Deep in the mountains, the entire slanting peak where the remains of the Ganoderma Immortal were found had sunk into the ground, leaving behind only a huge sinkhole that was about one hundred miles in diameter, and one hundred miles in depth. Dark smoke rose and billowed into the sky, as bright red light radiated from the bottom of the sinkhole and numerous streams of scorching lava catapulted into the sky, leaving boiling hot traces in the void before slowly falling down to the ground.
Like a pair of defeated cocks, Patriarch Muji and Arhat Wrath hovered above the pool of lava, gnashing their teeth in anger as they kept darting glances at each other. Loud cracking noises could be heard coming from their teeth. Half of Patriarch Muji's body was emitting a dazzling golden gleam as if he were made from pure gold. Above his head, an image of a reclining Buddha could be vaguely seen; a very strong Buddhist aura kept rushing out from this half of his body. As for Arhat Wrath, his lower body starting from his abdomen was left with nothing but pale bones, on top of which were attached wisps of green mist that emanated a brutal and violent evil aura.
Apart from both of them and Grandmaster Tiger roar, who hovered next to them and was barely breathing, no other cultivators could be found around them. Wu Qi's death trap was too powerful. It had cracked and crumbled a few nearby underground energy veins, causing their energy to explode in an instant. As a result, apart from Patriarch Muji and Arhat Wrath, all the other cultivators were completely wiped out by the underground lava. The few Heaven Immortals who were present could only withstand the first round of impact from the underground flame, and were turned into nothingness amidst the frightening heatwave that came right after that.
All the people, regardless they were from Euphoria Heavenly Palace, Golden Pavilion Temple, or the various immortal sects within the regions around An He City, every single one of them was annihilated. What was left were two men without followers, staring malevolently at each other like a pair of fighting cocks. Grandmaster Tiger roar had all his meridians broken to pieces, as well his backbone, which was now broken into seventy to eighty pieces. He was at his last gasp, and could be considered as a dead man already.
There was a white cloud hovering between the two of them, on top of which was neatly placed the huge, crystallized Ganoderma. It was emitting a very tempting purple glow.
Patriarch Muji coughed violently and spat out mouthful after mouthful of blood. The blood took a crystalline structure, translucent and glistering like some rainbow glasses, and was sending forth a delicate fragrance of sandalwood. Upon looking at Patriarch Muji's sorry state, Arhat Wrath roared with laughter. However, his laughter did not last long, as a vast stream of sticky, stinking, and pitch-black blood rushed out of his mouth suddenly.
Previously, with the battleground set inside Arhat Wrath's body, both men were fighting against each other with their Prime Power. However, at the most unexpected moment, Wu Qi triggered the trap, dragging both men into the frightening heat wave caused by the explosion of underground energy veins. With Patriarch Muji wrecking a havoc internally, and threatened by the explosion of energy veins externally, Arhat Wrath suffered a serious injury instantly. Under the pressure of circumstances, he gave up a portion of his blood essence and released Patriarch Muji from his body.
Taking the opportunity when the restraining power from Arhat Wrath reduced abruptly, Patriarch Muji launched a full force attack with his evil technique. The attack nearly disintegrated Arhat Wrath's fleshly body, infected it with an evil aura, and even almost contaminated his relic. With that attack alone, Patriarch Muji managed to eliminate a portion of Arhat Wrath's magical power which he spent several Periods to laboriously cultivate.
Nevertheless, Arhat Wrath did make Patriarch Muji suffer as well. Upon realizing Arhat Wrath was in a crisis, Grandmaster Tiger roar risked his own life by using all his cultivation base and energy essence to launch a desperate assault. Coupled with Arhat Wrath's counterattack, both of them managed to bring Patriarch Muji a serious impact. Right after Patriarch Muji severely wounded Arhat Wrath and left the body, he was immediately dragged into the dreadful energy tide caused by the explosion of underground energy veins. And almost at the same time, he was hit by the attack jointly launched by Arhat Wrath and Grandmaster Tiger roar. It resulted in his body being invaded by a Buddhist power, which forcibly turned half of his fleshly body golden.
With his ruthless nature, although Patriarch Muji was severely wounded, he still managed to attack and nearly kill Grandmaster Tiger roar with his evil second incarnation.
Grandmaster Tiger roar had completely lost his ability to fight. On the other hand, Patriarch Muji and Arhat Wrath barely maintained a cultivation base of Thirty-third Tier Heaven Immortals. However, their energy essences were depleting rapidly. If they were to fight again, perhaps both of them would have to die here.
Laughing dryly, Patriarch Muji pointed at the remains of the Ganoderma Immortal and said, "We've been schemed by that Yu Miao! Apparently, they want to claim back the sovereignty of this county. Hey, we can't fight anymore, or else both you and I will have to face a huge trouble. Why don't we share this equally?"
Arhat Wrath gave the jade slip in his hand a glance, which had now turned into mere powder. Clenching his teeth, he said, "Left Minister of Zhong Province, Yu Miao... Damn, someone will settle this score with him. I've told everything that happened here to my Master. This will not go easily."
Wiping away some black blood on his lips, Arhat Wrath said deeply, "I am fine with an equal split. We need to swear an oath together that what we find in it will be equally shared among us, and none of us can gain a slight benefit over the other. A precious treasure such as this is something I will offer to my Master. You better don't harbor any evil intention."
Patriarch Muji gave Arhat Wrath a glare from the corner of his eyes and said with a cold grin, "Why do you sound like only you have a Master? My Patriarch Muji will like a filial offer such as this. It will be an equal split, and an oath will be sworn. Anyone who dares to gain a slight advantage over the other will have all his descendants be monks and nuns. None of them will have an asshole, men will become women, and women will become men! They will all become a bunch of freaks!"
Hearing the vicious oath from Patriarch Muji, Arhat Wrath could not help but have his face twitched. Nevertheless, he was too lazy to argue with this old devil, so he too swore the oath. After all, he was a Buddhist monk, so he would not have any descendants. A messy oath such as this would do him no harm.
After swearing the oath, both men came next to the crystallized Ganoderma. Very carefully, Arhat Wrath pulled out a crescent-shaped blade about the size of a palm, then said in a complacent manner, "Three hundred transmigrations ago, this is the blade my Master used to shave off my hair with. After injecting it with Buddhist power for three hundred incarnations, it is now no weaker than an ordinary mid-grade immortal item. It makes the perfect tool to cut open this treasure!"
Patriarch Muji twitched his lips and snorted with disdain. It seemed he did not have too much of interest in talking with Arhat Wrath.
With the utmost reverence, Arhat Wrath raised the blade high up with both hands and began to recite some scriptures. Soon, a golden light emitted from his body, slowly seeping into the blade. Immediately, a blinding light burst out from the tiny blade, making it look like a bright moon. The light pushed away all the smoke and flame around them and brightly lit up the area one hundred miles around them. Gently, Arhat Wrath swung the blade downward. The blade had proven itself to be a tool which had been carried by him for three hundred transmigrations, as with its unfathomable, magical power, it easily cut through the remains of Ganoderma Immortal that no ordinary immortal item could break apart.
A strong fragrance sprayed out from the remains of Ganoderma Immortal. Both Patriarch Muji and Arhat Wrath's eyes shone with a bright gleam, and they took a deep breath together. Instantly, they felt the fragrance enter their seven apertures and flow through their entire bodies, as if there was a stream of mercury circulating within their meridians. In just a blink of an eye, they felt refreshed and extremely comfortable, with every single pore on their skin spraying a fair fragrance.
"The remains of a Ganoderma Immortal do live up to its reputation!" Both men kept inhaling mouthful after mouthful of the fragrance. They felt warm, and the wounds on their bodies had stopped giving them pain. They had an impression as if they were walking on clouds, about to fly up into the sky, and their visions were filled with numerous illusions. The illusions were what they had witnessed in the past when they entered an enlightenment state: the peculiar scenes of the highest realm of Evil Dao, or the stately images of the ultimate holy land.
*Boom!*
A muffled boom echoed out, and the ball of fluid before them suddenly exploded. The sticky fluid splatted into all directions and sprinkled onto their bodies. It was extremely vicious and brutal. When the fluid touched their skin, it immediately squeezed into their bodies through pores on their skin, bringing with it a very pungent fragrance as it began to corrode their blood and energy essence. What made Patriarch Muji and Arhat Wrath panic was that the fluid had a very powerful corrosive force. Even their evil body and Buddhist body could not stop it.
Furthermore, they were both stunned and puzzled by the fragrance that they had inhaled previously. Although it did not make them lose their consciousness, it had greatly hindered the flow of their evil energy and Buddhist energy. They had been severely injured in the battle, leaving them with less than 10% of their full cultivation base. And now with the fluid entering their bodies and having their cultivation base restrained by the exotic fragrance, large amount of white, sticky bubbles began to pop up from their bodies. Chunks of their flesh were rotting off, turning into poisonous liquid that sent forth a biting coldness.
"A poison!" Arhat Wrath bellowed.
"Melting Yin Water!" Obviously, Patriarch Muji had a very deep understanding of all the poisonous substances under the heaven. "It is a highly corrosive substance with pure Yin characteristic. It cannot be stopped even with the body of a Gold Immortal! Quick, dive into the lava, using the underground heat to dispel the Yin Water, or else we will lose our immortal bodies!"
Fuming with rage, Patriarch Muji reached out his arm to grab the white Ganoderma Horse amidst the fluid. Arhat Wrath just watched and did not stop him from doing that. With one swift move, Patriarch Muji grabbed the Ganoderma Horse and squeezed it.
*Crack!* It broke into countless white and crispy shreds!
"Motherfu*ker!" Patriarch Muji and Arhat Wrath cursed at the same time. "Yu Miao, how dare you to humiliate us? Carrot! You actually use a carrot to disguise into the Ganoderma Horse! B*stard! Instead of using an unseasoned Ganoderma Horse, you actually used a carrot to insult us?"
Patriarch Muji and Arhat Wrath were so angry their eyes kept twitching violently. Both men roared furiously and plunged right into the lava pool beneath them, and with great effort, they dove deeper into the bottom of the pool. Although there was a copious amount of underground flame inside the pool, and both men were pouring all their effort to absorb it and dispel the Melting Yun Water wantonly wreaking havoc in their bodies, it was too powerful to be completely removed without spending a fairly long time.
When Grandmaster Tiger roar, who was lying listlessly off to a side, saw Arhat Wrath and Patriarch Muji fooled and suffer a great loss, he coughed out a mouthful of blood because of the anger.
"For the benevolence of the Buddha, the lineage of Golden Pavilion Temple is gone today!" Laughing bitterly, Grandmaster Tiger roar murmured, "I'll enter the transmigration now. I hope that in my next life, I can still attain the righteous fruit and enter the holy land of Buddha!"
A beam of rainbow light thrust out from his forehead, amidst which, a nearly broken relic slowly squeezed out of his body. His fleshly body was broken, and his relic was seriously damaged. Now, what Grandmaster Tiger roar could do was to use the last remaining bit of his cultivation base to protect his soul as it entered the transmigration. With the foundation he had built in this life, it would not take him too many years to step into the realm of Arhat in his next life.
All of a sudden, a bronze arm stretched out from a corner as a celestial fiend puppet revealed himself next to Grandmaster Tiger roar and grabbed the relic. It laughed hideously, then sprayed out a sticky, pitch-black fiend flame and refined Grandmaster the relic in an instant, turning it into a stream of pure and powerful energy, fusing into its own body.
Wu Qi's voice was heard coming out from within the celestial fiend puppet's body. It sounded very faint, like the whispering of some spirit.
"Excellent, now a vacuum has been created in the regions within one million miles around An He City. It is time for me to show my capabilities!"