Archfiend

“The third level…” Rocjourney took a deep breath. “I always believed… that this prison only had two levels… Enihilus, why are you acting this way?!”

Enihilus didn’t answer. Behind him, the Dream Walker seemed to be capable of biting down on him, but it kept a distance of twenty-somewhat meters away. In any case, the two of them didn’t touch.

Several seconds later, Enihilus raised his head and gazed straight at Xu Yangyi. “Fellow Daoist Wolfbane, your talents are unsurpassed. I heard that on Earth, unless you are not a supremely breathtaking cultivator, one cannot be set free on a Lesser Thousand Realm. I question you a word, and hope that you will answer truthfully.”

“That depends on my mood.” Xu Yangyi smiled as he took out his longsword. “If I don’t want to attack, then I really am not willing to.”

No one whatsoever could’ve anticipated that there was still a final level here.

In handling Floatingcloud, he hadn’t used his true trump card. But now… he was already mobilizing the Azurecloud Seed in his qi sea with the utmost effort.

A little faster… Time’s too slow… He inwardly clenched his teeth. If Enihilus was going to prove an issue he had to guarantee that he could utilize that card.

Regardless… no matter how he shifted the seed around, it was no longer able to rush outside from his dantian. He clearly felt a separating wall. This wall was getting weaker and weaker, but it would still take around an hour, based on a rough calculation.

But currently, only less than twenty minutes had passed.

“Oh?” Enihilus laughed coldly, “Don’t think that I am that useless waste Floatingcloud.”

“I am not bound by a single hair, Fellow Daoist Wolfbane. I admit you are supremely breathtaking, but if you think you can force me to death with the same way you forced Floatingcloud to his, you really do look down on me too much.”

“You cannot resist a fully unleashed Great Circle Foundation Establishment for an hour. I am certain to kill you.”

Xu Yangyi laughed, “In that case, ask.”

The Azurecloud Seed couldn’t be used, but he absolutely wasn’t willing to take the lead and start the battle.

Enihilus breathed in deeply. His gaze like lightning, he looked straight into Xu Yangyi’s eyes. “My question is only one sentence.”

“Fellow Daoist, in your cultivation to this day—disregarding your initial goal—search your heart and honestly ask yourself: what is your goal right now?”

He stood up, and his tattered kasaya danced freely of the wind. He was as stately as a gem. “Is it merely for the sake of cultivation and cultivating?”

“Is it merely for your initial goal? To become wealthy? Vengeance? These incomparably lowly pretenses?” His voice carried a fiery hint of passion. “Don’t tell me… that in your cultivation to this moment, haven’t you hoped that you could forge the proper position of Core Formation?”

“In your cultivation to this moment, have you not expected for the ability to call wind and summon rain, a single word to bring forth the world’s arts?”

“Don’t tell me that you haven’t awaited for when you are like Buddha, standing alone from this world, to behold the azure seas through your eyes, to hear all from the eight directions. To slowly watch the human world’s evolution, to pursue the world’s true secrets, to seek the unchanging truth?”

His voice grew louder and louder. At the end of his words, layers and layers of mist, already like tidal waves, rushed over and encircled everyone.

“Don’t tell me…” He took another step forward, his gaze like a torch. “You don’t want to know… whether the Buddha and bodhisattvas I speak of, and the immortals that ye speak of, exist? With our bodies that transcend mortals… is eternity possible?”

The demon slayer’s and monk’s gazes met. Eventually, Xu Yangyi said lowly, “In cultivating to this day, my long-cherished wish hasn’t been fulfilled yet. But, if I say it’s only for vengeance, no one would believe me. I wouldn’t either.”

“I…” His gaze looked all around in somewhat of a trance, but he wasn’t at any loss at all. “I’ve experienced a heavenly paradise and seen Dao Masters flip their hands for clouds and turn them over for rain. I… have also been to a place even stranger than here, and witnessed a few legendary existences…”

“The more I cultivate, the more I feel that the future is confusing. But likewise, I'm filled with endless curiosity towards the end of this road.”

“The strong are forever strong, but the weak aren’t necessarily weak forever. Throughout the world, Core Formation supremes are all respected. How could I not want to step into this realm? Even regarding the legendary, long-gone Nascent Soul, I still want to try.”

“Who doesn’t want immortality everlasting? Not a name, but the immortal-like existence that oneself truly becomes, a name approaching all eternity. Vengeance is something I must do. However, my cultivation, the time I spent cultivating to middle Foundation Establishment to stand in front of you, absolutely isn’t for vengeance.”

His gaze surged like lightning. “I want to become strong. Become even stronger. I don’t want to be a chicken in a cage, I… want to see what’s at the end of this path!”

“Whether its curiosity or the desire for exploration, this longing might’ve been in my heart since I started cultivating. As my world view widens, I walk farther. Ultimately, the sprout planted bloomed into a flower.”

“I realize what I want. To never change.” His longsword was angled at Enihilus. “So, for those who block me, if I think I can win, even if heads break and blood flows, I’ll still give it all I got.”

There was no reply. Everyone seemed capable of answering this question. A few seconds later, Enihilus nodded, “As expected, you are the same as I… I have always firmly believed that I am not wrong. That I have done no wrong. Destiny relies on oneself to seek, and oneself to find. But there is no waiting for destiny that falls from the heavens. Therefore…”

The duo’s gazes violently collided in midair. “Today, I’ll have to ask everyone to be buried here.”

“Thank you, Fellow Daoist, for dispelling my doubts. On this day next year, I will return specifically to pour a cup of rice wine for Fellow Daoist Wolfbane. With it I shall commemorate this occasion.” He began laughing, his voice containing a touch of insanity. The Buddhist nature on his face completely vanished, replaced by the crimson of misty desire that flooded his eyes. “Abandon the fleshly body, and transcend mortality to become a sage! Today, I have no worries in my heart!”

“You can all offer your lives to my road of Core Formation; this is your good fortune!”

“But not only me. In the future, all men are bound to worship me! A thousand to kowtow! You should be thankful and give tears, instead of refusing!”

He stowed his gaze and looked at the Dream Walker behind him. “It has been imprisoned for several hundred years. Its prime essence is greatly wounded. In order to have it fully unite with myself, you must all die. Gentlemen… your missions is well-accomplished. You can die, you should drop dead! Kneel… peacefully accept your undefiable fate. This is your reincarnation.” 

Just as his voice fell, all his spiritual pressure exploded outwards without the slightest restraint! It was like an autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves, leaving everyone present no choice but to heavily groan!

Great Circle Foundation Establishment!

The second Great Circle Foundation Establishment!

Moreover… this wasn’t the only thing!

Streaks of black qi from the Dream Walker’s body unexpectedly crept into Enihilus, and his body began to rapidly swell. In less than three seconds, he became a giant over two meters in size! Inch after inch, the tattered kasaya he was wearing fell apart at the seams, the sound it made grating the ears. The wrinkles on his face also started to disappear little by little!

However, the body underneath his robe wasn’t the color of flesh. Instead… streaks of black qi were climbing all over his form, and the blackness under his skin all became scarlet-red!

Swoosh! Swoosh! From his ten fingers, inches-long scarlet fingernails grew out. They resembled sharp blades, and black qi transformed into talismans that curled over his entire body, causing black mist to faintly pervade his seven apertures!

“Demonic encroachment?!” Rocjourney stared blankly and then shouted out angrily, “Enihilus!!! Aren’t you still of the Buddhist Monastery?! Are you worthy of the title of tree-nurturer?!”

“HAHAHA!!!” Enihilus’s savage laughter charged through the sky like rolling thunder. Everyone felt their hair stand on edge. Not from fear, but because of the quasi-solid qi that swept by!

His gaze brushed through everyone and finally landed on Xu Yangyi. His present attitude didn’t contain one bit of humanity. He was more like a devil-god of legend. Black qi permeated his orifices, and an ominous and unreal odor radiated from the top of his head to the tips of his toes. Suddenly, his smile vanished. “Your sword points at me; does that mean you think you can stake it all?”

“Ants such as ye, how can sparrows and swallows know of the ambitions of a great swan?! KNEEL!!!” [1]

In space, a heavy groan echoed. Xu Yangyi’s gaze suddenly chilled. He clearly felt that this sound appeared incorporeal, but it was in fact a seemingly real artillery shell! In the air, a crisp swooshing sound rang out!

Swoosh! His full protective qi cover exploded without a moment’s hesitation. On the brink of crisis, he only heard a clanging sound! The qi cover in front of him started to fully warp, but amidst the warping a golden ring of qi buzzed incessantly like a drill.

“HAHAHAHA!!!” Enihilus reared his head back and laughed wildly. The entire palace hall reverberated with his demon-godesque voice. “This is the initial power of fusing with the Dream Walker? Strong… Strong! This is truly powerful! I even feel the prestige of Core Formation coursing through my veins…”

He looked at Xu Yangyi with a pitiful expression. “Envious? Jealous? All of you will never have my destiny! Your mission was to come here, kneel afterwards, and die! Like you are admiring a Dao Master, witness as the Dream Walker and I become one! With endless veneration, go reincarnate! This is your good fortune, the good fortune I bestow!”

Before his voice even fell, his chest swelled up like an inflated balloon, and his withered body became fat in an instant. He soon let loose a roar like spring thunder, shaking all the Buddha statues!

Bang!!! The cover outside Xu Yangyi’s body answered and broke! Yet the ring of golden spiritual light loudly struck his chest! An expanse of golden light shimmered!

“Fellow Daoist!”

“Fellow Daoist Wolfbane!!!”

Two startled cries echoed simultaneously. Moonless and Rocjourney stepped forward, but the two of them happened to both stop in the next second.

A knife-sharp murderous intent now shrouded them. The source was Enihilus, who was like a demon-god in this moment.

Crash!!! Vast quantities of dust kicked up on the ground! Xu Yangyi fell back over a dozen meters from this strength, a long gorge was dug out on palace floor. His hands were pressed together, and his expression was incredibly grave. After he came to a full stop, rays of golden spiritual light came from his joined hands and quietly dispersed.

“Huff…” Rocjourney and Moonless heaved out a sigh of relief, but their pupils quickly needled in the next second!

A thread of blood was left at the corner of Xu Yangyi’s mouth.

Enihilus’s roar had actually caused his internal organs to ripple!

“How is he so strong?!” Xu Yangyi gritted his teeth and shouted at Rocjourney, “Even Floatingcloud couldn’t injure the inside of my body with his voice!”

If Floatingcloud could accomplish this point he would’ve died countless times over!

“This is a demonic encroachment!” Rocjourney glared daggers at Enihilus and said hoarsely, “He’s different from Floatingcloud… He’s letting the Dream Walker onto his body! He’s being forcibly possessed! Only a trace of spiritual sense is retained! He can’t open the Dream Walker’s chains! He can only use a method like this! You’re not facing just Enihilus… you’re up against Enihilus in addition to the Dream Walker! A Great Circle Foundation Establishment! With the joined strike of a late Foundation Establishment!”

“Ignorant fool!” Presently, the bloody-red on Enihilus’s body resembled flowing lava. As he reared his head back and laughed loudly, flames belched out from his mouth. “What I want… isn’t just this!!!”

“Bladevessel… Realm Spirit… what are you still waiting for?!?!?!”