Chapter 1678 - 1477: The Wager

As the woman recounted her story, Ye Guichen seemed to hear an earth-shattering secret, filled with shock.

According to the woman, in past years, the Demon Clan caused chaos, occupying the territory of the Immortal realm. Those immortals exhausted all their strength, nearly annihilating the Demon Clan.

The Demon Clan was on the verge of extinction.

The Dragon Clan, being a type of Demon Clan, chose to submit to the immortals, with many of them even becoming accomplices of the immortals.

But the rest of the Demon Clan had nowhere to retreat, so they withdrew to the Chaos Sea.

The immortals relentlessly pursued the Demon Clan, wanting to eradicate them completely.

The Snake Woman took pity on the Demon Clan and opened the Hidden Gate, imprisoning the Demon Clan inside.

At that time, the Demon Clan had no choice; if they didn't enter the Hidden Gate, it was a path to death.

But once inside, it meant becoming prisoners.

However, even that was better than death.

When the remaining Demon Clan entered the Hidden Gate, the immortals felt the Snake Woman was meddling and made her guard the Hidden Gate for life.

The Snake Woman had no complaints, she stayed and promised that if the Demon Clan ever came out again, she would accept the immortals' punishment.

At this, the woman sighed deeply: "Actually, in this world, who is truly good or evil is something we can hardly discern. Before the Buddhist teachings, it's always about equality of all beings, isn't the Demon Clan also among them? But those immortals see themselves as superior, not treating the Demon Clan as beings."

"In their eyes, the Demon Clan are beasts. Their birth decided that they could not become immortals, and once they do, they must die."

"Heh, but the Demon Clan, in their attempt to reverse this imbalance, acted too extremely. Who can truly judge right from wrong?"

Ye Guichen sighed: "What about the Demon Saint?"

"Demon Saint?" The woman was momentarily stunned, quickly understanding Ye Guichen's intent, and with a faint smile, she said, "Do you wish to see him?"

"I am here to kill him," Ye Guichen replied bluntly.

After all, today's goal was to kill the Demon Saint to prevent him from wreaking havoc on the Chaos Sea and causing losses to human cultivators.

The woman glanced at Ye Guichen, said nothing more, then turned and walked alongside the nearby creek towards its source: "Follow me."

The sound of trickling water surrounded them.

Ye Guichen followed the woman, walking for more than half an hour, until they saw a vast, blue lake not far away.

Koi leapt from the lake, creating a beautiful scene under the gentle breeze.

At the edge of the lake, an old man sat cross-legged by the shore, wearing a straw hat and raincoat, holding a fishing rod silently, motionless.

He appeared like a sculpture.

Upon closer inspection, the fishing rod had no fishing line, and it wasn't physical but formed from condensed energy.

The energy extended from the old man's hand, appearing substantial.

"That's the Demon Saint you mentioned," the woman pointed at the old man, "He also has another name, Devouring Buddha Child."

"Devouring Buddha Child?" Ye Guichen's pupils shrank; the name was quite imposing.

The woman smiled faintly, and continued, "Hehe, this old man is a Rat Demon, who gained Spiritual Sense after listening to the Buddha's teachings for a thousand years, then transformed into human form, wanting to join the Buddhist teachings. But in the eyes of the Buddhists, he was merely a demon, and they wanted to slay him. As it turned out, he mastered his cultivation, devoured one hundred and seven Boddha's sons in succession, fled from the Buddhist teachings, escaped to the Immortal realm, gathering a large number of demons to seize the Immortal realm's land. But how could the immortals allow such a spiritually rich land to be taken?"

"A war between demon and immortal lasted for over a thousand years, and he suffered a massive defeat, almost dying. You know what happened next. He was even given a nickname by the immortals, Devouring Buddha Child. Hehe, but after entering the Hidden Gate, he's been here fishing ever since."

The woman pointed to the lake, "There are many demons in the lake, each possessing strong cultivation. The demons are eager to be caught by him, because only by being caught can they comprehend the meaning of enlightenment. Through the years, who knows how many fish he's caught, yet each one he releases."

"But I know, he has never let go of the old enmity, always thinking of leaving this place to seek revenge on those immortals."

Upon hearing this, Ye Guichen suddenly did not know what to say.

He opened his mouth, finally unable to resist asking: "Now that the Hidden Gate is open, the outside world is in chaos, beings suffer. Is this the result he desires to see?"

The woman remained silent for a long while, before saying: "Xiao Chen, in their eyes, humans are just beings, no different from them. In the eyes of these demons, they're nothing but food."

As the woman spoke, she abruptly grasped Ye Guichen's hand: "And I, too, have the blood of the Demon Clan. Ultimately, you also have the blood of the Demon Clan within you."

Ye Guichen was stunned, his brows tightly knitted: "Putting aside bloodlines, does indiscriminate killing of innocents serve his goals?"

The woman sighed deeply: "How can we define indiscriminate killing? Weren't the slaughters by the immortals against the Demon Clan also indiscriminate? Hehe, I wish for peace in the world, for all to be happy and smiling, but how easy is it to achieve that? Where there is Spiritual Sense, there are emotions and desires, greed. It's the same for humans and for the Demon Clan. So throughout history, wars have never ceased. But what can be done? All we can do is try our best to do what we must."