Chapter 39: The Formidable Monk Shancai

"Puff!"

The glistening long spear pierced into Wu Mengqiu’s abdomen. This "False Core" stage expert, who had spent his life obsessed with vanity and had turned the Wu family into the overlords of Lantian Town, felt his eyelids droop as the last flicker of his life force faded away. Li Dalong’s core fire burned within his soul.

This also signaled the downfall of the Lantian Wu family.

In this battle, the Li family suffered no casualties. The villagers who had come from Zhi'en Village, having completed their first wave of attrition using magical artifacts and spear-forest formations, turned back toward their village.

The Li family’s experts at the Foundation Establishment stage and above tidied the battlefield, reorganized their equipment, and headed toward the center of the Silver Iron Forest.

"Good!"

Li Xiang, sitting at home in front of the giant screen with his focus entirely on the game, slapped his thigh hard, his face beaming with satisfaction.

The Li family used to be timid and submissive, but now, the Li family strikes with an iron fist!

Compared to the Lantian Wu family and the two major clans of Tailin Town, the Li family was superior in every way. And now?

The battle ended in ten minutes!

But as his inner joy settled, Li Xiang’s expression gradually grew grave.

As he maneuvered his war puppet toward the center of the Silver Iron Forest, he could already feel the powerful aura radiating from afar. It was the pressure emanating from the battle between the internal Demon King and a Golden Core expert!

The Golden Core realm is the true threshold for cultivators, which is why "False Core" existences exist. A single full-strength strike from such an expert can reduce a thousand-meter radius to dust!

While a False Core is extremely close to a Golden Core, a False Core expert would likely not last more than a few moves against one!

It is said that in the entire Taiqing County, excluding the two sects behind the scenes, there are fewer than ten Golden Core experts.

...

Before long, Li Xiang had maneuvered the war puppet, along with the Li family experts and numerous spirit beasts, to the center of the Silver Iron Forest.

The valley where Li Xiang and the others arrived had been razed, looking like a massive iron cauldron. The thick, turbulent spiritual energy made everyone afraid to approach; the high-level pressure alone was enough to diminish their combat effectiveness.

The Pig Demon King was locked in battle with Master Shancai. Both were floating in the air, creating a pressurized field around them!

[Warning: The spiritual power output ahead exceeds the machine's load capacity. Do not enter!]

As soon as they approached, the war puppet issued a warning.

Li Xiang knew full well that the power of the Golden Core stage was simply not something a war puppet could contend with. He frowned, staring at the battlefield.

The Pig Demon King’s true form was the "Earth-Ming Shadow Boar," relying on earth and dark energy. Huge spikes emerged everywhere in the valley, creating tremors as if the earth itself had come alive. These ground spikes moved with the precision of an arm, stabbing toward Master Shancai.

The spikes, in particular, carried an intensely corrosive aura, attempting to erode Master Shancai’s protective Buddhist light.

Master Shancai possessed profound Buddhist mastery.

He held a golden monk's staff in his right hand, and the prayer beads from his neck had been transferred to his left. With a light touch on the beads and a chant of sutras, a Golden-Bodied Arhat, matching the size of the Pig Demon King, appeared behind him. This Arhat could easily shatter the earthen spikes with its bare palms, and the demonic energy clinging to the spikes dissipated upon contact with the Arhat’s holy power.

In contrast, massive handprints were left embedded in the ground!

Li Xiang could tell that neither side was using their full strength; they were probing each other with their magic power. However, it was clear that the Pig Demon King was already on the losing end.

"Ancestor, should we go and help now?" Li Dalong asked, addressing the ancestral tablet. He was shivering as he felt the aura of the battlefield.

"Wait a little longer." Li Xiang typed on the icon of the Purple Thunder Sky-Sun Python.

A battle between mid-stage Golden Core experts was not something ordinary Foundation Establishment experts could participate in; even the shockwaves could cause injury. But Li Xiang was certain that with the combined strength of all the spirit beasts present—equivalent to six False Core experts—they definitely had the power to fight Master Shancai and win.

However, that would only be a victory. If Master Shancai decided to flee, no one could stop him, and there would be no more peace for the Li family in the future!

...

Li Xiang waited. Half an hour had passed; he was like a seasoned hunter.

The spirit beasts and the Li family members by his side stood in anxious silence under his command, not daring to let out the slightest breath.

"Amitabha."

Master Shancai stood on a golden lotus in mid-air, the golden rings on his staff jingling. After fighting for so long, he remained unscathed, though his aura was slightly weaker. He wore a compassionate smile, saying, "You wicked creature have harmed countless lives, but the Buddha is merciful. I acknowledge that your thousand years of cultivation did not come easily. Why not follow me to Qingsong Temple to listen to the scriptures and wash away your sins?"

"Do not let the myriad creatures of this Silver Iron Forest suffer any more calamity."

This was the first time Master Shancai had spoken after fighting for so long.

He was now talking about Buddhist principles simply because he was beginning to have doubts. It was promised that the seven major families would gather to kill the Pig Demon King together, but half an hour had passed, and there was no sign of reinforcements.

Although the Demon King was not his match, Shancai did not want to risk his life in a death struggle.

"Hmph!"

The only response to Master Shancai was a cold snort from the Pig Demon King.

Even though it was covered in wounds, it still maintained the dignity of a Demon King.

It unleashed its demonic arts instantly. Knowing it was no match for Master Shancai and that continuing the stalemate would only lead to its own destruction, it unleashed its full power!

Suddenly, the valley shook violently. Dark winds swept through, and massive stone pillars rose from the earth within a hundred-meter radius of the Pig Demon King, charging toward Master Shancai with the corrosive power of the dark winds!

The bristles on its back flew into the sky.

A phantom of a demonic head formed within the thick, dark clouds in the sky, reaching out with its hands to seize Master Shancai!

"Stubborn and unrepentant! If the Buddha will not save you today, I shall send you, this monster, into the eighteenth level of hell on behalf of the Buddha, never to be reincarnated!"

Seeing this, Master Shancai’s expression grew grave.

He knew this was the Pig Demon King’s final desperate strike. If he did not go all out, his life was on the line!

He threw his prayer beads into the air. The eighteen beads glowed brilliantly, rising in a ring that scattered the dark clouds. It was clearly a formidable spiritual artifact.

"Qingsong Buddhist Law, Everlasting Golden Pine, Merciful Vajra, Appear!"

As Master Shancai roared, his monk’s robe—also a spiritual artifact—transformed. The golden trim morphed into golden vines that spread toward the sky. As they moved, these vines tangled together at a speed visible to the naked eye, forming a shimmering Golden Vajra Arhat!

Master Shancai’s staff floated into the air, growing larger and larger, until it rested in the hand of the Vajra Arhat.

A roar from the Arhat echoed through the valley, accompanied by the clanking of the rings on the staff.

Suddenly, the sound of a deep, resonant bronze bell tolled from nowhere.

Master Shancai, renowned throughout Taiqing County, was truly extraordinary!

He had played all his cards. He could already see this stubborn Pig Demon King about to go meet the Buddha!

But at that moment, his expression shifted.

"Now!"

A sharp shout rang out from afar.

Master Shancai saw dozens of spirit beasts recklessly charging into the battlefield, unleashing a barrage of demonic arts like rain!

He even saw...

"It’s the Li family from the seven clans, that Purple Thunder Sky-Sun Python!"

"Bastard!"

Master Shancai was furious. He suddenly realized that while he had intended to capture a Demon King as a mount or obtain materials for an artifact, he had fallen into a trap he never should have touched!

But he understood more clearly that it was useless to say anything now.

Even with his profound Buddhist arts, he could not withstand the combined force of these suicidal spirit beasts and the Pig Demon King.

"Escape!"

Master Shancai swept his Vajra Arhat across the field to block the incoming attacks, preparing to flee.

"Boom!"

Suddenly, he narrowed his eyes.

A massive puppet, with flames erupting from its feet and back, was charging at him at extraordinary speed. The puppet carried no weapons, only...

A silver coffin?

...

[Mecha engine load reached 100%... 120%. The frame is about to be damaged!]

[Warning! You have entered the combat zone of a mid-stage Golden Core expert!]

[The target is attacking you. Detection: Please evade immediately. Spiritual power far exceeds load...]

"Load my foot! Go!"

Maneuvering the war puppet, feeling the oppressive spiritual pressure and the five-meter-wide palm print being unleashed by the Golden Arhat behind Master Shancai, Li Xiang remained perfectly calm!

Turn! Pivot!

The war puppet narrowly dodged the palm strike, but the shockwave still tore off the puppet’s right arm and right leg.

One could even see the mangled remains of the body through the one-third of the frame that had been shattered!

[Frame severely damaged. Please leave the battlefield immediately for automatic repair!]

Li Xiang ignored it.

He knew clearly that if the fat monk didn't die, the Li family’s future would be grim!

Compared to the lives of the Li family members, this expensive war puppet was worth nothing!

Passing the palm print, hearing the roar behind him, Master Shancai sent another palm strike toward him.

But this time, Li Xiang did not dodge.

"I’m counting on you!"

Li Xiang gripped the "Heavenly Coffin of Direct Death." He could feel the coffin trembling as it encountered the Buddhist power!

On the screen interface:

[The artifact spirit of the Heavenly Coffin of Direct Death has encountered Buddhist power that it loathes!]

From the moment he arrived at the battlefield, Li Xiang had seen the game interface prompt.

He had already planned to use the Heavenly Coffin of Direct Death as his trump card.

Otherwise, Li Dalong would never have brought this treasure out!

"The distance is enough!"

Seeing the war puppet’s momentum was sufficient to propel the Heavenly Coffin toward Master Shancai, Li Xiang did not hesitate.

He hurled the Heavenly Coffin!

"This... what is this thing?!!"

Master Shancai revealed a look of terror that he hadn’t even shown when facing the full strength of the Pig Demon King.

The silver coffin easily shattered the palm print cast by his Vajra Arhat!

It even...

As it approached the Vajra Arhat behind him, the golden staff couldn't even budge the coffin. The silver coffin deflected the staff, and before his desperate eyes, the lid slowly opened, revealing a dark space that swallowed the entire Golden Vajra Arhat inside.

It was like an ancient beast of infinite greed!

Even he, who was using the Vajra Arhat, was affected.

The silver coffin unleashed its fury upon him; the pressure of the supreme spiritual treasure made it impossible for him to stay afloat!

And at the same time, the Pig Demon King, the dozens of spirit beasts, and all the martial arts and techniques of the Li family rained down upon him!