Battle Against the Sect Leader

Southern Sumeru fell into a deathly silence.

The monks trembled in terror, the Buddhas wore bewildered expressions, and even Past Buddha's eyelids began to twitch violently.

Not to mention anyone else—even Houtu, staring blankly at the additional figures beside her, suddenly felt a chill crawl down her spine.

Setting the others aside, Northern Pole Emperor was someone she had personally watched Shen Yi shatter the imperial body of with a single blow, erasing him from the Heavenly Dao.

Yet the purple-robed middle-aged man before them brimmed with vital aura, his imperial might shrouding Buddha Cliff. His foundations were not the least bit weaker than before.

"Fake?"

That was the Buddhas' first reaction.

But very quickly, they noticed the subtle changes in the expressions of those three first-rank titans—from confusion, to emotion, and then gradually into the resolve of men staking everything on one throw.

The blazing killing intent could not have been more real.

"You dare betray the two sects and work for the Demon Emperor?"

Past Buddha drew a deep breath, his gaze settling particularly on Joyful True Buddha among the three.

He did not care what the Emperors were thinking, but Joyful, as one of the Nine Buddhas who had long attended Present Buddha's side, surely understood the enormous gulf between transcendence and the first rank.

Shen Yi had no chance of victory whatsoever.

What gave this True Buddha the nerve to stand behind him?

Joyful True Buddha remained silent, a flicker of struggle surfacing in his eyes.

But before long, an even denser viciousness replaced that struggle.

After these days of imprisonment, they had long since thought everything through.

Not only were their lives entirely in Shen Yi's hands, leaving them unable to resist, but their Dao Fruits and attainments had now been transferred from the Heavenly