, multiple times, a fact that was an open secret. Their recent collaboration with the Fallen Ones was the final, suicidal straw, a transgression that even the most pacifist could not condone. Most saw the retaliation as harsh, but justified. Those bald monks had reached a level of infamy where no one, not even their nominal allies, would shed tears over their demise.
But for the other Buddhist branches, the shock was paralyzing, a cold fear gripping their hearts. This was essentially "Buddhist Purge 2.0," and even worse, it had targeted one of the three great pillars of their faith. Was this a warning shot across their bows? Were they next?
Their panic was temporarily quelled when the other two super sects, almost as a demonstration of their involvement, each dispatched a Dao Comprehension expert to oversee the periphery of the devastated territory, though both wisely refrained from entering the core zone, respecting Su Min's primary claim.
The mere presence of these two powerhouses, floating silently in the distance like judging gods, was enough to calm the other, smaller branches. It was a clear signal that this was a sanctioned, multi-faction operation.
In truth, the two were not there to fight. They were waiting to scavenge, to claim the spoils Su Min had no use for. Su Min lacked the time, the inclination, and the doctrinal framework to absorb Future Maitreya Mountain's millions of followers, unless she chose to slaughter them all, which was unthinkable. So, the messy cleanup, the absorption of believers and the consolidation of territory, fell naturally to these two rival Buddhist super sects.
And when it came to eradicating a rival branch's influence and absorbing their spiritual assets? No one was more skilled or ruthless at it than them.
Once all of Future Maitreya Mountain's Divine Transformation and above cultivators were dead, their core legacy would be systematically erased from history, not a single word of their unique scriptures or history would remain in the public record. Su Min knew this dark reality of sect warfare and had handed the distasteful task over without a second thought.
Meanwhile, apart from Xie Yingying acting as Su Min's personal guard, the other Dao Comprehension experts had fanned out across the former territory of Future Maitreya Mountain. Their mission was simple and brutal: hunt down and eliminate all high-level cultivators who had fled the initial assault.
With their overwhelming spiritual sense and power, none of the fleeing Nascent Soul or Divine Transformation cultivators could hide for long. It was a systematic cleansing.
Inside the Treasure Vault
"Interesting..."
After several days of meticulous effort, analyzing the flow of energy and the weave of the formation, Su Min finally cracked the final seal. She could have simply shattered it by brute force, but that would have triggered cascading failures, destroying most of the delicate treasures inside. When the massive, rune-covered doors finally swung open without a sound, even the unflappable Su Min and Xie Yingying were momentarily stunned by the sight within.
"Who knew they had hoarded so many high-grade materials? This more than makes up for my previous losses from refining all those pills. Though... it presents a slight problem for me personally."
With a sweep of her hand, countless glowing ores, shimmering herbs, and bottled elemental essences floated obediently into her storage ring. The vast hall, once packed to the rafters, was emptied in a matter of minutes. She was thorough, she left nothing behind, not even the empty shelving.
"What problem?" Xie Yingying asked, watching Su Min's practiced efficiency with a faint smile.
"I have reached a bottleneck. I need something truly special, a catalyst, to push me into the late stage of Divine Transformation. I would rather not rely on something like the Spirit Transformation Pill; the side effects and spiritual impurities are too risky for my specific path."
Su Min frowned slightly. Advancing to late-stage Divine Transformation was a monumental task at her level of foundation. While powerful pills could force a breakthrough, they often left behind dross in the meridians and soul that might hinder her future, more critical breakthrough to Dao Comprehension, especially by interfering with the pure comprehension of cosmic laws.
For most Divine Transformation cultivators, this was not a pressing issue. The sad truth was, the vast majority would never reach Dao Comprehension anyway, so a pill-induced advancement was a perfectly acceptable shortcut.
"You have not sensed it? Then again, my Lunar Sovereign Physique makes me particularly sensitive to certain yang and lunar energies."
Xie Yingying's gaze sharpened, her head tilting as she turned toward a specific, shadowed corner of the vault. There, she felt an intense, scorching presence that seemed to burn at her senses, a power both pure and overwhelming.
"Over there? Hmm?"
Following Xie Yingying's line of sight, Su Min's spiritual sense focused, and her expression turned grave as she detected it too.
Walking over, she pushed aside a seemingly solid section of the wall, revealing a hidden compartment, and froze at what was inside.
Resting on a simple jade pedestal was a smooth, lustrous orb the size of a fist, bathed in a tangible, warm Buddha's Light so dense it felt like liquid gold. The light was so potent that Su Min's Great Sun Tathāgata Sutra automatically activated in response, a golden halo briefly appearing behind her head.
"A Buddha's Light Relic... This had to have been left behind by a monk who achieved nirvana at at least the Unity stage, or even a Mahayana expert."
Such relics were not formed upon ordinary death or even reincarnation. They were the physical crystallization of a high-level monk's lifelong cultivation and virtue, formed only when they achieved true, final nirvana, a complete dissolution into the Dharma. They were exceedingly rare, one-in-a-millennium treasures.
"Why did not those bald donkeys use this themselves?" Xie Yingying wondered aloud, her voice laced with suspicion. Such a treasure could have created another powerhouse.
"These relics are not mere power sources. They retain fragments of their original masters' will and Dharma. Without the relic's approval, aligning with its inherent nature, they are utterly unusable, little more than pretty stones. Clearly, Future Maitreya Mountain as a whole was abandoned, deemed unworthy. It seems even their Emperor Artifact felt the same way. Where did it go?"
Holding the warm, pulsating relic, Su Min felt an ethereal connection, as though faint, approving whispers brushed the edges of her mind. It confirmed her deepest suspicions:
Future Maitreya Mountain had strayed so far from its original path of compassion and enlightenment, descending into fanaticism and violence, that even its own foundational treasures had forsaken it. That was the true reason their assault had been so effortless. They were a tree rotten at the core, ready to fall.
"This is my gain now. Let us see how much it can boost me."
She carefully stored the relic in a separate, purified jade ring. Only those who practiced genuine, orthodox Buddhist techniques could use it, and since Su Min knew the profound Great Sun Tathāgata Sutra, it was a perfect, heaven-sent match for her.
For anyone else, it would be a worthless, if beautiful, paperweight, unless they sold it back to the remaining Buddhist sects for a fortune.
"The rest of the scriptures and techniques here are either specialized Buddhist cultivation methods or aligned with a radical Divine Flame Dao. Mostly useless to the disciples in our sect, but dangerous if leaked indiscriminately. Without proper mental restraint and guidance, these radical texts could drive countless ambitious cultivators to madness or demonic deviation."
Xie Yingying eyed the stacks of ancient manuals and jade slips with clear distaste. Their philosophical flaws and spiritual dangers were glaringly obvious to someone of her advanced level and pure physique. It was no wonder Future Maitreya Mountain had guarded them so fiercely; they were a recipe for creating more fanatics.
"Even more radical than the Great Thunder Temple's core teachings. At some point in their history, they must have veered completely off the orthodox path. Destroying these would be a waste of knowledge, but letting them spread freely is worse. For now, I will seal them away in the sect's forbidden archive."
With a wave of her hand, Su Min collected the entire library into a dedicated storage pouch. She had no use for them now, but their historical and doctrinal knowledge might prove valuable for research or as bargaining chips someday.
"Headache-inducing," she muttered internally, feeling the weight of responsibility.
By now, the other experts had returned from their hunting, their auras calm but carrying the faint, cold scent of concluded business.
"All fleeing Divine Transformation and core Nascent Soul cultivators have been dealt with. The Dao Comprehension experts from the Ancient Lamp Monastery and Great Thunder Temple are waiting outside the main gate. Shall we let them in?"
The little Golden Crow reported succinctly, her golden armor unblemished.
"Let them in. There is nothing of value left here for us to quarrel over."
Su Min nodded. Her haul had been substantial, far exceeding the material cost of the campaign. Especially the relic, which held the key to smoothly propelling her to late-stage Divine Transformation without side effects. From that new plateau, she could finally begin serious preparations for Dao Comprehension and, crucially, claim the long-awaited White Tiger's legacy.
A moment later, two formidable auras materialized before them, their power restrained but unmistakable.
"Amitabha."
The sight of the completely desolate mountain, once a thriving center of faith and now a smoldering, corpse-littered ruin, moved even the stoic Kong Hui. The battle had been so thorough, the activation of their final defense so catastrophic, that a significant portion of Future Maitreya Mountain's most devout followers had perished alongside their Faith Barrier when it violently shattered.
"Where is Future Maitreya Mountain's Emperor Artifact?"
Kong Hui's gaze swept over the emptied vault and the tragic scene on the slopes. His greater concern was the missing supreme treasure. He had come prepared, his own sect's Emperor Artifact secretly in tow, ready to expend great energy to mitigate the collateral damage if a battle between emperor-level artifacts had erupted. Yet Future Maitreya Mountain had fallen with shocking, almost pathetic ease.
In his mind, based on historical precedent, this should have been a months-long siege of epic proportions, with heavy sacrifices required to breach a barrier reinforced by an Emperor Artifact's will.
Instead, there had been nothing. No grand artifact, no final, desperate struggle.
"Unknown. They seemed to lack one entirely. The highest-grade artifact I found was this kasaya. If you want it, name your price."
Su Min shrugged, her tone matter-of-fact. She was not complaining; had a hostile Emperor Artifact been present, the battle would have been far bloodier for her side. A prolonged, world-shaking conflict might have even drawn the attention of the Fallen into the fray, creating an even bigger disaster.
Kong Hui and the other elder from the Ancient Lamp Monastery exchanged a long, grim glance. The unspoken truth hung heavy in the air between them.
"It seems Future Maitreya Mountain had fallen long before today, its heart corrupted. When a sect fundamentally betrays its core tenets, even its guardian Emperor Artifact, bound by dharma, will abandon it."
Su Min smirked inwardly. These two had no idea how right they were. Had she not acted, the entire Buddhist order would have faced internal betrayal and annihilation in what she thought of as the game's third chapter. With Future Maitreya Mountain gone, any remaining rogue branches would lack the power and coordination to pose a real threat, even if they still foolishly collaborated with the Fallen.
"The survivors and the territory are yours to handle. As agreed, the first installment of my alchemical payment will be delivered within a year. The rest can be negotiated at your convenience."
With a final, polite bow that signaled the end of their business, Su Min glanced at the little Golden Crow. Understanding the cue, the massive form of the Donghuang Bell descended once more, enveloping Su Min, Xie Yingying, and the other Immortal Gate members before vanishing with a faint chime that resonated through the ruins. The other Dao Comprehension experts from the super sects needed no escort; they nodded in farewell and vanished into spatial ripples, returning to their own distant sects.
==
PSA for the Extra Chapters!
If you didn't know, I've already dropped some of the Extra Chapters, because let's be real, a few of them are way too tied into the main story to just shove them all into a separate volume later. That'd be like pausing a movie to watch deleted scenes in the middle… awkward.
So yeah, I've already slipped the important ones into their respective parts of the story, think of them as bonus cutscenes that make everything flow smoother. Don't skip 'em! (Or else you might miss some key moments 👀)
The rest? They'll chill in their own cozy volume after the main story wraps up. But for now, keep an eye out for those sneaky Extras already in the wild!