"Pfft!"
The gleaming spear plunged into Wu Mengqiu's abdomen. The False Core expert, who had loved beauty all his life and had made the Wu Family a dominant force in Lantian Town, let his eyelids droop as the last trace of life left him. Li Dalong's Dantian Fire burned within his soul.
It also heralded the end of the Lantian Wu Family.
The Li Family had suffered no casualties in this battle. The villagers who had come from Zhien Village, using Spirit Artifacts and the Spear Forest Array to wear down the enemy in the first wave, headed back to Zhien Village.
The Li Family's experts at Foundation Establishment Realm and above, meanwhile, cleaned up the battlefield, gathered their equipment, and headed for the heart of Silver Iron Forest.
"Good!"
Standing at home before the big screen, Li Xiang was still immersed in the game. His real body slapped his thigh, his face full of satisfaction.
The Li Family used to be timid and submissive. Now they were striking with iron fists!
The Lantian Wu Family was stronger than either of the two great families in Tailin Town in every way. But now?
The battle had ended in ten minutes!
Yet as his excitement rose,
Li Xiang's expression gradually turned grave.
As he controlled the War Puppet toward the heart of Silver Iron Forest, he could already sense the powerful aura coming from afar.
That proved the pressure was coming from the battle between the Demon King inside and the Golden Core experts!
The Golden Core Realm was the true threshold for cultivators. That was why the False Core Stage existed. A full-strength strike from one of them could turn a thousand meters of land to ash!
The False Core Stage was already extremely close to the Golden Core Realm.
But an expert at the False Core Stage would probably last only a few moves against a Golden Core expert!
It was said that throughout Taiqing County, apart from the two sects behind the scenes, fewer than ten Golden Core experts existed.
Before long,
Li Xiang had guided the War Puppet to the center of Silver Iron Forest, along with the Li Family experts and numerous spirit beasts.
The valley where Li Xiang and the others had arrived had been flattened, leaving a vast crater like an enormous iron wok. The dense spiritual energy kept everyone from approaching, and the high-level pressure alone had already weakened their combat strength.
The Pig Demon King was battling Master Shancai. The two hovered in midair, surrounded by fields of energy!
[Warning: Spiritual energy output ahead exceeds the machine's load capacity. Do not enter!]
As soon as it drew near, the War Puppet issued a warning.
Li Xiang knew just how powerful the Golden Core Realm was. The War Puppet couldn't possibly stand against it.
He frowned as he watched the battlefield.
The Pig Demon King's true form was the Mingtu Yinluo Boar. It wielded earth and dark energy as its foundation, and huge spikes burst from all around the valley, shaking the earth. The ground seemed to come alive, and the spikes moved like extensions of its limbs as they stabbed toward Master Shancai.
Most troubling of all was the intensely corrosive aura clinging to the spikes, trying to eat away at the protective Buddhist light around Master Shancai.
Master Shancai's Buddhist cultivation was profound.
He held a golden Zen staff in his right hand. The prayer beads around his neck had fallen into his left, and as he touched them and chanted scripture, an Arhat Golden Body appeared behind him, as large as the Pig Demon King. The Arhat easily smashed the demonic spikes with its bare hands. The moment the spikes, wrapped in black energy, met their natural enemy, they vanished.
In their place, one enormous palm print after another appeared on the ground!
Li Xiang could tell
that neither of them had yet gone all out. They were using their powers to probe each other, but the Pig Demon King was clearly at a disadvantage!
"Ancestor, should we go help now?"
Li Dalong asked the ancestral tablet. He felt the pressure from the battlefield and trembled.
"Wait."
Li Xiang typed a message on the Purple Thunder Heavenly Sun Python's profile.
A battle between mid-Golden Core experts was no place for ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators. Even the shockwaves could injure them. But Li Xiang was certain that with so many spirit beasts present, including six False Core experts' worth of support, they could defeat Monk Shancai.
But they could only win. If Monk Shancai wanted to flee, no one could stop him. The Li Family would never know peace again!
Li Xiang waited. Half an hour had already passed, and he was like a seasoned hunter.
At his command, the spirit beasts and Li Family members beside him waited anxiously, not daring to let out the slightest hint of their auras.
"Amitabha."
Monk Shancai stood on a golden lotus in midair. The golden rings on his Zen staff jingled as he fought on. He hadn't suffered a single injury, though his aura had weakened somewhat. Wearing a compassionate smile, he said, "You vile beast have harmed countless people. But my Buddha is merciful. I pity you for the difficulty of cultivating for a thousand years. Why not come with me to Qingsong Temple, listen to the Buddhist teachings, and wash away your sins?"
"Do not bring calamity upon the countless living creatures of Silver Iron Forest any longer."
This was the first time Monk Shancai had spoken after fighting for so long.
Now he was talking about Buddhist teachings because he, too, had begun to worry. The seven great families were supposed to gather and defeat the Pig Demon King together, but half an hour had passed and no reinforcements had appeared.
The Demon King might be weaker than him, but Monk Shancai had no wish to risk his life in a fight to the death.
"Hmph!"
The Pig Demon King answered only with a cold snort.
Though covered in wounds, it still carried the bearing of a Demon King.
Its demonic arts flashed into motion. It knew it was no match for Monk Shancai, and if the fight dragged on, it would be the one to suffer. So it unleashed its full strength!
In an instant,
the valley shook as sinister winds swept through it. One enormous stone pillar after another rose around the Pig Demon King, a hundred meters away, and surged toward Monk Shancai, carrying the corrosive force of the dark wind!
Its bristles stood on end as it rose into the air.
A phantom demonic head formed in the dark clouds blanketing the sky. It stretched out a demonic hand, seeking to seize Monk Shancai!
"Still stubborn? If my Buddha will not save you today, then I shall cast you into the Eighteen Levels of Hell on his behalf, you wicked beast, where you will never be reborn!"
At the sight, Monk Shancai grew solemn as well.
He knew this was the Pig Demon King's killing move. If he didn't give it everything he had, there was no telling who would live or die today!
He flung his prayer beads into the air. The eighteen beads shone brilliantly as they rose in a ring, dispersing the dark clouds overhead. It was clearly an extraordinary Spirit Artifact.
"Qingsong Buddhist Dharma, Ageless Golden Pine, Merciful Vajra, manifest!"
Monk Shancai roared.
The monk's robe he wore was also a Spirit Artifact. Its golden trim formed golden vines that spread toward the sky. As they advanced, the vines twisted together at a visible speed, forming a gleaming golden Vajra Arhat!
Monk Shancai's Zen staff rose into the air and grew larger, landing in the Vajra Arhat's hand.
The Arhat's furious roar resounded throughout the valley, accompanied by the jingling of the rings on its Zen staff.
From somewhere came the deep toll of a bronze bell.
Master Shancai, whose fame had spread far and wide throughout Taiqing County, truly was extraordinary!
Master Shancai had brought out every last trump card.
He could already see this ungrateful Pig Demon King going to meet the Buddha!
But right then,
his expression changed.
"Now!"
A shout rang out in the distance.
Monk Shancai saw dozens of demon beasts charge into the battlefield without a care for their lives, hurling every kind of demonic art at him in a downpour!
He even saw...
"It's the Li Family, one of the seven great families—the Purple Thunder Heavenly Sun Python!"
"Bastards!"
Monk Shancai was furious. He understood at once: he had meant to capture a Demon King as a mount, or perhaps obtain materials for crafting a Spirit Artifact, but instead he'd stumbled into trouble he should never have gotten mixed up in!
He also understood that nothing he said now would help.
However profound his Buddhist cultivation, he couldn't possibly stand against all these reckless spirit beasts and the Pig Demon King working together.
"Run!"
The Vajra Arhat swept its arm to block the Spirit Artifacts, and Monk Shancai prepared to flee.
"Boom!"
Suddenly, he narrowed his eyes.
A gigantic puppet hurtled toward him at incredible speed, flames blasting from its feet and back. It carried no weapon, only...
a Silver Coffin?
[Mecha engine consumption has reached 100%... 120%. Machine body damage is imminent!]
[Warning! You have entered the attack range of a mid-Golden Core expert!]
[Target is attacking you. Scanning... Evade immediately. Spiritual energy far exceeds load capacity...]
"Over my dead body! Charge!"
Controlling the War Puppet, Li Xiang felt the spiritual energy pressing in all around him. Before him, the Arhat Golden Body behind Monk Shancai had even found time to strike out with a five-meter-wide palm print, yet Li Xiang remained perfectly calm!
He turned and spun around!
The War Puppet barely dodged the palm print, but the shockwave still smashed off its right arm and right leg.
The War Puppet could even see the flesh beneath the broken-off third of its body!
[Machine body severely damaged. Leave the battlefield immediately and begin automatic repairs!]
Li Xiang ignored the warning.
He knew all too well that if the fat monk didn't die, the Li Family's future would be bleak!
Compared to the lives of the Li Family's descendants, this priceless War Puppet was nothing!
He raced past the palm print, the roar of destruction behind him.
Monk Shancai struck at him again with another palm print.
But this time,
Li Xiang didn't dodge.
"I'm counting on you!"
Li Xiang gripped the Death-Stilling Heavenly Coffin. He could even feel it shuddering repeatedly as it met the power of Buddha!
On the screen,
[The Death-Stilling Heavenly Coffin's artifact spirit has encountered Buddhist power it detests!]
Li Xiang had seen the game's warning as soon as he arrived at the battlefield.
He had already decided to use the Death-Stilling Heavenly Coffin as his trump card.
Otherwise, Li Dalong wouldn't have brought this treasure along!
"That's close enough!"
Seeing that the War Puppet had enough strength to hurl the Death-Stilling Heavenly Coffin at Monk Shancai, Li Xiang didn't hesitate for a moment.
He flung the Death-Stilling Heavenly Coffin at him!
"W-what is that?!"
Monk Shancai wore an expression of terror unlike any he'd shown, even when facing the Pig Demon King's full strength.
The Silver Coffin easily smashed through the palm print struck by his Vajra Arhat!
And then...
As it neared the Vajra Arhat behind him, even the Vajra Zen Staff couldn't budge the Silver Coffin. The coffin knocked the staff aside, then slowly opened before his despairing eyes, revealing a dark space that swallowed the entire Vajra Arhat.
It was like an ancient beast with an insatiable hunger!
Even he, who had manifested the Arhat Golden Body, was caught up in it.
The Silver Coffin was venting its fury on him. The pressure of a top-grade Spirit Treasure left him unable to stay airborne!
At the same time,
the Pig Demon King, the dozens of spirit beasts, and every Li Family member unleashed their spells and martial arts upon him!
Before you continue