"Pfft..." To everyone's shock, Xiao Hua suddenly opened his mouth in an eerie manner, and nine streaks of sword light shot out. In the blink of an eye, they pierced toward the old monk. Most bizarre of all, the nine sword lights had no intention of blocking the Zen staff. They went straight around it, transformed into a giant sword, and violently cleaved at the old monk!
"Boom..." An impact even louder than before rang out as the As-You-Wish Staff struck the old monk's Demon Subduing Pestle. Not only was the pestle shattered and its Buddhist light scattered, but the enormous shockwave also blew the cultivators on the mountain ridge into a stumbling mess. More notably, beneath the As-You-Wish Staff, the old monk's Buddha statue golden body proved unable to withstand the blow and instantly collapsed...
"H-How is this possible?" Haitian was utterly dumbfounded. "J-Just now... Xiao Hua's As-You-Wish Staff didn't seem this powerful! This... this was a Buddhist Protector with upper-grade fourth-rank Yuan force!!!"
Naturally, Haitian had no idea that Xiao Hua's strike also contained the power of the Divine Thought Hammer. Forget one Buddhist Protector with upper-grade fourth-rank Yuan force—even someone with fifth-grade Yuan force might not have been able to escape Xiao Hua's grasp now.
Yet this was not the end of Haitian's nightmare. "Clang..." Another deafening sound rang out as the Zen staff struck Xiao Hua, who had not intended to dodge at all. Countless sparks flew from Xiao Hua's body, and the Zen staff reverted to its original form, yet Xiao Hua remained completely unharmed.
"H-How is this possible?" Haitian groaned, a sense of dread rising in his heart.
"Clang..." Another great crash sounded. The giant sword came slashing down, severing the old monk's enormous arm cleanly without the protection of a Buddhist artifact. Blood