Chapter 1023

Above the Glazed Pure Land, Wu Tie transformed into a giant tens of thousands of zhang tall, his hands waving lightning, simultaneously employing the Myriad Transformations Calamity Hand, suppressing over eighty demon sovereigns within the sword formation while roaring, yet they could not break free at all.

Wuguo

Glazed Pure Land

They plundered the citizens of the Buddha Nation as sacrifices, thereby ascending to the Sovereign level and gaining immense power. Yet deep down, they remain a band of savage, brutal creatures who dislike using their brains and prefer to rely on claws and fangs.

Sword Formation

Although they had seized some decent innate spiritual treasures, they merely refined them crudely with a simple blood essence method, leaving their bond with these treasures extremely weak, far inferior to the various profound and exquisite refinement methods devised by human cultivators.

Black Dragon Lord

Myriad Spirit Void-Devouring God-Slaying Ark

Their innate abilities amount to nothing more than spraying from the mouth, spraying from the eyes, tearing with claws, flapping wings, and so on; or some odd varieties can harden their carapace into a thick shield, or use their slender bodies to constrict and kill, and so forth……

Old Monster Pacifying Heaven

Cloud palms rained down one after another, causing the demon sovereigns' already-released innate abilities to vanish utterly; even those they were still cultivating within their bodies were scattered, the shattered demonic energy surging chaotically inside them, making their bodies swell and forcing them to vomit blood continuously.

Golden-Furred Ape

But a moment's carelessness saw eighteen Myriad Transformations Calamity Hands strike in succession, shattering the Black Dragon Sovereign's spiritual light instantly; then dozens of chaotic divine thunderbolts slammed into him, blasting his scales to pieces and spraying blood across the sky.

Five Elements Divine Light

Then, as a black and a white strand of spiritual light twined together, seven pieces of radiant, lustrous spiritual treasures flew out from within the Black Dragon Sovereign's body, only to be swept away by the five‑element divine light, vanishing without a trace.

"My treasures… you shameless thief!" the Black Dragon Sovereign roared hoarsely, as azure Canghai Divine Pearls leapt forth and slammed into him once again.

Even though he had just been protected by a treasure, the Black Dragon Sovereign was already mangled beyond recognition by the Canghai Divine Pearls; now several of his hidden treasures were seized by Wu Tie with a great divine ability, and as the pearls bombarded him, continual wails rang out—his body was literally smashed into over a dozen segments.

Natal Divine Ability

Before they could recover from the shock of the Black Dragon Sovereign's grievous wounds, Myriad Transformations Calamity Hands fell, chaotic thunderbolts struck, and five‑element divine light washed over them like rain; then a sweep of the primordial yin and yang qi erased the feeble bond between them and their own spiritual treasures.

Heavenly Court

Accompanied by the demon sovereigns' terrified, anguished howls, black and golden sword gleams fell like raindrops, piercing their bodies one after another.

Their vital essence rapidly dissipated, their mana continually eroded, and even the condensed Dao markings fell into disorder under the fierce onslaught of the two‑colored sword gleams, threatening to collapse.

From high in the distance, a triumphant, arrogant roar rang out: "The Devil Supreme has slain the Peace‑Heaven Old Demon here!"

Then the Devil Supreme cursed loudly: "What a troublesome old monster—nine heads, nine lives—killing him is far too difficult."

Nine massive yellow lion heads flew in on a gust of wind; Wu Tie laughed loudly, swept up the sword formation, and let the nine lion heads fly into it. Seeing those familiar lion heads, the trapped old demons' wails and roars grew ever more shrill, their voices inevitably tinged with grim despair.

Wu Tie's laughter echoed through the heavens: "Devil Supreme, quickly slay your foes, then enter the formation to lend me a hand… hahaha, and afterwards refine the demon bones of these over a hundred sovereigns into the Myriad Spirit Void‑Devouring Slaughter God Ship—just thinking about it is delightful."

A gigantic, entirely golden‑furred ape let out a roar, its body instantly swelling to a span of hundreds of li, its arms stretching like two meteor hammers to thousands of li in length, and it slammed twice against the sword‑light barrier enveloping the sword formation above.

Moving Mountains and Overturning Seas

Wu Tie laughed loudly, unleashed a great divine ability of moving mountains and overturning seas, drawing from the void the earth‑vein foundations of thirty‑six thousand great mountains from all sides of the Glazed Pure Land, condensing them in his palm into a yellow peak a hundred zhang high.

Old Tie Grandfather

The weight of those thirty‑six thousand mountains condensed into a force which, under the impetus of Wu Tie's Earth Dao seal, came crashing down heavily upon the golden ape's forehead.

The ape let out a miserable howl as its huge skull caved in deeply; its massive body rolled wildly within the sword formation, blood gushing from its wounds like a spring.

He screamed hoarsely: "Sir, I surrender, I surrender—I've eaten only vegetables my whole life and never harmed the Glazed Buddha Nation… I'm just here to help my brothers, I surrender, I surrender…"

Wu Tie lowered his gaze to look down at the ape; two swords of light, each tens of thousands of zhang long, crossed left and right—the black blade swept his neck, the golden blade sliced his crown, instantly beheading the ape on the spot.

Yellow Lion Head

Now Wu Tie's forces are formidable; he no longer looks upon these monsters and demons. Moreover, having witnessed the wretched state of the Glazed Buddha Nation's common folk along the way, Wu Tie could not possibly spare this ape, whether it eats plants or meat.

With a single sword strike the ape was slain, and the demon sovereigns trapped within the sword formation went completely berserk.

They all burned their blood essence and souls, risking their lives to fight Wu Tie. In an instant the sword formation shuddered violently; Wu Tie suffered a tremendous recoil, his flesh repeatedly splitting and healing, great sprays of blood flying about, a terrifying sight.

Wu Tie stood unmoving in mid‑air, continually unleashing Myriad Transformations Calamity Hands and chaotic thunderbolts, inflicting successive heavy wounds on the demon sovereigns, gradually wearing down their combat power, utterly unmoved by their madness.

Five Elements Divine Light

Wu Tie's sleeve held a transmission jade talisman that jumped a few times; Wu Tie pulled out the talisman, a puff of smoke spread, and star-like characters flashed rapidly within it.

"Heavenly Court? Thunder Department?" Wu Tie stared, then quickly searched the vast sea of data in his mind and found the relevant records of the 'Heavenly Court' and 'Thunder Department.'

"How is that possible? How could the Heavenly Court still exist? Even in Lao Tie's era, in our legendary primordial mythic age, the Heavenly Court was merely a legend to Lao Tie and his ilk."

"Heavenly Court? Heh… Where did this ambitious upstart come from, trying to stir up trouble in the name of the Heavenly Court? To an ordinary person, they'd probably have been fooled by you, but I happen to know the truth—how could you deceive me?"

Wu Tie let out a cold snort, quickly wrote a command in the smoke, then slapped his palm down; thousands of extremely fine strands of spiritual light burst from the talisman, flashing in midair and vanishing without a trace.

Not long after, Xiahou Wuming, Lao Tie, and all the venerable-level experts from Wuguo who had embarked on the expedition to the Liuli Buddha Kingdom simultaneously received Wu Tie's command.

'The notion of the Heavenly Court is absurd and fantastical; it is nothing but a deceitful act to cheat the world and steal fame.'

'Strike them down with all your might; do not give them a chance to swagger and deceive, wreaking havoc upon the world.'

Having already clashed with Ji Chen and others, Xiahou Wuming and the others didn't speak, but Lao Tie, who was leading the orthodox forces' campaign to exterminate the monsters of the Western Du Prefecture Continent, likewise let out a cold snort: "Heavenly Court? What kind of joke is this? Back in my grandfather Lao Tie's time… the Heavenly Court was merely a legend, just a myth told to lull children to sleep… where did it come from?"

"Besides, why the surname Ji? According to myth, the Heavenly Court's Great Heavenly Venerable should bear the surname Zhang, right?"

"Huh? No, that's not right either… it seems… seems… in some divine-monster tale, there is a heavenly emperor who… who… actually bears the surname Ji?"

Standing at the prow of the Myriad Spirit Void-Piercing God-Slaying Vessel, Lao Tie's eyes flashed with sharp light as he began to sift through the disordered and massive database in his mind.

After searching for a long time, Lao Tie anxiously patted his head: "Hey, what's the point of thinking so much? Soul-Calling Old Ghost, have you caught your breath? Come on, let out another yell, wipe out the demon spawn of the Western Du Prefecture Continent—we still have to head north."

The distance from the continent where the Liuli Buddha Kingdom lies to an ordinary deity-realm cultivator's flight span of several years; in the deepest part of the sea, sheet after sheet of floating clouds hover in low air no more than ten zhang above the surface.

On a expanse of floating cloud a hundred zhang across, a middle-aged man clad in a silver robe, faint lightning flickering over his body, with a square-faced countenance rather imposing, sat cross-legged on a rush mat, holding a fishing rod, a silver line cast into the sea, engaged in fishing here.

A dozen or so boys and girls, as lovely as pearls and fine jade, each holding various jade bottles, fruit platters, wine jugs, and ruyi scepters, stood in a single file behind the middle-aged man, every one solemn and unusually reverent.

A pair of girls, exquisitely beautiful with pearl‑round and jade‑smooth complexions, dressed in water‑cloud long skirts, sat left and right of the middle‑aged man, nervously staring at the gently undulating buoy on the sea surface, their lips slightly parted, fists clenched, displaying pure girlish charm.

Slightly farther out from this hundred‑zhang expanse of floating cloud, layer upon layer of clouds each a hundred li across were stacked, each sheet densely packed with heavily armored soldiers. These soldiers sat with eyes closed, cross‑legged, and with each breath heavenly and earthly primordial energy continually seeped into their bodies.

At a glance, the heavily armored soldiers on those clouds number at least over a hundred million.

A streak of flowing light shot up from a piece of floating cloud, traced a graceful arc, and silently landed beside the angler middle‑aged man.

In the flowing light, a man wearing a rosy-light robe appeared, with cloud-and-lightning patterns on the cuffs and hem, a jade belt around his waist. His robe resembled that of secular imperial officials, but bore a more imposing aura. He stepped forward and bowed respectfully to the middle-aged man who was fishing.

Heavenly Sovereign, Ji Chan has run into trouble on the Ground Character Yi Nine battlefield.

The middle-aged man raised his head and asked unhurriedly, 'Can Ji Chan not handle it?'

The man said softly, 'Just now the report came back: Ji Chan suffered a slight loss, beaten to a pulp…… Ji Ming was severely wounded by a secret technique, his heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys instantly evaporated…… If they weren't renowned Heavenly Generals, Ji Ming would have already fallen.'

'Incompetent, trash!' the middle-aged man pointed a fingertip, electric light exploding, terrifying electrical energy surging along the fishing rod and silver line into the sea.

Countless strands of dense current instantly spread through the seawater.

Not long after, within a radius of nearly ten thousand li, countless fish turned belly‑up, accompanied by a scorched stench and fishy odor floating to the surface.

The middle-aged man threw down his fishing rod, stood up, hands behind his back, and said coldly, 'Ground Character Yi Nine? I recall… the human nation there is called the Glass Buddha Kingdom, the incense lineage of those bald monks.'

The messenger replied respectfully, 'Heavenly Sovereign, you are wise—it is indeed the Glass Buddha Kingdom. But a few months ago, the supervisor generals sent by Nüwa Island to the Glass Buddha Kingdom's front lines were all killed, and the kingdom's capital was breached. So……'

A lightning‑like mark flashed on the middle-aged man's brow as he said, 'So, the ones who fought Ji Chan and them are the demons that destroyed the Glass Buddha Kingdom?'

The messenger spread his hands, face full of disbelief: 'The problem is right here—those who fought them are of pure human bloodline…… They claim to belong to Wuguo, but who's ever heard of that Wuguo? Moreover, they actually have a Venerable among them!'

The messenger's eyes flickered as he whispered, 'How could the human race have a Venerable? So……'

The middle-aged man nodded slowly: 'So, everyone in Wuguo must be demons…… Hmph, taking human form to do demonic deeds, harming human civilians to enrich themselves—such people are truly scum of the human race, exactly the target my Heavenly Court must subdue.'

'This time, my Thunder Division's Demons Subduing Office has been ordered to mobilize, to subdue demons and rescue humanity. First, to demonstrate our Heavenly Court's current strength to that bunch of old nuns on Nüwa Island; second, to accumulate merit for the Great Heavenly Venerable.'

The middle-aged man sneered, 'So‑called Wuguo, being demons, they're just delivering merit and virtue right to our door. All forces, advance—march to the Glass Buddha Kingdom, subdue demons, uphold the human way.'

The messenger hurriedly asked, 'All forces advancing?'

The middle-aged man nodded slowly: 'That's right—aside from Ji Chan, the other 107 leaders of the Demons Subduing Office are to rush to the Glass Buddha Kingdom with all their might. Even a lion fighting a rabbit uses full force; since Wuguo's strength is unknown, we'd best not underestimate them.'

After a quarter hour, sheet after sheet of floating clouds rose up and hovered silently in midair.

After another quarter hour, a huge bolt of thunder—crack‑crack‑crack—encircled a massive ring in the air; the thunder ring enveloped all the floating clouds, and with a single flicker they vanished at once.

In the next instant, that massive legion leapt straight behind Ji Chan's great army and appeared directly before Xiahou Wuming and the others.

That middle‑aged man hesitated not a whit, stepped across in a single stride, a thunderclap booming—he appeared instantly beside the battered Ji Chan and launched a straight punch that slammed into Xiang Feixie's face.

It was a pure sneak attack; the middle‑aged man's speed was extreme, and Xiang Feixie couldn't react in time.

The punch unleashed terrifying thunder‑force that pierced his whole body; Xiang Feixie let out a shrill cry as his flesh and blood instantly turned to charcoal, leaving only a dark‑glowing skeleton that shot backward in a sorry retreat.