Magical Combat (Part 2)

"The great master has keen eyes!"

Zhou Yi's words were a deliberate jab—Ku Bu Luohan had gouged out his own eyes to cultivate.

Purple Sun Sword Qi, Golden Crow Dharma Sword, and the Arhat Silver Corpse formed a trinity of exquisite coordination.

The sword qi relied on speed, the dharma sword on sharpness, and the silver corpse on brute force!

Zhou Yi had only recently broken through to Innate Grandmaster, but thanks to Old Ancestor Tai Yin, he could already hold his own against seasoned veterans in single combat.

The Heavenly Corpse Sect's silver corpse, passed down for two centuries, had been refined with countless physical enhancements that surpassed even the Arhat Golden Body.

The Buddhist Sect's golden body technique was heavily suppressed by the Arhat Silver Corpse.

Old Ancestor Tai Yin's confidence in securing the Grand Tutor position rested entirely on his unmatched zombie form.

Boom boom boom!

Each collision thundered like drumbeats.

The silver corpse met the enemy head-on, forcibly overpowering the Arhat Golden Body.

Zhou Yi used his sword qi and dharma sword to strike at weak points, leaving Ku Bu Luohan, surrounded at the center, with only the ability to defend.

Yet Ku Bu Luohan, after one hundred and twenty years of ascetic practice—blind, deaf, and mute—had cultivated a supreme Buddhist secret art.

Mind Telepathy.

This art did not read minds but granted precognition.

Zhou Yi's Swift Sword Intent, famed as the fastest sword under heaven, combined with the Golden Crow Dharma Sword and the silver corpse's suppression, still couldn't bring down Ku Bu Luohan.

At every critical moment, Ku Bu always evaded the fatal blow.

Ku Bu Luohan wielded only the Great Demon Subduing Fist, stubbornly holding out against the three-pronged assault.

Zhou Yi felt like he was attacking a turtle—no matter the angle, front, side, or all over, there was a thick shell.

And this turtle could predict every strike!

It was like having nowhere to bite!

"This man may be blind, but he's opened his mind's eye—more troublesome than someone with sight!"

Zhou Yi remained calm: "Defeat is only a matter of time, but this Magical Combat won't be decided by these three Luohans alone!"

While Ku Bu Luohan struggled to hold on, the other two Buddhist Luohans, Pu Zhao and Du E, were in far worse shape.

Facing two opponents each, and with the Daoists seizing the initiative, they were on the verge of defeat.

Pu Zhao Luohan, the eldest, could no longer unleash his full strength and fell first.

The Azure and Crimson Twin Swords sliced off one of Pu Zhao's arms.

The Daoist True Men were not skilled in rhetoric, but their hands were ruthless.

Tai Yuan and Tai Su, with their youthful complexions and kind eyes, struck to kill without hesitation during Magical Combat.

"Amitabha."

Pu Zhao intoned a Buddhist chant as a Sarira rose into the air. He shouted, "Pu Du Ci Hang, make your move now!"

A Sarira was the condensed essence of a deceased senior Buddhist monk, akin to a heavenly treasure.

Buddhist cultivators were poor at Artifact Crafting and alchemy, but they could wield Sariras to unleash various divine techniques.

"The blissful realm of the South, the descent of the Tathagata from the Western Paradise!"

As the voice spoke, a wave of Buddhist chanting arrived—not calming the mind, but gratingly harsh, stirring endless irritation.

Tai Su Daoist exclaimed in shock, "Pu Du Ci Hang?"

"Pu Du Ci Hang!"

Guan Lan Zi acknowledged with a wave, withdrawing the Four Symbols Array Flags from the encirclement and planting them in the four cardinal directions.

"Finish off the three quickly; I'll hold off Pu Du Ci Hang!"

With that, he bit his tongue and spat a mouthful of heart blood onto the Four Symbols Array Flags.

"Four Symbols without limit, heaven and earth unbreakable!"

The Four Symbols Array Flags transformed instantly, severing inside from outside, pushing the remaining monks, Daoists, and Crown Prince Li Zhu out of the battlefield.

Only three monks, four Daoists, Zhou Yi, and the silver corpse remained within.

With five against three, if they could block Pu Du Ci Hang for just a moment, today's three Buddhist Luohans would ascend to paradise.

The Four Symbols Array Flags were a century-old heirloom of White Crane Temple, forged from Earth Water Wind Fire—four types of spiritual iron. The flags sealed the souls of four spirit beasts: the Fire Crow, Earth Bear, Dark Serpent, and Wind Wolf.

Once activated, the Four Symbols cycled endlessly, unbreakable unless all four flags were destroyed simultaneously.

"Boundless Buddha's mercy, turn back from the shore! Fellow cultivators, why be misled by worldly power? Why not ascend to the Western Paradise together?"

Pu Du Ci Hang's voice arrived with his presence, stepping through the air with golden lotuses blooming under each foot, like a Buddha descending.

A single palm struck the Four Symbols Formation, and a crisp crack sounded.

The Fire Crow Array Flag could not bear the strain, a tear splitting its banner.

Fire Crow Spirit Beast Soul let out a mournful cry as a several-zhang-long dragon of flame scorched toward Pu Du Ci Hang.

Dark Serpent, Earth Bear, and Wind Wolf—three spirit beasts manifested their true forms within the formation, each exuding a spiritual pressure comparable to an Innate Grandmaster.

"If four spirit beasts had formed the Four Symbols Formation, this Buddha might have been cautious! But four beast souls dare to act so arrogantly!"

Pu Du Ci Hang's dharma robe blazed with golden light, and a surge of authoritative qi directly suppressed the four spirit souls, rendering them immobile.

"Dragon Qi?"

"It's a false dragon!"

"How dare Pu Du Ci Hang do this?"

"Is he not afraid of backlash from the Incense and Fire Prayer Power, scattering his soul to the winds!"

Voices trembled with shock. The four Daoist True Men could not fathom Pu Du Ci Hang's intent.

Buddha Dao cultivators dared not touch even a wisp of True Dragon Qi, yet he had refined it into his body and used it to cast techniques.

The four spirit souls, sealed within the formation flags after death, barred from reincarnation, were most vulnerable to Incense and Fire Prayer Power.

Zhou Yi, however, showed no surprise. He even knew where Pu Du Ci Hang's dragon qi came from—he wondered how many officials of the Great Jing Court were still alive.

"This Buddha will send you to reincarnation!"

Pu Du Ci Hang pointed a finger, and a stream of Black-Gold Mixed Dragon Qi pierced straight through the Fire Crow Spirit Soul.

Screech!

The Fire Crow let out a piercing cry before dissolving into sparks of flame.

Reincarnation? Hardly—it was outright soul annihilation.

"Ptoo! You bald donkey, you've ruined my artifact!"

Guan Lan Zi's heartblood-refined artifact was shattered. A hint of sweetness rose in his throat, and he spat a mouthful of blood onto the ground, his face instantly turning pale.

"Tai Su, Tai Yuan, fellow Daoists, finish this quickly!"

Xuan Qing Zi shifted his thunder technique, blasting it toward Pu Du Ci Hang.

Thunder techniques were most effective against yin and evil. Given that Pu Du Ci Hang's dragon qi was clearly counterfeit, it fell into the category of demonic arts.

Supreme Heavenly Demon Subduing Thunder Law!

White Crane Temple was a direct lineage of the Maoshan tradition, and its thunder techniques—supremely yang and rigid—were renowned across the land.

Dozens of thunderbolts wove into a net, crashing down like a canopy.

Earth Bear, Dark Serpent, and Wind Wolf—three beast souls, grieving for their fallen kin—roared in fury as they charged upward from below.

True Men Tai Yuan and Tai Su also struck with full force, slaying the three Luohans to encircle Pu Du Ci Hang.

Zhou Yi ordered the Silver Corpse to hold off Ku Bu Luohan while he himself turned and soared into the air, like a swooping eagle, leaving later but arriving first.

Martial arts leading to the Dao—when it came to pure slaughter, it surpassed the path of spellcasting by a notch.

"Amitabha."

"The Buddha descends into the world!"

Pu Du Ci Hang pressed his palms together and chanted the Buddha's name. A golden Buddha, over ten zhang tall, sat cross-legged in the void.

The tallest building in the capital was no more than three or four zhang high. The appearance of a ten-plus-zhang Golden Buddha sent countless commoners in the capital to their knees in worship.

Golden light radiated in all directions; faint Buddhist chants echoed.

"The sea of suffering has no shore!"

"Turn your head, and the shore is there!"

"The sea of suffering has no shore!"

"Turn your head, and the shore is there..."

Each Buddha's voice resounded directly in everyone's hearts.

Neither closing the five senses nor sealing the soul could block the Buddhist Sect.

The three beast souls, once raging with fury and seething with hatred, now bathed in Buddha Light and chanting, had all their enmity dissolve as they sat cross-legged.

The thunder net struck the Golden Buddha, only raising a single ripple.

Zhou Yi condensed a True Yuan Flying Sword beneath his feet and shot backward. This turn of events was indeed unexpected.

By his original estimate, Pu Du Ci Hang's strength was at most equivalent to three or four Innate Grandmasters. His senior brother, Yan Chixia, could still trade a few rounds with him.

With Guan Lan Zi and Xuan Qing Zi joining forces, they should have been able to stall until the three Luohans were slain, then turn to eliminate Pu Du Ci Hang. Zhou Yi was ninety percent sure he could seize the Grand Tutor position.

Daoist True Men had no interest in being Grand Tutor; they fought for the position only to counter the Buddhist Sect's influence. Once Pu Du Ci Hang died, they would likely return to their temples to cultivate in seclusion.

Unfortunately, Pu Du Ci Hang was far too strong.

To put it bluntly, Pu Du Ci Hang alone could crush all four Daoist True Men.

And that wasn't even counting the three Buddhist Luohans!