Chapter 343

Chapter 343: Fear of Demons Makes Humans More Terrifying (4000 Words)

Xu Ming felt that the little monk calling himself Miro had divined something, otherwise he wouldn’t have said those words.

But the other party definitely hadn’t divined much.

It was probably that he had figured out Xu Ming wasn’t from this world, but didn’t know how he arrived in this plane, and certainly couldn’t have divined anything about the system.

Otherwise, the other side wouldn’t have said “I can’t see through it.”

Speaking of which.

Is this little monk really the “Future Buddha” of this world?

Or is it just a coincidence that his name happens to be “Miro”?

“Monk! Wasn’t the place we were just at your doing!”

A man stepped forward, glaring fiercely at the little monk who called himself “Miro.”

This man was covered in blood, some his own, some others’.

His eyes were bloodshot, looking like he was on the verge of breaking down.

Little Monk “Miro” nodded, facing the man directly: “It was indeed done by this humble monk.”

“You! You killed my wife! I’ll make you pay with your life!” As he finished speaking, the man lunged at the little monk with his long sword.

However, when the sword was just three inches away from Miro, it froze in mid-air.

Golden light blocked the tip of the man’s sword.

Around Miro, there seemed to be an invisible golden spiritual energy shield.

Shixin seemed to have used this spell before.

This man tried his hardest to thrust forward, but the result was that he couldn’t take another step.

“Why does the layperson resort to killing me so easily?” Miro asked curiously.

“You demon! It’s because of you that my wife died!” The man gritted his teeth.

Miro calculated on his fingers, quickly understanding everything.

“Strange, strange.” The little monk shook his head. “Clearly, it was the layperson who killed their own wife. How can you blame it on this humble monk? This monk didn’t lift a finger.”

The little monk’s eyes were filled with innocence.

“Nonsense! It was clearly your fault. It was you who made us enter that strange place and deceived us with illusions! At first, I killed seven or eight illusions.

But who would’ve known, the last illusion was my wife.

My wife thought I was fake, and I thought my wife was fake.

You intentionally made us kill each other!”

The man growled viciously, tears streaming down from the corners of his eyes.

“Not at all, not at all.”

The little monk shook his head and sighed lightly.

“The illusions you saw within that barrier were not created by me, but rather manifestations of what you feared or anticipated.

In other words, the illusions you speak of are merely your own heart demons.

Whether you see through these heart demons or not has nothing to do with me. Why should it concern me? Furthermore,

That barrier is the temple’s protective magic array.

It wasn’t me who made you all enter.

It was because you sought opportunity, driven by greed, that you ended up here and entered the array.

Everything was your own choice, so how can you blame this humble monk?

Even if we go ten thousand steps back,

When your wife saw you, you attacked her without distinguishing truth from falsehood, without even confirming if she was real or fake.

Within that barrier, weren’t all the heart demon illusions trying to harm you? I think not. There must have been many heart demon illusions that didn’t intend to harm you, as they surely represented things you desired.

Yet you still believed you had seen through them and decided to kill those heart demon illusions, even though they hadn’t done anything. In reality, deep in your heart, you believed all illusions would harm you, that all illusions deserved death.

And you never gave them a chance.

In the end, when you encountered your wife, you didn’t give her a chance either.

Layperson, unable to distinguish right from wrong, thinking someone was evil, thus killing them—how is that any different from being an evil person yourself?

Killing your own wife was your own doing, and has nothing to do with this humble monk.”

“Nonsense talk!”

This man, as if completely losing his cool, raised his sword again and swung it down towards the little monk.

“Alas,” the little monk pressed his palms together, shook his head, and sighed.

“Boom!”

A loud sound reverberated throughout the temple.

At the moment the man swung his sword down at the little monk,

It was as if that sword struck himself instead, and his entire body exploded into a mist of blood.

Including Xu Ming, everyone frowned.

Everyone present knew that the little monk hadn’t made a move.

That man had died from his own sword rebounding.

To be precise, that man had been killed by his own sword! Based on what the little monk had said earlier, Xu Ming also vaguely guessed what was going on here.

Previously, Red Sleeve had told Shixin that the Rootless Mystic Realm was actually a fragment from the main world during ancient times, which became a small world. Later generations named it the Rootless Mystic Realm.

So the Rootless Mystic Realm contains many relics from ancient times.

Without a doubt, this temple should have existed during ancient times.

And within this temple, a magic array was established. When you step into the array, you enter a barrier.

Inside that barrier, some things are illusions, while others are real.

This temple combines the true and false, the virtual and the real, making you more confused.

The hardest thing to discern in this world is something that’s both true and false.

At first, you might think everything you see is an illusion, so you kill all the illusions.

But later, when you encounter real people, especially those important to you, if you still harbor too much killing intent and treat all illusions equally, then you will end up killing the most important person to you.

The cultivator from earlier was an example.

And Xu Ming had almost fallen for it too.

Back then, if he hadn’t recognized Shixin, she might already have died at his hands.

But speaking of which, what did the little monk say earlier?

What you encounter inside is your own heart demons? And these heart demons represent what you desire most or fear most.

At that time, Shixin threw herself at him and hugged him.

Could it be that deep down, I hope to win Shixin’s affection?

“Nah,” Xu Ming furrowed his brows.

He admitted that Shixin was indeed very beautiful. Basically, any guy with normal preferences, not part of the LGBT community or something, would generally like Shixin.

But liking is one thing.

Just because you find a girl attractive doesn’t mean you want to harass her. You simply appreciate her beauty.

Similarly, Xu Ming found Shixin attractive, but instinctively, he didn’t think about being with her. He could only say that he was still controlled by lust.

While Xu Ming was lost in thought, Shixin was also daydreaming. She was pondering the words the little monk had spoken earlier.

Shixin recalled how Xu Ming had treated her so kindly in the secret realm, and then suddenly slashed at her with his sword.

“Could it be that deep down, I hoped Xu Ming would be kinder to me?

But whether Xu Ming is kind or unkind to me, so what? What does it matter?

Why do I expect Xu Ming to be good to me?

Then why did Xu Ming slash at me? Am I worried that Xu Ming will harm me? Why am I worried that Xu Ming will harm me?”

Shixin was puzzled inside.

She realized she cared a lot about Xu Ming, but she didn’t know why she cared so much about him.

“What’s the difference between humans and demons? What’s the difference between humans and devils?”

The little monk paced back and forth in front, speaking as if delivering Buddhist teachings.

“What makes someone good, what makes a demon bad, what makes a devil evil?”

The little monk stopped, pressed his palms together, and bowed to the crowd.

“So-called good and evil all come down to one’s heart.

There are no truly perfect sages in this world.

In this world, there are no flawless holy Buddhas.

Once, there was a scholar who saved a fox. That fox intended to repay the scholar.

But then, the scholar had a dream where the fox ate people, so he killed the fox.

People always think demons are terrifying.

But ah, those who fear demons are even more terrifying. If all of you can understand this, perhaps it’s more important than finding treasures.

However, since all of you came seeking opportunities, this humble monk won’t let you leave empty-handed.

The Rootless Mystic Realm is about to dissipate, and those treasures don’t wish to vanish here.

But they also don’t want to follow owners they dislike.

So everything depends on you all.

Taoism emphasizes cause and effect, Buddhism emphasizes cause and effect, even the old Confucianist emphasizes cause and effect.

In this world, every cause has its effect.

If you don’t put in any effort, how can you expect to gain anything?”

As the little monk finished speaking, the entire temple violently trembled.

Chips of stone and dust continuously fell from the roof.

Cracks appeared in the temple floor, pillars began to split apart, and the whole temple started to crumble.

The only things that remained unmoved were the statues of the Buddhas.

“May the compassion of the Buddha bring you all good fortune.”

The little monk closed his eyes, standing still as he gradually disappeared.

“Hooowwwlll!”

A dragon’s roar echoed.

The claw of a green dragon reached through the roof, smashing several cultivators to death.

The Buddha statues before them also cracked open.

In the next instant, beams of light shot out from these statues, breaking through the roof and fleeing.

Upon closer inspection, they were all treasures.

There were Grade One Spirit Weapons that had already developed artifact spirits, numerous semi-divine weapons, and even divine weapons!

Everyone’s eyes turned red immediately.

Forget about the value of semi-divine weapons and divine weapons.

Just these Grade One Spirit Weapons with developed artifact spirits alone were unimaginable opportunities.

Firstly, Grade One Spirit Weapons themselves were already extremely valuable.

Secondly, for a Grade One Spirit Weapon to develop an artifact spirit was incredibly difficult.

When a Grade One Spirit Weapon develops an artifact spirit, it means it has the potential to become a semi-divine weapon or even a divine weapon.

Although, to turn a Grade One Spirit Weapon into a semi-divine weapon or a divine weapon, you’d need plenty of rare materials and certain chances.

Nevertheless, there was still room for improvement, whereas most Grade One Spirit Weapons lacked such potential.

Moreover, after a Grade One Spirit Weapon develops an artifact spirit, it becomes far stronger than ordinary ones.

Most importantly, if a cultivator hasn’t gained the recognition of a divine weapon or semi-divine weapon, they cannot refine it into their lifebound instrument.

But Grade One Spirit Weapons are different. Once you obtain and conquer them, even if they don’t fully recognize you, you can forcibly refine them into your lifebound instrument.

In other words, with semi-divine weapons and divine weapons, you can only use gentle methods.

But with Grade One Spirit Weapons, you can use force.

In an instant, cultivators burst through the roof, rushing to seize these Grade One Spirit Weapons.

The process wasn’t easy, though.

These Grade One Spirit Weapons, semi-divine weapons, and divine weapons had all transformed into artifact spirits.

If they took human form, they wielded their original forms.

Anyone who approached would be mercilessly killed.

If you wanted to subdue them, you had to risk your life.

For non-humanoid artifact spirits, they usually manifested as peculiar divine beasts or ferocious beasts, and their weapon forms displayed certain characteristics.

The green dragon and He Luo Fish also clashed with the cultivators.

They were artifact spirits as well.

However, Xu Ming was curious about what their original forms looked like. What kind of weapons could they be?

“Which one do you want?” Xu Ming asked Shixin.

Shixin tilted her head, puzzled: “What?”

Xu Ming repeated: “I’m asking which weapon you want, or which artifact spirit interests you. I’ll help you get it.”

“I have one in mind. Do you think you can get it for me, sir?”

“Nonsense, of course…” Xu Ming turned around, ready to refuse, when he saw Qingwan approaching him.

“Of course, I can!” Xu Ming nodded, looking at Qingwan.

For some reason,

When Xu Ming saw Qingwan, he always felt a sense of guilt.

Especially after having a deep conversation with Wu Yanhan, Xu Ming felt even more guilty, fearing that something might be revealed.

But soon, Xu Ming took a deep breath, calming himself down.

If I did it, I must take responsibility. Why feel guilty? Even if Qingwan finds out, so what? Can I escape? Besides, Yanhan isn’t here, so I don’t need to panic.

“Can you really? Thank you so much, sir~”

Qingwan smiled and spoke, then addressed a woman nearby.

“Yanhan, why are you standing so far away? Come over quickly. This gentleman is going to help us seize treasures~”