With three ethereal tolls of the bell, the perennial, chilling mist miraculously receded, replaced by ten thousand rays of golden light. Every bamboo leaf was adorned with glistening spiritual dew, and the air was no longer filled with the stench of earth, but drifted with a heart-soothing fragrance of sandalwood.
"The Great Cleansing Ceremony begins! A blessing upon all living beings—!"
As the deacons gave their high-pitched cries, countless disciples clad in snow-white Taoist robes, their foreheads smeared with silver powder symbolizing purity, looked on with a gaze of near-frenzied devotion. In their eyes, this was the sole opportunity to shed their mortal coils and potentially ascend straight to the divine path.
Jiang Li walked among the crowd, watching the intoxicated smiles on the faces of her fellow disciples. Her stomach churned; their displays of piety made her skin crawl even more than blatant malice.
Cang Yaochen walked by her side. He had changed into a deep cyan monk's robe today. His aura of holiness, which kept everyone at a distance, appeared exceptionally solemn under the golden light.
However, within Cang Yaochen's consciousness, a storm capable of destroying all reason was brewing.
[System Mission: On the Altar of the Great Cleansing Ceremony, personally stab one inch into Jiang Li's heart to initiate the "Covenant of the Buddha."]
[Penalty: If the mission fails, the "Eros" Godhead will forcibly awaken and take control of the physical shell.]
Cang Yaochen tightened his grip on the prayer beads in his sleeve.
Eros? That dissolute, bottomless madman?
No, he would never allow that erratic entity to occupy this body. But to draw a blade against Jiang Li... His gaze fell upon the slender curve of her neck, and a frantic delusion arose in his heart—a desire to hide her away in the abyss.
The Gui-Xu Sacred Altar.
This place was decorated to a state of exquisite beauty. Twelve stone pillars emitted a soft white glow, and in the center of the altar, a massive White Jade Pool bubbled with "Spiritual Springs" that were clear to the bottom.
"The Cleansing begins! Those chosen shall enter the pool to reshape their spiritual roots!"
The Great Elder stood atop the high platform, his face a mask of compassion. Holding a jade ruler, he walked slowly into the crowd of disciples. Every time he tapped someone, an expression of extreme joy would surface on that disciple's face.
"Inner disciple Chen Jing, of pure spirit—permitted to enter the pool!"
The disciple named Chen Jing knelt and kowtowed in wild delight, then, under the envious gazes of the crowd, stepped light-footedly into the White Jade Pool. The water rose past his knees, his chest, and finally over the top of his head.
Jiang Li watched unblinkingly. She noticed that after Chen Jing entered the water, his face still bore that eerie, yearning smile, but the light in his eyes extinguished in an instant. It was like a lamp whose wick had been abruptly snapped.
Subsequently, like a fine puppet that had lost its soul, Chen Jing was gently led by two white-clad deacons into the dense forest behind the altar.
"Next." The Great Elder's voice remained lofty and pure.
Jiang Li felt a chill rising from the bottom of her heart. This felt nothing like a blessing of reshaping roots; it was a massive harvest. "I must find a way. No matter what conspiracy they have, I cannot let them succeed." Jiang Li secretly observed the terrain around the altar.
Standing to the side, Cang Yaochen's Buddha-eyes saw through it all. He saw the life essence of those disciples flowing along the hidden formations at the bottom of the White Jade Pool, surging frantically into the dark rivers deep underground.
This sin of toying with sentient lives in the palm of one's hand made the pressure of a High God within Cang Yaochen almost shatter its seals. Although his cultivation was currently damaged, the thrill of looking down upon ants and seeing through the fire and smoke surged wildly in his cold blood.
A godhead that Cang Yaochen could not control was slowly awakening in the shadows.
"Next, Jiang Li."
The Second Elder spoke mildly. In his eyes, letting Jiang Li enter the Spiritual Spring for cleansing was the most profitable bargain. If she truly was the one from the prophecy they had been seeking, the **Mirror of Truth** fragment would surely react. If not, then she was surely a demoness, and slaying a demoness was exactly what the righteous path should do. He stroked his beard, nodding with satisfaction at his own calculations.
Jiang Li took a deep breath and stepped onto the stone stairs.
With every step, she could feel the veins of the earth roaring. It was the Mirror of Truth fragment sensing the turbid qi within her, emitting a greedy breath.
As she stood by the White Jade Pool, the Great Elder revealed a satisfied smile. "Jiang Li, enter the pool. Wash away the mortal dust, and you shall see the truth."
Jiang Li gave the Elders a cold, sideways glance, then turned to face the crowd: "You are all being deceived! This so-called Cleansing Ceremony isn't helping you purify your roots—it is collecting your spiritual meridians! You will die!"
The moment she finished speaking, a sudden mutation occurred!
Everyone looked at her in unison as if possessed, their eyes turning a blood-red.
"Kill this demoness who profanes the gods..."
"How dare she disrupt the Sacred Ceremony! Kill her quickly!"
The Second Elder had not expected Jiang Li to expose them in front of everyone, but he was well-prepared. He stroked his wisp of a beard and spoke slowly to the disciple beside him, "Bring Chen Jing up."
Chen Jing appeared before the crowd, expressionless. With a wave of the Second Elder's hand, a spiritual meridian brimming with abundant energy stood upright above Chen Jing's life-wheel. The once-chaotic spiritual energy was now gathered together, becoming even stronger and purer.
"Jiang Li, why do you not enter the pool? What is there to hesitate for?" The Great Elder looked at her contemptuously and signaled the crowd to quiet down.
How can this be? This is wrong! Jiang Li's thoughts exploded in her mind for a moment, and she instinctively looked toward Cang Yaochen.
The moment she looked at him, his suppressed Buddha-God aura erupted completely at the final second of the system's countdown.
"Amitabha."
The Buddhist chant was like a sudden clap of thunder, shaking the white light around the altar violently.
Cang Yaochen's figure turned into a deep cyan afterimage, appearing before Jiang Li in an instant. His movement was so swift that even the Great Elder had no time to see clearly.
"Holy Monk, what are you doing?!" the Great Elder cried out in shock, but it was too late to stop him.
Cang Yaochen's eyes became empty and divine in an instant. Under the horrified gaze of everyone, he pressed his long fingers together like a blade, and a translucent, blood-colored Precept Blade condensed in his palm.
Puchi—
The sound of a blade entering flesh.
Jiang Li's pupils constricted sharply. She looked at Cang Yaochen in disbelief. Why?
Blood instantly soaked through her plain clothes, appearing piercingly red and hopeless under the golden sunlight.
[System Mission Accomplished: Initiate the "Covenant of the Buddha."]
The voice in his mind vanished, but the emptiness in Cang Yaochen's eyes was now laced with a trace of pain and heartache.
As the blood dripped, the turbid qi core within Jiang Li was supposed to be forcibly sucked away by the White Jade Pool's formation at this moment. However, because of the Buddha-God essence brought in by Cang Yaochen's strike, it was locked firmly in its original place.
"How can this be..." The Great Elder was stunned. He saw the runes of the altar stained red by Jiang Li's blood, and the original formation began to collapse in reverse!
Cang Yaochen held Jiang Li's swaying body and leaned toward her ear, his voice deep and chilling:
"Li'er, I am sorry. I will tell you everything in the future."
"Holy Monk! You dare ruin my ceremony!" The Second Elder finally reacted, pouncing forward with a shriek.
However, it was too late.
Triggered by the blood from Jiang Li's heart and coupled with that wisp of Buddha-God essence, the White Jade Pool at the center of the altar exploded!
Blood-colored spiritual spring water splashed everywhere. The once-wooden disciples were startled awake by this scene, letting out terrified screams. And deep within the fissure opening in the altar, a mirror fragment emitting an ancient, ominous glow was slowly emerging, resonating with Jiang Li's blood.
Meanwhile, outside the Nine-Turn Exquisite Array , the mysterious woman who looked identical to Jiang Li let out a shrill scream loud enough to shatter stones:
"Give her... back to me!!!"