Yang Jian slowly pressed his lips together in the middle of the dust-choked battlefield.
He watched the two figures fighting with all their might near Rashomon, unable to speak for a moment.
Ever since Ibaraki Doji had transformed, the battle had turned around. The monk whom Yang Jian and Ibaraki had previously fought together was now locked in an evenly matched struggle with Ibaraki alone.
Bitterness welled up in Yang Jian's heart.
"When will I be able to cast off the shackles in my heart...?"
Yang Jian had spent many years among the Heavenly Court. Though amiable, he had always been cautious, afraid of both the wolf ahead and the tiger behind.
He could not abandon everything and fight an enemy to the death as a monster could.
He still had ties in this world that he could not sever. What would happen if he carelessly died in battle?
And what would happen if the other Immortals learned that he possessed enough strength to contend with a Heavenly Venerable...?
Maudgalyayana could not escape Ibaraki Doji's "Rashomon Formation" at all. He could only fight his opponent within its confines.
But the Demon Blade in Ibaraki Doji's hand was brutally overpowering. Every time it cut into Maudgalyayana's flesh, its Yokai Aura grew stronger.
Although Maudgalyayana's flesh kept regenerating, the Demon Blade's power was also steadily increasing.
It seemed that Ibaraki Doji's victory was only a matter of time.
Yang Jian had just begun to relax when he suddenly noticed that Ibaraki Doji's expression was off. His own Yokai Aura was gradually thinning, and even his right hand, which held the Demon Blade, had begun to tremble slightly.
"It seems that blade isn't just absorbing Maudgalyayana's flesh. It's absorbing its wielder's Yokai Aura too..."
Yang Jian's expression grew grave, and his right hand