The glazed pagoda had an octagonal base, with layer upon layer of steps laid flat upward, totaling thirty-nine steps. Carved upon them were various patterns—flowers, birds, insects, and fish, as well as wind, clouds, thunder, and lightning.

Eight great doors were distributed in eight directions, all seemingly half-open, leaving mysterious and unfathomable dark cracks.

Each great door bore gilt auspicious cloud patterns that gently flowed and flickered when illuminated by the surrounding karmic fire red lotus light, creating an almost hypnotic display of colors.

Jian Chou slowly walked up, gradually coming to stand alongside the others, asking: “What do you think?”

This question was directed at everyone.

Young Master Ruhua picked at his folding fan: “I always feel that this celestial palace won’t be without obstacles.”

“We’ll know once we go in and take a look.”

Xia Houshe rarely interjected, though beneath his pair of dark red eyes, dark light was already flickering.

Clearly, this young military commander was quite interested in the secrets of the “Nine Curves River Map.”

Lu Xiangleng looked somewhat emotionally at the great door directly facing them, saying: “I don’t think Lord Lijun would deceive us over such matters.”

“But… but it’s so quiet up here, there wouldn’t be any monsters, would there?”

A trembling voice weakly piped up from the side.

It was really somewhat…

Inappropriately cowardly.

Hearing this, everyone couldn’t help but turn to look.

Zuoliu stood at the very back, clutching his jade folder to his chest, feeling genuinely apprehensive.

After discovering that everyone was staring straight at him, he forcibly stiffened his neck and defensively shouted: “What kind of looks are those? Are we still fellow daoists or not? Is there no fellow daoist affection left? It’s perfectly normal for me to be afraid! Don’t any of you fear that some monster might suddenly emerge from here? Really…”

As he shouted, he also retreated two steps backward.

At this moment he was standing beside Lu Xiangleng, and this retreat put him directly behind her, his appearance of fearing death so thoroughly that it almost inspired the urge to put a blade to his neck and force him to enter.

Young Master Ruhua narrowed his eyes and immediately began laughing, using his paper fan to prop up his smooth chin, elegant and languid: “Oh my, Fellow Daoist Zuoliu seems to have no desire to enter at all. Actually, isn’t it just danger? This young master here has an extremely safe method to go in.”

“Eh?”

Zuoliu, whose heart was still pounding, looked up in surprise and delight upon hearing this, his eyes practically glowing as he looked at Young Master Ruhua with the most eager expression.

“What method?”

No one spoke.

The smile on Young Master Ruhua’s face didn’t diminish in the slightest; it even became more alluring, his entire being seeming to bloom into a sea of fragrant flowers.

“This method…”

He paced leisurely, step by step approaching Zuoliu.

For some reason, Zuoliu felt his spine growing cold.

What kind of person was Young Master Ruhua?

Someone who turned his face and denied all acquaintance, with a temperament and personality that were exceptionally peculiar, who wouldn’t even blink when deceiving others. It could be said that the more miserable others were, the happier he became!

This was bad!

In that instant, Zuoliu finally realized what was wrong!

Throughout their journey, Young Master Ruhua had never revealed his “ferocious” nature, but now that danger was approaching, this damned fellow was about to literally devour people!

Subconsciously, Zuoliu’s scalp exploded with alarm, and he immediately tried to flee.

But…

How could he escape?

Not only was Young Master Ruhua’s cultivation a level higher than his, but his methods far exceeded Zuoliu’s as well.

Just as Zuoliu turned around, Young Master Ruhua had already extended one hand, directly grabbing Zuoliu’s collar, smiling brilliantly: “The safe method is naturally to go in together with us. Hahaha…”

Speaking thus, Young Master Ruhua directly stepped onto the stairs while extending his paper fan to push open the half-closed great door—

Instantly, golden light blazed forth!

Young Master Ruhua and Zuoliu, standing before the door, nearly couldn’t maintain their footing. Even with their cultivation levels, they had to squint against this golden light.

All they could see was a sea of hypnotic golden light, completely unable to discern what lay within.

Below them, Jian Chou knew that though Young Master Ruhua had a peculiar temperament, he acted with great discretion within this hidden realm and would likely only tease Zuoliu rather than truly lead him into danger.

But the moment the golden light appeared, she couldn’t help but feel her hair stand on end, immediately wanting to leap forward and pull the two back.

However, before Jian Chou could take a step, the piercing golden light projecting from within the door had already begun to gradually dissipate.

Young Master Ruhua and Zuoliu, standing on the thirty-ninth step, were completely unharmed. After the golden light dispersed, they could slowly open their eyes and look inside the door.

In that instant, both couldn’t help but reveal expressions of shock, even involuntarily, slowly raising their heads…

This situation wasn’t quite right.

Without hesitation, Jian Chou leaped up and landed beside the two.

With just one look up, she was stunned just like them.

Subsequently, Xia Houshe, Xie Buchen, and Lu Xiangleng also followed up. The moment they looked inside the great door, they too completely lost their words.

It was a scene that exceeded their expectations—magnificent yet terrifying.

The great door opened to reveal a golden and brilliant world within.

The entire floor seemed paved with gold bricks, gleaming brilliantly.

Directly ahead was a long incense table, already covered with thick layers of dust. Upon the table were offerings of fruits and tributes that had rotted to ash, along with an incense burner containing three broken incense sticks.

Behind the incense table was what made them crane their necks.

It was actually a Buddha statue as tall as the heavens!

Too enormous.

When they had looked from outside, they thought this was a multi-tiered tall pagoda, but who would have imagined that upon opening the door, they would discover this pagoda was entirely one single floor!

This Buddha statue sat cross-legged on a lotus platform, its head reaching the very top of the tall pagoda.

The light above was too dim; they could only see up to the Buddha statue’s shoulders, unable to make out the Buddha’s actual appearance.

The Buddha statue was crafted entirely of golden body. Its left hand’s thumb and middle finger were pressed together while the other fingers naturally spread and extended; its right hand was raised bent before its chest, fingers also naturally extended, palm facing outward.

Jian Chou had entered many Buddhist temples on the human isolated island, especially accompanying Lady Hou in worship, often guided by guest monks.

She was extremely familiar with these two hand seals.

The left hand formed the teaching seal, symbolizing the Buddha opening a platform to expound the Dharma; the right hand formed the fearless seal, representing the Buddha’s great compassionate vow to universally save all beings, said to be able to bring peace to all beings’ hearts, making them fearless.

Even unable to see the Buddha statue’s face, she could feel its solemn and precious appearance.

If it were only this one Buddha statue, though it would give one a sense of magnificence, it wouldn’t make people feel terrified…

What was truly terrifying were those things suspended above the great hall, within the celestial palace’s tall pagoda!

Human heads!

One after another, all suspended in mid-air, even gently swaying.

Some had open eyes, some had closed eyes; some gaped with tongues hanging out that had fallen to the ground, some had lips pressed tightly together, seemingly maintaining the coldness of the moment their heads were severed…

Some were young, some were old, some beautiful, some ugly…

Even among them were some with only half a head, or only one eye, one ear…

At a glance, throughout the entire great hall, one couldn’t count how many human heads hung densely packed!

Even though these four from the Central Domain had considerable experience and could be said to have weathered great storms, they had never seen so many human heads!

What a terrifying kind of shock was that?

In that instant, they didn’t even know where their instinct to gasp had gone.

Like the others, Jian Chou stood before the great door, unable to react for a long time.

The piercing golden light from before had burst outward from the Buddha statue.

It wasn’t until that already dimming golden light completely disappeared and stopped flowing that everyone gradually came to their senses due to the suddenly darkened lighting before their eyes.

“What… what is that?”

Accumulated terror exploded almost instantly.

Zuoliu’s voice trembled, his feet fixed to the ground, forcibly suppressing the impulse to flee: naturally, this wasn’t because he had suddenly become brave, but because Young Master Ruhua was still gripping his collar.

For a moment, no one spoke.

Because no one could answer Zuoliu’s question.

His doubts and fears were also everyone else’s doubts and fears.

The densely packed human heads, high and low at a glance, practically filled the entire tall pagoda in scattered array, while ahead stood the worshipped tall Buddha and incense table…

One side evil, one side compassionate.

What an ironic combination? How bizarre?

Cold air slowly penetrated Jian Chou’s lungs.

She gradually came to her senses, countless speculations flashing through her mind.

A Buddha statue?

It was true that Buddhism had spread on the human isolated island. When she didn’t know that cultivators existed, she hadn’t paid much attention to the various theories they preached.

After arriving at the Nineteen Continents, she learned that the Nineteen Continents’ cultivators each had their own cultivation paths, among which the Northern Domain had two schools, “Chanzong” and “Esoteric Buddhism,” cultivating the “Buddha.”

However, those two sects’ territory only extended to the Northern Domain, rarely seen in other parts of the Nineteen Continents, much less like the human isolated island where temples were everywhere.

Yet now, Master Buyu, such a nearly demonic existence, had a Buddha pagoda appear in his hidden realm, and within the pagoda was a Buddha statue nearly as tall as the pagoda itself?

Too incredible.

No matter how Jian Chou thought, she couldn’t figure out what connection there might be, but the next moment, her gaze suddenly fixed on the incense table.

Besides the round plates that should hold offerings and the incense burner for inserting incense, in that thick layer of dust on the incense table, there seemed to be something else, vaguely revealing a corner.

Jian Chou immediately frowned. While everyone else hadn’t yet moved, she stepped into the hall!

In that instant, everyone was startled with alarm, almost crying out.

But the next moment, that cry that hadn’t yet escaped was blocked back—

Nothing happened.

“Pat.”

It was the sound of Jian Chou’s footstep landing.

She took one step and immediately entered the hall, with no danger occurring.

The golden bricks on the floor actually also had a layer of dust, though it was difficult to conceal their brilliance.

The entire floor felt incredibly solid, as if stepping on it could bring a sense of security.

Taking three steps in two, Jian Chou walked surrounded by those high and low suspended human heads.

Completely unaffected, she only frowned as she approached the incense table to see clearly what exactly was on it: a silk paper covered with dust.

Its color was aged, even with some rotting at the edges, showing only vague traces of text remaining on it.

Text.

For them who knew nothing, this might be a very important thing.

Jian Chou looked up at the enormous Buddha statue ahead, still unable to see clearly.

“It’s fine.”

Zuoliu immediately felt relieved and also walked in, coming to Jian Chou’s side, immediately making a sound of surprise.

“What is this?”

“Don’t know yet.”

But there was text on it.

Jian Chou shook her head but slowly took another step forward.

Without drawing sword or blade, and without directly reaching out to tear open this silk paper, her movements appeared extremely cautious.

Everyone became curious, silently walking in.

Jian Chou gently blew out a breath toward the silk paper. All the dust pressing on the silk paper instantly flew up, and the entire incense table immediately became hazy with gray dust.

“Cough cough cough!”

Zuoliu never expected that Jian Chou would “blow” like this!

Being closest, he was immediately choked into coughing, complaining aggrievedly: “Sister Jian Chou, at least give a warning next time.”

This was quite the living treasure, rather suitable for Yashan.

Jian Chou now treated him almost like one of her own, casually patting his shoulder consolingly: “I will next time.”

There would be a next time.

Zuoliu had the urge to roll his eyes.

But this was just a small interlude. Everyone knew that Jian Chou’s sudden entry must not have been without reason, and now that she had blown away the dust from this silk paper, she must have seen something.

Thinking thus, they immediately focused their attention.

The moment they saw the silk paper’s condition clearly, everyone couldn’t help but feel alarmed, yet simultaneously admired Jian Chou’s meticulous observation and cautious handling methods.

After the dust scattered, the surroundings became somewhat cleaner.

Thus, they could clearly see that beneath the silk paper seemed to be something else not particularly thick, covering everything tightly.

Heaven knew what would happen if this thing were uncovered!

Everyone couldn’t help but feel vague fear and unease.

But Jian Chou was bold and careful, not particularly concerned, only concentrating on looking at the silk paper. Though there was still dust that couldn’t be cleaned away, the text on it could barely be discerned.

Curving and winding, character after character, slightly different from current writing forms, but not affecting comprehension:

“Since beginning cultivation, I have killed three thousand six hundred and seventy-one people.”

“Walking the path for many years, I treated others with kindness yet none treated me with kindness. When people were evil, I killed them. Their thoughts are hard to resolve, their resentment hard to disperse, so I severed all their heads and sealed their souls.”

“Thirty-six years after Buddhism’s northern migration, I killed the Esoteric Sect’s Holy Son Ji Ye and seized a three-hundred-zhang Buddha pagoda.”

“Within the suspended-head Buddha pagoda, I offer worship day and night, hoping to dissolve their resentment and help them ascend to the Pure Land.”

…

The so-called “Pure Land” was Buddhist terminology, referring to the place where happiness resided, namely the Buddha’s Pure Land.

It was said that beings in the Buddha land had no suffering, only various joys, hence called Pure Land.

Jian Chou read with her mind in complete chaos, even unable to sort out the relationships involved.

But Young Master Ruhua reacted quickly.

“Buddhism’s northern migration was an event at the intersection of ancient and modern times, approximately one to two thousand years ago. At that time, the Central Domain still had many sects that occasionally had friction with each other. It’s said that Buddhism felt this place unsuitable for sect development and ultimately migrated north collectively.”

“After the northern migration, Buddhism split into the Chan and Esoteric schools, becoming the Western Sea Chan Sect and the Snowy Domain Esoteric Sect.”

“So, as a cultivator from the intersection of ancient and modern times, Master Buyu speaking of the ‘Pure Land’ is normal.”

Normal?

What was normal about it?

Jian Chou frowned tightly, staring at those characters “killed the Esoteric Sect’s Holy Son Ji Ye and seized a three-hundred-zhang Buddha pagoda,” suddenly feeling indescribable.

“Is this person a madman…”

“Since beginning cultivation, he actually killed three thousand six hundred and seventy-one people…”

Zuoliu was also secretly amazed, his heart nearly stopping from fright.

If such a person hadn’t ascended and remained in the Nineteen Continents, what kind of earth-shattering bloodbath would it have been?

Just thinking about it made one’s scalp tingle.

Zuoliu immediately cut off the chaotic thoughts in his mind and was about to change the subject, suggesting they first look for Master Buyu’s writings related to the River Map.

But just then, his peripheral vision caught something, and he suddenly pointed: “There seems to be more text here.”

The previous four paragraphs were written in front, but on the other side was another line of extremely blurred small characters. It was only because this silk paper’s edges were somewhat folded, also folding this line of small text inward, that everyone had missed it initially.

Now that Zuoliu mentioned it, everyone immediately looked over.

“Through hardship encountered the River Map, through half a lifetime of difficulty finally understood the great Dao. I recorded forty-eight small insights on comprehending the River Map in a scroll, calling it ‘Qingfeng Nunnery Forty-Eight Records,’ suspended atop a Buddha pagoda, to bestow upon the fated…”

The last few characters disappeared on the other side, but this didn’t prevent everyone from grasping the meaning hidden in this line of tiny script.

Master Buyu had written his comprehension of the River Map into a scroll called “Qingfeng Nunnery Forty-Eight Records”? Suspended atop a Buddha pagoda?

The pagoda top?

In that instant, everyone froze, and the next moment, they all suddenly raised their heads, standing before this Buddha statue and looking up toward the heights!

Previously they had only focused on seeing what the Buddha statue looked like, but above was complete darkness, nothing could be seen clearly.

But now, when everyone refocused their gaze into that darkness, no longer observing the Buddha statue, a dim ray of light became faintly visible in the darkness, though somewhat unclear.

It was a ray of light about one foot long. Though so dim it almost merged with the darkness, everyone could see clearly: it looked exactly like a scroll!

“Qingfeng Nunnery Forty-Eight Records”!

That must be it!

In that instant, Jian Chou almost instinctively turned around.

Cold gazes transformed into throat-cutting blades, instantly colliding!

Crack!

She was looking at Xie Buchen, and Xie Buchen was looking at her.

Both had turned their heads almost simultaneously, looking at each other, and simultaneously understanding the deep meaning hidden in each other’s eyes!

The next moment, both shot upward almost simultaneously, like two bolts of lightning rushing toward the heights!

The people below were once again stunned by these two: changing faces at will, neither one hesitating, damn it, at least consider the hearts of the watching crowd!

Everyone practically had the urge to faint.

Zuoliu’s mouth twitched even more: “Do these two have to be so driven by profit… it’s just a scroll… hm? What’s that?”

He stood beside the incense table, originally making false complaints.

Unexpectedly, halfway through his words, he suddenly felt something swaying nearby.

Zuoliu looked back in surprise—it was the incense table.

In that instant, all the blood in his body nearly stopped!

The silk paper that Jian Chou had so carefully dusted off had somehow disappeared.

A gray-furred rat stood on the somewhat higher incense burner, its pair of cold black little eyes staring motionlessly at them, while the silk paper that had previously been spread flat on the incense table had somehow ended up in the gray-furred rat’s front paws!

Without the silk paper’s covering, the object beneath was immediately exposed—

An ancient bronze mirror, now facing outward, reflecting increasingly bright golden light!

“Damn! Your mother!”

Zuoliu, who had been dumbfounded for ages, finally came to his senses from that nearly absurd shock. Without hesitation, he began cursing the gray-furred rat’s ancestors for eighteen generations!

Simultaneously, being closest, he unhesitatingly reached out one hand to grab the rat while raising his sleeve with the other, wanting to cover this bronze mirror of unknown purpose.

Unfortunately, he was still a step too late!

The gray-furred rat looked at them with dim eyes.

Blazing golden light burst from the bronze mirror. In the blink of an eye, six thousand-petal lotus Buddha lamps appeared out of thin air on the ground, seemingly scorched by the golden light, instantly producing six clusters of azure flames!

In that instant, Zuoliu only felt a massive suction force transmitted from within those flames. He had no resistance whatsoever and was directly sucked into the flames.

“Zuoliu!”

Young Master Ruhua beside him was immediately terrified, having no time to grab the person before the same suction force came from another azure lamp, directly pulling him toward the flame’s core!

Throughout the entire great hall, not one person was spared.

Six Buddha lamps before the Buddha, six cultivators in the hall.

Even Jian Chou and Xie Buchen, who were about to reach the “Qingfeng Nunnery Forty-Eight Records” above, couldn’t escape.

The patterns on that scroll were gradually becoming clear. Jian Chou directly slashed sideways with her blade, wanting to force back Xie Buchen and seize the scroll first.

But just as that blade was unleashed, before it could strike Xie Buchen, she saw his entire body suddenly sink downward, coincidentally avoiding it.

Before Jian Chou could consider whether this was coincidence or unavoidable evasion, the next moment, she too suddenly plummeted!

How fast they had ascended was how fast they descended!

The incense table below continuously enlarged in her vision, and the gray-furred rat still clutching the silk paper became clearer.

How could Jian Chou not know that despite all her calculations, she had been tricked by a rat!

She immediately felt an absurd impulse: this hidden realm was damned annoying!

On the ground, six azure lamps.

Jian Chou had no control over her body, crashing thunderously toward the flames of one azure lamp—

The Mortal World’s Thousand-Zhang Lantern!