: The Prefect's Scheme Succeeds

2025-08-08 Author: Gu Zhenren

An indescribably loud explosion erupted!

Buddhist light shot into the sky, while terrifying turbid energy from the earth's core formed shockwaves that swept out in all directions.

The ascendant annihilating Buddhist intent caused the shockwaves, turbid energy, and Buddhist light to rapidly diminish until they vanished completely.

Rain fell from the sky.

Moisture steamed and churned in the air.

The scale of the Lethe tributary was less than one percent of its original size. Within the flow floated broken prayer beads and an ice coffin that froze the surrounding water.

The illusory shadow of the Nirvana Buddha hovered silently, its body now severely damaged.

It had shrunk to less than twenty percent of its original size and was covered in horrifying wounds. Pinpricks of Buddhist light continuously leaked from these wounds, its aura plummeting to its absolute lowest, as if it might disintegrate at any moment.

Yet, its right hand held something steadily—the tattered, severed body of the Earth Fiend Turbid Filth Deity!

With no one controlling the Lethe tributary, the Nirvana Buddha's shadow crossed it effortlessly.

Clutching the half-corpse of the Earth Fiend Turbid Filth Deity, the Buddha's shadow ascended the altar step by step.

The Earth Fiend Turbid Filth Deity reacted, slowly reaching out to grab the Buddha shadow's arm.

But this simple movement was its limit.

With a roar of extreme unwillingness, the Earth Fiend Turbid Filth Deity voluntarily disintegrated, transforming into a massive cloud of yellow dust that enveloped the altar, using its last vestiges of power to hinder its enemy.

The Buddha shadow shook its head and smiled faintly. "You would rather dissipate your divine sense and exhaust your final strength to stop me."

"Prefect of Lethe, you have lost your mind."

"Had you maintained your divine sense, you would have forced me to use the last of this life-wheel's power to suppress you instead."

It opened its hand, letting the yellow dust scatter.

The Buddha shadow, with its broken, seemingly fragile withered feet, took step after step up the stairs, ascending the altar towards the summit.

The bloodlight that once shrouded the altar had condensed into a millstone-sized sphere.

Within this bloodlight, the Skull of the Celestial Ghost had melted into a pool of deep blue liquid.

The Nirvana Buddha shadow placed its remaining right hand over its chest, palm vertical, and intoned:

"The sunken ship sinks deeper, the dead wood greens only in death. Defeat hides within heaven's game, a faint light is the Dipper Star."

It reached the top of the altar, extended its right hand, and dipped its fingers into the bloodlight, touching the deep blue liquid.

Instantly, the liquid reverted, transforming back into a deep blue skull.

For the first time, the Nirvana Buddha shadow's impassive expression changed drastically!

Its eyes widened, revealing an expression of unbelievable joy.

It chanted the latter half of the verse:

"Steps exhaust the heavenly stairs, the face is first seen today. In the moment of complete forgetfulness, the Buddha reveals the original name."

"So that's how it is!"

Before the Soundless Ghost Monk went to battle, he successfully prayed to the Buddha and received this prophecy.

Only now did he understand its meaning.

"*The Buddha reveals the original name*" pointed directly to this acquired innate talent!

This was both the culmination of the Prefect of Lethe's century-long scheme, intended to complement his own talent's path, and the Buddhist affinity won by the Soundless Ghost Monk through his sacrificial battle and heavy stakes!

This talent represented a qualitative transformation for the Prefect of Lethe, and for the Soundless Ghost Monk, it promised meteoric ascension.

Even the Soundless Ghost Monk couldn't contain his ecstasy, causing the annihilating Buddhist intent to grow even dimmer.

In fact, the entire Buddha shadow was fading, like thick mist exposed to sunlight, visibly thinning.

"From the start of the battle until now, my main body still hasn't arrived?"

"Even if it was far away initially, intending to lull the Prefect of Lethe and the others into complacency, it should have arrived by now."

"Has it been hindered by something?"

A trace of worry flashed through the Nirvana Buddha shadow.

"Hmm?"

Its gaze fixed, spotting Ning Zhuo, Qing Chi, and Luo Si.

Ning Zhuo and Qing Chi had waited patiently for Luo Si to recover as much as possible. Then they heard the shocking explosion, followed by silence, with no further sounds of battle.

Luo Si, disregarding his treatment, opened his eyes and urged Ning Zhuo to move.

The three rushed out of the passage just in time to see the Nirvana Buddha shadow clutching the Celestial Ghost skull, unable to conceal its joy.

*Hoo!*

Luo Si exhaled a turbid breath. "I never thought the final victor would be the Soundless Ghost Monk!"

"Soundless Ghost Monk?" Ning Zhuo was curious.

Qing Chi, frowning, scanned the altar battlefield. "Where did the Prefect of Lethe go? Could he have been eliminated by this great Buddha?"

She had come seeking revenge, eagerly searching for her enemy.

*Cough, cough, cough...*

The Prefect of Lethe coughed violently several times.

In a few instants, he had traversed thousands of miles, using the Sky-Connecting Earth-Linking Grand Formation to teleport back to Lethe Immortal City.

The cultivators surrounding the area quickly bowed upon seeing him.

But the Prefect first glanced behind him. Seeing the empty core of the Earth Phase Formation, his pupils contracted, and anger surged within him.

"Useless fools!"

"You couldn't even guard the Earth's Core Turbid Energy Barrier."

"Where is the person?"

The cultivators hurriedly spoke, pleading for forgiveness.

"Get out of my sight." The Prefect had no patience to deal with them and directly waved them away.

Alone, he immediately sat cross-legged, both resting and actively using the formation to remotely observe the altar.

Although he had voluntarily fled and teleported back to his base, he hadn't completely given up.

When he saw the Nirvana Buddha shadow ascend the altar and grasp the skull, the leader of the Lethe Netherworld revealed a smile of successful scheming and murmured to himself, "Soundless Ghost Monk, this altar isn't so easy to ascend."

No sooner had he spoken than the Nirvana Buddha shadow on the altar suddenly changed expression, looking down at itself.

Its Buddha body began to dissipate in large chunks!

This altar was no ordinary structure; it was the core of the Heaven Phase Formation, a heavy artifact! Ascending it required meeting three conditions simultaneously.

First, a soul foundation of at least a million human souls.

Second, sufficient baleful energy to suppress it.

Third, a fate strong enough to withstand the heavenly condemnation!

The Nirvana Buddha shadow was a temporary divine Buddha body formed by the Life-Wheel invoking Nirvana Buddha power. Naturally, it lacked any soul foundation.

The shadow was filled with annihilating Buddhist intent, an extremely potent intent that hardly coexisted with others. This was evident in battle, as the Earth Fiend Turbid Filth Deity's earth fiend energy, no matter how vast, couldn't erode the Buddha body.

Thus, it also lacked baleful energy.

As for fate, it had none at all. If the Nirvana Buddha itself had descended, it would certainly meet this requirement. The Soundless Ghost Monk's main body might also qualify. But the Life-Wheel was merely a magical treasure; what fate could it possess?

Without fate, how could it withstand the heavenly condemnation?

The Prefect of Lethe had sacrificed the Netherworld's Heaven; the Nether Heaven's power was used to transform and give life to the Celestial Ghost skull. In other words, the Prefect had the Nether Heaven's support.

The Nirvana Buddha shadow, which had obstructed and defeated the Prefect of Lethe, would naturally suffer heaven's condemnation.

The power of the Heaven!

This caused the Nirvana Buddha to collapse on a large scale.

"It's a trap!" In an instant, the Soundless Ghost Monk's divine sense finally understood, realizing the truth.

Earlier, the Prefect of Lethe's main body retreating was both a strategic withdrawal to avoid destruction and the beginning of his scheme.

He had even actively dispersed the Earth Fiend Turbid Filth Deity precisely to lull the Soundless Ghost Monk's divine sense into complete carelessness!

The divine sense, controlling the Buddha shadow, ascending the altar, had stepped right into the trap.

Without the Grey Bone Elder's warning, it had no idea the altar held such intricacies.

If the Soundless Ghost Monk's main body were present, with endless thoughts in its divine sea and lightning-fast reasoning, it might have detected the阴谋 (conspiratorial) aura, become wary, and not rushed to ascend the altar.

But only a portion of the Soundless Ghost Monk's divine sense resided temporarily within the Buddha body. Moreover, after the prolonged fierce battle, both Buddha power and divine sense were depleted to their lowest, leaving it in an extremely poor state.

As the saying goes, even the wise are not always free from error.

The Prefect of Lethe had accurately assessed this and designed his scheme accordingly.

He succeeded!

The power of heavenly condemnation entwined around the Buddha shadow, impossible to dispel.

The Nirvana Buddha shadow sighed, took the Celestial Ghost skull, and rose up.

It knew destruction was inevitable, but the final victor might still be itself.

"If I can leave this place with all my strength, I might be able to reunite with my main body."

Its essence was the Life-Wheel, so it couldn't use the Celestial Ghost skull itself. But if it could reunite with the main body and deliver the skull before the Prefect of Lethe returned, that would be victory!

"If reunion is impossible, I'll hide the skull along the way, buying as much time as possible."

"If that happens, I can only hope the main body finds it sooner."

Just as the Nirvana Buddha shadow flew off the altar, a crashing sound was heard.

Waves rose again as the Lethe tributary, like a giant water serpent, chased after it.

The Nirvana Buddha shadow focused its gaze and quickly spotted the ice coffin and prayer beads within the tributary.

The ice coffin was mostly worn away, the Nether Dragon Shears inside vibrating slightly, emitting power. The prayer beads were残缺不全 (incomplete), only about thirty percent remaining, but under the power of the Nether Dragon Shears, they could still manipulate the Lethe tributary.

Of course, all this少不了 (couldn't happen without) the Prefect of Lethe's main body. Now stationed in Lethe Immortal City, remotely controlling the situation, he was firmly in an invincible position!

The Nirvana Buddha shadow's heart sank.

With the battle situation stalemated again, the outcome was truly uncertain.

Would it collapse first, or temporarily shake off the Lethe tributary?

"Regardless, deal with them first." The Nirvana Buddha shadow suddenly changed direction, heading towards Ning Zhuo, Qing Chi, and Luo Si.

"Bad news." Ning Zhuo immediately felt a surge of malice rushing towards him.

"This great Buddha has ill intentions!" Qing Chi was also very sensitive to such perceptions.

"Retreat, quickly!!" Luo Si shouted in a low voice. His condition was poor, his combat power fallen to the level of an ordinary Golden Core cultivator.

In the blink of an eye,

the Nirvana Buddha shadow had already extended a finger, pointing towards the three.

It hadn't attacked Ning Zhuo and Qing Chi's group earlier because, having just broken free, it recognized them as the Prefect of Lethe's human tribulation, deduced to be a result of the Yang world's heavenly calculations.

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend," so it hadn't acted, focusing all attention on the Prefect of Lethe.

But now, with the overall situation clearer, it needed to contend with the Prefect of Lethe again.

Both the Soundless Ghost Monk and the Prefect of Lethe were in extremely poor states, weakened to their limits.

Under these circumstances, Ning Zhuo and the others became a significant threat!

"These people are the Prefect of Lethe's human tribulation, supported by the Yang Heaven's fortune. If left unchecked, they might just become the biggest winners!"

The Soundless Ghost Monk had come to battle fiercely, obstructing the Prefect of Lethe's path, partly due to their deadly enmity, and partly because of the Buddhist affinity hinted at in the prophecy.

He certainly wouldn't hand over this Buddhist affinity willingly!

In that instant, warning bells rang loudly in the hearts of Ning Zhuo, Qing Chi, and Luo Si, their hair standing on end.

Luo Si pushed Ning Zhuo and Qing Chi: "I'll block..."

Before he could finish, the finger force arrived through the air.

At the critical moment, a Buddhist light suddenly erupted within Ning Zhuo's divine sea!

The Buddhist light shot skyward, projecting out from Ning Zhuo's body.

Sensing the Buddhist light, the Nirvana Buddha shadow's finger force immediately dissipated without a trace.

"What is this... a Buddhist treasure?!" The Soundless Ghost Monk's divine sense shook violently, utterly bewildered.

And the next moment, something even more shocking happened.

The Nirvana Buddha body suddenly lost control—the Buddha itself had descended its will, casting an investigative gaze towards Ning Zhuo.

"Who is he? To attract such attention from my Buddha?!" The Soundless Ghost Monk's divine sense shook again, stunned.

*My Buddha's Heart Demon Seal!*

Ning Zhuo was also full of surprise and doubt, not expecting the treasure seal in his divine sea to be activated at this moment.

"No!" The Soundless Ghost Monk gritted his teeth. He was horrified to find the失控 (out-of-control) Buddha body about to throw the Celestial Ghost skull to Ning Zhuo.

"This is mine, this is my Buddhist affinity!!"

The Soundless Ghost Monk and the Nirvana Buddha were separate entities.

To protect the Buddhist affinity, the divine sense of the Soundless Ghost Monk residing in the Life-Wheel resolutely dissolved the Divine Invocation Technique.

The Nirvana Buddha body completely disintegrated.

But the heavenly condemnation power persisted, continuing to fall upon the Life-Wheel.

*Crack, crack...*

The Buddha wheel slowly rotated on its own, cracks spreading across it.

As its light dimmed, the Soundless Ghost Monk's divine sense mobilized its last bit of strength and hurled the Celestial Ghost skull away with force.

Encased in a ball of Buddha power, the skull shot away like a meteor, vanishing beyond the horizon in the blink of an eye.

The Buddha wheel, under the heavenly condemnation, disintegrated大部分 (for the most part). The Soundless Ghost Monk's divine sense within was exhausted along with it. The wheel seemed to turn into ordinary bronze as it fell from high altitude.

Luo Si instinctively used a fishing technique, casting out a half-length Lethe Ferry Line that wrapped around the Buddha wheel and hooked it into his hand.

The Buddha wheel was too severely damaged and offered no resistance throughout the process.

"Let's chase after it, quickly!" Qing Chi activated her Night Roaming Deity Art, heading in the direction the Celestial Ghost skull had disappeared.

"Wait, get into my Mechanical Roaming Dragon." Ning Zhuo slapped his belt, releasing the *Ten-Thousand-Mile Roaming Dragon*!

The three钻入 (entered) the dragon and immediately activated it.

The Ten-Thousand-Mile Roaming Dragon instantly shot through the air, vanishing from the spot.

In Lethe Immortal City, the Prefect of Lethe's eyes flickered with a幽光 (ghostly light), the corners of his lips curling into a cold, sharp smile. "In the end, the final victor is still this Lord!"

Inside the Ten-Thousand-Mile Roaming Dragon, Qing Chi felt around curiously, her eyes full of wonder. "Xiao Ma, how do you have such a great treasure? When did you get it?"

Luo Si, usually steady, spoke with slight excitement: "This is the Ten-Thousand-Mile Roaming Dragon, capable of traversing voids. With it, we can cross thousands of miles, arrive later but faster, easily getting ahead of the Celestial Ghost skull to wait for it!"

Ning Zhuo: "It's a pity the Ten-Thousand-Mile Roaming Dragon can't penetrate formation barriers. Otherwise, the previous battle would have been much easier for us."

Space rippled, and then the Ten-Thousand-Mile Roaming Dragon appeared out of thin air.

After waiting a moment, the three saw no trace of the Celestial Ghost skull.

"How could this be?" Qing Chi frowned.

The gazes of Luo Si and Ning Zhuo met in mid-air, and they said in unison: "The altar!"

(End of )