Wuzhuang Temple on Longevity Mountain, the front hall had already transformed into a chaotic killing field!
Twelve Great Evolution Chaos Formation Flags sealed off all directions, and the misty grey vapor churned and surged, not only obscuring vision but also distorting spiritual sense and suppressing laws. Fan Tian Yin, raised by Guangchengzi, smashed into the chaos, yet it was like a clay ox entering the sea, struggling to lock onto targets and having its might drastically reduced. The golden array of Buddha light deployed by the Western Bodhisattvas and Arhats was likewise eroded and worn down by that omnipresent Chaos Qi, dimming its radiance.
"Fellow Daoists, guard your minds and hearts! Do not be deceived by this fiend's array! Break it with force!" Guangchengzi was both shocked and enraged, shouting loudly as he commanded the immortals of the Chan Teachings to form a battle array, attempting to forcibly tear apart the chaos with boundless magical power.
On the other side, Maitreya Buddha also wore a solemn expression, no longer able to smile. The golden lotus beneath his feet bloomed and the Buddha Palm Kingdom in his palm expanded to its utmost, yet it struggled to disperse the surrounding Chaos Mist; those wisps of Chaos Aura even in turn eroded his Buddha Kingdom Pure Land, causing the illusory figures of chanting bhikshus within to continually collapse.
"What a Tongtian! To actually possess such a bizarre array!" Maitreya gnashed his teeth, the wariness toward Tongtian in his heart growing deeper.
As for Tongtian, he was like a fish in water! Within this chaotic domain he had crafted himself, his perception was magnified to the extreme, his figure resembling a ghost, and every appearance of his was accompanied by fierce Chaos Sword Qi!
His primary target pointed straight at Maitreya!
"Maitreya! Yield your life!"
With a cold shout, Tongtian stepped out from the Chaos Mist in a single stride, bringing his fingers together like a sword. A strand of condensed-to-the-extreme, misty grey sword qi tore through space, piercing straight at Maitreya's face! This single sword not only contained the boundless magical power of a peak late Quasi-Saint, but it also carried the unique will of the Chaos Great Dao to shatter all laws!
Maitreya only felt an aura of immense terror and great destruction wash over him, his entire body's Buddha light freezing for it! He let out a strange cry, no longer caring about his image, and violently hurled the unassuming cloth bag in his hand upward!
"Human Seed Bag, absorb!" That cloth bag expanded instantly against the wind, its mouth opening to emit a terrifying suction force, actually intending to pull Tongtian along with that Chaos Sword Qi into the bag! This was an Innate Spiritual Treasure bestowed by Saint Zhunti, possessing boundless might!
However, the corners of Tongtian's mouth hooked into a sneer of mockery.
"A grain of rice daring to rival the sun and moon in brilliance?"
He actually did not dodge or evade; the Chaos Bead above his head shook violently, dropping down billions of strands of even denser Chaos Qi. That terrifying suction force acting upon the Chaos Qi struggled to shake it in the slightest! Moreover, that strand of Chaos Sword Qi was peerlessly sharp, directly piercing through the precious light emitted by the Human Seed Bag!
Screech! Although the sword qi was weakened by more than half, it still fiercely slashed onto the Buddha light protective barrier that Maitreya had hurriedly erected!
Bang!
The barrier shook violently, Maitreya's figure staggering backward with a pale face, evidently suffering a minor setback.
"How is this possible?!" Shock gripped Maitreya's heart; his Human Seed Bag had actually returned empty-handed? The opponent's Chaos Supreme Treasure was actually this tyrannical?
Yet he did not know that the Chaos Bead possessed an extremely high standing; although it was merely a fragment, it was still not something ordinary Innate Spiritual Treasures could compare to, especially within this chaos array where it was like adding wings to a tiger!
"Deploy the Myriad Buddhas Paying Homage Great Array!" Maitreya hastily issued an order to the Bodhisattvas and Arhats behind him.
The crowd of Western Teachings disciples immediately chanted true scriptures, streams of Buddha light converging as they sought to form a powerful Buddha array.
Yet how could Tongtian give them the opportunity?
"Chaos Chains!" At a thought in his mind, countless misty grey chains formed from Chaos Qi condensed within the array, slithering like venomous snakes to entangle those Bodhisattvas and Arhats, disrupting their footing and continually devouring and wearing away their Buddha power!
In an instant, the Western Teachings' footing was thrown into utter chaos!
On the other side, seeing this, a flash of ferocity crossed Guangchengzi's eyes. He no longer attempted to break the array, instead exchanging a glance with Chijingzi, Yuding Zhenren, and the others, secretly producing another treasure—an archaic bronze mirror!
The Demon Mirror? No! This mirror was bestowed by the Venerable Lord of Primordial Beginning, specializing in subduing souls and true spirits! Its target was not Tongtian, but rather Ancestor Hong Yun, who had been standing all along beside Zhen Yuanzi with an expression of shifting uncertainty!
Guangchengzi was actually attempting to take advantage of the chaos to forcibly "awaken" or rather "stimulate" Hong Yun, causing him to completely defect to the Western Teachings and even strike out against Zhen Yuanzi!
A formless and intangible beam of mirror light silently shone toward Hong Yun!
However, the very instant the mirror light was about to reach his body—
Zhen Yuanzi, who had been watching coldly all along, let out a sudden cold huff and slightly paused his foot!
Hum! The ley line power of the entire Longevity Mountain surged forth with a roar, and an imposing and heavy Earthly Primordial Breath rose from beneath the earth, acting like a barrier to instantly block in front of Hong Yun and nullify the mirror light into nothingness!
"Guangchengzi! How dare you pull such underhanded tricks in my temple!" Zhen Yuanzi's face sank like water, and a book radiating a heavy yellow glow had already appeared in his hand—the Earthly Embryo Membrane, the Earth Book!
With the Earth Book out, the entire Wuzhuang Temple seemed to merge as one with the earth, becoming as solid as metal! Even the chaos array produced a marvelous resonance with it, growing all the more stable!
Guangchengzi's expression changed. He had not expected Zhen Yuanzi to be so decisive, directly producing the Earth Book! With the Earth Book's reinforcement, attempting to tamper behind the scenes was virtually impossible.
Startled by that mirror light and seeing Zhen Yuanzi step in to protect him, Ancestor Hong Yun experienced a flash of clarity and struggle in his eyes, but it was immediately suppressed by the golden Buddha light deep within his eyes, turning somewhat vacant.
The hall descended into a chaotic battle: the chaos array flags trapped enemies, Tongtian spearheaded the attack on Maitreya, Zhen Yuanzi held the Earth Book to anchor the formation, while Guangchengzi and other Chan Teachings immortals along with the remaining Western Teachings disciples were left exhausted in dealing with the chaos chains and array shifts.
Seemingly, Tongtian's side actually held the upper hand!
Yet Tongtian felt not the slightest bit of ease in his heart. He knew that the true threat was never these people inside the hall! Rather, it was that saintly will hanging high in the nine heavens, coldly "watching" this place!
The reason he struck first to trap Maitreya was to force the Saint behind him to intervene! Only with the Saint making a move could he borrow the power of the Chaos Bead and the Earth Book to execute the scheme of "Substitute Peach for Plum"!
"Maitreya! Is this all the skill you have? The Western Teachings are nothing more than this!" Tongtian deliberately raised his voice to mock, pressing his offensive even more urgently. The Chaos Bead occasionally transformed into a sword, occasionally into a seal, and occasionally guided the array's power, driving Maitreya to such a wretched state that his golden lotus dimmed and his monk robes were torn in several places.
"Tongtian! Do not be so rampant!" Maitreya was so infuriated that his three corpse gods leaped with rage, no longer able to maintain his smile as he frantically called out to his master in his heart.
Sure enough, the very moment Maitreya was about to be struck by a strand of Chaos Thunder! Boom! A saintly might whose vastness and majesty defied description descended abruptly! It was not a true physical body, merely a highly condensed saintly will, yet it felt like the nine heavens overturning, carrying supreme Heavenly Dao Law Power as it fiercely pressed down upon Tongtian's chaos array!
Bearing the brunt of it were those twelve Chaos Formation Flags!
Crack! Crack! The formation flags trembled violently, emitting groans of unbearable strain as cracks instantly appeared on them! The entire chaos array shook violently, the mist churning as if it would collapse at any moment!
It was Saint Zhunti who had struck!
Tongtian gave a muffled grunt, feeling the pressure of that terrifying saintly might, yet astonishing radiance burst forth within his eyes!
Now was the time! Without the slightest hesitation, he produced the "Substitute Puppet" he had long since prepared! At the same time, he drove the Chaos Bead and the Earth Book to their absolute limits!
"Chaos Without Limit, Shift Stars and Swap Dippers!"
Hum! The Chaos Bead radiated brilliant light, instantly communicating with the boundless ley line power drawn by the Earth Book and further stirring all the remaining energy of the soon-to-shatter chaos array!
An incomparably dazzling Chaos Light Pillar soared into the sky, instantly tearing apart the collapsing array and even briefly interfering with the lock of that saintly will!
Beneath the cover of that blinding light, the substitute puppet infused with the vast majority of Tongtian's aura transformed into a streak of light, fleeing frantically toward the exterior of Wuzhuang Temple! Its aura and appearance were identical to Tongtian's, further carrying a sense of "panic-stricken flight"!
"Trying to run?!" From high above the heavens came Saint Zhunti's ice-cold huff. That saintly will instantly locked onto the "fleeing" substitute puppet, transforming into a formless hand of law that crossed space and grabbed out fiercely!
As for the real Tongtian, he took advantage of this fleeting opportunity to use the Chaos Bead to perfectly conceal all of his own aura, blending like a drop of water into the ocean as he quietly concealed himself within the deepest defense constructed jointly by the Earth Book and Longevity Mountain's ley lines, disappearing completely.
All of this transpired in the flash of a flint's spark!
The immortals inside the hall merely saw the chaos array suddenly burst open, followed by a figure of "Tongtian" fleeing in panic toward the exterior of the temple. Immediately after, saintly might descended, and a terrifying giant hand lunged at that figure!
"Master has struck!" Maitreya was overjoyed.
"Tongtian, do not run!" Guangchengzi also shouted sternly.
Yet the next moment, the hand of law violently grabbed "Tongtian," but the instant he made contact, Saint Zhunti sensed something was amiss!
"Fake?!" Bang! The substitute puppet exploded with a loud crash, transforming into pure Chaos Qi that scattered in all directions. While it caused no damage to the saintly will, it thoroughly played the Saint for a fool!
"Scoundrel!" From beyond the nine heavens came the distant, startled and angry voice of Saint Zhunti. He had actually been deceived by a Quasi-Saint using an illusion!
Everyone inside the hall froze!
Maitreya's smile stiffened on his face, and Guangchengzi's expression solidified.
He ran? Right under the Saint's very eyes, he ran away using such an unfathomable method?!
Yet during this brief instant while Saint Zhunti's will was drawn away—Daojun Lu Ya, who had been sitting quietly in the corner throughout as if the matter had nothing to do with him, suddenly saw brilliant light flash in his eyes!
A fine opportunity!
His target was never Tongtian, nor any grievances, but rather that very object—the Ginseng Fruit Tree!
His figure moved like a ghost, completely ignoring the lingering chaotic energy within the hall as he appeared instantly in the back courtyard, raising a hand to grab directly at the plumpest and most crystalline fruit upon the Ginseng Fruit Tree!
At the same time, his other hand produced the Immortal Slaying Flying Knife, not to kill, but to slash at the single strand of origin qi connecting the fruit tree to the earth's spiritual veins! He actually intended to forcibly pluck the fruit and intercept a strand of innate wood spirit origin!
"Lu Ya! How dare you!" Zhen Yuanzi was both shocked and enraged. The majority of his focus had been employed in manipulating the Earth Book to counter the earlier saintly might; he had never imagined Lu Ya would launch a sudden attack with his target set squarely on his lifeline!
The Earth Book's yellow radiance flared brightly, attempting to intercept.
Yet Lu Ya had plotted this long ago, and his speed was far too swift! Seeing as the Immortal Slaying Flying Knife was about to slash into the spiritual vein's connection point—
Right at this moment, the unexpected occurred! Deep beneath the earth of Wuzhuang Temple, at the location of Tongtian's true body, through the Chaos Bead, he clearly perceived Lu Ya's actions and his true objective!
"So it was you, this feathered beast, making trouble!" Cold light flashed in Tongtian's eyes.
Although it was inappropriate for him to show himself at this moment, how could he allow Lu Ya to succeed? Furthermore, doing Zhen Yuanzi a favor was timely indeed!
Without the slightest hesitation, he urged the Chaos Bead, stirring a strand of pure devilish Qi previously devoured from that One-Eyed Demon God, mixing it with a bolt of Chaos Thunder to blast fiercely toward Lu Ya right through the strata of the earth!
This strike was not meant to injure the enemy, but to obstruct!
Boom-crack! An eerie strand of Chaos Thunder laced with dark purple devilish Qi struck without warning from beneath the earth, landing with pinpoint accuracy upon the Immortal Slaying Flying Knife!
Clang! The Immortal Slaying Flying Knife was knocked askew by the blow, failing to strike the vital point of the spiritual vein! Taken unawares, Daojun Lu Ya experienced a stagnation in his form, a flash of shock, anger, and astonishment crossing his eyes! This aura mixed chaos with devilish qi? What is going on?!
Just with that brief delay, Zhen Yuanzi's Earth Book power had completely enveloped the area, firmly protecting the Ginseng Fruit Tree!
"Lu Ya! Get the hell out of my sight!" Furious to the extreme, Zhen Yuanzi rolled the Earth Book, and the boundless ley line power pressed toward Lu Ya like an avalanche or raging sea!
Seeing that matters were no longer feasible, Lu Ya turned ashen-faced, casting a resentful glance at the ground and a wary glance at the high heavens before giving a cold huff. He transformed into a long rainbow, instantly fleeing without a shred of lingering hesitation!
At this moment, Saint Zhunti's angry will descended once more, only to find that Tongtian had long since vanished without a trace, leaving behind only a devastated main hall, immortals staring blankly at one another, and a malevolent-looking Zhen Yuanzi.
The saintly will swept across the entirety of Longevity Mountain, yet due to the isolation of the Earth Book, it could no longer locate the slightest trace of Tongtian's aura.
"Zhen Yuanzi! You—" Saint Zhunti's voice carried suppressed fury.
"Saint!" Zhen Yuanzi interrupted unceremoniously, holding the Earth Book with a cold expression. "Today is the day of my fruit banquet. Your disciples came uninvited, disrupted the grand feast, and even attempted to forcibly seize a spiritual root. Could it be you truly take my Longevity Mountain for something easily bullied? If you wish to fight, I shall accompany you to the end!"
He directly tore away all pretense, pointing the spearhead squarely at the Western Teachings and the Chan Teachings! With the Earth Book in hand and relying upon the ley lines of Longevity Mountain, he possessed the confidence to briefly stand at a standoff with a Saint!
Saint Zhunti fell silent for a moment, seemingly weighing the pros and cons. In the end, that saintly will slowly receded, leaving behind only a single cold remark: "Take care of yourselves!"
The saintly might dissipated, and the hall fell into absolute silence.
Maitreya, Guangchengzi, and the others wore expressions that were unsightly to the extreme. Having plotted for so long and mobilized in such great numbers—even drawing a Saint to intervene—they had actually ended up in this state! Tongtian had escaped, Lu Ya had disrupted the game, and Zhen Yuanzi had flipped the table; they had gained nothing at all and instead forged a deep enmity.
A meticulously planned "Hongmen Banquet" had unexpectedly concluded in such a wretched manner that no one could have anticipated.
At this moment, the true protagonist, Tongtian, was deeply hidden beneath the earth, a sneer lingering at the corners of his mouth.
"Step one is complete."
His gaze had already cast itself toward the undercurrent-churning Heavenly River.
Next, it was time to go collect some interest.
Before you continue