Thousand Arms of the Abyss of Desire

In the Paradise Purgatory, the sea of desire churned violently.

Wang Hao slammed his palm down. The three Heaven-Imprisoning Palm prints merged into one, forming a colossal black-gold hand that descended like an inverted sky vault, brutally pressing toward the glabella of the ten-thousand-foot demonic Buddha.

A thunder phoenix cried out, its deep blue lightning tearing through the pink-black sea of mist.

In that instant, everyone felt a jolt in their minds.

It was as if, within this eerie domain woven from desires, a truly "human" sharp edge had finally appeared.

It wasn't greed.

It wasn't obsession.

It wasn't sinking into depravity.

It was killing intent.

Upright and honorable, a killing intent so sharp it bordered on brutal.

Chu Tianque was the first to move.

The blood-robed demigod took a step forward, swinging his unsheathed heavy sword horizontally. A blood-red sword light pierced through heaven and earth, resembling a crimson dragon crawling out from a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, pouncing straight at the demonic Buddha's glabella.

The Ren Family Patriarch formed hand seals, a purple-gold dragon phantom coiling behind him.

"Purple Gold Demon Suppressing Seal!"

A massive purple-gold seal crashed down.

The Vice Palace Master of the Ice and Snow Divine Palace tapped her bare feet lightly on the sea of desire, freezing a hundred-zhang expanse of ice beneath her. The chilling air swept upward, actually freezing cracks into the churning sea of desire.

The Grand Elder of the Illusionary Sea Immortal Sect put away his smile, his folding fan transforming into a hazy ancient mirror.

The reflection in the mirror was not his own.

Instead, it was layer upon layer of dreams.

"Thousand Layers of Illusionary Sea, Borrowing Dreams to Kill."

As his words fell, countless illusory longswords flew out from the mirror, piercing through the sea of desire and slashing at the demonic Buddha's thousand arms.

Ten Void Traversing Realm patriarchs erupted simultaneously.

Thirty peak Astral Qi Realm cultivators formed a demon-suppressing battle formation.

Although Xiao Chen, Ye Guyun, Qin Hongye, and the others hadn't fully recovered from their severe injuries, they still stood at the edge of the formation's core, gritting their teeth as they poured their true essence into the formation patterns.

Wanyan Gu, with half an arm in a sling, had an ashen face.

"I feel like a piece of fuel right now."

A nearby Astral Qi Realm general said coldly, "Be confident, you're like firewood."

Wanyan Gu angrily replied, "Have you always been this good at comforting people?"

The general said, "I don't comfort enemies."

Wanyan Gu was taken aback, then grinned.

"Alright, I like the sound of that."

Everyone's attacks converged into a torrent. Lightning, sword light, cold waves, dream mist, and dragon seals overwhelmingly smashed toward the Desire Sea Maitreya.

If it were an ordinary peak Void Traversing Realm expert, they would have been blasted into slag long ago.

Even an early-stage Martial God wouldn't dare take such a siege head-on.

But the Desire Sea Maitreya wasn't human.

It was a Rank Nine Aberration.

Even if it wasn't fully mature, it already possessed the status of the Martial God level.

The ten-thousand-foot demonic Buddha lowered its eyes, wearing a compassionate smile.

"All that sentient beings seek is within my grasp."

Its thousand arms moved in unison.

In each palm, those objects of temptation lit up simultaneously.

A scepter smashed down, representing power.

A wine jug tipped over, representing pleasure.

A jade slip opened, representing inheritance.

A beauty whispered, representing lust.

A pearl spun, representing wealth.

A coffin opened, representing resurrection.

A thousand desires, a thousand killing intents.

Boom!

Before the purple-gold seal could strike the demonic Buddha's glabella, it was blocked by a golden scepter.

The Ren Family Patriarch's face paled, and he let out a muffled groan.

He felt as if he wasn't resisting a weapon.

Instead, he was resisting the ambitions of countless emperors and generals.

What was transmitted from the scepter wasn't just power, but also the temptation to "rule the world."

A voice drilled into the depths of his heart.

"Ren Family Patriarch, you are friends with Wang Wudi and on good terms with the emperors of the Great Zhou's three dynasties."

"You clearly have the strength to sit on that throne."

"Why not take their place?"

A hint of absent-mindedness surfaced in the depths of the Ren Family Patriarch's eyes.

The next moment, Wang Hao's cold voice rang out.

"Old Man Ren, wake up."

"If you really want to be emperor, I'll arrange a dream ascension package for you when we get back. Three taels of silver a night."

The Ren Family Patriarch's mouth twitched, his eyes instantly clearing.

"Brat of the Wang family, you truly are shameless."

Wang Hao said, "It's normal to have thought about it. Who doesn't have some dirty thoughts?"

Ren Family Patriarch: "..."

Although he was saved.

He still felt like his character had been attacked.

On the other side, the Vice Palace Master of the Ice and Snow Divine Palace had just frozen three hundred zhang of the sea of desire when she saw the demonic Buddha holding a pink lotus flower in one hand.

The lotus bloomed.

A fragrant breeze hit her face.

The solid ice actually began to melt.

The Vice Palace Master furrowed her brows.

An ice palace appeared before her eyes.

In the palace, there was no strife, no scheming, no demons, and no aberrations.

There was only a pure great dao leading to the Martial God Realm.

As long as she stepped onto it, she could transcend the mundane.

"Those with a pure dao heart also have the desire to achieve the dao."

The demonic Buddha whispered.

"Achieving the dao is also a desire."

The Vice Palace Master's figure swayed slightly.

Wang Hao glanced over and raised his hand to shoot out a lightning snake.

Smack!

The lightning snake whipped the space three inches in front of her with moderate force.

"Vice Palace Master, don't fall for it."

"The path it's showing you is probably an eighty-percent-discounted trial version. Once you go in, it'll automatically renew."

Vice Palace Master of the Ice and Snow Divine Palace: "..."

She forcefully steadied her mind and said coldly, "Your Majesty's words are crude, but they make sense."

Wang Hao nodded. "The crudeness is the packaging; the sense is the core."

The Grand Elder of the Illusionary Sea Immortal Sect was in even greater danger.

His dream arts should have countered illusions.

But the Desire Sea Maitreya was actually devouring his dreams.

In the Illusionary Sea Ancient Mirror, the illusory longswords that had originally flown out were dyed pink-black one by one, then changed direction and slashed toward their own side.

The Grand Elder's expression changed drastically.

"It's copying my art!"

Wang Hao circulated the Son of Heaven's Qi Observation Art to the limit.

In his eyes, all the qi mechanisms between heaven and earth transformed into threads.

The Desire Sea Maitreya's true body was a mass of black-red karmic luck so massive it was suffocating.

But that mass of karmic luck wasn't a cohesive whole.

Instead, it was formed from countless thin threads tangled together.

Every thread was a person's desire.

Some wanted immortality.

Some wanted revenge.

Some wanted power.

Some wanted their loved ones resurrected.

Some wanted to stop suffering.

These desires converged into a sea, nourishing the demonic Buddha.

And at this moment, among the demonic Buddha's thousand arms, seventy-two qi threads were exceptionally thick.

Each one connected to a "temptation artifact."

Wang Hao narrowed his eyes.

"Cut the objects in its hands first."

"Don't hack the Buddha, hack what it's holding."

Everyone was stunned.

Wang Hao said coldly, "The Desire Sea Maitreya took form by borrowing desires. The thousand arms are just a shell; those things are the hooks."

"If the hooks aren't broken, you hit it, and it eats you."

"Only when the hooks are broken will it hurt."

Chu Tianque didn't waste a single word.

He changed the direction of his sword, the blood light slashing toward the coffin in the demonic Buddha's hand.

From within that coffin, the voices of his sect's deceased souls were currently coming out.

"Senior Brother..."

"Save me..."

"We're still alive..."

The blood light in Chu Tianque's eyes surged, but his sword momentum didn't pause for even a moment.

"Fake."

A sword fell.

The coffin exploded into pieces.

The Desire Sea Maitreya let out a low, muffled groan for the first time.

The sea of desire churned violently.

It's effective!

Everyone's spirits were lifted.

The Ren Family Patriarch's purple-gold walking stick transformed into a dragon head, fiercely smashing toward the golden scepter.

The Vice Palace Master of the Ice and Snow Divine Palace's palms frosted over, freezing the pink lotus flower.

The Grand Elder of the Illusionary Sea Immortal Sect bit the tip of his tongue, spitting a mouthful of heart's blood into the ancient mirror.

"Illusionary Sea Returns to True!"

All the polluted dream swords in the mirror exploded simultaneously, transforming into a backlash storm that swept toward the jade slip in the demonic Buddha's hand.

The thirty peak Astral Qi Realm geniuses in the formation shouted in unison.

"Suppress Demons!"

Rune chains shot out from the formation, wrapping around over ten of the demonic Buddha's arms.

Xiao Chen forcibly suppressed his injuries, his Lonely Peak Sword Intent soaring into the sky.

He locked his eyes onto a Buddha hand holding the "Pill Cauldron Sect Mountain Gate."

In that palm, the mountain gate stood towering, and his master and fellow disciples were all waving at him from in front of the gate.

Xiao Chen's eyes were bloodshot.

He knew it was fake.

But knowing it was one thing; wielding his ruler was another.

The most painful thing for a person was not being unable to see through the illusion.

It was that after seeing through it, one still had to shatter it with their own hands.

Ye Guyun stood by his side and whispered, "I'll help you."

Xiao Chen took a deep breath.

"No need."

He took a step forward and raised his sword edge.

"Master."

"Today, your disciple borrows your name."

"To slay evil."

An exotic flame swept across the sky, transforming into a fire dragon.

The mountain gate shattered.

Countless wails echoed from the depths of the sea of desire.

Xiao Chen spat out a mouthful of blood, his body swaying.

Ye Guyun supported him.

"Still alive?"

Xiao Chen wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.

"For now."

Wang Hao saw this scene from afar and nodded.

"Not bad, I have material for the battle summary."

Xiao Chen almost choked on his breath.

"Your Majesty, could you wait until I'm dead to disgust me?"

Wang Hao said, "If you die, I still have to write your eulogy, which is a bigger workload. So you'd better not die."

Xiao Chen: "..."

These words didn't sound like care.

But thinking about it carefully, they seemed to be.

The alluring artifacts in the thousand arms of the Demonic Buddha were constantly being shattered.

The compassionate smile of the Desire Sea Maitreya finally disappeared bit by bit.

It looked down at Wang Hao.

In those giant Buddha eyes, an emotion akin to anger surfaced for the first time.

"Wang Hao."

"You shouldn't have seen through the threads of desire."

Wang Hao smiled, "Sorry, but I have pretty good eyesight."

"I am especially good at seeing where others hide their secret stashes of money and their killing moves."

The Demonic Buddha half-closed its eyes.

"If that is the case, then let me show you the true depths of the sea of desire."

Rumble!

The sea of desire began to sink.

The sea surface beneath everyone's feet suddenly split open.

Countless pinkish-black lotuses rose from the bottom of the sea.

Within each lotus sat a figure cross-legged.

Those figures were none other than...

The very illusions of desire that had just been shattered.

Deceased masters.

Resurrected relatives.

Kneeling masses.

The self that had achieved enlightenment.

Fine wine and roasted meat.

The heads of sworn enemies.

They reappeared.

But this time, they were no longer temptations.

They were resentment and malice.

"Why did you kill me?"

"Why did you abandon me?"

"Why did you shatter your own wishes?"

"You don't deserve to live."

Countless voices drilled into everyone's souls simultaneously.

This was not a simple illusion.

It was the backlash of shattered desires.

Severing desire did not mean the desire disappeared.

It would turn into resentment.

The Demonic Buddha pressed its thousand arms together.

"The First Tribulation."

"Unattainable."

The world suddenly darkened.

All the shattered wishes turned into black flames of resentment, overwhelmingly burning towards everyone's souls.

A peak Astral Qi Realm genius groaned, bleeding from his seven orifices.

He saw his dead wife and children standing in the fire, questioning why he hadn't saved them.

He knew clearly it was fake, yet a crack still formed in his mind.

The flames of resentment drilled in through the crack.

"Ah!"

He screamed miserably, half of his body beginning to turn into a lotus.

Wang Hao's eyes turned cold.

"New Sword!"

The black-robed youth dashed out instantly.

The New Emperor Sword transformed into a ray of black light, severing the expert's half-lotus-transformed flesh.

Blood splattered.

The genius was in so much pain he almost fainted, but he was forcefully dragged back from being devoured by the sea of desire.

The New Emperor Sword licked its blade.

"The taste isn't very good."

Wang Hao said, "Saving people is not an invitation for you to review the dishes."

The New Emperor Sword felt wronged. "It was just a passing comment."

Wang Hao looked up at the Demonic Buddha.

In the Son of Heaven's Qi Observation Technique, the luck form of the Desire Sea Maitreya changed again.

Originally, it was threads of desire.

Now, it had become flames of resentment.

If desires could not be satisfied, they would turn into resentment.

This thing was even harder to sever than desire.

Because desires could be seen through.

But resentment often hid within wounds.

Black and gold true essence gathered in Wang Hao's palm.

The fourth palm of the Heaven-Imprisoning Earth-Overturning Palm.

Boom!

The giant black and gold palm crashed into the sea of desire, extinguishing large swathes of the flames of resentment.

Followed immediately by the fifth palm.

The world sank.

A ten-thousand-foot depression was pressed into the sea of desire.

But the Demonic Buddha's lotus seat only swayed slightly; it did not shatter.

Wu Xuanming's venomous voice echoed from the center of the Demonic Buddha's brows.

"Wang Hao!"

"You cannot kill the sea of desire!"

"As long as all living beings have desires, the Maitreya will not perish!"

Wang Hao sneered.

"Because all living beings have desires, you will not perish?"

"Well, I still have taxes to collect."

Wu Xuanming was stunned.

Wang Hao raised his hand and pointed at the Desire Sea Maitreya.

"Everyone, heed my command."

"Ignore what those illusions say."

"If they want your life, hack them down."

"If they ask why you don't want them, tell them—"

Wang Hao's voice was like thunder, spreading throughout the Blissful Purgatory.

"Because how can fake things be worthy of collecting real money?"

The crowd was initially taken aback.

Then, many couldn't help but laugh out loud.

They were clearly in a bizarre domain.

Their souls were clearly being burned by flames of resentment.

Yet, Wang Hao's absurd remark forcefully tore a gap through that suffocating sorrow.

Indeed.

How could fake things be worthy of collecting real money?

Fake masters, fake relatives, fake enlightenment, fake revenge.

No matter how realistically they pretended, they were not real.

Yet, what they wanted to collect was their lives.

On what grounds?

Xiao Chen's eyes turned completely cold.

With one strike of his sword, he slashed open the phantom of his master in front of him.

"Fake."

Ye Guyun swung his saber, shattering the woman in the lake.

"Fake."

Qin Hongye thrust her spear, piercing through the phantom military formation chanting for the Valkyrie.

"Fake."

Wanyan Gu gritted his teeth as he watched a whole roasted cow pounce towards him.

His expression struggled for a full three breaths.

Finally, with grief and indignation, he swung his axe.

"Fake is fake! But you could have at least sprinkled some salt on it!"

The whole roasted cow exploded.

The massive tide of resentment flames was forcefully withstood by the crowd.