It was clearly a seemingly weak palm strike, even just casually pushed out while standing in the void, but when the palm force landed, it was vast and fierce, not coming from in front of Treasure Seal Dharma King, but from high above his head!

Like a waterfall crashing down from the nine heavens!

Formless and shadowless, yet so fast that it was difficult for the naked eye to discern. Treasure Seal Dharma King had no time to react from his shock before he was already struck down by this palm that pressed down like mountains and seas!

The black cloud he had transformed into after splitting himself—how vast an expanse was it? Yet in this instant, not a single trace could escape the range of this palm strike.

However many there were, all were struck down!

The place where Jiye stood was originally above that expanse of ruins. When Treasure Seal attacked Him, it was precisely at this location. In an instant, with one palm strike, He knocked him down, striking him right into the ruins at the bottom of the lake!

However, what was strange was that after this black cloud transformed by Treasure Seal Dharma King was pressed down and crashed into this deep pit, it didn’t splash up even half a speck of dust, nor did it destroy any piece of the ruins.

It was as if his very existence was nothingness itself.

Although the palm force was thick, when it reached the bottom of the pit, its power scattered completely. The endless black cloud only prostrated at the bottom of the pit for an instant before immediately twisting and gathering together again, actually turning around and rushing toward Jiye standing high in the sky once more!

This situation greatly exceeded everyone’s expectations. Qu Zhengfeng, Master Xuelang Chan, and Dakini Yang Jin all frowned tightly at this moment, feeling that although they could clearly see Saint Son Jiye standing in place, they couldn’t sense His existence at all, let alone see through His cultivation level.

It was as if He was an existence they couldn’t touch.

However, Treasure Seal Dharma King below seemed even more difficult to deal with. As if he hadn’t been harmed at all by Jiye’s palm strike just now, he swept toward Jiye from below with ten times, a hundred times more ferocity, intensifying his assault!

In this instant, Dakini Yang Jin’s pupils had already contracted tightly, and an ominous premonition struck her. However, before the cry of alarm could escape her throat, a change had already occurred in the field!

Facing Treasure Seal Dharma King who was making a comeback from the lake bottom ruins, Jiye stood in mid-air, completely motionless, as if he didn’t care at all.

The thick and ferocious black cloud was about to surge up!

At this moment, the entire ruins seemed to sense something. The collapsed temples at the bottom of the lake, the broken statues, the grim white bones, all trembled together!

The next moment, between heaven and earth, the sound of mountains calling and seas roaring suddenly arose!

The people at the foot of the sacred mountain could see nothing, only the Saint Son standing proudly in the void; the people at the peak of the sacred mountain, being at a high position, saw everything clearly!

Where was any mountain calling and sea roaring?

It was clearly the countless white bone skeletons in the ruins at the bottom of the Sacred Lake tremblingly standing up, their hollow eye sockets looking toward the sky, their mouths with only rows of teeth gaping wide, actually emitting angry wails!

Their bodies seemed to retain the will from when they were alive, as if awakening from hundreds and thousands of years of slumber, opening their eyes to see their mortal enemies!

That was a resentment that even death could not take away!

That was a hatred that even reincarnation could not dissolve!

The seemingly irresistible black cloud, in this howling sound full of murderous intent, seemed to have received some heavy blow, its originally fierce sweeping momentum actually blocked!

In the unseen realm, it was as if some invisible thing was restraining him!

The faint sound of rippling lake water arose from these ruins that no longer had lake water. In an instant, a silk-like lake-blue wave light rose from the bottom of the lake, surging up like water vapor, sealing off that black cloud!

“Bang!”

A terrifying crash suddenly sounded in mid-air!

The black cloud transformed by Treasure Seal Dharma King had no time to dodge at all, suddenly crashing into that seemingly soft wave light, as if he had crashed into an indestructible bronze wall and iron rampart!

The black cloud that had finally managed to gather together again crumbled like fragile flowing water under this terrible impact!

Treasure Seal Dharma King immediately let out a painful scream!

Just like a deity that had once been high above the nine heavens suddenly falling into the mortal world, as he couldn’t control his collapse and fall, the countless skeletons in the lake bottom ruins pounced on him, ghostly white resentful spiritual light emerging from their hollow pupils, madly gnawing at those masses of black qi!

Under the bright moon’s illumination, the snow region that had originally been like a pure land had already transformed into a fierce killing ghost realm!

Even Qu Zhengfeng and the others couldn’t help but feel alarmed at the sight!

Only Master Xuelang Chan, after his initial shock, vaguely discerned some depth to the situation, only sighing softly and joining his palms together in compassion.

Treasure Seal Dharma King had believed he had borrowed the power of the lofty ancient deities. How could he have expected to fall into such a predicament?

He frantically gathered power to break out!

But no matter what, this layer of seemingly gentle and fragile wave light above the Sacred Lake ruins always blocked him, tightly and thoroughly, leaving no gaps whatsoever!

Sacred Lake Jialan, the sacred mountain of the snow region, the lake in the sky!

The current Jiye had already merged with Jialan as one. How could the explosive increase in power be calculated merely in multiples? The power that Jialan could once invoke, the current He could naturally invoke as well.

So He had no panic from beginning to end, and no shock at the current situation. Only at this moment when the opponent could do nothing to him, He cast his gaze far away, looking toward the nearby deep pit that was still continuously emitting black qi, as if waiting for something.

The night wind howled.

The bottom of the huge lake was a mess.

After multiple unsuccessful attempts at charging and breaking through, Treasure Seal Dharma King had already discovered the mystery of this layer of wave light.

Logically, after borrowing the power of the ancient deities and completely fusing his soul with this power, he should have become like these masses of black qi—an immortal, indestructible, formless and shadowless void existence. Yet this layer of wave light could still block him!

At the same time, power from the distant array formation could still continuously pour in.

This meant that this layer of wave light wasn’t powerful enough to cut off the ancient deity’s power, but just happened to restrict his movements!

Even though his soul had fused with the deity’s power, the soul itself hadn’t truly perished. What this layer of wave light truly imprisoned was his soul!

This was because for hundreds and thousands of years, the bottom of this lake had accumulated endless ghostly resentment!

And he was the chief culprit they had feared in life and hated in death. Under the guidance and urging of Saint Son Jiye, even that terror had transformed into bone-deep hatred, driving them to revenge even more madly under the guidance of that thread of obsession from before their death!

Treasure Seal Dharma King soon tasted pain. His massive soul was scattered in every mass of black qi, simultaneously suffering the hateful gnawing of the entire ruins!

Ten thousand ants devouring the heart was nothing compared to this!

He struggled like a trapped beast under that lake-blue wave light, unable to reassemble into his original human form no matter what, thus becoming more pained and angry, more angry and pained!

Under the mix of shock and rage, he could only stake everything on one throw.

Since Jiye blocked his path and imprisoned him here, he would definitely retaliate ten times, a hundred times over! He must break through this prison!

The moment this thought flashed through his mind, he actually gave up fighting with the countless skeletons at the bottom of the lake!

Let them gnaw at him!

Let them attack!

At this moment, Treasure Seal Dharma King concentrated all his soul power on the black qi that came across the void like a black dragon! It penetrated through the wave light prison Jiye had set up, flying from the array formation at the other end of the deep pit, connecting him to that array formation, continuously transporting power from another mysterious space unknown to others!

“Deity—”

His hoarse call rang out from within the ruins!

As if sensing his devotion at this moment, the nearby deep pit suddenly exploded with a brilliant golden light, shooting straight up from the bottom of the pit to the surface!

The dragon-like black qi surged instantly!

The qi column became thicker and darker in color!

When it rushed up and galloped across the sky above the snow region, it practically blocked out the moonlight above, plunging everything around into darkness!

Though the lake bottom ruins had countless skeletons, their power was ultimately limited. Moreover, since Treasure Seal Dharma King’s soul was protected by the deity’s power, although the gnawing filled with dangerous hatred could cause him pain, the actual reduction to Treasure Seal Dharma King’s own power was quite limited, at most equal to the supply speed of the deity’s power just now.

But now the deity’s power suddenly surged!

The supply speed far exceeded the gnawing speed, and the previously shattered and scattered black cloud suddenly swelled violently! Like a rapidly inflated bag, it expanded madly, gradually covering a large area of the ruins!

Insane!

Everyone could see that Treasure Seal Dharma King had been driven mad!

This was clearly a technique that would wound the enemy by a thousand while damaging oneself by eight hundred!

How vast was the deity’s power from ancient times? No matter how powerful Treasure Seal Dharma King himself was, he was just a Bounded Realm cultivator among mortals. How could he compare to a deity!

How could a small cup contain the water of the vast sea?

To forcibly contain it, to forcibly absorb it—lightly would damage the soul, heavily would destroy both form and spirit!

He was clearly taking desperate risks to break through the barrier Jiye had set!

Of course, the effect was also extremely obvious.

Almost at the same time as the black dragon-like deity’s power poured into Treasure Seal Dharma King, multiplying and ignoring the prison formed by the Sacred Lake’s wave light, Jiye’s brow furrowed.

Under His gaze, the “true body” of Treasure Seal Dharma King trapped in the lake bottom ruins had already rapidly swelled several times!

Growing larger and larger, more and more violent!

The countless skeletons and the imprisoning power at the bottom of the lake that had previously been able to block him were utterly worthless before such incomparably powerful force!

Treasure Seal Dharma King only felt his entire soul being filled to bursting, madly expanding toward the surroundings, filling every corner of these ruins, and then baring his fangs at the array formation condensed from wave light, beginning fierce tearing!

He had the deity’s power as backup!

Even if this Jiye was a deity born from the vows of the snow region’s residents, how could he compare to an ancient deity?

The wave light above his head that blocked him would sooner or later shatter under his fierce attacks!

Just like bursting through a layer of fragile membrane!

Continuously absorbing, continuously expanding, stretching…

Faintly, Treasure Seal Dharma King could already feel that this layer of imprisonment had reached the limit of what Jiye could bear!

Just a little more, and he could completely destroy it!

In the depths of his soul, which was suffering immensely from bearing the deity’s power, finally appeared some obvious joy. This feeling of having victory in hand, of turning defeat into victory right ahead, gave him an unprecedented urgency!

He craved and absorbed power even more rapidly!

However, some endings were already destined. That final thread was often the chasm between success and failure, between life and death!

Just a little more!

Just a moment’s effort!

The deity’s power that had been continuously supplying him suddenly cut off at this most crucial moment!

The first reaction in Treasure Seal Dharma King’s soul was bewilderment. The next instant, he suddenly remembered a certain detail that his previous self had casually and carelessly let slip!

That female cultivator who had gone to the deep pit…

No, no!!!

Treasure Seal Dharma King’s bewilderment, the moment he realized this detail, transformed into terror that could almost scatter his soul!

A “rumbling” explosion rang out. It wasn’t particularly violent, but because it came from deep underground, it had a suppressed, muffled quality.

Like a huge boulder pressed upon people’s hearts.

Within everyone’s spiritual sense range, a strange and shocking fluctuation suddenly burst forth!

No one could describe where it originated or what category it belonged to. Sometimes it seemed to come from another more distant space, sometimes it seemed like rolling waves washing over their spiritual consciousness…

Seemingly real, seemingly illusory!

Before people could discern more, this fluctuation suddenly expanded, and then they saw a purple lightning wrapped in golden light shoot out from the bottom of that deep pit!

Who else could it be but Jian Chou, who had previously disappeared without a trace from this chaotic battlefield?!

The moment her figure appeared in mid-air, the entire mountain shook once, then became even more violent!

The golden light that had suddenly stopped now gushed forth from the bottom of the pit!

Brilliant to the extreme meant destruction!

Countless golden seal symbols mixed in this gushing golden light, scattering toward the night sky shrouded in dark clouds, actually like sprinkling handfuls of stars!

The most intense eruption continued until exhaustion, until the array formation at the bottom of the pit left no trace!

Under this newly formed galaxy in the sky, Jian Chou’s eyes were still stained with blood, blurred and lightless, unable to see clearly. The ultimate calculation had consumed a great deal of her mental energy. At this moment, her face was white as paper, as if she might fall from mid-air at any time!

But even in such weakness, she still firmly gripped the terrified Liao Kong.

The light of the Wind Thunder Wings had dimmed, but the Burning Lamp Sword in her right hand remained sharp as ever!

When Treasure Seal Dharma King saw her transformed into that purple lightning piercing the night sky, his heart was already filled with the despair and fury of total failure.

He couldn’t imagine at all how this female cultivator had managed to break the array formation!

That was clearly an array formation remaining from ancient times, belonging to a deity! Jian Chou was merely a mortal. How could she break it, how could she solve it!

“Roar—”

The massive black cloud that had been just one step away from breaking free of its imprisonment completely lost its human rationality at this moment, letting out a furious roar!

However, Jiye only cast a compassionate glance downward.

Soon, His gaze crossed this star-filled void, reaching toward Jian Chou from afar. Just like their first meeting twenty years ago, it held complete familiarity and goodwill.

At this moment, the Burning Lamp Sword in her palm suddenly flickered with sword light.

Like a flame in the wind.

“Please lend me the Burning Lamp.”

As if He had expected all along that she could break this array formation, He showed no surprise, only murmuring this request to her.

So the Burning Lamp Sword that had been in her palm, as if responding to some call, automatically flew from her hand toward Him, landing in His palm!

Although this sword came from the Yashan Arsenal, from the moment she truly obtained it, Jian Chou had clearly known that this sword had an inseparable connection with Buddhism.

It was an old sword of the Chan sect.

She just hadn’t expected it would fly from her palm so easily, and the moment it fell into Jiye’s palm, flames blazed forth, the Burning Lamp revealing the ancient, simple lamp she had once seen!

In this instant, Treasure Seal Dharma King imprisoned in the ruins below, unable to escape, seemed to see something terrifying, or remember something terrifying, and actually began to tremble!

The desperate situation on the verge of death made him even more crazed!

Even with the deity’s power that was almost tearing his soul apart, he broke free from the skeletons’ gnawing but couldn’t escape the prison Jiye had set for him, much less shake off the fear that gripped him tightly!

The sounds between heaven and earth suddenly became pure and clear.

Human voices.

Water sounds.

Wind sounds.

And that suddenly resounding, solemn and eternal chant: “Imperial Heaven above, Queen Earth below, let the witness seal it—good and evil, wise and foolish, all beings of the great thousand worlds, all follow my decree!”