Chapter 683: Great Demon 46

"Son of Buddha, if you ascend today, this karma will fall upon Qing Ming’s head. You’ll be free and unfettered while Qing Ming’s cultivation path will be fraught with hardship. That’s hardly fair, is it?"

"And for the oblivious Qing Ming to have to bear all this would be far too pitiful."

"In this world, debts must always be repaid. You can’t just make someone disappear and pretend the karma ceases to exist."

The space between Jing Yue’s brows twitched, but he stared at Tan You without a word.

Before Tan You could say more, the unsealed Qingming snake couldn’t hold back. "My Lord, why are you being so long-winded? Everyone says the Son of Buddha, Jing Yue, is noble and pure, born with a Buddha’s Heart. Why don’t you ask him where his Buddha’s Heart has gone?"

"If he truly possessed great love for all beings, why would he use this Heavenly Tribulation to harm me?"

"Is the Son of Buddha’s Heart gone?"

"Where on earth did it go? Can a Buddha’s Heart even be lost?"

The Cultivators who had come to witness the ceremony immediately began to whisper among themselves. No one had expected a daytime ascension ceremony to have so many twists and turns. First, there was the soul of that Qingming snake overflowing with resentment, then this little Qingming snake, and now even the Master of the Demon Market had appeared.

These dramatic ups and downs sent the Cultivators’ hearts into turmoil.

Tan You shot the Qingming snake a sidelong glance. ’This guy actually called me long-winded? Who am I running around for? Fine, so my original intention wasn’t for this particular Qingming snake, but how was I supposed to know it had a separate soul?’

"I’m not the party involved. You’re the snake involved. Why don’t you tell the story yourself?"

The Qingming snake was satisfied now. "Fine, I’ll talk. The story begins five hundred and fifty years ago. Every Buddhist cultivator of the Buddhist Sect faces a Heart Tribulation on their cultivation path."

"Jing Yue’s Heart Tribulation was an Emotional Tribulation. But more than twenty years after he left the sect, his Emotional Tribulation still showed no progress." The Qingming snake stretched its body. "Later, he used a Secret Technique of the Buddhist Sect to split off half of his original Divine Soul and forcibly suppress my Divine Sense."

"Oh?" Tan You raised an eyebrow slightly. "How did you... and Jing Yue meet?"

"Who would want to know him?" The Qingming snake shook its head. "The Buddhist Sect is located on the border between the Cultivation World and the mortal realm. I was born in the mortal realm back then, though I’m not sure how I ended up there myself."

"But because of my extraordinary origins, I easily crossed over into the Cultivation World, a feat that is an insurmountable barrier for mortals." The Qingming snake fell into recollection. "My original name was Qinglian, because the Buddhist Sect has a Mirror Moon Lake, and it’s filled with blue lotuses."

"After arriving at the Buddhist Sect, I lived in Mirror Moon Lake, listening to the Buddhist cultivators recite scriptures and study the Buddhist Law. Gradually, I also began to practice the sect’s Cultivation Techniques."

The Cold Dragon thought for a long moment. "Then back when we were searching everywhere for members of the Demon Clan..."

Tan You said softly, "He hadn’t hatched from his egg yet at that time. This must have happened after the Demon Market was established. Your origins are truly extraordinary; to have reached the Seventh Rank in just a few hundred years."

Qinglian said, "I knew you were the cleverest, my Lord. That’s right, I stumbled upon the Buddhist Sect by accident after the Demon Market was founded. Because I was always cultivating in Mirror Moon Lake, practiced Buddhist methods, and had never taken a life, the Buddhist Sect didn’t drive me away. Instead, they let me live in Mirror Moon Lake."

The Peacock’s interest was piqued. "And then?"

"And then?" Qinglian glanced at Jing Yue. "What this group of Buddhist cultivators didn’t expect was that I, a mere demonic beast, would actually develop a Buddha’s Heart under the influence of the Buddhist Law."

"A Buddha’s Heart?" Tan You was genuinely surprised. Her gaze sharpened, and Qinglian felt as if he had become transparent before her, shivering involuntarily.

"A member of the Demon Clan can actually develop a Buddha’s Heart?" The observing Cultivators were astonished. They had always thought a Buddha’s Heart was innate. Who would have known that this Qingming snake had actually cultivated one in the Buddhist Sect?

"Perhaps it was because I developed a Buddha’s Heart that Jing Yue set his sights on me." Qinglian quieted down and continued to recount the secret events of several hundred years ago.

"I heard that the ancient Buddhist Sect had a Forbidden Technique that could split one’s Divine Soul in two, allowing the other half to undergo a tribulation in one’s stead. But the requirements for the vessel of the Divine Soul are extremely strict. After all, this is an unorthodox path, not tolerated by the Great Dao."

Tan You had already pieced everything together. "So Jing Yue split off half of his Divine Soul, suppressed your Divine Sense, and used your body to become Daoist partners with Shi Miao of the Taixu Sect to pass his Emotional Tribulation."

"That’s right," Qinglian said, a hint of madness in his voice. "The two of them were truly a match made in heaven. One followed the Sword Dao of Slaughter and was on the verge of a breakthrough, desperately needing to kill her husband to prove her Dao and ensure a smooth cultivation path ahead."

"The other needed to use his partner to pass his own Emotional Tribulation. And I became the innocent sacrifice. My body was torn to shreds by Shi Miao, and my Buddha’s Heart was destroyed. But Jing Yue didn’t get off easy, either."

Tan You glanced at Qing Ming. "You passed Jing Yue’s Buddha’s Heart to Qing Ming?"

"Yes," Qinglian did not deny it. "Buddha’s Hearts are naturally drawn to one another. After my original body was torn to shreds by Shi Miao, my Divine Soul didn’t dissipate because it had been suppressed by Jing Yue. Instead, it temporarily latched onto Jing Yue’s body."

"At that time, because half of Jing Yue’s Divine Soul was destroyed along with my body, his other half fell into a deep slumber, which gave me the perfect opportunity. He never imagined that I would actually survive Shi Miao’s sword."

"By then, the little half-demon had already been born and was living a miserable life." Qinglian glanced at Qing Ming, his eyes devoid of warmth. In his view, Qing Ming was Jing Yue’s son. Even though the boy inherited his Qingming snake bloodline, in his heart, he didn’t consider himself to have any connection to Qing Ming.

"Less than three years after giving birth to the little half-demon, Shi Miao killed her husband to prove her Dao. After I took control of Jing Yue’s body, I secretly went to see the little half-demon."

"You carved out Jing Yue’s Buddha’s Heart and gave it to Qing Ming not for Qing Ming’s sake, but purely for revenge?" Tan You hit the nail on the head. She didn’t believe this Qingming snake was capable of such kindness.

"That’s right," Qinglian laughed. "Of course I wasn’t being kind. I just wanted revenge. To keep Jing Yue from ever finding out where his Buddha’s Heart went, I even erased the memory of that period."

"Jing Yue caused my body to be destroyed and my cultivation to be wiped out. I carved out his Buddha’s Heart while he was still alive; I’d say he got off easy. Everyone says the Buddhist cultivator Jing Yue is noble, pure, and loves all beings. Love for all beings? Bullshit! He’s a vile villain through and through! A hypocrite!"

"And this group of Buddhist cultivators—they clearly knew Jing Yue used a wicked method to pass his tribulation, and they knew I was the biggest victim. But not a single one of them stood on my side. They even tried all sorts of methods over the years to suppress my resentment, but they just couldn’t manage it."

"As long as my soul exists, even for a single day, Jing Yue will never be able to resolve the karma between us!"