Survival in the Mist: From a Dilapidated Wooden Hut to a Heavenly Palace in the Clouds

Endless abyss.

The ancient altar was shrouded in black mist, like an ancient beast opening its blood-red maw to pounce on any soul that tried to peek into the secrets of the abyss.

The "Killing Buddha," in the form of an evil statue, was born from the deepest abyss. It is an aggregate of endless killing intent, formed after being burned by ancient malice.

Beneath the appearance of being half Buddha and half demon, what flows is not the Buddha-nature of compassion and salvation, but a monstrous killing intent and a power to destroy the world.

Opposite them, a mysterious figure in black robes, exuding an inexplicably powerful aura, walked step by step from the entrance of the abyss.

The figure shrouded in black robes seemed to merge with the abyss, yet possessed a destructive power that terrified even the endless abyss. Alone, he walked calmly under the gaze of the Killing Heart Buddha's endless evil light, as if devoid of any emotion.

This battle was merely the first chapter in the chaotic prelude to the endless abyss.

The air on the battlefield was torn apart by the killing intent, and the space trembled uneasily. Flying out of the evil statue was a phantom of a demonic Buddha, highly concentrated with killing intent. Its shape resembled a Vajra sculpture, but it was covered with cracks and dark runes.

The Buddha of Killing Heart surveyed the surroundings, his eyes burning with deep red flames of rage, his bony hands raised high as if to crush the entire space.

He uttered a deep Buddhist chant, a sound as loud as thunder, yet tinged with ancient curses, as if striking the depths of the soul.

“All sentient beings must refrain from killing, and now…” the Buddha of Killing Heart lowered his voice, which was as hoarse as a knife striking stone, “to purify the world through killing.”

With the sound, the body of the Killing Buddha rose from the ground, and the overwhelming killing intent transformed into countless rays of Buddha light that surrounded him. These were not lights of salvation, but rather blindingly destructive radiance.

Every step he took was accompanied by a collision with the rules of destruction, and every breath he took tore the entire void apart.

However, faced with this being that was almost an embodiment of natural disaster, the man in black robes simply stood still. His long robes hung loosely, concealing his body, without any sign of panic.

He raised his head, and a flash of crimson light seemed to appear deep within the dark hood, while the space around him was forced into absolute silence, rendering all killing intent powerless.

"Buddha or demon, it doesn't matter." The man in black robes spoke, his voice low and calm, "The law of the jungle is not scary, what is scary is... the shackles of ignorance."

Before he could finish speaking, the Buddha of Killing Hearts had already made his move.

His Buddha palms transformed into hundreds of enormous phantoms, slamming down from all directions with terrifying speed. Each palm strike was like a fragment of a collapsing sky, even causing the fragments of spacetime and the laws of the surrounding abyss to crumble.

But the black-robed man suddenly drew his sword. It was a pitch-black longsword, as dark as an abyss. With a sweep of the unfathomably black blade, a crescent-shaped blade of light was unleashed from right to left, directly severing the palm shadow of the Killing Buddha.

Then, it dissipated into countless points of pure light.

The Buddha of Killing Hearts was clearly not defeated by his failure; on the contrary, his anger intensified.

He was originally the embodiment of endless evil thoughts from the abyss, and he would not hesitate for a moment in the face of defeat. His shapeless hands transformed into chains truly rooted in the laws of the abyss.

Each chain was covered with symbols of destruction, frantically swirling around the man in black robes. These chains were not simply forces, but "stupid chains" that sealed the very root of existence, capable of freezing the opponent's body, soul, and mind into endless darkness.

The man in black robes stepped back, not to escape, but to slowly adjust himself into an impeccable stance.

His sword rose slightly, like a withered leaf falling, and the chains vanished in an instant, as if they had never existed.

The Buddha of Killing Hearts remained unmoved. He had been sitting cross-legged on his malevolent lotus throne, but now he finally stood up. As he rose, a fierce wind swept through the entire abyss, like an invisible vortex surging into the center of the battlefield.

The Buddha's Eye in his heart suddenly opened, and its ominous light enveloped the entire battlefield.

Through the Buddha's eyes, countless traces of souls suppressed by the black robe began to pulsate. The Buddha of Killing Heart's voice was deep and lingering, "You are but a shadow attempting to defy the heavens; the truth will soon bring you despair..."

The moment the Buddha's eyes released an ominous light, the atmosphere of the entire battlefield suddenly changed.

The man in black robes raised his head, and his blood-red eyes under the hood flashed slightly, as if responding to the provocation of the Buddha of Killing Hearts.

He raised his sword slightly, and the surrounding space fell into an eerie silence once again.

It was a silence the abyss had never experienced before, as if all rules were suppressed by this sword, and even the Buddha's eyes of the Killing Heart Buddha seemed dim in this silence.

"Despair?" the black-robed man repeated in a low voice, a hint of mockery in his tone. "You are nothing but a wisp of resentment from the abyss, unable to even control your own existence. How can you possibly make me feel despair?"

The Buddha of Killing Hearts did not respond, but the light in his Buddha eyes grew stronger. The light seemed to contain countless struggling souls, and each ray of light was like a sharp blade piercing the soul, trying to tear apart the black-robed man's will.

At the same time, his figure gradually swelled, and his originally tall Buddha body began to crack, revealing an even more terrifying existence inside—a demonic Buddha phantom formed from pure killing intent, as if it were the ultimate embodiment of slaughter in the abyss.

"Stop killing with killing, control evil with evil." The voice of the Buddha of Killing Heart was deep and chilling. Accompanied by his incantation, countless killing intents materialized and swept towards the black-robed man from all directions.

The man in black robes did not retreat. He slightly turned his sword, and the dark sword light, like an endless crack, directly tore apart the torrent of killing intent of the Buddha of Killing Heart.

The sword light seemed effortless, yet it carried a destructive power that made even the abyss tremble, as if even the rules themselves could not withstand its sharpness.

However, at that moment, a completely different aura suddenly surged into the battlefield.

A soft laugh came from the void, a laugh that was both alluring and dangerous, as if it could make people lose their composure.

Immediately afterwards, a graceful figure slowly emerged from the crack in the abyss.

She was draped in a thin veil, the fabric of which shimmered with an eerie light that seemed to emanate from within, and within that light one could vaguely see countless struggling souls.

Her eyes were like the deepest whirlpool in the abyss, possessing an irresistible allure and chilling coldness.

"Oh my, the mighty Buddha of Killing Heart has been forced to this point by a mere mortal. It's quite unexpected!" the Bewitching Demon said softly, her voice like the whisper of a venomous snake, carrying a chillingly dangerous beauty.

The Buddha of Killing Hearts' eyes flickered slightly, clearly not surprised by the arrival of the Bewitching Demon. He said coldly, "Bewitching Demon, what are you doing here? This is my prey."

"Your prey?" The Bewitching Demon chuckled, slowly walking towards the center of the battlefield. "Hahahaha, anyone who didn't know better would think you were his prey!"

The man in black robes narrowed his eyes slightly. His sword was still pointed at Killing Buddha, but he had clearly realized that the situation was changing.