The Imperial Tutor's Mansion.
Battle raged.
Shouts of killing echoed continuously.
The King of a Different Surname, clad in dark red battle armor, his long sword dripping fresh blood.
"Kill!"
"Annihilate all members of the Zheng clan!"
"Not a single one shall be spared!"
Upon receiving Chen Nan's clue, the King of a Different Surname had come directly to the Imperial Tutor's Mansion.
He had finally sensed the lost Imperial Sword within the mansion.
It was for this reason that he had ordered the extermination of the entire Zheng clan.
He sought to avenge his deceased son.
"Gao Xi, I curse your ancestors!" roared a middle-aged man from the Zheng clan. "You take advantage of our patriarch's absence to strike us when we are weak and exterminate my Zheng family."
"What kind of hero do you think you are?"
A sinister smile flickered across the King of a Different Surname's lips. "Do not bind me with the word 'hero.' My aspiration is to be a formidable figure."
The middle-aged man trembled with rage. "Gao Xi, even if you wipe out my Zheng clan, the Imperial Tutor will not let you go, nor will the Great Emperor. You will soon pay dearly for your actions..."
*Puff!*
Before he could finish speaking, the King of a Different Surname swung his sword.
Accompanied by a crimson mist of blood, the middle-aged man was cleaved in two.
"You four will execute these people. I will go to the Imperial Palace," the King of a Different Surname said, looking in the direction of the Imperial Palace and flying off.
------
Great Zhao Temple.
"You can even play it this way?"
Di Ting's eyes were filled with astonishment.
He had never imagined that Chen Nan would use such a simple method to break the ancient Buddha's will.
It was quite unexpected.
Chen Nan laughed heartily. "Perhaps, Buddhas are just particular about cleanliness!"
Ren Xin's eyes blazed with anger. "Benefactor Chen, you disrespect my Buddha. I shall now send you to the Western Paradise for the Buddha to judge you personally!"
He resembled an enraged Vajra. As he formed hand seals, streaks of golden light appeared in the void.
Countless obscure, ancient, mysterious, and powerful Buddhist seals materialized in the nine heavens, rushing towards Chen Nan like a meteor shower.
Chen Nan dodged rapidly, only to find that the Buddhist seals seemed to possess a tracking ability.
No matter where he fled, they followed relentlessly.
"Begone!"
Chen Nan roared.
The law of space instantly enveloped the Buddhist seals, transferring them onto the statue of Acala.
*Boom, boom, boom!*
The statue of Acala erupted with deafening roars that echoed through the night sky.
However, because the statue was revered by the people and nourished by their faith, it was not destroyed by the Buddhist seals.
The next moment, Chen Nan appeared atop the statue's head, looking down at Ren Xin. "Am I respectful of the Buddha in your heart?"
"You should go and ask him face to face!"
With that, he transformed his finger into a sword and slashed at Ren Xin.
Instantly, sword energy condensed from the laws of the universe appeared behind him, like a dense rain, crushing down upon Ren Xin.
"Amitabha!"
Ren Xin clasped his hands together, and a Buddha's light erupted from within him.
The Buddha's light transformed into a golden shield, enveloping him entirely.
*Dong, dong, dong!*
As Chen Nan's sword energy struck the golden shield, it emitted a clear, resonant sound.
It successfully blocked Chen Nan's attack.
However, as time passed, the light on the golden shield began to dim.
"Break!"
With a furious roar from Chen Nan, the dense sword energy instantly overwhelmed the golden shield.
"Buddha, save me!"
Ren Xin let out a heart-wrenching scream.
He could feel that his golden shield could no longer withstand Chen Nan's assault.
At this point, the only recourse was to beg for salvation.
As the golden shield was on the verge of shattering, Chen Nan revealed a sneer. "Do you think the Buddha in your heart will save you?"
"Today,"
"I will make you recognize the true face of Buddha!"
"Even as you are about to die before his eyes, he will show you no mercy!"
Ren Xin's face turned ashen. He shrieked, "No! Impossible! You must not blaspheme my Buddha. He will surely not stand idly by. He will definitely come to save..."
Before he could finish speaking, the golden light around him instantly extinguished.
Following that, a powerful killing intent washed over him, chilling him to the bone.
Under Ren Xin's unwilling, despairing, and helpless gaze, he was pierced through the body, creating a cloud of thick blood mist.
Chen Nan appeared before Ren Xin, a look of disdain on his face. "See?"
"The Buddha in your heart has shown you no mercy!"
"Even though he is watching you, mere inches away,"
"What is your life to him?"
Ren Xin spat out a mouthful of blood. His face was pale and sallow, yet a faint smile played on his lips.
He was not angered by Chen Nan's words.
He struggled to raise his head and looked at the hundred-meter-tall statue of Acala behind Chen Nan, grinning. "You do not understand my Buddha's compassion!"
"Although my Buddha did not intervene to save this monk,"
"He is guiding this monk to the Western Paradise."
"Ignorant fool!" Chen Nan roared. "He simply doesn't want to save you. What guidance to the Western Paradise are you talking about?"
"You wish to go to the Western Paradise?"
"Impossible!"
"I will make your soul scatter!"
With that, the law of fire instantly ignited Ren Xin's body.
Ren Xin sat cross-legged, as still as a mountain, chanting scriptures to show his sincerity.
But as he felt his soul about to perish, a look of disbelief appeared in his eyes, which then turned to rage.
He glared at the divine Buddha statue before him and let out an angry growl, "I am your devout follower. Why do you turn a blind eye?"
He could not accept what was happening. After all, he had always believed in the Buddha, taking pride in being his follower. He had even believed he would become a Buddha. But he never imagined that the Buddha in his heart would stand by and watch him die.
"To recognize the Buddha in your heart before dying is a life well-lived!" Chen Nan's voice slowly echoed as Ren Xin's body and soul simultaneously turned to ash and vanished from the world.
"Guo Yu, catch!"
Chen Nan shouted, controlling Ren Xin's staff and sending it flying towards Guo Yu.
But Guo Yu hesitated to grasp the golden staff. His expression was one of pain, for he knew that if he held it, he would no longer be Guo Yu. He would become someone else. He had seen that person's memories. It was the memory of a pitiful, even tragic, man. Betrayed by the woman he loved, and then killed by his own disciple. Though he became the sole 'Ghost God' in the Three Realms, it was not what he desired. He would have preferred an ordinary life to becoming that person.
------
Chen Nan did not interfere with Guo Yu. He knew this was Guo Yu's own path. No one could make decisions for him. He turned and fixed his gaze on the indifferent face beneath the Great Hall of Heroes, his killing intent blazing. "Imperial Tutor, it is time we settled our score, isn't it?"