Head of the Chan Teachings' Twelve Golden Immortals: Myriad Dragons Refine Realm Traps Manjushri, Buddha Kingdom Collapses and Dragon Subduing is Subdued

The aftershocks of the earth-shattering explosion at Putuo Mountain in the South Sea had yet to subside, and the destructive aura of the Chaos Thunder Bead had not yet fully faded from the world. Tongtian was already riding Kui Niu, carrying the faint true spirit of Qiongxiao he had rescued, and charging without hesitation toward Five Dragon Mountain, at the border between the Western Ox Continent and the Southern Jambudvipa Continent, like a gray bolt of lightning tearing through the sky!

Time was the most precious thing now. Cihang was injured, and her magic treasure had been destroyed; the news would surely reach the Saints in an instant. Venerable Lord of Primordial Beginning, the Two Saints of the West, and even the aloof Taishang Laozi, who had watched from the sidelines, might turn their attention here at any moment. Before anyone could react, he had to rescue Bixiao with the force of thunder, then flee a thousand miles away!

"Kui Niu! Faster!" Tongtian barked. Without hesitation, he burned more of his Life Blood Essence and infused it with the power of the Chaos Bead, empowering Kui Niu. Kui Niu bellowed, its four hooves seeming to shatter time and space as its speed soared to the limit. Chaos Flames even ignited around its body from the fierce friction with the air!

The tiny true spirit of Qiongxiao, nestled in Tongtian's arms, seemed to sense her master's willingness to do whatever it took and the direction in which they were rushing. It flickered faintly, sending out a weak but urgent thought: "Master, Five Dragon Mountain is in danger! Manjushri is strong!"

"Your master knows!" Tongtian replied with unshakable resolve. "Today, no one can stop me!"

Almost at the same time, in the stretch of sky above the South Sea that they had just left, Buddha Light blazed across the heavens, and Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva appeared out of thin air. He looked down at Putuo Mountain, now in ruins and still suffused with the terrifying aura of Chaos Destruction, and his expression turned grave and grim for the first time.

"What ruthless methods! What incredible speed!" Wisdom shone in Ksitigarbha's eyes as he instantly deduced the direction Tongtian had gone. "Five Dragon Mountain! His target is Senior Brother Manjushri's Dragon Subduing Stake!"

He didn't dare waste a moment. He struck the air with his Nine-Ringed Monk's Staff, and a golden lotus blossomed beneath his feet as he prepared to use a Buddhist escape technique to pursue Tongtian.

But just then—Roar! Roar! Roar! One deafening dragon's cry after another suddenly rang out from the East Sea below! The vast blue waves churned as countless Shrimp Soldiers and Crab Generals and Whale Warriors emerged from the water and formed battle lines. Several enormous true dragons, scales and claws glinting, soared into the sky and blocked Ksitigarbha's path!

At their head was an old dragon: the Dragon King of the East Sea, Ao Guang! His face was "alarmed" as he cupped his hands toward Ksitigarbha from afar, though his voice carried in every direction. "Bodhisattva, please wait! The earth-shaking crash in the South Sea just now shook the Dragon Palace of the East Sea violently. The currents have reversed, and the earth may split! I humbly beg you, Bodhisattva, to show mercy and stay for a moment to help stabilize the currents, lest disaster strike and bring calamity upon All Living Beings!"

His words were earnest, and his expression convincing. Behind him, countless members of the Aquatic Race let out "timely" wails, making the scene seem utterly chaotic.

Ksitigarbha's brow furrowed. How could he not see that the dragon clan was trying to stall him? That old mudfish Ao Guang must have been in league with Tongtian!

"Ao Guang! Do you know the consequences of obstructing me?" Ksitigarbha's voice carried a hint of anger, and the pressure of a peak Grand Unity Golden Immortal bore down like a mountain!

Ao Guang's dragon body trembled under the pressure, but his face still wore an expression of "anxiety" and "helplessness." "Bodhisattva, please understand! This king has no wish to obstruct you; the situation is simply dire! If the currents collapse, countless aquatic lives will perish. This king cannot bear the Karma of such a disaster! You are a man of great compassion, Bodhisattva. How could you stand by and let them die?" He kept invoking the suffering of All Living Beings and the burden of Karma, leaving Ksitigarbha unable to simply force his way past.

While Ksitigarbha was held up for those few precious moments by Ao Guang and the dragon clan's "earnest pleas," Tongtian had already stormed Five Dragon Mountain!

Five Dragon Mountain's slopes twisted like five coiling dragons, their heads raised to the heavens as they breathed in boundless spiritual energy, creating a magnificent sight. Faint Buddhist chants drifted between the mountains, and Buddha Light shone everywhere. The protective Buddhist array was even more imposing and tightly guarded than the one at Putuo Mountain!

Clouds and Mist Cave, the Dao Field of Manjushri Guangfa Tianzun—Manjushri Bodhisattva—was located at the Dragon Head of the main peak!

Tongtian didn't bother with a word of explanation, nor did he have any intention of sneaking in!

There was no time!

"Manjushri! Get out here!"

His roar was like a Chaos thunderclap, exploding above Five Dragon Mountain! Tongtian leaped from Kui Niu's back, and Chaos Qi burst from his body like a Demon God descending upon the world. He smashed a fist into the protective Buddhist array covering the entire mountain!

BOOM!!! The Power of Chaos collided violently with the golden Buddha Light, producing a deafening crash! Five Dragon Mountain shuddered violently, rocks tumbled down its slopes, and countless Buddhist runes flickered across the barrier. His punch had actually caved it inward!

"What demon dares to wreak havoc on Five Dragon Mountain?" Manjushri Guangfa Tianzun shouted angrily from inside his cave. He clearly hadn't expected the attacker to come pounding on his mountain gate the instant he sensed that something had happened at Putuo Mountain!

A brilliant Buddha Light shot skyward from Clouds and Mist Cave and transformed into Manjushri Bodhisattva's dharma form. His face was indigo, his hair and beard red, and he rode a Green Lion while holding a Wisdom Sword. A golden dragon-shaped phantom coiled around him—it was the Dragon Subduing Stake transformed! Within the dragon's shadow, a faint true spirit radiated Bixiao's aura, yet it was filled with pain and numbness!

The moment he saw the true spirit inside the dragon's shadow, Tongtian's eyes turned bloodshot!

"Manjushri! Die!"

He didn't give his opponent the chance to unleash a divine ability. He brought his hands together, and the Chaos Bead hovered over his head, releasing countless streams of Misty Grey energy!

"Ten Thousand Dragons Pay Homage! Trap!" At his command, his boundless Primordial Unity Magic Power surged out, mixed with the Chaos Bead's source power. In the space around them, it formed ten thousand ferocious, roaring phantom dragons of Chaos! These dragons weren't real creatures but manifestations of the purest Chaos Law and Will of Destruction. In an instant, they formed a Chaos Dragon Prison that blotted out the sky, trapping Manjushri Bodhisattva, the Green Lion beneath him, and the phantom of the Dragon Subduing Stake around him at its center!

This was the new divine ability Tongtian had created by combining the Chaos Bead with his understanding of the Array Dao: the Chaos Myriad Dragons Refine Realm Technique! It had been made to trap, kill, and refine!

"Power of Chaos?! Are you Tongtian?!" Manjushri Bodhisattva finally recognized the source of this unique and terrifying power. His expression changed, and disbelief filled his eyes!

Tongtian didn't answer. He poured all his strength into driving the Chaos Myriad Dragons Prison! Ten thousand Chaos dragons roared, spewing endless Chaos Flames, corrosive Yin Wind, and destructive thunderbolts as they relentlessly refined Manjushri at the center.

Manjushri Bodhisattva was shocked and furious. He shouted again and again as the Green Lion beneath him roared and the Wisdom Sword in his hand shone with boundless Buddha Light, slashing at the Chaos dragons around him. The golden dragon formed by the Dragon Subduing Stake shielded him, resisting the erosion of the Power of Chaos.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Terrifying explosions erupted inside the Chaos Dragon Prison one after another! Buddha Light and Chaos Qi clashed fiercely, annihilating each other!

Manjushri Bodhisattva lived up to his title as the Head of the Chan Teachings' Twelve Golden Immortals. After defecting to the West, his cultivation had surpassed what it had once been; he had reached the Early Stage Quasi-Saint realm. With the Green Lion and the Dragon Subduing Stake protecting him, he managed, just barely, to hold off the slaughter of the Chaos Myriad Dragons Refine Realm Technique!

But the ferocity of Tongtian's assault and the determination of his killing intent far exceeded Manjushri's expectations! The Power of Chaos was also unfathomably strange, constantly eroding and wearing away at his Buddha Light and the spiritual essence of his magic treasures!

"Tongtian! You are no longer a Saint, yet you dare act so recklessly! Senior Brothers, come help me!" As the pressure mounted, Manjushri Bodhisattva couldn't help but call for aid, his voice shaking the heavens!

Tongtian's eyes were as cold as ice untouched for ten thousand years. He knew he couldn't drag this out any longer!

"Bixiao! Your master is here to save you!" He suddenly looked toward the golden dragon of the Dragon Subduing Stake, struggling to hold on inside the Chaos prison. A trace of anguish flashed in his eyes, quickly replaced by unyielding resolve!

He took out his last Chaos Thunder Bead without hesitation, but his target wasn't Manjushri himself. It was the core point where the golden dragon of the Dragon Subduing Stake was most closely connected to Manjushri Bodhisattva!

"Explode!" Whoosh! The Chaos Thunder Bead became a streak of deadly light and instantly shot toward its target, ignoring the distance between them!

Manjushri Bodhisattva's pupils shrank. He sensed the Destructive Power within the bead—of the same origin as the power trapping him, yet far more concentrated—and was horrified. "No!!"

He desperately tried to activate the Dragon Subduing Stake to block the attack, but he was constrained on all sides within the Chaos Myriad Dragons Refine Realm and reacted a moment too late!

BOOOOM!!!! An explosion even more violent and concentrated than the one at Putuo Mountain erupted at the heart of the Chaos Dragon Prison!

Brilliant Chaos Destruction light swallowed everything!

"Ah—!" Manjushri Bodhisattva let out an agonized scream as he was blasted away like a kite with its strings cut. His Buddha Light dimmed, cracks appeared in his golden body, and the Green Lion beneath him wailed and shrank back into its original form, gravely injured!

More importantly, the Dragon Subduing Stake, which was linked to his mind, let out a teeth-grating crack as it endured the Chaos Thunder Bead's devastating blow, specifically aimed at the source of a magic treasure!

Crack! The mighty golden dragon phantom shattered in an instant, turning into countless specks of light! A powerful Innate Spiritual Treasure had suffered a devastating blow, its spiritual essence severely damaged!

At the heart of the shattered golden light, a faint glimmer of true spirit emerged, drifting unsteadily. It carried both relief and confusion.

Bixiao's true spirit! Tongtian reached out, and Chaos Qi formed a gentle hand that instantly gathered her true spirit and carefully shielded it!

"Go!" He didn't even glance at the grievously injured Manjushri Bodhisattva. He recalled the Chaos Bead, swung onto Kui Niu's back, and turned into a streak of light, ready to flee!

But at that moment, a voice called out, "Amitabha! Fellow Daoist Tongtian, please wait!"

A majestic Buddhist chant rang out, as though it had come from every corner of the heavens and earth! Immediately, a vast and boundless phantom kingdom appeared, filled with the chants of countless believers, the scent of sandalwood, and golden Buddha Light. It covered the world for thousands of miles around, trapping Tongtian and Kui Niu within!

The Buddha Kingdom in Palm! Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva had finally escaped the dragon clan's entanglement and arrived!

That wasn't all. Two powerful streams of Buddha Light raced toward them from the western horizon, their auras no weaker than Ksitigarbha's. They were clearly other powerful reinforcements from the Western Teachings!

Tongtian's expression darkened. Inside the Buddha Kingdom, he felt his magic power flowing more sluggishly, as though the chants of countless living beings surrounded him, trying to convert him.

"Ksitigarbha! You think you can stop me?" Tongtian barked. The Chaos Bead above his head blazed brilliantly, forcefully opening a Chaos Domain to resist the Buddha Kingdom's erosion.

"You are too bloodthirsty, Daoist. You destroyed a Buddhist treasure and injured one of our Bodhisattvas. I cannot simply stand by," Ksitigarbha replied. He appeared in the center of the Buddha Kingdom, majestic and solemn, holding his Nine-Ringed Monk's Staff. His tone was firm and left no room for argument. "Please accompany me to Mount Meru and meet the two Sect Masters, so we may resolve the Karma of this matter."

"Resolve the Karma? Hah!" Tongtian laughed as if he'd heard the funniest joke in the world, his killing intent surging. "Once I've smashed your Buddha Kingdom, I'll go 'resolve' things with Zhunti and Jieyin!"

He stopped holding back and unleashed his full power!

"Chaos Opens Heaven! Break for me!"

With a roar, he used his hand as an axe, imitating the intent behind Pangu's Creation. He drew on the full power of the Chaos Bead and brought down a mighty "slash"!

A Chaos Blade Light of indescribable color seemed to cleave its way from the beginning of the primordial universe. It carried the supreme power to open a world and reorder the elements of water, fire, and earth, and struck the boundless Buddha Kingdom in Palm!

Rip—! The sound of cloth being torn rang out!

The seemingly infinite and indestructible Buddha Kingdom in Palm was cleaved open by the Chaos Opens Heaven Blade Light, splitting apart to reveal a massive gap!

The Buddha Kingdom shook violently, and countless chanting bhikkhus and Bodhisattva phantoms screamed as they crumbled!

Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva's face paled, and for the first time, horror appeared in his eyes! He hadn't expected Tongtian's command of the Power of Chaos to have reached such a terrifying level!

"Go!" Tongtian had no intention of continuing the fight. He slapped Kui Niu, and they shot out through the gap in the Buddha Kingdom before fleeing without looking back!

Ksitigarbha was about to pursue them when Tongtian swept his hand behind him, sending a Chaos Sword Qi slithering like a venomous snake toward Five Dragon Mountain below!

BOOM! Already tottering from the battle, Five Dragon Mountain took another heavy blow. The mountain split and collapsed, and half of Manjushri's Dao Field, Clouds and Mist Cave, came crashing down!

Ksitigarbha had no choice but to steady the mountain and rescue Manjushri first. By the time the delay was over, Tongtian had vanished beyond the horizon.

He looked grimly toward the direction Tongtian had disappeared, then at the grievously injured Manjushri and the collapsed Dao Field. In the end, all he could do was sigh.

"Troubled times are upon us." By then, Tongtian had fled countless miles away and found a new, secluded refuge.

He carefully brought out the faint true spirits of Qiongxiao and Bixiao. As he looked at the two lights, which seemed ready to go out at any moment, his eyes filled with sorrow and tenderness.

"Master, I'm sorry for causing you so much trouble..." Bixiao's faint thoughts came in broken fragments, filled with endless grievance and attachment.

"Silly child, I'm the one who failed you," Tongtian said in a low voice. Without hesitation, he took out a great quantity of the finest resources he had obtained from the Dragon Palace, even the last drop of Three Lights Divine Water.

"Don't worry. Your master will restore you both to how you were before—and make you even stronger!"

Chaos Qi spread once more, and a more difficult process of rebuilding their bodies and healing their souls began.

The heavens over the primordial world had completely changed color after two Innate Spiritual Treasures were destroyed in quick succession and a Bodhisattva was gravely injured.

A storm was about to break.