Chapter 562: Chaos (23)

To be honest, Ren Yidao had never heard such a crisp sound in his life.

Under the terrified gazes of the Lingyu Sect members, the two-headed monster that came charging over slammed headlong into the Lingyu Buddha Shield.

And then... *splat*, it just smashed itself to pieces.

Yes, without the slightest bit of preparation, and without a shred of hesitation, that two-man-tall giant monster just plastered itself onto the shield like that.

It splashed a large area in a bloody mess, evenly coating itself across the Lingyu Buddha Shield.

Crack, crack, crack, crack!!!

Under the massive impact, the Lingyu Buddha Shield was instantly covered in dense cracks, caving inward into a human shape; it seemed as if it would shatter and collapse the very next moment, yet it relied on the Buddha light to fill and bond the fissures, barely maintaining its original form.

It was just a hair's breadth away.

Truly just a hair's breadth; if the monster's impact had been even slightly higher, the Lingyu Buddha Shield would have shattered on the spot.

"What kind of monster is this!?"

"It almost broke through!"

The monks of the Lingyu Sect were all horrified; the Lingyu Buddha Shield, jointly refined by three monks at the Formless Peak, was no ordinary object and was sufficient to withstand attacks from the mid-stage of Asking Dao.

It was just that the momentum Ren Yidao had displayed earlier was too astonishing, momentarily bluffing the monks and making them subconsciously forget this point.

After coming to their senses, they hurriedly let out a sigh of relief and cheered loudly.

"Haha, Fozhu is above! Let this monster pay a heavy price!"

"Haha..."

But just as they hadn't yet completely set their hearts at ease, another figure had already arrived.

They did not know, and not even Ren Yidao was aware, that the one to follow was the true heavyweight.

The footsteps of the Chijiao monk were not heavy, so for a moment, he went unnoticed.

It was unknown whether the Chijiao monk truly did not see the Lingyu Sect members or did not notice the tragic state of the Manji, but he just came charging over with long strides, then raised his arm and slammed an elbow into it.

Boom!!!

This time, the Lingyu Buddha Shield, which was already somewhat fractured, could no longer hold on and shattered completely!

The three Formless monks suffered a backlash simultaneously, spitting out a mouthful of blood, their expressions horrified.

"Cough, cough!"

"Who!?"

"Who exactly are you!? Why attack us!!?"

To their startled questioning, the Chijiao monk paid no heed at all.

Although the Chijiao monk had not actively attacked these people before because he had serious business to attend to, he deeply despised the practices of the Lingyu Sect—very deeply—and considered them a disgrace to Buddhism.

He was unwilling to go out of his way to stir up trouble, but if there was an opportunity to teach these degenerates a lesson along the way, he did not mind taking action.

But now was just such an opportunity.

One elbow down, a sufficiently painful lesson.

In fact, when the Chijiao monk noticed that the mortal Believers from before were gone and that the Demon Race protectors had blood remaining at the corners of their mouths, his expression grew even colder.

But the Chijiao monk did not stay to attack the others; if he spent any more time here, he would truly lose track of that person.

The dregs of Buddhism could be purged at any time, but matters concerning the Fozi could not be delayed for even a minute.

That was the truly major affair that concerned the world and the survival of all living beings!

Chijiao left, pursuing Ren Yidao, leaving behind a ground full of monks who had fainted from the backlash.

"Damned ascetic monk!!!"

"I will report this matter to Spirit Mountain! I will have Fozhu punish him!"

"He will definitely pay the price for this!"

The three Formless monks recovered relatively quickly, not because their strength was sufficient, but because at the final moment, they chose not to use their own strength to bear the brunt, but instead shifted more of the risk onto the other sect disciples.

In a sect like this, such things were taken for granted; no one would ever blame them, nor would anyone care about the deaths of those disciples.

The disciples woke up one after another; they naturally knew what had happened, but they dared not cast hateful gazes toward those few culprits, and could only lower their heads, shifting this hatred onto the two people who had left.

And what the Lingyu Sect members did not notice was that, while they were regulating their breathing to recover, the broken flesh and blood that had originally plastered onto the Lingyu Buddha Shield was now slowly gathering, mixing all the flesh and bone together.

That flesh and blood gradually condensed, and finally, a mouth floated up from the Xue Chi, emitting a confused whisper:

"Why...?"

"Man, god..."

The Manji was not dead, but he seemed even more insane.

A chaotic consciousness dominated him, piecing him together and recasting him.

"Why did you... abandon us?"

More and more flesh and blood were spliced together, and the sound he emitted grew louder:

"Are you going to abandon us again?"

"Are you going to abandon us!?"

The angry roar finally drew the attention of the monks, who saw a terrifying monster.

"What is this!?"

"Where did this demon creature come from?"

"Protectors! Quick! Suppress it for me!"

But by the time they noticed, it was already too late; this monster had already spliced itself halfway together.

The skinless, raw-flesh monster used its arms to support its upper body and lunged rapidly at the nearest monk, biting off his head in one gulp.

The copper skin and iron bones that the monk had cultivated had no resistance whatsoever in the face of the monster's teeth; he was instantly bitten to pieces and devoured, without even letting out a scream.

Screams spread across this land, and the chilling sound of chewing echoed incessantly.

The monster's speed was extremely fast, and its attacks were terrifying; although it did not unleash Dharma Power, the strength displayed by its physical body alone easily surpassed the Wuxiang, reaching at least the Asking Dao realm!

Moreover, it was unlike ordinary Demon Race, showing no reaction to the control techniques of Buddhism and suffering no damage from Buddhist light, only becoming slightly sluggish when hearing Buddhist mantras.

After a brief struggle, the three Wuxiang realized the problem: they were absolutely no match for it.

"Not good, retreat first!"

"May the Fozhu protect us!"

"Protectors, heed my command! Go! Stop him!"

Upon realizing the situation was dire, the three Wuxiang did not hesitate, choosing to retreat immediately and leaving all the controlled Demon Race protectors behind to stall for time.

Since they fed them, they had an obligation to carry out the tasks they were meant to perform.

"No!"

"Roar!!!"

The protectors were not idiots; they naturally did not want to risk their lives in such a suicidal situation, but the shackles on their bodies and the chains planted deep within their souls activated at this moment, causing them to lose their sanity and turn into frenzied beasts, charging forward mindlessly.

Then, one by one, they were bitten to pieces, torn apart, and swallowed by the monster.

Even sacrificing all the Demon Race protectors could not stall for long, so upon realizing this, they sealed the strength of their low-level disciples and threw them in as cannon fodder, relying on numbers to distract the monster.

"No!"

"You will definitely go to hell!"

"No! Don't do this!"

"I curse you!!!"

The wails and pleas of the disciples did not soften their hearts; after sacrificing almost all of these people, the three finally bought enough time to leave, splitting into three paths and fleeing the scene in a sorry state.

At this moment, having devoured a large number of monks and Demon Race, the monster reborn from the flesh and remains had completely changed its appearance; it was no longer a two-headed patchwork, its face possessed the style of both Manji and Mangu, and its body was covered in a layer of Demon Beast fur, looking like a monkey monster with a human head and demon body.

Roar!!!

"Barbarian God!!!"

Its nose twitched, then it suddenly looked toward the direction where Ren Yidao and the others had left and charged out rapidly.

Its speed was fifty percent faster than before!

"Why did you abandon us!?"

"Quickly, merge into one with us!"

……

……

And just as Ren Yidao was playing temple run in Zhongzhou, he was actually not an isolated case.

The entire Zhongzhou had actually fallen into chaos.

Xianglou and Daliang were fighting fiercely, Ao Zhun, who had completely suffered a mental breakdown and rushed out of the Dragon Transformation Pool, was also slaughtering everywhere, and explorers would fight to the death over minor conflicts after encountering each other...

There were wars in all four directions—east, west, south, and north; it seemed that at the same moment, the rules of the entire world had changed, and everyone began to fall into madness.

These things listed individually would not amount to much, but placed together, at the same moment, it appeared extremely abnormal.

While no one in Zhongzhou noticed, dark clouds gradually drifted into the sky above their heads, and within the dark clouds, faint traces of blood color could be seen, and that blood color was constantly deepening.

Dragon Transformation Pool.

Yaochi, who was resting with her eyes closed in the pool, suddenly opened her eyes and hurriedly looked up at the sky.

"It's ruined!"

"Someone is attempting to pollute the rules of the Heavenly Court with Evil and slaughter!?"

"How is this possible? These people aren't even Immortal God, how could they possibly influence the rules?"

Yaochi did not understand.

The number of explorers dying in Zhongzhou now was not small, but it definitely could not be called many, and the strength of these people was not high; it should have been impossible for them to interfere with the laws of the Heavenly Court.

"No! Could it be..." Yaochi thought of a possibility, her expression becoming even uglier, "Did they really find the relics of the Heavenly Emperor?"

She had previously said that the authority of the Heavenly Court could not be easily changed, which was not entirely a lie to the Azure Dragon Lord; it could only be said to be half-true and half-false, as she had not told the whole truth.

Change was possible, but it required some special medium.

Either obtain the recognition of Heaven and Earth and become the orthodox Heavenly Court.

Or find the relics of the former Heavenly Court, such as the Edict, Imperial Jade Seal, or Decree left behind by the Heavenly Emperor back then... some Dharma treasures that contained the meaning of the authority of Heaven and Earth.

"But even with these, why would they do this? Are they not afraid of suffering Heaven's punishment?"

Yaochi thought for a moment and quickly calmed down: "No, they probably haven't found the complete relics, or they don't have the complete refining method, which is why they must use living beings for sacrifice, forcibly driving it with the power of blood sacrifice."

What the Butian Alliance did today would likely fail, because this was a probing of the Heavenly Court's rules and was not done with full force.

But Yaochi knew that this was just the beginning.

But since the Butian Alliance truly had such means, even if it didn't work now, they would find a way later.

"They have no way to change the rules of the Dragon Transformation Pool... No, I cannot stay here any longer; it is no longer safe here."

Yaochi had intended to gradually recover here, but now it seemed the other party would not give her that time.

She had originally thought the Butian Alliance was just a fake from later generations, but she did not expect that the other party seemed to have truly obtained some ancient inheritance.

"Is there someone pointing them in the right direction from behind?"

She could feel that behind these people, there should still be figures like herself.

Some people had awakened earlier than her.

"Who exactly are they?"

Her eyes held a hint of gloom, and she whispered:

"Have you forgotten the glory of the Heavenly Court?"