Li Ximing's thought flashed past, yet the iridescent light in the sky broke free from the suppression of his divine ability, Yetian Gate, swelling back to its original magnitude.
The three-eyed Lianmin had finally received the full empowerment of the divine ability. Not only did four arms sprout from his body, but golden illusory ritual implements manifested in each hand—saber, spear, axe, and cudgel, held at the ready.
Chiluo was still casting his spell. Seeing Li Ximing's Three Hou Shuxuan Fire hurtling toward him, accompanied by the Yetian Gate, he decisively pulled back the treasure pagoda he had been using to suppress the fire. Using it solely to shield himself, he exposed the three Lianmin before him to the onslaught.
With this single move, Li Ximing knew the old bastard possessed no small amount of discernment.
Yetian Gate was a divine ability specifically meant to suppress ritual implements. Monks of the Buddhist path were already inept at artifact refinement; Chiluo's treasure pagoda could hardly compare to genuine spirit implements. Had Yetian Gate clamped down on it directly, he would never have retrieved it!
Yet by retreating like this, he left the three exposed before the aggressively advancing Li Ximing. Though scorched moments ago by the true fire, the three-eyed Lianmin now possessed the divine empowerment. He braced forward, raising his four arms to resist, only to see celestial light flicker as Yetian Gate condensed into a gate the height of a man and slammed forcefully toward them.
The three-eyed Lianmin was clever enough. He took a stride forward to shield the hammer-wielding Lianmin, who had yet to recover from his grievous wounds, intending to adapt to whatever came. Yet, to his surprise, Yetian Gate swerved and drove straight for Chiluo's face.
Chiluo was midway through chanting incantations. Judging by his posture, he had clearly been petitioning for divine empowerment as well. His expression instantly froze. Unwilling to sacrifice his treasure pagoda to buy time for the spell, and even less willing to be severed from the empowerment and suppressed beneath the barrier, he simply broke off his spell. Enduring the bone-chilling pierce of celestial light, he dispersed into flame and scattered.
Pingling, the three-eyed Lianmin, immediately realized they had been tricked. He moved to provide aid, but neither of the others was willing to throw themselves under the gate to take the fall for someone else. Swinging all four arms in unison, Pingling drove his golden implements straight toward Li Ximing's dharma body.
The disunity among the Buddhist cultivators played right into Li Ximing's hands. Ganshan Xuanmu lit up around him. Tilting his head abruptly, a flash of celestial light burst from between his brows.
Withstanding the barrage of the four golden implements, he still intended to use Shangyao Fuguang to ensnare Chiluo. The Yetian Gate rose high once more, poised to crash down right onto Chiluo's crown, casting a dark gloom over the red-faced Lianmin's expression.
At this point, no matter how much the other two Lianmin hesitated, they had no choice but to intervene. If they continued to evade and Chiluo returned to the Pure Land, he would surely file a grievance against them. Furthermore, Chiluo was under the Golden Lotus; the two of them would suffer dearly!
After exchanging several blows, the two were forced to traverse the Great Void to intercept Shangyao Fuguang.
Li Ximing's Ganshan Xuanmu shattered to pieces under Pingling's four golden implements. Immediately afterward, the brownish-yellow Gen Earth Spirit Absorption glowed across his form. This mystical technique had narrow applications—it could defend against neither the Twelve Qi nor the Fire Virtue—yet it once more held firm against the Lianmin's golden implements!
Sparks burst violently, and iridescent clouds shook in the heavens. A swath of pale white Mingyang Qi surged from his position, spewing forth Mingyang purple fire, but Li Ximing had already vanished.
The two Lianmin stepping forward to intercept Shangyao Fuguang had barely emerged when a chill gripped their backs. To their horror, the Yetian Gate chasing Chiluo had halted right above them, plummeting like a golden mountain to crush down upon their heads!
*Rumble!*
The impact was terrifying, brightening the sky. The protective treasure light shielding the two dispersed in an instant, their knees creaking under the weight as the magic power in their bodies seized up. In the next instant, the Great Void resonated. A gleam flashed beneath Yetian Gate as a palm as pristine as white jade penetrated the celestial light, pressing straight toward a face.
The palm clamped squarely onto the forehead of that majestic, golden visage.
Stripped of the protection of treasure light and iridescent radiance, the skull—harder than a ritual implement—held out for merely an instant before detonating outward. Spewing out alongside it were surging waves of golden flames and ferocious purple fire; the rest of the body was blown to bits, scattering across the sky as countless golden stones and gems.
At the same time, the faint outline of a wondrous, fertile realm populated by innumerable golden bodies emerged along the horizon. It seemed to draw in a streak of iridescent light, flickering slightly before fading into nothingness.
Rocks flew in all directions across Mount Xiaoshi in a dazzling display. A Lianmin had perished, returning to the Pure Land!
*Rumble!*
Immediately after, the Yetian Gate spanning the heavens shuddered violently. Duped by his feint, Pingling's eyes burned red with fury as he pressed his four arms against the outer barrier, rattling the luminous gate incessantly.
Being outside the gate was naturally vastly different from being trapped beneath it. Furthermore, Pingling now possessed full divine empowerment, sending shudder after shudder through the divine ability. Li Ximing did not pursue the sword-wielding Lianmin cowering in the corner. Instead, with a gentle flick of his sleeve, he disengaged, allowing the imposing luminous gate to dissolve into celestial light. He stood atop the iridescent clouds, panting softly.
Empowered to his full strength, the three-eyed Lianmin Pingling was by no means negligible. Although the Mountain-Driving Sea-Crossing Tiger was not meant for confronting enemies in its physical form, its Ganshan Xuanmu and Gen Earth Spirit Absorption proved exceptionally effective against these Lianmin. The divine ability and magic power within Li Ximing's body roiled, but quickly settled, leaving only a minor graze on his shoulder.
The three-eyed Lianmin's face turned so crimson it seemed ready to drip blood. Just then, laughter rang out from midair:
"Well done!"
It was clearly Kuiqi's voice. Though slightly disadvantaged against Pijia, his opponent evidently dared not press him too hard, giving him enough leeway to observe the flow of battle.
Li Ximing smiled inwardly.
*This method truly works well. Changxiao's teachings were thorough after all.*
That Li Ximing could inflict such horrific damage in the span of a spark, directly dispatching one Lianmin, was primarily because the two had traversed the Great Void and failed to react in time. Yetian Gate had momentarily shattered their protective treasure light and iridescent radiance, paving the way for his strike. For one, Yetian Gate was remarkably effective; for another... this entire line of tactics had been learned from Changxiao.
Back then, naive and ignorant of combat involving divine abilities, Li Ximing had faced Changxiao, whose wondrous ability allowed him to calculate arrival points in the Great Void. Every time Li Ximing traversed the void, he was greeted by an incoming spell, nearly getting pummeled to death within dozens of exchanges. Now it was his turn to overwhelm enemies with momentum. Though incapable of predicting their landing points, striking what the enemy was compelled to save allowed him to anticipate their positions all the same. Catching them off guard with the suppression, followed by the deployment of Three Hou Shuxuan Fire, he had achieved miraculous success!
Before Li Ximing could catch his breath or celebrate, the iridescent light on the horizon settled. Chiluo now stood with six arms, wielding two golden spears, two shields, and two swords, all gleaming brilliantly. His four eyes held a sharp glint, and astride a winged fierce tiger, he rode across the void, glaring furiously as he approached.
Yet this Lianmin clearly harbored no sentiment for his comrade. Li Ximing noticed that despite the fury on Chiluo's face, his movements remained exceedingly cautious. Gripping his treasure implements, he was brewing flames within his mouth.
Chiluo was, after all, under the Golden Lotus, representing the pinnacle of the Lianmin rank. The only differences lay in specific spells and whether one possessed treasure implements. Driving his luminous gate forward, Li Ximing watched as Chiluo abruptly parted his jaws:
*Boom!*
Thunder and fire intertwined, converging and spewing from his mouth into a beam of spiritual light that shot forward. Startled, Li Ximing solemnly raised his divine ability. In an instant, lightning and fire clashed, detonating a cloud of black smoke over Yetian Gate.
Li Ximing felt a slight twinge of pain. With a tremor of the underlying divine ability, the black smoke dissipated.
Fortunately, though formidable in strength, the beam's thunder fell far short of its fire. The origin of the lightning was unknown, while the fire held a trace of Lihuo, refined with awkward stiffness. Since Li Ximing's Mingyang shared deep affinities with Lihuo, he suffered no significant harm.
Yet as that beam of spiritual light landed, Chiluo had already closed in before the gate, meeting Li Ximing's Three Hou Shuxuan Fire. The treasure pagoda suppressed the fire, allowing two long spears to manifest in his hands, thrusting through the flames toward Li Ximing's dharma body.
On the other side, the three-eyed Lianmin was not idle either. While continuing to shake the divine ability, he gathered radiance anew in the eye between his brows, amassing a dense white light while his other two eyes remained glued to the white-gold-robed figure, clearly waiting for an opportunity.
Li Ximing merely channeled the Solar Yingli Technique, conjuring two beams of purple flame to bind the incoming golden spears, then waved his sleeve to sweep out celestial light, exposing the sword-wielding Lianmin who was creeping close in stealth.
Unfortunately, Chiluo's empowered dharma body was unlike any Lianmin Li Ximing had encountered before. His mastery over the Solar Yingli Technique was insufficient; after holding out for only a brief moment, it was pierced by the twin golden spears. The winged tiger roared, snapping viciously toward his robes.
Li Ximing had no choice but to take a step back, retreating inside the heavenly gate and using the divine ability to block the two golden spears. A resounding blast echoed. His face paled, and Yetian Gate shuddered again, strained under the pincer attack from Chiluo and Pingling on the outside.
His lack of proficiency in spell techniques finally surfaced as a glaring weakness—his means of confronting enemies were simply too few. Despite Three Hou Shuxuan Fire raging fiercely and causing the enemy's treasure pagoda to creak under obvious strain, he was forced to withdraw the Violet Palace spiritual fire and direct it toward Chiluo to stall him. Meanwhile, he poured all his magic power into the disc-shaped spirit implement hidden within his sleeve.
Though illuminated by the celestial light, the sword-wielding Lianmin continued to press forward against the brilliance. Li Ximing had to turn and unleash Shangyao Fuguang, inwardly sensing trouble.
Sure enough, how could Pingling pass up such a golden opportunity? The white light gathered in his third eye burst forth. An experienced Lianmin, Chiluo's eyes also lit up; bellowing with rage, he shook the divine ability in tandem! Taking advantage of the opening, the white light shot through the celestial light, descending toward Li Ximing!
Ganshan Xuanmu and Gen Earth Spirit Absorption lit up together. The gossamer Xuanmu, having served its purpose several times, finally shattered beneath this concentrated radiance, merely dimming the light slightly before it fell onto Li Ximing's sleeve.
To his shock, the brownish-yellow Gen Earth Spirit Absorption proved utterly useless before the white light, failing to hinder it in the slightest. As the radiance crashed down, he barely managed to shake off a cluster of purple flames, detonating a flare of brilliance.
*This is... the orthodox brilliance of the Buddhist path! This light originates from the Twelve Qi! The brilliance of Buddhist cultivators is indeed none other than Hua Qi, one of the Twelve Qi!*
In that fleeting instant, Li Ximing recalled what Real Person Changxi had mentioned during his life, as well as the matter of Hua Qi that Li Zhouwei had brought up regarding Bai Rong. A scorched crimson patch already burned on his wrist, and affected by the blow, Yetian Gate abruptly dimmed.
Enduring the stinging pain in his arm, he rallied his magic power anew, but Chiluo broke free from the Three Hou Shuxuan Fire. Two golden spears thrust viciously through the celestial light, aiming straight for his chest.
In this moment of crisis, having miscalculated and taken an injury, Li Ximing coldly sneered. From his sleeve slipped a glittering golden object.
The Chongyang Governing Star Treasure Plate!
The eight-directional runes carved into the treasure plate blazed to the absolute limit. Dense, pale-white incantations circling its outer rim overlapped layer upon layer, nearly turning pure white, while its center shone with dazzling golden brilliance, hovering before the white-gold-robed Daoist's chest.
Li Ximing had secretly channeled magic power into it for so long, refusing to waver even when injured. Now, the brilliant golden light at the center parted, dividing from top to bottom into four stars in a north-tilting C-shape. The foremost speck of golden light carried an aura of effortless majesty, instantly freezing the twin golden spears in place.
The upright wield of Shangyao—the light of Mingyang's lethal strike!
Empowered by the divine ability, Chiluo possessed a degree of divination and received advance warning. Sensing a surge of chill and a burning pain in his chest, he retracted both arms holding his shields, barring them before him.
Descending from the Chongyang Governing Star Treasure Plate, the light of Mingyang's lethal strike made not a sound. Like opening a skylight in a dim attic, a beam of gold-and-white brilliance fell, striking the two golden shields Chiluo had barely raised before himself.
Without suspense, the two golden shields disintegrated into ash, leaving not even a drop of molten gold behind. Slightly dimmed, the light of Mingyang's lethal strike settled softly onto Chiluo's arms.
Every golden rune densely etched across those golden dharma arms flared simultaneously, shining with blinding intensity before bursting into black smoke. In the next instant, both arms turned to ash as well. Chiluo's pupils instantly welled with molten gold that streamed down like tears. Stumbling back two paces, he cried out:
"Aieee!"
Li Ximing turned pale, his divine ability and magic power depleting precipitously. He was forced to recall the divine ability beneath his feet to protect himself, allowing the three-eyed Lianmin to break free. The Chongyang Governing Star Treasure Plate in his hand grew scalding hot. Seizing the opening, he sent Three Hou Shuxuan Fire surging forward in pursuit!
Taking a direct hit from the light of Mingyang's lethal strike at such close range, Chiluo had not only lost both arms, but as the radiance dissipated, his eyes were seared by celestial light, weeping incessantly amidst a daze of dizziness. Yet his reactions were exceptionally swift. With the treasure pagoda unable to return in time, he managed to draw a round alms bowl from his waist, unleashing a burst of brilliance.
Had Gen Earth Spirit Absorption not failed and left him wounded by the enemy's treasure light, Li Ximing would have been in far better condition. Even so, he hurled a mass of flames onto the enemy's dharma body, summoning his breath to sustain his divine ability. Yetian Gate materialized once more, crashing down heavily!
Abandoning all caution and leaving himself unshielded, Chiluo sent that round bowl soaring into the air, smashing violently into the base of the luminous gate. The bowl, nurtured over untold years, detonated on the spot, releasing an intense, blinding radiance.
Chiluo's choice was undoubtedly the correct one.
Caught off guard and grievously wounded by that technique, he could under no circumstances allow himself to be suppressed beneath the luminous gate. Once the empowerment from the Pure Land waned and compounded with his sudden injuries, he might never break free from beneath the gate. It was far better to let Li Ximing crush the treasure implement instead!
Besides, the treasure implements of Buddhist cultivators were inherently inferior. Once suppressed, nine times out of ten it would be impossible to retrieve, so gambling on its detonation was preferable to handing resources to the enemy!
Chiluo truly lived up to his standing under the Golden Lotus. Even in such dire straits, he executed a sequence of exceptionally sound decisions, instantly stanching his losses and even shaking Li Ximing's divine ability.
Yet as a consequence, the unobstructed Three Hou Shuxuan Fire cascaded down upon the Lianmin, exuding a terrifying aura that sent shivers down the spine.
Chapter 862