Magic Treasure

Drip, drop. The iridescent glow of the Purple Mansions rose through the rain. Each Master held a magical artifact, gazing at him with varied expressions—some calm, some pitying, some conflicted—yet their divine abilities linked with one another without the slightest gap. "Nine Masters..." The Wrathful Mahasattva glared with his golden eyes, secretly stirring his gold nature, only to discover that the Great Void was sealed and interwoven by a grand array prepared long in advance to prevent him from escaping into it. Shock and fury surged uncontrollably within his chest. "You... all of you... plotted against me?" The Wrathful Mahasattva's handsome face contorted. Heat hissed across his body, misty vapor rising from his skin. The defined contours of his back tensed, and his deep golden eyes glared at the assembly of Purple Mansion masters. Livid beyond measure, he broke into a furious laugh, barking: "Fine... What a fine display of the oriole stalking behind! I suppose you began plotting this long ago... No wonder... No wonder!" Nine rainbow lights swirled individually, each manifesting in a different shape, yet all were unyielding, sealing heaven and earth so tightly that not a sliver of leeway remained. "Qingchi Sect... Jinyu Sect... Changxiao Gate... Ziyan Gate... Tangjin Sect... Good! Good! You have all come!" The Wrathful Mahasattva roared like a madman. Beneath his feet, mountain forests and trees flattened, wild beasts kowtowed, and a heavy, suffocating pressure permeated the air as his momentum continuously soared. While the Wrathful Mahasattva confronted the Purple Mansion masters, Li Tongya remained slumped on the ground. The crushing pressure from above prevented him from straightening his back; he could only crawl across the earth, shifting with great care. Blood welled endlessly from the wound in his abdomen, dripping rhythmically into the pouring rain. "Hiss..." Li Tongya inhaled deeply. Channeling his remaining magic power, he formed a hand seal to condense a water membrane, plugging the gaping hole in his abdomen. Struggling on his knees, he propped himself up with the Green Ruler Sword and shuffled forward a few steps across the ground toward Li Xuanling's corpse. "Ling'er." After the fierce battle just now, Li Xuanling's body had been torn into scattered pieces, leaving only his head resting on the ground, eyes still wide open. Li Tongya curled his trembling frame forward and gathered his eldest son's head into his embrace. Reaching a blood-drenched hand toward his waist, Li Tongya found that his storage bag had vanished during the clash. He had lived frugally his entire life; even now, he only used the most ordinary storage bag, devoid of any protective enchantments. Stripped of Li Tongya's shielding magic power, it had been shredded to pieces in an instant by magic power of such a terrifying caliber. Fortunately, there were hardly any items kept in that storage bag. Li Tongya struggled twice on the ground, taking a few ragged breaths to recover a sliver of magic power. Stripping off his robe, he wrapped Li Xuanling's head within it and carefully tied it to his waist. Separated from Li Tongya's body, the robe lost the influence of Vast Sea and was quickly stained a brownish-red by blood and rainwater. Li Tongya glanced up at the multicolored glows above, warnings hammering persistently in his mind through his spiritual sense: *Stay any longer, and you will die!* He gritted his teeth, his entire body aching as if being torn to shreds. Fortunately, the Xuanzhu talisman seed in his sea of qi acupoint continuously supplied a cool, refreshing flow of qi to keep him conscious. Li Tongya formed an incantation seal and unsteadily rode the wind upward. Yet after flying only half a li through the sky, he plummeted into the jungle like a falling star. ———— The standoff in the sky grew increasingly tense, the iridescent light of divine abilities shining brilliantly. The Wrathful Mahasattva let out a furious roar, his body ballooning outward like an inflated bladder until his face was as large as a house and his eyes blazed like two great lanterns, casting golden light across the heavens. "Zhang Tianyuan! It truly is you! I knew you were the one leading them! We haven't met in nearly a century—let me see what divine abilities you have mastered!" From the central beam of iridescent light, a figure emerged—a youth clad in an Eight Trigrams Daoist robe, remarkably handsome and carrying an extraordinary bearing. It was Master Tianyuan, the one who had guided the group earlier. Glancing sideways at the golden body of the Wrathful Aspect above, he said calmly: "Wrathful Four-Demon Kshatriya Aspect... Monk, your mind has already been swallowed by your wrathful aspect; you have lost your true self." "Humph!" The Wrathful Mahasattva's two pattern-engraved short clubs also expanded with his transformation, resembling two colossal bronze pillars. Brandishing them in his hands, he knocked aside two magical artifacts that flew in to test him, sneering: "If it allows me to conquer demons and vanquish fiends, what does it matter if I embody the Wrathful Aspect? You lot colluded with traitors of my sect to harm me, yet you overestimate your own strength... How could a Maha of nine lives be something you insects can fathom!" Golden runes flashed across the bronze clubs in intricate, interwoven patterns as they slammed down with heaven-blanketing force. Master Tianyuan merely flicked his sleeve, and a small black turtle shell flew forth. Swelling with the wind, it grew to the size of a house in an instant, its magical radiance dazzling as it met the descending bronze club. *Clang—!* Master Tianyuan activated his magical artifact to block the Wrathful Mahasattva's onslaught, speaking in a gentle voice: "Monk, you are a mere step away from the Dharmakaya. Under ordinary circumstances, I naturally would be no match for you. But now you have reincarnated into a possessed body and lost your destined fate—you are far from what you once were!" "Far from what I once was...?" The Wrathful Mahasattva's eyes gleamed with golden light. Devoid of fear, he glared at the surrounding Purple Mansion masters, chanting Sanskrit incantations that echoed through the air like rolling thunder. "Laughable! Do you truly know what the Wrathful Four-Demon Kshatriya Aspect is?" The Wrathful Mahasattva stamped his foot violently and made a swallowing and spewing gesture. His teeth, gleaming white and razor-sharp, were as large as human heads. From his throat erupted countless streams of golden light, drifting and fluttering downward amidst the torrential rain. This golden luminescence danced in the air, transforming into various shapes as it struck the ground. Some took the form of monks wielding short clubs, some of arhats coiled with serpents and jiaolong, while others became young boys and girls, or tigers, wolves, foxes, and snakes. Darting through the sky on gusts of wind, they swiftly assembled into battle formations. In an instant, heaven and earth were filled with figures, all glaring with furious, wrathful eyes. "So you have already cultivated the Wrathful Aspect Demon-Subduing Domain. In all the world, you are likely the Shakya cultivator closest to the Dharmakaya! No wonder you were so full of confidence." Master Tianyuan offered a sigh of praise, yet he remained just as fearless. He smiled and said: "In all these centuries, I have never seen a Shakya cultivator more talented than you. Alas, your mind is thoroughly poisoned by heretical notions that the world's filth must be cleansed with wrathful fire. Raving like a madman day after day, you have utterly wasted this talent. "If only you had been more reasonable, speaking with courtesy to the Seven Paths of Northern Shakya Dharma, why would you have fallen into today's predicament...?" Seeing Master Tianyuan's relaxed demeanor, a flicker of unease stirred within the Wrathful Mahasattva, giving rise to a vague suspicion. Right then, Master Tianyuan laughed aloud, clapped his hands lightly, and formed an incantation seal, calling out with a smile: "I respectfully invite the magic treasure to appear!" *Clink, clank...* The moment Master Tianyuan's voice fell, the crisp clatter of dragged metal echoed between heaven and earth. From the void emerged jet-black chains stretching across the firmament, swooping down toward the Wrathful Mahasattva. Interlocking and branching into hundreds and thousands of offshoots, they darkened the very heavens in an instant. The Wrathful Mahasattva was finally shaken, his face draining of color. Golden patterns across his skin flared one after another as he attempted to evade the chains. Yet the magic treasure followed him like a shadow. Inescapably, it descended upon the Wrathful Mahasattva, coiling around him in layer upon layer. The Wrathful Mahasattva shrieked like a maniac, howling with venom: "A magic treasure... It's a magic treasure... Which True Monarch is it?!"