Wuwо wasted no more words. He struck at the two with Flower-Picking Finger in his left hand and Great Vajra Demon-Subduing Palm in his right.
"Hahaha!" Bai Haotian laughed, and the sword on his back instantly flew out. "Old monk, have a taste of the Nine Swords of the Lone Demon the Sect Leader taught me!"
Liansheng also drew his sword and gave a low cry. "Bixie Swordplay!"
Sword Qi instantly soared into the sky, and the sounds of shattering rang out for a hundred li around. The three flew higher as they fought, mainly because Wuwо deliberately led them upward. He knew that if they fought down below, the aftershocks would destroy all of Golden Mountain Temple in an instant.
Below, the people of Golden Mountain Temple were still desperately resisting. They knew that once the abbot dealt with Liansheng and Bai Haotian of the Demon Sect, he would be free to help, and Golden Mountain Temple would weather this crisis. They dared not imagine the alternative.
In a clearing not far away, the aftershocks of battle had leveled everything within several li. Several people surrounded and attacked a two-meter-tall monk. Bathed in blood, the monk resembled a vajra warrior who had emerged from hell. He put his full strength into every move, shattering space and roaring incessantly.
Unfortunately, no matter how he attacked, he could not break out of the encirclement. Those surrounding him were all among the Demon Sect's strongest fighters: the hall masters of Black Tortoise Hall and Vermilion Bird Hall, the Second Protector, and the Fourth Protector-a full three at peak Martial Emperor and one at late Martial Emperor.
Had any outsiders seen this, they would have been too astonished to speak. Holy Monk Wufa, second on the Earth Ranking, had been beaten so badly that he could barely stand. After enduring the combined attacks of four experts of the same level for half an hour, he was utterly exhausted. His internal organs had begun to rupture, and blood seeped constantly from the corners of his mouth.
"Monk Wufa, you no longer have the strength to turn the heavens around. You might as well kill yourself. At least you can leave an intact corpse."
Wufa spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva. "Pah! Demon Sect fiends, sooner or later, you will be wiped out!"
Ten thousand meters above Golden Mountain Temple, space twisted incessantly as the three within it unleashed attack after attack. A monk's staff transformed into a golden dragon, constantly spitting golden light at the other two, only for the Sword Qi from their swords to block it.
Listening to the cries of slaughter and the monks' screams below, Wuwо's heart sank to rock bottom. He wished he could go down immediately and kill every Demon Sect fiend, but as he looked at the two sword-wielding figures before him, despair gradually began to take hold.
Both had clearly only just broken through to early-stage Martial Sovereign. One relied on bizarre swordplay, moving so fast that even he, a mid-stage Martial Sovereign, could barely see him clearly. The other's swordplay was not fast-in fact, it was extraordinarily slow-but every move seemed to anticipate his actions. Worse still, that swordplay was upright and honorable, as though subduing monsters and vanquishing demons. Abbot Wuwо was left speechless. Was he the Demon Sect fiend, or were they?
The flying dragon formed from the monk's staff gradually grew sluggish. Cracks appeared across its body; it had clearly reached the brink of its limits. The dragon raised its head to the heavens and let out a long howl, releasing one final beam of golden light. Its voice brimmed with sorrow, and its body shattered into drifting ash. Wuwо, too, vomited blood.
"Wuwо, this day next year will be the anniversary of your death," Liansheng said gravely, thrusting his sword forward. There were no other miscellaneous powers in this strike, only the purest strength.
Wuwо forced himself to draw a breath, a trace of ruthless resolve flashing through his eyes. His whole figure took on a solemn aspect. Endless ambient Qi burst around him, pouring into his body. He struck with his palm, and a golden Buddha instantly appeared in the sky.
This was Golden Mountain Temple's closely guarded secret art, Ten Thousand Buddhas Pay Homage. Throughout its history, only the abbot had been permitted to cultivate it. It was a divine-grade cultivation technique, and although immensely powerful, its cultivation requirements were so high that almost no one had been able to unleash it for over a thousand years.
Wuwо was already a spent arrow. He could only use a secret art to activate the technique, hoping to kill both men in a single blow. Only then would Golden Mountain Temple have any hope of survival. But the consequence was that, whether he succeeded or failed, he could not survive.
Liansheng and Bai Haotian both realized that Wuwо was staking his life on this. Each gave a mighty shout.
"Sword Cleaves Yin and Yang!"
"Palm-Breaking Stance!"
Wind and clouds shifted in the sky, and thunder rang out across the cloudless heavens. Everyone fighting below stopped and looked up. Instinct told them that an unimaginable clash was taking place there.
Wuwо pressed his palms together, his face serene, a sword embedded in his chest. He slowly settled into a cross-legged posture and drifted downward, his presence gradually fading until it vanished.
Liansheng and Bai Haotian were both pale. The expenditure just now had indeed been too great for them. Bai Haotian, in particular, kept vomiting blood, and a palm print was clearly imprinted on his chest.
"Protector Bai, why?" Liansheng looked at Bai Haotian in bewilderment.
During their clash just now, even the sword techniques they had unleashed with all their might had failed to block the attack. At the critical instant, Bai Haotian had stepped in front of Liansheng and taken the entire attack. Liansheng had seized the opportunity to kill Wuwо with a single thrust.
"There's no reason. You're still young, Liansheng. The Demon Sect still has many things that need you at the forefront. Besides, I'm not dead, am I?"
Liansheng gave Bai Haotian a long look. At that moment, it was as though he had come to know Bai Haotian anew.
Everyone below looked up and saw a cross-legged figure falling from the sky, a sword embedded in his body.
"It's the abbot! How is this possible?" the monks below cried out in grief.
The head monk of Gold Lecture Hall shouted in anguish, "Demon Sect fiends! They killed the abbot of Golden Mountain Temple and slaughtered our monks! Fight them to the death! Defend the dignity of Golden Mountain Temple unto death!"
"Defend the dignity of Golden Mountain Temple unto death!"
"Defend the dignity of Golden Mountain Temple unto death!"
Every monk of Golden Mountain Temple shouted, their voices filled with sorrow and resolve, and charged fearlessly at the Demon Sect forces. For a time, they even managed to gain a slight upper hand. But the disparity in strength between the two sides was simply too vast. The Demon Sect's senior members struck one after another, using their superior strength to bully the weak, and the screams steadily grew fewer.
Half an hour later, no cries of slaughter remained in Golden Mountain Temple. Not a single figure stood. Monks' corpses covered the mountainside, and the grand thousand-year-old temple resembled hell.
From the moment the Demon Sect began its assault on the mountain to the destruction of all of Golden Mountain Temple, less than four hours had passed. This top power of the continent had vanished completely.
When the Demon Sect attacked the mountain, it had deliberately set up a soundproofing formation around Golden Mountain Temple. Even though blood flowed in rivers through the temple and cries of slaughter rose to the heavens, the people at the foot of the mountain noticed nothing. They merely saw a little more mist than usual in the direction of Golden Mountain Temple.
Only when the Demon Sect withdrew and removed the formation did the mist gradually disperse. The heavy stench of blood slowly drifted out, making its way down the mountain.
"What's going on? Why is such a heavy stench of blood drifting over from Golden Mountain Temple?"
"Could someone have caused trouble at Golden Mountain Temple and been killed? But even then, the stench of blood couldn't be this strong."
"How is that possible? Who would dare cause trouble at Golden Mountain Temple? Wouldn't that be asking for death? Abbot Wuwо of Golden Mountain Temple is on the Heaven Ranking!"