The World Is a Chessboard, Fate Unfathomable, Heroes Laughed Away

The ancient Spirit Ancestor Tree Core was unsealed by Kong Xuan, once a Saint Grade expert, and erupted with boundless Life Essence like a vast sea. Kong Xuan and the Golden-Winged Great Peng devoured it in great quantities like long whales drawing in water, their illusory bodies rapidly solidifying.

"Recovering to the Late Spirit grade should be enough to swiftly crush the Demon Souls of those three bastards. Fifty thousand years..."

Deep killing intent rose in Kong Xuan's dazzling eyes.

A Nine-Colored Feather Fan appeared in her hand. With a gesture toward the Bodhi Tree, she opened three enormous vortices, within which five black demons overflowing with evil aura could vaguely be seen baring their fangs and claws, wailing like ghosts and howling like wolves.

"Little Huan Kong, your opponent comes from the Illusion Demon Tribe, one of the Thirty-Two Great Tribes of the Outer Domain Evil Tribe. Be careful of his illusions!"

Leaving behind those words, Kong Xuan's elegant figure disappeared into the vortex in the middle.

"Kid, don't disappoint Aunt Xuan's expectations of you."

The man in golden robes glanced at Ye Kong, then transformed into a sharp streak of golden light and rushed in.

"Rest well."

After leaving those words for Lu Hou and the others, who were healing with their eyes closed, Ye Kong let out an angry roar, erupted with immense Nine-Colored Spiritual Light, and charged into the final vortex.

The space within the seal was extremely divided. One half held green mountains and clear waters, birds singing in harmony, peaceful and tranquil; the other was barren and deathly silent, overflowing with monstrous demonic aura. A demon roared fiercely within it, wantonly unleashing its power as it invaded outward.

"Such a fine Bodhi Tree, and a demon like you has to ruin the scenery. You truly deserve to die!"

Having clearly seen his target, Ye Kong transformed directly into a three-hundred-sixty-zhang golden giant as he fell, assuming the opening stance of the Thousand-Hand Tathagata Palm.

Several hundred enormous palm imprints condensed before him, like a host of Buddhas striking together, descending from the heavens upon the demon.

"Oh? A little bug from the Great Thousand World has arrived? And it's even a little brat that doesn't know its own limits!"

The several-hundred-zhang-tall Illusion Soul Profound Demon Emperor sneered, gathering demonic aura into a dark ghostly claw to meet the Thousand-Hand Tathagata Palm.

"Evil demon, die!"

Under the cover of the shockwaves from the collision between the palm imprints and ghostly claw, Ye Kong unleashed Supernatural Footwork and shifted behind the Illusion Soul Profound Demon Emperor. Golden Lion Follows—Roar Breaks Mountains and Rivers!

Heaven-Piercing Staff in his left hand and Demon-Falling Staff in his right, the Giant Ape and White Dragon manifested as they attacked the mighty foe together.

"This little brat has some strength. A little mangy monkey and a little crawling bug, huh? Too bad you're still far too green!"

The Demon Emperor, assaulted by Ye Kong's chain of attacks, displayed combat instincts far superior to those cannon fodder.

Though Ye Kong's sudden roar stunned him for an instant, he still turned and threw a punch within an extremely short time, neutralizing Ye Kong's offensive and knocking him flying.

"Is that so?! Open your eyes and take a good look!"

The echoing voice came from every direction around the Demon Emperor. He narrowed his eyes and discovered that the "Ye Kong" he had sent flying had vanished into thin air.

Streams of sword qi emerged from the void and stabbed toward him. Their sharpness was so great that even he could not ignore them!

The spatial fluctuations around him became violent. Clearly, that brat was darting around everywhere. His injuries were too severe, and for the moment, he could not even locate him!

With a wave of his hand, he shattered dozens of tiny, nearly imperceptible sword shadows. The Demon Emperor then punched apart the void before him and cursed furiously, "Good brat! At such a young age, you already possess such Space Mastery! Are you that old bastard Buddha Emperor's disciple?! You like skulking around just like him!"

Within the void, Ye Kong was freely unleashing the Great Perfection Divine Art-level Supernatural Footwork for the first time. He was immensely glad that he had always been cautious. Wielding the Burying Buddha Tablet as he launched strange, unpredictable assassinations, he laughed. "To receive praise from an expert of your level is truly my honor. In return, please be on your way as soon as possible!"

The Supernatural Footwork that had already broken through to the Great Perfection realm before arriving at the Burial Spirit Ruins revealed, for the first time, a power beyond merely traversing space.

One after another, the swastika marks Ye Kong had long planted in the void appeared around the Demon Emperor. They transformed into countless golden Ye Kongs, sword qi trailing behind them as they charged to kill the Demon Emperor.

The Demon Emperor's expression changed in alarm. Surging demonic aura burst from his body and blasted outward, swallowing and annihilating the "Ye Kongs" one after another.

"I have an opening!"

Ye Kong, who had been secretly searching for the Demon Emperor's weakness with the Heavenly Eye, discovered that the demonic aura in one spot on the Demon Emperor's left chest was not circulating smoothly when he attacked. He immediately emerged from concealment and thrust the Burying Buddha Tablet toward it.

"Ah!"

Unable to dodge in time, the Demon Emperor was pierced by Ye Kong's strike. The chaotic demonic aura coursing through his body and the agony of the sharp weapon piercing him made him cry out miserably.

But immediately afterward, Ye Kong saw a savage grin appear on his face. Even with the divine sword piercing his body, he transformed his hand into a claw and, before Ye Kong could withdraw, tightly clamped down on his right shoulder. Satisfaction appeared in his sinister demonic eyes as he said hatefully, "Little rat! I've finally caught you! Did you think a Demon Emperor like me could be fought against with such trifling skills?!"

As he spoke, his right claw had already formed and stabbed toward Ye Kong's chest!

"Of course not! But I'm not afraid of dying. You are! You're not qualified to risk your life against me!"

Feeling the intense pain in his right shoulder, Ye Kong's ruthlessness and ferocity were fully aroused. His enormous body pressed down upon the Demon Emperor of its own accord.

Nine-Colored Spiritual Light surged into the Burying Buddha Tablet at any cost. Clear Radiance shot from his eyes toward the wound in the Demon Emperor's chest, while his left hand formed a palm and struck at the Demon Emperor's massive head, his palm overflowing with surging spiritual energy.

He was going to unleash the Thousand-Hand Tathagata Palm inside the Demon Emperor's head!

"Ah! Little rat, you're courting death!"

The Demon Emperor's black claw pierced through Ye Kong's back, bringing out a spray of blood. Yet Ye Kong's attacks did not stop. His chest and head were both suffering indescribable pain. This little rat was determined to perish with him!

"Little rat! You forced me to do this! Illusion Demon Art, Soul-Snatching Claw!"

In unbearable agony, the Demon Emperor had no choice but to use a technique that would harm himself almost as badly as his enemy. Demonic aura condensed in the sky into a pair of black, deathly demonic claws thousands of zhang in size, which descended to kill and utterly bury the little rat that had wounded him!

Boom! Boom!

The demonic claws slammed into the ground. Destructive power rippled outward, making the entire sealed world tremble and leaving behind two enormous claw-shaped craters.

"Cough, cough, cough. Damn little rat, let's see how you can keep acting arrogant now! Even that True Phoenix couldn't completely kill me after risking its life. What the hell are you compared to that?!"

The body of the Illusion Soul Profound Demon Emperor condensed once more from the rolling demonic mist. Covering the wound on his chest, he coughed as he angrily cursed Ye Kong, who had supposedly been reduced to ashes.

Looking at the cross-shaped scar on his chest, endless fury rose in his eyes. Ye Kong's attacks had hurt terribly, but they had not reached the point of seriously injuring him. Those two claws he had been forced to use were what truly left him in a bad state.

"With a powerhouse such as Demon Emperor Senior tempering my combat strength, how could I possibly die so easily?! You've underestimated your own appeal, old man!"

"I once heard: The world is a chessboard, fate is unfathomable, and heroes are laughed away!

The Buddha Emperor's fifth disciple, Ye Huan Kong, hereby declares his resolve with this poem today. I shall drink the Demon Emperor's blood and offer it in sacrifice to the heroic souls of the Great Thousand World!"

All of a sudden, the Illusion Soul Profound Demon Emperor heard that utterly detestable voice again.

A Nine-Colored Bodhi Tree emerged from the void. Ye Kong stood atop its crown with a Golden Sword raised in hand, brows like Qing Feng and eyes like twin swords. His spirit soared as he tilted his body and looked down disdainfully upon the Demon Emperor.

His body was filled with green Life Essence, as though he had been reborn.

"How is this possible?! How can you have so much Life Essence in your body?! If that dead bitch had possessed such a treasure, she would have killed us long ago!"

The Demon Emperor was consumed by rage. Such a vast amount of Life Essence was enough to pull even a Great Thousand World crawling bug with Earth Sovereign cultivation back from death's door. In his current state, how could he possibly kill Ye Kong?!

"It's good that you know your end has come today! I will definitely behead you today! Kill!"

After experiencing life and death once, Ye Kong felt the Nine-Colored spiritual energy within him circulate far more smoothly, and he was finally able to use the Kasyapa Sword Scripture normally.

A massive amount of Supreme Spirit Liquid poured from the Mustard Seed Bracelet into the Bodhi Tree. Its branches and leaves swayed unceasingly, condensing countless nine-colored sword leaves in the dark world. They spiraled through the sky, gathering into nine budding Bodhi Flowers that rapidly expanded in the wind to over a hundred meters in size and charged toward the Illusion Soul Profound Demon Emperor.

"I just created this move. Please judge it, Demon Emperor! Slay Demons—Attain Bodhi!"

Little Meng Xin politely asks for continued reading, favorites, and recommendations.