"This..."

After Tao Qian spoke, Tianshou, the old monk, suddenly showed a troubled expression.

He was enjoying himself in his own Cave Mansion when suddenly a young monk cast a spell and called him forth, demanding right off the bat that he open the Convenient Gate.

If it had been from someone he knew well, it might have been alright, but to make such a rash request upon their first meeting was really not a good sign.

Tianshou's eyeballs rolled, and his thoughts spun quickly.

Clearly he intended to refuse, yet he worried these two might suddenly become aggressive.

At that moment, he saw the monk smile and say,

"I forgot to mention, though I am not a monk from Demon Buddha Temple, I have a deep connection with your esteemed Temple."

"My master, Qingjing Zen Master, is also good friends with Shipi, Kongchan, and Lian Sha—the three Arhats."

"When they saw my journey to this place, Arhat Kongchan was very generous and loaned me this Buddha Treasure to play with."

"Daoist, please open a Convenient Gate for me, and I will have a modest gift prepared after this. In three days, during the Buddha Birth Technique ceremony, when I meet the three Arhats, I can speak some kind words on your behalf."

With these words, Tao Qian gestured to Tianshou, the old monk, to look at the Sky-reaching Floating Pagoda above his head.

Protectors like him, among other things, were most familiar with the aura of their own supreme Buddha Treasures.

As expected, it was true.

"If this treasure was stolen by the young monk, the three Arhats would have already been furiously hunting him, and they certainly would not have allowed him to stroll freely in Qiantang."

"I should have realized earlier, such high-ranking Buddha's son must be an ally of our Temple."

With this thought crossing his mind, he saw the old monk slap his head, suddenly speaking.

"My mistake, my mistake, my Dharma Eyes were clouded; I did not recognize my own kin."

"If the two of you wish to enter the mountain, there is no hindrance. I will cast it immediately."

"You needn't mention gifts, where do I have the face to accept them? I only ask that the Buddha's son put in a good word for me in front of Shipi Arhat, for which I would be immensely grateful."

As he spoke, Tianshou, the old monk's face, broke into a mass of wrinkles with his smile.

He then seated himself like the old Jialan had before, his body undergoing Light Transformation and automatically forming a Buddha Light gateway.

Upon seeing the two wanting to enter, Tianshou didn't forget to remind them,

"Mister Daoists, those Red Robed Monks in the mountain are quite the bullies if unchallenged; if you speak kindly, they might not dare to misconduct."

"Once inside and upon revealing your identities, they will surely obediently offer up the Life Extension Spiritual Objects."

"Excellent!"

Tao Qian glanced at the gateway, leading Yunrong inside.

This Evil Land was called Hidden Mountain, and outsiders might think one needs to climb up.

In reality, however, one needs to descend.

There was a fissure in the ground, leading straight into Huangquan, where they stepped onto an upturned gigantic mountain peak.

Various bizarre and diverse sceneries instantly filled their eyes.

Thousands of lofty and magnificent crags and rocks appeared,

of which, amazingly, all were piled up from glazed green jade. Among those hidden valleys and rocky groves, one could see palace after palace, luxurious and inconceivable, made of gold and silver, filled with strange flowers and herbs, ancient trees, and spirit fruits that filled the entire mountain.

In the center of the mountain body was a palace seemingly kneaded out of wax oil and other materials—exquisitely beautiful, beyond mundane reach.

In front of the palace hung a plaque with four characters: Hidden Mountain Palace.

It was at this moment, sensing the arrival of living humans,

the mountain palace and many gold and silver palaces suddenly swarmed out about a thousand young monks in red robes.

Their outward appearance was exquisite, and anyone seeing them in the outside world would believe them to be accomplished cultivators.

But to Tao Qian's eyes, a different scene was revealed:

These immortal children's true forms were not human bodies but some milky-white "wax oil," wrapped around a wick made from Buddhist scripture pages, each of their faces hideously ugly and ferociously contorted.

Leading the way, two immortal children also saw that Tao Qian and Yunrong were not to be trifled with.

They clasped hands in a greeting, politely asking,

"Buddha's son and Bodhisattva, where do you hail from? Visiting our Hidden Mountain Palace, do you have any advice for us?"

But Tao Qian ignored the question,

his gaze directly passing over these hideous wax children, looking towards the foot of the mountain.

In the next moment, his pupils slightly constricted, and killing intent was evident.

He saw in that area, people from the Human Clan knelt extensively.

Packed across the ravines, with diverse clothing, men and women, young and old, from all provinces were present.

However, without exception, they all seemed as dead, each trapped in some eerie state.

They knelt stiffly, their faces showing regret and anger, with bizarre candle flames burning above their heads. In this strange Evil Land where no natural light from the sun or moon existed, these "Human Lamps" were responsible for illumination.

And as the flames flickered and burned, each Human Lamp exhibited different degrees of consumption.

Some appeared to have just arrived, only half a head burnt away.

Others had been there longer, only a few toes and a pair of hollow shoes remaining.

A wispy white smoke ascended from the burning heads of the still burning Human Lamps, drifting up to the summit, where it condensed into a vast shrouding Mist Spring.

Every creature laying eyes upon it would develop an uncontrollable covetous desire for that Mist Spring.

Compared to it, the rest of the mountain's Life Extension Spiritual Fruits and Strange Flowers seemed utterly pale.

Tao Qian took a deep breath, ignoring the wax oil children, and swiftly moved to the front of a newly formed Human Lamp.

It was a young girl, approximately sixteen or seventeen years old.

Her experience unknown, half her face showed longing, the other half terror.

Her scalp was completely scorched bare.

Tao Qian pointed his finger, causing his furious Record to burst forth:

[Name: Offering Life Human Lamp.]

[Record Type: alien.]

[Record: Originally all were beings of the Human Clan, deceived by the "Eating Life Immortal Children" born in the shadows of Hidden Mountain, lured into the Evil Land, and transformed into aliens through Secret Techniques. Once one enters the mountain, their life is forfeit. As the Human Lamp burns out, their entire lifespan is offered up, converging into the Infinite Life Spring at the mountain's summit. This item, like the "Demon Buddha Evil Lotus," is a rare Buddha Treasure inside the Demon Buddha Temple, found only in Hidden Mountain. Even in the mountains of the Demon Buddha Temple's homeland, there is a genuine Infinite Life Spring, presided over by a Buddha.]

[Note 1: There are 46,000 Human Lamps here; all lives have ended, only their lifespan remains.]

[Note 2: The Jialan Protector God born of this Evil Land was bribed by the Eating Life Immortal Children ten days ago and has Mutated and Fallen.]

[Note 3: There are a total of 1,008 immortal children in this Evil Land, each harboring a page of Buddhist Scriptures within them. If killed, they can be compiled into the "Demon Buddha Unlimited Life Scripture." Cultivating this scripture can extend lifespan, but one inevitably becomes a Buddha Slave under the Buddha of the Demon Buddha Temple, with no possibility of resistance.]

...

In an instant, Tao Qian comprehensively understood all the details within Shadow Mountain.

At the same time, the Eating Life Immortal Children also showed signs of impatience and began to chatter noisily.

"Where did this impudent monk come from?"

"He seems quite troublesome to provoke, maybe we should appease him with some Spiritual Objects."

"That's not appropriate, these two seem to have been let in by the Tianshou Guardian, their background may not be small."

"Go get the Jade Pot, fill it with some [Infinite Life Spring Water] for them."

"How many years?"

"Two hundred should suffice, a hundred each, to send them off early."

Yunrong noticed her lover's expression and knew this younger brother must be extremely furious. This text was acquired from M|V|L0EMPYR.

She moved closer and spoke directly,

"Shall we take action? Sister will join you in the fight, they seem to be just some Wax Demons who feed on lifespans."

"Exploiting people's desire for cultivation to deceive them of their lifespans."

"Just exterminate them and shatter this Shadow Mountain, and then go out and behead that old monk as well."

As soon as Yunrong uttered these intensely murderous words, the thousands of Eating Life Immortal Children became enraged.

Every one of them showed a fierce demeanor, black energy surged from their bodies as they drew out Magic Swords, Jie Robes, horsetail whisks, etc., and like a swarm of ants, they rushed toward Tao Qian and Yunrong.

While still en route, a wave of incessant chattering noise preceded them.

At the foot of the mountain, it had been confirmed that more than forty thousand people had already died, impossible to save anymore.

Tao Qian's face was icy as he slowly formed a Buddha Seal, staring straight at these hideous immortal children, and directly at Hidden Black Mountain, he said,

"If you wish to light a lamp to illuminate, if you wish to burn a candle to offer lifespan, might as well burn them all."

"This place is an Evil Land of the Buddhist Sect, I shall use the Heart Lamp Buddha Flame to burn it."

No sooner had he spoken than Tao Qian used a Divine Skill that he had never used before.

Buddha Fire Heart Lamp!

He was not a true Buddhist Practitioner; he merely used the power of a hundred Buddha Bird Protectors to cast, supposedly the power should not compare to the original.

However, at that moment, Tao Qian released it with anger.

Just then, Tao Qian himself seemed to transform into a Human Lamp, only he wasn't here to offer his lifespan, but to take it.

The gold-colored heart flames filled with Buddha Light surged forth, instantly igniting all the nearby Human Lamps, sending these suffering people to release and transcend first, followed by the thousand-plus Eating Life Immortal Children.

They all possessed some Extraordinary Power, had these been the immortal children from Hidden Mountain in the native land of the Demon Buddha Temple, attacking together, even if Tao Qian later ascended to Ultimate Happiness, and even Daoist Transformation, he might not survive.

But now, these immortal children were not formidable.

Their bodies made of wax, when touched by the true Buddha's fury, where could life still exist?

Immediately, the entire Evil Land was filled with piercingly sharp wails of the immortal children.

Accompanied by these ghostly sounds, the mountain's gold and silver palaces, strange flowers and herbs, Glazed Green Jade, Snow White Palaces... began to melt, and finally, the entire majestic and mysterious Hidden Mountain burned to ashes like paper meeting fire, completely gone.

Watching as this large Evil Land once again turned into nothing, ready to be reformed anew.

Suddenly, two items emitting extraordinary energy drifted by.

The first item was a scroll with a gold-black cover of Buddhist Scriptures, labeled with gold foil in large letters: Demon Buddha Unlimited Life Scripture.

The second item was that Life Mist Spring, dense and tumbling, each wisp perhaps representing years of lifespan, collectively likely totaling tens of thousands of years?

Seeing this, Tao Qian only sneered,

"A sugar-coated hook, seriously underestimating me."

As he finished speaking, still agitated, he tapped a finger on the Buddhist Scripture and scattered the Buddha Light from the cover, thoroughly burning the pages within.

Then he immediately took out the Yu Ding and collected the Life Spring into the pot.

Looking at the vast emptiness, truly cleaned before him, Tao Qian nodded in satisfaction, holding Yunrong as they headed for the ground.

...

"Phew"

The moment the two stepped through the gate and looked back, the formerly youthful and radiant Tianshou Jialan, now visibly aged.

He vomited fresh blood, his teeth fell out, his dharma body stooped, his white hair gone, the picture of an old man at the end of his days.

His eyes, cloudy and struggling to focus, were fixed on Tao Qian and Yunrong.

But he was also cunning, realizing a disaster had occurred within the Evil Land, the entire Hidden Mountain destroyed by these two. Knowing he could not compete,

he turned silently to flee, hoping as long as the Demon Buddha Temple ruled Qiantang, Hidden Mountain could reform again.

Sadly, he had suffered a great shock to his Spirit, forgetting how he had been forcibly brought here.

Tao Qian only smiled, stomped his foot, and rooted him in place.

Flicking a finger, a wisp of Heart Lamp Buddha Fire flew towards him, instantly igniting him.

In his last moments before death, Wu Gou Buddha Son's voice came through,

"Those Wax Demon Immortal Children live by eating lifespan, and you, old thing, not only feed on lifespan but also crave the flesh of the Human Clan."

"In that case, be on your way as well."