Chapter 2852: Blooming Lotuses of Holy Buddhist Light |
The space above the three thousand miles of water over the River of Destiny was thrown into chaos. The formations rumbled and boomed, and firelight swept outward like a tidal wave or avalanche. It was enough to kill even Heavenly Monarchs with ease.
Dozens of Sin Souls scattered in all directions, all of them warriors who’d watched over the Ancient Nine Luminaries City during the Devastation. All had once waged an endless war against the Celestial Demons.
They entered the fray like a windstorm sweeping across the River of Destiny, leaving spraying blood and desperate, agonized shrieks in their wake.
But the little girl, Innocence, was the most terrifyingly strong of all. She flashed through the air like a beam of blood-red light, ripping it asunder. None could stand in her way. She was far too fast and incomparably tyrannical. She just slammed through everything and everyone in her path, blasting their bodies to pieces and ripping their souls to shreds.
“Die!” Wen Zibo bellowed and attacked, flinging a purple and gold Daoist seal at the little girl.
It bore down on her, swathed in flowing firelight. Purple and gold electricity, brimming with an air of destruction, came crashing down, making Innocence stagger on her feet. Her speed instantly plummeted.
Practically simultaneously, Zheng Yue waved his sleeve, and six stone steles descended from the heavens, surrounding Innocence on all sides.
Each stele was a thousand feet tall and pitch black, its surface carved with intricate floral markings. Together, they sealed off the east, west, north, south, heaven, and earth.
The markings covering their surfaces billowed dazzling Daoist flames. There was Samedhi True Fire, Nine Purities Profound Fire, Mysterious Feminine Divine Fire, and Earth Astral Baleful Fire, among others. All of them could have burned a Heavenly Monarch to cinders with ease.
It was the Six-Part Demon-Sealing Steles that had earned Cheng Yue his place among the ten great Daoist Heavenly Monarchs.
Innocence felt as if she’d been plunged into a furnace. There was nowhere for her to run and nowhere for her to hide.
“Refine!” Cheng Yue bellowed.
The six stone steles suddenly started spinning, Daoist flames rumbling and booming as they converged into a colorful flaming whirlpool.
Many of the Heavenly Sovereigns inwardly sighed in relief. Throughout the ages, none of those trapped in Cheng Yue’s Six-Part Demon-Sealing Steles had ever escaped with their lives!
But this time, something unexpected happened.
The crowd heard a massive, heaven-shaking impact, and the six steles shook violently. Immediately afterward, unstoppable, overflowing, blood-red sin power shot into the firmament, crushing the multi-colored flames.
Innocence shot explosively out of the vortex, then swung her bloody spear.
Several of the nearby Heavenly Monarchs couldn’t dodge in time. That bloody spear severed them in two at the waist before they knew what hit them, killing them on the spot.
The others watched in shock and horror. Startled cries arose on all sides.
No one would have guessed that Innocence would be so terrifyingly strong. She’d actually managed to break through the Six-Part Demon-Sealing Steles with ease.
Wen Zibo, Cheng Yue, Feng Duhu, Jue Ying, and the other top experts dared not hesitate. All of them attacked at once.
Kaboom!
The battle raged with renewed intensity. Magic treasures whooshed through the air, and Dao Light surged, creating a terrifying vision of utter destruction and collapse.
There was no getting around it; Innocence’s strength was far too terrifying. With her spear in hand, she staved off powerful foes on all sides. They couldn’t suppress her at all. On the contrary, she was putting immense pressure on them!
Her ragged robes were now as red as blood, and blood-red, sinful light flowed around her. Blood-red markings arose all over her pale skin, unearthly and unsettling.
Most terrifying of all, the countless black flowers hovering around her were each utterly destructive. Anything they touched, from mighty Daoist magics to wondrous treasures, froze in place, as if a mysterious power were holding it fast.
The Heavenly Monarchs gathered here were top experts within their level. Ordinary Heavenly Monarchs were as feeble as paper window paneling by comparison.
Yet a single little girl was enough to put immense pressure on them and suppress their bluster!
This shook them to the core. All of them looked stricken.
They’d naturally received word of the battle in the Ancient Nine Luminaries City. They knew that the little girl was the spirit of the Laws of Rahu, a being that had survived since the Devastation.
But even if you’d hit them over the head, they would never have guessed that this spirit of the natural order was even more ferocious than the rumors suggested!
Innocence, meanwhile, was inwardly frantic. Her performance during her battle against the Sword-Bearer had displeased her master.
Now, he was obviously enraged. How would he treat her if she failed to defeat his enemies as soon as possible?
I’ve got to go all out! She gnashed her teeth and attacked.
Her body silently split, like a bloody flower in bloom, splitting into countless blood-red doppelgangers. The doppelgangers then split into several dozen groups, each of which surrounded a powerful enemy. Countless Innocences surrounded all of the Heavenly Monarchs.
Most unsettling of all, some of the blood-red figures directly invaded her opponents’ hearts. These were the abilities of an Outsider Celestial Demon!
It was just as the heart devil in the rusted sheath said. Innocence was more than just the spirit of the Laws of Rahu. She was also an Outsider Celestial Demon, and a highly special one at that.
When she went all out, her enemies instantly sensed an impending lethal threat.
“Master, why did you take my Dao Partner? Why!? I’ll fucking kill you!” A Heavenly Monarch suddenly shrieked, eyes bloodshot, and attacked like mad. He’d completely lost control.
A group of blood-red figures surrounded and attacked him, killing the mentally broken Heavenly Monarch on the spot.
“Hahaha! I’ve finally achieved the Dao! The position of leader of Limitless Palace shall soon be mine!” someone laughed in a frenzy, excitement all over their face.
“I killed my own parents just to stay alive. I wasn’t wrong. It’s the world that’s wrong!” someone roared with grief and fury.
“I can’t face my master’s wife. She treated me like a son, yet I acted worse than a beast. Master, it really wasn’t her fault. It was all my fault. I’m the one who did wrong…” someone cried out with regret.
Together, these scenes were extraordinarily strange and unsettling.
In the past, these Heavenly Monarchs’ hearts were utterly unyielding, yet now, they’d lost themselves to obsession.
Innocence’s blood-red doppelgangers seized the opportunity to attack and kill the afflicted cultivators without mercy.
But Innocence’s injuries piled on, too. She didn’t always succeed at invading her enemies’ hearts. Some of her doppelgangers were slain instead. Each loss injured her, and they quickly added up.
But she wasn’t at all concerned about that. She was completely risking it all!
Meanwhile, elsewhere on the battlefield, the Sin Souls went out too, stirring up a storm of bloodshed. Only Cen Xinghe remained behind to watch over Su Yi and glare murderously at their enemies.
He, too, had realized that his “grandfather” was in a bad mood. There was obviously a lot of fury and murderous intent hidden beneath his calm exterior.
Cen Xinghe didn’t know what Su Yi had been through, but he knew what he needed to do. At a time like this, he had to ensure his grandfather’s safety!
Su Yi took out a jug of wine, but he didn’t drink. He was wondering when he’d be strong enough to just sweep through his enemies; just watching like this was getting really old.
There was nothing for it, as he was only in the Divine Wandering Realm. He wasn’t yet capable of defeating a group of Heavenly Monarchs.
But the situation was temporary. When he stepped into the Silent Realm, he’d likely have nothing left to fear from Heavenly Monarchs. Had he fought this battle after stepping into the Immeasurable Realm, he could likely have killed to his heart’s content!
And when he reached the Heavenly Fate Realm… not even the avatars of Heavenly Sovereigns would be enough to threaten him!
But Su Yi quickly shook his head. Thinking about all that would do him no good. On the contrary, it would only aggravate him. He couldn’t take the Grand Dao for granted, and he certainly couldn’t fixate on short-term benefits. He sought an unsurpassed path. That required great perseverance, willpower, and spirit.
Su Yi gradually calmed down.
It was then that he suddenly noticed that a monk in white had appeared on the turbulent battlefield. He looked young, and he had an ethereal air about him. Lotuses bloomed beneath his feet with every step he took, and he walked directly atop the River of Destiny.
His gait seemed slow, but he arrived in the blink of an eye, then clasped his palms and whispered, “Suppress!”
Boom!
Innocence’s countless doppelgangers froze in place, suppressed by boundless Buddhist light. Wherever the light touched, even those doppelgangers that had already invaded the hearts of Heavenly Monarchs froze.
Innocence sensed the danger and immediately retreated. Even so, when the Buddhist light swept past her, it left her badly injured. One blood-red doppelganger after another collapsed and dissipated as if purified.
“Run, Master!” When Innocence returned to Su Yi’s side, her face was pallid and full of alarm and fury. “That bald donkey is too terrifying!”
As her voice rang out, Buddhist light swept across the battlefield like a golden flood. As it spread, lotus flowers bloomed amidst its holy radiance, refining the Sin Souls one after another.
Not one survived!
Cen Xinghe looked on solemnly, a chill coursing down his spine. What terrifying Buddhist light. What a fearsome young monk. Who is he?
The experts of the three Heavenly Sovereign factions and the Heart-Tempering Sword House were stunned, too. Almost half of them had fallen or suffered heavy injuries by now, and their thirty-six killing formations had all but been destroyed.
They’d paid an undeniably massive price. Even a dozen or so Heavenly Monarchs had died.
Even Wen Zibo, Ceng Yue, and the other top experts’ hearts were heavy. They were incomparably frantic, and they feared they’d soon suffer a crushing defeat.
But now, the arrival of the young monk in white had changed the situation once more!
He’d walked in on a path of blooming lotuses, extraordinary and transcendent, effortlessly injuring the little girl and annihilating dozens of Sin Souls.
His Buddhist powers were so unbelievable that they left countless onlookers tongue-tied, but none of them recognized him.
Only Su Yi frowned; the monk in white seemed somehow familiar.
“It’s been years, but your majesty hasn’t diminished in the slightest, Fellow Daoist Su. It’s indeed cause for celebration.” The monk turned to face Su Yi, then smiled and clasped his palms together.
Su Yi instantly ascertained this new arrival’s identity. “What should I call you? The Buddha of the Past? Or the Future? Or the Present? Or none of the above?”