Chapter 847: The Clash of Buddha and Dao, A Duel of Destiny

Blue Ridge City.

The Imperial Palace, inside the Imperial Study.

With the assistance of the Emperor, Ye Ze, and Xiang Yunshu, the Crown Prince gradually mastered the technique, and the transmission of the Son of Heaven's dragon Qi became increasingly stable.

Suddenly, a look of anger appeared on the Crown Prince's face:

"Pudu Temple! Truly damnable!"

Relying on the senses brought by the Son of Heaven's dragon Qi, he had already perceived the River-Suppressing Heavenly King making a move against the Sky Blue Iron Cavalry.

"Calm your heart and steady your breath."

The Emperor, sitting to the side, spoke calmly.

"Yes, Father Emperor."

The Crown Prince lowered his head and acknowledged.

Li Fei had sent back important intelligence, stating that behind the First Imperial Prince, there was also a Martial Saint.

This matter naturally drew great attention.

However, both the Emperor and Ye Ze placed their suspicions on Pudu Temple.

Compared to other factions, the Buddhist school actually had more motive to act at this time.

For the Buddhist school, although the imperial court had provided support, it was ultimately done with vigilance and caution; it was impossible to allow the Buddhist school to develop too well.

Once a certain boundary was crossed, the "Exterminate Buddha" event from a hundred years ago could potentially repeat itself!

And if Pudu Temple stood out to support the First Imperial Prince in ascending the throne at this time, they could possess the greatest initiative.

In the future, turning Buddhism into the state religion would be a matter of just one word!

Therefore, analyzing from the perspective of interests, the Emperor and Ye Ze had focused their suspicions on Pudu Temple from the very beginning.

Of course, they also did not relax their monitoring of other factions.

It was ultimately confirmed that Pudu Temple had indeed participated!

A moment later, the Crown Prince's brows relaxed, and a look of triumph appeared on his face.

This moment was precisely the time for True Person Xuanxin to act.

Back then, the Crown Prince had been ordered to inspect the seven southwestern provinces and had specifically climbed the mountain to visit the Great Luo Sect to discuss the restructuring of the National Martial Dao Exchange Conference with True Person Qingxu.

At that time, the Crown Prince was accompanied by True Person Xuanchen of the Shangqing Sect (see Chapter 5, Volume 3 for details).

Even then, he and the Shangqing Sect had already become very close, gaining the support of some of the sect's key figures in power!

Being able to persuade True Person Xuanxin to act this time was inseparable from the groundwork the Crown Prince had laid earlier.

During the reign of the current Son of Heaven, the attitude toward the Daoist school had always been one of suppression.

This just happened to give the Crown Prince a great deal of leeway.

Once he ascended the throne, he could logically bestow favors upon the Daoist school.

This was also an important reason why the Shangqing Sect chose to support the Crown Prince back then.

Now, at this critical juncture, if the Buddhist school truly rebelled, the imperial court would rely even more on the Daoist school in the future, which is why True Person Xuanxin was finally persuaded to participate in this battle on the Baifeng Plains.

"You have a Martial Saint supporting you from behind, and I have a True Person taking a stand!"

The Crown Prince's eyes were resolute; he held the Imperial Jade Seal firmly with both hands, transmitting the Son of Heaven's dragon Qi as steadily and quickly as possible.

The Heaven and Earth Inversion Five Elements Array.

This array was not the Daoist school's most lethal formation, but it was definitely one of the most difficult.

Under normal circumstances, it would require at least twelve Profound-grade magic treasures, three Earth-grade magic treasures, and one Heaven-grade magic treasure to form the array.

That is to say, it would require at least twelve True Persons and four top-tier True Persons working together to set up this array.

Yet, True Person Xuanxin, without alerting anyone, managed to set up the great array with his own strength in the span of a palm flip, locking the Buddha-Eye Heavenly King inside!

Caught off guard, the Buddha-Eye Heavenly King was struck; he could only protect his body with Buddhist light, while the Buddha statue behind him was inverted, enduring the suppression and refinement of the great array.

His 【Ten Thousand Lights Return to Buddha】 could refine the power of others for his own use, but facing a situation where all the heaven and earth spiritual energy within the array was inverted, chaotic, and even space and Dao laws were being twisted, 【Ten Thousand Lights Return to Buddha】 could only protect himself for the time being.

Even so, the Buddha-Eye Heavenly King remained calm, his expression filled with compassion:

"I have long heard that your attainments in array formations are the best in the world, and seeing it today, the reputation is well-deserved."

Above the great array, an old man wearing a cyan Daoist robe and a Daoist crown, with long, narrow eyes and a sharp gaze, stood in mid-air.

He was the Sect Master of the Shangqing Sect and one of the three True Persons of the Daoist school, True Person Xuanxin.

After Qingxu died, only he and the one from the Feathering Sect remained in the Daoist school.

"Array formations the best in the world?"

Hearing the Buddha-Eye Heavenly King's praise, Xuanxin showed no pride, but instead gave a self-deprecating smile.

He had also always thought his attainments in array formations were unparalleled, until Qingxu covered the entire Ming Province with an array, combining the Son of Heaven's dragon Qi with Daoist national fortune to establish a Daoist kingdom on earth; only then did he realize how ridiculous his title of "best in the world at array formations" was!

Back then, after Xiang Yunshu had analyzed the Dao laws and seen Qingxu's handiwork, he had bluntly stated, "The title of 'best in array formations' should fall upon you; for the Shangqing Sect to want to compete with the Great Luo Sect is truly laughable." (See Chapter 58, Volume 3 for details).

Xuanxin learned of this conversation afterward and had no reaction, because he asked himself if it were him, even if given the same Son of Heaven's dragon Qi and Daoist national fortune, he would not have been able to establish a Daoist kingdom on earth.

He and Qingxu were of the same generation; both were Daoist prodigies in their youth, and they had many open and secret struggles representing the Great Luo Sect and the Shangqing Sect respectively.

Once both broke through their realms to become True Persons and ascended to the position of Sect Master, one was the best at lightning techniques and the other the best at array formations, and they were hailed as the "Two Stars of the Daoist School Shining on the World"!

Xuanxin had also always secretly competed with Qingxu, wanting to get the upper hand.

Yet he never expected that Qingxu would end his life in such a way.

He had always viewed Qingxu as an opponent, but the other party had never viewed him as an opponent, because the other party had long since surpassed him!

"Qingxu..."

Xuanxin's eyes were dim as he fell into memories.

He did not use his full strength to urge the great array to suppress and kill the Buddha-Eye Heavenly King.

Because his purpose for this trip was not to execute a Heavenly King of the Buddhist school.

How could peak powerhouses be so easily killed?

Just looking at the price the Great Lan Dynasty paid to kill the two peak powerhouses Qingxu and Qiming shows the difficulty.

When killing Qingxu.

When killing Qiming.

And now, this peak battle on the Baifeng Plains.

In just a few short years, the national fortune of the Great Lan Dynasty had plummeted, existing in three different levels!

The state of the Imperial Preceptor Xiang Yunshu was the same; after killing Qingxu, his Dao laws were already damaged.

Before the injuries healed, he killed Qiming, costing him more than half his life!

Now, forced to hold on and act, transmitting national fortune from thousands of miles away, how much power could he have left?

If the Great Lan Dynasty's national fortune had not been damaged, and Xiang Yunshu's state were at its peak.

In this battle on the Baifeng Plains, even if Xiang Yunshu did not come, just by transmitting national fortune from afar to provide a boost, Wenren Zheng alone with the Sky Blue Iron Cavalry could have fought three enemies at once!

Where would there be a need for his help?

Therefore, Xuanxin did not intend to kill; he was not Xiang Yunshu and did not want to throw away half his life here.

In today's battle, as long as he used the array to trap a Martial Saint, his mission would be accomplished.

The Buddha-Eye Heavenly King had sensed from the beginning that Xuanxin had no intent to kill, which was why he appeared so calm.

"In the end, it still evolved into a struggle between Buddhism and Daoism."

The Buddha-Eye Heavenly King pressed his palms together:

"However, the great trend is no longer with your Daoist school; how much certainty do you have in taking the initiative to enter the game this time?"

Xuanxin remained silent.

More than five hundred years ago, the founding Emperor of the Great Lan Dynasty campaigned across the world, becoming the first emperor to unify the Central Plains and conquer the entire Eastern Continent.

This was due to the founding Emperor's grand strategy and brilliance, as well as the fact that he had obtained the help of the Daoist school to refine evil weapons and establish the Imperial Camp Army.

In this world, the inheritance of the arts is strongest and most complete in only two schools—the Buddhist and the Daoist.

The only ones capable of researching and mass-producing evil weapons were the Buddhist and Daoist schools.

The reason the founding Emperor chose the Daoist school instead of the Buddhist school back then was, firstly, because the Daoist school had taken the initiative to send people to contact him first, and the two sides had formed a good bond.

Another important reason was that the Buddhist school was already very powerful at the time, while the Daoist school was relatively weak.

The founding Emperor worried that if he cooperated with the Buddhist school, after his death, the power of religion would surpass royal power, and this Great Lan Dynasty might turn into a Buddhist kingdom!

And it was precisely because the founding Emperor chose to cooperate with the Daoist school at the beginning of the dynasty that the Daoist school enjoyed five hundred years of glory thereafter.

The "great trend" in the Buddha-Eye Heavenly King's words refers to the Daoist school borrowing the momentum of the Great Lan Dynasty.

One Supreme, three Evil Demons, five True Persons, seven Martial Saints.

From this title, one can see the strength of the Daoist school, forcing the "Buddha" to be counted as a "True Person"!

And there were sixteen peak powerhouses in the world; the Buddhist and Daoist schools combined had seven, accounting for nearly half!

Therefore, for over five hundred years, the Great Lan Dynasty appeared to support the Daoist school, but in reality, it was using the Dao to suppress the Buddha.

Once it was felt that the Daoist school was too powerful, after the current Son of Heaven ascended the throne, he began to suppress the Daoist school, even lifting the restrictions on the number of Buddhist temples and began to support the Buddhist school.

If nothing unexpected happened, the chess game for the next few hundred years should have become using the Buddha to suppress the Dao, with the Great Lan Dynasty maintaining balance.

As a result, no one expected Qingxu to directly flip the chessboard.

"The Great Luo Sect has sealed its mountain, the blood feud remains, and they will not help; the imperial court also does not trust using people from the Great Luo Sect anymore."

"The Feathering Sect has always avoided the world, focusing only on seeking immortality on the mountain. True Person Chenjue's time is approaching, and he is currently in seclusion contemplating the 'Feathering Ascension Scripture'; he will certainly not come to muddy these waters at this time."

"The Daoist school now only has your Shangqing Sect that can stand out; do you think that relying on your sect alone, you can turn the tide?"

The Buddha-Eye Heavenly King asked with a compassionate face.

At this moment, he was trapped in the great array; even if Xuanxin did not intend to fight him to the death, he could not escape for a while, so he could only try to influence Xuanxin's state of mind.

Xuan Xin's expression was calm.

He knew that what the Buddha-Eye Heavenly King said was not false.

The Great Luo Sect's fortune had been exhausted by Qing Xu by seven or eight parts, nearly half of its powerhouses had died, and the disciples and forces distributed across the provinces had also suffered heavy blows; it could be said that their vitality was severely damaged.

Now, they were relying on Tai Yu alone to hold up the sect, so the other party would certainly not easily make a move again.

Furthermore, with the deep hatred and blood feud still present, it was absolutely impossible for Tai Yu to help the imperial court.

As for the Feathering Sect, the Sect Master Chen Jue was already nearly two hundred years old and his lifespan was coming to an end; he was currently in seclusion, contemplating the supreme secret arts of the Feathering Sect, seeking to harmonize with the Dao and return to the truth at the final moment of his life, to feather and ascend as an immortal!

Therefore, Chen Jue would absolutely not break out of seclusion at this time to participate in this battle.

"The imperial court's vitality is severely damaged, and my Daoist school is also at a low point, so your Pudu Temple chose to make a move at this time—you really chose a good time!"

Xuan Xin said coldly.

The imperial court had long anticipated the Buddhist school's entry into the fray.

And as for the participation of his Shangqing Sect, Pudu Temple had likely anticipated that as well!

"In the end, one only does what one can and leaves the rest to fate."

Xuan Xin stopped speaking and focused on controlling the great array.

Outside the great array, without the restraint of the Buddha-Eye Heavenly King, Wen Ren Zheng was finally able to fully unleash his strength!

In the air, the firmament tore like silk, and dragon roars shook the heavens.

Wen Ren Zheng's pair of iron fists, wrapped in peerless, overbearing martial energy, pierced straight into the Golden Dragon's celestial spirit. Under the force of a thousand jun, the dragon head exploded with a boom, and golden scales flew everywhere like rain!

The Golden Dragon, now without its head, continued to lash its tail, driving the sea of clouds to transform into a river and lake, sweeping toward Wen Ren Zheng.

Boom—

The sea of clouds condensed into ice, freezing the entire space.

At the same time, the splashed dragon blood quickly condensed into a crimson nebula, and in an instant, it gathered again into a new dragon head!

Just as the dragon head recovered, Wen Ren Zheng had already broken through the ice and arrived on the Golden Dragon's spine.

He punched downward, his fist energy tearing through the hard dragon scales to reveal the flesh and dragon bone within.

The flesh seemed to possess a spirit and was healing rapidly, so Wen Ren Zheng immediately followed up with another punch.

The muffled sound of shattering bone made the clouds tremble, and golden dragon blood sprayed out along the broken blood vessels like a golden rain curtain!

The Golden Dragon thrashed its body wildly in the air, and the mist transformed into ten thousand ice blades, attacking Wen Ren Zheng with the Daoist power of 【Great One Water-Harmonizing】.

But no matter how the Golden Dragon thrashed, Wen Ren Zheng remained firmly stabilized.

City after city manifested from his acupuncture points, blocking the incoming ice blades.

Wen Ren Zheng took a step forward, and with that one step, he arrived atop the newly healed dragon head, his fist tip piercing into the Golden Dragon's eye socket—the massive eyeball was churned into a blood-colored paste by the fist energy!

Golden blood sprayed, forming a golden vortex that enveloped Wen Ren Zheng, rapidly grinding away those cities one by one.

The dragon blood stained Wen Ren Zheng's body, corroding more than half of the eighth-grade divine armor on him; the blood mixed with molten iron, broke through his skin, and burrowed into his flesh!

Wen Ren Zheng ignored it all, simply burying his head and continuing to throw punches.

The battle between the two Martial Sages looked extremely bloody and savage, but the momentum was terrifying, and their respective Daoist powers had already clashed thousands of times!

Whether Wen Ren Zheng was the 'Number One of the Seven Martial Sages' was temporarily unknown.

But that he was stronger than Qin Mingli was already an indisputable fact!

Qin Mingli had already been wounded many times before, especially being severely injured by the 【Heavenly Dry Divine Micro】 combined with the Son of Heaven's dragon energy; although he had recovered, the consumption was not small.

Now, being beaten by Wen Ren Zheng with such an unreasonable fighting style, causing his dragon body to shatter frequently, he was suddenly unable to endure it.

Qin Mingli attempted to rush toward the River-Suppressing Heavenly King to swap opponents with him, or to join forces to create a two-on-two situation.

This way, at least the River-Suppressing Heavenly King could help him share some of the pressure and give him enough time to recover.

But the surroundings had long been locked down by continuous baleful energy.

This baleful energy was like a great army besieging a city, coming from more than seven thousand Imperial Guard troops.

Wen Ren Zheng had long since planted 'ambush troops' and controlled the baleful energy to silently cut off Qin Mingli's retreat!

On this side, Wen Ren Zheng held the upper hand, while on the other side, Huang Qiyuan led the Sky-Blue Iron Cavalry, and the situation was gradually improving.

After True Person Xuan Xin made his move, two sword lights suddenly streaked out from the void like two startled swans, cutting through the long sky and slashing onto the golden river entwined around the azure giant.

They slashed two gaps into the long river!

Life-bound flying swords, Heaven-grade magic treasures.

The two who made the move were both top-tier True Persons, and they were top-tier True Persons who had mastered the Heaven-Stellar Earth-Fiend array formation!

Since the Shangqing Sect Sect Master had made a move, how could the rest of the Shangqing Sect's powerhouses not be there?

Following the appearance of these two flying swords, several more figures emerged from the void.

These people had also been hiding in flying magic treasures beforehand.

The Shangqing Sect's strength was second only to the Great Luo Sect; besides one True Person, there were two Grandmasters and three top-tier True Persons.

In today's battle, these five top powerhouses, along with a group of martial arts masters and True Persons, had arrived at the Bai Feng Plains!

Seeing the five top powerhouses enter the fray, there was no need for the River-Suppressing Heavenly King to speak; the five Grandmasters who were besieging the Sky-Blue Iron Cavalry took the initiative to meet them.

Compared to participating in the clash of peak powerhouses, these people were actually more willing to fight against opponents of the same level; at least they didn't have to worry about being deliberately targeted and killed in an instant.

Without the assistance of the five Grandmasters and the restraint of the Buddha-Eye Heavenly King, Huang Qiyuan immediately seized the opportunity, using the eruption of the Son of Heaven's dragon energy to break free from the shackles of the martial arts river and launch a counterattack against the River-Suppressing Heavenly King!

"Where did this Bai Chen run off to at such a critical moment?"

The River-Suppressing Heavenly King felt somewhat annoyed.

Bai Chen was a Grandmaster of the Establishing-Dao Realm and a sword-path powerhouse who had mastered multiple creation sword arts; if he were present, coordinating with the others to outnumber the enemy, he could quickly break the balance.

At this time, if either side could have a few more Grandmasters or top-tier True Persons participate in the battle of peak powerhouses, the impact on the war situation would be significant.

Although the River-Suppressing Heavenly King was strong, the Sky-Blue Iron Cavalry had the blessing of the Son of Heaven's dragon energy; relying on himself alone, he could at most maintain a stalemate.

On the plains, a group of top powerhouses and over four thousand Imperial Guard troops were in a chaotic battle.

Within the 【Primordial Sword Realm】, Li Fei slashed and shattered a Buddha statue with one blade!

But the shattered golden body of the Buddha statue would recover again in the blink of an eye.

This was Jing Lian's core divine ability—【Pure Land Reincarnation】!

This divine ability, combined with the derivative changes of the array formation, allowed the power of the Buddha statue to circulate repeatedly within the Pure Land barrier.

No matter how many Buddha statues Li Fei shattered, or how many times he shattered them, the power of the Pure Land would not be depleted in the slightest, and the Buddha statues could also recover rapidly!

Without a doubt, this method was top-tier at 'wearing people down.'

After Li Fei shattered a few Buddha statues, he realized the mystery within and was just about to change his method when a sword light suddenly entered the two small worlds.

"Hm?"

Li Fei's heart stirred; seemingly receiving some kind of pull, he turned to look almost subconsciously.

Dressed in gray, holding a three-foot green blade, and looking at least thirty years younger than he had before, Bai Chen stood there quietly.

"Bai Chen."

Li Fei narrowed his eyes and gripped the Ghost-Slaying Blade in his hand.

"Amitabha, why has Benefactor Bai Chen come here? Although the Marquis of Jing'an is formidable, this old monk can still handle him."

Jing Lian's voice rang out.

In his view, Bai Chen was a very critical combat force and should be playing a role on the battlefield of peak powerhouses.

"Master, leave this person to me; you go over there and help."

Bai Chen's voice was like a sword, piercing into the two worlds and ringing out.

"Benefactor Bai Chen, you..."

Jing Lian's tone sank.

His killing power was far inferior to Bai Chen's, and his strength and realm were also not as good as the other party's, so Bai Chen was more suited than him to break the deadlock; naturally, he was unwilling to make such an exchange.

"Master!"

The long sword in Bai Chen's hand suddenly let out a sword hum, and astonishing sword intent filled the heavens and earth:

"Please, grant this!"

Jing Lian felt Bai Chen's determination and killing intent, so he stopped trying to persuade him and decisively controlled his life-bound prayer beads to fly away.

Once the Pure Land barrier was gone, Li Fei's 【Primordial Sword Realm】 immediately recovered its peak momentum, enveloping Bai Chen within it.

Bai Chen did not manifest a martial arts domain; he simply stood there calmly holding his sword, looking at Li Fei.

Meeting those deep eyes, Li Fei felt a fated attraction.

Zhang Yuanhong's cold, gloomy face flashed through his mind.

"So that's how it is."

Li Fei raised the Ghost-Slaying Blade with one hand, pointing it at Bai Chen not far away.

The sun and moon shone together above their heads, the altar in the center began to vibrate slightly, and sword energy whistled.

Sword intent and killing aura filled the entire world.

Shua—

Blade light and sword radiance lit up simultaneously.

"Then—I will kill you again!"

(End of chapter)