"Wait! Hasn't the Demon Heart broken free from its seal?
But the grand formation hasn't been triggered…"
The Evil-Charming Youth was stunned at first, then overjoyed.
The Fat Master looked at the handsome middle-aged man with slight dissatisfaction and asked, "Sword Demon, is this the risk you mentioned earlier?
You almost got us all killed!"
Sword Demon nodded slightly, not denying it.
He said, "We've been trapped here for three hundred thousand years. Rather than waiting in despair, it's better to take a bold risk."
"Amitabha Buddha! Well done, well done!" The White-Browed Old Monk clasped his hands together in prayer.
"From today onwards, we no longer need to waste our cultivation to suppress this thing. This is truly a cause for celebration!"
However, Zhao Manzi frowned and stepped forward to look at the baby in the old monk's arms.
"But have you considered that the Demon Ancestor might use the Borrowing Corpse to Return Soul technique?
Would the Heart of the Demon Ancestor willingly be used by others? It will surely corrupt this little baby.
"With his weak soul, I'm afraid…" he said.
"Why not just cut out the heart again?" The Evil-Charming Youth raised an eyebrow and asked.
"After all, it's already out of the seal and won't trigger the killing formation."
The Fat Master nodded in agreement, "He makes a good point."
"The grand formation is still there, and with our current strength, who knows how many more years it will take to break it.
If we let it grow, we might not be able to suppress the Demon Ancestor's Borrowing Corpse to Return Soul."
"Then what are we waiting for?" Sword Demon snorted coldly, raising his hand to pull the baby from the old monk's arms.
He reached out to the baby's heart, ready to cut out the Demon Heart.
But at that moment, the baby suddenly became lively, reaching out with chubby little hands to grab one of Sword Demon's fingers.
The baby giggled and opened his eyes, curiously looking at Sword Demon.
Sword Demon snorted lightly and immediately tossed the baby to Zhao Manzi, then turned away.
"You take him. You love eating people the most. This child is for you to eat!"
Zhao Manzi looked at the baby, who reached out to him, and couldn't help but laugh.
"He doesn't look tasty. Fat Master, you take him!"
Zhao Manzi then tossed the baby to the Fat Master.
Without even looking, the Fat Master directly tossed the baby to the Evil-Charming Youth, Flower Thief.
Flower Thief awkwardly held the baby, seemingly unable to find a comfortable position.
Holding the baby was like holding a bomb, so he quickly tossed him to the White-Browed Old Monk.
"I… I hate kids the most. Grandmaster, you take him!"
The White-Browed Old Monk gently rocked the baby, calming him down.
Then he looked up at the four people in the hall and smiled, "After all this, he still ended up back in my hands."
"But as a monk, my hands are never stained with blood.
Let's just spare this poor little baby."
"Old monk, stop pretending to be compassionate!" Flower Thief sneered.
"Wasn't Xu Kingdom massacred by you? Back then, Xu Kingdom had at least tens of billions of people. Your hands are the bloodiest among us!
You killed billions without batting an eye. And now you're hesitating to cut out a heart."
The White-Browed Old Monk looked at the Evil-Charming Youth but said nothing.
Flower Thief, feeling unnerved by his stare, sulked and stepped aside.
Though he talked tough, he knew he was no match for the old monk in a fight.
"The Chaos Sacred Body is not just for show. Look closely. The Demon Heart wants to corrupt his soul, but it's being blocked by the innate divine aura of the Sacred Body.
It originally wanted to take over, but it underestimated the power of the Chaos Sacred Body. Now it's trapped and can't escape," the old monk continued.
"I'll use the Golden Soul Spell to create a second barrier for him, which should ensure he's not corrupted by the Demon Heart.
So, there's no need to cut out the heart. Let him live."
The four said nothing, but the old monk knew they had agreed.
"From today, we'll take turns raising the child. When he grows older, we'll each teach him our skills.
If he can master all five of our abilities, the Demon Heart's backlash will be nothing to worry about."
Seeing they still didn't speak, the old monk added, "I'll take your silence as agreement."
He carefully examined the swaddling cloth wrapping the baby and found two gold-embroidered characters—Fang Ling.
"This little one is named Fang Ling. From now on, he'll be called Little Fang Ling!" he declared.
***
Time flew by, and five years passed in the blink of an eye.
In the grand hall, the old monk sat cross-legged before a Buddha statue, chanting sutras.
Suddenly, a small head peeked out from behind a pillar, grinning mischievously.
The five-year-old boy tiptoed towards the old monk and then launched a sudden attack.
"Galaxy Infinite Fist!" Fang Ling shouted, punching towards the old monk's back.
Though only five, his punch carried a force that seemed to split the air, as if it held the weight of a thousand pounds.
The punch's force turned into a galaxy, swaying and striking the old monk's back.
The old monk, who was chanting sutras, slowly opened his eyes and, with a flick of his white brows, lifted Little Fang Ling into the air.
Dangling in mid-air, Little Fang Ling was terrified and quickly pleaded, "Grandmaster, please let me down. I know I was wrong!
I won't dare do it again, boohoo…"
But the old monk didn't relent, instead spinning his white brows.
Little Fang Ling spun like a yo-yo, becoming dizzy and disoriented.
"Grandmaster… I'm about to throw up. If I accidentally puke on you, don't blame me.
I really can't take it anymore!" Fang Ling shouted, feeling his stomach churning.
With a thud, the old monk's brows retracted, and Fang Ling fell onto the golden floor tiles.
The old monk stood up and looked at the prone Little Fang Ling.
"How long have you been practicing the Galaxy Infinite Fist?" he asked.
Fang Ling sat up and muttered, "About two years. Master Manzi taught me two years ago.
Is it really that bad? Master Manzi said he learned it in just three days."
The old monk chuckled, "Your Master Manzi was bragging. He took at least three hundred years to master that move. This is the ultimate technique of the Galaxy Sect, the strongest body refinement sect back then!"
"Galaxy Sect? Where is this Galaxy Sect?" Fang Ling asked curiously.
"I don't know. It might no longer exist, or it could be hiding somewhere unknown," the old monk replied.
"Your Master Manzi came from the Galaxy Sect back then.
But later, your Master Manzi became too ferocious, eating people everywhere and offending many powerful forces.
Eventually, he was expelled from the sect, and they chose to seal the mountain and hide from the world."
"Is Master Manzi a bad person?" Fang Ling asked again.
"Yes, except for me, everyone here is a bad person," the old monk laughed. "That's why we're trapped here and can't get out."
"Your Master Manzi likes to eat people.
Your Fat Master is covered in poison.
Your Sword Master loves killing people to refine swords.
And your Flower Master, he's the worst, once the most notorious Flower Picking Thief in the world."
"Flower Picking Thief? What does that mean?" Fang Ling muttered.
"I also like picking flowers! I picked all the flowers in the backyard; they smell so good."
The old monk said, "You'll understand when you grow up.
His flower picking is very different from what you're talking about. You must never follow his example!
They're all bad people, so Little Fang Ling, you should stay close to your Grandmaster and chant sutras with me."
"Dead bald donkey, stop spreading lies!" Flower Thief stormed in angrily.
"Little Fang Ling, your Grandmaster is lying to you. The four of us are good people; he's the bad one.
Back then, anyone who didn't convert to your Grandmaster was killed on the spot. He's the one who killed the most among us!"
Fang Ling ran to the old monk, clutching his robe, and smiled at Flower Thief Xiao Luosheng.
"Flower Master, don't lie to me. I'm not a three-year-old. Grandmaster is always the kindest. He wouldn't even hurt a mosquito, unlike what you said."
"You little brat, you don't believe me!" Flower Thief was so angry his face turned black.
The old monk laughed heartily, raising his hand to pat Fang Ling's little head.
"Little Fang Ling is so smart, already able to distinguish right from wrong. Come, I will teach you another move. You must learn it quickly and be the first to inherit my ultimate skill!"
Proofreader & Editor: Peter Pan
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