Cold sweat suddenly broke out on Arhant Due, Bear King, Asura, and the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox.

Especially the latter three—possessing a sense of crisis, every cell in their bodies screamed, every nerve transmitted a signal of danger.

As martial artists, their blood essence was more abundant and pure than Arhant Due’s, making them Shen Shu’s primary targets.

Asura silently tensed his body, his powerful muscles soundlessly flexing, accumulating strength.

He could keenly sense that he was Shen Shu’s primary target—Asura’s blood essence held a fatal attraction for Shen Shu.

Suddenly, that towering divine appearance in the distance vanished from everyone’s sight.

The next moment, twelve pairs of arms extended from behind Asura, like the fangs of a Venus flytrap opening wide.

Shen Shu’s divine appearance had somehow appeared behind Asura, his black face expressionless, yet more sinister and terrifying than any malevolent expression could be.

Asura silently collapsed downward, escaping the “encirclement” from below before the twelve pairs of arms—seemingly reaching out from hell itself—could close around him.

A faint golden light flickered in Asura’s eyes—the Divine Vision.

It was this divine ability that allowed him to detect Shen Shu’s movements in advance, enabling him to react in time, or he would have ended up like Xu Qi An.

As he fell, a brilliant light wheel appeared behind Asura’s head as he said in a deep voice:

“First Precept: No Killing!”

Arhant Due pressed his palms together, the light wheel behind his head prominent, as he slowly said:

“First Precept: No Killing!”

Suddenly, the evil aura emanating from Shen Shu’s divine appearance diminished somewhat, the spiritual pollution slightly receding.

Combining the power of two Arhats, they finally managed to barely influence Shen Shu.

At this moment, the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox hesitated briefly. If she let Shen Shu hunt down Asura, the latter would surely die. With only Arhant Due remaining, he couldn’t cause much trouble.

But this would mean she must lead the demon race to flee the Southern Borderlands, or they too would become Shen Shu’s prey.

Moreover, this would mean the demon race would lose their “right to use” Shen Shu. Without him, the demon race could never restore their nation. Even if they recaptured Ten Thousand Demons Mountain, it would ultimately be occupied by the Buddhist sect again.

No, an out-of-control Shen Shu would follow his instincts, massacring indiscriminately in the Southern Borderlands, seizing blood essence. This place would become a forbidden zone of the Nine Provinces.

The demon race wouldn’t even be able to capture Ten Thousand Demons Mountain.

She immediately understood Guangxian Bodhisattva’s true intentions. The Buddhist sect’s real countermeasure to the demon uprising was to use the power of the Great Reincarnation Divine Appearance to make Shen Shu lose control and go berserk, turning the Southern Borderlands into a forbidden zone, thwarting the demon race’s restoration plans.

Then they would help the Cloud Province rebels overthrow Great Feng, resolving the Central Plains conflict.

Afterward, Xu Pingfeng and Garuda Bodhisattva, having advanced to First Grade, would be free to suppress Shen Shu, dismembering and sealing him again. By then, the Ten Thousand Mountains would still belong to the Buddhist sect.

Though she had figured out the Buddhist sect’s plan, the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox still couldn’t understand why the Great Reincarnation Divine Appearance would make Shen Shu lose control.

But regardless, sealing Shen Shu or making him regain his sanity was now the most important thing.

Otherwise, everything would be lost.

Her eight fox tails swelled in the wind, transforming into sky-covering giant pythons that swept across the night sky, completely wrapping around the frozen Shen Shu.

Shen Shu’s twelve pairs of arms exerted force, slowly pushing apart the fox tails’ restraint.

The Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox’s fair face suddenly flushed red, her body trembling slightly as veins bulged at her temples.

Both sides were locked in a contest of strength.

Fortunately, she was of the demon race with unmatched strength. Other transcendent experts of different systems wouldn’t even qualify to arm-wrestle with Shen Shu.

Seizing the opportunity, Asura let out a deep roar as the light wheel behind his head collapsed back into his body. Shortly after, a sarira radiating five-colored brilliant light rose from the top of his head.

This was the sarira symbolizing the Demon Slayer rank.

Asura reached out and gripped the sarira in his palm. His fist burst forth with dazzling light, illuminating the night sky with countless gorgeous colors.

This was no longer just channeling the power of the Demon Slayer rank—he was preparing to stake his rank in a life-or-death battle with Shen Shu.

In an instant, the Ten Thousand Demons Mountain territory was filled with a murderous aura.

Plants, birds, and beasts died silently, all slain.

“Ha!”

With Asura’s roar, his fist blazing with brilliant light precisely struck Shen Shu’s brow.

Between heaven and earth, a gorgeous ripple spread out, casting strange lights across the mountains below.

The fire ring behind Shen Shu’s head shattered, and his brow cracked like porcelain, destroying the flame mark.

The enraged Shen Shu let out an ear-splitting roar.

Bang bang bang… The eight fox tails wrapped around Shen Shu’s divine appearance snapped one by one. The Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox’s face turned snow-white as if suffering massive damage.

The broken fox tails didn’t fall, but flew back behind her as if alive, reconnecting themselves.

Shen Shu’s twelve pairs of arms surrounded Asura from all directions, layer upon layer, encompassing him within their palms.

At this moment, a sarira floated up from above Arhant Due’s head, hanging motionless and golden.

“First wish, I wish Asura to be by my side.”

As the words fell, Asura, who should have been covered by the sky-blocking hands, materialized beside Arhant Due.

Bang!

Amidst layers of exploding energy, Shen Shu’s hands clapped together, catching nothing.

South Dharma Temple had a sarira—the sarira of the “Worthy of Offerings” rank.

It was left behind by the first abbot of South Dharma Temple during his reincarnation and cultivation. On the night when Xu Qi An and Sun Xuanji fought for Shen Shu’s legs, Asura made a wish to the “Worthy of Offerings” sarira for a helper identical to himself.

For hundreds of years, this sarira had been enshrined in the South Dharma Temple, receiving incense offerings.

When devotees made sincere offerings and presented tribute, it accumulated with power.

When sufficient wish power accumulated, the Worthy of Offering rank would fulfill devotees’ wishes within “reasonable bounds.”

Wish power had strong exclusivity—it would only benefit the one making the offering.

Arhant Due hadn’t been making offerings to this sarira for long, so his wish power was limited. He could only make five wishes, which he had been saving as a trump card.

These five wishes naturally had to be within reasonable bounds—wishes exceeding the limits wouldn’t be realized.

At this moment, the black and white Bear King charged forward on all fours like a fat battering ram toward Shen Shu.

Clang!

His claws struck Shen Shu’s brow hard, making the crack worse.

Upon being attacked, Shen Shu instinctively swung his fist, “bang” hitting Bear King’s round belly.

The force penetrated through the Iron-Eating Beast’s body, transforming into raging winds behind him.

Like Xu Qi An earlier, Bear King became a human cannonball, shooting away and crashing into a distant mountain, causing a landslide.

Arhant Due wasn’t idle. While Bear King was attacking Shen Shu’s divine appearance, ninety-nine prayer beads shot out from his sleeve. Ding ding ding… The beads collided with each other, stringing together into a line like a thin sword.

A sword flickering with brilliant light.

Arhant Due pushed with his palm, and the thin sword whistled forth, becoming a streak of colorful light.

He then pressed his palms together and said:

“Second wish, may this attack’s power multiply.”

Boom!

Clouds layered in the night sky as a thick, tree-like lightning bolt struck down, overlaying the prayer bead sword.

The prayer bead sword’s flight speed increased dramatically, trailing silver electric arcs, bringing a sharp whistling sound as it pierced through Shen Shu’s divine appearance’s brow.

The divine appearance’s head “boomed” and exploded, without flesh and blood, dispersing into pure energy.

The headless divine appearance immediately froze in place.

…

To save their mentally ill father, the daughter and son collaborated with an octogenarian monk to blow up their father’s head… In some ruins, Xu Qi An, watching this battle, muttered to himself.

Such filial piety is killing me.

“So you’re here too.”

He then said to Bear King, who was slowly regaining consciousness.

After being disabled by Shen Shu’s punch, Xu Qi An used Jade Shatter to interrupt Shen Shu’s offensive rhythm, then used the Heaven Worm’s “Moving Stars and Shifting Constellations” ability to conceal his essence, followed by a shadow jump to hide in the dense forest.

Thus avoiding Shen Shu’s subsequent pursuit while redirecting trouble toward Arhant Due and Asura to taste their own medicine.

Just as he was thoroughly enjoying the show, Bear King suddenly came crashing over.

“It hurts so much…”

Bear King groaned softly.

“No matter, rest slowly, I’ve already blocked your essence signature,” Xu Qi An comforted.

“Why aren’t you using your pagoda? It can heal.”

Bear King’s button eyes looked at him, expression somewhat foolish, and particularly pitiful with blood coming from his mouth.

“That would expose our position.”

…Very reasonable. Bear King accepted his explanation and could only heal himself naturally to recover from his injuries.

Actually, at this point, under normal circumstances, Xu Qi An could have already made his escape after beautifully redirecting trouble to kill either Asura or Due.

“Shen Shu must calm down and be controlled by the demon race, so the Southern demons can sustain the subsequent battles for Ten Thousand Mountains and contain the Buddhist sect. If I left now, that would be disastrous—winning the local battle but losing the overall war.

“Playing chess with these big shots is exhausting, must think ten moves ahead.”

He believed the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox had also understood this point, which is why she moved to stop Shen Shu, temporarily allying with Arhant Due and Asura.

But the problem was, Asura and Due were surely thinking about retreating now… he thought silently.

Through careful observation, Xu Qi An discovered that after losing control, Shen Shu fought purely on instinct.

Without any technique.

When encountering Bear King’s attack, he followed his instinct to counterattack rather than take the chance to control and devour blood essence.

“Having no brain is good, easier to deal with when brainless…”

At this moment, he saw Shen Shu’s divine appearance’s head reform, still wearing that expressionless face.

The hearts of all five transcendent beings present—three in the air, two in the forest—suddenly sank.

This was a Semi-Divine Warrior!

Even fragmented, even when lost to pure instinct in battle, he was still a Semi-Divine Warrior.

What a crude martial artist… Xu Qi An gritted his teeth, experiencing firsthand the frustration other systems felt when facing Transcendent martial artists.

Though Asura, Due, Bear King, and the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox had just coordinated perfectly to shatter Shen Shu’s divine appearance’s head, in truth, he hadn’t suffered much damage at all.

While their own margin for error was extremely low—one mistake and they would be caught by the divine appearance, their blood essence drained alive.

Wasn’t this exactly how other systems felt when fighting Transcendent martial artists?

Looking at the god-like demonic divine appearance, Asura spoke rapidly:

“Make a wish to the sarira, to leave this place.”

For the “Worthy of Offerings” rank, simulating a transmission array was nothing difficult.

Arhant Due had already abandoned thoughts of fighting. Without hesitation, he spoke his third wish:

“Third wish, I wish for Asura and me to return to Arantha.”

The sarira lit up, then dimmed.

The two remained in place, nothing happened.

Only then did everyone notice the night had turned pitch black, the moon hidden away somewhere.

Asura’s expression instantly turned ugly as he said slowly:

“Asura Domain!

“This is the domain he created—he’s recovered part of his memories.”

The Asura Domain was a battle technique created by the previous Asura King, a technique unique to the Asura King. Even Asura, as his son, hadn’t learned this move.

Within the domain, the prey had nowhere to escape until either killed or killed their enemy.

Arhant Due’s face was grave.

This meant they couldn’t stay uninvolved—they either had to deal with Shen Shu or be dealt with by him. And given the power disparity between them, being dealt with by Shen Shu was more likely.

Asura Domain… The Nine-Tailed Fox’s heart stirred as she called out loudly:

“Shen Shu, you are the Asura King, the Asura King is Shen Shu.”

She tried to deepen Shen Shu’s self-awareness, hoping to awaken his rationality.

But it was useless. Shen Shu’s divine appearance remained unmoved, half-turning his body to face Asura, all twelve pairs of arms spreading simultaneously.

…

“Killing Shen Shu isn’t realistic, it can’t be done, and suppressing him is impossible. What to do…”

Xu Qi An began examining himself, magical treasures, backing, and abilities flashing through his mind one by one.

Finally, he thought of the Demon-Sealing Nail!

“The Demon-Sealing Nail definitely can’t seal Shen Shu, otherwise he wouldn’t have been dismembered and sealed in various places by the Buddhist sect. But it should be able to suppress him. The question is how to drive the nail into his body…”

As these thoughts turned in his mind, Xu Qi An suddenly felt drowsy. Looking to the side, he saw Bear King nodding off.

Damn, almost fell for it… He broke out in cold sweat and quickly mounted Bear King, waving his small hands to deliver a series of slaps.

Bear King became somewhat more alert, saying helplessly:

“I’m sleepy, sometimes I can’t control my drowsiness.”

Xu Qi An’s heart stirred as he got an idea, saying:

“Don’t sleep yet, wait until I tell you to sleep, then sleep.”

Bear King nodded:

“I’ll try my best.”

Xu Qi An used shadow jumping to approach the dense forest below everyone, and after getting closer, used his heartworm power to transmit from a distance:

“Everyone, I have a way to subdue him…”

Asura, Due, and the Nine-Tailed Fox, all engaged in battle, simultaneously tilted their ears, concentrating on listening for a moment before their eyes lit up.

Brilliant light wheels simultaneously lit up behind Asura and Due’s heads.

They pressed their palms together in unison, speaking in perfect harmony:

“First Precept: No Killing!”

The two Second Grade experts again joined forces to impose the precept.

Shen Shu’s unstoppable fist instantly froze but broke free of the precept’s influence in less than a second.

In that fraction of a second, the eight fox tails repeated their earlier technique, swelling like giant pythons to entangle the tall divine appearance.

At the same time, Xu Qi An raised the Iron-Eating Beast with both hands, leaping up from the forest and hurling it toward Shen Shu with all his might.

The Iron-Eating Beast stopped three zhangs from Shen Shu, hanging in mid-air, snoring loudly.

Shen Shu’s divine appearance was wrestling with the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox, gradually pushing apart her restraints when suddenly, immense drowsiness descended like a tidal wave. The drowsiness seemed to directly affect his primordial spirit, compelling him to fall into deep sleep.

Shen Shu didn’t sleep, but his struggle weakened.

Triple control!

After throwing the Iron-Eating Beast, Xu Qi An beckoned, and the Nation-Settling Sword flew over from the distant forest, landing in his hand.

Holding the sword, he transformed into a rainbow, charging toward the divine appearance’s chest.

Zizi~~

The sword tip pressed against the black chest sparks flying as it emitted a sharp sound that could drive one mad.

Breakthrough, come on, breakthrough… Xu Qi An’s face contorted, veins bulging at his temples as his strength worm entered a berserk state, causing his muscles to swell.

The sword tip finally pierced the skin.

Seeing this, Arhant Due pressed his palms together and spoke his fourth wish:

“Fourth wish, may this sword pierce the chest.”

As his words fell, the Nation-Settling Sword’s radiance increased severalfold, its tip making a “poof” sound as it pierced into flesh.

That’s enough… Hot blood splashing on his face, Xu Qi An withdrew the Nation-Settling Sword. From his left sleeve slid a prepared Demon-Sealing Nail, which he held between his fingers as he struck Shen Shu’s chest with his palm.

Half the nail pierced in.

The intense pain completely dispelled Shen Shu’s drowsiness. His Asura blood essence boiled, and in this crisis, he erupted with even stronger power.

Pop pop pop…

The eight thick fox tails snapped like taut ropes, making the Nine-Tailed Fox’s face twitch in pain.

Bang!

Shen Shu’s fist sent Xu Qi An flying like a broken sandbag.

Asura attacked from the left, trying to drive in that half-embedded Demon-Sealing Nail, but failed and was also sent flying by Shen Shu’s fist.

Next came the Nine-Tailed Fox, her tails just reconnected. She attacked from the right but similarly couldn’t get close, being sent flying by two of Shen Shu’s punches.

Master Shen Shu punched his son with his left and daughter with his right, utterly fierce.

Arhant Due’s ninety-nine prayer beads, like a sheet of gorgeous flowing flame, clinked and clanked against Shen Shu’s fists.

Twenty-four hands formed an impenetrable defensive circle.

Their “suicide” attacks provided an opportunity for Xu Qi An. He emerged from the shadow under Shen Shu’s armpit, his Moving Stars and Shifting Constellations concealing his essence, preventing Shen Shu from detecting him in time.

Bang!

Xu Qi An’s clenched fist struck directly, hammering the Demon-Sealing Nail’s head, driving it completely into Shen Shu’s body.

After accomplishing this, he immediately melted into the shadows, escaping to a distance.

Due, Asura and the Nine-Tailed Fox formed a triangle, surrounding Shen Shu, but didn’t continue their attack.

Shen Shu’s divine appearance stood rigid and motionless.

Except for Arhant Due, the four Transcendent experts including Xu Qi An had severely depleted their strength, their combat power declining to varying degrees.

Among them, Xu Qi An and Asura’s combat power had declined most severely.

The former was mainly due to the Great Reincarnation Divine Appearance’s power eroding him—he was now a seven-year-old boy. The two punches he took from Shen Shu afterward were minor in comparison—mere fatal wounds, after all.

The latter was because Shen Shu had seized most of his blood essence, and after dying and resurrecting, he had fought several life-or-death battles in succession, depleting both his energy and blood essence.

“Hopefully the Demon-Sealing Nail can restore Shen Shu’s sanity, otherwise we still have bitter fighting ahead.”

Xu Qi An muttered to himself, but he wasn’t as apprehensive as before.

The reason was simple—the Demon-Sealing Nail would certainly suppress Shen Shu and weaken his power. If the nail couldn’t restore Shen Shu’s sanity, subsequent fighting wouldn’t be as dangerous and difficult as before.

If Shen Shu could chant by himself and pull out the Demon-Sealing Nail, it would mean he had regained consciousness, achieving everyone’s goal.

Under tense observation, first, the domain hovering in the sky contracted, and then Shen Shu’s divine appearance followed suit.

Shen Shu, missing his head and right arm, once again appeared before everyone.

Bear King was still sleeping, not yet awake, and no one would disturb it.

Keeping Shen Shu under the influence of the “sleep spell” was everyone’s consensus.

“Who am I, who am I…”

Muttering emerged from his chest.

Still not recovered?!

Due, to Asura, the Nine-Tailed Fox, and Xu Qi An’s expressions instantly sank.

Then they heard Shen Shu say painfully:

“I remember now, I’m not the Asura King.

“I… I am Buddha…”