I get stronger every day I live.

Chapter 207 The Thousand-Headed Asura King

The Western Paradise, the Buddhist Realm.

A man stepped forward, his expression respectful, and said, "Amitabha, Buddha, all the people we arranged for in the underworld have passed away, and their Buddhist lamps have all gone out."

"Amitabha, good, good, good."

In an instant, countless Buddhist chants, tinged with a hint of compassion, resounded within the Xitian Buddhist Temple.

"Who dares to kill a member of our Buddhist sect? The underworld has already fallen into our hands, how could this happen?"

"That useless Western Ghost Emperor, our Buddhist sect has already cleared away most of the obstacles for him, yet he can't even handle this small cleanup. He is truly incompetent."

"With such limited abilities, you dare to covet the position of the Emperor of Fengdu? You are ignorant of your own limitations."

"Good heavens, what should we do next? Should we send someone to explore the underworld again?"

The Western Heaven Buddhist Beads, with eyes that held endless Buddhist mysteries, looked at the person in front of them and slowly said, "We must not do this. The previous battle has already depleted much of our Buddhist sect's resources. We must not cause any more trouble in the short term. We should recuperate and plan for the future prosperity of Buddhism."

“Amitabha, there is no need for us to take action ourselves. The Asura clan has always coveted the position of the Underworld. Why don’t we let them go and investigate the Underworld’s true strength for us?”

"Amitabha Buddha, good."

On the other hand, the underworld is severely understaffed, and there aren't enough ghost messengers to go out and collect souls.

There was also a vacancy for the position of Yama. Lai Yang pondered for a while and finally had someone contact the Witch Clan.

Let the witch clan members enter the underworld to help.

Previously, the underworld had been infiltrated by the Buddhist forces, and the Goddess of the Witch dared not allow the Witch Clan to enter the underworld, fearing that the Witch Clan would once again be targeted by the Buddhist forces.

Now that Buddhism's influence in the underworld has been eradicated, there is no longer any worry about the future.

Furthermore, the Witch Clan has become powerful, which has also aroused the fear and apprehension of countless people. Surrounded by wolves and tigers, entering the Underworld would also be beneficial for the Witch Clan.

In the underworld, thanks to their connection with the Witch Goddess, other ghosts dared not make things difficult for them.

Upon hearing that Lai Yang wanted to send the Witch Clan to the Underworld, the Twelve Ancestral Witches discussed the matter and then agreed.

However, in order to avoid attracting attention, the Wu tribe did not make a large-scale mobilization, but instead carried out the relocation operation secretly.

In batches, those with talent in the clan were transferred first, followed by the elderly, children, and women.

Under the cover of the underworld's treasure, everything was proceeding quietly, and even the powerful Buddhist sect could not deduce the slightest clue.

The Asura race.

The Thousand-Headed Asura King had a ferocious and terrifying appearance. He looked down at the tiny Buddhist disciple in front of him with three parts disgust and three parts contempt.

The purifying aura of Buddhism emanating from the other person made him uncomfortable.

The Asura race is warlike and ferocious, with an extremely strong sense of malevolence. They are burdened with karmic obstacles from birth and must undergo countless trials of slaughter.
They are inherently at odds with forces like Buddhism.

If it weren't for the suppression of the Thousand-Headed Asura King, the Asuras would probably have already stepped forward and torn the monk in front of them to pieces.

"...Amitabha, I have conveyed the message that Buddha asked me to give to you. Please consider it carefully. I will take my leave now."

Sensing the undisguised malice and killing intent emanating from those around him, the Buddhist disciple was terrified. Only by constantly reciting calming mantras in his heart could he barely maintain his rationality and composure, preventing himself from falling into a frenzied, bloodthirsty state.

"Now that you've finished speaking, you're no longer of any use to me." The Thousand-Headed Asura King coldly stared at the Buddhist disciple and waved his hand.

Seeing this, the Asura clan, who had been itching to attack, immediately pounced on the Buddhist disciples.

The Buddhist disciple turned pale with fear. Faced with the terror of death, he could no longer maintain his composure and collapsed to the ground.

"No, you can't kill me! I'm a member of the Buddhist order! Stop! No! No! Help! Spare me! Ahhh!!!"

Amidst a series of shrill and chilling screams, the Buddhist disciple sent to deliver the message was instantly torn to pieces by the Asura clan, leaving no trace of his body.

From the moment he stepped into the territory of the Asura Clan, it was destined that he would not be able to leave the Asura Clan alive.

If it weren't for wanting to hear what he had to say, he would have died the moment he stepped into the Asura territory.

"Your Majesty, I suspect this is a trap. Given the treacherous nature of those Buddhist sects, how could they possibly let our Asura clan share such a large piece of meat as the Underworld? The Buddhist sects deliberately caused the Underworld to fall, and they told us about that injured and sleeping person. I suspect they want to use our Asura clan to find out the true strength of the Underworld. If we send troops to attack the Underworld, even if we succeed in the end, we might just be doing the work for someone else." The Thousand-Headed Asura King's confidant spoke up.

"Hmph, how could I not know the schemes of those thieving monks in Buddhism? Do they really think my Asura clan is so easy to manipulate?"

The Thousand-Headed Asura King snorted coldly, a chilling glint flashing in his eyes.
"Your Majesty, what should we do?"

"Send someone to the underworld to investigate first. Do not easily take action against the people of the underworld. Report any situation truthfully before making any further plans."

The Thousand-Headed Asura King did not want to become a tool in the hands of Buddhism, but if it was true, as they said, that the Underworld had become empty and extremely weak, he would not mind taking advantage of the situation to devour this piece of fat meat.

Even if one cannot ultimately possess the underworld, one can still reap substantial benefits from it.

But the most crucial point is that, as Buddhism says, that person was indeed injured and fell into a deep sleep. Otherwise, if the one who controls the underground passage in the underworld were to awaken, the Asura race would likely face annihilation when they invaded the underworld.

Even though the Thousand-Headed Asura King boasted that he was invincible within the Immortal Emperor's realm, he still dared not fight against a mere Earthly Supreme.

Even a peak Immortal Emperor is nothing more than an ant in the eyes of a Supreme Being of the Dao, who can be swatted away with a wave of his hand.

Strictly speaking, although they are both Immortal Emperors, their strength is no longer in the same dimension.

"Yes."

Meanwhile, the reconstruction of the underworld is in full swing.

There are always some unscrupulous people who take this opportunity to disrupt the order of the underworld and try to gain benefits.

Lai Yang will not tolerate them; anyone who attempts to harm the underworld will be killed!

On this day, powerful members of the Chu family descended upon the underworld, led by Chu Xiao.

During this time, Lai Yang sent a message to the Chu family, telling them what he was doing and that he couldn't go back for the time being.

Sure enough, Chu Xiao personally led his men over.

Upon seeing this, the ghost guards at the Gates of Hell immediately tensed up and shouted sternly, "The underworld lies ahead; living people are not allowed to approach. Leave immediately!"

"I am Chu Xiao, the young master of the Chu family. I have heard that the Underworld is in trouble, so I have specially sent a member of my clan to help the Underworld and do my best."

Chu Xiao ignored the ghost messenger's reprimand, his voice carrying immortal power that spread out and echoed in every corner of the underworld.

Sensing the powerful imperial aura emanating from Chu Xiao, the experts of the Underworld were immediately alarmed.

Facing a Celestial Emperor realm being, they dared not be negligent. The figure of the Eastern Ghost Emperor suddenly appeared before the Gate of Hell, looking at the Chu family members with a wary expression.

"We in the Underworld appreciate your kindness, but the Underworld is currently in a period of great turmoil and cannot receive outsiders. Please return the way you came."

Just then, a voice came from the depths of the underworld: "Let them in. The Chu family are my friends. Don't worry."

Chu Xiao immediately recognized Lai Yang's voice.

The Eastern Ghost Emperor was slightly taken aback, but his tough attitude softened and became somewhat friendly.

"So you are friends of Lord Fengdu. Please come in, everyone. Don't be shy."

"Thank you," Chu Xiao said politely, bowing slightly.

"I have other matters to attend to, so I will not entertain you any longer." After saying this, the Eastern Ghost Emperor looked at the ghost guards at the gate and said, "Take them in."

"Yes, Lord Ghost Emperor," the ghost messenger hurriedly called out nervously. "Please come in, everyone."

Thus, through Lai Yang's connections, Chu Xiao and the others successfully entered the underworld.

Before long, Chu Xiao and the others saw Lai Yang busy at work.

The desk in front of him was piled high with all sorts of things, making it hard for him to breathe.

With higher status and rights come a series of more obligations and troubles.

"Master, are you alright?" Chu Xiao asked tentatively.

"Do I look like I'm doing well? The underworld is being rebuilt, and there's a shortage of manpower everywhere. Plus, there are these piles of documents that are higher than mountains. It's giving me a huge headache." Lai Yang sighed helplessly and looked up at Chu Xiao. "You've come at the right time. You're here to relieve some of my burden."

"By the way, how is Ruyan doing with the Chu family?" Lai Yang asked casually.

"Master's wife is currently undergoing a breakthrough, so she didn't come with us this time. She might come after she finishes her breakthrough," Chu Xiao replied.

"Hmm, this Fengdu Emperor wouldn't even be a dog. If I hadn't promised Fellow Daoist Wutu to help her rebuild the Underworld, I would have resigned as soon as I finished this busy period. Let whoever wants to take over can take over."

Seeing Lai Yang's utterly dejected expression, Chu Xiao couldn't help but laugh.

This was the first time he had ever seen Lai Yang with such an expression.

Indeed, given his master's penchant for slacking off and being lazy, it's understandable that he couldn't handle such tedious work.

"If there's anything we can help with, Master, please just say so. If we don't have enough manpower, I'll have the family send some more people to help."

"That's a good feeling."

Lai Yang didn't stand on ceremony with Chu Xiao and immediately arranged for the Chu family to join the reconstruction work.

With the addition of the Wu Clan members, and now with the Immortal Emperor Chu Xiao and a host of skilled members from the Chu family, the reconstruction of order in the Underworld will be much faster.

Due to the battle between the Underworld and Buddhism, which was mainly affected by the fight between the Goddess of the Earth and the two emperors of Buddhism, most of the Underworld collapsed, and the laws and space became chaotic. It is not an easy task to completely repair it, and it will take a lot of time.

Destruction can happen in an instant, but reconstruction requires a thousand times more effort.

Suddenly, a ghost messenger entered Lai Yang's work area and said, "Lord Fengdu, we have discovered spies from the Asura Clan nearby. They seem to be acting suspiciously and have ill intentions. Should we send troops to capture them?"

"The Asura race?"

Lai Yang was slightly taken aback. Wasn't the Asura Clan the same ally that the Witch Clan had previously allied with, but which hadn't shown up at all when danger struck?

I've heard that the Asura race is warlike, bloodthirsty, and cruel by nature. Is their interest in the Underworld just a way to get a share of the spoils?

Lai Yang's eyes turned slightly cold as he said calmly, "Capture them and interrogate them thoroughly."

"Yes, sir," the ghost messenger replied, then quickly left.

Before long, under the leadership of a judge at the Great Luo Golden Immortal realm, all the Asura spies were captured alive.

After a series of soul-searching questions and listening to his subordinates' reports, Lai Yang also learned about the Asura Clan's purpose.

However, to his surprise, there were Buddhist figures behind this.

"It's the Buddhist sect that's stirring things up behind the scenes; those guys are really persistent," Lai Yang sighed.

"Lord Fengdu, what should we do with those Asuras?"

"Let them go back. Also, have them pass on a message to their leader: as long as the Asura clan is willing to submit to the Underworld, I have a way to resolve the karma on the Asura clan. If they are unwilling to submit, the day I personally visit them will be the day the Asura clan is completely wiped out," Lai Yang said in an unquestionable tone.

Upon hearing this, the ghost messenger couldn't help but shudder. He could feel the overwhelming killing intent contained in Lai Yang's words.

Then he recalled that the Great Emperor of Fengdu had appeared out of nowhere and slaughtered nearly a third of the evil spirits in the eighteen levels of hell.

He had no doubt that he was capable of annihilating the entire Asura race.

Others, in order to cultivate themselves, dare not commit acts of killing, for fear of being burdened with boundless karma.

This master had no taboos and seemed peaceful, but in reality, he had a terrifying madness in his bones.

The most outrageous thing is that he killed countless lives, and logically, his karma should have been unbearable by now. Yet, Heaven has not yet punished him or destroyed him. This is quite intriguing.

He truly deserves to be the Great Emperor of Fengdu, appointed by the Goddess of the Witchcraft and Earth.

Of course, these were not things that a lowly ghost servant like him should think about. He just needed to follow orders and do whatever the adults told him to do.

Following Lai Yang's instructions, the ghost messengers released the Asura clan spies and relayed Lai Yang's words before letting them leave.

The Asuras looked relieved, as they had all thought they were going to die in the underworld. They never expected that the other party would spare them.

Soon, they returned to the Asura Clan and relayed Lai Yang's words verbatim to the Asura Clan's leader, the Thousand-Headed Asura King.

Upon hearing that Lai Yang had a way to resolve the karmic issues of the Asura race, the Thousand-Headed Asura King's eyes flashed with a dangerous light. He slammed his palm into the massive stone seat beneath him and coldly said, "How dare you! You dare to say you want to annihilate my Asura race. What an arrogant and conceited fellow. I'd like to see what abilities you have to say such things."

The Thousand-Headed Asura King slowly rose to his feet. His enormous body was like a towering mountain, and a terrifying aura emanated from within him, causing people to feel fear and trepidation.

"None of the previous Fengdu Emperors of the Underworld dared to claim they would subdue my Asura race. I hope this new Fengdu Emperor will not disappoint me."

"He wants my Asura clan to submit? Fine, as long as he can defeat me, I will lead the Asura clan to submit to him. What's wrong with that? The Asura clan has always only worshipped the strong."

"Go, have someone tell the underworld that I am waiting for the arrival of the Great Emperor of Fengdu in the Asura Clan."

(End of this chapter)