Chapter 733: Loss?

This Sage believes, since you will ultimately fail, it's better to proactively yield and let the people of the Dragon Court and the Monster Court enter Spirit Mountain!

This way, conversely, we can preserve more of the Buddhist Sect's power...

Upon hearing the voice transmission from Daoist Zhunti, the Tathagata Buddha was completely stunned.

Patriarch Hongjun actually intends to wait until Spirit Mountain is destroyed to a certain extent before making an appearance?

Doesn't that mean their previous resistance was utterly meaningless?

Heavens!

In order to buy time, waiting for Patriarch Hongjun to appear, he has already had over a hundred treasures seized by Ancestral Dragon and Emperor Jun!

If Patriarch Zhunti had spoken earlier, how could he have suffered such a great loss?

It would have been fine to yield early, but now yielding means not only losing treasures for nothing, but also losing all face—it's a huge loss!

The Tathagata Buddha almost wanted to cry but had no tears.

He felt he had been tricked by Daoist Zhunti.

But Daoist Zhunti is a sage, so he dare not complain.

This bitterness, he can only swallow it silently himself!

After countless thoughts raced through his mind, the Tathagata Buddha suppressed his dissatisfaction and, via a Buddhist secret art, sent a voice transmission to Daoist Zhunti, saying:

"Thank you, Daoist Zhunti, for your information and advice; I will follow your advice and proactively yield!"

The Tathagata Buddha decided to proactively yield.

There's no way—we can't beat them in fight, and reinforcements aren't coming!

Continuing to fight will only cause more losses.

Just thinking about the over a hundred spiritual treasures taken by Ancestral Dragon and Emperor Jun makes the Tathagata Buddha feel as if his heart is being cut by a knife.

This round, the loss is too terrible!

We absolutely cannot keep losing; we must cut our losses in time!

At that moment, the Tathagata Buddha sent a voice transmission to the senior Buddhist figures Ran Deng Ancient Buddha, Maitreya Buddha, Guanyin Bodhisattva, and others:

"Just now, Daoist Jieyin sent me a message: Patriarch Hongjun plans to wait until Spirit Mountain suffers a certain degree of destruction before appearing to mediate the dispute."

"If we continue to stubbornly resist the attacks of the Dragon Court and the Monster Court, it will be meaningless and only increase our losses!"

"Therefore, we shall all feign defeat and retreat into the Great Formation of Spirit Mountain; upon entering the formation, everyone should quickly gather any collectible treasures, strengthen defenses in key areas, and try to minimize the destruction caused by the Dragon Court and the Monster Court."

"Afterward, we will simply await Patriarch Hongjun's descent to mediate..."

Upon hearing these words from the Tathagata Buddha, Ran Deng Ancient Buddha, Maitreya Buddha, and others were utterly shocked.

Considering their Buddhist Sect, it is now in its zenith, to the point even the Heavenly Court must regard them with three parts of caution.

What's more, behind the Buddhist Sect stand two sages lending their support!

Yet now, facing the assault of the Dragon Court and the Monster Court, they actually intend to proactively withdraw, letting the enemy destroy Spirit Mountain?

Heavens!

This is simply an extraordinary disgrace!

However, even though Ran Deng Ancient Buddha, Maitreya Buddha, and others are utterly unwilling in their hearts,

the present situation does not allow them to hesitate.

Either they feign defeat to reduce losses,

or they truly suffer defeat, incurring heavy losses.

The Tathagata Buddha has already ordered them to choose the former; can they still stubbornly insist on choosing the latter?

Thus, the Buddhist Sect members, led by the Tathagata Buddha, all feigned defeat and retreated into the Great Formation of Spirit Mountain.

Ancestral Dragon and Emperor Jun were vigorously looting treasures when they suddenly discovered that the Buddhist Sect members had retreated.

Seeing this, they all began to mock:

"Tathagata, as the esteemed leader of the Buddhist Sect, how can you be so weak?"

"The outcome hasn't even been decided, yet you flee out of fear? You're nothing but a timid turtle!" However, facing the mockery of Ancestral Dragon and Emperor Jun, the Tathagata Buddha remained unmoved.

Seeing this, Ancestral Dragon and Emperor Jun ceased their mockery of the Tathagata Buddha and instead began concentrating their forces to attack the Great Formation of Spirit Mountain.

Ancestral Dragon and Emperor Jun found the retreat of the Tathagata Buddha and others puzzling, but Ye Qin understood perfectly.

Seeing the Tathagata Buddha willingly sacrifice face to retreat in order to reduce losses, he smiled and said:

"They truly have inherited the 'fine tradition' of Daoist Jieyin and Daoist Zhunti; the Buddhist Sect members don't place much importance on face..."

"Now that the Tathagata and others have retreated into Spirit Mountain, all we need to wait for is for Ancestral Dragon and Emperor Jun to break Spirit Mountain's protective formation, then we can give the Buddhist Sect a profound lesson!"

"By the way, besides the Dragon-Transforming Pool, Spirit Mountain also holds Kong Xuan, who was captured by Daoist Zhunti!"

"Kong Xuan, as the son of the Primordial Phoenix, wields the divine ability Five-Colored Divine Light; he was once hailed as the foremost quasi-sage of the Fengshen Calamity, with exceptional talent!"

"Taking this opportunity, we can also rescue Kong Xuan from Spirit Mountain!"

Upon thinking this, Ye Qin issued a mission.

"Ding!"

As the mission was released, the preparatory members of the Holy Court—Ancestral Dragon, Emperor Jun, Lu Ya, the Nine Golden Crows, Sun Wukong, the Six-Eared Macaque, Ao Lie, and others—all received a notification.

"A new mission?"

Ancestral Dragon and the others all checked Ye Qin's newly released mission via the Holy Court seal.

They saw the mission details as follows:

Mission Name: Rescue Kong Xuan

Mission Introduction: Kong Xuan is the son of Yuan Feng, the chief of the Phoenix clan among the ancient three tribes; during the Fengshen Calamity, he joined the Yin-Shang side and defeated many members of the Chan Sect.

Later, the second patriarch of the Western Teaching, Daoist Zhunti, personally intervened, defeated Kong Xuan, brought him back to the Western Teaching, and ennobled him as the Great Bright King of the Peacock.

Mission Objective: Please rescue Kong Xuan from Spirit Mountain and bring him back to the Holy Court.

Mission reward: 2000 Holy Court points.

Seeing Ye Qin's newly released mission, Ancestral Dragon's expression was complex.

Kong Xuan was born from the Five Elements' qi entering the body of the Phoenix Empress; he was born later and had never met Ancestral Dragon.

But although Ancestral Dragon did not know Kong Xuan, he knew his mother, the Phoenix Empress!

In the past, the dragon clan under Ancestral Dragon's command, the phoenix clan of the Phoenix Empress, and the qilin clan of the Primordial Qilin had fought until heaven and earth were dark.

Although there was the instigation of the demon ancestor Rahu, ultimately there was enmity between Ancestral Dragon and the mother of Kong Xuan, the Phoenix Empress.

To Ancestral Dragon, not taking action against Kong Xuan was already giving him enough face.

Asking him to rescue Kong Xuan is absolutely impossible!

Unlike Ancestral Dragon, upon seeing the new mission, Emperor Jun was overjoyed.

Emperor Jun knew that Ancestral Dragon had a grudge against the mother of Kong Xuan, the Phoenix Empress, and would most likely not accept this mission.

And among those present, the only ones capable of taking Kong Xuan away from Ling Mountain were Ancestral Dragon and him!

Even his son Lu Ya was slightly inferior.

Doesn't this indicate that this mission belongs to none other than him?

Emperor Jun was in high spirits and happily accepted the mission "Rescue Kong Xuan".

After Emperor Jun accepted the mission, he attacked the spirit mountain's protective grand formation with even greater vigor.

"Boom… boom… boom…"

Under the attacks of the dragon clan led by Ancestral Dragon and the monster clan led by Emperor Jun, the protective grand formation of Ling Mountain twisted violently, as if it could be breached at any moment.

However, it had indeed been blessed by a sage, and was truly extraordinary.

Facing the siege of the dragon and monster clans, this protective grand formation actually endured for a quarter of an hour before being broken.

"Crack……"

Accompanied by a sound like glass shattering,

the grand formation enveloping Ling Mountain shattered with a bang!

Thus, the Buddhist holy land Ling Mountain had opened its gates to the dragon and monster clans!

They could enter Ling Mountain at any time! Seeing the protective grand formation of Ling Mountain breached, Ancestral Dragon excitedly shouted to the dragon clan:

"O dragon sons and grandsons, follow this old ancestor into Ling Mountain, retake the Dragon Transformation Pool, and rescue the dragon clan people enslaved by Buddhism!"

Tens of thousands of dragon clan members, seeing they could finally avenge the grudge of being bullied by Buddhism, trembled with excitement.

They loudly agreed and followed Ancestral Dragon as they charged into Ling Mountain.

As for the monster clan, Emperor Jun ordered Lu Ya and Ji Meng and other monster sages to lead tens of thousands of monsters in Ling Mountain to search for treasures, while he himself went alone to find Kong Xuan to complete the Holy Court mission he had just accepted.

After tens of thousands of dragon clan and tens of thousands of monster clan members surged into Ling Mountain, it instantly fell into chaos. As a Buddhist holy land, Ling Mountain had originally been peaceful, except for a few monsters deliberately cultivated for the journey to the West to obtain scriptures; no other monsters or evil beings had ever been able to enter.

But today, not only did the lowly dragon clan of the past charge into Ling Mountain to cause havoc, but also tens of thousands of monsters surged in, causing the monster energy of Ling Mountain to shoot up to the heavens!

This sight caused the immortals and gods of the three realms who were watching the battle to be greatly alarmed.

They secretly decided in their hearts that the dragon and monster courts were too powerful, and must never be provoked in the future!

Amid the chaos caused by the tens of thousands of dragon clan and monster clan members in Ling Mountain,

Emperor Jun found the Peacock Wisdom King Hall located in a remote part of Ling Mountain.

He discovered that this hall was very different from the other halls.

Not only was its location remote, but the hall was also inscribed with profound Buddhist scriptures.

Each Buddhist scripture emitted endless Buddha-light, which intertwined into profound passages that flew one after another into the Peacock Wisdom King Hall.

If one focused their attention and listened, it seemed as if countless Buddhas were chanting in unison! Moreover,

Inside the Peacock Wisdom King Hall, Emperor Jun also sensed the aura of the Patriarch Puti.

It seemed that some kind of magical treasure refined by Patriarch Puti was stored in the hall.

Seeing this, Emperor Jun secretly thought:

"Looking at this situation, although Patriarch Puti led Kong Xuan into Buddhism, he did not truly convert him..."

"Truly amazing! A quasi-sage can actually resist the conversion of a sage powerhouse for hundreds of millions of years—this willpower is truly extraordinary!"

Although he had not yet met Kong Xuan, in Emperor Jun's heart he already had a sense of approval for him.

"No wonder the Holy Lord issued the mission, asking me to rescue Kong Xuan to the Holy Court; given Kong Xuan's qualifications, he indeed qualifies to join the Holy Court!"

"After I bring him to the Holy Court, perhaps I could draw him into the monster court to strengthen its power..."

After Emperor Jun pondered for a moment, he steadied his mind.

He stepped forward toward the Peacock Wisdom King Hall.

As Emperor Jun approached,

In the Peacock Wisdom King Hall, Kong Xuan, bathed in the brilliant Buddha-light of the magical treasure refined by Patriarch Puti, suddenly opened his eyes.

He frowned slightly and said:

"How could monsters and evil beings have arrived?"

Immediately, Kong Xuan flew out from the Peacock Wisdom King Hall.

Once Kong Xuan appeared, Emperor Jun got a clear look at his appearance.

Only see him surrounded by swirling Buddha-light, behind him a five-colored Buddha-wheel shining brightly, his countenance calm and waveless, like an enlightened Buddha. However, with Emperor Jun's eyesight, he could perceive that beneath Kong Xuan's seemingly calm exterior, an unyielding soul surged within, constantly striking the seal imposed on him by Patriarch Puti!

Patriarch Puti, in order to convert Kong Xuan, employed endless methods; even seeing them, Emperor Jun could not help but feel secretly alarmed.

First, he placed a seal on the primordial spirit, suppressing Kong Xuan's primordial spirit.

He also personally refined a Buddhist treasure, and inscribed the hall of the Peacock Wisdom King Hall with Buddhist scriptures, constantly emitting Buddha-light to continuously convert Kong Xuan.

Such methods, if applied to any other quasi-sage, would likely have already succeeded in converting them.

However, Kong Xuan remained steadfast in his original heart, unmoved!

Kong Xuan's steadfastness made Di Jun genuinely approve; even without a mission, he would also choose to rescue Kong Xuan from Ling Shan.

After sizing up Kong Xuan, Di Jun opened his mouth and said:

"Kong Xuan, I have come to rescue you from Ling Shan!"

Kong Xuan, hearing this, said coldly:

"I am staying perfectly fine in Ling Shan; why do I need your rescue?"

"But you, this demonic fiend, dare to intrude recklessly into the holy land of Ling Shan; today I will personally strike and convert you, this demonic fiend!"

Having said that, Kong Xuan directly deployed the Five-Colored Divine Light.

Whoosh—

As Kong Xuan made his move, blue, yellow, red, black, and white five-colored light appeared behind him.

This five-colored light was like a five-colored variegated rosy robe; upon close inspection, it seemed to contain an immeasurable world, as if it could instantly draw a person inside!

Emperor Jun was seeing Kong Xuan's five-colored divine light for the first time.

Seeing this, his eyes lit up slightly:

"Truly a wonderful Divine Ability!"

As a demon emperor, Emperor Jun's eyesight was naturally extraordinary.

He could see at a glance the marvel of the five-colored divine light.

He saw that the five-colored divine light contained the power of the Five Phases' rules, able to sweep away all things of the Five Phases in the world.

Yet, facing Kong Xuan's five-colored divine light, Emperor Jun showed no panic.

Kong Xuan's five-colored divine light, though strong, was not invincible.

Emperor Jun was an innate god-demon born from the sun star, naturally commanding powerful fire-element laws.

His understanding of fire-element rules even surpassed that of a sage!

Kong Xuan's five-colored divine light could sweep away others, but it could never trap him!

"Whoosh..."

Just as Emperor Jun was sizing up Kong Xuan's five-colored divine light, Kong Xuan unleashed a fire-element divine light against him.

In an instant, brilliant red light flashed, as if containing an unextinguished world of flame.

This red light was extremely fast; in the blink of an eye it enveloped Emperor Jun's figure.

It appeared that Emperor Jun had been swept away by Kong Xuan's five-colored divine light.

However.

When the red light enveloped Emperor Jun, he manifested an incarnation of the Honghuang Great Sun.

"Boom..."

Vast fire-element power surged forth without restraint, striking Kong Xuan's five-colored divine light.

Not long after, the red light Kong Xuan had released was shattered by Emperor Jun's boom, and Emperor Jun's figure reappeared.

Seeing this, Kong Xuan was greatly shocked.

You should know, his five-colored divine light had only been broken once by the Daoist Preparer in the Gods' Ordainment calamity; otherwise it was virtually invincible!

In this age when no sages appear, Kong Xuan believed himself invincible thanks to his five-colored divine light.

Who would have thought that today he would again lose to Emperor Jun! Kong Xuan's ability to become the first quasi-sage of the Gods' Ordainment calamity relied chiefly on his five-colored divine light.

Now that the five-colored divine light is ineffective against Emperor Jun, Kong Xuan's defeat is already sealed.

Not long after, Kong Xuan was subdued by Emperor Jun and taken into the spiritual treasure space of the River Chart and Luo Book.

After subduing Kong Xuan, Emperor Jun hung high in the air, overlooking the entire Spirit Mountain.

All that could be seen was the Ancestral Dragon having withdrawn the Dragon-Transforming Pool, now leading the dragon clans, just as the demon clans led by Lu Ya and others, searching for treasures on Spirit Mountain.

In their search for treasures, their methods were fierce, leaving devastation wherever they passed.

The Buddha, the Ancient Buddha of Burning Lamp, Maitreya Buddha and other Buddhist guardians watched the Ancestral Dragon's actions, their faces turning dark, yet they dared not leave their guarded areas, fearing those places would be destroyed by the dragon and demon clans.

"Spirit Mountain has been devastated to this extent; the Grand Ancestor Hongjun ought to come out to mediate."

Emperor Jun had only recently caused a ruckus in Heaven, and thus understood the standard for Hongjun's intervention.

Sure enough, just as Emperor Jun had expected.

Not long after, Hongjun's incarnation descended!

After Hongjun descended upon Spirit Mountain, he spoke to everyone in a calm and cold voice:

"Everyone, stop immediately." (End of chapter)