Chapter 201: Once Extinct Legacy

Placement Slot 4: Prajnaparamita Heart Sutra (No Rank / Mental Energy / Karma Elimination)

Prajna Heart Sutra (0/100): Forty-eight recitations a day, completion in three hundred years.

This is a typical Buddhist Heart Sutra, and a very special one. It not only cultivates mental energy but also eliminates karmic obstacles. Wang Yu encountered the concept of karmic obstacles for the first time in this world, and the benefits of eliminating karma were numerous. Increased blessings, awakened wisdom, freedom from illness and disaster, purification of the six senses—these all stemmed from Wang Yu's knowledge of Buddhism from his previous life.

Among the Eight Legions of Heavenly Dragons and Devas, Dharma Protectors of Buddhism, there exists the Asura King, yet the Asura Slaughter Saint Scripture was taught by Ancient Demonic Slaughter. One Buddhist, one demonic—they seemed completely unrelated. But there was indeed a certain connection. Moreover, a Heart Sutra with no rank surprisingly required three hundred years to complete. Does this mean he lacked Buddha-nature? Or was this Sutra simply unique? Wang Yu couldn't tell for now.

In any case, it was indeed one of the many inheritances belonging to the Asura Scripture, and Wang Yu strongly suspected that Jin Miaoshan's original version didn't include this, perhaps not even the Lesser Asura Slaughter Fist. These inheritances are all very clear; they must have been created by Venerable Asura in his later period.

Wang Yu came up with a hypothesis: The inheritance of Ancient Demonic Slaughter might be the original version. The Sword Cultivators of the ancient Immortal Dynasty discovered issues with this demonic art and then used the power of the Immortal Dynasty to improve it. Integrating the Path of Spirit Refinement, Buddhist Heart Sutras, and so on—these were all attempts, and thinking of it this way made perfect sense. The Jingzhao Evil Suppression Prison was also ironclad proof of the Immortal Dynasty's support for this Venerable Asura. From this, it's clear that Buddhism must have still been prosperous in ancient times. Perhaps they were destroyed alongside the Immortal Dynasty. This catastrophe had no historical records; it vanished abruptly. It was only after another ten thousand years that the now more familiar ancient era began. Buddhist inheritances were even extinct, with no one cultivating them. Most people in the cultivation world didn't even know about Buddhism. The Foundation-building spiritual item "Vajra Liquid" he had previously obtained was a product of Buddhist power.

Thinking of this, Wang Yu gave a slight hum. "I, a mere demonic cultivator, cultivating a Buddhist Heart Sutra... Hmm, while ironic, it also feels somewhat normal."

He waited in place for half an hour. When the placement slot provided its first feedback of insights from the Prajna Heart Sutra, he felt uncharacteristically nothing, except a slight calming of his mind—not even the slightest ripple of emotion. "This is a big project," he mused, continuing deeper into the southern passage, sensing that more surprises awaited him ahead.

Considering how Jin Miaoshan had hastily tricked him with the "Ancient Soul Art" last time, it was almost certain that she had obtained the original version—the Asura Slaughter Saint Scripture! The value of the Prajna Heart Sutra would be even higher for Jin Miaoshan. As for the reason this occurred, Wang Yu didn't believe Venerable Asura would tamper with such things, and the stone-skin book in his possession was clearly the medium for recording the inheritance. There was no reason for it to manifest for him while Jin Miaoshan only received the original version during her inheritance; the stone-skin book was empty, so its contents should have been fully taken away. There must have been external interference. Could it be a Rakshasa's doing?

Having smoothly reached the end of the passage, Wang Yu's eyes lit up. What appeared before him was likely a secluded cultivation chamber, its surrounding walls covered in sword marks. In the very center stood a stone platform. Four dragon pillars stood at the four corners, each dragon's mouth clenching a thick iron ring. This seemed to be a method to restrain oneself from going mad. Traces of array patterns also remained around the stone platform. Unfortunately, too much time had passed, and Wang Yu's understanding of array formations wasn't deep enough; he could only barely identify one pattern, which represented "demon suppression."

"Even Venerable Asura was plagued by killing intent... What truly terrifying power," Wang Yu murmured. Since he was still bound by shackles and chains, he could only try to touch the sword marks on the wall with his forehead. Only then could he use the profundity of his spiritual consciousness to deeply perceive the intent contained within the sword marks! This was a manifestation of mental energy; the traces left by their master served as both a trial and a guide for later cultivators of mental energy. Wang Yu, cultivating the Lesser Asura Slaughter Fist, could use this to comprehend the complete "Asura Slaughter Intent" within, which was akin to consuming an experience pill perfectly suited to his needs.

As his insights rapidly increased, a red mist, now fully materialized, drifted out from his body. However, the quantity was small, only about the size of a palm, less even than what was found in the passage. To prevent being corrupted by the killing intent, he was actually in a state of full resistance, using it as a shell to temper himself, and observing from a safe distance to learn how to burn himself without succumbing. This residual power helped Wang Yu fully activate his own "Asura Slaughter Heart." These materialized killing intents all stemmed from his past. The simplest way to quantify it was: how many lives had he taken! The more he slaughtered, the stronger his killing intent became, and his Asura Slaughter Heart would naturally grow, perfectly aligning with the expedient path of demonic arts. The danger in this process was losing oneself.

Wang Yu had more or less figured out the intricacies here.

After a long while, he emerged from his insights and opened his eyes with a slight sigh of regret. "I've killed quite a lot in the past, yet there's only this much killing intent... not even enough to cover my whole body. How many beings did Venerable Asura kill? To the point where even his Soul Transformation cultivation couldn't maintain his self?" Filled with deep reverence for this power, Wang Yu considered his objective for this trip perfectly fulfilled. Originally, exploring the Jingzhao Evil Suppression Prison was planned for another time. Achieving everything now wasn't bad at all. When he returned next time, it would probably be to capture the "Six-Eyed Corpse Infant," which was also a premium corpse-refining material. He wondered how long it could rampage.

After searching the secluded cultivation chamber for a long time and finding no treasures, Wang Yu leaned against a wall, feeling a bit disappointed. "Crack!" A sudden crack appeared, making his eyes grow brighter and brighter. He immediately sprang into action. Demolition Man Wang Yu, online! These stone materials were not ordinary to begin with, but after the ravages of time, multiple battle impacts, and the失效 of the restrictive patterns, they had completely turned into common stubborn rocks. Wang Yu possessed immense strength; he could lift a huge stone slab with a single poke of his finger. Considering the issue of reassembly later, he tried to ensure the edges were as neat as possible.

He intended to move the entire cultivation chamber. In the future, when cultivating the Lesser Asura Slaughter Fist, he could utilize the sword marks here, which might even be faster than the placement slot. As for the Prajna Heart Sutra, Wang Yu currently had no place to put it. It took too long and yielded no short-term benefits, so he decided to simply recite it himself daily. Slot number four was for the Ancient Soul Art, and slot number five was permanently occupied by the Corpse Demon Secret Art. After one more advancement, he would be completely immune to the effects of external appearance alteration. Although little Wang Yu had regained functionality, something still felt off; it wasn't satisfying enough. It lacked the old flavor. In short, it was boring.

In just one hour, Wang Yu had dismantled the cultivation chamber into large stone slabs, now stacked in the center. The four dragon pillar statues and the stone platform were also packed up by him. Seeing that he was mostly ready, he exerted all his strength. The shackles and chains exploded simultaneously, and his spiritual consciousness surged out to wrap around all the items, immediately sending them into his storage bag. At that very moment, the now-destroyed shackle set reactivated its internal spatial rune.

The surroundings shifted instantly. He found himself back in the corpse fiend's nest he had encountered earlier. It was strange that something meant to suppress prisoners would serve as a direct entry ticket to the Evil Suppression Prison. The whole situation felt peculiar. Furthermore, he hadn't seen any trace of the Rakshasa True Demonic Scripture from beginning to end, not even a hint of its power. This led him to a terrifying speculation: perhaps everything he had witnessed today bore traces of Rakshasa power? Logically speaking, since the Asura Scripture was a mental energy cultivation method, and the Rakshasa Scripture was also such, it made perfect sense. "If both originated from the same source, it's reasonable not to distinguish between them. But... this wave of events has truly ended. Perhaps I'll have the chance to explore the Savage Ancient Plains someday," Wang Yu thought.

After standing still for a moment, Wang Yu activated his Mountain-Searching Demon-Seeking Secret Art. He quickly opened his eyes. "My luck today is truly extraordinary." In the gray-white vision of the secret art, the world appeared like a 3D black-and-white model. As long as something existed in the environment, Wang Yu could precisely locate it. The inheritance of the ancient Heavenly Soul Sect was indeed effective, befitting its former status as a dominant power. Less than a day had passed since he left this place. A new monster had come to occupy the corpse fiend's territory. These corpse-path monsters might possess some mutual sensing abilities. The intruder was a Corpse Demon! He had encountered this type of creature before, in the Moon-Gazing Underground Palace of Mystic Bone Mountain.

They were intelligent yet reckless, much like newly enlightened spirit beasts, which perhaps explained why they were called Corpse Demons. After experiencing the passage of time, Corpse Demons would grow increasingly intelligent, eventually becoming indistinguishable from living humans. They could even cultivate corpse path techniques, including corpse path spells and demonic arts. They were essentially lives born from corpses; the stronger the corpse, the lower the probability of a Corpse Demon being born from it. They were considered an alternative form of life and also had a limited lifespan, though it was about twice as long as a human's. Among Corpse Demons, there were also varieties that did not kill. They abandoned the turbid evil of the earth and embraced vital spiritual energy, becoming known as — Spirit Corpses! Sometimes also called Yin Corpses, it was said that cultivating to a certain realm allowed them to reverse yin and yang, returning from death to life! This was truly the stuff of legends, like Spirits of Heaven and Earth, rarely seen in ancient history, even rarer than the Everlasting Life Treasure Branch.

The one Wang Yu encountered was just an ordinary variety. Even so, it was a rare and excellent material, potentially suitable for refining together with the corpse fiend's body. Old rules: destroy the soul, keep the living corpse. Being proficient in soul path secret techniques had unexpected benefits. As for using this on people... *hiss*! Perhaps he could buy a Human Seed Bag from the Golden Full Pavilion another day. He wasn't some great fiend; it was enough to extract value from enemies without being utterly deranged.

In the darkness, the Corpse Demon scratched its head, cautiously peering around, searching for traces of the corpse fiend. It seemed unable to fully ascertain whether the other was alive or dead. "Woo-woo-woo—" The wailing, ghost-like cries echoed, and the Corpse Demon's moving footsteps instantly froze. It saw the corpse fiend standing in the darkness, silently staring.