Magnanimity

Of course, the Mountain Lord wouldn't be defeated so easily with just one move.

The defining characteristic of the Moshan sect is their willingness to risk their lives in every sense of the word.

Although the centipede-like Tai Su Dao Body was shattered and reduced to dust by a single move, it was as if only the mountain lord's robes had been torn apart.

At this moment, the mountain lord transformed back into human form, descended from the sky, and landed back on the earthen mound.

He was bare-chested, revealing the bronze-toned muscles of a devil-like man, and even his arms had grown back. Except for the word "" on his forehead, which was still bright red, he had fought continuously and received such an earth-shattering punch, but it seemed that there was no damage at all!

However, the situation remains extremely dangerous and severe.

Li Fan knew all too well that the Mo Shan Dao relied on brute force to subdue people, neglecting technique. Almost all of their Daoist methods involved passively stacking states, relying on physical strength and sharp punches and kicks to charge head-on into battle.

But at this moment, the destructive power of the manifested fist has far surpassed the strength of the Dao body of a Dao God in the Enlightenment Stage!

Good heavens! The earth shook! What does 480 layers of powerful fist techniques even mean?

Li Fan was completely baffled, and the manifestation before him was still expanding its chest, bending over, and stretching its arms! It hadn't even released the Gang Fist state! This meant that for him, 480 layers was not the limit of risking his life! Just like Zhang Xiang's daily Gang Fist body training, it was merely a warm-up before the main competition!

There's really not much left to fight here...

God knows the limit of manifestation, how many Heavy Gang Fists are there?

Just like with the Emei Daoist Sword Slaughtering Heavenly Brother Yu just now, it doesn't matter how many Daoist bodies the Mountain Lord cultivates. He can just punch you with a normal attack and blow you up!

Oh no... I can't believe you, the head of a dignified sect, the direct descendant of the Profound Maiden, are actually practicing body cultivation? Where's your integrity?! In this world of cultivation, is there even anyone left who cultivates immortality???

Xuan Tian: "No, you're mistaken. This isn't body refinement. The Xuan Girl Heavenly Book, if refined to its ultimate state, looks like this. That Peng Lai fellow is even stronger than Xing Yun..."

Holy crap?

Then the mountain lord took a deep breath, stretched out his arms, and his muscles suddenly swelled tenfold! His veins bulged, his hair danced wildly, and his skin turned bronze! In an instant, he grew to four zhang tall!

His mouth was bared with fangs, his eyes were bloodshot, and his ten fingers were like steel blades, bursting forth! He seemed to have transformed into a crimson demon! Beneath every muscle, there was an unbelievable and terrifying power!

"Four hundred and eighty heavy... Gang Fist!"

Holy crap...

Does everyone know this trick? Should he hurry up and learn it too?

Li Fan has become emotionally numb.

Manifestation chuckled, "Back then, when you punched me and let that scoundrel escape, I've been thinking of returning the favor. It turns out that using it repeatedly has proven quite effective. It seems the old tricks left behind by the Immortal Venerable aren't all useless. A fall into the pit, a gain in your wit, right? This time, we'll all use the same moves, so I'm sure you'll be convinced. Barefoot thief, what new tricks do you have up your sleeve? Show them all!"

The Daoist Lord, who had manifested behind him, coughed and reminded him, "Sect Leader, stop playing around, be careful Emei doesn't realize what's happening."

"It's nothing," Manifestation chuckled and waved his hand. "It was just a punch or two. You don't need to get involved."

The two Daoist masters exchanged a glance and could only shrug.

That wasn't just a punch or two; both sides were unleashing powerful punches reinforced with hundreds of layers of energy. It was a fight to the death—either you crush me or I crush you!

Li Fan felt the situation was really precarious now. After all, judging from the state of these two, their strength was already evident.

Although both were unleashing the 480-fold power of the fist, they appeared thin and frail, speaking casually and with ease. The mountain lord, however, gritted his teeth, his face contorted, clearly overexerted.

"What, aren't you going to attack? Then I'll go over there?" Manifestation smiled, spread his hands towards the mountain lord, and took a step forward...

"You old bastard--!" Suddenly, Fairy Wangshu's angry roar came from the other side of the earthen mound.

Li Fan hurriedly turned his one eye, only managing to glimpse a faintly visible demon god on the horizon. In the darkness, all he could see were countless raging serpents. Then, all those serpent heads opened their pupils simultaneously. From those purple crystal-like pupils, it was as if the Milky Way and stars were twinkling. Purple light, like countless stars, shone brightly, converging into a dazzling radiance that shot straight towards him! Leaving a dazzling trail of light in the darkness! Like a laser cannon, it manifested directly on his right cheek!

Yes, right on!

When Li Fan turned his gaze, he saw the Mountain Lord's right fist strike straight down! It was blocked by the manifested raised elbow! His left arm, with its Ghost Hand, lunged out! But just as it was about to strike the manifested face, his wrist was grabbed, preventing him from advancing an inch!

But because of this, Wangshu refuted the claim that Manifestation had failed!

The next instant, the air pressure and sonic boom generated by the mountain lord's sudden attack arrived in quick succession, sweeping over everything like a bomb thrown at close range. It blasted a huge gap in the earthen mound, and Li Fan was also blasted away, tumbling several times before regaining his footing. Li Wugou was simply buried under the collapsed stone mound, his fate unknown!

When Li Fan raised his head again, the outcome was already decided.

The mountain lord's left hand was torn off, and a huge hole was blasted into his chest!

However, what the mountain lord found most unbelievable was that his full-force attack, also enhanced by the 480-fold Gang Fist, failed to even shatter the manifested elbow!

"What kind of Dao body do you have?"

However, there was no answer. Manifestation tore the red demon in front of him apart, ripped off the huge demon head, his beard was covered in blood, and there was a charred scar on his right eyebrow from the purple laser!

With a gloomy face, he casually tossed the mountain lord's enormous corpse off the earthen mound, holding only the massive head in his hand, and turned to glare at the guy standing behind him watching the show.

"Didn't you say you wouldn't interfere...?"

Daojun helplessly shrugged, took out a flat celadon flowerpot from his sleeve, the kind for planting daffodils, and threw the Yue Lanzi he was carrying in his other hand into it.

"Alright, alright, let's go, Emei is coming."

Another Daoist emerged from the void, carrying Xiang Liu and the Five Mountain Gods wearing masks. He threw the six heads he had just severed into a flowerpot, not even glancing at the scattered Emei flying swords and gold tokens around him.

"Hmph," Manifestation tossed the mountain lord's head to them, then turned and donned his Daoist robes and immortal attire again, wiping away the bloodstains. Standing before Li Fan with an air of otherworldly grace, he bowed his head to meet Li Fan's gaze, "Are you leaving or not?"

"Why don't you just cut my head off too, instead of asking me a question?" Li Fan discovered that he could move again.

Actually, Li Fan wasn't particularly agitated right now. Besides being forced to calm down by the system, he also knew that at this distance, his Gu Guan Method could clearly sense that no one in Mo Shan had died, and his Mind Discernment Technique could detect everyone's pulse. It was just that their Dao bodies had been shattered and their heads had been cut off...

Alas, in short, backwardness invites aggression, and weakness is the original sin...

"What are you dawdling about, Manifestation!"

The two Daoist masters, having performed some kind of incantation, conjured up a massive stone archway with the words "Daiyu" inscribed on it.

The manifestation ignored them and said to Li Fan, "You haven't formally become a disciple of Mo Shan yet, so you're not considered a true disciple of Mo Shan. However, considering that you've recognized my true form twice, you do have the potential to become my disciple. I'll make an exception and give you a chance. Will you come with me?"

Li Fan chuckled and took out a jade pendant from his robes. "Daoist, you've mistaken me. I am Qingyue, a disciple of Lou Guan. I possess all my Daoist certificates and talismans; how could I betray my sect?"

"... Whatever." Manifestation actually let it go, and turned to leave.

Li Fan's eyes suddenly lit up. "Wait! Daoist, you just said that you could exchange the Ancestor Luo's Heavenly Book for the lives of all the Mo Mountain disciples! I wonder if that still stands!"

"Hmph, what, do you have one?"

"Yes!" Li Fan flipped his hand, took out a brush and ink, and, lying on the ground, began to write furiously with both hands. "I'll memorize it right away!"

At this moment, two other Dao Lords approached and said, "Manifestation, what are you still dragging your feet for? Why don't you just take him with you and leave together?"

Manifestation stroked his beard, watching Li Fan prostrate on the ground silently writing the scriptures. He calculated with his fingers, then suddenly frowned, switched hands, calculated again, and shook his head. "No, we can't leave anymore, and there are too many coming..."

"Can't leave?"

The two Dao Lords flashed and leaped over the archway, but still landed on the earthen mound, looking at each other in bewilderment.

"Emei?"

"Not Emei."

As soon as he finished speaking, a golden light suddenly shone from the south, as if the rising sun had suddenly jumped out of the horizon, illuminating the entire dark night sky and revealing in detail the countless bloody corpses and the horrific slaughterhouse of demons on the ground.

Only after the dazzling golden light gradually subsided could one see clearly that it was a floating immortal mountain, with countless palaces and pavilions standing tall, its precious light shining brightly. The auspicious clouds covering an area of several acres, with their seven-colored celestial glow, appeared abruptly in the night sky above Shuofang, just like a mirage.

But it was by no means an illusion, because what was carrying that celestial mountain through the air was a sphere made of flowing, mercury-like metal, radiating surging true energy. The size of the entire sphere was difficult to estimate, but the celestial Immortal Palace built on its outer shell already appeared to be on the scale of the original Penglai Mountain.

The sphere was clearly not a magical artifact from a fantasy novel, and it far exceeded the technological equipment Li Fan remembered. But he clearly remembered that he had faced such a material before.

Yes, the system's reconnaissance ships are also made of the same material.

Have they arrived yet, people from the company?

For some reason, in that instant, the entire sect was slaughtered before their eyes, and the system's greatest enemies also appeared one after another. Their lives were completely in the hands of others, even at the mercy of a single thought from a certain treacherous Yinian most hated Dao Lord.

But Li Fan remained unusually calm.

He calmly used the power of one eye to stare intently at the Immortal Palace that had appeared out of thin air, while simultaneously using both hands to meticulously transcribe the entire book of the Empty Star from memory.

After all, although he himself was not in control of his own life, the lives of all the disciples of Moshan were truly in Li Fan's hands.

"..." Manifestation looked down at Li Fan, who remained unmoved and was writing furiously. Seeing that what he was writing was actually the true scripture, he remained silent for a while, then put his hands behind his back and said, "The Sumera Treasure Mirror is also lost. Even if we take these demon leaders back and torture them, we may not get anything out of them... Alright, it's a deal then."

Upon hearing the sect leader's words, the other two Dao Lords could only shrug. One made a hand seal and waved to put away the archway, while the other held up a paper umbrella and stood behind Li Fan, as if to shield him from the sun.

Manifestation flashed and flew towards the Immortal Palace, revealing its divine form, its voice carrying for miles, its laughter like thunder.

"Hahaha! What kind of wind is this! It's blown Yuntai Peak all the way here!"

Li Fan almost flinched, but the Daoist beside him steadied the brush in his hand. "The sect leader is magnanimous and has spared the lives of you demonic cultivators, but don't mess it up."

Li Fan glared at him, glanced at the flowerpot in the other's hand, remained silent, snatched the pen, and continued writing from memory.

Within the Immortal Palace, a magnificent Dharma image, as large as a mountain, suddenly appeared, revealing a middle-aged civil official wearing a three-beam, seven-inch Jinxian crown with a red tassel, a leather belt with jade, a sash with four-colored brocade of clouds and phoenixes, a white gauze undergarment, a curved collar and square heart, and an outer crown robe. With eagle eyes and a wolf-like demeanor, he possessed an extraordinary bearing and the appearance of a powerful and ruthless leader.

"Brother Dao, you are mistaken. The Hu Barbarians took advantage of the weakness of our Central Plains, invaded our borders, harmed our people, stirred up war, and disturbed the peace of Ziwei. As the acting ruler of the world, it is my duty to act; how could I ignore it? I specially requested the Yuntai Peak to mobilize and come to our aid overnight, but I did not expect to be a step too late for you! Penglai is truly a pillar of the nation! Haha!"

Manifestation, utterly shameless, laughed, "Hahaha! Grand Tutor, you are absolutely right! My Penglai is truly concerned about the safety of the world! A model of orthodox Xuanmen, well deserved! Hahahaha!"

The two of them laughed heartily, their laughter so loud that it shook the distant snow-capped peaks of Yinshan Mountain, causing them to collapse! The earth trembled, and snowflakes danced in the air, appearing from afar like a vast expanse of rosy clouds rising.

Then, one yellow and one black, two streaks of light flew out of the Immortal Palace in an instant, appearing before the manifestation. They were both Dao Lords at the Enlightenment Stage.

That man in yellow was not some remnant of the Yellow Heaven Dao; he was a legitimate Daoist priest. He wore a bright yellow robe, a yellow crown, and carried a peach wood sword on his back. His eyes were white, with pupils shrunken to pinpoints, almost invisible. His eyebrows were thick and long, like brooms pointing skyward, and he had a genuine bull's nose with exceptionally large nostrils.

The Daoist priest in black was a bald, middle-aged man... well, he was none other than Feng Qingniu, the abbot of Ink Bamboo Mountain.

"Daojun, it's been a long time. How have you been?"

"Manifest! How strange! Why aren't you refining pills in the East Sea? What are you plotting this time?"

Strangely, they couldn't see the paper umbrella and what appeared to be three people on the earthen mound.

The manifestation stroked his beard and said, "General of the South, Brother Xu, you've both seen it; I've come to exorcise demons."

"... You? A demon exorcist? You have the time to meddle in these trivial matters?"

The Daoist priest looked suspicious, but seeing the strangely shaped Devil Embryo and beast skeletons scattered Fourth Department the ground, their flesh and blood emanating a malevolent aura, he couldn't find any flaws for the time being.

Guanzhu Feng bowed and said, "Since it's such a coincidence, I wonder if you have seen any disciples of my Lou Guan?"

Manifestation stroked his beard, "Lou Guan's disciple, is he still in the city?"

"Hmph! Another remnant of the Demonic Sect!"

Looking at the dark purple bubbles, Master Xu immediately frowned, raised his hand angrily, and slapped the bubbles.

From his palm, a golden lightning bolt, resembling a flying dragon, shot out and struck the barrier of his Vacuum Home. The spherical city defense barrier was shattered like a bubble. The lightning continued its relentless advance, striking Shuofang City with a deafening boom, blasting a building to pieces and igniting a raging fire.

The mortuary was blasted flat by lightning.

Suddenly, a hideously ugly monster leaped out from the pile of flesh and corpses, bursting from the ground. It looked like a lump of clay made from a mixture of many plants and animals, its body covered in wounds and blood, with bones scattered everywhere. It howled, "Ah Lian! Ah Lian! Ah Lian!" and scurried wildly toward Shuofang City.

The Daoist priest frowned, then flicked his hand and blasted the monster to pieces.

"What the hell did you do, Manifestation?! You actually left your subordinates alive? Are you senile?"

Looking at the scattered pieces of flesh of the monster, Manifestation sighed, "Yes, I'm getting senile. I can't understand how the Heavenly Dao could produce so many monstrous Devil Seed. They are impossible to kill completely..."

"What you say is very true, fellow Daoist," the Grand Tutor's Dharma Image stroked his beard and nodded, "Now the demonic forces in the north are powerful, and monsters are emerging everywhere. It is truly beyond human power to stop them. We can only do our best and leave the rest to fate."

"The war in the west is intense and the losses are heavy. I intend to relocate all the soldiers and civilians of the three towns of Shuofang to the pass to cultivate land and serve as guards. What do you think, brother?"

Manifestation waved its hand, "Do as you please."

The Grand Tutor was quite pleased, "Very good. General Feng, can you save your disciple?"

While they were chatting, the abbot had already flown into the city and circled it once. He shook his head and said, "One more is needed. I am but a humble scholar, so please, Daoist Master, perform a divination for me."

Manifestation, with an air of nonchalance, stroked his beard and gestured with his fingers, saying, "That's alright, let me calculate for a moment..."

"It's finished!" Li Fan tossed the pen aside and handed the scroll to the two old men beside him.

The two of them each grabbed a book, glanced at it, and then nodded.

The next instant, Li Fan's vision blurred, and he found himself holding a flowerpot, summoned to his side with a flick of his sleeve. "Is this the boy?"

The Daoist priest was startled. "Huh? Where did you come from?"

Guanzhu Feng looked at Li Fan and asked, "Qingyue, are you alright?"

Li Fan's entire body was riddled with wounds from the Daoist force and gale, leaving only one eyeball still wide open. His appearance was almost completely ruined. He clung tightly to the flowerpot in his hand. Sensing that the Mo Shan Sect was unharmed, he nodded to the abbot.

"This disciple is unharmed. Thank you for your magnanimity, Daoist Master."

Manifestation didn't say much, just waved and let him go.