The sound of chanting Buddhist verses was ceaseless, vast, and majestic, as if countless voices implored a higher power.

Zong Shou initially maintained his composure, but within a single breath, his thoughts began to scatter wildly.

He considered attaining the Boundless Beginning and End, becoming a Brahma Tathagata, seemed quite appealing.

With so many devout Buddhists hoping and yearning, how could he disappoint them?

Struggling for several breaths, Zong Shou sharply bit his tongue, causing a massive burst of bloody plasma to explode in his mouth.

Behind him, a pale blue mirror materialized, its spiritual light faintly flickering, aimed directly at his mind.

"How annoyingly loud!"

A cold snort caused the Buddhist chanting to recede slightly.

Zong Shou’s spirit finally regained a degree of clarity.

Yet, he knew that suppressing the chanting with his will and the Illusory Heart Mirror would only work temporarily, not last long.

Those Brahma chants were transmitted through the Buddhist power he was wielding. Unless he retracted the Dharma Idol Golden Body, complete isolation would be impossible.

This meant that the matters here needed to be resolved as quickly as possible.

Utilizing the power of accumulated wishes, he delved into Lu Yantian's memories, causing the latter’s face to contort in a pale, agonizing grimace. A string of white foam trickled from his mouth.

Zong Shou paid it no mind, practically slicing Lu Yantian’s primordial spirit into countless tiny fragments, scrutinizing every sliver of memory.

In mere moments, he found what he sought.

A slight brightness flickered in Zong Shou’s eyes.

"So this item, he already obtained it and hid it right here—"

He brought his palm down like a blade and struck casually. With a resounding crash, the eighty-thousand-zhang tall Tianyan Peak was instantly cleaved in two, snapping at the waist.

Zong Shou then reached out a large hand and retrieved a bright yellow jade casket.

The Elixir of Heaven Plunder and Return was an object born of the creation of heaven and earth. The material of this casket was of the highest quality, a spiritual object at the peak of the Earth Rank.

Only something of this caliber could suppress and seal off the aura of the Elixir of Heaven Plunder and Return.

Though the object was now in Zong Shou’s hand, he could not sense its presence through his soul consciousness.

"This thing would be excellent for refining a spiritual artifact for Ruoshui. It could complement that Black Profound Violet Essence Iron well. Hmm! Seven drops of the Elixir of Heaven Plunder and Return—this matches Lu Yantian's memory—"

Zong Shou pried the jade casket open a hairline crack, glanced inside, then subtly narrowed his gaze.

His heart felt both a surge of delight and a prickle of alarm that ran down his scalp.

The quantity was far greater than he had anticipated.

If people knew he possessed this object, countless individuals would go mad over it. Even cultivators who had lived for thousands of years often had loved ones or unresolved regrets from past lives. Furthermore, even if not for others, having a reserve for one's own unexpected misfortunes would be invaluable.

"This fellow’s fortune is truly exceptional, to obtain such a rare treasure of heaven and earth, and seven drops at that. Too bad it’s not something that directly enhances cultivation or magic power. In the end, it benefits this lone one—"

Zong Shou resolved that he must use up the majority of these things in a short time.

It would be best if the entire world knew about it, to avoid future trouble—

At that moment, the chanting sound surged once more, vibrating through the void of his soul sea.

Zong Shou dared not delay any longer. A wave of immense true force ruthlessly flooded into Lu Yantian’s body. It tore through his meridians inch by inch, shattering them, before he casually tossed the broken form before Chan Master Xiaoyue.

This person, he would let the people of the Tianling Realm deal with and dispose of themselves.

He then unleashed the shadow of the black hole, spreading it in all directions. Wherever the shadow touched, hundreds of thousands of Tianyan Palace armored soldiers nearby instantly vanished without a trace.

These men, even those who hadn't consumed the Innate Fire Essence Marrow, were accessories by association, and their deaths were deserved.

This Cang Ling Realm was weak in military strength. With these men around, this realm could never truly escape the Lu family’s control and would likely become a source of great chaos.

Although Zong Shou felt a moment of satisfaction in executing Lu Yantian today, it might invite retaliation from the Fen Kong Lu family. He, Zong Shou, could gracefully depart afterward, but the people of this realm would likely suffer the consequences on his behalf.

Therefore, even if it meant bearing immeasurable karmic entanglement, he needed to eliminate this future threat. Since he had utilized the power of faith and wishes here, he must honor the wishes of these believers!

The unseeable, profoundly deep darkness enveloped an entire thousand-mile radius.

But it vanished instantly, allowing the area to return to brightness.

The fire clouds were completely gone; what met the eye was an expanse of clear blue sky.

That Jiao Snake was still entangled with the Azure Fire Mystic Turtle and attempted to flee, but the Turtle and Xiaori worked together, stubbornly wrestling it, pinning it in place, unable to break free.

Zong Shou struck out with his sword, the blade imbued with the power of the Origin of Ending.

He cleanly severed the Jiao Snake’s head with one swift stroke.

Han Xi had already been waiting nearby, transforming into a streak of silver light and plunging into the snake’s corpse. It snatched out a blood-red pill and then reformed into a silver cocoon, tightly enveloping the blood pill and its own body.

With the Jiao Snake dead, the oppressive killing aura vanished from the area, as if the entire world had regained its serenity.

However, by this point, the entirety of Tianyan Mountain remained only half standing, and all vegetation was gone.

Xiaoyue continued to descend, watching quietly.

She then clasped her hands together again and intoned, "Tathagata’s compassion!"

Zong Shou snorted and surveyed his surroundings. All matters here were resolved.

The three Divine Realm experts—Lu Yantian and Lu Wushuang—were dead by his hand.

And here, except for the children sequestered in the mansion who remained unharmed under the protection of the Buddhist power he had summoned, the entire Tianyan Palace had been exterminated, leaving not a blade of grass standing!

—Only Lu Wubing remained alive.

Recalling the man who had almost driven him to a desperate pass, forcing him to borrow the power of Buddhism to turn peril into safety, Zong Shou immediately frowned and looked toward Lu Wubing. A strange feeling arose in his chest: why had he only thought of eliminating this person last?

Then, his pupils constricted, and a sharp light flashed in his eyes as he stared intently at Lu Wubing.

"You dare to cloud this isolated one's mind?"

He was a Nine-Tailed Mystic Fox, his lineage of illusion arts unsurpassed in the world. Moreover, he possessed the Illusory Heart Mirror, which allowed his thoughts to remain perpetually clear. Although he rarely used this immortal artifact due to the consumption of his lifespan, and he disliked employing illusionary techniques, few illusions in this world could truly deceive him. Yet, this individual had somehow used a power moments ago that caused him to subconsciously overlook him. Hence, this person had survived until this very moment, only now coming to mind. This, however, only intensified Zong Shou’s killing intent.

"My Lord, please hold your strike—"

Seemingly sensing that Zong Shou’s sword was already drawn, Lu Wubing stood calmly and bowed respectfully from a distance.

"Within my Lu family, besides the Fen Kong bloodline, there are also various collateral bloodlines. Among our inheritances are secret arts designed for clan members and disciples to preserve their lives. Lu Wubing happens to be an expert in this art."

Zong Shou’s eyebrow twitched; this explanation made some sense. In truth, if the majority of his focus hadn't been spent fighting the Buddhist chants, he might not have been caught off guard by this. But why was this man saying these things? Was he trying to beg for his life? If so, it was truly puzzling. With this man's intelligence, he should know that Zong Shou would not be swayed by ordinary words, nor was there any reason to spare his life—In Zong Shou’s view, this man was even more troublesome than Lu Wushuang. To spare him would be no different than releasing a tiger back into the mountains, creating a major enemy for himself.

Lu Wubing’s words continued, and he produced a purple-gold talisman from his sleeve.

"Before I speak further, I wish for Your Highness to know that Lu Wubing is fortunate to have one contingency plan for escape today. This talisman, Lu Wubing spent ten arduous years acquiring from Venerable Yanyuan, and it possesses the capability of Great Void Teleportation—"

Zong Shou paused, examining it closely.

The so-called Venerable Yanyuan was one of the three Great Realm experts of the Lu family, the oldest among them. He could be considered the true ancestor of the Fen Kong Lu family—

He had knowledge of this talisman from his own lineage. It was called the Yanyuan Empty Flame Talisman. Raging fire burns the void, flame ignites all realms. It could indeed shift the void like the Great Void Teleportation technique, but it could only transport one to a single location: the Lu Family's Fen Kong Sacred Court. Within that Sacred Court burned a flame that never extinguished, burning the void and piercing through all realms. The Yanyuan Empty Flame Talisman was used to activate this flame’s power, achieving an effect similar to Great Void Teleportation. Over the past ten thousand years, countless members of the Fen Kong Lu family had relied on this flame to escape deadly situations. However, even Venerable Yanyuan could only forge ten such talismans in a century. Even Zong Shou’s master, Long Ying, though a Saint Realm expert, could certainly not create a talisman capable of instantaneously traversing myriad worlds like this, even though he could barely manage it himself.

Lu Wushuang, one of the Lu family's most promising heirs to the Holy Land, did not carry such an object for protection. Yet, Lu Wubing possessed one. This made Zong Shou even more intrigued by this man.

However, today, Zong Shou truly might not be able to deal with this person.

After a brief deliberation, Zong Shou dispersed the power of faith and retracted his Dharma Idol, returning to his physical body. This man’s threat lay not in combat power. Manifesting the form of the Boundless Beginning and End Buddha could crush him with a mere flick, but relying on his own power alone would not yield a significantly different result.

His primordial spirit returned to his body, and all the collected wish-power dispersed. Zong Shou immediately felt his mind lighten considerably. The ceaseless Brahma chants and prayers gradually faded, no longer able to shake his spirit. Zong Shou’s gaze once again settled upon Lu Wubing, awaiting his next words. Since he possessed this talisman, yet lingered here, he must have some scheme.

Then, Lu Wubing offered a helpless smile: "However, after much deliberation, Wubing feels it is best not to use this talisman."

"Oh?"

Zong Shou waved his hand, recalling all thirty-seven swords along with the Star Dao Seed. At this moment, he was still undergoing tribulation; his body was wreathed in blazing scarlet flames, yet they could not harm his flesh in the slightest.

"What has that to do with this isolated one?"

If this man truly refused to use it, Zong Shou wouldn't mind slaying him with a single sword strike to eliminate the root of future trouble.

Lu Wubing seemed to have anticipated this and showed no discouragement: "Wubing has always served the Lord of Xuanye Kingdom. Due to possessing some stratagem, I earned his high regard—"