Chapter 1161: A Transformation Targeting a Quasi-Saint

Amitabha!

As Ye Chen stumbled, two figures of Fa Tong approached through the void from both sides, trapping him in the middle.

"Get lost with your mercy!" Ye Chen snorted coldly and forcibly summoned his Chaos phenomenon. Perhaps due to the backlash from the Quasi-Emperor principles, his Chaos phenomenon was fragmented, turning the world of all things into a desolate and silent wasteland.

"Ah!" Seeing Ye Chen still resisting, the two Fa Tong figures both sighed, pressing their palms together in prayer.

Om Mani Padme Hum!

At once, ancient Buddhist chants echoed like mighty temple bells, deep and resonant, carrying an irresistible divine power. Buddhist scriptures manifested one after another, forming scriptures that encircled Ye Chen's body.

"Ugh!" Ye Chen clutched his head. The Quasi-Sage's Great Sun Tathagata Purification Mantra was overwhelmingly dominant, making his divine sea roar. Even with the Dan Ancestor Dragon Soul and the Chaos Divine Pearl guarding him, he could barely withstand the force of conversion.

Boom!

The shattered Chaos world collapsed, and Ye Chen's sacred body cracked open, with holy blood spurting out.

The power of a Quasi-Sage was extraordinarily formidable.

Ye Chen was powerless to resist. With his Immortal Eye sealed and suffering from Quasi-Emperor principle backlash, he was far from his peak and on the brink of collapse. How could he contend with a Quasi-Sage who rivaled a saint?

Amitabha!

The two Fa Tong figures raised their hands, conjuring a massive golden bell that descended from the sky toward Ye Chen.

However, at that moment, a beam of immortal light flew out from Ye Chen's body, transforming into a hazy, graceful shadow. She wore snow-white robes, untainted by dust, radiating divine glow and flawless sanctity, with an aura of unparalleled elegance.

Ruotian Zhuque!

Ye Chen recognized her—it was Ruotian Zhuque, or more precisely, an incarnation of Ruotian Zhuque. He struggled to his feet, unaware that she had left behind this wisp of incarnation to protect him.

Boom!

While Ye Chen was stunned, the Zhuque incarnation swung her arm, her crystalline jade hand sweeping across the sky and shattering the descending golden bell.

"A saint!" The two Fa Tong figures were both shaken back, their Buddhist eyes gleaming as if they had discerned the true cultivation of the Zhuque incarnation.

"Go!" The Zhuque incarnation uttered a single word softly, directing it at Ye Chen.

"Thank you, senior!" Ye Chen forced himself to steady his form, dragging his battered sacred body as he stepped away a thousand zhang, escaping the encirclement of the two Fa Tong figures. Yet, his condition was dire, with his entire body of sacred light nearly extinguished.

Seeing this, the two Fa Tong figures immediately pursued him.

The Zhuque incarnation moved as well, shifting in a great teleport to block them, her crystalline jade hand sweeping out once more and forcing them back.

"Why do you block this monk, benefactor?" The two Fa Tong figures merged into one, their Buddhist light shining even brighter as they spoke with a vast, resonant voice.

The Zhuque incarnation remained silent, simply standing there with an air of supreme elegance, like a peerless queen blocking the Fa Tong in the starry sky.

Fa Tong sighed softly and gripped his Zen staff, advancing with a strike that carved out a river of stars in the void. This blow was nothing short of world-shaking, making the starry sky tremble.

The Zhuque incarnation unleashed a secret technique, summoning a vast immortal sea with one hand.

Boom!

The river of stars collided with the immortal sea, shaking the starry sky as infinite halos spread out, turning swarms of meteorites into dust along the way.

The Zhuque incarnation fell at a disadvantage, her immortal light dimming significantly.

In contrast, Fa Tong's Buddhist light grew even stronger, surrounded by scripture principles, with a massive ten-thousand-zhang golden Buddha manifesting behind him.

Though Ruotian Zhuque was a saint, what fought Fa Tong was merely an incarnation, far from possessing full saintly power. Being able to repel Fa Tong twice was already remarkable for this Zhuque incarnation.

Ten Thousand Buddhas Pay Homage!

Fa Tong uttered four words in a deep voice, and the golden Buddha raised its hand seal, vast enough to blot out the sky, with a swastika etched in its palm, radiating divine light and countless beams of Buddhist essence, each as heavy as a mountain.

The Zhuque incarnation summoned a massive manifestation, a vast immortal sea where Zhuque birds danced within.

Boom!

Another collision rocked the starry sky.

The Zhuque incarnation's immortal sea disintegrated inch by inch under the golden Buddha's hand seal, eventually dissipating entirely. The Zhuque incarnation vanished like the sea, reduced to nothing.

Amitabha!

Witnessing the end of the spectacle, Fa Tong withdrew his divine abilities and the golden Buddha, gazing in the direction where Ye Chen had fled.

"Ah!" With a sigh, Fa Tong slowly turned and stepped onto an endless path of Buddhist light extending before him. He walked along it toward where Ye Chen had escaped, his movements so elusive that they were impossible to fathom.

In the starry sky, Ye Chen stumbled onward.

Ye Chen's condition was extremely poor at that moment, drenched in fresh blood with his divine light almost completely faded. The Quasi-Emperor backlash continued to ravage him, as if intent on devouring him entirely.

"Shrink the Ground to an Inch!" Ye Chen's vision blurred, his voice hoarse and exhausted.

During the Zhuque incarnation's battle with Fa Tong, he had been fleeing like this all along, madly using escape techniques, desperate to put distance between himself and that part of the starry sky, knowing the incarnation couldn't hold out for long.

A wisp of light sand blew through the starry sky, and he collapsed, falling toward an ancient star.

Splash!

Soon after, a sound like that rang out.

"What the...?"

Then came a howl-like curse.

On the ancient star, in a forested mountain, a bearded old Taoist stood with a face full of irritation.

Before him was a campfire with a large iron pot boiling over it. Inside the pot, instead of meat, was Ye Chen, who had plummeted from the sky.

What perfect timing—while the man was stewing meat, Ye Chen had fallen straight in, landing precisely in the pot.

"You old hag's kin!" the bearded old Taoist cursed loudly, rolling up his sleeves and hauling Ye Chen out on the spot.

"From that height, he might be dead." Another voice chimed in—it was a young man beside the bearded old Taoist, likely a scholar, given the book satchel on his back and his refined appearance.

"Dead or not, he deserves it for ruining my perfectly good stew!" The bearded old Taoist jumped three zhang high in anger.

"Look at you, getting angry again." The scholar glanced at the bearded old Taoist, then knelt by Ye Chen's side. He placed a finger under Ye Chen's nose, and seeing he still breathed, pulled out a water flask from behind and poured some into Ye Chen's mouth. "Thank heavens, he's still alive. What a shame if he had died."

"Huh?" The bearded old Taoist, who had been fuming moments ago, now let out a light exclamation.

"He's a cultivator." The bearded old Taoist shoved the scholar aside and leaned in close to Ye Chen, sniffing all over him. "What a pure bloodline."

"For ruining my pot of meat, this is compensation." With that, the bearded old Taoist snatched Ye Chen's storage bag.

"Give that back to me." The scholar hurriedly stepped forward, grabbing the storage bag and tucking it back into Ye Chen's embrace. He then shot a glance at the bearded old Taoist. "That's robbery."

"He wrecked my pot of meat, didn't he?" the bearded old Taoist grumbled.

"The meat's gone, but you can stew more. That's no excuse to rob someone, especially when they're unconscious. The sages say a gentleman loves wealth but acquires it properly. As a cultivator, you can't take advantage like this in someone's time of weakness. The sages also say..."

"Stop, stop, stop." Before the scholar could finish, the bearded old Taoist interrupted, digging at his ears vigorously. "All this sage talk every day—I haven't seen you become a top scholar yet. You're nagging me silly, making my head buzz."

"You're yelling again, getting angry again."

"Fine, I beg you, just quiet down for a bit." The bearded old Taoist nearly knelt as he spoke.

"I won't say more if you come with me to save my wife." The scholar replied, "Slaying demons and protecting the dao is your duty."

"Don't kid yourself. That Black Mountain Old Demon is vicious." The bearded old Taoist coughed dryly, hands tucked in his sleeves. "Besides, your wife is a demon too—a nine-tailed fox demon, no less."