Zhao Shou, carrying Sage’s heroic spirit, charged into the thick black clouds with an unstoppable, unavoidable momentum.
He and the Sage’s spirit were instantly swallowed by the black clouds. The clouds, which had occupied nearly half the sky, rapidly contracted toward their center, as if trying to envelop and refine the Sage’s spirit.
But in the next moment, a beam of clear light burst forth from the thick black clouds, followed by thousands upon thousands of light rays breaking through. The clear qi and black clouds intertwined and tangled, like a chemical reaction, causing continuous explosions in the high atmosphere.
The layered explosion sounds made the fleeing civilians on the ground prostrate themselves, clutching their heads and trembling, completely losing their reason, left with only boundless terror.
When facing natural disasters, human fear consumes rationality, destroying the ability to think.
But cowering and trembling couldn’t change their fate. Most people died from the explosion’s shock waves, each “thunder” raising terrible storms that swept people and objects from the ground into the sky.
This included the army of walking corpses.
Amidst the chain of explosions, the black clouds visibly thinned.
“ROAR!”
A huge blurry face emerged from the black clouds, letting out an earth-shaking roar of fury.
The walking corpse army on the ground rapidly withered, streams of blood light merging into the cloud layer. The previously thinned black clouds grew thick again, their color like spilled ink.
“Blood Spirit Technique shall not be used here!”
A deep, resonant voice emerged from the clouds.
In the next moment, the blood energy dispersed, and the walking corpse army stood woodenly.
“The dead should rest in peace.”
The deep, resonant voice came again.
An incredible scene unfolded—cracks split open in the barren ground, and the mass of walking corpses toppled into them. The cracks closed, and where there had been countless troops a moment before, now there was only scarred earth.
The corpse tide, swallowed by the ground, was completely severed from the Shaman God’s control.
Seeing this, the Shaman God immediately summoned nine blurry shadows—nine Rank One martial artists, each a pinnacle figure in martial arts, possessing the strength to move mountains and fill seas, once invincible in the mortal realm.
Though their true combat power couldn’t match their living days, retaining only their physical form, strength, and qi, the Sage wasn’t the living Sage either. With the Shaman God in front and nine great Rank Ones assisting, used properly, these were nine forces that could change the battle’s tide when facing other Supreme realm experts.
However, their opponent was the Sage.
The moment the nine Rank One martial artists materialized, nine figures appeared in the sky on the other side.
One sat cross-legged on a nine-petaled lotus throne, a miniature sun condensed behind their head—a Buddhist Bodhisattva from thousands of years ago.
One wore dragon robes and crowns, carrying a sky-piercing halberd on their back and holding an intricately carved bronze sword—some emperor from the Great Zhou Dynasty.
One was bare-chested, mighty, and strong, with a thick snake tail for their lower body, weaponless hands, and snow-red eyes.
One was completely bestial, like a lion with six heads, its mane made of tiny snakes.
Of the remaining six, three wore Confucian robes and crowns—scholars, one being Cloud Deer Academy’s founder, a Rank One Lesser Sage.
The other three wore Taoist robes—one with rainbow sword qi, one blessed with merit power, one with an ethereal form as if from another world.
The Sage had also summoned powerful figures from the past with whom he shared karmic ties, and his system was more diverse, his methods more comprehensive.
As for the summoning technique—naturally, he had borrowed it from the Shaman God.
Rank Six Confucian scholars could quickly learn others’ spells and skills, recording them—after all, as scholars, learning ability was their basic operation.
At the Sage’s level, just one look was enough to perfectly replicate an enemy’s spells.
The eighteen heroic spirits of past powerhouses fought as one, relying on multi-system cooperation—Buddhism providing support, Confucianism controlling, Earth Path depleting fortune, Beast-Barbarians and martial artists taking damage on the front lines, Human Path and Heaven Path dealing damage.
The nine martial hero spirits summoned by the Shaman God were quickly destroyed.
“Curse-Kill Technique shall not be used here!”
“Dream Entry shall not be performed here!”
“Heaven and Earth Power shall not be summoned here!”
“…”
With each recitation, another part of the Shaman God’s spells was stripped away, while the Sage’s form grew more ethereal.
When the Sage stopped reciting, the Shaman God had lost all supernatural abilities, left with Supreme realm status but without corresponding power and spells.
Then, the Sage gripped his engraving knife, his nearly ethereal form stepping forward to thrust the simple, unadorned blade. Instantly, wind and thunder howled as heaven and earth changed color.
Dazzling clear light expanded like a miniature sun.
The black clouds were annihilated layer by layer, continuously turbulent. The huge blurry face condensed again, letting out an angry shriek:
“SAGE!”
The next moment, it too was annihilated by the black clouds.
Sunlight shone down, and the sky was blue, windless, with clouds, peaceful and tranquil.
Everything seemed as if it had never happened.
The civilians and military officers who had survived by luck looked around in confusion, and upon confirming their safety, burst into earth-shaking cheers.
Chu Yuan Zhen stood woodenly, tears blurring his eyes.
Huai Qing glanced at him. This mortal emperor, cold as ice, hiding deep grief, took a deep breath and said:
“The Shaman God isn’t dead, only its primordial spirit scattered by the Sage. It will certainly return within three to five days. Brother Chu, go quickly to Quanrong Mountain, have the Martial Arts Alliance coordinate with Sword Province’s officials to gather civilians, abandon heavy possessions, and retreat to the capital as soon as possible.”
Chu Yuan Zhen nodded, hesitated slightly, and asked:
“Your Majesty, what about you?”
Huai Qing smiled bitterly:
“Not a trace of fortune remains within me. Great Feng is about to fall.”
Great Feng’s fortune had scattered, just like the Yan, Kang, and Jing nations—without fortune they fell, becoming part of Great Feng.
Now with Great Feng’s national fortune lost, being devoured by a Supreme realm seemed only a matter of time.
Thinking of this, Chu Yuan Zhen’s mood grew heavier with grief, not knowing where Great Feng’s future lay, where the future of the Nine Provinces’ living beings lay.
“Now we can only do our best and accept heaven’s will.”
Setting aside his grief, he bowed to Huai Qing, leaped onto his sword, and whistled away.
…
Thunder Province.
Yang Gong’s body suddenly shook, the clear qi in his pupils becoming extremely dense, flowing like a river.
He sensed the Sage’s descent and understood Zhao Shou’s choice.
Uncontrollable sorrow, confusion, and uncertainty welled up, tears silently sliding down his cheeks. This newly promoted Rank Three scholar said softly:
“The Chancellor has fallen!
“Great Feng… has lost all its fortune.”
Li Miao Zhen, riding her sword ahead, suddenly turned back, her eyes filled with sadness and the desolation of shared fate.
The other supernatural experts fell silent simultaneously.
“Very good!”
The Kalachakra Bodhisattva punched back Asura, shaking his bloody fist, which instantly healed.
Nearby, Guangxian Bodhisattva smiled, and Vaidurya breathed a sigh of relief.
The three Bodhisattvas had watched Zhao Shou’s departure without stopping him, partly because losing a Rank Two great Confucian would sharply reduce their pressure, and partly because they too needed someone to block the Shaman God and buy time.
Because Shen Shu was nearly finished!
Two giants stood in the “mud” pool. One was the Buddha’s condensed dharma—after merging with the Vajra manifestation, a ring of fire ignited behind its head, and twelve pairs of arms holding various dharma implements grew from its back.
But its features remained blurry.
The other black manifestation had lost half its twelve pairs of arms and couldn’t reconstitute them for long, its aura having declined severely.
One side had seven manifestations standing behind it, its momentum undiminished; the other’s manifestation was broken, lacking even the power to reconstitute.
The outcome was clear.
“Whoosh…”
Golden wind waves rose, and the endless “mud pool” split open its mouth, spitting out miniature golden suns that quickly gathered, forming a huge blazing sun in the sky.
Its form continued to grow.
While condensing the Mahavairocana manifestation, the Buddha silently appeared at Shen Shu’s side, all twelve right arms striking at once.
Shen Shu reacted half a beat slow, hurriedly turning sideways and raising his remaining eight pairs of arms to block.
The next moment, he slid away like a high-speed train, his legs against the ground, splashing up “mud” tens of meters high.
“Bang!”
Only then did the sound of colliding arms ring out, heard by the supernatural experts in the distance.
The Buddha appeared again behind Shen Shu, twelve pairs of arms striking down fiercely. The arhat manifestation’s speed surpassed a warrior’s sense of crisis.
Shen Shu was knocked away again.
Bang bang bang bang… The Buddha kept appearing and disappearing around Shen Shu, fist force fierce and dominating, fist energy becoming wild wind, raging in all directions.
The black manifestation inevitably began to distort under the repeated strikes, on the verge of collapse and disintegration.
“Bang!”
After taking another heavy strike from twelve pairs of arms, Shen Shu’s body arched back but didn’t retreat, forcefully dissipating the mountain-crushing city-breaking force. Eight pairs of arms reached out to grab four pairs of the Buddha’s fists.
Then, Shen Shu kicked the Buddha’s chest, forcefully tearing off four pairs of arms.
Light flashed from the Medicine Master manifestation’s bottle mouth, instantly restoring the Buddha’s arms. Six pairs of hands pressed down on Shen Shu’s shoulders, suddenly sinking.
Boom!
Shen Shu was forcefully pressed to the ground.
He raised his head, letting out a deep roar at the Buddha.
The Buddha’s face was blurry, showing no expression, no emotional change, like an emotionless war machine. Two arms reached out, gripping the black manifestation’s upper and lower jaws, and forcefully tore.
Shen Shu’s incomplete head fell limply.
Then, the Buddha maintained pressure with six pairs of arms while raising the other six pairs high.
The Mahavairocana manifestation slowly floated over.
Seeing this, Great Feng’s supernatural experts’ hearts trembled, their brows twitching violently. Without hesitation, the three Taoist supernatural experts rode their swords out of formation toward the Buddha and Shen Shu.
Shen Shu couldn’t lose. With him present, they could barely contain things, buy time.
Once Shen Shu was defeated, first, he might be taken to the Western Regions and refined by the Buddha; second, the tens of millions of civilians along the ten thousand li between Thunder Province and the capital would be annihilated.
Indeed, after Zhao Shou’s death and Great Feng’s fortune running out, everything had turned sharply downward, falling into an irretrievable crisis.
This was the mandate of heaven in the mysterious void.
At this moment, Vaidurya Bodhisattva, along with Kalachakra and Guangxian, blocked the path of the three Taoist supernatural experts.
With no choice, Golden Lotus Taoist and Li Miao Zhen had to stop—charging through would mean certain death.
Vaidurya Bodhisattva lightly tapped their foot, instantly expanding the colorless crystal realm. Rather than targeting Great Feng’s supernatural experts, it covered the path to the battlefield between Shen Shu and the Buddha, effectively blocking Li Miao Zhen and others from casting spells at a distance.
Not only that, Kalachakra formed hand seals, solidifying space, and complementing the colorless crystal realm.
On the other side, the “heavy” Mahavairocana manifestation had already floated between the Buddha’s six raised pairs of hands.
Li Miao Zhen, Golden Lotus, Asura, Kou Yang Zhou, and others felt their hearts suddenly constrict, despair rising in each of them.
No more helpers.
No more methods.
No way to break through the three Bodhisattvas’ blockade in time.
The tide had turned!
…
Heaven Path.
Under the immortal mountain’s memorial arch, Li Ling Su’s forehead veins bulged, his cheek muscles tightening. Like an enraged lion, he roared:
“Supreme beings devour the Central Plains, replacing heaven’s way—the entire Nine Provinces will be annihilated! Will sealing the mountain help? Will sealing the mountain make Supreme beings overlook us?
“Now it’s too late—even if you emerge, can you defeat the Shaman God?
“Damn, your Supreme Emotionlessness! Without humanity, what’s the point of cultivating Supreme Emotionlessness? Get lost! This young master refuses to cultivate Supreme Emotionlessness!
“Not wanting to be proper humans, what emotions are you forgetting? Weren’t you born of parents? Did you spring from rocks? After forgetting emotions, why have children?
“Human Path and Earth Path are fighting to the death at the front, while our Heaven Path acts like a turtle hiding in its shell—one of the three major Taoist sects? You don’t deserve it!”
The Holy Son shouted until his face and neck were red, his voice echoing like thunder through heaven and earth.
His composure had broken—even if the Celestial Venerable emerged, everything was too late, so he simply gave up all restraint.
“Supreme Emotionlessness, is it? Not leaving the mountain, is it? Are you truly emotionless or just afraid of death?” The Holy Son took a deep breath and roared:
“Celestial Venerable, F*CK YOUR MOTHER!!”
F*ck your mother.
Your mother.
Mother… The words echoed repeatedly, then distorted and vanished.