The bone arrow shot out, and Gu Xiechen roared, the power of the ancient evil immense, pulling at the wind, crying out, “Little one—”

Over a million Heavenly Soldiers and Generals swarmed back into Gu Xiechen’s Sea of Consciousness, transforming into purple mist and violet haze. The Corpse Emperor stepped forward without a word into the Taiyin Profound Pearl. Gu Xiechen and Peng Hua and the others laughed loudly a few times, and suddenly a vast expanse of starlight surged from beneath their feet. The surrounding stars flowed with light, and the group vanished without a trace.

Utilizing the power of the stars, a hundred paths of stellar power were established in the void. This was the supreme, wondrous method of the Primeval Star Lords who traversed the Three Realms. Flying through fixed stellar power conduits via this secret art was a hundred times faster than the Great Stellar Teleportation, making it the perfect technique for a quick getaway.

Gu Xiechen knew the sinister and tyrannical nature of that bone arrow just now. Even with the astonishing divine abilities of the Protecting Heavens, being caught off guard could lead to a huge loss. He didn't want to clash head-on with the Protecting Heavens now; he didn't possess the strength to overcome them. Fleeing in haste was the best option.

The stellar escape was swift. In just a few hours, Gu Xiechen and his companions dashed back to the vicinity of the Spiral Star Domain. Ahead, the Spiral Star Domain looked like a dragon’s eye, only three to five breaths away from a safe return.

Suddenly, a golden dragon materialized out of thin air in the void. Its body stretched for a thousand li, its scales shimmering with brilliant golden light. It had silver whiskers, red horns, and sharp five-toed claws that subtly emitted a strong purplish-silver radiance, its entire form wrapped in heavenly flower golden light. It looked like the first generation of Divine Dragons from the Primordial Era descending to the mortal realm, appearing utterly wondrous and strange.

The dragon glared at Gu Xiechen’s group with wide eyes, and the moment it opened its mouth, it unleashed a bolt of lightning.

Amidst a deafening roar, the unprepared group of Gu Xiechen was violently ejected from the stellar power conduits by the lightning blast, escaping in disarray. While the stellar conduits were incredibly fast, they were delicate and precise energy constructs; the slightest external interference would cause the conduits to instantly collapse, disrupting the escape trajectory of Gu Xiechen and the others.

The dragon let out a triumphant, manic laugh, its massive body rapidly shrinking to a mere ten zhang in length, baring its fangs and brandishing its claws as it lunged straight toward Gu Xiechen. Gu Xiechen snorted coldly, preparing to meet the charge, but the Monkey was already grinning from ear to ear, raising his staff to meet the attack: “Well met! Grandfather Sun is an expert at bullying creatures like you long-bodied reptiles! Hahaha!”

The staff’s shadow ripped through the air, shattering the void, as the Monkey brought his club down squarely onto the dragon’s head. However, the dragon's body was merely an illusion materialized from a wisp of green smoke; the long staff passed straight through it, only stirring up a flash of light.

The Monkey paused in surprise, and the dragon’s two claws abruptly pierced through the shattered void, heavily slapping onto the Monkey’s body. The Monkey grunted, sparks flew from his skin, and ten deep, thin bloody gashes were torn open, golden blood oozing out.

A golden dragon about three zhang long snaked up along the Monkey’s staff, its two red-coral-like horns viciously thrusting toward the Monkey’s face. A thick, dark smoke erupted from the horns, carrying a strong, strange fragrance. The Monkey’s eyes were particularly sensitive to smoke and fire, and he immediately wept torrents of tears from the stinging, forcing him to stumble back in embarrassment, covering his face.

The dragon laughed triumphantly, twisting its body, its two hind claws shooting forward along with its torso, aiming to fiercely claw at the Monkey’s face. Its long tail simultaneously wrapped around the Monkey’s neck, displaying every intention of killing the Monkey in one blow.

Poor dragon, it forgot that while the Monkey wielded a superb staff, his Monkey Fist skills were equally exceptional. The Monkey, trailing his staff backward with his left hand while retreating, instantly shrank his body. The Monkey, who was originally barely five chi tall, shrunk down to the size of a rice bushel. His right hand shot out like lightning, executing the move Monkey Plucks the Peach with exquisite timing, seizing the dragon in its lower regions.

A grasp, a twist, and a pull—and a large mass of flesh flew off with the Monkey’s hand.

The dragon let out a shrill, agonizing scream, its four claws simultaneously clutching at its grievously wounded lower body. With teary eyes, it desperately tried to retreat backward.

But daring to make the Monkey shed tears meant this dragon wouldn't escape so easily. The Monkey gritted his teeth, wiped the tears from his face, and gave his own thigh a hard yank with his right hand, instantly pulling off a large handful of body hair. He spat out a breath of immortal energy, and the countless hairs flipped and flew out, transforming into tens of thousands of Monkeys of various sizes, brandishing all sorts of weapons, surrounding the dragon.

These Monkeys were utterly insidious in their attacks: picking nostrils, stabbing eyes, piercing ears, lassoing dragon horns, picking at reverse scales, kicking the lower body, yanking the tail, and setting fire to the whiskers. The tens of thousands of Monkeys swarmed the dragon like a rising and falling tide of flies, making the creature utterly miserable.

In the time it took to drink a cup of tea, the golden dragon, preoccupied with protecting its bleeding lower half, had almost all its scales stripped off. The dragon cursed in fury, and its body suddenly exploded into countless drops of bloody rain that sprayed outward. A wisp of clear energy wrapped around three green lotuses shot out from the blood rain.

This blood rain was as black as ink, as viscous as glue, and carried a pungent aroma. The Monkeys formed from the body hair, upon contact with this blood rain, were instantly corroded into lumps of charred coke, shattering into countless sparks in the blink of an eye, scattering everywhere with dense black smoke.

The Monkey flinched, staring blankly at the large patch of bare skin on his thigh. Enraged, he fiercely ground his teeth, clicking "Ga, ga," and raising his staff, he smashed down toward the wisp of clear energy and the three green lotuses.

The long staff whistled, tearing the void. The Monkey’s attack this time, fueled by indignation, left a single staff shadow that seemed to absorb all the light from the vicinity. The void seemed to hold only this one long staff, eternal as the beginning, existing since the Great Primordial Era right up to the present moment. As this blow descended, the surrounding space froze, and the flow of time suddenly slowed by more than a hundredfold.

Gu Xiechen clapped his hands in admiration. The Monkey’s divine abilities were truly extraordinary. This single strike managed to seal space and freeze time—a truly miraculous technique. If this strike could annihilate space or reverse time, he would be very close to achieving Sainthood.

A light sigh emanated from within the three green lotuses. The three lotus flowers spun rapidly for a moment, and the Little Daoist Zhang, dressed in the long robes of a scholar, appearing both dashing and incomparably handsome, suddenly manifested. He held a three-pronged steel fork and lightly tapped it toward the sky.

A terrifying power, trillions of times stronger than the Monkey’s cultivation, erupted. The sealed space shattered, and the frozen time was likewise pulverized. The Monkey grunted, and a brilliant ray of light suddenly shot out before him, blasting him backward. A thin layer of ice crystals formed on his body, but his body hair was all scorched black and curled as if it had been burned by fire.

The Little Daoist Zhang waved the three-pronged steel fork with one hand. He subconsciously reached up to rub his lower body, glaring at Gu Xiechen and reprimanding him, “Gu Xiechen, are the people around you so shameless and vile? How could they strike so maliciously?”

Gu Xiechen’s eyes flickered with strange light. He grabbed the Monkey, who was already wielding his staff, ready to charge and fight the Little Daoist Zhang again, and smiled while nodding: “So it is you. As for viciousness and shameless depravity, how can we compare to you?”

The Little Daoist Zhang opened his mouth, then suddenly let out a heavy sigh. He spoke straightforwardly: “Enough. You have your reasons, and I have mine. Less nonsense—today, we settle the score right here, deciding life or death.”

Gu Xiechen rolled up his sleeves and nodded repeatedly in agreement: “As you say. The biggest fist decides the master, and it seems the myriad realms are about to descend into chaos. Ha, all those who cling to clever schemes are running wild. Well, ethics and benevolence are all nonsense; whoever has the hardest barrel of the gun holds the truth!”

Casually tossing the restless Monkey backward, Gu Xiechen roared with laughter, swept his feet, and punched the air toward the Little Daoist Zhang.

As the punch shot out, the void trembled, and a visible fist imprint flew through the air, heading directly for the Little Daoist Zhang’s chest. As Gu Xiechen unleashed this punch, the starlight from the heavens continuously poured into it. Before the imprint had traveled even a hundred zhang, the stellar power injected into it caused it to swell like a small mountain, the silver-brilliant fist print carrying a chilling cold straight to the Little Daoist Zhang.

“Nothing more than this!” The Little Daoist Zhang looked at Ming Hua, who was grinding his teeth and glaring fiercely at him with a complex expression, and casually chopped down at the fist imprint with his fork.

The fist imprint suddenly vanished, and two immense streams of energy—one pitch black, the other ashen white—entwined in a Taiji pattern, carrying the heat of the Heavens and bone-chilling cold, shot toward the Little Daoist Zhang. In the center of the black and white Taiji image, two small, delicate bone arrows emitted blinding green light and black smoke.

The Little Daoist Zhang cried out in alarm, twisting his body to scatter like a puff of light wind. The Taiyin and Taiyang energies immediately transformed into a mass of hot wind and a mass of cold air, spreading in all directions. Light and shadow flickered wildly in the surrounding void, and countless figures of the Little Daoist Zhang rapidly darted about before suddenly coalescing back into one. With two hissing sounds, the Little Daoist Zhang’s left shoulder and right hip were pierced by a bone arrow each. The terrifying evil power transformed into two massive black skull heads that blasted into his body, frantically eroding his flesh and devouring his vital energy. The Little Daoist Zhang’s body, divided at the waist, had its upper half scorched until it was glistening and ruddy, like freshly roasted suckling pig, while the lower half was frozen into a solid block of ice.

Gu Xiechen flicked his fingers, and the ice block on the Little Daoist Zhang’s lower body instantly shattered, causing his lower torso to dissolve into countless ice shards that drifted away.

Wisps of fire continuously spurted from the pores of the Little Daoist Zhang’s upper body, scorching him until his hair was a mess in the blink of an eye. Pieces of flesh and bone continuously turned into black charcoal and black powder, scattering away. In a flash, a perfectly good human body was utterly destroyed.

Ming Hua clapped his hands in lamentation: “Little Zhang, Little Zhang, we have known each other for so many years, why this enmity? Why such an end?”

Gu Xiechen’s eyes glittered with divine light. The Monkey’s Fiery Golden Eyes shot out ten thousand zhang of golden light, and Erlang Zhenjun’s vertical eye on his brow also emitted divine radiance. The three of them let out cold laughs, having simultaneously perceived a clue. Gu Xiechen shouted sternly, “Little Zhang, enough of this petty illusionary trickery!”

A sneer echoed through the void. The Little Daoist Zhang, dressed in Daoist robes of water and fire, materialized from the void, holding a semi-transparent Glazed Treasure Vase in his left hand. Inside this vase, the two bone arrows were rapidly swirling and stabbing, yet they remained trapped within a mass of seven-colored airflow, unable to break free.

A cloud of seven-colored mist sprayed from the mouth of the vase. The Little Daoist Zhang stood upon this mist, which shimmered and changed like water ripples, rising up to shield his entire body, making him appear even more ethereal and transcendent, like a celestial being.

Three large green lotuses floated above the Little Daoist Zhang’s head. From the center of the lotuses, a razor-thin beam of spiritual light emerged, carrying an egg-sized white Sarira. The green light emitted by the lotuses and the white light from the Sarira merged, and where the two colors met, specks of rosy light and threads of fine embroidery continuously hung down from above the Little Daoist Zhang’s head—truly presenting an aura of solemn majesty and an extraordinary Dharma body.

“To be able to discern the illusionary methods of my Gandharva Divine Transformation Scripture, the Great Sage Sun’s Fiery Golden Eyes are indeed extraordinary, and the Evil-Breaking Divine Gaze of True Lord Erlang is also famous throughout the Three Realms. As for your pair of eyes, Gu Xiechen, what is their origin?”

The Little Daoist Zhang looked at Gu Xiechen with great curiosity, inquiring about the divine cultivation method used for his Samsara Dharma Eyes that allowed him to pierce through his illusions.

Gandharva Divine Transformation Scripture?

Gandharvas are deities who do not consume meat or wine, sustaining themselves only on fragrance; they are one of the celestial musicians serving Indra. They emit a strong fragrance. In Sanskrit, Gandharva also means inconstant and elusive, and a mirage is called a Gandharva City. Since fragrance and music are both faint and hard to grasp, Gu Xiechen frowned as he recalled relevant information about the Gandharvas.

“You... you have abandoned the Daoist methods of the Three Pure Ones to cultivate the sorcery of Brahmanism?” Gu Xiechen scoffed.

“Didn't you just say that the one with the biggest fist is the boss, and whoever has the hardest gun barrel holds the truth?” The Little Daoist Zhang sneered mockingly, “To become stronger, to restore all my magical power and even improve upon it within a mere few decades, I had no other choice!”

A large amount of golden powder spewed from the Glazed Treasure Vase. The Little Daoist Zhang smiled faintly, “Less nonsense. I was ordered here to intercept you. If you cannot break through our blockade within a short time, don’t blame us if you all die here today!”

The Monkey roared out loud, every hair on his body standing on end. He raged, yelling, “I knew we shouldn't have trusted that bitch’s words! Trusting in righteousness with those Brahmins is like seeking skin from a tiger! You damn Taoist, give me your life!”

A staff shadow filled heaven and earth. The Monkey held his staff in his left hand and smashed it down toward the Little Daoist Zhang, while his right hand pointed forward, and he roared at the Little Daoist Zhang, “Fix!”

Seeing the Monkey’s staff shadow crashing down, the Little Daoist Zhang’s expression changed. Just as he was about to use an escape technique to evade the Monkey’s deadly club, the Immobilization Art, which the Monkey specialized in, sealed the space and time around the Daoist, fixing him firmly in place.

The Little Daoist Zhang was horrified. Seeing the staff shadow drawing closer above his head, he urgently shouted, “Master, Martial Uncle, come quickly to my aid!”

The massive amount of golden powder spraying from the Glazed Treasure Vase suddenly brightened, and several figures leaped out of the gold dust. Bai Shui, Han He, and the True Daoist all wore Daoist robes. Their lotus flowers and Sariras illuminated each other as they manifested.

As True Man Bai Shui appeared, he tossed a golden Ruyi scepter embedded with several large azure pearls and small sky-blue gems toward the Monkey, transforming into a burst of colorful light to meet the Monkey’s staff.

True Man Han He simply pointed a finger, sending three oddly shaped flying daggers wreathed in scarlet tips shooting toward the Monkey’s throat, heart, and lower abdomen.

True Daoist Zheng Yi’s attack was the grandest. He glared, and flames spewed from his eyes, from which emerged the five Incarnations of the Vidyarāja from the Great Sun Tathagata. These five Great Vidyarāja were several zhang tall, wreathed in scorching flames, and roared like thunder as they charged toward the Monkey.

The Monkey was delighted, instantly manifesting his three heads and six arms ability, charging forward like a mad tiger...

Gu Xiechen frowned. Ice crystals drifted out from beneath his feet, instantly transforming into an image of himself standing still.

Gu Xiechen’s true body had already plunged into the starlight of the void, silently shooting toward the Little Zhang.

Brother Pig has had family matters these past few days, so I will only update two chapters today, please bear with me!

Well, once Brother Pig finishes his business this month, I will strive to write more and update diligently!