"Something is wrong!"
Looking at the massive hole in front of him, [Sky-Shrouding] was the first to react. If that nameless bastard had really died, why was there no reaction from the Dharma Body Dao?
Still, he found it inconceivable.
How could he still be alive? Two Great Perfected Lords and ten Perfected Lords had struck at once.
To be frank, even if [Sky-Shrouding] put himself in Lu Yang's position, he wouldn't have died, but he would at least be injured.
In that case—
"It wasn't his true body."
[Sky-Shrouding] reached a conclusion instantly. At that same moment, he suddenly realized something else was wrong.
The next second, a roar erupted from the direction of the Pure Land:
"Bastard!!!"
Bodhisattva Precious Lotus Hidden Subduer, who had just achieved the status of Great Perfected Lord and should have been triumphant, now revealed a look of intense anger.
Everyone's gaze focused on a Golden Body Dharma Aspect behind her.
It was Bodhisattva Precious Vajra Victory of the Pure Land, who controlled [Pine & Cypress Wood].
Because his Dao Fruit was the same element as Bodhisattva Precious Vase Water Moon's [Weeping Willow Wood], he hadn't attached himself to Bodhisattva Precious Lotus Hidden Subduer's Grotto-Heaven.
Then, a crisp shattering sound rang out.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
The Bodhisattva opened his mouth. With that single action, his flawless Golden Body was instantly covered in dense cracks.
Boom!
Above the sky, the [Pine & Cypress Wood] let out a mournful cry.
Blood rain fell from the sky as a burning Grotto-Heaven fell from the [Sea of Bitterness] into the Foundation Establishment Realm.
The Golden Body exploded.
The Grotto-Heaven collapsed.
Even worse, his Golden Nature soul, which should have been able to escape, perished with it.
Even the Netherworld didn't have time to receive him.
Most people were thrown into total confusion. What had happened?!
Only Bodhisattva Precious Lotus Hidden Subduer knew the truth.
She turned around abruptly, her chest heaving with rage, her eyes filled with malice.
"Jiayou! You are seeking death!"
She never expected the Dao Court would actually make a move.
They had aimed precisely at the only person in the Pure Land who hadn't attached to her—an early-stage Golden Core who lacked the characteristic of immortality— Bodhisattva Precious Vajra Victory.
This was no accident.
It was intentional.
Bodhisattva Precious Lotus immediately associated this with the Sword Pavilion.
Without a word, she distanced herself from Perfected Lord Gangxing Budao and [Sky-Shrouding].
"Bastard! You sword bastard!"
"You want to burn the bridge after crossing it!?"
She said this with extreme certainty. In her mind, she had already filled in the details: this was clearly collusion between the Dao Court and the Sword Pavilion.
They had joined forces to kill that nameless Perfected Lord first.
Once he was dead, the Dao Court would strike her, catching her while she was defenseless from the attack.
The result proved it; through her momentary carelessness, she had lost a Bodhisattva.
That was the only possibility.
For a moment, her scalp tingled. A bone-chilling cold swept through her body.
Could it be that the Sword Pavilion and the Dao Court planned to kill two birds with one stone?
Execute the Saint Sect, then exterminate the Pure Land?
[Sky-Shrouding] and Perfected Lord Gangxing Budao finally reacted and hurried to transmit their voices: "Fellow Daoist, calm down... this has nothing to do with us!"
"Forget it!"
Perfected Lord Gangxing Budao, the Dao Court has been your Sword Pavilion's ally for generations.
You say it has nothing to do with you? Are you going to tell me the Dao Court secretly colluded with the Saint Sect?
And as for you, [Sky-Shrouding], you are a Saint Sect Perfected Lord!
If Perfected Lord Feixue hadn't been present, Bodhisattva Precious Lotus would have fled for her life long ago, realizing a single [Sky-Shrouding] couldn't kill her.
The next second, [Sky-Shrouding] spoke again.
This time it wasn't a voice transmission, but a deafening dao shout, carrying the wonder of the [Knowledge-Perception Barrier] to smooth the emotions in everyone's hearts.
"Everyone, calm down! That bastard isn't dead!"
"...What?"
Everyone was stunned. They looked again at the large hole they had created.
Only then did they see a dissipating golden light.
The shattering light had no flesh and blood.
After fading, it revealed broken Banner Spirits one after another, which then shattered and vanished.
A scent of sandalwood wafted out.
Beneath its powerful appearance, it was actually weak—at the level of an Unorthodox Dao Fruit.
"A puppet? An incarnation?"
"Has Gangxing been fighting an incarnation this entire time?"
"He almost lost to that?"
Inside the Sacred Fire Cliff, another Lu Yang walked out.
He looked at the sky and bowed elegantly under the gaze of the Perfected Lords.
In an instant, everyone understood.
Perfected Lord Gangxing Budao was stunned, his stone-like face flushing red.
After all that effort—using the [Eternal Sword], calling everyone to attack together, and even losing a Pure Land Bodhisattva—the only result was killing an incarnation.
The opponent's true body had been watching the show from inside the Sacred Fire Cliff the whole time.
"Hehe..."
Lu Yang grinned. Naturally, he wouldn't tell them that the incarnation condensed from the Incense Offering Divine Dao could fully borrow his abilities.
Strictly speaking, the incarnation's combat power was no different from his own.
The only difference was that while his true body had high HP and defense, the incarnation was made of incense power—it was extremely fragile.
None of that mattered now.
He had successfully tricked the opponent into wasting their ultimate move and had unexpectedly killed a Pure Land Bodhisattva.
A good death!
Bodhisattva Precious Vajra Victory was among those from the Pure Land who had ambushed him in his previous life.
This counted as repaying some of that debt.
Perfected Lord Gangxing Budao looked at Emperor Jiayou.
"Dao Court... what is the meaning of this?"
"No meaning," Emperor Jiayou smiled faintly.
"The Sword Pavilion was never interesting enough to us, so we had to provide a little 'meaning' of our own."
Shock filled the faces of the crowd.
Although Emperor Jiayou spoke in circles, his message was clear.
The fall of a Pure Land Bodhisattva proved their determination.
The Dao Court had defected to the Saint Sect!
Damn it! If you defected, why were you standing on the Jiangnan side?
You should have been on the Jiangbei side! To defect and sneak attack at the critical moment...
Worms of Jiangdong! With a group like this, how can we ever improve the Righteous Dao!?
Bodhisattva Precious Lotus was fuming. Her face was ugly. The Dao Court had truly defected.
But if you're going to defect, go after the Sword Pavilion! Why did you hit me?
Oh, our Pure Land has a grudge with the Dao Court?
Then never mind.
Even on the Saint Sect side, Perfected Lord Hanguang Futian was stunned for a long time.
But soon, joy surfaced on his face.
Well done!
The Pure Land had lost a Bodhisattva, and the Dao Court had defected entirely.
The original twelve Perfected Lords were down to seven, while his own side had gained four!
The power ratio was now seven to seven.
It was evenly matched. Bodhisattva Precious Lotus was against Emperor Jiayou, and [Sky-Shrouding] was against Perfected Lord Feixue.
There was no gap in the number of Great Perfected Lords either.
Wait, that was wrong.
Hanguang Futian looked at Lu Yang. There was also this one.
Besides the others, there was another Perfected Lord here who was comparable to Feixue before her breakthrough!
This was a huge advantage!
Hanguang Futian, who had intended to retreat, perked up.
Bullying the few with the many—this is also a Saint Sect tradition!
From this perspective, Perfected Lord Gangxing Budao's order to siege them actually had its merits!