The Inexhaustible Earth Treasury

“Since you’d rather die than submit, then let us fight.”

Seeing that the three of them had no intention of surrendering, Moke said nothing further.

To choose resistance to the very end even at a time like this—one had to admit that this was precisely why the human race had risen above the myriad races and secured a place among them.

“Three against seven. Feeling the pressure?” Lin Wanyi asked, gripping her sword as she looked at the two beside her.

The corners of Gu Changsheng’s mouth lifted slightly. “Hmph. What’s a little pressure? Even if I die, I’ll drag at least two of these aliens down with me.”

Puxuan pressed his palms together, and a trace of compassion seemed to deepen between his brows. “Benefactor Gu, Benefactor Lin, even if each of us were to face two enemies alone, we still could not change the final outcome.”

“The alien races are running rampant. If the three of us die here just like this, I fear not a single survivor left in the Xuanhuang Realm will be able to live.”

Puxuan took a step forward. His body suddenly swelled in size. His loose yellow robes split open along countless seams, revealing a body covered in bulging veins. The muscles on his face twisted grotesquely, as though he were enduring unbearable agony.

“This old monk possesses a forbidden art. I will do my utmost to hold the aliens back for a while. You and the other Saint-realm cultivators should take as many survivors away as possible. Do not let the roots of the Xuanhuang Realm be severed.”

“Old Puxuan, are you looking down on us? My Demon Sect has no cowards who fear death.”

Gu Changsheng rejected the proposal without a second thought. “All Saint-realm cultivators, prepare to evacuate the low-level cultivators. As for the high-level cultivators, save yourselves. Find somewhere to hide. Those bizarre monsters can’t possibly hunt down every last one of you.”

“That’s right. Taking one of them down with us before we die is no loss. Since when did the human race allow these alien beasts to bully us?” Lin Wanyi’s stance was equally resolute. She, too, refused to retreat.

Putting aside whether Puxuan could truly hold off seven Quasi-Emperor experts, even if he could stall them briefly, how far could they possibly flee? Especially while bringing so many survivors with them.

Rather than being picked off one by one, they might as well give everything they had and fight the seven Quasi-Emperors together, buying the other cultivators a little time. Let them flee as far as they could and scatter in every direction. Were these aliens really going to chase down and slaughter every single one of them?

More importantly, over the past year, the Demon Sect and Yaochi Heavenly Palace had lost no small number of disciples and elders to these aliens. Even several Saint King-realm elders had perished.

Of the Demon Sect’s original five Saint King-realm elders, the Second Elder and Fourth Elder had died fighting the aliens. Only the Third Elder and Fifth Elder had survived by luck.

The Saint King-realm elders of Yaochi Heavenly Palace had suffered an even more miserable fate—all of them had fallen in battle.

The Saint King experts of the other factions had likewise suffered devastating casualties.

Faced with such a situation, how could the two of them retreat? Even if they had to die, they would make the aliens understand that the Xuanhuang Realm was not so easily bullied.

“Sigh... Since that is the case, then let us fight to the death.”

Puxuan gave a low cry, and his body expanded once more. As his flesh swelled, his face gradually became savage and distorted. A heart-palpitating aura radiated from within him, and the surrounding world began to change.

The earth split apart, crimson magma spilling from the fissures. The sky dimmed, as if darkness had engulfed it.

“Dizang Without End!”

One of Great Thunderclap Temple’s most ancient secret arts. Those who cast it had almost no chance of survival.

As Puxuan’s body expanded to a thousand zhang in height, no one could recognize his original appearance any longer. Dense Buddhist scriptures were etched across his rock-like body. His eyes had lost their pupils, leaving behind only endless wrathful flames.

“Aliens... die!”

A colossal palm crashed down toward the aliens. Sensing the aura emanating from Puxuan, Moke frowned slightly. “Attack together!”

No one knew where the Xuanhuang Realm had obtained such heaven-defying secret arts. Even he could not help but covet them.

Fortunately, they held an overwhelming advantage now. Once they conquered the Xuanhuang Realm, all of its resources, ancient arts and divine abilities, and various secret techniques would belong to them.

The seven Quasi-Emperors split apart. Four charged toward Gu Changsheng and Lin Wanyi, while the remaining three moved to deal with Monk Puxuan.

Boom!

Yet in the very next instant, they were stunned.

Puxuan’s palm had struck only one alien Quasi-Emperor, but boundless flames immediately surged from the cracks in the earth, transforming into fiery arms that shot toward the alien he had hit.

Boom!

In but an instant, countless flaming arms seized the alien and dragged at him. Terrifying flames ignited his entire body, and a shrill, heart-rending scream rang out.

“Arghhhhhh!”

“What the hell is this?!”

Even the alien Quasi-Emperor’s power of laws could not resist the flames’ erosion. The fire rising from the depths of the earth clung to him like maggots on a corpse, burning his body and soul. Even the trace of law power he possessed was swallowed by the flames.

Countless fiery arms dragged him underground. The roar of flames echoed beside his ears, as though recounting his endless sins.

Moke and the others’ expressions changed drastically. They immediately retreated, not daring to make any rash moves.

“What kind of technique is this?!” Huangfu Yunteng glared at Puxuan and demanded loudly.

With merely a single strike, he had killed an alien Quasi-Emperor. Such a method was simply unheard of!

Puxuan spat out a mouthful of blood. The powerful backlash of the secret art caused his aura to weaken sharply at once. His face was pale, as though he might die at any moment.

He looked at Huangfu Yunteng and the other aliens. Enduring the agony of the backlash, he said calmly, “This is a secret art of my Buddhist sect. This flame is karmic fire. It can help burn away the sins upon you.”

“Do not worry. So long as you bear no sin, these flames will do you no harm. Benefactor Huangfu, come and face this old monk.”

As he spoke, raging karmic fire erupted from Puxuan’s body, and he charged straight toward Huangfu Yunteng.

Huangfu Yunteng reacted swiftly. He activated his True Dragon Body and immediately fled, refusing to confront Puxuan head-on.

The fate of the alien Quasi-Emperor was still fresh in his mind. He did not dare touch this so-called karmic fire. What nonsense about burning away sins—nothing had remained of that alien, not even his soul. That was no mere purification of sins; it was an utterly ruthless technique.

Moke likewise did not dare let down his guard. One exchange had killed a Quasi-Emperor of his Shamo race. Such a formidable method was more than enough to make him wary.

“Do not let him touch you! Attack him together! He cannot maintain this state for long!”

The six Quasi-Emperors abandoned their assault on Gu Changsheng and Lin Wanyi, turning instead to encircle and eliminate Puxuan.

“Hmph! You’re treating us as if we don’t exist. Fellow Daoist Lin, let’s buy the old monk an opening!”

With that, Gu Changsheng and Lin Wanyi charged into the midst of the aliens, helping relieve the pressure on Puxuan.

They could sense that Puxuan was in terrible condition. Clearly, this secret art was his final trump card—a technique that injured its user even more severely than its enemy.

No cultivator could possibly be entirely free of sin. Although this secret art allowed him to wield the power of karmic fire, that same karmic fire would also devour the sins of its caster.

“Form groups of three and hold them back! Once his secret art fails, it will be time for us aliens to strike back!”