The followers of Thunder God and Lightning Mother all had looks of astonishment, whispering, "Lord of Stars, what is the situation here? The person just now defied the will of heaven and disrupted the destined rainfall; that''s a capital offense. Moreover, attacking us is practically akin to rebellion."

    Tai Baijin Xing chuckled, "My friends, what he did and how it should be judged—the Jade Emperor sees it clearly and will decide on his own. You need not worry about this matter, be off."

    They were no fools. Hearing Tai Baijin Xing speak like this, they immediately understood.

    So, the Great Emperor had been right there enjoying the spectacle all along!

    They dared not interfere in such high-level affairs and promptly said their farewells and left.

    Meanwhile, the Elder Stag-Xian whispered to the Elder Tiger-Xian, "Big brother, this monk is too powerful; we won''t be able to defeat him in a fight. In the next two matches, whether we win or lose, we''re inevitably going to end up fighting him... We can''t win head-on."

    Elder Tiger-Xian asked, "What do you imply?"

    Elder Stag-Xian replied, "Challenge him with something deadly, and kill him during the match! To end all troubles!"

    Elder Tiger-Xian gasped, "Younger brother, are you thinking of using that treasure?!"

    Elder Stag-Xian nodded, "We must resort to that treasure now!"

    Unnoticed as the two communicated via telepathy, the monk''s ears quivered nearby...

    At that moment, the King of the nation also inquired, "State Preceptor, what would you like to compete in for the second match?"

    Elder Stag-Xian replied, "I shall take the second match. I will compete with him in an abdominal dissection and heart extraction! Of course, such common mutilations are not difficult for us to regenerate from; thus, I propose using this Soul-Sealing Knife to perform the dissection!"

    As he spoke, Elder Stag-Xian pulled a blood-red dagger from his robe.

    Seeing the dagger, Sun Wukong frowned, "This fellow actually carries such a thing!"

    Zhu Ganglie asked, "Big brother, what is that?"

    Sun Wukong explained, "Back when I served as the Protector of the Horses, I liked to wander around, visiting gods of mountains and all heavens—there''s hardly any god I haven''t visited. This Soul-Sealing Knife specifically targets creatures and deities with strong regenerative abilities. A single slice can seal the spirit, block the vital energy, and lock the flesh''s activity. Even a small wound could cause one to bleed to death. It is exceedingly sinister and belongs to the arsenals of crooked, deviative paths.

    Beheading or heart extraction poses no fear to me, but with such a knife... even before I became a Daluo Golden Immortal, I would never dare to test it."

    Sha Wujing mentioned, "I have also heard that this knife is an evil weapon that cannot be parried by anything less than a Daluo Golden Immortal."

    "Master, they—" Sun Wukong was anxious.

    Deer Power laughed heartily and said, "Even highly esteemed monks uphold their integrity. With that said, I won''t be polite anymore!"

    Deer Power''s eyes suddenly shone fiercely as he stomped his foot, and the Soul-Sealing Knife flew up into the sky. Deer Power soared up as well, and in mid-air, a divine deer shadow appeared behind him. He clasped his hands, and strands of nature''s spiritual energy gathered, then he channeled them into the Soul-Sealing Knife...

    "Roar!"

    A tiger roar resounded, and from the fragments of the Soul-Sealing Knife, a shadow of a white tiger startlingly appeared!

    As the white tiger''s spirit emerged, a burst of golden light suddenly shone from the west, a surging energy of metallic gold!

    The white tiger opened its mouth wide and inhaled the metallic energy, instantly materializing it...

    "Roar!"

    As the cloud follows the dragon and the wind follows the tiger, this roar brought forth a violent wind and a murderous aura that filled the sky!

    "Look at the ground!"

    Someone shouted.

    Everyone looked down to see the earth cracking open, and strands of blood rose from beneath the ground, which turned out to be wisps of souls who had died wrongfully!

    Sun Wukong immediately activated his fiery, golden eyes and looked through the crevices, only to see beneath the fissures, specifically beneath the kingdom of Chechi, stood five towers made of countless skeletons! Blood light pervaded and evil energy soared...

    Clearly, someone was using these skeletons to refine an Evil Demon Technique as a trap!

    And in the entire kingdom of Chechi, only the three Great Emperors had such capability!

    Sun Wukong angrily said, "Fine, fine, fine, a great State Preceptor indeed; you really aren''t afraid of divine retribution, are you?"

    Unfortunately, only Wukong could see this scene, and others did not understand whom he was addressing.

    Knowing full well what was happening, Deer Power sneered and said, "Sun Wukong, as the saying goes, ''Every man for himself is the law of nature.'' We cultivators naturally defy the heavens. It''s simply a matter of survival of the fittest, so spare me your talk of means! If we''re talking about means, you''ve killed no fewer in your storming of the heavens than we have!"

    After speaking, Deer Power wasted no more words. He drew upon the spiritual energy of nature, the killing energy of western metallic gold, and the evil and resentment energy from the Five-Directions Tower of Resentful Souls. By now, he had maximized the power of the fragments of the Tiger Soul Knife!