The footsteps were powerful, resonating in harmony with the pulse of this world. The golden-bodied arhats, bodhisattvas, and ancient Buddhas upon Mount Sumeru sensed the boundless power of the Buddhist Dharma, its authority vast and spanning all of antiquity — while those outside the mountain felt as though they faced an abyss, as though standing at the threshold of hell. Terrifyingly so.
Without question, this was an unrivaled powerhouse. The naturally emanating aura was enough to make all enemies tremble. Every gesture and movement was in accord with the Dao, co-existing and co-arising with this expanse of heaven and earth.
The person was tall of stature, wearing a golden crown upon their head, blazing and dazzling, carved with an image of a Buddha achieving enlightenment. It contained within it the secret of attaining imperial transcendence — both awe-inspiring and sacred. Around their neck hung a bejeweled ornament, strung together with sacred pearls and fine jade, coiling like a small dragon, upon which the images of countless bodhisattvas of the various heavens were impressed. From it, faint waves of sutra chanting could be heard at close range.
This was a powerful and mysterious figure, their entire bearing exuding nobility, adorned with sacred Buddhist instruments, emanating world-shaking fluctuations as if flowing naturally — supreme and most holy, inspiring reverence in all who beheld them.
Yet this person was a woman. Her face was like a full moon, her phoenix eyes blazing like lightning — beautiful and noble, and possessed of a great majesty. She wore white garments, gleaming and radiant.
Ye Tong, Long Ma, and the others were all momentarily stunned. No one had expected the last to walk out to be a woman of solemn and dignified Buddhist appearance. Yet none dared to think lightly of her — every heart was grave, for they sensed an incomparable pressure. Her cultivation was enough to shake the world, and carried an overwhelming and invincible presence.
“Who is she?” This was the question on the minds of Ye Fan and everyone else. This woman was extraordinarily powerful — even if not yet a Quasi-Emperor, she was very close to it, surpassing all the heroes of the world.
She was the caliber of adversary that the Human Demon and the Old Madman were — for upon her body there was an air of “I stand alone beneath all heaven, treading freely wherever I will, let none dare defy me.”
After walking out from the Great Thunder Sound Temple, she ceased to move further. Before her, a golden peacock appeared, and she was borne upon its back, bathed in ten thousand zhang of brilliant light.
“Hiss!”
Everyone drew in a sharp breath of cold air. This manner and bearing, this posture of looking down upon all things — it showed the fullness of her invincible conviction. It did not resemble the manner of the Buddhist faith at all, yet judging from her adornments, she was unquestionably a person of the Buddhist faith.
She wore white silk light garments, transcendent and worldly, composed and steady. Standing upon the golden peacock’s back, her eyes released two beams of devastating divine light, sweeping toward where Ye Fan and his companions stood.
“Clang!”
Ye Fan’s expression turned grave. Facing a figure of this caliber, he could only swing the dark crimson killing sword in his hand, splitting apart this gaze-light that could kill without being seen.
“Who in the world is this?” Qi Luo was overcome with doubt and uncertainty, having never heard of such a supremely skilled person in the Western Desolation in the recent age of antiquity. In the legends of the remote past, however, such a figure had appeared — and a deep chill spread through his heart at once.
The woman settled into a seated position on the golden peacock’s back, her entire body suffused with Buddhist radiance, her majesty even greater. Every piece of adornment upon her head was a terrifying magical instrument. Pendant earrings hung from her ears, resembling a beast that devours the clouds — waves of wind and thunder emanated from them. Her arms too blazed with divine mist, fitted with armlets coiling like nine dragons, lying dormant, exhaling clouds and breathing mist. If one listened closely, sutra chanting resounded from within.
This was a formidable woman. Without having struck a single blow or spoken a single word, she had already struck awe into the hearts of many.
“Who are you?” the Shencan Princess asked coldly, draped in the Ancient Imperial Battle Garment with nine colors of divine mist flowing all around, her overwhelming aura surpassing the nine heavens and ten earths, pressing directly toward Mount Sumeru.
As a Great Sage herself, clothed in the peerless immortal garment shed by ten transformations of Shencan, she towered above the nine heavens and ten earths — and before anyone, she had the capital to maintain such a dominant stance.
“She is our faith’s guardian of the Dao — the Great Peacock Bright King,” old monk Mo Ke said. Great as he was, a Great Sage in his own right, he still performed the half-teacher’s salute toward this person.
“None of our ancient lineages have ever heard of such a supreme expert of the Buddhist faith in recent times,” Yao Yue Kong, the Great Xia Imperial Lord Xia Yiming, and others were all overcome with doubt and uncertainty. Their own inheritances were exceedingly ancient and far-reaching — they had only heard of a peerless peacock that had existed in Buddhism in the remote past. Could it be that this woman had been sealed inside a divine spring, living all the way to this age, only now just having awakened?
Whatever the case, this was a formidable enemy.
“I come from beyond the domain,” she said — as though understanding what everyone was wondering — and the Great Peacock Bright King revealed a faint, slight smile, inspiring all the more awe.
Not a figure of the remote past, but a world-shaking divine ability cultivated within this very era. This person was truly terrifying — without an imperial weapon in hand, who could contend with her?
Ye Fan was certain: this person was supremely formidable. There was an invincible and overwhelming presence about her — a shock that came from deep within the spirit.
“Are you from the Amitabha ancient star domain?” Ye Fan had heard many legends while tempering himself on the Star Road. That place was the origin land of the Buddhist faith — it remained flourishing to this day, never lacking in peerless powerhouses.
The peacock clan’s karmic connection with the Buddhist faith ran very deep. By now, they had almost merged into a single lineage with the Buddhist faith. When no astonishing figure emerged from their ranks, that was one thing — but once one appeared in the world, it would be enough to astound all gods and cause all demons to weep.
“That is correct,” the Great Peacock Bright King nodded. Her entire body blazed with immeasurable Buddhist radiance, and the golden peacock beneath her let out a gentle cry, setting her off to appear like a divine being — sacred and inviolable.
Facing a supreme figure of the Buddhist faith, everyone’s hearts sank even further. Mount Sumeru had grown even harder to assault — with such a powerful figure keeping watch here, the situation was truly dire to the extreme.
When facing a figure of such status and identity, it would also be improper to be entirely lacking in courtesy. Qi Luo of the Heavenly Village saluted respectfully, then spoke earnestly and directly to the Peacock Bright King, calling upon her to release Hua Hua from the mountain.
“Impossible. For this lifetime, he can only remain in the Buddhist faith. He shall never be permitted to descend from Mount Sumeru for the rest of his life.” The Great Peacock Bright King’s tone was absolute — she refused without hesitation.
“Out of respect for you as an ancient sage of the Buddhist faith, we were unwilling to be impolite. But what exactly do you think you are? What is there for you to be so proud of? If it comes to it, we fight! That’s all!” Dongfang Ye shouted. With his wild man’s fearless nature, he raised the spiked great club in his hand, ready to charge forward and attack.
“I thought some peerless ancient Buddha had appeared — someone who would understand reason. Turns out it is nothing more than this. All the bald thieves of the Buddhist faith — you can all go die!” Long Ma bellowed.
With a clang, Ye Fan’s immortal sword trembled lightly, releasing a dazzling ray of light — pointing toward Mount Sumeru, expressing his stance. He was not unwilling to fight to the death.
“No matter who you are — so what if it is Mount Sumeru? Do you really think commanding the world means that heroes everywhere will kneel and submit?!” The Shencan Princess gave a cold laugh. The battle armor on her body clanged ceaselessly, the armor pulsing, its metallic luster cold and world-shaking. The aura of the ancient Emperor billowed outward, applying pressure to Mount Sumeru — this was a terrifying surge of energy, for this was an unblemished imperial garment.
The numerous golden-bodied arhats on Mount Sumeru trembled. Even the various bodhisattvas and ancient Buddhas furrowed their brows, swiftly channeling the power of faith to ward off the killing intent.
“The Great Peacock Bright King was originally only one step away from becoming a Quasi-Emperor. But for the sake of the future Buddha, she drew that step back.”
When old monk Mo Ke uttered these words, everyone could not help but draw in sharp breaths of cold air, filled with involuntary dread. What extraordinary divine ability that must have taken!
It was plain that Mo Ke was an extremely cunning and difficult figure — he spoke lightly of such a fact at the very height of everyone’s momentum, which truly had the effect of a striking awakening, shaking people’s hearts at the critical moment and crushing their fighting spirit.
After a brief silence outside Mount Sumeru, Ye Fan gave a cold laugh. “Do not speak of her not yet having become a Quasi-Emperor — even if she had, what of it? That would only make her a supreme sage of your Buddhist faith. What does it have to do with us? You may shut your doors and worship her yourselves!”
“Exactly. If we were to show reverence, it would be your Buddhist faith’s affair and yours alone. Today — gods in the way shall be struck down, Buddhas in the way shall be killed!” The Shencan Princess was domineering, her eyes shooting out a fearsome and brilliant light.
Shencan Ridge had once been renowned throughout the world, having produced an emperor who was peerless beneath heaven and above the earth. What kind of glory and flourishing had they not witnessed — naturally they would not be overawed by the Western Desolation’s Buddhist faith.
“Hypocrites. Enslaving others’ disciples, yet still mouthing benevolence and righteousness — it is enough to make one nauseous. At this point, there is only battle. Trample Mount Sumeru flat, plant my heavenly court’s great banner at the summit — from this day forth, there are no Buddhas.”
Long Ma’s words were far too pointed. This was genuine blasphemy of the Buddha — and it instantly made all of Mount Sumeru fall into an icy stillness and silence. Every eye glared in fury.
“A mere inferior horse, and you dare to howl at the heavens?” The Great Peacock Bright King spoke, reaching out one great hand and seizing directly toward those beyond the mountain.
This hand covered the sky and blotted out the sun — it truly seemed as though a peak of Mount Sumeru had come flying out, directly overshadowing the entire sky. It blotted out both heaven and sun, a black and oppressive darkness pressing down, and the vault of heaven itself cracked apart. It was supremely powerful and invincible.
“Zheng!”
Ye Fan moved. Against a figure of this caliber, only the imperial weapon would suffice. The dark crimson immortal sword launched killing surges like wave upon wave of the ocean, one layer pressing after another, striking directly upward at the great hand high in the sky.
“Hmph!”
The Great Peacock Bright King gave a cold snort. The Buddhist radiance of Mount Sumeru surged, the devotional power of countless heavens billowing upward along her arm, covering her hand. She appeared to have put on a garment of imperial power forged from the power of faith, withstanding the sword qi head-on. Her arm was unharmed. This was a supreme and most terrible thing.
In the next moment, she strode directly out, actually leaving Mount Sumeru’s body — yet the power of faith did not cease, surging like a great sea, vast like the open ocean, sweeping in her wake, engulfing her entirely.
A figure of this caliber, borrowing the power of Mount Sumeru to strike — truly extraordinary beyond all reckoning.
The Great Peacock Bright King blazed with light from every inch of her body, refining boundless devotional power into herself. This sacred power of Mount Sumeru radiated threads of imperial qi, and merging together with her, it instantly struck awe throughout the world.
She charged directly toward Ye Fan — her presence overwhelming sun and moon, shaking the nine layers of heaven. Just like that, the great battle erupted in sudden violence.
This was a tremendous pressure. Even with the killing sword of Lingbao Tianzun in his grasp, Ye Fan had to bring all twelve parts of his vigilance to bear — one moment of carelessness and he might bleed and fall in death.
This imperial weapon was only one of the four killing swords, and could not be counted as a complete imperial sword. Moreover the opponent was too powerful — she had borrowed the devotional power of Mount Sumeru and stood in the world like a descended god.
“Clang—” “Boom—”…
Between the two of them, blinding divine light continuously erupted. The vault of heaven was shattered, and above the highest skies black holes appeared in clusters — vast, boundless dark domains floating into being. Each and every strike from either of these two was enough to devastate heaven and earth.
Fortunately this all occurred in the vast heavens above, otherwise the consequences would be unimaginable.
The Great Peacock Bright King was truly formidable. Mo Ke had said she had nearly taken that step, yet ultimately drew it back — and that was not without reason.
She was outside of Mount Sumeru, and the devotional power of Mount Sumeru she had borrowed was not as immense as one might imagine — yet it still pressed upon all with the most terrifying force, overwhelming everything before it, none but herself above all.
This was none other than Ye Fan himself — battle-hardened through a hundred battles, holding an imperial weapon in hand. Any other Great Sage facing her would be instantly slapped to death with a single blow.
This was without any doubt. The Great Peacock Bright King’s presence overwhelmed all nine heavens and ten earths, her white silk garments flying and fluttering, transcendent and worldly, her eyes sharp as heavenly blades.
This was nothing at all like a woman — but rather a peerless overlord.
She channeled the Buddhist energy and devotional power, doing battle with Ye Fan, killing until sun and moon lost their light and heaven and earth changed color. Mount Sumeru soared up into the outer domain, and one small celestial body after another in its vicinity exploded apart.
Even the force of a casual sweep from her was enough to cause this — terrifyingly horrifying to behold, making everyone’s entire bodies run cold, unable to suppress their trembling.
Here, battle cries shook the heavens. The great battle fully erupted. The Shencan Princess charged directly toward the main peak of Mount Sumeru, striking sideways at the bodhisattvas of the various heavens, intent on cutting off the power of faith and destroying the Great Thunder Sound Temple.
The sound of slaughter boiled over. Dongfang Ye, Qi Luo, Ancient Golden Peng, Long Ma, and the other ten powerful figures, Yao Yue Kong, and all the assembled heroes all struck out. Saints filled the sky, magical instruments shining, radiance blazing and shooting outward, an intense and ferocious great battle.