"Old Man Tongtian, I’ll fight you to the death!" The Monkey, unwilling to endure this any longer, roared, his three-headed, six-armed form shaking once more, and a golden figure emerged from within his body...

It was a golden Buddha with eighteen heads and twenty-four arms, tightly clutching treasures like the Yingluo (Buddhist necklace), the parasol, the Jiangmo Chu (demon-subduing pestle), and the demon-slaying sword—twenty-four weapons in total. This was the Dharma Body of the Victorious Fighting Buddha...

As soon as the Victorious Fighting Buddha manifested, he waved his twenty-four arms and the weapons in his hands, simultaneously fending off the descending mountains, waves, lightning bolts, and flames, while charging toward Tongtian...

Meanwhile, the Monkey's true form used his incredible speed to pounce on Tongtian. With the aid of the Victorious Fighting Buddha, the pressure on him greatly diminished, allowing him to reach Tongtian directly. Raising his Ruyi Jingu Bang, he smashed it down upon Tongtian.

The smile on Tongtian's face froze, but his Qingping Sword instantly met the attack. With another deafening crash, both figures were violently repelled backward...

However, just as Tongtian flew back several thousand zhang, he suddenly felt a sense of danger behind him. Turning around, he saw a Daoist standing there—a man who was very thin, with a pointed face, monkey cheeks, a pale complexion, and clad in a simple grey Daoist robe, holding a horsetail whisk.

"This humble Daoist, Wukong Daoist, pays respects to fellow Daoist..." The Daoist smiled faintly at Tongtian and swept his horsetail whisk directly towards Tongtian's waist. Caught completely off guard, Tongtian was struck, feeling a searing pain across his body.

"You damned monkey, when did you cultivate this Daoist Dharma Body..." Tongtian was slightly enraged. He knew the Monkey was a fiendish ape who had achieved the Dharma Body of the Victorious Fighting Buddha, but he never expected him to manifest a Daoist Dharma Body as the Wukong Daoist. Being brushed by a whisk inadvertently, though it didn't damage his foundational essence, it was utterly humiliating for him, the supreme Sect Master, to be struck like that...

Just as he was about to unleash his divine powers, the fiendish ape Monkey King, the Victorious Fighting Buddha, and the Wukong Daoist simultaneously lunged forward, unleashing a furious barrage of blows upon him. Each attack carried the power to destroy worlds. Tongtian, whose expertise lay in divine arts, could not withstand such relentless assault. In mere moments, his Daoist robe was shredded to tatters, and large swathes of his skin showed gruesome wounds.

Seeing the Sect Master Tongtian reduced to such a sorry state by the Monkey filled Liang Xiaoke and the others with both shock and fury. They were angry at their master’s humiliation, but shocked by the Monkey’s formidable cultivation. Especially Liang Xiaoke, who clearly remembered that the Monkey was never a match for someone on Tongtian's level back then. But now, even though he hadn't become the "player" in the game, his combat strength was clearly capable of wounding Tongtian and the others. It seemed the talk of him becoming a player was no exaggeration...

Yet, despite their shock and anger, the onlookers gained immense enlightenment from the battle between Tongtian and the Monkey. Witnessing combat at this echelon was an opportunity few could ever seize.

In the Primordial Era, merely hearing Tongtian lecture was a monumental fortune; witnessing his personal demonstration was beyond measure. Unconsciously, the cultivation of the onlookers began to soar rapidly...

Ye Jingyu also watched the fight, his eyes fixed upon the combatants. Tongtian’s might was within his expectations, but the Monkey’s equal strength was beyond what he anticipated. He had assumed the Monkey’s power was similar to his own, but now he realized the gap was more than a trifle. He needed to become even stronger; even having mastered the Chaos Body did not mean he was invincible.

Seeing the numerous wounds inflicted upon him, Tongtian’s temper flared. Even when fighting the four Great Sect Masters alone in the past, resulting in a crushing defeat, he had never been so utterly disgraced.

"Monkey, let me show you my true strength!" Tongtian snorted coldly, slapping the back of his own head. Another figure emerged from his body—an elderly Daoist with hair as white as frost. As soon as he stepped out, he bowed respectfully to Tongtian.

"This humble Daoist, the Grand Pure Daoist, pays respects to fellow Daoist!" Before his words had even settled, he had already condensed a staff in his hand and thrust it towards the Victorious Fighting Buddha...

Immediately following, with another clap, another Daoist with a stern expression emerged from Tongtian’s body, bowing gently to him.

"This humble Daoist, the Jade Pure Daoist, pays respects to fellow Daoist!" As soon as his greeting ended, he held a piece of peerless jade and charged toward the Wukong Daoist.

Finally, with a third clap, a handsome Daoist stepped out from within him, holding a precious sword...

"This humble Daoist, the Supreme Pure Daoist, pays respects to fellow Daoist..." Similarly holding that immortal sword, he took on the Monkey King, the Great Sage Equal to Heaven...

Witnessing this scene, everyone’s eyes widened in astonishment. This was the legendary manifestation of the Three Pure Ones (Yi Qi Hua San Qing), and each Daoist possessed the exact cultivation level of Tongtian...

The Three Pure Ones successfully intercepted the attacks of the Wukong Daoist, the Victorious Fighting Buddha, and the Monkey King. Meanwhile, the body of Sect Master Tongtian ascended, his hands tracing arcane gestures in the void. Although the manifested Three Pure Ones shared his power, they could not be sustained indefinitely. He had to suppress that untamed monkey in the shortest possible time.

Streams of lightning descended from the void, resembling coiling dragons; pillars of fire shot toward the heavens, threatening to ignite the entire world; and splashes of water erupted everywhere, as if trying to extinguish the sea of flames...

The void itself began to emit a strained, humming sound, as if something was being stretched taut...

Ye Jingyu felt as though all the power in this world was being drained, sucked dry, and exhausted by Tongtian. What was he attempting? What colossal divine ability was this?

Sensing the ever-increasing pressure descending from above, the Monkey knew things were dire. Whether it was the Victorious Fighting Buddha, the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, or the Wukong Daoist, they were all fighting desperately to take down the Daoist before him, but the cultivation levels of these manifested figures were overwhelmingly potent, managing to completely nullify his frantic assaults...

"Monkey, behold my technique! The Heaven-Piercing Demon-Suppressing Pagoda, go!" Sect Master Tongtian roared, suddenly pointing a finger toward the embattled Monkey and his manifestations. Instantly, the surrounding light of lightning and fire vanished, and a gigantic shadow appeared in the sky—the shadow of an immense pagoda. This pagoda shadow grew clearer and more defined until it transformed into a real, tangible Heaven-Piercing Giant Pagoda, crashing down fiercely upon the Monkey...

(Brothers, sisters, all the stars, today is the last day! We are only nine hundred Golden Bricks away from breaking thirty thousand! Let's all work hard together so there are no regrets! Going to sleep now; there will be three more chapters when I wake up tomorrow!)D