Chapter 504 - 139: True Monarch
The scorching sun hung high in the sky. The once-bustling Shangjing City region was now an endless forest. Within this vast expanse, not a single living creature could be found—only a gentle breeze weaving through the trees.
The breeze, thick with Wood Spirit Qi, stirred the layers of white petals on the pagoda tree branches, carrying them toward the heart of the forest. They gathered around a pagoda tree that pierced the clouds, and the wind dislodged even more blossoms from the colossal tree, scattering them until they filled the sky.
At the very top of this giant pagoda tree, above a vast sea of clouds, an illusory and ethereal figure materialized, absorbing the Wood Spirit Qi that had gathered around the tree.
Gradually, the figure grew more solid, its indistinct face taking on a defined form.
It was Xiao Shan Lord.
He looked around, then gazed up at the sky in a daze.
"What do you plan to do next?"
A voice drifted down from the sky, and then a Daoist appeared before Xiao Shan Lord, seated cross-legged on a cattail cushion engraved with an Eight Trigrams pattern.
He wore a pure white, wide-sleeved Daoist robe, with a White Jade Waistband at his waist that glowed with a white halo under the scorching sun. His jet-black hair was bound by a long crown woven from vines. Long whiskers at his temples cascaded to his chest, complementing his magnificent beard and giving him the aesthetic of a figure from ancient mythology.
At first glance, his eyes seemed full of compassion, but a second look revealed an unruffled calm. If one continued to stare, they would turn cold and rational. Xiao Shan Lord had been staring into his eyes ever since he appeared.
His appearance was identical to the Huishan True Monarch worshipped by the various Buddhist and Taoist Sects!
"I plan to re-forge my Spiritual Body next." Xiao Shan Lord cupped his fists in a salute. "Dare I ask, True Monarch, will I succeed?"
"You will not!"
Huishan True Monarch’s tone was cold.
Xiao Shan Lord’s expression remained unchanged. He cupped his fists again and asked, "Dare I ask, True Monarch, for what purpose have you come this time?"
A flicker of anticipation crossed Huishan True Monarch’s placid eyes. He countered, "Why do you think I am here?"
Xiao Shan Lord pointed to a branch that poked through the clouds beside them. Meeting Huishan True Monarch’s gaze, he said, "It must be for the Wood Spirit Origin gestating inside this pagoda tree, and the Heaven-Stealing Talisman, which is just one final step away from completion!"
"You wish to resist?"
"Even an ant knows to cling to life, let alone someone like me!"
Xiao Shan Lord cupped his fists once more. "And another thing—your greed is utterly disgusting to me!"
Huishan True Monarch did not get angry, as if anger was a concept foreign to his consciousness. He spoke with the same breezy indifference, "If you do not refine this pagoda tree into your Spiritual Body soon, your Primordial Spirit Consciousness will collapse. And no other Spiritual Body can contain your Primordial Spirit now!"
"I know. But aren’t you here?"
"Interesting!"
The anticipation in Huishan True Monarch’s eyes deepened. He reached out, about to make a move, when his placid eyes turned toward the eastern horizon.
A blinding white light streaked across the void, completely unaffected by the Wood Spirit Qi here. In the blink of an eye, it arrived a hundred zhang from the pagoda tree.
Huishan True Monarch looked up. A beam of white light descended from the heavens and enveloped him. A moment later, burn marks appeared on his impassive face.
"You’re interesting as well!"
As Huishan True Monarch’s voice rang out again, the white light above him was twisted by some force and vanished, only to reappear illuminating the attacker who had just arrived.
He had used a Heaven-Covering Talisman to redirect the incoming Magic back onto its caster. The attacker was Ma Zuo Daoist, one of the leaders of the Jimin Association’s extremist faction!
But his current state was bizarre. His physical body seemed to be leaking light; white light streamed from his seven orifices, and flecks of white light seeped from the pores all over his skin.
"Huishan!"
Ma Zuo roared, his voice filled with fury, indignation, and raw hatred.
As his voice echoed, a warhammer engraved with mysterious runes appeared in his hand. By the time his words faded, he was already in front of Huishan True Monarch.
CRACK!
The warhammer struck the space before Huishan True Monarch but was blocked by an invisible force. Then, a deep crater was smashed into Ma Zuo’s own chest, instantly turning the area into a mangled mess of flesh and blood, through which faint strands of a white halo pulsed.
A Taiyan Cultivator at the Fifth Realm could steal the Heavenly Dao Rules, allowing them to twist and alter reality, even pre-determined fate.
"It’s not over yet!"
Ma Zuo swung his warhammer again, but this time, before the hammer could fall, his physical body and soul began to age rapidly. In an instant, he was on the verge of death from old age!
BANG!
Ma Zuo’s blow still landed. Though his body seemed to experience hundreds of thousands of years in that moment, with time weathering him away, the white halo within him instantly reconstructed his body.
"You know nothing of a Saint’s power!"
Ma Zuo’s entire body was covered in white light. He held the warhammer to his chest, stared coldly at Huishan True Monarch, and whispered, "You are a destroyer of this world’s balance!"
As his words fell, a snow-white wave of energy descended from the sky, enveloping Huishan True Monarch’s body.
At the same time, Ma Zuo himself was consumed by a white light and vanished in an instant. His warhammer, now ownerless, fell toward the ground.
Within the white light, Huishan True Monarch was also incinerated to ash in a flash. But when the light faded, he materialized once again amidst a surge of Wood Spirit Qi.
"Now that was truly interesting!"
Huishan True Monarch’s expression was as placid as ever, showing neither anger at Ma Zuo’s attack nor joy at defeating his enemy. He looked at Xiao Shan Lord as he spoke, asking, "Do you have any other ideas?"
As his words faded, he appeared beside the pagoda tree. He extended his left hand and formed a Spell. As the Spell took shape, an Array materialized beside him. The instant the Array formed, a powerful suction force erupted from it, frantically absorbing the Wood Spirit Qi from the forest.
Once the forest’s Wood Spirit Qi was completely devoured, it would be the sky-piercing pagoda tree’s turn!
Xiao Shan Lord was not the least bit nervous. His Primordial Spirit reached out a hand. Down below in the damp, dark forest, a patch of ground split open. A fist-sized wooden box woven from vines burst from the soil and shot into Xiao Shan Lord’s hand as a streak of light.
"Though the time is short, my current Primordial Spirit should still be able to use the power of the Heaven-Stealing Talisman, yes?" Xiao Shan Lord maintained a respectful demeanor toward Huishan True Monarch.
As he spoke, he summoned the Heaven-Stealing Talisman and activated it...
Instantly, a powerful force emanated outward, freezing the thoughts of every Cultivator in the vicinity of the forest. Huishan True Monarch had already devoured the forest’s Wood Spirit Qi, and the powerful suction was now consuming the colossal pagoda tree.
Xiao Shan Lord opened the vine-woven box in his hand. Inside were a Sealing Crystal and a Token. He immediately broke the crystal’s seal.
Instantly, a figure shot out from within!
It was Wu Ma Daoist!
The moment Xiao Shan Lord released Wu Ma Daoist, he formed a Spell to activate the Token that had been placed with the Sealing Crystal. Once the Token was activated, the expressive Wu Ma Daoist’s eyes instantly turned vacant.
Then, under Huishan True Monarch’s gaze, Xiao Shan Lord drove the activated Token into Wu Ma Daoist’s body.
The next moment, dense Wood Spirit Seal Runes appeared on the surface of Wu Ma Daoist’s body. But as Xiao Shan Lord formed another Spell, the Wood Spirit Seal on Wu Ma Daoist’s body rapidly unraveled. Then, an aura identical to that of the pagoda tree emanated from within him.
Another Wood Spirit Origin!