Great Mighty Virtue Vajra

The Heavenly Golden Spider Fire Spirit had been crafted from the pearl formed by a thousand-year-old golden spider, tempered with golden spider silk. Back when Qianyuan Palace's founding patriarch had established the sect, he had used this magical treasure to defeat many formidable experts. It then passed through three generations of sect leaders before reaching True Person Chimei, the master of True Person Gong Li. True Person Chimei cultivated the Three Yang True Fire Art and discovered that this treasure did not reject his Three Yang True Fire essence. It was naturally capable of merging with and absorbing Three Yang True Fire, so True Person Chimei carefully tempered it anew with that fire, finally refining it into an Earth Immortal grade magical treasure.

Not only were its spider threads incomparably tough, impossible to sever even with divine weapons and precious blades, and once they wrapped around someone, they clung fast and were exceedingly difficult to break free from, but the entire net also rippled with Three Yang True Fire more powerful than Earth Core Leaving Fire.

Gouli Dao was a minor sect much like the Wangwu Sect. If it had not been acting under Kunlun's orders, it might not have dared casually slaughter a Wangwu disciple. The Yin Scale Black Banners in the hands of the two richly dressed men were worlds apart from the Heavenly Golden Spider Fire Spirit. When the city gate caught fire, the fish in the moat suffered too. Now that the Heavenly Golden Spider Fire Spirit was linked to True Person Gong Li's mind, he could direct it to descend wherever he wished. If they were caught within this giant cage spanning dozens of zhang, there would be no need for it even to tighten around them—the Three Yang True Fire alone, hot enough to melt ordinary flying swords, could burn them until body and soul were utterly destroyed.

Datong Temple and Qianyuan Palace were both renowned major sects in the cultivation world.

Now, the foremost figures at sect leader level from these two great sects had personally made their moves. Together with Gouli Dao being used to test the waters, and the Black Tuo Guards from the Xiongnu and Qiang armies being mobilized at will, it was enough to show just how immense Kunlun's power in the mortal world was.

"Zen Master Bule and True Person Gong Li truly did put in their strength and hold nothing back. But under Kunlun's might, I suppose they would not dare hold back anyway."

Upon seeing Zen Master Bule and True Person Gong Li act, Tang Qingxiang, stationed on the northern side in a flowing purple robe, immediately had this thought arise in his heart.

Tang Qingxiang was a disciple of Wentian, one of Kunlun's Ten Golden Immortals, and one of the few outstanding experts beneath the Ten Golden Immortals. Naturally, his knowledge and discernment were extraordinary.

Tang Qingxiang and Zhuo Chendao, who was directing this ambush, had initially worried that although the two had accepted Kunlun's invitation, they might not give their all. Now, it seemed there was no longer any need for such concern.

The moment Zen Master Bule acted, he had unleashed the Immovable Wisdom King's Wrath, condensing clouds into an asura claw. The power of his cultivation and techniques was no weaker than the Violet Radiance Divine Lightning released by Zhuo Chendao. Yet of the three, the most formidable was True Person Gong Li's Heavenly Golden Spider Fire Spirit. True Person Gong Li had refined it until it was linked with his mind, allowing it to shift freely through the air and descend in any direction, as nimble as a flying sword. Moreover, this giant net covered an enormous area. Tang Qingxiang calculated inwardly that even if he went all out against it, he could at most protect himself—or disregard his own safety and use sword essence to kill the enemy, fighting True Person Gong Li to mutual ruin. He could not escape easily.

"With three people of such cultivation joining forces, and with the finest magical treasures for an ambush in their hands, there are likely only a handful of people in the world who could get away."

This thought immediately surfaced in Tang Qingxiang's mind.

With a crack, the little building, already riddled with holes and on the verge of collapse, finally split into countless fragments.

Before Zhuo Chendao's Violet Radiance Divine Lightning and Zen Master Bule's cloud-condensed asura claw could descend, the boundless pressure and force falling from above had already crashed down like an invisible giant hammer. As the teahouse shattered piece by piece, surging waves of air several zhang high rolled out around it.

Yet the myriad shattered fragments did not fall downward. Instead, they all shot upward at a shocking speed!

In that instant, it was as if some enormous, terrifying thing had been conceived within the shattered teahouse, grown, and risen to its feet.

The countless splinters of wood that shot upward like arrows turned to ash the moment they touched the electric radiance of the descending Violet Radiance Divine Lightning. But the four great experts guarding the southeast, northwest, and northeast instantly changed expression in horror!

Azure qi erupted. What appeared from the ruins in an instant was a colossal entity that seemed to hold up the heavens and stand upon the earth.

This colossal entity that had suddenly manifested gave people the feeling that a towering mountain had appeared out of thin air before them.

This enormous being wreathed in azure qi stood a hundred zhang tall, with a bull's head and human body, one face, twelve arms, and two legs. Its expression was wrathful and savage. The two enormous azure horns atop its head were like two sharp giant towers. Of the two thick primary arms before its chest, one gripped a massive vajra axe, while the other held a great bowl, white on the outside and red at the bottom. Its remaining ten arms formed various hand seals.

The great white-and-red bowl lifted upward. Compared to this giant being, the Violet Radiance Divine Lightning and the cloud-condensed asura claw, as tiny as water snakes and chicken claws, were smashed to pieces, exploding into tens of thousands of beautiful streams of violet flame. At the same time, the vajra axe in its other hand swept out and caught hold of the Heavenly Golden Spider Fire Spirit. The Heavenly Golden Spider Fire Spirit was incomparably tough and did not tear apart, but judging by its size, it could at most wrap around one arm of this colossal being. As True Person Gong Li's face changed in terror, his intent flowed naturally, and the entire net erupted with blazing Three Yang True Fire like a volcano bursting forth.

Sizzle! Sizzle! The white Three Yang True Fire burned the enormous vajra axe until it gave off a sound like hot oil meeting a wok. Yet in that single instant, as the vajra axe pulled hard and tore, True Person Gong Li's Primordial Spirit shook violently.

His Primordial Spirit connection with the Heavenly Golden Spider Fire Spirit had actually been forcibly torn apart!

A magical power fluctuation like the destruction of heaven and earth exploded with a thunderous boom!

"Kapala Bowl! Great Mighty Virtue Vajra secret art! Great Mighty Virtue Vajra external incarnation!"

Zen Master Bule, guarding the western side, cried out madly in disbelief. For a moment, he retreated wildly without conscious control, not daring to attack again.

This thing that had suddenly appeared was an external incarnation like General Luo's, one that could only be manifested by cultivating the Buddhist Esoteric Sect's Great Mighty Virtue Vajra secret art to its deepest realm.

As Zen Master Bule flew backward, the azure external incarnation that had forcibly severed the connection between True Person Gong Li and the Heavenly Golden Spider Fire Spirit suddenly stretched out two of its remaining twelve hands, bunched up the giant net, kneaded it, and the net vanished without a trace.

Two more hands reached down, grasped, and closed, seizing in their palms a body that resembled a dried corpse.

This dried-corpse-like body sat cross-legged, draped in a beast-hide robe and dressed like an elderly Miao tribesman. It was unmistakably Old Zhao Nan, whom Luo Bei often thought of!

After catching the body, this hundred-zhang-tall external incarnation charged straight toward Zhuo Chendao, who guarded the eastern side. Tang Qingxiang, who had already manifested blue sword radiance, faltered again. He had originally believed that Old Zhao Nan would break through from Zen Master Bule's side, where Bule's Primordial Spirit had been violently shaken and he had been so stunned by the sight before him that he could not hold fast to his true heart. Yet he had never expected Old Zhao Nan to do the very opposite, breaking out through Zhuo Chendao's side—the strongest of the four.

"You think you can escape?!"

Seeing the gigantic, demon-god-like external incarnation charge toward him, Zhuo Chendao's eyes instantly filled with dazzling violet light, as though they had transformed into two gleaming violet gemstones.

Violet waves of qi rolled forth, like a blooming violet lotus.

Thousands of bolts of Violet Radiance Divine Lightning came roaring down from the sky, each condensing into a long violet-gold spike that carved long flaming tails through the heavens.

Purple Thunder God Piercer!

The most formidable aspect of the Daoist Scripture of True Essence Mysteries cultivated by Zhuo Chendao was that techniques arose from the heart. One's body was a small world, and the outer world was a great world. At a thought, the incantation and technique were unleashed at once; the speed at which Daoist arts were cast was even faster than the speed at which a sword cultivator's flying sword shot forth. This Purple Thunder God Piercer was already the most powerful technique Zhuo Chendao could use, and it nearly drained more than half his true essence in an instant.

Zhuo Chendao was extremely confident in his Purple Thunder God Piercer. He thought that although it might not kill the external incarnation Old Zhao Nan had manifested, it could at least entangle him. So long as he could hold him there, the other three could lend their aid, and Old Zhao Nan might not be able to escape.

Yet the Purple Thunder God Piercers, which from afar looked like thousands of violet lines in the air, all struck empty space!

The hundred-zhang-tall external incarnation, wreathed in azure qi and resembling a demon god, suddenly vanished. Yet at the same moment this demon-god-like external incarnation disappeared, Old Zhao Nan's dried-corpse-like body, which had originally been enclosed within its palms, abruptly filled out. A deep azure radiance burst from his entire body, and his eyes suddenly opened, gleaming with an amber-like luster.

At that moment, even the walnut-like wrinkles on Old Zhao Nan's face, which had seemed like he was at the end of a flickering candle, appeared to vanish. How could there be the slightest trace of old age left upon him?

Zhuo Chendao felt as though his chest had suddenly become hollow.

Since embarking upon cultivation, he had never imagined that his most powerful technique would be evaded by his opponent through a Primordial Spirit returning to its orifice, dispersing the external incarnation and returning to his own body—a method that could scarcely even be called a technique.

The instant his Purple Thunder God Piercers missed, Old Zhao Nan was already behind him.

With a sharp ripping sound through the air, a brilliant azure sword radiance slashed across the sky toward Old Zhao Nan.

Tang Qingxiang, who had been gathering force for so long, finally unleashed his strike!

Natal Sword Essence!

This brilliant azure sword radiance had neither substance nor form. Its sword embryo, sword soul, and true essence had completely fused together. It was also the highest realm among Flying Sword techniques: Natal Sword Essence!

Though this sword essence was far inferior to Wentian's on that day, lacking the might of Wentian's Natal Sword Essence, which seemed capable of tearing even space apart and causing crystalline cracks to spread through the surroundings in an instant, Natal Sword Essence was still Natal Sword Essence. Once unleashed, it was like concentrating the power of one's entire body, true essence, and magical treasures into a single point and striking out. Every blow gathered all its power.

The instant Tang Qingxiang released this sword radiance, heaven and earth seemed to lose their original colors.

But Old Zhao Nan did not stop. He continued charging forward, while several hundred points of red light shot toward Tang Qingxiang, who was directing his sword essence in pursuit.

The hundreds of red lights were all arrowheads from those refined-metal Demon-Breaking Arrows just now. Rip! Without pausing in the slightest, Tang Qingxiang sneered, and his Natal Sword Essence continued cleaving through the air. Before those hundreds of arrowheads came within several zhang of Tang Qingxiang's Natal Sword Essence, they burst apart one after another, crumbling into powder!

The realm before cultivating Natal Sword Essence was Sword Induction into Body, using one's own true essence and Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy to nourish and temper it. After decades of nourishment and refinement by true essence and spiritual energy, even the sword embryo alone was beyond the power of these Demon-Breaking Arrowheads to contend with—much less Natal Sword Essence, which had gathered all of Tang Qingxiang's natal true essence.

But what made Tang Qingxiang's pupils contract at once was that he suddenly discovered a green sword light hidden behind those hundreds of red lights.

In the time it took to snap one's fingers, Old Zhao Nan's fleeing figure did not slow, yet that green sword light struck Tang Qingxiang's Natal Sword Essence three times in rapid succession, like a pellet bouncing against it.