Chapter 112: I

Boom—!

Amidst a series of thunderous explosions like rolling wrathful lightning, a streak of cultivation light shot across the sky, followed by dozens of nearly identical streaks behind it.

In the fleeing cultivation light ahead, a young man clad in black robes with a gloomy face gritted his teeth, frantically activating a spiritual treasure in his hand—this treasure was called the "Void-Piercing Sky-Traveling Crow Shuttle," which, when infused into his cultivation light, could multiply his speed severalfold and grant short-range teleportation through space.

This man was Qin Tianhe, the Sacred Sect's True Disciple!

But Qin Tianhe's current state was utterly disheveled; without the "Void-Piercing Sky-Traveling Crow Shuttle" in his hand, he would surely be reduced to ashes by now.

Behind him were a group of Buddhist cultivators.

"These shameless bald monks are definitely cheating!"

As he fled, Qin Tianhe cursed loudly—he had realized something was wrong, for the speed of the Buddhist cultivators' assembly and the precision of their pursuit were far too abnormal.

No matter how he concealed his spiritual aura, these Buddhist cultivators always pinpointed him exactly.

Of course, he had tried turning back to fight, but the pursuing Buddhist cultivators were clearly no pushovers, and they were masters of coordinated combat techniques.

Their leader, though weaker than him, was only slightly inferior.

Under these circumstances, he couldn't possibly fight alone, so Qin Tianhe could only keep cursing at those behind him while accelerating his escape.

"Disciple, your karmic fate has arrived."

Behind Qin Tianhe, one Buddhist cultivator clasped his hands together, his voice booming like thunder: "My 【Arhat Fu Long Temple】 lacks Buddhist followers—you may become a guardian of our temple."

The Mo Sect uses humans as raw material, commits countless atrocities, disrespects merit, ignores karma, and breeds calamities—this is no place for pure cultivation. If you abandon darkness and embrace the light, join the Pure Land, and devote yourself to the True Path, listening to the Supreme Wonderful Dharma of the World-Honored One, would it not be far better? Why suffer so bitterly in that demonic sect?

"Amitabha!"

Instantly, over a dozen Buddhist cultivators chanted in unison.

Amidst the rolling thunderous chants, sutras mingled in, causing Qin Tianhe's head to throb painfully, as if something were drilling into his consciousness.

"You want to convert me?!"

Qin Tianhe's face turned ashen, yet he surged forth all his true qi, suppressing the Buddhist chants at his ears while accelerating further into the distance.

Seeing this, the lead Buddhist cultivator frowned.

At the same time, another Buddhist cultivator stepped forward and whispered: "Brother Guangming, this man excels at evasion—he doesn't seem easy to capture."

Guangming shook his head: "Brother, you don't understand—our master, 【Arhat Fu Long Temple】, urgently needs to recruit Buddhist followers; otherwise, we wouldn't have been sent to join this Battle for the Dao—to seize this opportunity to convert as many outsiders as possible and fill the ranks of 【Arhat Fu Long Temple】. Otherwise, how can we advance?"

"This man's abilities are exceptional—he is clearly a True Disciple of the demonic sect."

"Therefore, the harder he is to capture, the more we must capture him! On the battlefield between Dao and Demon, even if we truly capture a Sacred Sect True Disciple, the Bodhisattva will protect us."

"Keep going—chase him!"

Guangming was the leader of this group of Buddhist cultivators; once he spoke, none dared oppose him, and they immediately pursued Qin Tianhe.

Similar events were unfolding across all corners of the Jietian.

Yet the Sacred Sect's disciples varied in strength—strong ones like Qin Tianhe, the True Disciples, and weak ones merely at the late Qi Refining stage—so their fates differed accordingly.

Some fiercely counterattacked and killed their pursuers.

Others, surrounded and overwhelmed, fought until they collapsed and died.

Others, seeing escape was impossible, detonated themselves to take their enemies down with them.

Yet no matter what, the Sacred Sect had been preemptively located, ambushed, and forced into outnumbered battles—its losses were far greater than those of the Dao Court and the Pure Land.

On a desolate plain, swordlight blazed brilliantly.

Zing—!

As a magical sword descended, the void split open, and out stepped a tall, elegant woman, holding a severed head in her hand.

"Lady Yun Miaozhen—her reputation is well-deserved!"

Below, Wang Jinting of the Dao Court clapped and laughed: "This demonic True Disciple's magic power is formidable—if not for the Immortal Lady's intervention, he might have been hard to subdue."

"Merely a demonic scum—easily crushed."

The tall woman coldly said: "My divine powers have now fully matured; I seek to establish my Foundation. I intend to challenge the world with my sword—these demons dying as offerings to my blade is a fitting end."

Outside Jietian, three True Juniors sat in a circle, their dharma bodies towering to fill heaven and earth, their gazes descending—every change within Jietian escaped none of their sight.

At that moment, one of the dharma bodies suddenly burst into laughter: "Qingcheng, it seems we've taken the lead this time!"

"Amitabha."

Another dharma body chanted a Buddha's name; though saying nothing more, the meaning was clear—they were certain they held the advantage.

After all, they had come fully prepared: not only had they brought two Position Treasures specifically tailored for this purpose, creating a scenario of few versus many and ambush tactics, but they had also specially invited True Disciples from the Yushu Jiange as reinforcements to bolster their high-end combat strength—considerable effort had gone into this plan.

And the results were most satisfying.

What a perfect opening!

Yet facing the mockery from the Dao Court and Pure Land's two True Juniors, Qingcheng Feixue, the Sacred Sect's True Junior, remained utterly calm, seemingly indifferent to the disadvantage.

Seeing her demeanor, the two True Juniors frowned.

Could something be wrong?

The Mo Sect's ruthless and cunning nature was deeply felt by both Jiangdong and Jiangxi—Qingcheng Feixue's calmness was deeply unsettling.

'But regardless, this is a joint effort by all three sides to contain the demonic path.'

'Advantage is ours!'

Within Jietian, Qin Tianhe's face gradually hardened into a ferocious expression—he had been fleeing for a full half-hour, and his true qi was nearly depleted.

Yet behind him, Guangming and his group of Buddhist cultivators still pursued relentlessly; the thirteen streaks of cultivation light had merged into a single golden dragon-shaped glow—he recognized it: it was the divine technique of the Eightfold Buddhist Hosts of Shenle Pure Land, belonging to the 【Dragon Host】, and even among Buddhist cultivators, it was no ordinary skill.

Worse still, Qin Tianhe had begun to suspect Guangming's true intent.

"These bald monks… are using me as bait!"

Qin Tianhe gritted his teeth—Guangming and the others could have easily caught up and killed him long ago, yet they kept chasing him, maintaining the illusion of pursuit.

Were they waiting to see if anyone would come to rescue him?

Thinking of this, Qin Tianhe almost laughed—what did these monks think of the Sacred Sect? A benevolent saint who cares for comrades and sacrifices himself for others?

Rather than hoping someone would come rescue him, it would be more realistic to hope that he would take the initiative to find a few Holy Sect disciples to serve as his human shields.

In fact, Qin Tianhe had already planned to do exactly that.

As the saying goes, a Daoist friend dies instead of a poor Daoist. As a Holy Sect disciple, when it came to the great matter of right and wrong—whether he himself died or someone else did—he had always kept the distinction crystal clear.

However, just at that moment, a sudden whistling sound came from the sky.

"What… is that thing?"

"Looks like another demon from Jiangbei!"

Guangming and Qin Tianhe almost simultaneously looked up, joy on their faces—the former because he had new prey, the latter because he now had someone to take the fall for him.

Boom!

The next instant, a streak of escape-light descended from the heavens, like a fiery meteor, emitting bursts of heaven-shaking roars along its path, and only splitting apart after it hit the ground.

Immediately after, Lü Yang stepped out from within it, sword-rainbows piercing the air around him, stirring the spiritual tides on all sides.

The instant he saw him, Qin Tianhe froze on the spot.

Faced with such a display of force, Guangming likewise felt a slight chill in his heart. Rather than rushing forward, he stopped in his tracks and said in a deep voice, "This benefactor, I do not know from which—"

Whoosh—!

The sword pellet exploded with a screech and vanished in a flash!

Lü Yang could not be bothered to reply. He raised his sword and slashed straight down. The Buddhist cultivator standing at the very front, seeing this, immediately circulated his dharma art and erected a sturdy Golden Body.

This was also a common tactic used by the Pure Land during collective magical combat: Buddhist cultivators who had refined their Golden Body physiques and possessed numerous life-preserving methods would take the front line, while other Buddhist cultivators unleashed divine abilities from the rear, supported by formation enhancements—forming a mobile fortress capable of both advancing and retreating, attacking and defending.

Therefore, the moment Lü Yang moved, the group of Buddhist cultivators immediately responded according to convention.

"I'll block him, you guys—"

The Buddhist cultivator who had stepped forward to meet Lü Yang had not finished his words when he discovered his voice had been severed at the throat, and then the world before his eyes spun upside down.

"... Huh?"

His Golden Body had been tempered for several decades. Generally speaking, even an upper-grade dharma treasure could not have broken through it so easily, yet now it seemed as flimsy as paper.

One sword, and the head flew!

Lü Yang's expression was calm. He did not know that the Pure Land and the Dao Court had long since allied, nor that the Jade Pivot Yushu Jiange had sent a familiar face as reinforcements to take part in this battle.

True Lord above, he only knew that he was about to unleash a great slaughter!

The force of his sword-swing, the height of his raised hand, the precision of his spell-casting, the speed of his pursuit—only by going all-out could he let the Holy Sect's True Lord see his attitude!

(End of this chapter)