Stranger Danger

Chapter 971: The Earthly Sovereign Suppresses The Nether

Translator's Notes: Unrelated to this chapter, but I realized I made a mistake with the Chu Emperor's name. It should be Jing Run, not Jin Run. If you see any weird instances (like Jin Rui IDK) then please report it to me in the comments, thank you.

“Nether Buddha... you cannot win.” Nether Kṣitigarbha said as he watched the struggling Ye Qing, “But my Buddha is merciful. If you surrender the Earthly Sovereign Bell and take refuge in the Buddha, I promise to let you live and become my disciple. I shall bestow you unparalleled opportunities.”

“Hahaha... I’m the one who should be telling you that!” Ye Qing laughed like a madman when he heard Nether Kṣitigarbha’s “offer”. “If you submit to me now, I too promise to let you live and grant you unparalleled opportunities when I achieve my unparalleled Dao. What says you, Buddha?”

“Stubborn fool!” Nether Kṣitigarbha uttered coldly.

His jeweled crown began spinning and unleashing beams of dark light that empowered the eight lords of hell.

His Kṣitigarbha beads began emitting endless dark light and filth that corrupted the soul.

His kasaya floated as if blown by wind and caused thousands and thousands of black lotus to descend from above; each lotus seated by a mini Nether Kṣitigarbha chanting demonic sutras that tempted one to damnation.

And finally, Nether Kṣitigarbha himself began to grow in size until he towered over seemingly anything and everything. His left palm was pointed upward as if carrying three thousand Kingdoms of Buddha, and his right palm was pointed downward as if carrying the Nine Nethers. It looked quite intimidating to say the least.

“Angry already? You’re a little short-fused, aren’t you? Hang in there though, cuz the show has just begun!”

Ye Qing grinned madly as he used his regenerated right hand to punch the Earthly Sovereign Bell once more. Naturally, the limb immediately exploded into nothing.

This time though, he didn’t stop. While his right arm was exploding, he leaped into the air and kicked the Earthly Sovereign Bell with his right foot. While his right foot was exploding, he spun around and kicked it with his left foot. When all of his limbs were destroyed, Ye Qing launched himself forward and struck the Earthly Sovereign Bell with his torso instead.

For a time, the profound light grew brighter and brighter, and the bell ringing kept compounding until it was all one could hear.

Under the effects of the light and the ringing, the eight lords of hell revived and died and revived repeatedly. However, each time they revived, their presence grew weaker, and the speed at which they were reviving grew slower as well.

Nether Kṣitigarbha looked absolutely terrible. His jeweled crown broke into multiple pieces, his kasaya looked tattered and worn, his Kṣitigarbha beads were dim, and his Buddhist sutra looked blackened like it was borned. n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

As for Nether Kṣitigarbha himself, his limbs were broken, and cracks were spreading throughout his body like spider webs. The cracks looked like entrances to the Nethers themselves as what felt like an infinite amount of evil yin qi were leaking out into the open before the Earthly Sovereign’s dark yellow light purified it all.

“Stop! Stop!” Nether Kṣitigarbha yelled urgently. “Stop! I will leave right now, so stop!”

The Ten Directions Stupa had just been restored, and he had just recovered some strength. He was hardly in a condition to fight against the Earthly Sovereign Bell right now. Besides, he was just the artifact spirit of the Ten Directions Stupa. Although the Ten Directions Stupa was Kṣitigarbha Buddha’s Dao artifact, of course it could not compare to an ultimate, natural treasure like the Earthly Sovereign Bell.

On top of that, Nether Kṣitigarbha called himself the new Kṣitigarbha Buddha, but he was really just the late Buddha’s malice. After becoming fully corrupted by the evil ghosts of the eight major hells, he did not even possess a sliver of Buddhist nature anymore and landed firmly under the category of yin and evil. Born from the virtuous qi of the world, the Earthly Sovereign Bell was the natural bane of all things yin and evil, and that included him.

Earlier, he presented a brave front because he saw that Ye Qing hadn’t mastered the Earthly Sovereign Bell and could not utilize its full power. Not only that, the young man could only activate it via brute force, dealing serious damage to himself and even more severe damage to his enemy. He was certain that Ye Qing would not be able to outlast him.

But he was wrong. Not only did Ye Qing last way longer than he expected, the guy was throwing himself at the Earthly Sovereign Bell like a suicidal maniac. At this rate, he didn’t know if Ye Qing would die, but he was almost certainly going to perish. Even if he survived, he would suffer deep, possibly unrecoverable damage when all was said and done. It would not be worth it.

So, he chickened out. He had bowed out of the chicken race.

Would Ye Qing allow him to leave though?

“Hahaha! Chickened out already? How disappointing!”

Ye Qing, who had lost every part of his body except his head, laughed loudly. “You should’ve left when you had the chance, but now? Now, it’s too late!”

As he spoke, Ye Qing did something absolutely insane. He launched his head at the Earthly Sovereign Bell.

THANG!

Nether Kṣitigarbha let out a bloodcurdling scream. The dark light and the bell ringing had broken him into pieces.

“Are you insane? At this rate, you won’t live even if you managed to kill me. I’ve already given up, so why are you striving for a pyrrhic victory?”

The next moment, a blast of dark light restored Nether Kṣitigarbha back to normal. However, he looked way more transparent than he was before, and his jeweled crown, Kṣitigarbha beads, and “Daśacakra Kṣitigarbha Sūtra” were all destroyed. His presence was so much weaker as well.

Nether Kṣitigarbha couldn’t care less about his injuries, however. It was because Ye Qing—despite sporting only half a head now—was preparing to launch himself at the Earthly Sovereign Bell again. He dashed backward in an attempt to escape from Ye Qing’s headspace, but he was moving far too slowly due to his injuries. “Calm down! When I leave, I will pass down the ‘Daśacakra Kṣitigarbha Sūtra’ to you as compensation, so calm down!”

It was bullshit of course, but the Earthly Sovereign Bell’s dark yellow light and the bell ringing possessed the power to restrict space as well. That was why he was having so much trouble trying to leave Ye Qing’s headspace, and why he was begging Ye Qing and even promising him benefits. If Ye Qing hesitated even a little, if the profound light and bell ringing relaxed just a bit, he would be able to leave his headspace and enact his vengeance.

“I don’t want your Daśacakra Kṣitigarbha Sūtra! I just want you to die, so be a good fucking monk and come to the fucking grave with me, will you?!”

Ye Qing snarled as he launched his half a head toward the Earthly Sovereign Bell.

“You madman!”

Nether Kṣitigarbha swore and split into countless wisps of light, all of them trying to escape from Ye Qing’s headspace.

“Huh? Why is there no sound?”

However, something unexpected happened. Ye Qing did not hear the usual bell ringing. “Did I miss?”

“No, no I didn’t miss. The Earthly Sovereign Bell dodged me!” It was at this moment Ye Qing recalled a passing memory. Right before his half a head would land on the Earth Sovereign Bell, the artifact had dodged to the side almost as if it had a consciousness of its own. He was simply too disoriented to recognize it.

The delay was brief, but it was enough. The dark yellow light and bell ringing weakened just enough for Nether Kṣitigarbha to escape from his headspace.

“Oh, shit...” Ye Qing cursed under his breath.

Why did Ye Qing go so far as to risk the annihilation of his yang god and consciousness just to kill Nether Kṣitigarbha? It was because he knew the bastard would absolutely murder the shit out of him if he managed to escape.

Nether Kṣitigarbha was careless earlier, and the corrupt monk was unable to utilize the full power of the Ten Directions Stupa because he was inside his headspace. That was why he was able to catch Nether Kṣitigarbha, deal him a grievous blow, and suppress him continuously.

Ye Qing knew he couldn’t relent even a little, however. The moment Nether Kṣitigarbha escaped his headspace and returned to the outside world, the moment he returned to his homeground, then their roles would be reversed instantly.

That was why he went so far as to commit mental suicide to kill Nether Kṣitigarbha.

But of course, he wasn’t actually planning to commit mental suicide. He had a backup plan. His Heavenly Demon yang god could survive if even a wisp of it remained, and even before he made up his mind to kill Nether Kṣitigarbha inside his headspace, he had already split out a wisp of his mind and hid it elsewhere. So long as that wisp of mind was alive, he would live even if his yang god perished.

It would be a severe blow to his person, of course. It would take years, maybe longer for him to recover from such devastating damage. Worst case scenario, his martial way would be irreversibly damaged.

Still, it was a miniscule price to pay compared to dying for real.

Unfortunately, despite going all out and being one step shy away from victory, it was all for naught because the Earthly Sovereign Bell had dodged out of the way at the last moment.

“Sigh... second phase boss fight it is!”

Ye Qing sighed. What could he do now that he had missed his chance to end Nether Kṣitigarbha? He could only give it his all.

He did not think well of his chances though. Nether Kṣitigarbha was prepared this time, and he had the home field advantage. Worst case scenario, he might not even be able to preserve his body.

He wouldn’t die. As long as even one of his Heavenly Demon Dependents was still alive, he could always revive himself through the Paranirmita Boundless Heavenly Demon Dependent Magia.

But of course, he would like to avoid that scenario if at all possible.

No one’s body was as good as his own after all.

His current body was an Earthly Sovereign Body forged using Profound Yellow Mother Qi. He was guaranteed to reach the Sage stage as long as he cultivated normally.

The same could not be said for anyone else’s body; not among his Heavenly Demon Dependents instead.

It was too late for regrets though. He could only give it his all.