The Holy War Begins

A dim blood-colored Buddha light was fleeing desperately toward the Western Regions at the cost of burning its very source.

Within the blood light, the old monk Ku Xuan’s monastic robes were in tatters, his aura weakened to the extreme. His face was filled with resentment and fear, along with a trace of disbelief that refused to fade.

“I thought this secret attack would be flawless, yet that Ji Qingyi actually ruined it. Damn her.”

“Why?! Why did Ling Canglan and Ji Qingyi both try to kill me?”

“Although that Battle Asura is powerful, he is merely a prodigy who has yet to mature. Why would two Great Saints lose their composure to such a degree and join forces to protect him?”

“Could they be connected to the mysterious existence behind Battle Asura?”

“Not good. That mysterious existence must have noticed my covert actions as well.”

“This is troublesome. I must return to Spirit Mountain as quickly as possible and report this matter to the several ancient Buddhas in seclusion. Only those ancient Buddhas might be able to withstand an existence of that level!”

Kuxuan did not dare to linger in the slightest. He even burned the last of his vital Buddha blood once more, pushing his escape speed to its absolute limit in the hope of returning to the Buddhist Pure Land as soon as possible.

Within the valley, Gu Changge withdrew his gaze, as though he had merely glanced at the movements of an insignificant ant.

He raised his eyes slightly and looked toward Little Black, deep within the void above the Nine Heavens, before paying it no further attention.

In that instant when his gaze shifted, a trace of icy killing intent flashed through his deep eyes.

Xuanyangzi, who had been absorbed in admiring the Imperial Scripture, suddenly felt the surrounding temperature drop. He raised his head and happened to see the killing intent in Gu Changge’s eyes.

Xuanyangzi’s heart jolted.

That look seemed somewhat familiar.

In an instant, the scene of the Demonheaven Sect being annihilated by a single palm, as well as the complete destruction of the Glazed Sacred Land, surfaced in his mind.

Which blind fool had provoked Changge this time?

At that moment, Xuanyangzi still did not know what Kuxuan had done to Xiao Ruobai and the others in the inheritance grounds of the Imperial Tomb.

Suddenly, a deafening peal of thunder exploded. The power of lightning instantly swept across a thousand-mile radius, shaking the mountains and rivers.

“The final bolt!”

“The most critical moment of the Saint Tribulation!”

Exclamations rang out from every direction. Everyone’s attention was involuntarily drawn toward the might of heaven and earth.

The sky above the area where Wang Zhan stood had completely transformed into a pool of thunder capable of destroying the world!

The thick tribulation clouds spun as they collapsed inward. Countless purple and golden lightning serpents that had raged moments ago were now frantically converging, twisting, and fusing together, ultimately forming a terrifying bolt of lightning beyond the power of words to describe.

Beneath the thunderclouds, Wang Zhan’s figure appeared somewhat small against the boundless thunderous might, yet it remained extraordinarily upright.

The azure-green vitality around his body had been refined to its limit, burning like tangible flames. The aura of a newly ascended Saint had been compressed to the extreme, then continued to rise and transform amid that very limit.

He raised his head toward the heavens. There was not the slightest trace of fear in his eyes—only battle intent boiling to its peak, along with the determination to shatter every shackle.

“Come on!”

With a long howl that shook the mountains and rivers, he took the initiative to soar into the sky, charging toward the center of the lightning.

“Boom——!”

A collision that no language could describe took place.

The dark-golden Chaos lightning pillar and that resolute azure-green figure were completely swallowed by endless light and heat.

A storm of destructive energy erupted madly in every direction, tearing apart the firmament and vaporizing the earth. It formed a terrifying force field that continued to expand, filled with thunder and fragments of laws.

Within the valley, Gu Changge also raised his eyes slightly, calmly watching the final collision in the distance.

On a distant mountaintop, Ling Xi’s cold eyes reflected the destructive radiance of the thunder. It seemed that an even deeper Dao rhythm was flowing within them.

Everyone’s heart had risen to their throats.

“Roar——!”

A long howl that pierced metal and stone, filled with boundless pain and an unyielding will, suddenly erupted from the heart of the thunder.

Immediately afterward, a vast Saintly might several times stronger than before burst forth like an ancient ferocious beast awakening from slumber. It forcibly broke through the restraints of the destructive lightning and shot straight into the Nine Heavens!

High above, the suffocatingly thick tribulation clouds seemed to have completed their final mission and began to slowly disperse.

At the same time, streams of gentle, pure, multicolored radiance containing abundant vitality and the Dao principles of the world descended from the Nine Heavens. Like sweet rain, they sprinkled precisely upon the figure slowly rising within the thunder.

A heavenly baptism. The Saintly body was forged!

Amid the multicolored radiance, Wang Zhan’s figure gradually became clear.

His clothes had been completely destroyed, revealing a streamlined body covered in newly healed scorch marks and golden patterns.

Those patterns were Dao marks left behind by the tempering of the heavenly punishment. They had made his Saintly body even more formidable, causing it to faintly resonate with the laws of heaven and earth.

His originally feeble aura was nourished by the multicolored radiance. Like a withered tree encountering spring, it recovered, strengthened, and rose at an astonishing speed.

After only a few breaths, the might emanating from his body had firmly reached the early Saint Realm.

Moreover, the depth of his foundation and the purity of his Saintly power far surpassed those of ordinary cultivators who had just entered the Saint Realm.

He slowly opened his eyes. Azure-green Saintly radiance burned within them like tangible flames, and wherever his gaze swept, the air emitted faint explosions.

He raised his hand and clenched it experimentally, sensing the unprecedentedly powerful strength surging through his body. A carefree and confident smile appeared on his face.

At that moment, he felt stronger than ever before, as though a single punch could shatter the void and a single thought could summon wind and clouds.

“Haha! My son has attained Sainthood. His future is destined for the Great Emperor Realm!” the Head of the Wang Family cried out excitedly, his voice reverberating across the four fields.

At the same time, whispers rapidly spread through the surrounding crowd, with gazes repeatedly drifting toward the cold figure standing on the distant mountaintop.

“After surviving that ordeal, Wang Zhan’s strength must already far surpass that of an ordinary early-stage Saint. He may even be approaching the mid-stage, right?”

“The Heavenly Azure Saintly Body was already formidable. Now that it has been tempered by heavenly punishment, who among those of the same realm can stand against him?”

“That young woman did display astonishing strength when she made her move earlier, but this time, she is facing a Heavenly Azure Saintly Body that has attained Sainthood.”

“A King challenging a Saint? If it were an ordinary Saint, perhaps there would still be a sliver of hope. But against Wang Zhan… sigh, it will be difficult. Far too difficult.”

“There is probably no suspense left in this battle. I wonder whether that Cyan Rakshasa accepted the challenge out of excessive confidence or because she had no choice.”

“What a pity. Such an unparalleled beauty will probably perish in this battle, or suffer damage to her Dao heart.”

Even an elderly white-haired man from the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion slowly shook his head and sighed to the disciple beside him, “This woman’s talent is indeed excellent, but Wang Zhan has already seized every advantage—timing, terrain, cultivation, physique, and momentum.

“I truly cannot see where her chance of victory lies.”

Amid the discussion, there were those who worried, those who lamented, those who took pleasure in her misfortune, and those who analyzed the situation calmly.

But without a doubt, almost no one believed that Ling Xi, who was merely in the King Realm, could contend with Wang Zhan, whose momentum was now surging and whose Saintly might towered over the world.

The anticipation originally surrounding this duel had quietly transformed, after everyone witnessed the terrifying might of Wang Zhan’s tribulation, into concern for Ling Xi’s predicament and nearly unanimous pessimism regarding the outcome.

On the mountaintop, Xiao Ruobai’s expression was solemn, while the battle intent radiating from him grew increasingly intense. The ancient sword in Fang Hanyu’s arms let out a clear, ringing tremor.

Ling Xi stood atop the mountain, the fierce wind whipping at her white robes and hair, yet she seemed not to notice.

She quietly gazed at the distant figure undergoing the baptism of heaven and earth, holy light soaring into the sky. Her cool eyes remained utterly unruffled, holding only a calmness so deep it seemed bottomless.

As if the Saint whom everyone else regarded as invincible was, in her eyes, no different from before.

She gently raised her slender hand and smoothed the stray hair at her temple, her movements unhurried and composed.

Then she took one step forward.

Her figure vanished from the mountaintop. In the next instant, she appeared soundlessly upon the wasteland that had just endured the tribulation of thunder, where an aura of destruction still lingered. There, she stood facing Wang Zhan from afar, holy radiance swirling around him.

No words were necessary. Their battle intent had already intertwined.

The entire world fell silent in an instant, every gaze converging upon the two figures whose strength seemed so starkly mismatched.

The final chapter is complete at last—finally, I no longer owe you anything!!!