Zen Master Deadwood's expression turned grave, and he swiftly reported the situation to the Great Wheel Temple.
Before long, a decree arrived from the Great Wheel Temple. Not only did it dispatch several arhats and vajras skilled in combat and armed with Buddhist treasures to lend their aid, it also hinted that, if necessary, Master Pu Nan, the Iron-Armed Arhat and Hall Chief of the Ascetic Court, might personally emerge from seclusion to oversee the battle.
For a time, Buddhist light shone even more brilliantly inside and outside the Golden Light Temple, and the sounds of chanting and drills rang out without end.
Several renowned monks from other temples throughout the Nanzhao Kingdom arrived at the Golden Light Temple to lend their strength.
The year passed swiftly amid tense preparations for battle.
In the blink of an eye, the appointed day arrived.
Above the Earthfire Spirit Vein at Crouching Ox Mountain.
Over the once scorching, barren mountain range, both sides had already used immense magical power to temporarily construct ten enormous floating stone platforms as battle arenas.
Layers of restrictions surrounded the arenas to keep the shock waves of combat from injuring the spectators.
The sky was high and the clouds thin that day, yet the atmosphere was suffocatingly heavy.
From the eastern horizon, the leaders of the Nanzhao Daoist Alliance's various sects came in a mighty procession led by Song Zifeng of Qingyun Temple. Alongside them were Qi Yue, Liu Meng, Tu Gang, Four Seas Hermit, Hanchi True Person, and others from the Rogue Cultivator Alliance, leading several thousand elite disciples and alliance cultivators. Daoist energy surged into the heavens, and magical treasures blazed with dazzling light.
On the western horizon, Zen Master Clear Mind, abbot of the Golden Light Temple, stood beside Zen Master Deadwood. Behind them were