Ripples surged across the void as a graceful silhouette drifted down like a feather.
With a light tap of her toes, Qingshuang came to rest upon Luo Chen’s massive shoulder.
Her sidelong glance swept downward, and her brows knitted slightly.
"How hideous!"
All three of Luo Chen's faces wore an expression of astonishment at the same time.
Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined that her first words upon completing seclusion would be this.
Yet surrounded by formidable foes as he was, he had no leisure to critique the woman's sense of aesthetics. A deep, muffled rumble buzzed from his mouth.
"If you had come out any later, forget this ugly face—I'm afraid you wouldn't have even found my corpse."
"Was it truly that difficult?" Qingshuang remarked dismissively.
Luo Chen sneered. "Such an ancient grand formation was designed specifically for Soul Formation mighty figures. Why don't you try taking my place?"
Qingshuang glanced indifferently at the throngs of monks encircling them. First, she nodded in acknowledgment, but the corners of her mouth twitched a moment later.
"Now that I have fully restored myself to my peak state, even if this formation were reconstituted, it wouldn't be able to do much to me."
Luo Chen fell silent.
He was inclined to refute her, but recalling Qingshuang's methods, he realized that it was indeed the case.
Nearly all formations in the world required spatial conditions to be deployed; the more participants a grand formation involved, the harsher the environmental spatial requirements became.
For Qingshuang, who was proficient in the Dao of Space, she was virtually immune to such constraints while at her full strength.
With that thought, Luo Chen grew even more confident about this battle.
"I expended a great deal earlier. I'll have to trouble you to pull more of the weight from here on."
Qingshuang glanced at him, the corner of her lips curving upward as she let out a soft chuckle.
Immediately, a vast, surging demon qi erupted from her into the sky, blanketing in all directions.
Luo Chen did the same. A Nascent Soul domain centered on him began to expand frantically; anyone caught within it felt their magic power curbed and their bodies grow immensely heavy.
Ever since Qingshuang appeared, the enemies' expressions had already drastically changed!
A three-headed Mara alone was hard enough to deal with, and now came the demoness hailed as the foremost figure beneath the Soul Formation stage. The situation was spiraling entirely out of control.
Their nonchalant conversation, as if no one else was present, showed just how confident they were.
Now that the two had joined hands and their momentum was climbing by leaps and bounds, how was this battle supposed to proceed?
The First Seat of Prajna Hall and the First Seat of Bodhidharma Court exchanged a glance, yet the resolve in their eyes did not waver in the least.
"Form the Vajra Demon-Subduing Formation!"
Amidst the furious roar, the surrounding monks shifted once more.
In groups of three, they staked out circles upon the ground, surrounding Luo Chen and Qingshuang on all sides.
To this, Luo Chen merely gave a contemptuous smile.
The so-called Vajra Demon-Subduing Formation was merely a Rank 4 formation pooling the strength of three individuals, far inferior to the Arhat Grand Formation that could coalesce the power of thirty-six men into a single whole.
Even the Thirty-Six Arhat Grand Formation had failed to overcome him, so what threat could this weaker Vajra Demon-Subduing Formation pose?
He strode forward with broad steps, wielding the Yuantu Sword that was like a mountain ridge, and slashed down overhead.
Qingshuang stepped lightly and dissolved into the void. When she reappeared, she was already hovering directly above the white-faced monk.
To catch bandits, first catch their ringleader!
In this battle, the Hanging Temple was clearly led by this First Seat of Prajna Hall.
As long as he was slain, everything else would become far simpler.
Facing Qingshuang's assault, the white-faced monk was incensed. Wrapping prayer beads around his palm, he threw a punch.
Vajra Prajna!
When their fists collided, the white-faced monk was repelled a hundred zhang, yet Qingshuang remained motionless.
After a brief pause, her expression unchanging, Qingshuang pursued her foe once more.
Behind them, Luo Chen fought with sweeping, invincible strikes.
Bloody blossoms burst forth like fireworks!
Lives vanished in the blink of an eye, like night-blooming cereuses!
Even with the First Seats of the seven courts striking simultaneously, they could not suppress the rampant Luo Chen.
Though Buddhist treasures and True Artifacts battered his thousand-zhang true body, Luo Chen ignored them completely. As his source power circulated, his bodily injuries recovered in an instant.
Conversely, each swing of his sword and each smash of his cudgel dealt unimaginable havoc.
The Life-Snatching Golden Plumes repeatedly flew forth to pierce through flesh, punching massive bloody holes with every strike.
For a time, demonic might ran rampant while an ethereal silhouette flickered through the battlefield, rendering the conflict entirely one-sided.
Watching this scene, the onlookers headed by Dafan Tianzi wore ashen faces, their eyes filled with shock and terror.
Compared to the other four continents, the Western Desert was the most resource-barren.
Consequently, it had the fewest high-level experts.
Among the human race, the total number of cultivators at or above the Nascent Soul realm did not even exceed a hundred, far fewer than in the other four continents.
And the thirty-six eminent monks deployed by the Hanging Temple on this occasion practically constituted half of the Western Desert's top-tier combat power.
No!
Not merely half—it had completely exceeded half.
The First Seats of the Eight Courts were each figures at the level of Great Cultivators.
The eight of them alone were easily worth ten, twenty, or even thirty to forty ordinary Nascent Soul cultivators.
Led by them, the Hanging Temple monks could be described as the Western Desert's strongest fighting force today, untouchable unless a Soul Formation expert intervened.
Yet even so, they were being battered and suppressed by the demoness and Mara. It was truly too difficult to accept.
"Should we... help?"
A strained voice sounded beside Dafan Tianzi's ear. It was Xiao Yan, the sovereign of Great Liang.
Dafan Tianzi countered, "Help whom?"
Xiao Yan replied without thinking, "Naturally our fellow Buddhist friends from the Hanging Temple!"
Dafan Tianzi asked again, "Why?"
Xiao Yan was perplexed. "They are eminent Buddhist monks, representatives of our Western Desert's sacred ground. If we don't help them, are we to help the demoness and Mara from an outside continent?"
Dafan Tianzi chuckled and posed a soul-searching question: "The Glazed Pure Land is also part of the Hanging Temple, and Master Xuan Du was once the First Seat of Medicine King Court. Demon Emperor Qingshuang and Alchemy Grandmaster Luo Chen are aiding Master Xuan Du. This battle is clearly an internal dispute within the Buddhist sacred ground. How are you supposed to intervene?"
Xiao Yan opened his mouth, at a loss for words.
"What is more..."
Dafan Tianzi turned his gaze toward the Moonlight Glazed Hall, his eyes full of envy.
"Master Xuan Du is on the verge of stepping into the Arhat realm. The Hanging Temple is about to welcome its second True Buddha!"
At this moment, those wavering among the onlookers were not just Xiao Yan and his company.
The subsequent batch of cultivators who had entered felt the same way.
Yet upon careful deliberation, still no one stepped forward to assist.
Most cultivators of the Western Desert indeed revered Buddhism, but both sides involved in this battle were authentic lineages of the Buddhist faith. Aiding either would be inappropriate, leaving them with no choice but to watch helplessly as the conflict played out to a conclusion.
And as for that conclusion, ever since Qingshuang joined the fray, the scales of victory had tipped rapidly.
Accompanied by a desperate, agonizing scream, the crowd looked in that direction, their hearts chilled by what they saw.
Amid the Bamboo Sea, the white-faced monk sat slumped on the ground, prayer beads scattered in disarray, while a slender hand hovered directly above his crown.
With despair in his eyes, he looked up at the indifferent woman, opening his mouth, but before he could utter a word—
Qingshuang flipped her wrist, and an incomparably sharp burst of magic power erupted from her palm.
It struck his celestial cap, sank into his Shenting point, and shattered both his soul and spirit!
Qingshuang turned her head, looking toward the thousand-zhang giant in the distance.
As if through a tacit understanding, under her gaze, the thousand-zhang giant suddenly shifted his rhythm and methods of attack.
He put away the Huntian Cudgel and the Life-Snatching Golden Plumes, grasping the Yuantu Blood Sword with a single hand.
Opening his mouth, he spat out five streaks of flowing light.
Then, five hands formed sword incantations simultaneously.
Great Five Elements Sword Formation, rise!
Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth—five swords of the five elements, their brilliant lights swirling as tens of thousands of sword qi poured down like a heavenly river, engulfing the dozens of monks on the field.
Sword threads swirled, sword qi billowed; everywhere they passed, showers of blood erupted and screams rang out incessantly.
In the distance, watching this scene, Qingshuang’s expression tightened slightly.
Compared to the last time, the sword formation Luo Chen unleashed now was several times more powerful.
Was it because he had more arms? Or was his divine soul more condensed? Or perhaps his magic power had grown even purer?
Qingshuang could not say.
She only knew that although she had shored up the deficiency in her divine soul, she had originally possessed the protection of the Nether Soul Pearl, so her overall strength had not actually grown by much.
Luo Chen's improvement, on the other hand, was comprehensive and visible to the naked eye.
"I wonder if I will be able to surpass him after refining the Void-Accumulating Flower?"
For some inexplicable reason, Qingshuang felt an urge to measure herself against Luo Chen.
Yet before she could observe further, a sudden pang of tension gripped her heart.
Without a second thought, she took a step into the void.
Her destination was not Luo Chen’s melee, but the Moonlight Glazed Hall!
...
The Vajra Demon-Subduing Formation had already been incapable of stopping Luo Chen; once the Great Five Elements Sword Formation manifested, it became a one-sided slaughter.
In their ears echoed only the dying shrieks of fellow disciples.
Huineng, the First Seat of the Bodhidharma Court, wore an expression of sorrow and compassion. His gaze pierced through the sword formation, landing upon the Moonlight Glazed Hall that seemed so close yet unreachable.
Pressing his palms together, he chanted a Buddhist incantation.
"Six junior brothers, lend me a hand!"
The First Seats of the remaining six courts seemed to grasp his intention. Immediately, they formed circles of three, shielding him layer upon layer within.
Seeing this, Luo Chen instantly realized what the man intended to do.
Raising the Yuantu Blood Sword high, he cleaved straight down.
Buzz!
Buzz!
Two rings of light manifested, blocking the sword's path.
The Yuantu Sword could not advance an inch.
"Hmph!"
With a cold snort, Luo Chen drew upon the gathered power of the surrounding sword formation.
Five colors swirled upon the blood sword.
His giant hands poured on immense strength.
"Break!"
As he pressed down forcefully, a layer of the golden ring of light collapsed and shattered.
The three court heads on the outermost perimeter took the brunt of the backlash; collapsing to the ground in a stupor, their faces turned as pale as golden parchment.
The Yuantu Sword's remaining momentum swept forward unchecked, slashing toward the inner golden defensive ring.
Seeing this, the remaining surviving monks unleashed flurry after flurry of attacks, hoping to force him to defend.
Luo Chen paid them no heed, withstanding the assault with his physical body alone; he was determined to stop whatever the First Seat of the Bodhidharma Court was about to do.
Yet!
After braving dozens of attacks and forcibly cleaving through the second ring of light, that sword strike unexpectedly swung into empty air.
"No tree, no stand; untouched by dust!"
The First Seat of the Bodhidharma Court calmly watched the colossal blood sword graze past him. His body drifted upward, completely unhindered by the Great Five Elements Sword Formation, escaping outside the array.
The instant he left the formation, he struck out a palm from afar toward the Moonlight Glazed Hall.
As the palm went out, his arm snapped at the middle.
An arm brimming with monstrous Buddhist power and dazzling golden radiance bore down toward the Moonlight Glazed Hall.
Behind him, Luo Chen slashed forward with his sword.
Ahead of him, Qingshuang stepped out of the void, revealing her true form without hesitation to become a thousand-zhang divine bird.
Whoosh!
As sword light struck home, the defenseless body of the First Seat of the Bodhidharma Court instantly burst into a mist of blood.
The golden hand tore through the air, directly piercing through Qingshuang's body, pressing forward toward the white-robed monk within the hall.
That was definitely not the arm of the First Seat of the Bodhidharma Court!
Ignoring her injuries, Qingshuang let out a piercing cry, flapping her wings to churn the void.
The golden hand carrying terrifying Buddhist power suddenly slowed, as if sinking into a quagmire.
From behind, the thousand-zhang giant strode forward, crossing space to seize the colossal golden hand with all six arms.
"Get back here!"
Pouring on enormous force, Luo Chen dragged the giant hand backward by sheer will.
Terrifying Buddhist power battered Luo Chen frantically, scouring away his strength and causing his thousand-zhang true body to rapidly shrink.
Luo Chen's expression turned ferocious, his pupils shrinking abruptly.
"Whose hand is this?!"
Qingshuang shifted from her true form back to human guise, arriving at Luo Chen’s side. Reaching out, she gripped the golden hand alongside him.
Uniting their strength, the two forcibly dragged the golden arm backward.
"Not enough! Still not enough!"
Gritting his teeth, Luo Chen summoned the Nirvana Holy Fire from within him. It morphed into a tiny golden bird that flew out abruptly, swirling around the hand and incinerating it.
At this point, he could no longer worry about accidentally injuring Qingshuang.
For a time, Luo Chen, Qingshuang, and the golden hand were all engulfed in the Nirvana Holy Fire.
This was Luo Chen's final trump card.
The Wither-Bloom Divine Fire had protected him all the way out of the Yellow Springs Sea, leaving almost no power in reserve; even after absorbing the flesh and blood of Lian Yinpeng, it had only barely sustained him for a short while beneath the Arhat Grand Formation.
The relatively weaker Nirvana Holy Fire was now his last reliance.
The moment Qingshuang saw the Nirvana Holy Fire, her solemn expression blanked for a fleeting instant.
Luo Chen failed to notice. Sensing that it was still not enough, he opened his mouth and spat a mouthful of essence blood onto the Nirvana Holy Fire.
The flames blazed fiercely!
Under the holy fire's incineration, that terrifying Buddhist power rapidly dissipated.
Seeing this, Luo Chen was overjoyed.
Yet just as the Buddhist power was on the verge of fading, a burst of pitch-black devilish qi—as though suppressed for ages—erupted abruptly.
Bang!
The devilish qi shuddered, blasting Luo Chen and Qingshuang away in an instant. Turning into an arrow loosed from a bowstring, it shot into the Moonlight Glazed Hall, piercing straight through the chest of the white-robed monk seated cross-legged at its center.
Outside the hall.
Enveloped in golden flames, Luo Chen was knocked to the ground and driven backward repeatedly.
Deep, long trenches were gouged across the earth.
Surrounding silhouettes flew forward, seeking to attack him.
Yet Luo Chen ignored them all, focusing his gaze inside the hall the moment he forcibly halted his momentum.
"Did we still fail to protect him?"
Just then, the wind and clouds stirred across the sky.
A solid primordial spirit descended from the heavens, sinking into the white-robed monk's body.
Immediately afterward, an incalculable surge of heaven-and-earth origin qi poured into the white-robed monk alongside the primordial spirit.
Receiving this external influx, Master Xuan Du, clad in moon-white monastic robes, slowly opened his eyes.
He looked down at the arm bristling with dark devilish qi lodged in his chest, an expression of regret surfacing.
Yet that regret vanished in a flash.
"Enough!"
A quiet "Enough"—unknown whether spoken to himself or to the remaining dozen-odd Hanging Temple monks.
Following that single utterance, the entire Glazed Pure Land abruptly fell silent.
Master Xuan Du rose unhurriedly and walked out of the Moonlight Glazed Hall.
His aura was no longer concealed in the least, climbing steadily upward.
Rays of divine sense swept to and fro, transforming into divine thoughts so profound that everyone felt their entire bodies, past, and future laid completely bare.
Luo Chen stood up, looking with shock and doubt at Master Xuan Du, and at the black left hand still impaled in his chest.
"Did he succeed, or fail?"
Qingshuang descended gently beside him to stand shoulder to shoulder, murmuring, "He should have succeeded."
Either he did or he didn't—what was this 'should have'?
Qingshuang did not explain. Meanwhile, in full view of everyone, Master Xuan Du slowly, inch by inch, pulled the left hand out of his chest.
"This is Mahakala's left hand. Fellow junior brothers, look closely: is this the left hand of a Buddha, or the left hand of a devil?"
The Hanging Temple monks were seized with utter astonishment. All their battle intent and sorrow were suppressed by the terrifying devilish qi roiling off that arm.
Master Xuan Du offered no further explanation. With a flick of his sleeve, currents of qi rose within the Pure Land, sweeping Dafan Tianzi and the rest toward the exit.
"Fellow Daoists, this humble monk must cleanse the sect. I shall not see you out."
In the blink of an eye, the crowd of Nascent Soul cultivators was "escorted" out of the Glazed Pure Land without the slightest ability to resist.
And the entrance that had stood open for days snapped shut in an instant, vanishing completely.
Floating in the void beneath the watchful eyes of thousands, Dafan Tianzi and the other cultivators looked at one another in bewilderment.
Never had they expected the final outcome to be like this.
The demoness and Mara had overpowered the monks of the Hanging Temple, routing the First Seats of the Eight Courts.
Mahakala had bestowed his left hand, inflicting heavy wounds on Master Xuan Du just as his primordial spirit was about to return to his body.
Yet that left hand clearly contained incomparably terrifying devilish qi!
Now that the Glazed Pure Land was closed, what would happen next?
Recalling the words Master Xuan Du had spoken before sending them out—
Cleanse the sect!
Could it be...
Exchanging glances, they already knew the answer.
"The Hanging Temple!"
Chapter 992