“A monk?” Xu Zimo smiled and said, “Shouldn’t you be in a temple burning incense? What are you doing out here in the mortal world?”
“I’ve always been a worldly monk, what’s wrong with that?” Enlightened Sage chuckled.
“You’d better worry about your current situation first, young man.”Xu Zimo looked up at Yue Shan and smirked. “I beat the junior ones, and now the elders are here?”
“I won’t make it too hard for you,” Yue Shan replied calmly. “The monk and I will each use one move. If you survive, I’ll let you go.”
“Young man, I’m just here to observe. I’m curious how strong today’s youth really are. No malice,” Enlightened Sage added with a smile.
“Your Grand River God Sect isn’t very impressive,” Xu Zimo said, shaking his head. “I even saved one of your Grand Elders before. Just a heads-up, better go all out. Otherwise, I might kill you by accident.”
“You’re arrogant,” Yue Shan snorted coldly.
At that moment, a divine pressure of the God Meridian Realm erupted from Yue Shan.
He stood tall like a towering mountain, nearly overwhelming to look at.
Xu Zimo could tell that Yue Shan had just stepped into the God Meridian Realm, first level, but his foundation was solid thanks to a powerful cultivation method.
He struck with a palm. It looked simple, but in Xu Zimo’s eyes, the palm was a mountain.
Its power was immense, majestic and unshakable.
For the ocean move ten thousand mountains, both mountain and water must have spirit.
If the spirit does not die, then the mountains still stand, and sunsets fall as before.
As the mountain-like palm came down, Xu Zimo drew his curved saber, Shadow Tyrant.
A terrifying saber aura burst forth, rising like a massive tide into the sky.
“What is that?” Enlightened Sage exclaimed as he felt the rising power.
Xu Zimo swung his saber. As it fell, space itself collapsed.
I gaze upon my saber, sharp and true. The saber gazes back, just the same.
The saber crashed down with unstoppable momentum. Yue Shan’s mountain-hand shattered instantly.
With a deafening boom, the “mountain” broke, along with his hand.
The only thing that remained in the world was the saber’s gleam. Everything else faded like an illusion in the mountain mists.
Yue Shan stared blankly at his bleeding right hand, crisscrossed with countless saber cuts, nearly ruined.
Even when he tried to heal it with spiritforce, the remaining saber intent inside his hand kept tearing it apart.
“Who do you think you’re looking down on?” Xu Zimo said coldly.
“You’re in the God Meridian Realm?” Yue Shan asked, his expression grave.
“You’re not worthy of knowing. Maybe if your Sacred Lord showed up, that would be a bit closer,” Xu Zimo answered indifferently.
Then he turned toward Enlightened Sage. “Monk, you still want to go?”
“A monk doesn’t lie. I said I’d try, so I will,” Enlightened Sage sighed with a bitter smile. “I knew joining the fun would get me in trouble. As Buddha says, there is no trouble in this world, it’s people who seek it.”
“Still yapping about philosophy, huh?” Xu Zimo laughed.
“Be careful,” Yue Shan warned from the side.
Enlightened Sage clasped his hands together, expression solemn.
“I am Buddha. I am both joy and sorrow,” he chanted softly.
As the words left his mouth, his form changed, turning into a statue of Buddha.
This Buddha had many faces, some smiling, some sorrowful.
“Would you lay down your blade?” the Buddha statue asked in a strange voice.
“Trying to trick me again?” Xu Zimo smiled and raised his saber, unleashing another wave of saber intent.
“Bitter Sea of All Beings,” Enlightened Sage softly chanted.
A black ocean suddenly emerged from the sky, covering everything. Inside this sea were reflections of countless lives, millions of people, in all states and forms.
The sea surrounded Xu Zimo, and darkness closed in.
Some laughed, some cried, some raged, and some mourned. They all rushed toward him like mad.
Xu Zimo swung his saber, and it cut right through them.
He soon realized, they weren’t real. They were spirit illusions, soul attacks.
“In this world, I’ve never met a soul attack that could break my Nine-Revolutions God-Tower,” Xu Zimo said with a smile.
As the crowd rushed him, the first gate of the Nine-Revolutions God-Tower opened.
A beast, the Howling Sun-Wolf, stepped out. With ancient power and savage might, it stood guard. Any spirit that approached was devoured and torn apart.
Seeing this, Enlightened Sage narrowed his eyes and chanted once more.
“All Beings Become Buddha.”
Suddenly, the mad spirits stopped. They stood peacefully, hands together, shining with golden light.
They had all turned into Buddhas.
These Buddha-forms had boosted strength, speed, and power, and they charged again in overwhelming numbers.
The Howling Sun-Wolf began to tire, and finally, the first tower was breached.
The second tower opened, revealing another guardian beast.
It looked like a giant roc, covered in golden feathers. When it spread its wings, it could cover a thousand miles.
This was the Leviathan, a beast that feeds on dragons.
It swam in deep seas, soared across oceans, and stirred the heavens with a single flap of its wings.
When the Leviathan appeared above the ocean-like domain of the second gate, its size was unimaginable.
Its claws scraped the water’s surface, causing massive explosions and twisters to erupt.
The army of Buddha-Spirits entered the sea to cross it, but with a single screech, the Leviathan dove through space.
Waves roared. Its wings sliced through the air, feathers sharp as blades.
Hundreds of Buddha-Spirits were destroyed instantly.
“What is this soul defence!?” Enlightened Sage shouted in shock.
Before he could react, the golden Leviathan turned into a streak of light and flew straight toward him.