Cheating Again

Zhang Xuezhou burned away the great demon's soul in the great formation of Mount Milu, rendering the formation almost useless.

The fire-breathing mechanism at the entrance was dismantled once by the Buddha's son, and now Divine Lord Zhenyuan dismantled it again.

Divine Lord Zhenyuan didn't necessarily want to be the villain who dismantled the secret place; rather, these traps would hinder the fight between them. If they were defeated and encountered the traps spewing poisonous fire, even a brief respite could pose a fatal risk.

He himself was alright, as he had some means of self-defense. However, cultivators like the new emperor were extremely afraid of obstacles and risks, and lacked any protective techniques. In sword fights, they would either kill others or be killed, with little chance of any other outcome.

"Where are Jieyin Zhunti?"

The poisonous fire mechanism, weighing over a thousand pounds, was repeatedly dismantled by Divine Lord Zhenyuan and then thrown out of the secret area.

The violent dismantling forced the Western Sect cultivators to retreat repeatedly. Although they were willing to challenge him, none of them could defeat Divine Lord Zhenyuan. If anyone else stepped forward to challenge him, they would probably be beaten to death.

Whether it's fighting alone or in a group, the risks are difficult to control.

Seeing that Divine Lord Zhenyuan had dismantled the mechanism and then shouted loudly, Vishnu mustered his courage and responded.

"Don't be so arrogant, you Daoist! The Master is currently inspecting Mount Ling; he will surely come to you one day demanding justice!" Vishnu shouted. "If you have the guts, leave your name and address!"

"Neither Jieyin nor Zhunti are at Mount Milu?"

Divine Lord Zhenyuan glanced at Vishnu, who had spoken, and then looked at the crowd.

Seeing the cultivator who was being watched nodding repeatedly, he realized he had come to no avail.

"They're quite interesting. They were all at Mount Milu before, but now they're all at Mount Ling," Zhang Xuezhou said.

"There should be more cultivators trapped in Mount Ling, so they all went there," said Divine Lord Zhenyuan.

"You should release all the cultivators from the Immortal Court to avoid attracting the attention of the Yuanshi Heavenly Venerable and the Jade Emperor. They are not as easy to talk to as we are," Zhang Xuezhou said.

"Didn't we say we'd attack Mount Ling first?" Vishnu exclaimed in horror.

"Even persimmons are picked on by their softest parts; there's no reason to hit the hardest one first," Zhang Xuezhou complained. "The Western Sect belongs to its two leaders, but your life is your own. You're a clever Buddhist disciple; you should abandon darkness and embrace the light sooner rather than later!"

"That won't do," Vishnu shook his head repeatedly. "If we did such a thing, our lives would be in danger too!"

Vishnu's words resonated deeply with the Buddhas, Vajras, and Bodhisattvas. Being in the Western Sect, they had no choice but to charge forward, even if they were unwilling, otherwise their fate would be worse than death.

Now everyone is hoping that Divine Lord Zhenyuan and the others will not be able to find anyone on Milu Mountain, and will instead turn to Ling Mountain to cause trouble.

Seeing that Divine Lord Zhenyuan did not call for battle, they managed to remain relatively calm and did not choose to fight to the death out of despair.

"Come here," Zhang Xuezhou beckoned.

"What are you doing here?" Vishnu asked in alarm.

"Defeat me!"

"I... don't force me to take action!"

Vishnu wanted to slap himself a few times; he shouldn't have spoken up.

But Vishnu was also helpless. As the nominal successors of the Western Sect, even if they could not ascend to high positions in the future, they would still need to step in whenever something happened.

Like the crown princes of some dynasties, these princes did not have real power, but many ministers would consult the crown prince's opinion when they could not solve problems in foreign affairs.

At this time, many Buddhas and Bodhisattvas were watching to see how Vishnu would respond—whether to fight, flee, or make peace—it was up to Vishnu to make a decision.

Of course, Vishnu possesses this power, and if he mishandles it, he will inevitably be the scapegoat.

"Vishnu, I see you! Come and hit me!"

Zhang Xuezhou coughed, then waved and spoke loudly, the familiar voice sending chills down Vishnu's spine.

He certainly remembered those familiar words; after all, the centennial event hadn't been long ago, and they had only determined each other's rankings by cheating in the Wind Cave.

The person who controlled the rankings was the Holy Son of Kunlun. The other party gave him a lot of face and took what he needed.

This is likely the second wave. If he were even slightly smarter, he would cooperate to make things easier for the other side. Otherwise, this Kunlun Holy Son would most likely choose to fight head-on.

"Then let me test your strength!"

After Vishnu understood, he glanced at Divine Lord Zhenyuan again, and only after seeing that the other party did not attack did he leap up.

He had just leaped three zhang (approximately 10 meters) and approached Zhang Xuezhou with a ghostly figure when Zhang Xuezhou pointed at him with a finger.

Vishnu was about to launch an attack when he suddenly felt dizzy and lightheaded, and the whole world seemed to spin.

"Your reputation as a Buddhist disciple is somewhat undeserved!"

Once his mind cleared a bit, Vishnu saw that his hands were bound and he had become Zhang Xuezhou's prisoner, which terrified him.

"I now have a hostage. If you take one step forward, I will crush Vishnu!"

Zhang Xuezhou pulled at the bound Sanzhangqing, his intimidating and suppressive methods were still domineering enough, almost instantly defeating cultivators whose cultivation level was inferior to his own.

Of course, this method is insufficient against top-level True Self Realm cultivators, since it didn't play any role in his fight against Donghua.

"Fellow members, be careful! His strength is at the level of a sect leader. Don't go forward and risk your lives!"

Vishnu's defeat was inexplicable, and he was shocked, but having cooperated with Zhang Xuezhou once before, he knew very well that Zhang Xuezhou had given him ample room to retreat.

Zhang Xuezhou made a threat, and Vishnu quickly cooperated.

"Release those you have imprisoned on Mount Milu," Zhang Xuezhou said. "And bring us the Immortality Elixir and the spirit jade!"

"Gentlemen, they're begging for money and favors. They've rescued those burdens and won't get far. Let's cooperate for now and report back when the leader goes on his tour!"

Vishnu called out to all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, then looked at Zhang Xuezhou.

"The Immortality Elixir you mentioned is a top-tier pill. The Master would definitely keep it close at hand; he wouldn't leave it on Mount Miru," Vishnu said sheepishly. "Even if you don't believe me, you have to trust our actions. The Master would definitely prevent us from stealing it; he wouldn't give us that opportunity!"

"Open all his secret rooms; we must search them!"

Zhang Xuezhou had little interest in Mount Milu; the treasures there were inferior to his spiritwood staff, or were simply difficult to use.

He first inquired about the Immortality Elixir from the new emperor, and then sought out the spiritual jade needed by Divine Lord Zhenyuan to feed the Longevity Fruit Tree.

Only after they had subdued Vishnu were they able to enter the secret realm of Mount Meru, where they searched the previously unexplored chambers.

"So, it wasn't a complete success!"

There's little difference between Vishnu leading the way and Buddha Son Shigong pointing the way; both maintain a sense of awe towards certain stone chambers and dare not enter them without permission. Divine Lord Zhenyuan, however, has no such taboo.

After their previous attempt to destroy Laojun's home and pursue him halfway through, they didn't cause any trouble this time. Instead, they thoroughly searched Mount Milu.

Many Law Artifact were just fleeting clouds in the eyes of the crowd, until Divine Lord Zhenyuan found sixteen pieces of spirit jade that nourished Law Treasure Law Artifact. Only then did he nod in satisfaction, indicating that he had a strong need for spirit jade in the near future.

"To take the jade but not the treasure is like buying the box and returning the pearl."

Zhang Xuezhou's work went very smoothly. When the new emperor was on guard with his sword, he only saw Divine Lord Zhenyuan take the sixteen spirit jades that were nurturing the magic Law Treasure, but he ignored the Law Treasure itself. This amazed Zhang Xuezhou, and he couldn't help but look at the flat cane that was being nurtured by the pile of spirit jades.

This flat cane looks ordinary, like an old man's walking stick, but it must be extraordinary to be nourished by sixteen spirit jades, and its value is far higher than that of spirit jades.

He reached out and grabbed the crutch, feeling a jolt of electricity wash over him.

When the new emperor quickly released his right hand, he saw that his palm was already red and swollen with a stinging pain, as if it had been pierced by hundreds of steel needles.

This greatly alarmed the new emperor, as he had always experienced the same backlash when he grasped the treasure; if the master were to use the treasure, he would surely suffer a crushing defeat.

"All the good things here have owners!"

Zhang Xuezhou offered a reminder.

The fact that neither the Sect Master Jieyin nor the Zhunti Buddha used the treasures they acquired for hundreds of years to defend themselves suggests that these treasures were extremely difficult to obtain.

Neither he nor Divine Lord Zhenyuan were particularly virtuous people; if they could have taken it for themselves, they would have done so long ago.

The reason why the two of them honestly begged for alms was this: they couldn't use the precious treasures, and the ordinary treasures made from the Yao Treasure were useless. Carrying them would only be a burden and cause future trouble, so they might as well take some usable ordinary items.

This kind of search is destined to be pointless.

Upon learning that Zhang Xuezhou and his group would not cause any trouble, the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas breathed a sigh of relief.

After searching unsuccessfully, Zhang Xuezhou and the others stepped out of the stone chamber.

Just as he was about to capture Vishnu to search for the Spiritual Qi rich land of West Ox Hezhou and see if he could find Laojun's body, he noticed a familiar face among the captives of the Western Sect Immortal Court.

"Hey, this guy is utterly useless and only good for making things worse!"

Zhang Xuezhou opened his eyes and saw many celestial officials he had only met once, but he also saw Li Changgeng, the loud voice announcing the imperial decree. None of these people were surprising.

What made Zhang Xuezhou want to spit out his anger was that Li Shaojun was actually among the Immortal Court's prisoners and was also imprisoned in Mount Milu.