"Tsk, tsk, tsk, truly moving. I didn't expect the only two Immortal Realms in this world to have such different personalities.
Seeing the eminent monk's compassion for all living beings, it would be truly wrong of me to still strike.
Hearing this, the monks below breathed a collective sigh of relief.
The Buddha was right; if you kneel fast enough, no one can kill you.
"Thank you, General, for your mercy."
The Buddha knelt again.
"Don't thank me just yet. Since the eminent monk has such a compassionate heart, I'll make an exception this once and give him a choice.
One, I kill you, and spare everyone in this world.
Two, I let you live, and kill everyone in this world.
What is your choice, eminent monk?"
Upon hearing this, not only did the commander freeze, but the hundreds of thousands of monks also gasped.
They were utterly astonished, turning to look at the Buddha with eyes filled with both fear and outrage.
Why?
Didn't you always preach about saving all beings?
Didn't you say, "If I don't go to hell, who will"?
Didn't you teach us to be compassionate?
Why are you saying this now?
Why are you sacrificing all of us to save yourself?
Are you still the Buddha we believe in?
At this moment, the faith in the hearts of countless monks crumbled.
"Hahaha, the eminent monk is indeed wise and knows how to read the room. Much stronger than that Martial God. May I ask why you made this choice?"
What he wants to ask is irrelevant. Hurry up and kill everyone else! Can't you see these people are practically salivating to devour this humble monk?
The Buddha forced a compassionate smile and looked at the commander.
"I am the Buddha. If I die, Buddhism will cease to exist. If Buddhism ceases to exist, what use is this world? Whom would I save then?
Conversely, if I live, Buddhism lives on. Even if all beings perish, life will reappear in this world, and I can re-establish Buddhism to enlighten the ignorant, save all beings, and lead this world to a better future.
This humble monk is not doing this for himself, but for this world."
"Hahaha, truly representative of your Buddhist sect. Back when I was on the Sea of Bitterness battlefield, I already found your sect to be utterly hypocritical. I killed every bald donkey I saw.
I never imagined that the eminent monk would embody Buddhist hypocrisy even more vividly. It seems you've truly inherited the true teachings of the Buddha.
Indeed, indeed, you've opened my eyes."
"I hope the General will keep his promise."
The Buddha was already cursing internally.
"No rush, no rush. Since I gave you a choice, I must give others a choice as well, otherwise, wouldn't that be too unfair?"
The commander's smile grew more mocking. He looked down at the crowd below.
"It's the same choice as before. You die, or he dies. Make your own decision."
"What do you mean by this, General!"
The Buddha's face instantly darkened as he glared at the commander.
However, the commander ignored him, instead watching the scene below with amusement, as if it were an entertaining game.
At first, none of the monks below dared to speak up. The Buddha's authority was long-established; who would dare to be the first to resist?
But faced with the pressure of death, someone finally stood up.
A Bodhisattva rose and bowed to the Buddha, saying,
"Buddha, for the sake of all beings within the pass, please sacrifice yourself."
"Please, Buddha, die for us all!"
"Buddha, for the sake of all beings in the world, if you don't go to hell, who will?"
With one person taking the lead, others quickly followed suit. Soon, everyone stood up and looked at the Buddha.
"You… you all…"
The Buddha's expression grew increasingly ferocious.
He, like the monks, was no good person. They were all people who would sacrifice others to save themselves.
Not a single person here was worthy of pity.
"Why aren't you acting? Are you waiting for me to personally exterminate you all?"
The commander seized the opportunity to add fuel to the fire.
"Kill!"
Finally, a Bodhisattva couldn't bear it any longer and lunged at the Buddha with a palm strike.
The others immediately followed suit.
A chaotic battle was about to erupt.
Faced with a powerful enemy, they lacked the courage to resist, yet they dared to attack their own people without mercy.
The Buddha's expression was ferocious, his anger uncontainable. He continuously unleashed palm strikes, roaring all the while,
"You useless wretches! Didn't I make it clear! If I don't die, Buddhism lives on. If I die, you remain. Can you possibly revive Buddhism?
What use are you? You are not even Buddhas. You live for a few hundred years and then die. Can you rebuild the world? Can you reshape civilization?
It was I who taught you Buddhist dharma, I who taught you martial arts, it was I who led you to become powerful.
Why are you so ungrateful? How dare you attack me, you ungrateful traitors!
You… why are you so selfish!"
The Buddha, in his fury, unleashed palm strike after palm strike, his Immortal Realm power erupting, felling the attacking monks one by one.
Those monks gritted their teeth and charged forward. None of them wanted to die, so Buddha had to die instead.
The battle raged for several hours. The plaza was littered with corpses, and the Buddha, heavily wounded and tottering, was on the verge of collapse.
"Please… please fulfill your promise, General…"
The blood-soaked Buddha raised his head and looked at the demon commander.
He had killed his own followers, only to seek mercy from the enemy.
"Alright, you may die now."
The commander nodded.
"You said you would spare me!"
"But what use is it for you to surrender? What do I need a useless person like you for? I came here to destroy your world."
A black demonic palm, blotting out the sun, descended upon the Buddha.
"No!!!"
The Buddha roared, and it was unclear if he felt any regret at this moment.
If he did, was it regret for believing the enemy's words, or regret for not having stood tall and died heroically with his monks?
Black demonic energy permeated the land. When it dispersed again, the ground was covered in corpses. The once vibrant continent had become a living hell.
After finishing off the enemy, the commander regrouped his army and soared into the sky.
He and several Demon Lords had joined forces to extract the Heart of the Universe of the Martial Spirit Realm and began refining it.
Refining the Heart of the Universe was something every commander did, so they were all very familiar with the process.
A day later, they had already refined half of the Heart of the Universe. Just as they were congratulating themselves that the Five Elements Hall had not come to cause trouble this time, a teleportation portal appeared in the sky…