45: The nun who was close to E

Empress's phoenix eyes flashed with a cold light: "Now!"

"Imperial Sword: Dao Severing!"

The purple-gold Dragon merged with the Imperial Sword, transforming into a peerless sword beam that seemed to split the world apart, ruthlessly slashing into the chest of the Present Buddha's golden body!

The Witch Queen's dark eyes were deep: "Time... Burial."

Countless chains of time curses suddenly tightened, dragging the Past Buddha's phantom into a suddenly appearing fragment of the Witch Burial Space-Time, which represented "Eternal Silence."

The Fox Immortal's fingertip condensed moonlight into a point of extreme cold: "Future... Shattered."

A single finger pointed at the Future Buddha's core, where countless possibilities were interwoven. The cold light exploded, freezing and shattering countless future phantoms along with its original body!

"Crack!" "Boom!" "Pfft—!"

The three Buddha avatars suffered fatal blows almost simultaneously! Golden light exploded, devilish patterns disintegrated, and countless cracks appeared on their massive bodies as their auras rapidly declined.

The Three Lives Buddha's original three bodies were forced to merge and reappear. Half of his face barely maintained a Buddha's appearance, while the other half was twisted with devilish patterns. His aura was chaotic and withered to the extreme, his eyes filled with madness, resentment, and unwillingness.

He violently spat out a mouthful of gold and black blood. He did not hesitate to burn his final Origin essence blood and Soul Power, transforming into a dim Buddha-Demon Evasion Light, attempting to tear through space and escape!

However, at the very moment he activated his core escape technique, a weak yet extremely resilient, cold, and pure fluctuation—one that was completely out of place with the Buddha-Demon aura here—erupted from deep within his body!

This fluctuation was like the last speck of starlight in the darkness. Though not powerful, it precisely interfered with the most critical part of his escape technique: the spatial coordinate anchoring!

"Jing An?!" The Three Lives Buddha was shocked and enraged, and his evasion light stalled.

"Still trying to leave?"

How could the Empress, the Witch Queen, and the Fox Immortal miss such an Opportunity? The triple immortal Dao shackles—the Imperial Dao Dragon Lock, the Witch Ancestor Soul Chain, and the Moonlight Seal—instantly fell, firmly locking his broken body in mid-air, rendering him unable to move.

"Heh... Hehe... Hahaha!" Knowing escape was hopeless, the Three Lives Buddha laughed maniacally, his voice filled with resentment and spite. "I am the Buddha and Demon as one, having grasped the three lives. How could I simply be extinguished like this?! Even in death, I will make you all pay the price!"

He stopped struggling and instead began chanting a strange and rapid scripture. His entire body ignited with an unquenchable, half-gold and half-black "Karmic Fire"!

This fire crazily burned everything remaining of him—his Physical Body, Divine Soul, cultivation, and even his Karma with this world!

Within the flames, a half-gold, half-black "Buddha-Demon Sarira," its light chaotic yet containing terrifying energy and shattered Laws, began to condense.

As his body and Divine Soul were incinerated, a weak, nearly transparent white figure that seemed as if it would dissipate with the wind was finally forced out from the depths by the Karmic Fire, drifting like the last lamp in a rainstorm.

She could be faintly identified as a woman dressed in simple Daoist robes, with a cold and ethereal face that bore an expression of unyielding compassion—it was indeed Abbess Jing An.

But at this moment, her body was nearly transparent, and her aura was as weak as a flickering candle about to go out. Clearly, she had suffered a long and cruel process of consumption and refinement within the Buddha's body, and was now on the final edge of Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering.

The Fox Immortal's heart tightened, and she quickly stepped forward, wrapping the remnant soul in the gentlest Primordial Qi vitality to carefully protect it.

To the touch, the soul body was icy cold, and the only feedback was a nearly extinguished void and an extremely weak impulse to survive.

The person had been rescued. But in this state of total exhaustion, with her Origin almost completely consumed... could she still be saved?

The din of battle gradually subsided with the Three Lives Buddha's self-sacrifice. The Buddha Kingdom and Demon Domain were transformed into a wasteland ravaged by turbulent energy flows.

The magnificent temples collapsed, the solemn Buddha statues shattered, and the soaring Devilish Qi dissipated.

Sunlight finally pierced through the dome shrouded by Power Of Will and Devilish Qi, spilling onto the devastated land.

The embers of the battle had not yet fully cooled, and the smoke and shattered Buddha light and Devilish Qi still intertwined over South City.

The Empress had already switched to "Iron-Blooded Empress" mode, resolutely commanding the Great Emperors under her to various locations to suppress the local chaos caused by the release of the Force Shackles and the collapse of the believers' faith.

Backed by the Laws of the Immortal Dynasty and powerful military force, she quickly rebuilt order with an efficiency that left onlookers speechless.

The Fox Immortal carefully carried a ball of pure white soul light, as weak as a candle in the wind, to Chu Ye. She didn't say much, only handing over the soul light, her ice-blue eyes filled with a rare solemnity and trust.

This wordless trust was a natural accumulation of chips after going through life and death and witnessing him create miracles time and again.

Chu Ye took over the nearly weightless body, and the System interface silently popped up the scan results:

【Target: Abbess Jing An】

【Overall Rating: 99 (Stunning Beauty)】

【Special Note: Broad-minded, with great capacity (in both physical and spiritual senses). Possesses the "Three-Life Reincarnation Body"; has already undergone the Buddha Tribulation and Demon Tribulation, but the Dao Tribulation remains uncrossed. If the three lives fail to merge into Perfection, the residual power after her fall will catalyze the creation of an extreme Buddha-Demon hybrid monster, bringing disaster to the world.】

Looking at the Buddhist Abbess before him, whose cold, ethereal, and compassionate aura remained even in her soul light.

Especially those broad curves that could be described as "E-pproachable" even in her remnant soul state, Chu Ye steadied his mind and suppressed certain ill-timed thoughts.

He brought Abbess Jing An's remnant soul into the quietest and most stable bedchamber within the White Phoenix Scroll, using the purest Primordial Qi to temporarily stabilize her form and allow her to regain a trace of hazy consciousness.

"Buddhist Abbess," Chu Ye's voice was calm as he went straight to the point, "your Origin is currently exhausted and your Divine Soul is shattered, like a jade bottle covered in cracks and about to break. Even if I inject endless vitality, it will only delay the collapse and cannot cure the root cause."

The hazy soul light flickered slightly, sending out a weak yet clear mental fluctuation, as if asking a question.

"The only chance for survival lies in breaking then establishing, transcending this body—Immortal Ascension."

Chu Ye's gaze was steady. "Immortal Dao reconstruction can heal Dao injuries and supplement the Divine Soul, allowing you to truly escape the shackles and backlash risks of the Three-Life Reincarnation Body."

He paused slightly and continued, "I possess a special immortal Opportunity and a secret method that can help one ascend. But this method... requires the harmony of Yin and Yang and the Fusion of Divine Souls. In common terms, it is Dual Cultivation. The choice is yours."

"Furthermore," he changed his tone to one of undeniable pragmatism, "Immortal opportunities are precious, and human hearts are unpredictable. To prevent any possible future complications, if you choose this method, you must sign a Blood Soul Contract with me. This contract is extremely binding. I hope you understand."

These words were clear and calm, with the pros and cons well-defined.

Abbess Jing An's soul light remained silent. She could sense the pure immortal Dao aura surrounding the Empress, the Witch Queen, and the Fox Immortal near Chu Ye; his words were not false.

She also understood that for such a Heaven-Defying Opportunity, it was only natural for the other party to demand a guarantee.

More importantly, the cruel possibility Chu Ye pointed out at the end struck her deepest hidden worries and obsessions.

"The Buddhist Abbess has done good deeds all her life. Surely you wouldn't want to see yourself, after falling, turn into a monster that knows only slaughter and brings chaos to the world because the accumulated Buddha-Demon power within you spirals out of control?"

"Would the morality and good deeds you've upheld in this life not become empty words? If you can achieve Immortal Ascension, perhaps there is a chance to exchange it for complete Perfection?"

A long silence fell over the bedchamber.

Finally, the Buddhist Abbess sent out a weak yet determined thought: "If I can... cultivate this Dao, I have only one request: you must not use your strength to force this poor nun into improper acts."

"Good."

Chu Ye nodded, a drop of essence blood oozing from his fingertip. Mixed with Soul Power, he outlined an ancient and profound blood pact rune and imprinted it into the core of Abbess Jing An's remnant soul.

The contract was established, creating an unbreakable karmic connection between them.

Once finished, Chu Ye infused more Primordial Qi to help stabilize and solidify her soul. "The Buddhist Abbess can first bathe in the spring to wash away the dust and blood. Tonight, I will practice the method of Immortal Ascension."

Abbess Jing An nodded slightly, transforming into a soft shadow that entered the hot spring behind them.

Chu Ye stood in place and rubbed his nose, muttering to himself, "I'm losing out... I'm not really a Demon Lord, at most... an ill-intentioned savior?"

The night grew deeper, and the candlelight in the bedchamber flickered.

After Abbess Jing An finished bathing and changing, she was still dressed in simple, spotless Daoist robes.