As the celestial phenomenon appeared, the mighty cultivators wandering Mount Buzhou like headless flies were all invigorated. Their eyes blazed with fervor.
The Three Pure Ones, Nuwa and Fuxi, Di Jun and Taiyi, and the others didn't hesitate for a moment. They transformed into streaks of light and sped toward the heart of the phenomenon with their fastest escape techniques.
Meanwhile.
High above the clouds, Tianlu still seemed perfectly relaxed.
The fruit in his claws was no longer a Huangzhong Plum.
The nearly thousand Huangzhong Plums had all been eaten as snacks over the past millennium.
Now, he had switched to Ren Water Flat Peaches.
He took a bite, and juice burst out.
After eating so many fruits from Supreme-Grade Xiantian Spiritual Roots, the Law of Merit accumulated inside Tianlu had grown to an unfathomable level. Even he had lost count of just how much merit he had.
He only knew that the merit stored within him could let a mortal being in the later ages ascend to the heavens in a single leap and attain Peak Daluo Golden Immortal Stage.
Now, as he saw the Xiantian Gourd Vine finally emerge below, surrounded by ten thousand rays of rosy light—
Tianlu casually tossed the peach pit into his Abdominal Space, brushed the crumbs off his claws, and spoke excitedly.
"It's finally out. I've been waiting forever."
"Come on, let's divide the spoils!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the soft, fluffy Cloud Treasure beneath Tianlu's feet blazed with light. Carrying him, it shot toward the radiant spot halfway up Mount Buzhou as a brilliant golden streak.
At the site where the Xiantian Gourd Vine had emerged, the mighty cultivators had already gathered.
As far as the eye could see, every being able to hold their ground in the area radiated the supreme might of a Daluo Golden Immortal. They were all peerless divine beings.
As for those at the Primordial Unity Golden Immortal level, they weren't even qualified to approach this land of Creation.
More than twenty Daluo Golden Immortals stood in separate groups, locked in a stalemate.
Just as the deadlock set in, Tianlu leisurely descended from the clouds on his Cloud Treasure.
He landed right in the middle of the gathered mighty cultivators, brazen as you please, a mere stone's throw from the Xiantian Gourd Vine.
Looking at the solemn faces of the Three Pure Ones, Di Jun, Taiyi, and the others, Tianlu couldn't help grumbling to himself.
They weren't fighting or snatching anything. They just stood there, staring at one another. What was the point?!
This opportunity was right in front of them. Did they expect it to grow legs and leap into their arms?
A sly smile flickered in Tianlu's eyes.
Since none of them had the nerve to make the first move, then he, Lord Tianlu, would do them a good deed and break this boring deadlock!
In an instant, Tianlu roared furiously, his body swelling with the wind until he became a golden beast ten thousand zhang tall. He summoned the power of the Law of Devouring and opened his enormous, blood-filled jaws.
He intended to swallow the Xiantian Gourd Vine, wreathed in seven-colored light, along with the Nine Heavens Breathing Soil beneath it, straight into his Abdominal Space.
The Three Pure Ones, Di Jun, Taiyi, and the other Daluo Golden Immortals were aghast.
They had never imagined Tianlu would be so audacious as to snatch food from a tiger's mouth right under the noses of more than twenty Daluo Golden Immortals. They immediately berated him and attacked in a fury without the slightest hesitation.
In the crowd—
Nuwa and Fuxi were already on good terms with Tianlu.
Faced with this sudden turn of events, the siblings stood frozen, at a loss.
At that moment—
Faced with the attacks of so many mighty cultivators, each powerful enough to send a Daluo Golden Immortal straight to the afterlife, Tianlu didn't even blink.
His swallowing motion didn't pause for an instant. His black-hole-like jaws sucked in sharply, uprooting the Xiantian Gourd Vine that had been nurtured for countless ages, along with a huge chunk of spiritual soil beneath it, and swallowing them whole.
The moment the treasures entered his belly, more than twenty devastating attacks were already upon him.
With a thought from Tianlu, boundless light of Creation burst from his body.
In an instant, a Twenty-Four Petal Creation Green Lotus, radiating boundless, profound aura, rose from within him.
The lotus spun swiftly, sending down billions of strands of azure Creation Immortal Light that shielded Tianlu's ten-thousand-zhang body.
Terrifying explosions rang out one after another, shaking the void, yet they could not budge the immortal light of the Creation Green Lotus.
The mighty cultivators, the Three Pure Ones among them, stared at the slowly revolving lotus, their eyes filled with disbelief.
The Xiantian Supreme Treasure, the Creation Green Lotus?!
It stood above the other Twelve-Grade Lotus Platforms, but so what?
There were so many of them here, while Tianlu stood alone. So what if he possessed an Xiantian Supreme Treasure?
With that thought, the Three Pure Ones and the others prepared to launch an even more ferocious second round of attacks on Tianlu.
But just then, a sudden change occurred.
The clear sky turned pitch-black in an instant. Purple light spread, and thunder rolled.
More than twenty bolts of Purple Heaven Divine Lightning, each as thick as a mountain, tore through the sky and struck the very ones who had just attacked Tianlu.
The Three Pure Ones and the others were stunned. What on earth was going on?!
Taiqing Laozi reacted swiftly. The Heaven and Earth Profound Yellow Exquisite Pagoda appeared above his head, pouring down Mysterious Yellow Qi like a waterfall.
Yuqing Yuanshi and Shangqing Tongtian didn't dare slack off either. They hurriedly poured their vast Daluo magic power into the pagoda, bolstering its defense.
Elsewhere, the other divine beings brought out their own Numinous Treasures to fend off the sudden Purple Heaven Divine Lightning.
Nuwa and Fuxi, who hadn't attacked Tianlu, stood safely to one side.
Watching the mighty cultivators scramble under the Purple Heaven Divine Lightning, they were filled with confusion. What was happening?!
As the deafening peals of thunder gradually faded, the lingering might of the Purple Heaven Divine Lightning finally dissipated, and a deathly silence fell over the scene.
Though the mighty cultivators who had just weathered the lightning had Numinous Treasures to protect them and hadn't suffered grave injuries, they were all battered and their auras were in disarray.
They tried to figure out why the Heavenly Dao had suddenly struck them with divine lightning.
But the hot-tempered Taiyi had no time to consider any of that.
He poured the vast magic power of a Daluo Golden Immortal into the Chaos Bell with reckless abandon.
With a thunderous boom, the bell's toll became tangible waves of destruction, tearing through the layers of void around them.
The Chaos Bell swelled to ten thousand zhang. Sun, moon, and stars revolved across its surface, while Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind swirled around it. It smashed viciously toward Tianlu's ten-thousand-zhang golden Pixiu form.
At that critical moment, another change arose above the heavens.
The black Tribulation Cloud that had already dispersed unexpectedly gathered again in an instant.
"Rumble!"
The Purple Heaven Divine Lightning struck once more.
This time, the lightning didn't scatter. A single, laser-focused bolt of Purple Heaven Divine Lightning slammed into the unprepared Taiyi.
"Ah!"
"This pain is unbearable!"
Taiyi let out a wretched scream. The Xiantian Supreme Treasure, the Chaos Bell, also gave a mournful cry as the lightning struck it. Its light dimmed, and it flew back to his waist.
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