Legend of Mir 2: Seeking the Truth in Marfa

In the center of the hall, a demonic beast, with flowing robes and a multicolored golden glow, sat cross-legged. It was none other than Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva. His power surpassed even that of Zoe and Budd, whom Brook had met before.

On either side of the hall sat a demonic beast leader: the Black Sky Demon King and the Hell Overlord. These two demonic beasts had fought many times on the Marfa Continent, making them old acquaintances. However, the ones they had fought were merely projections of themselves; the true forms on the Red Star were powerful enough to rival powerful heroes, especially the Hell Overlord, who was already a true demigod.

Before the three of them could step forward, Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva had already opened his eyes and spoke first:

"You're finally here~ I've been waiting for you for a long time!"

Ksitigarbha's eyes were fixed on Brook.

Soraka was also stunned and turned her head slightly to look.

"What are you waiting for me to do?" Brook stopped, looked up at Zao who was several dozen yards tall in front of him, and said coldly.

"How dare you! You are a cultivator from the lower realm, and you don't even show courtesy and kneel down to greet His Majesty Ksitigarbha!" The Black Sky Demon King on the right scolded.

"Where is the Bloodthirsty Pearl? Why didn't you bring it with you?" The Hell Overlord on the left also asked.

The two defeated generals, who were able to kill your projections in the Marfa continent back then, can now kill your real bodies in Chixing!

Brook ignored them completely and stared at Ksitigarbha with a bad look - Brook certainly had no good feelings towards the culprit who projected the monsters to the Marfa continent.

Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva had a peaceful expression and said calmly:

"Krishna, hell, no disrespect is allowed~ Now we need help."

"But Your Highness, if it weren't for our projection, how could he have grown to where he is today..." The Dark Demon King wanted to argue, but was finally shut up by a look from Ksitigarbha.

"Brother Brook, how long will it take for the Bloodthirsty Pearl to be fully stored?" asked Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva.

"How do you know I came for the Bloodthirsty Pearl?" Brook asked.

"Because I can sense it in the dark. I can also sense the anger in your heart: you blame me for projecting the monsters to the Marfa continent, you are waiting for my explanation, you are considering whether you can kill me, kill all the monsters on the Red Star, and even destroy the Soul Tree, right?" Ksitigarbha said.

"...I promised Soraka that I wouldn't do anything rash! At least not today. But I do need a reasonable explanation." Brook said.

"Of course I will explain it to you. But before I do, I want to tell you a story." Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva said slowly:

"Once upon a time, there was an isolated island with a lush green grassland, a herd of docile goats, and a pack of ferocious wolves. The wolves preyed on the sheep, and the sheep lived on the grass. And in spring, the grass roots would sprout lush new grass again. One day, the ferocious wolves were hunting the sheep. The sheep desperately tried to escape, and the wolves were hot on their heels. Just then, a powerful hero happened to pass by. He took pity on the weak sheep, so he decisively attacked and slew all the wolves. The sheep were completely safe, and the hero left with satisfaction."

"Many years later, the hero passed by the island again, only to find that the once lush green grassland had turned into a desert, and the flock of sheep he had rescued was reduced to a few withered bones. How could this have happened? The hero was puzzled. Holding the bones, he analyzed and explored them, pondering deeply, and finally realized: the culprit was himself."

"It turns out that wolves hunt sheep, and most of their victims are the old, weak, sick, and disabled. The sheep that manage to escape are healthy, strong, and fast runners. Similarly, the wolves that don't get to eat the lamb are also strong and robust. The old, sick, and slow runners, unable to catch prey, are gradually eliminated. Because of each other's existence, the sheep and wolves run faster and stronger."

"But after the wolves were completely wiped out, the sheep began to multiply rapidly. Without natural enemies, they no longer needed to run quickly. Gradually, the sheep grew weaker and weaker, but that wasn't the most fatal flaw. One day, the sheep, scattered across the mountains and plains, suddenly discovered that all the grass on the island and across the grassland had been eaten, and it was only autumn. Consequently, the sheep could only dig up the soil and gnaw on the grass roots, but they still couldn't survive the winter. By the spring of the following year, with no grass roots left, the grasslands no longer grew any grass... and eventually, it became a desert."

"The story is over. My friend, if you were the hero, would you still attack the wolves? Or if you were a goat in the flock of sheep, would you still resent the brutal wolves?" asked Ksitigarbha.

Brook shook his head slightly and said slowly:

"Ksitigarbha, I understand what you mean. However, the humans on the Marfa continent are not those stupid sheep. Even without monsters, they can manage themselves and the grass will not be eaten up. The Marfa continent was originally fine, but you forced the monsters onto the Marfa continent! What's the difference between this and killing wolves and destroying the population balance on the grassland?" Brook questioned.

"There is a difference! At least, it can make the humans of Marfa Continent stronger, until they are strong enough to reach Red Star and stand before me!"

"...Why? Just to give you the Bloodthirsty Pearl? No, I won't give it to you! I now strongly suspect that the Bloodthirsty Pearl sealing Red Star might be a hoax you made up!"

"My friend, we bear no ill will towards you or the Marfa continent! In fact, I, Dragon King Thor, God of Death Kindred, and God of War Sean, have known about your arrival on Red Star. Have you ever seen any of us attack you? Please believe us, we do not wish to be your enemy, we simply need your help. Because Red Star, like Marfa continent, is a victim!"

"victim?"

"That's right. Your friend Soraka is right here, and she can attest to the truth of what I say."

Brook looked at Soraka. Soraka nodded.

"Go on. What exactly happened?" Brooke said.

"In fact, even if there are no sky towers and no energy gems on the mountain walls, the monsters will still be projected onto the Marfa continent. The real projection is caused by the white star!" Ksitigarbha said.

"Shirahoshi?"

"Many years ago, my Titan spaceship, dragging the Red Star through the starry sky, suddenly one day, we were forcibly pulled here by a tremendous energy, unable to move. At the same time, many powerful void creatures appeared around us and launched a frenzied attack on us. The Red Star continent was destroyed, and the Titan spaceship was also attacked and lost power. Finally, the heroes of the Alliance repelled the void creatures, and we broke through the void surrounding the Red Star and finally discovered the culprit: it was a completely white planet, which we called the White Star!"

"The White Star system isn't large, but it's filled with terrifying energy. It's locked us here, and every once in a while, it'll send void creatures to attack us. Those void creatures love to swallow and spit out monsters. Once they've swallowed a monster, they won't digest it completely. Instead, they'll choose to spit out some weaker monsters, pinning them in mid-air. Then, the White Star will release energy, projecting the monsters to extremely distant locations. These projections will dilute the energy of the monster's original body by a thousand times. Once all the projections die, the monster itself will also truly die! We spent a lot of time and finally observed that the location of the projections is your Marfa Continent."

"...You said Mount Targon is a spaceship that can fly in the starry sky? You said the projection was done by Shirahoshi?"

"That's right. The Targon Peak you're standing on is our Targon spaceship. The sky towers you see outside are also constructed from our model projections. If there aren't enough projections, White Star will drive more void creatures to attack."

"Why would Shirahoshi do this?"

"We don't know. We only know that there's a group of human monks on the Marfa continent who can resurrect infinitely. They seem to be related to White Star. The reason White Star needs monster projections seems to be related to that group of monks. Using our own method to create projections can allow the monsters of Red Star to take turns resting, thus saving the lives of the monsters of Red Star."

It actually involves warriors from another world? It's unbelievable.

Brook turned to look at Soraka, who nodded seriously.

"What about the Bloodthirsty Pearl? Can it seal the Red Star?" Brook asked. Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva had personally projected himself to the Marfa Continent to deliver this message to the cultivators there.

"The Bloodthirsty Pearl is the secret technique of my Red Star. If it can be filled up, we can cast the Bloodthirsty Formation. Of course, it is not used to seal the Red Star, but to seal the White Star! If you can bring it to us, we will have the confidence to completely seal the White Star that is holding us back!" said Ksitigarbha.

"Why not fill it up with the blood of your own monsters?"

"No! If we use our blood, it can only be sealed temporarily; only by using the blood of the human monks related to Shirahoshi can we seal Shirahoshi permanently!"

"...After the seal, Chixing can leave here?"

"That's right! But there's still one step missing: the energy to power the spaceship. We've used almost all of our energy gems on the projection of the sky tower, so there aren't enough to power the spaceship again. However, we stumbled upon the fact that although the Marfa continent is barren, it can produce some special artifacts that contain extremely powerful energy. A single artifact is equivalent to hundreds of thousands of energy gems! As long as we have enough artifacts, we can restore the spaceship's power."

"Really? So, you've already collected a lot of artifacts?"

"We have indeed collected quite a bit. However, the quantity is not enough yet. Once we have collected enough, we will send it back to Red Star."

"Send it back to Red Star? Are you saying that the artifacts you collected are still hidden in Marfa Continent?"

"Demon beasts can be projected to the Marfa continent, and even when the projection is killed, some of the gold coins, potions, and equipment carried by the monster body will explode. However, the projection cannot bring items from the Marfa continent back to Red Star. Fortunately, we found another channel: the Warcraft battlefield! Through the Warcraft battlefield, you can go to the Dragon Empire, and then through the Dragon Empire to reach the Marfa continent. Therefore, we also projected the Dragon Empire and sent additional troops to the Warcraft battlefield to keep the Warcraft battlefield unobstructed. Finally, we sent a hero who can disguise herself and split into two, and entered the various Marfa continents through the Warcraft battlefield. She will not directly participate in the battle, her task is only to collect artifacts. Once she has collected enough, she will return the same way." Ksitigarbha said.

"...You should know that Sister Marfa also loves artifacts. You told me so much, aren't you afraid that I'll find this disguised hero and take all the artifacts she collected for myself?" Brook said. He already knew who the hero was.

"If you want me, Chixing, to stay here forever, if you want the Marfa continent to be forever attacked by the projections of demonic beasts, you can certainly do so. Otherwise, if you see her, please show mercy!"

"...Your Majesty Ksitigarbha, if what you said is true, I can give you the Bloodthirsty Pearl. However, I have two conditions!" Brook said.

"You said."

"First, I want you to tell those projected monsters outside not to attack the indigenous monks of the Marfa continent! Marfa monks are different from the infinitely resurrected warriors from other worlds."

"I'm sorry. The monsters have been projected to the Marfa continent, and their strength, reaction and intelligence have become very limited. It is really impossible to distinguish between the Marfa monks and the warriors from other worlds you mentioned. In the eyes of the projection, they are all human beings; and the reason why Bai Xing wants to project the monsters down seems to be to let the monsters fight with the warriors from other worlds you mentioned." Ksitigarbha said.

Brooke thought for a moment and asked, "Can projection distinguish the ranks of monks?"

"That's okay."

"Then change it: tell the monsters not to attack humans at level 0! Because warriors from other worlds are born as monks, and their lowest level is 1; while ordinary humans in Marfa are at level 0." Brook said.

"I can't agree to this! Your Majesty Ksitigarbha, as far as I know, a long time ago, there were many level 0 humans in the Zuma Temple, and the Zuma sect obtained many artifacts from them!" The Black Sky Demon King interrupted.

Brook shot a sharp look at him, wishing he could kill him on the spot!

Ksitigarbha saw this and said:

"Heitian, that was many years ago. The situation is different now, and it's almost impossible for such a thing to happen again. The remaining artifacts on the Marfa continent are basically scattered all over the place, and often require excavation to find. So, Brook, I can agree to your condition. I will personally summon all the leaders and sect leaders and order all the monsters participating in the projection to not attack level 0 humans."

Brook nodded. While this wasn't perfect, it would at least save the ordinary level 0 Marfa civilians. As for the Marfa monks, they would have to participate in the battles with the monsters anyway, so as long as they were strong enough, they could survive.

"What is your second condition?" Ksitigarbha asked again.

Brook said slowly:

"I want to go outside the void and see the White Star you mentioned!"