Their conversation echoing through heaven and earth created an enormous impact on all present.

Vajra Asura immediately withdrew, standing shoulder to shoulder with Vajra Du Nan, focusing their attention on the enemy.

He now understood why the warrior’s blade intent could break through his Vajra body—because this was a Second Rank warrior, one who had achieved Unity with the Dao.

Unity with the Dao meant being foremost among those who walked the path.

Nalan Tianlu ceased his healing meditation and decisively retreated, removing himself from the battlefield to avoid being targeted by the Second Rank warrior.

The Martial Alliance’s old man had advanced in rank.

On the distant hilltop, Liu Hong Mian and others exchanged glances.

“Let’s return to the wind-riding boat first, so we can retreat at any time,” Liu Hong Mian said softly.

“No, if we return to the wind-riding boat, we’ll become targets,” Qi Huan Dan Xiang shook her head, rejecting her suggestion.

Jing Xin slightly shook his head, palms pressed together:

“Everyone needs not to worry, the two Vajras still have tricks up their sleeves.”

Liu Hong Mian and others snapped their gazes toward him.

Jing Xin’s expression was calm and completely confident.

Second Rank? The Ancestral Patriarch had advanced to Second Rank. Because of the Nine-Colored Lotus Root that Silver Badge Xu brought?

The overwhelming happiness nearly knocked the Martial Alliance members unconscious.

What did having a Second Rank warrior mean? In all of the Nine Provinces, how many Second Ranks were there?

Even the Human Path Sect Leader Luo Yu Heng was only Second Rank.

In other words, possessing a Second Rank warrior meant the Martial Alliance could now rank among the super-sects.

And all of this was brought about by Silver Badge Xu.

“The Ancestral Patriarch has advanced to Second Rank, haha, hahaha…”

“Silver Badge Xu is truly our Martial Alliance’s lucky star.”

“When competing for the lotus seed back then, Alliance Leader Cao didn’t make an enemy of him—truly wise, wise, and mighty.”

“Yes, Alliance Leader Cao is wise and mighty.”

Fu Jing Men, Yang Cui Xue, and other warriors were wild with joy, feeling that the Martial Alliance was about to usher in its most glorious, peak moment.

Hearing the praise for Silver Badge Xu from those around him, Young Master Liu couldn’t help but look toward Xiao Yue Nu.

The corners of her eyes and brows carried traces of a smile—who knew if it was joy at the Ancestral Patriarch’s breakthrough or happiness at Silver Badge Xu’s crisis being resolved.

Could Tower Master Xiao also admire Silver Badge Xu… The women of their Wanhua Tower favored young talents, and the attraction of someone like Silver Badge Xu with his heaven-defying talent was imaginable… Only a peerless beauty like Tower Master Xiao would be worthy of Silver Badge Xu…

As Young Master Liu thought this way, he felt his mindset collapse.

[Continued in next section…]

On the wind-riding boat, Ji Xuan slowly withdrew his gaze and sighed:

“I understand now. He was stalling for a time all along, waiting for the old man to advance to Second Rank. Ah, if only Nalan Tianlu and the Buddhist Vajras had listened to our suggestion to directly destroy the old man’s meditation chamber. We would have won this battle.”

Xu Yuan Shuang said coolly:

“In their eyes, the Martial Alliance isn’t important, and whether the old man lives or dies doesn’t matter either. Besides, what’s so special about a transcendent warrior who sealed himself away for hundreds of years?”

At this moment, she showed no trace of grief, as if the one who had been crying earlier wasn’t her.

Xu Yuan Shuang continued:

“With Father’s wisdom, he couldn’t have failed to calculate that Xu Qi An had the Nine-Colored Lotus Root. I don’t know why he would have it, but Father certainly knows.

“Based on this premise, you must have another trump card here, or perhaps you and Father have other plans?”

Ji Xuan smiled:

“Sister Yuan Shuang is clever as ice and snow. Why not try to guess?”

Xu Yuan Shuang frowned in silence.

[To be continued in next section…]

The old man’s hair behind him twisted like tentacles, wrapping around his body to cover the crucial areas.

“Not bad at all.”

He looked over himself with satisfaction, then turned to the two Vajras and smiled:

“Buddhist Vajras have come to my Sword Province. Since when has the Western Regions’ reach grown so long?”

Vajra Asura pressed his palms together, his voice majestic and heavy:

“Buddhist light illuminates all beings—what place would be unreachable?”

The old man narrowed his eyes and said word by word:

“Collecting Great Tang’s Dragon Qi, intending to meddle in the Central Plains—Buddhism is as arrogant and wild as ever. Do you think our Great Tang has no one capable?”

As his words fell, he appeared before Vajra Asura, his joined palms like a blade.

The crisis warning made Vajra Asura respond in advance, crossing his arms before his chest. Humming—the Vajra divine power surged, transforming into a circular energy shield.

This was an ability that could only be exercised when the Vajra Divine Art was practiced to profound levels.

“Crack!”

The old man’s palm blade casually poked through, breaking the circular energy shield.

The dispersing golden light spread out in ripples dozens of meters in diameter.

Suddenly, he tilted his head slightly as a golden fist brushed past his neck—originally this punch had been aimed at the back of the old man’s head.

Vajra Du Nan had somehow closed in, attacking from behind.

The old man’s wrist turned, his palm blade flicking up to catch Du Nan’s wrist precisely, the blade intent concentrated on his palm edge cutting through the dark golden skin.

Golden blood gushed out.

“Thick-skinned and tough-fleshed!”

The old man, who had originally intended to slice off the Vajra’s hand with one cut, snorted coldly.

The guardian Vajras’ physical bodies were far stronger than Third Rank warriors.

Du Nan’s wrist exploded with pain, and he decisively retreated without hesitation.

But he wasn’t able to successfully withdraw—his wrist was caught in the old man’s reverse grip, who pulled and yanked him into a shoulder throw.

Boom!

The tower-like Vajra slammed heavily into the ground, the terrifying force passing through his body into the mountain, tearing apart the internal rocks, cracks spreading deep into the mountain’s core.

Just this one strike made Dog Rong Mountain’s main peak become covered in cracks like porcelain.

Du Nan’s vision went black, his consciousness shaken as large amounts of dark golden blood spurted from his throat.

What a waste… Xu Qi An in the distance swallowed.

Du Nan’s pupils dilated as he fell into temporary unconsciousness.

On the other side, Vajra Asura Du Fan lifted a boulder weighing dozens of tons, let out a deep roar, and hurled it with all his might at the old man.

Whoosh—

Large swathes of shadow covered the old man.

The old man raised his palm-blade, drawing a cross. With a “crack,” the boulder split precisely into four pieces, scattering in four directions, just barely brushing past the old man at the center.

The old man’s eyes reflected Vajra Asura’s figure as he leaped high, using his knee as a spearhead to ferociously crash toward the old man.

Compared to other systems, combat between warriors appeared plain and unadorned, and Buddhist Vajras who didn’t cultivate “intent” relied solely on their fists and feet to subdue enemies.

Seizing the opportunity to close in, they would chain together a series of moves to take down their opponent.

The old man stepped forward while simultaneously throwing out a palm strike, hitting Vajra Asura’s inner thigh perfectly, making him tilt to the left.

The old man took a second step, and with a “clang,” dense golden light exploded from Vajra Asura’s body like golden fireworks blooming.

So strong… Xu Qi An saw clearly that in that instant, the old man’s fists, palms, elbows, and knees had struck Vajra Asura’s body like a rainstorm.

The strikes dispersed his protective golden light, making him like a statue with peeling paint.

The observers only heard a single loud “clang” because all the attacks were completed almost simultaneously.

Vajra Asura’s strength wasn’t weak even among Third Ranks—at least stronger than Xu Qi An’s current level—but he could not fight back.

When a warrior’s pride in close combat encountered an even stronger warrior, they were completely suppressed.

The moment his knee strike was deflected, Vajra Asura tried to counterattack using his energy-redirecting ability but was forcefully interrupted by the old man’s greater violence.

Clang!

The old man’s palm struck Vajra Asura’s forehead, making him fall to his knees as blood sprayed violently.

“Did I say you could get up?”

The old man spun and raised his foot, stomping down hard to pin Du Nan beneath his foot again.

“Puh…” Du Nan vomited blood again.

The two Vajras, one lying and one kneeling were covered in blood.

Crack—crash—

The hard rock split open, the mountainside collapsed, and Du Nan fell down the cliff with thousands of tons of rolling stones.

Terrifyingly strong… This is a Second Rank warrior… The observing Martial Alliance members gaped slightly.

The two Vajras’ fierce might from earlier had been witnessed by all, seeming invincible.

Even Silver Badge Xu had been extremely wary of them.

But now, they were like two martial arts novices being ground into the dirt by an old master.

“Exhilarating! It’s been hundreds of years since I’ve exercised these muscles and bones!”

The old man laughed wildly, his voice causing birds to take flight from the distant forest.

“Old Senior, stop playing around. Let’s end this quickly to avoid unexpected problems.”

Xu Qi An, still shrouded in the scattered light of the Medicine Buddha Avatar, called out loudly.

The reason villains die from talking too much isn’t because they’re villains, but because they talk too much.

“Silver Badge Xu is too cautious.”

The old man had been in closed meditation in the cave for hundreds of years, and couldn’t help testing his skills just now. The two Vajras were thick-skinned and tough—even for him, cutting them was difficult.

But difficulty didn’t mean they couldn’t be killed; at most, they were just durable punching bags.

“But indeed we shouldn’t fight for long, or else this old man’s mountain peak will be leveled.”

The old man rose into the air, half-floating in the void. At this moment, he seemed to transform into a peerless wild blade, his sharp intent fully revealed. Cao Qing Yang and others merely glanced at him before immediately closing their eyes.

Their eyes stung, hot tears streaming down.

The clouds in the sky were torn apart, and the world was filled with blade energy that seemed to split everything it touched.

Even with Xu Qi An’s powerful physique, the stimulation of the formless blade energy made his body hair stand on end.

On the wind-riding boat, Xu Yuan Shuang suddenly closed her eyes. By her ears came “swish swish” sounds as the clothes on her arms, thighs, and shoulders were cut by minute blade energy.

Fine cuts appeared on her skin, stinging with pain.

“Sister…”

Xu Yuan Huai reacted, hurriedly blocking behind her to shield her from the blade energy.

“This power can kill a Vajra, definitely can kill a Vajra…”

Xu Qi An’s eyes lit up as he guided the Buddhist Pagoda closer to the main peak.

As long as the old man killed one of the Vajras, he would immediately go to absorb their essence blood and advance his Vajra Divine Art to a higher level.

Vajra Asura felt himself being locked onto.

He was the only one directly facing the blade intentionally, as Du Nan had been knocked down the cliff by the old man.

The crisis warning inherent to warriors frantically released “danger” signals, urging their master to quickly escape.

After many years, Vajra Asura once again experienced the threat of death. The last time he had felt this way was when he accompanied Buddhist Bodhisattvas and Arhats to eliminate the Southern Demons.

But he couldn’t escape—the blade intent in mid-air had already locked onto him.

“Amitabha!”

Vajra Asura pressed his palms together and simply sat cross-legged.

“I see you’ve come to terms with it!”

The old man’s body inverted, transforming himself into a blade gathering power.

The next moment, the long blade left its scabbard.

Just then, streams of golden light rose from the bottom of the cliff, so brilliant it was as if a blazing sun was rising from below.

A golden body cast in pure gold manifested, taller than Dog Rong Mountain’s main peak, with twelve pairs of arms, a golden-red flame pattern between its brows, and a blazing sun hanging behind its head.

The twelve pairs of arms each held different ritual implements—knife, sword, pestle, pagoda, banner, staff, bell, and so on.

Its presence was as heavy as a mountain, as vast as the sea.

Everyone who saw this avatar almost simultaneously lost control of their knees, falling to kneel and crawl, trembling prostrate.

Shen Shu?!

Xu Qi An trembled all over, feeling the suppression from a higher-level being.

His pupils dilated slightly—this avatar’s appearance was extremely similar to the avatar Shen Shu had revealed when killing the Northern King in Chu Province.

Twelve pairs of arms, a fire ring behind the head, flame-like patterns between the brows—the difference was that Shen Shu’s avatar had been pitch black and hadn’t held ritual implements.

The positive and negative aspects.

Clang!

The old man transformed into a peerless wild blade that struck Vajra Asura but couldn’t kill him, because one of the twelve-armed avatar’s hands held a golden bell that covered Vajra Asura.

[Final section follows…]

“Vajra Avatar!”

Xu Yuan Shuang heard the familiar light laughter behind her.

Her delicate body trembled as she whirled around to see a white-robed figure standing with hands clasped behind his back, wearing a smile.

“Father?”

Xu Yuan Shuang cried out in shock.