CHAPTER 744: 619 BOLUO GOLDEN FLOWER

Shi Sheng summoned the Purple and Blue Duoluo Divine Thunder, which split into Purple Thunder and Green Thunder—one as Purple Cloud Thunder, the other as Qingxiao Thunder—the two thunders consecutively alternating, forming a relentless barrage that struck Atong into a purple and green thunderous light sphere, wrapped externally by the Five Elements Spiritual Flames, which emerged from the disintegrated Sword Qi. Thunder and flame tangled together, their friction intensifying with each moment.

This technique was one that Shi Sheng had conceived himself. Back then, Shi Feiyang had passed down the "Purple Ying Immortal Scripture" to him, which included the Purple and Blue Thunder Skill. After mastering it, he accidentally discovered that it exceptionally complemented his own Spiritual Stone True Fire and Five Elements Spiritual Flames.

Although Atong had already cultivated the Purple Gold Body, he began to falter from the continuous bombardment of thunder and fire over time.

The Protective Buddha Light started to melt away, the skin on his head, face, hands, and limbs seared, causing unbearable agony and unsettling his mind, which had originally been in a state of deep meditation.

"Amitabha Buddha!" With the utterance of the Buddhist invocation, another Vajra Giant Spirit God Palm flew in from Stone Tiger Mountain, slapping diagonally upwards at Atong from below.

With a loud boom, the thunder and fire that enveloped Atong were scattered.

The might of the Vajra Giant Spirit God Palm was immense, once released, it was hard to control. Unless aimed at the void of space, it would inevitably cause landslides and earth fissures.

However, this palm managed only to scatter the thunder fire around Atong’s body and then disappeared without a trace, not even slightly injuring him, demonstrating his formidable power, treating such a great Buddhist technique as though it were light as a feather.

Following that, a swath of Sandalwood Buddha Light enveloped Atong and yanked him backwards fiercely. A monk in white robes floated over gracefully—it was Li Ning.

"Amitabha Buddha!" Li Ning spoke, "Fellow Daoist, why press so aggressively?"

Shi Sheng replied, "It’s you who have kidnapped the person, and yet you accuse me of being aggressive? Where is your sense of reason?"

Li Ning said, "The Buddhist community has always had good relations with the Jile Perfected. Now that the young lady has become the Sect Leader of the Emei Sect, her ties with the Jile Perfected are even closer. We wouldn’t harm his disciple. We sincerely invited Daoist Chen here as a guest for real reasons I cannot clearly explain at this moment. Please return for now, and after three days, we will ensure Daoist Chen’s safe departure."

Shi Sheng knew that he could not overcome the combined strength of these two, not to mention Zhu Youmu, who was far superior to them. He snorted coldly at Li Ning, turned, and rode away on his Sword Qi into the skies.

After he had left, Atong approached and asked, "Brother, do you think he’s truly gone? Will we succeed this time?"

With a grave expression, Li Ning shook his head, "I don’t know. This plan was supposed to be flawless... but people’s calculations can’t compare to heaven’s, and this unexpected variable has surfaced!"

The two brothers fell silent for a long while before Atong said in a muted voice, "Both master and disciple are variables!"

"Sowing good causes yields good fruits, we deeply believe in karma. As long as we do our part well... As for all the karmic causes and conditions, only Buddha knows them all. Even my master sometimes overlooks things, let alone us."

They had only exchanged a few words when a vast expanse of Blood Flame clouds rolled in from the horizon.

"Here it comes!" Both faces grew stern as they gathered their full attention. Li Ning waved his hands repeatedly, casting copious amounts of Sandalwood Buddha Light, completely enveloping the entire mountain.

He too, was a cultivator of many lifetimes, more formidable in a previous life than Wei Bagong. The Saintess Jiayin, originally from a Daoist side path, could only cultivate to become an Earth Immortal, her Nascent Soul restricted to flying back and forth between earth and heaven, unable to ascend to the Spiritual Space.

It was Li Ning who directed the Saintess to Shendu Country to find a piece of Divine Wood, from which she obtained a Buddhist Scripture. Later on, after studying and understanding the Buddhist Law, she converted completely to Buddhism and ultimately ascended to pure bliss.

He had long since recovered the magical power of his past lives and reached the realm capable of Ascension. Among the Three Generations and Nine Grades of rebirth, he was even higher than Atong. With a few waves of his hand, stacks of Buddha Light layers piled up, enveloping the exterior of Stone Tiger Mountain within a thousand-foot shell of Buddha Light, with the dense aroma of sandalwood fragrance within a thousand miles.

Shi Pi the Elder hastened to the area with two of his subordinates; upon seeing Li Ning and Atong, he wordlessly flicked his horsetail whisk, releasing tens of thousands of Blood Flame Golden Sabers that surged forth like a vast flood.

When the Blood Flame Golden Sabers struck the Sandalwood Buddha Light, they twined and flowed together, enveloping the mountain, shielded by the Buddha Light, then turned into waves of bloody surf. Within these waves were countless Golden Sabers, Golden Arrows, and the like, wave after wave crashing against the Buddha Light.

Shi Pi the Elder then summoned the Five Mountains Divine Peaks.

During the last duel with Shi Feiyang on the Little Penglai of the East Sea, his Five Mountains Divine Peaks were almost captured by the Nine Suspicions Tripod.

After returning home, he spent a great deal of effort to refine them again, and now their might was even stronger than before. Once released, they turned into thousand-foot Divine Peaks, forming an array and pressing down.

These five peaks were not merely heavy; they also spewed an abundance of Asura Blood Flame Demon Light, their surfaces covered with copious quantities of Demon Fire. From afar, they looked like five fiery meteorites crashing down from outer space.

The "Song Mountain" in the center quickly pressed down on the Buddha Light, squashing it like a soap bubble and distorting the Sandalwood Buddha Light.

Even with Li Ning’s might alone, he couldn’t stand against Shi Pi the Elder.

Atong quickly cast a spell and also released Buddha Light. The two brothers joined forces to hold up the Divine Peak.

Shi Pi the Elder concentrated all the force of the five Divine Peaks onto "Song Mountain." His left hand formed the Five Mountains True Form Technique, continuously pressing down, while his right hand swung the horsetail whisk, releasing twelve Divine Demons and bellowed, "I have no grudges against you! Jile Perfected and I also have some friendship – I won’t harm his only heir. Hand the person over, and let us not harm our amicable relations."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a child’s voice was heard from the mountain on the right, "This old demon is shameless. What kind of relationship could Jile Perfected have with him? To covet someone else’s left-behind treasure, he’s shamelessly trying to forge a connection. He really doesn’t want that old face of his..."

"Who is that over there!" Shi Pi the Elder flung his horsetail whisk, sending a Blood Flame Gold Saber that unrolled like a long river.

Immediately from that mountain peak, a burst of Buddha Light countered the Blood Flame Gold Saber. Shi Pi the Elder saw the Buddha Light used by that person was not from the lineage of Bai Mei Zen Master, yet its power surprisingly surpassed that of Atong and Li Ning, no less inferior to Caiwei Monk Zhu Youmu.

Astonishment struck his heart. Circling his horsetail whisk, the river-like Blood Flame Gold Saber also coiled into a circle, attempting to trap the opponent while simultaneously releasing dense Asura Blood Flame Divine Thunders from within the whisk, secretly harboring four Divine Demons in the Thunder Pearl, aiming to use the Demon Thunder explosion as a cover for a sudden, violent attack.

However, the opponent saw through his tactics at a glance, raised a hand to emit Buddha Light, and laid a trap of Boluo Divine Flame within it. Shi Pi the Elder’s Demon charged forward only to find itself amidst the Boluo Divine Flame, screeching tumultuously as it quickly turned into four wisps of blue smoke. Then another Vajra Giant Spirit God Palm was unleashed along with a tidal surge of Buddha Light, clashing with the Blood Flame Gold Saber and Asura Demon Thunder, and causing thunderous explosions that seemed to shake the heavens and split the earth.

In this clash, Shi Pi the Elder gained no advantage but managed to force the other party to reveal themselves. Indeed, it was a child with delicate and endearing features, whose power was incredibly formidable.

It turned out that this child was Xie Shan’s disciple, the ninth-generation beloved son of the Emei Sect’s Qi Shuming, the young Divine Monk Li Hong.

He had fully restored his nine generations’ worth of magical power and was dueling with Shi Pi the Elder with all his might unleashed, not falling short.

Facing three of the Buddhist top experts, Shi Pi the Elder also felt somewhat stretched thin. He said to the Golden God Monarchs on either side and Zhao Changsu, "What are you still looking at? Come help me kill these three now! If we don’t kill them today, I’ll kill you!"

Golden God Monarchs and Zhao Changsu watched the duel, dazzled and enraptured, knowing they were far from being a match, but they had no choice as their Primordial Spirits were covertly controlled by Shi Pi the Elder.

Shi Pi the Elder directed them to kill Li Hong while he focused on battling Atong and Li Ning.

Wariness filled the two as they knew at this point they could only give their all. They both issued a long howl, Zhao Changsu released thirty-six Heavenly Gang powerful Divine Demons, with his fan stirring up demonic lights, creating a tempest that darkened the sky with wind and dust and his thirty-six demons pounced on Li Hong amidst the stench.

Golden God Monarch also released fifty blood-red demon shadows that he had refined—the fifty Yin Demons were skilled at sneak attacks and not adept at open confrontation—darting into the air and quickly vanishing.

Li Hong was holding a Zen Staff that towered over his stature, a gift from Tian Meng Zen Master. As he swung the staff, he released a vast amount of Buddha Light, also bringing forth the Boluo Divine Flame. Golden Buddha Fire spread across the sky.

The Boluo Divine Flame, when released, took the form of a flame-like Golden Flower that instantly swelled, scattering and transforming into countless identical golden flower flames. Then they exploded again, multiplying ceaselessly to potentially fill the entire Great Thousand World with enough support from the practitioner’s power...

Li Hong, with his nine generations’ worth of cultivation and an abundance of mana, spread these Golden Buddha Flames across an extensive swath of sky. In their convergence and dispersion, they enveloped all the powerful Divine Demons that Zhao Changsu had painstakingly lured and spent years refining for his benefit, the explosions continuing without pause, and the fierce burning of the Buddha Light soon turned them into thirty-six fireballs.

Within the fireballs, the powerful Divine Demons screeched and thrashed in agony.

Though extraordinary, these demons were not immune to the top-tier Demon-suppressing Great Technique of the Buddhist lore. While they wouldn’t dissolve upon contact like other demons, prolonged exposure would lead to total annihilation.

Zhao Changsu, in agony, hastened to recall the demons.

But weakened by the engagement and their Primordial Qi damaged, the demons turned on their master. Shrinking to the size of a fist, with oversized heads and long, slender limbs but razor-sharp claws, they latched onto Zhao Changsu’s chest, abdomen, shoulders, and back, tearing open his flesh and greedily sipping his Essence Energy and Divine Blood.

Zhao Changsu knew that having been bested by an enemy, the Divine Demons would return to their master to feed on blood for replenishment, thankful they weren’t rebelling to rip him to shreds and swallow him.

He thought this was normal and didn’t resist, instead continuously casting spells to protect his mind and spirit.

Little did he know that the Boluo Divine Flame would also follow the demons back, permeating his flesh and bones and suddenly exploding within, transforming into Infinite Golden Flowers. Zhao Changsu’s chest, abdomen, shoulders, and back were all blasted open. If it weren’t for a millennium of cultivation and some remaining power, his Lifebound Divine Demon being robust, and his divine skills being unyielding, he would have been blown to bits and burned to ash right there and then!

But the explosion had stripped away his flesh, leaving his breastbones, ribs, and shoulder blades exposed, his organs visible through the bloody bones and skin, with a layer of golden Buddha Light floating on the surface, continuing to scorch him. The thirty-six demons were also injured and burnt, screaming as they all burrowed into Zhao Changsu’s organs.

Zhao Changsu’s blood-curdling screams filled the air. As an old demon with years of experience, the pain of physical trauma was bearable, but he knew the horror of the demons digging into his internal organs, and terrified out of his wits, he no longer dared to confront Li Hong, promptly seeking out Shi Pi the Elder, "Sect Hierarch, save me! Sect Hierarch, save me!"