Honghuang: My understanding is beyond belief. I am the first immortal of Jiejiao.

The last second passed by in a flash!

"Om..."

A faint but real force of balance began to struggle to maintain itself within Chen Xuanzang's body under the influence of the low-grade Tai Chi pill.

The conflict between Buddha and demon, which was about to erupt completely, was forcibly suppressed by an invisible hand. Although it was still raging, it was temporarily maintained at a dangerous balance and stopped deteriorating.

Chen Xuanzang's violently convulsing body gradually calmed down. Although he was still unconscious and pale, his life was finally saved.

Throughout the entire Great Thunderclap Temple, all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas who were watching over this place couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief, as if they had just walked through the gates of hell. They were all drenched in cold sweat and collapsed as if they were exhausted.

At this moment, Lin Zhu was contentedly playing with the two newly acquired murderous swords in his hands. The Trapping Immortal Sword exuded a chilling aura, while the Absolute Immortal Sword was filled with the intent of death.

In addition to the Immortal Slaughtering Sword that he had obtained from Venerable Kasyapa through some unknown means, he now possesses three of the Four Immortal Slaughtering Swords!

Even without the mysterious and unpredictable Immortal Slaughtering Formation Diagram, just gathering these three supreme weapons of slaughter would be enough to awe the heavens and earth and make ghosts weep. It is an extremely rare and precious set of magical treasures, and in some aspects, its value even surpasses the Pagoda of Many Treasures, on which the Buddha Tathagata made his name!

When the Buddha handed over these two swords, it was indeed to save people, but the chilling killing intent deep in his eyes did not diminish in the slightest.

The Buddha watched helplessly as Lin Zhu acquired the two murderous swords, Xianxian and Juexian, which exuded a fierce aura. Together with the Luxian sword, which had somehow ended up in his hands before, he now possessed three of the four swords of Zhuxian!

A chilling sense of crisis, like a venomous snake, coiled around his heart. If this fiend is not eliminated, the Western Paradise will never have peace!

The grand plan of Journey to the West is likely to be ruined by this person!
He had indeed secretly dispatched his trusted confidants to the demon-infested and malevolent Beiju Luzhou to find and retrieve the last sword that had been suppressed there by a powerful being—the Immortal Execution Sword!

His original plan was that even if he had to endure the humiliation for now and let Lin Zhu leave with the sword, once the Zhuxian Sword returned, the four swords would naturally sense it, and he would have his own means to forcibly recall them to their positions, or even use the sword formation to strangle Lin Zhu!

But at this moment, seeing Lin Zhu's calm and collected demeanor after repeatedly trampling on the dignity of the Western Paradise, as if he had only done a trivial business, the string of reason in the Buddha's heart snapped completely!

This child cannot be kept!

If he were to leave the Great Thunderclap Temple alive today, what face would our Western Paradise have left?!
The journey to the West will undoubtedly be fraught with difficulties and unpredictable changes in the future! We must capture him completely to prevent future troubles!

Thinking of this, the Buddha suddenly raised his head, and the calm he had been forcibly maintaining on his face completely disappeared, replaced by an almost ferocious determination and overwhelming killing intent!
The vast Buddhist power surrounding him was no longer peaceful; instead, it emitted a chilling light that seemed almost tangible, causing the entire space within the Great Thunderclap Temple to distort slightly!
The three thousand Buddhas were connected with the Tathagata Buddha in spirit and instantly felt the Buddha's unwavering determination to kill Lin Zhu! The atmosphere, which had been somewhat dejected because they had barely managed to save Chen Xuanzang's life at a great cost, suddenly changed!
"Whoosh whoosh—!"

Golden rays flashed, accompanied by a sharp sound of air being torn apart!
The three thousand Buddhas, whether Bodhisattvas, Arhats, or Vajras, no longer hesitated. Their figures moved like lightning, instantly forming an incomparably profound Buddhist formation that surrounded Lin Zhuli, who was still standing in the same place, layer upon layer, making it impossible for him to pass through!
Faces that were originally compassionate, solemn, or angry were now uniformly filled with ferocity and undisguised murderous intent!
The immense Buddhist power, mixed with the pent-up rage from being repeatedly teased by Lin Zhu, was like a boiling ocean, locking Lin Zhu firmly in the center. The terrifying pressure was like heavy mountains, crushing down on him!

"Lin Zhu! If you manage to leave the Great Thunderclap Temple alive today, my Western Paradise will have no face to stand in the Three Realms!"

"You wicked creature! The root of all evil in Journey to the West! An anomaly in the Three Realms! Today is your death day!"

"No need for further words! Form the Ten Thousand Buddhas Paying Homage Formation! Even if it means Mount Ling is stained with blood and the Buddhist land is tarnished, we must annihilate this fiend, body and soul, and eliminate any future threat!"

"kill--!!"

The deafening roars converged into a destructive torrent, shaking the glazed tiles on the palace roof so that they hummed! Countless gazes, filled with a determination to kill, pierced towards Lin Zhu at the center of the formation like sharp swords.

Faced with this deadly situation that would terrify any quasi-saint and guarantee their survival, Lin Zhu showed no sign of panic. Instead, he revealed an even brighter, more languid smile.

He even waved casually, as if shooing away non-existent flies, his tone as relaxed as if he were visiting a neighbor.

"Oh?"

So enthusiastic? Not letting me leave, are you trying to get me to stay for dinner? How's the vegetarian food at Lingshan? I might reluctantly give it a try.

He paused, his gaze sweeping mockingly over the ashen-faced Buddha, adding fuel to the fire as he slowly teased him.

"Besides, Buddha, as the saying goes, saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda. Look, I just saved your Jin Chanzi's life, how many stories high is that? I've done immeasurable good! But... tsk tsk, the way Chen Xuanzang swallowed that Taiji Pill just now, he wolfed it down, he probably didn't even taste whether it was sweet or salty, right? What a pity..."

"Shut up!!"

"You dare to spout such nonsense even when you're about to die!!"

"Kill him! Now! Immediately!!"

Lin Zhu's words, which were both deadly and deeply mocking, were like igniting the final fuse! The suppressed anger, humiliation, and murderous intent in the hearts of the three thousand Buddhas and the Tathagata Buddha erupted like a volcano, becoming completely uncontrollable!

"Roar--!!!"

Led by the Buddha, the three thousand Buddhas roared in unison, their voices shaking the heavens and the earth!

The resolute and madness contained in that voice seemed to want to drag this ancient sacred mountain into the deepest hell!
"Ten Thousand Buddhas—Slay the Demon!!"

The Buddha's voice was like thunder. He slammed his hand on the table and rose up. His enormous golden palm contained terrifying power that could destroy stars and purify all things. It tore through space and slammed down hard on Lin Zhu's head!

Behind him, three thousand Buddhas also made their moves at the same time, unleashing countless dazzling yet destructive Buddhist supernatural powers—the Vajra Subduing Demon Circle, the Prajna Bodhi Palm, the Nirvana Buddha Thunder, the Salvation Divine Light… like a raging storm, or a reversed galaxy, completely engulfing the space where Lin Zhu was from every direction and angle!

At this moment, all notions of compassion and inaction were cast to the winds!

All that remains is the most primal, most insane will to kill!
They vowed to completely erase that white-clad figure in the formation, along with his soul, from this world!
"Lin Zhu! Even if the Jade Emperor himself were here today, he couldn't save you!!" "A scourge upon the Three Realms, you cannot be spared! Die!!"

Faced with this unavoidable and devastating attack, Lin Zhu, at the eye of the storm, maintained his calm and composed smile.

He even... slowly spread his hands, making a gesture of non-resistance.

"Sigh, I was hoping to chat a little longer..."

Lin Zhu sighed softly, seemingly with some regret, but a sly glint flashed in the depths of her eyes that no one could detect.

"Very well, since I dared to come, I naturally... am prepared."

His voice wasn't loud, yet it strangely pierced through the deafening roar of supernatural powers and the angry cries of the Buddhas.

However, the three thousand Buddhas, whose minds were already filled with murderous intent, would not listen to his "false words." They thought he was just trying to stall for time because he had run out of tricks!

"Even when death is imminent, you still dare to play tricks!!"

"No matter how much you prepare or how many schemes you devise, you cannot escape death today! Prepare to die!!"

The torrent of attacks arrived in an instant; the destructive energy fluctuations had already touched the hem of Lin Zhu's clothes, and it looked like they were about to completely engulf him...

Lin Zhu could even feel the scorching, violent energy burning his skin, and he muttered to himself.

"Did you go too far?"

This time it might really be over...

At that critical moment, just as Lin Zhu was about to be engulfed by the divine power of ten thousand Buddhas—

"Duobao, you bastard! Get out here—!!!"

A roar as loud as the thunder of ancient chaos suddenly came from outside Mount Ling!

This sound was no ordinary sound wave; it contained boundless anger and a violent magical power that seemed capable of tearing the heavens and the earth apart. It transformed into a tangible sound wave that was visible to the naked eye, crashing into the protective array of Mount Ling and the Great Thunderclap Temple itself like a tsunami!
“Rumble——!!!”

The entire Ling Mountain shook violently! The walls of the Great Thunderclap Temple, which were incredibly sturdy and blessed by countless Buddhist treasures, were shaken by the sound, causing gold dust to fall from them!
The terrifying torrent of attacks within the hall, formed by the combined power of three thousand Buddhas and capable of annihilating a Quasi-Saint, was also slightly halted by this sudden, violent sonic wave. Its energy became disordered, and many Arhats with slightly weaker cultivation were shaken so badly that their blood and qi surged, and they involuntarily staggered back several steps, their faces instantly losing all color!
All the attacks rushing towards Lin Zhu involuntarily slowed down for a moment at this moment!
The ferocious killing intent on the faces of the three thousand Buddhas froze instantly, replaced by utter shock and... a trace of barely concealed terror!

That voice... that magic power... it's him?!

Why is he here? !
Even the Buddha, who was sitting in the center and preparing to deliver a fatal blow to Lin Zhu, stopped his golden palm in mid-air. He turned his head sharply to look outside the hall, and for the first time, his eyes, which contained endless Buddhist light, revealed an extremely solemn, even unbelievable tension and fear!
That voice… he knew it all too well! Although he hadn’t heard it for countless years, the connection that came from the depths of his bloodline and was intertwined with cause and effect was unmistakable!
Just as everyone was shaken by the roar, a beam of light, like lightning tearing through the sky, ignored the many restrictions of Mount Ling and, with an almost domineering attitude, directly pierced through the dome of the Great Thunderclap Temple and crashed into the main hall!

As the light faded, the figure of an old man wearing a Bagua Taoist robe, a fish-tail crown, and holding a whisk was revealed.

His face was ancient and simple, but now it appeared somewhat distorted due to extreme anger. His body exuded a terrifying aura as unfathomable as the vast starry sky, yet capable of unleashing destructive power at any moment!
It was none other than Laozi, the benevolent corpse of the Supreme Lord Laozi, the Lord of the Tushita Palace, outside the Thirty-Three Heavens!

The sudden arrival of Laozi plunged the entire Great Thunderclap Temple into an eerie silence.

The three thousand Buddhas looked at the leader of the Xuanmen sect, who was theoretically an "ally," and their faces were filled with astonishment and confusion. In particular, they were dumbfounded and their minds went blank when they felt the undisguised and overwhelming anger emanating from Laozi towards Tathagata.

The Buddha stared intently at the descending Laozi, then suddenly turned his gaze to Lin Zhu, who remained calm and composed, even with a faint smile on his lips. A chilling thought suddenly pierced his mind like a poisonous thorn!
Collusion!
They must have conspired together!
This scoundrel Lin Zhu must have already colluded with Laozi! First, he hoarded Taiji Pills to extort money from my Western Paradise, and now that he sees I am about to eliminate this scourge, Laozi has personally come forward to obstruct me!

Yes! That must be it!
That divine elixir helped the Tang Emperor resist all ghosts, but it disrupted my underworld's plans!

He even monopolized the Limitless Pill, pushing my Western Paradise to the brink of despair! Now, he's personally getting involved to protect this anomaly who has repeatedly thwarted the good deeds of my Buddhist sect!
The thought that Laozi, as the leader of the Taoist sect, could be so "disregardful of the overall situation" and join forces with Lin Zhu, a "scourge of the Three Realms," to target the Western Paradise time and time again, even going so far as to personally step into Mount Ling, made Buddha feel an indescribable sense of frustration and a stinging feeling of being "betrayed" surge into his heart!
How could he possibly accept this?!

"Laojun..."

The Buddha's voice was hoarse with extreme anger. He suppressed his rage, his gaze piercing Laozi like an ice pick.

"What...what do you mean by this? Do you really intend to interfere in the internal affairs of my Buddhist sect for the sake of this child, and completely break ties with my Western Paradise?!"

Lin Zhu stood to the side, arms crossed, watching the Buddha, whose face was ashen and whose eyes were filled with doubt and anger, with an undisguised sneer on his face.

Faced with the Buddha's question, which was almost squeezed out from between his teeth, Lin Zhu sneered, his tone carrying an air of absolute certainty and arrogance.

"Hmph, conspiring with me? Old Buddha, do you think everyone is like your Western Paradise, enjoying engaging in petty and underhanded tricks?"

"Why would I need to collude with others in my actions?"

He took a step forward, his gaze sweeping over the three thousand Buddhas who were still on high alert but whose momentum had been greatly diminished by the appearance of Laozi. His gaze finally settled on the Buddha's face, which was so gloomy it seemed to drip water. His voice clearly resounded throughout the entire Great Thunder Temple.

"Today, I'm leaving, and I'd like to see who can stop me!"

His words were resolute and domineering! Although the sudden appearance of Laozi was indeed unexpected—he had only casually smeared Laozi and intentionally let some information reach Laozi's ears, but he hadn't anticipated Laozi's furious reaction, directly attacking Mount Ling to demand his release—

But at this moment, this sudden change has undoubtedly become his best help in breaking the deadlock!
The Buddha had already concluded that the mastermind behind the "Limitless Pill" incident, which had plunged the Western Paradise into such a passive situation and nearly destroyed the Journey to the West, was none other than Laozi! (End of Chapter)