Chapter 1474: Burned to Ash (Seeking Monthly Votes at Month's Start, Combined)

Unable to stop, unable to dodge, the viscous black smoke exploded violently above Jiuyi Mountain.

The viscous black mud poured down from above, swirling and wrapping.

The black mud writhed wildly, seeping beneath the imperial headdress, staining everything black, astonishingly viscous, astonishingly expansive—black mountains, black waters, black headdress.

The Lotus Great Master's pupils widened in shock; upon seeing the black mud, he felt overwhelming terror and a deviation far beyond his plans—this was clearly something he had meticulously removed, yet now it returned in a far more terrifying manner.

The Lotus Great Master wanted to block it, but everything was already too late.

The headdress giant froze in place, eyes vacant, completely deprived of the ability to act.

A great regret surged over the Lotus Great Master's heart.

"What thing, what thing, ah!"

Autumn Leaves frantically scratched her own face, eyes bloodshot; she merely glanced at the black mud, and her entire body lost control, desperately trying to flee Jiuyi Mountain, but could not escape at all—her very spirit was like a spring in the desert, drying up swiftly, yet also like a standing rock, eroding into sand.

Liang Qu, being closer, was directly contaminated with a trace—trivial, like a splash of urine on trouser legs, utterly insignificant, yet even so, his entire head felt as if struck heavily, countless screams echoed in his ears, chaotic memories surged and collided, like a maddened wild donkey.

If it were merely confused memories, that would be tolerable, but contact with the black mud contaminates even thoughts—clearly wanting to escape, his mind was filled only with swirling different ideas.

Flee, kill, eat, drink, gamble, seek women for lust, seek men for lust, anger, sorrow, joy, regret—

Old man, child, man, woman—

Countless kinds of people, countless individuals, all vying with him for control, his spirit utterly split into countless fragments, each devouring words, each contending.

"Ah!"

Two points of gold self-ignited, piercing the black mist; Liang Qu stumbled and fell out.

The Dragon-Tiger Golden Body radiated brilliantly, flesh and spirit firmly stabilized.

Sixth stage, spanning the body!

The Spanning Body upheld the last trace of consciousness; Liang Qu's mind-eye opened wide, he fully unleashed the heart-fire.

At the center of the sea of awareness, the heart-fire transformed into a divine general, burning fiercely; with the Slaying Flood Dragon method, he severed the tangled lines, burning away all distracting thoughts to exhaustion, yet excruciatingly slow.

"Body first dies!" Ge Zu lowly shouted.

Instantly, Liang Qu felt everything collapse inward, becoming a "point"—no mass, no volume, yet clearly existing.

Immediately, sword light crisscrossed; before him, Zhang Longxiang directly struck out, chopping off his head!

The field of vision spun, he soared upward, experiencing unprecedented lightness.

Sharing Liang Qu's fate was also the Lion King, who delivered the key blow.

Two heads simultaneously flew in midair, continuously spinning, rapidly vanishing in the sword light.

But the next moment, Zhang Longxiang extended both hands, simultaneously pressing on both their shoulders, absorbing the damage; two complete physical forms re-manifested, as if time reversed.

"Again, summon souls!" Ge Zu chanted while running.

The collapsed point exploded outward, restoring mass, restoring volume; Liang Qu regained control of his body.

Sweat poured down, soaking his back.

The whole person seemed to have undergone a refreshing cicada molt; the sea of awareness still buzzed incessantly, yet Liang Qu's primary consciousness had already taken dominance.

Light returned.

Vision, hearing—all returned.

The Lion King's face turned pallid, as if having endured lingchi; he lifted his gaze to the blood-colored heaven and earth, seeing the headdress giant struggling in the black mud wrapping, the shattered earth, a flash of astonishment crossing his eyes.

Who is he? Where is he? What is he doing?

I am the Lion King, I am opposing the Fourth Immortal, but was exiled, condensing the filth of heaven and earth.

Thoughts jumped and flickered; the dormant memories rapidly revived—

The Lion King fled the black smoke, hurriedly caught up with the group, recalled prior events, but could not remember later developments at all; he did not know what had happened, merely judging from the current situation, it should have been a successful escape!

Huai Wang has excellent methods!

"What did you do."

Black thunder accompanied the angry shout, splitting downward from the sky.

Ge Zu had long prepared, quick-eyed and quick-handed: "Body first dies!"

Su Wang let out a miserable cry; in the black thunder, he split into five fragments, his whole body like shattered glass; Zhang Longxiang leapt forward, swallowed the owl, and the shattered cracks vanished swiftly.

"Again, summon souls!"

Su Wang disregarded the cold sweat; his battle instinct, honed through countless trials, let him backhand swing a sword, light intersecting, half an arm flying sideways.

Eight figures blocked six people; the Lotus Great Master's eyes held fire, no more words of persuasion, indifferent to the severed arm; a blood-colored lotus blossomed at the wound, swiftly nurturing a new arm.

He flung the prayer beads in his hand; the cord broke, twelve beads burst with golden light, manifesting as twelve streams of light, piercing straight through four bodies.

The final bead was blocked by ripples on the Lion King and Liang Qu's bodies, lasting a moment.

Liang Qu quickly adjusted his position, avoiding vital points; his palm ached, an eye-hole the thickness of a little finger appeared in his palm; he swiftly analyzed the principle of this move.

He felt intense pressure, pushing open; it seemed something had first penetrated the flesh, then pushed outward from within—not a simple piercing wound, but compression! Using the gap to traverse!

That bead directly found a non-existent gap on the body, then passed through; theoretically causing no harm, actually leaving a blood-hole the size of a human eye! Only he and the Lion King relied on themselves and the position fruit to have some obstruction.

The flesh around the blood-hole quickly writhed, sprouting dense granulation tissue, like barnacles on an East Sea whale; each granulation writhed independently, his arm swelled, golden hair rapidly grew on the skin, five fingers twisted, claws emerged, swiftly becoming a lion's paw, and spreading toward the shoulder.

Parasitism? Possession?

Liang Qu's change was still relatively slow; Su Wang and others nearly completed instantly; he made a decisive decision, grabbed and tore off his left arm turned into a lion's claw, then flashed to Zhang Longxiang's side.

Authority, again authority.

Liang Qu could confirm that the Lotus Great Master employed immense authority; surveying the eight different identities, different Lotus Great Masters.

Sea-born Vajra, Wrathful Vajra, Shakyamuni Lion, Love-Wisdom Lotus Master—

"Eight identities, eight authorities not enough?"

Ge Zu frantically activated authority; Zhang Longxiang continuously restored the physical body; the severe pain on the body vanished.

The Lotus Great Master spat out great fire.

"Huai King!"

Lion King pressed both hands against the void, and Xin Damian brought a single fist smashing down.

Two authorities acted simultaneously; ripples and cracks bloomed at once, shattering the sea of fire.

Liang Qu stepped on empty air and flashed through the sky.

Water Walk Thousand Li requires weaving through water, but Hu King has plenty of divine abilities that don't need to borrow water.

Black-gold radiance broke through everything!

Every authority tried to block it; all were knocked aside by a single blinding golden light, ripples sweeping away everything, descending with unmatched momentum.

Five of the eight figures collapsed in an instant!

Lotus Flower Bodhisattva's gaze froze, nearly horrified.

Liang Qu grew stronger!?

Lotus flowers bloomed rapidly; the collapsed figures revived anew, moving to support and intercept before Liang Qu could strike a second time.

Zhang Longxiang likewise wanted to join in, but because of his own authority he had to divide his attention to watch over everyone, unable to let go and fight freely.

Lotus Flower Bodhisattva went all out; every means, touch it and it changes, change it and it breaks.

But physical pains of every kind were completely suppressed by heart-fire; clearly there were only fourteen people, yet severed limbs and broken arms of hundreds rained from the sky!

"Exhilarating, exhilarating!"

Xin Damian fought with increasing relish.

Originally at the end of his lifespan, he received the essence of heaven and earth to replenish himself, extending his life another two hundred years — reaching a thousand years — with no more decrepit old-age feeling, only sensing his vigor inexhaustible.

Xin Damian gripped the void and pulled down hard.

Cloud layers bent into an arc, then were evaporated clean by high temperature; terrifying meteors fell from the heavens!

"Not quite right!" Liang Qu watched the meteors, puzzlement rising. "What exactly is Xin Damian's Position Fruit authority?"

The Yang Realm being able to pull meteors is still understandable, but why can the Yin Realm pull them too?

Shadows frantically covered the earth; Qiu Ye drooled, relying on a Sixth Realm powerhouse's tenacious survival instinct, writhing his body, crawling and rolling down the mountain, running toward the distance, the whole man idiotic, mad, deranged.

Boom!

Heaven and earth shook; the ground surged like waves.

The Mianliu Giant sank into black mud, a chaos, crashing to the ground — yet the expression on its face grew richer and richer, more and more vivid.

Great Enlightenment Temple.

Tremors beneath their feet didn't stop — the aftershock from a hundred thousand li away.

Chu King and Yi Chen swallowed saliva.

They completely didn't understand: separated by over a hundred thousand li, why could the other's struggle be so clear — could it be that every move they made reached a height of a thousand li?

This is absolutely not battle power a Yao Dragon could reach!

Hui Zhen stood on the mountain peak, gaze cast to the infinite distance, dead-locked on one of the eight figures of Lotus Flower Bodhisattva.

On the Lotus Vajra Seat, Lotus Master defeated five hundred heretical outsiders in debate, and relying on the power of mantras subdued them, making the outsiders submit and enter the Buddhist gates — at this time called Geri Sangjiazhou, namely Lion's Roar Lotus Master.

Amidst his shock, Chu King noticed Hui Zhen's inexplicable expression: "Master, you recognize that foreign monk?"

"Don't recognize him, just recalled one among them." Hui Zhen sighed. "It's my master."

Master Hui Zhen's master————

Chu King muttered to himself a bit; having lived a year together he already knew Hui Zhen's past identity, and immediately widened his eyes.

"Is it Master Master Huiyuan who created the 'Consciousness-Only Dharma'? He's one of the eight?"

Hui Zhen shook his head: "Master isn't one of the eight; he died long ago. Now he's merely an evil demon occupying Master's corpse shell. That foreign monk should be the rumored Number One Fangshi beside Great Li's Taizu back in the day.

During the Great Li dynasty, the world had no Buddhist Dharma to speak of, no Daoist Dharma either — only the Shakya Sect and the Dao Sect. In the two thousand years since, my master once single-handedly sought to convert the entire Great Snow Mountain."

Master Master Huiyuan————convert the entire Great Snow Mountain?

Chu King swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

Great Snow Mountain is no ordinary force; in the Great Qian era, five or six Yao Dragons were the norm, and with all kinds of ritual blessings, five or six Yao Dragons could often match ten peers of the same realm!

Hui Zhen shook his head: "Back then Great Snow Mountain's power grew gradually, yet still not as fearsome as Chu King's time — only four Yao Dragons. My master succeeded, and also failed.

At that time Great Snow Mountain suffered unprecedented heavy damage; four Yao Dragons, two dead two wounded, the wounded forced to self-sever and flee, nearly cutting off the inheritance. Only my master returned and not long after completely entered nirvana, never uprooted them entirely. Looks like ashes rekindled — no, with this person, Great Snow Mountain could never perish."

Chu King was speechless, then realized another matter.

Just one of the eight figures is this formidable; the remaining seven, aren't they all the outstanding figures of their respective eras across ten thousand years?

Perhaps even Self-Cultivated Position Fruit bearers exist among them!

Self-Cultivated Position Fruit can grow alongside the cultivator, but it's not smooth sailing once self-cultivated — no treasure in the world can increase Position Fruit progress; if years are insufficient, it still falls short at the last moment, and once they perish, they become the most precious legacy treasures.

Figures fell like meteors again and again.

Lotus flowers bloomed; naked human bodies spat out one after another, rejoining the battle. Zhang Longxiang and the others kept reviving, likewise turning stark naked.

Both sides can infinitely resurrect, infinitely refresh their state — but every avatar struck by Liang Qu dropped two realms!

A drop in realm is still acceptable, but dropping two realms in divine abilities is a massive weakening in combat power. And Liang Qu has a vast divine ability library to deploy targeted counters; in barely half a quarter-hour, the eight figures were deadlocked, suppressed by Liang Qu's six, hard-pressed on all sides!

Wu Lingxu and Fei Taiyu watched anxiously, yet dared not step forward.

Before the River God Sect's rebellion, Position Fruits were still allocated to First-Rank Sects, and they could manipulate a thing or two. But ever since that damn monkey stole two, to avoid accidents all authorities were concentrated entirely on Lotus Flower Bodhisattva and the Immortal. With their current strength, entering would only leave bones.

Lotus Flower Bodhisattva embedded into the earth, blood seeping from mouth and nose, yet he didn't panic — because he caught it, caught that spiritual glimmer beneath the Mianliu.

The Sect Master didn't fall into slumber because of the black mud; on the contrary, a trace of a living person's vitality emerged!

When the Fourth Immortal revived, Lotus Flower Bodhisattva found it strange: clearly he had purged the filth, yet the Sect Master's entire consciousness remained muddled and confused, as if affected.

"What to do, Huai King, can't kill him!" Lion King asked. "Retreat?"

Xin Damian's mind stirred; that black mud looked extraordinarily effective — absolutely enough to drink a pot.

And that thing's corruption is growing larger and larger; they're fighting while bearing this corruption.

The purpose has already been achieved, we should withdraw as soon as possible——

"We still can't withdraw!" Zhang Longxiang said, "Huai Wang!"

"That's right!" Liang Qu's eyes burned like Xiong Xiong.

The filth of heaven and earth originally lay upon the body of the Great Li Taizu.

Now things return to their owner, merely reverting to a basic state—this is only an additional purpose generated after exile, the original goal was never accomplished!

They intend to slay the Fourth Immortal, sever the Fourth Crucible, and prevent the emergence of the Fourth True Immortal!

The most crucial point——

"Liang Qing!" The old toad trampled the fat fish's head, red light falling from its body as it bellowed, "Quick, quick, quick—behead that Fourth Immortal!"

All commands are cleared, with the old toad's order taking highest priority.

"Dragon Elephant King, help me suppress it!"

Liang Qu decisively broke free from the battlefield, alone returning to the summit of Jiuyi Mountain, facing the giant directly.

The Lotus Arhat immediately counterattacked, but was pressed down again by Zhang Longxiang, who had taken over the position.

The blood-colored Eagle God manifested, its wings blotting out sky and sun, devouring all divine abilities, firmly pressing down, sealing inside from outside!

The crown-and-robe figure was completely covered in black mire; moss and fungal mats grew and spread from the earth like a blanket, turning into a chaotic dead zone—living things that glanced at it had their thoughts disturbed, unable to approach at all.

Behind, wildfire spread, lightning flashed and thunder roared, the wind howled.

Liang Qu opened Chuan Guo, floodwaters surged, water columns shot into the sky!

The column was azure, spiral-shaped, with foam lines encircling it.

Dajue Temple, Huizhen turned her prayer beads.

Shuyu Pavilion, Qi Ju's heart pounded thump-thump.

The two thousand six hundred-fold root sea erupted violently, sixth-stage Dragon Tiger Golden Body, fourth-stage Chuanzhu Zhan Jiao, all auxiliary divine abilities loaded, Frog Gong's blessing, mind-eye opened, heart fire blazing, temporal support, blessings to the mind and spirit, strength squeezed from the marrow, roaring angrily, the water column pressed down, swinging out an astonishing arc!

Fifth-stage Yinglong Killing Canon, expanding its range to a thousand zhang, taking advantage to strengthen.

Consuming the essence of heaven and earth, Chuan Guo absorbed and expanded, Liang Qu's strength rose again.

This is his strongest Chuanzhu Zhan Jiao strike to date!

Heaven and earth grew dim, desolate black and white.

Eliminate evil, destroy demons, sweep away the black mire.

In the golden eyes, chaotic black lines jumped, obstructing, unexpectedly filled with resilience—this was an exception Liang Qu had never encountered, yet he continued chopping, burning everything, his arm muscles collapsing and melting into blood.

The black lines violently jumped, frenziedly twisted, finally trembled, and together with Fubo and the water column, snapped apart!

Beneath the crown and robe, the eyes soaked in black mire once again emitted a trace of human vitality; as the black mire was swept away, the Fourth Immortal's will surged to unprecedented strength—he realized he had taken the wrong path, compounded the error, vainly attempting to nurture a fourth being's position fruit, to harness chaos for himself, merely being——

Black-gold light pierced in.

Occupying the entire field of vision.

Excruciating pain struck, the Fourth Immortal's vision split into left and right halves.

Liang Qu turned into a blood-man, yet he lifted his head, exploded his throat.

"Dragon Elephant King!"

The Eagle God spread its wings, soaring ten thousand li!

Zhang Longxiang dodged and flashed, the Lotus Arhat instantly erupted in self-immolation, Xin Damen, Su Wang, Shi Wang, and Ge Zu simultaneously began burning themselves, one person blocking two.

Liang Qu's gaze fell, his mind unprecedentedly calm, temporal order made his thoughts like lightning, he calmly detached the four divine abilities loaded on Chuan Guo, replaced them with four most suitable auxiliary divine abilities, and imbued them onto Zhang Longxiang.

In the golden eyes, all black lines collapsed and crumbled, the Fourth Immortal's vivid colors rapidly dimmed.

Another blade-light.

The Fourth Immortal's vision, already split in two, leapt upward a segment, then rotated.

Heaven and earth darkened for an instant.

The Nine Great One-Power Sects fell deathly silent, essence, energy, and spirit collapsed and withered.

Then——

Zhang Longxiang's aura began to surge wildly!