Who gave you permission to travel through time with Earth?

"Grandmaster of the Jiazi Era..."

Fang Jin murmured, realizing that Li Fu's poison array was not intended for him, but rather for the three other grandmasters who were the strongest and most formidable beings in this world.

After all, even if Fang Jin were lucky enough to survive the crisis in Snake Valley, in his eyes he would only have escaped as a slightly larger parasite. The Fiend Poison Array, powered by a Grandmaster's life force, would have crushed him with just the aftershocks.

Although now... quite the opposite, Fang Jin has successfully passed through the Sacred Hand Manor, while the three grandmasters are shocked by the scene before them and hesitate to make the first move.

The renowned physician was not the last of the four grandmasters. The potency of her medicines and poisons was so great that it caused headaches for any martial artist who specialized in physical training. Her deadly poison array was a natural nemesis of the martial arts system.

Moreover, they couldn't see the Buddha behind the clouds at all, and they didn't have a deeper understanding of this crisis. At most, they just felt that a heretic who could kill a grandmaster had appeared, and they were preparing to unite and ambush him.

...The truth is far more serious than that.

"Walk!"

Fang Jin frowned, then raised his hand and slapped the black horse hard. The black horse immediately transformed into a streak of purple lightning on the snowfield and galloped rapidly toward the direction of the Buddha City. The grass was blown up wherever the horse's hooves trampled!

The northern plains are vast and sparsely populated, with scattered settlements nestled in lush pastures. There is only one place that can be called a major city, and even there, the shadow of that majestic city can be faintly seen.

It wasn't just the shadow of that giant city; Fang Jin felt that above that shadow, something seemed to be floating, swaying and indistinct, emitting a bright light that even Fang Jin found familiar.

……

[Congratulations, player! The side quest "Traversing the Winding Corridor" has been completed.]

[Side quest reward settlement: 1000 Evolution Points, Spiritual Tier Consumable "Berserk Thunder Orb"]

When Fang Jin arrived at Buddha City, the corresponding notification sound rang in his ears at the same time. The rewards of the Nightmare dungeon were almost double those of the Hard version, not to mention that these were just two side quests.

Fang Jin was too preoccupied to pay attention to anything else; his attention was completely drawn to the Buddha City, and he even forgot to breathe for a moment as the biting cold engulfed every inch of his skin.

The city was indeed magnificent, with four corner beasts standing tall, towering stone walls cutting through the sky, and dark blue stone bricks even taller than a person... It's hard to imagine how such a magnificent city could have been built with the technology of that era.

But what truly horrified Fang Jin was the sight of a colossal female statue hovering gently above the bronze city, its astonishing energy density palpable even from a great distance!

The woman's eyes were closed, her knees were together, and she was kneeling in the sky. Her figure was like water mist, appearing and disappearing. But the hem of her clothes was just swaying in the wind, which caused the tallest tower in the city to collapse and crumble!

Moreover, she was completely out of place in this world. As soon as her spirit body floated around her, large spatial cracks appeared. The martial arts world itself felt repulsed and expelled her existence.

As soon as Fang Jin got close, he felt the crushing pressure from the level of life, which far exceeded the feeling he had from a mere Grandmaster. The gap was so vast that it surpassed the level of a mid-level being.

This is a high-level being, or, to use the most popular term on the main planet, a peak being hovering between the sixth and seventh ranks... a "quasi-god" who is only one step away from ascending to heaven.

"...This is fucking sending me to my death."

Fang Jin smiled, but in her heart, she had already shouted the national essence three times! Why would a quasi-god level creature appear in a mere Tier 1 dungeon world? No wonder the rewards are so direct and generous!

Fang Jin can only be on par with fourth-tier beings at best, and he can't even stand out at this level. If this quasi-god is the final boss to be defeated... then he can undoubtedly slit his throat and start over right now.

Fortunately, this quasi-god was not only asleep, but his physical energy was also extremely weak. Otherwise, his "weight" alone would have crushed the world, making it impossible to maintain the current balance.

and……

"General Fang..."

Cui Cui's expression became somewhat out of control, and the relic she tightly gripped in her hand emitted a resonant vibration. Moreover, it wasn't just the relic; even she herself felt... the woman in the heavens looked far too familiar.

"Her face... is so similar to that of the Buddha statue in the prison back then, even exactly the same."

Fang Jin's pupils were frozen. He was so surprised by the life realm of the quasi-god that he ignored her appearance. This was the original appearance of the nun from the nunnery!

"Although the physical body dies... the soul truly enters the cycle of Buddhist practice, undergoes countless sufferings, and attains the status of a Bodhisattva (quasi-deity). Did this small world truly produce a Buddha?"

"Unfortunately, her physical body was destroyed, but her spirit was regarded as a guiding light by the Buddha because of her connection with this being, and was thus cast back into this world by the true deity."

"She did not return home in glory, nor did she even want to come back. Mingfo used her soul as a vessel to carry on the Buddhist teachings, thereby systematically eroding and polluting the martial arts world."

Fang Jin muttered to herself, finally understanding the cause and effect of this nightmare instance. A god had taken a liking to this world and used methods to erode it, domineeringly incorporating it into his territory.

Even when she made her move, she used a quasi-god as a vessel for the contamination. No martial artist in this world had the ability to expel the Buddha's soul; the contamination became an established fact the moment she placed her piece.

Whether it's destroying or protecting Buddhism, it's all laughable to the One in Heaven. He wouldn't deign to intervene. What Fang Jin and Li Fu are doing is simply asking who will act as the "traitor" to guide the soul of the Buddhist nun.

Fang Jin's success would mean completing the mission and returning to the main star, while Li Fu's success would mean becoming the world's number one monk-Buddha, the ruler of the world who fully inherited the Ming Buddhist tradition, and even grandmasters would be nothing more than heretics.

...and the methods by which Buddhism is propagated (polluted) in this world.

"..."

In a flash, too many thoughts flashed through Fang Jin's mind. He had figured out the cause and effect of everything, and the next thing to consider was how to break the deadlock.

Li Fu had far too many advantages. He had taken the lead in bestowing blessings from the Buddha, and his understanding of the Buddha's soul was far more profound than Fang Jin's. As the traitorous military officer who guided the Taijun into the city, he was far more professional.

"Relics..."

The Buddha's relics are perhaps the only flaw left by Li Fu. The body closest to the soul must be the former body of the Buddhist nun. The remains of the Buddha statue in the nunnery are their most important asset.

His eyes gradually brightened, and then he looked thoughtfully at Cui Cui on horseback, who was bowing and worshipping the huge female statue in the sky, with jade-like Buddhist light slowly swirling around her...