Chapter 1056: The Battle of the Five Saints
Huang Long was momentarily stunned before smiling and saying, “A warm welcome!”
Huang Long was a disciple of the Chan School. Although the Three Pure Ones were one entity, he was well aware of the feud between the Chan School and the Jie School.
During the Battle of Deification back then, if it weren’t for Yuan Shi, Tong Tian of the Jie School would not have been defeated.
“Good!” Hearing this, Tong Tian laughed heartily. In a flash, he appeared before Yuan Shi and said coldly, “Second senior brother, today we will settle the grudges from that battle!” With that, his entire body condensed sword energy into a tangible form—a giant sword that soared into the sky, creating a huge hole high above.
Beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens, chaotic winds, primordial hurricanes, floods, and sandstorm raged incessantly.
Sensing Tong Tian’s formidable presence, Yuan Shi, Jie Yin, and Zhun Ti all grew solemn.
Huang Long’s gaze also sharpened. Tong Tian had already reached the late stage of the Hunyuan Taishang realm, just half a step away from entering the Hunyuan Hedao realm!
Yet soon, Huang Long relaxed.
During the Battle of Deification, Tong Tian had set up the Zuxian Sword Formation. It was only through the combined efforts of Laozi, Yuan Shi, Jie Yin, and Zhun Ti that they managed to break the formation, leading to Tong Tian’s defeat. This showed just how powerful Tong Tian was!
Seeing this, Yuan Shi’s head was surrounded by a bright glow from the auspicious clouds. He summoned the Pangu Banner and the Three Precious Jade Ruyis, while Jie Yin and Zhun Ti brought out their respective Divine Staves and Blessed Maces.
As soon as these divine weapons were revealed, the surrounding space was enveloped in layers of Buddhist light, as vast as the ocean of Buddha.
Huang Long, in response, sent the power of primordial stars from his Chaos Bell, while the Heavenly Sacred Cauldron transformed into the Three Thousand Rivers of Hongmeng Chaos, swirling endlessly.
Under the pressure of the primordial star power and the rivers of Hongmeng Chaos, the Buddhist light retreated steadily.
Jie Yin and Zhun Ti exchanged glances, shouted loudly, and couldn’t help but attack Huang Long first.
As their divine weapons charged at Huang Long, countless golden Buddhas, bodhisattvas, and arhats emerged, chanting mantras as they surged toward him.
Huang Long roared deeply, waved his hands, and formed a magic seal. The Three Thousand Hongmeng Divine Beast Formation rose into the sky, turning into a massive vortex that sucked in all the golden Buddhas, bodhisattvas, and arhats from all directions.
As the vortex spun, those beings disappeared entirely.
The Divine Staves and Blessed Maces trembled violently. Jie Yin and Zhun Ti stepped back in shock.
At that moment, Tong Tian and Yuan Shi also engaged in battle. Above their heads, four swords hovered in the air.
These four swords are precisely the Zuxian Sword, Lüxian Sword, Xiexian Sword, and Juexian Sword of the Zuxian Sword Formation. Although Tongtian did not unleash the Zuxian Sword Diagram or set up the formation, just this alone forced Yuanshi into a disadvantageous position.
Though the four swords of the Zuxian Sword Formation rank after the Pangu Banner on the list of great divine artifacts—at fifteenth, sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth places—they combine to possess a power even greater than that of the Pangu Banner.
All four swords are designed for killing, and the killing intent contained in each sword is sufficient to change the colors of heaven and earth. During the Battle of Divine Enshrinement, Yuanshi and his three companions broke through Tongtian’s Zuxian Sword Formation and seized the four swords. Later, when Hongjun intervened, Yuanshi had no choice but to return them to Tongtian.
Yuanshi was well aware of the power of these four swords. The more battles they fought, the more terrifying their sword auras became.
“Second senior brother, in the Battle of Divine Enshrinement, your strength didn’t improve—it actually declined?” Tongtian sneered.
Yuanshi’s expression darkened as he defended against Tongtian’s attacks while saying solemnly, “Tongtian, you show no respect for elders and have no sense of hierarchy. I wonder how our master will deal with you then?!”
“How our master deals with me is my concern. There’s no need for you to worry!” Tongtian sneered. “I have no sense of hierarchy? What about you? At least I’m not colluding with outsiders and turning against my own side!”
Tongtian was referring to how Yuanshi, out of pride, had allied with Jieyin and Zhunti from the West to fight against him.
Turning against one’s own side!
These four words ignited fury in Yuanshi’s heart, making his eyes narrow in anger. But just then, a sword beam suddenly streaked across the sky from ahead—it was one of the four swords, the Zuxian Sword, forcing Yuanshi to quickly block it with his Pangu Banner.
With a clang, the Zuxian Sword collided with the Pangu Banner and flew back into Tongtian’s hands.
However, just as Yuanshi had blocked the Zuxian Sword, the Lüxian Sword, Xiexian Sword, and Juexian Sword arrived in succession, attacking all at once. In his haste, the Pangu Banner only managed to block the Lüxian Sword and Xiexian Sword.
As the Juexian Sword prepared to strike Yuanshi’s chest, suddenly, a flag appeared above his head amidst the auspicious clouds. The flag emitted a golden light and descended, covering Yuanshi’s entire body.
The Juexian Sword struck against that golden light and was actually blocked.
That flag was none other than the Central Wuji Apricot Yellow Flag, one of the Five Primordial Directional Flags.
Among the Five Primordial Directional Flags, the Central Wuji Apricot Yellow Flag had the strongest defensive power. Although it couldn’t compare to the Pangu’s ultimate defensive treasure, the Celestial Luminous Mysterious Yellow Pagoda, it still ranked just below it.
The Yellow Dragon, Jieyin, Zhunti, Yuanshi, Tongtian—the Great Battle of the Five Saints.
Beyond the thirty-three heavens, fierce sword energies swept back and forth, accompanied by dark yellow and primordial lights, as well as the light of innate stars and Buddha’s radiance, all of which illuminated the sky hundreds of millions of miles away with brilliance. Continuous loud booms echoed from beyond the thirty-three heavens. All the powerful beings in the Pangu World were filled with fear. Inside the Nuwa Palace sat a beautiful woman whose beauty rivaled that of the Queen Mother—Nuwa, the Mother of Mankind. Nuwa gazed at the water mirror before her, watching the battle between the five Yellow Dragons, her eyes filled with thought, unsure of what she was thinking. “My Lady, if the sages like Yuan Shi and Tong Tian continue fighting like this, it might affect all the creatures in the Pangu World,” said the colored-cloud child standing before her. Nuwa shook her head and said, “My teacher has his own plans. Even if I intervene, I won’t be able to stop them.” This was true—among the Pangu sages, her strength was the weakest. “I never expected that Yellow Dragon to achieve sainthood and possess such great power. Even with Jie Yin and Zhun Ti working together, they can’t defeat him?!” Nuwa sighed. On the water mirror, Jie Yin had already summoned the Ninth-Rank Lotus Platform, while Zhun Ti had brought out one of the Five Directional Flags—the Azure Lotus Treasure Flag—and his sacred Seven Treasures Tree of Sainthood. Yet, instead of gaining the upper hand, they were forced to retreat under the pressure of the Yellow Dragon. At the Eight Scenic Spots Palace on Mount Shouyang, Laozi watched the battle between the five Yellow Dragons with growing astonishment. “Teacher, should we go help Second Uncle?” asked Xuan Du, Laozi’s eldest disciple and a great mage, seeing Yuan Shi in dire straits on the water mirror. During the Battle of Deification, Laozi, as the leader of the Three Pure Ones, had been on Yuan Shi’s side. “Times have changed,” Laozi mused. “And even if I intervened now, I couldn’t defeat my junior brother Tong Tian.” “Can’t defeat him?!” Both Xuan Du and the Eight Immortals were shocked. Laozi nodded. If he intervened, Tong Tian would surely summon the Sword Chart of Exterminating Immortals and form the Sword Formation of Exterminating Immortals using the four swords. Only the four sages could break this formation, and with Jie Yin and Zhun Ti occupied by the Yellow Dragon, even if Laozi and Yuan Shi joined forces, they wouldn’t be able to break it. “But my teacher should intervene soon!” Laozi murmured to himself.