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

It is the Sword of Damocles hanging over the heads of all cultivators! Throughout history, who has ever seen, who dared to imagine, that someone could so casually, as if dispelling a dark cloud, directly shatter the Heavenly Tribulation?! And this was done while simultaneously fighting two half-step Quasi-Saints and the Tathagata's Dharma Form!
This has gone beyond the realm of "gods," this is simply... a monster! No, it's something even more terrifying than a monster!

Ananda almost dropped his demon-subduing staff. His face was pale, his lips trembled, and he subconsciously looked at the Five Directions Protectors beside him, who also looked dazed, and asked in a dry voice.

"Golden...Golden-Headed Jiedi...Should we...should we continue fighting that demon monkey?"

His heart was filled with endless confusion and fear at this moment.

The strength Lin Zhu displayed completely crushed his fighting spirit.

His only worry now was whether Lin Zhu, after dealing with Guanyin and Fudo Myoo, would also take the opportunity to fire a shot at his side. The consequences...

The Five Directions Protectors exchanged bewildered glances, their hearts already yearning to retreat. What were the merits of the Journey to the West, what were the Buddha's decrees? After witnessing firsthand the terrifying power of Lin Zhu dispelling the Heavenly Tribulation, they all seemed so pale and powerless! Survival was the priority!

The Golden-Headed Immortal's eyes darted around as he quickly devised an excuse and route to "run away with the bucket," but he had to maintain a calm demeanor. He coughed and transmitted his thoughts to Venerable Ananda.

"Your Excellency...you must...you must believe in the light! Believe in miracles! Buddha...Buddha will certainly not stand idly by!"

He himself felt guilty saying those words.

"Light? A miracle?!"

Venerable Ananda nearly coughed up blood, glaring at the Golden-Headed Jiedi and rebuking him telepathically.

"Undermining morale! Anyone who dares to speak nonsense again will be court-martialed!"

He forcefully suppressed his panic, knowing he absolutely could not afford to lose his composure now. If he collapsed before the battle even began, even if he escaped with his life today, he would face severe punishment if the Buddha questioned him later!
"All officers and men obey orders!"

Venerable Ananda suddenly raised his staff, his voice infused with magical power, resounding throughout the army.

"The demonic monkey Sun Wukong has committed countless atrocities and defied the heavens! Furthermore, the wicked Lin Zhu has blasphemed against the might of heaven and become an enemy of Buddha! Today is the day for our Buddhist sect to defend the Way and subdue demons! We will deploy the Ten Thousand Buddhas Paying Homage Formation! Follow me, Venerable One, to slay the demonic monkey! Let us uphold the might of Buddha!!"

He tried to dispel the fear in his heart and rebuild morale by using high-spirited slogans and the sheer number of troops.

At his command, although many Buddhist soldiers were apprehensive, military orders were paramount. Coupled with their long-standing Buddhist upbringing and blind trust in the "Buddha's power," the remaining eight hundred Arhats and millions of Buddhist soldiers managed to maintain their formation, and the Buddha's light once again merged into one.

Although not as powerful as before, it was still a mighty and unstoppable force, like a golden raging tide. Led by Venerable Ananda, it charged towards Sun Wukong, who stood alone in front of him, with a tragic and heroic momentum!

However, the Sun Wukong at this moment was no longer the Sun Wukong who needed to worry about the heavenly tribulation!

Witnessing Lin Zhu's unparalleled prowess in shattering the heavenly tribulation, the resentment and heroic spirit that Sun Wukong had suppressed for five hundred years exploded like a powder keg being ignited! He felt his blood boiling, and every hair on his body was filled with boundless power and fighting spirit!
"Hahaha! The God of Hell is mighty! So domineering!!"

Sun Wukong laughed wildly, his voice shaking the heavens. He suddenly turned his head and looked at the army of Buddhist soldiers surging in like a golden ocean. There was no more hesitation or worry in his eyes, only the purest and most intense killing intent and the fire of revenge!

"To kill a Buddha before a Buddha, to slay an immortal before an immortal! The God of Hell wants to kill a Buddha to uphold the Way, so I, Old Sun, will join him and slaughter them until the heavens and earth are turned upside down, and the sun and moon are extinguished!!"

Sun Wukong roared, and the sound waves crashed against the vanguard of the Buddhist soldiers as if they were tangible.

"Five hundred years of suppression! Countless schemes! Today, we will wash it all away with your blood!!"

"The law of heaven and earth!!!"

With this earth-shattering roar, Sun Wukong's body began to expand and grow taller at a speed visible to the naked eye!
Ten zhang! One hundred zhang! One thousand zhang! Ten thousand zhang!!

In the blink of an eye, a colossal ape, towering ten thousand feet tall, with gleaming golden fur, bulging muscles like a dragon, exposed fangs, and eyes spitting out raging golden flames, stood between heaven and earth! Its enormous body was even half a head taller than the Dharma form of Fudo Myoo! The violent demonic power, like a tangible blood-red storm, swirled around its body, stirring up the wind and clouds, causing the world to lose its color!

What's even more chilling is that the Ruyi Jingu Bang in his hand has also undergone a tremendous change! It is no longer the ordinary thickness of a bowl, but as Sun Wukong's body has grown, it has returned to the terrifying appearance it had when it first appeared in the Dragon Palace of the East Sea—a colossal pillar that reaches from the Thirty-Three Heavens to the Eighteen Levels of Hell!

No, even thicker! Longer! Heavier!

The full extent of the transformation of the Sea-Stabilizing Needle has far exceeded the so-called 13,500 jin! Ten times? A hundred times? Probably more than that! It is a terrifying mass capable of crushing the void and making the stars tremble!
The colossal ape gripped the golden cudgel, which resembled a pillar of heaven, with both hands. Without any fancy techniques, it poured all the power surging to its limit from Huang Zhongli and the overwhelming battle intent into its arms, and then, with all its might, swept it out towards the surging sea of ​​golden Buddhist soldiers!

"Get—out—from—me—Old—Sun—!!!"

The stick was drawn, and the world trembled!

As the golden cudgel swung, the space was like pencil marks erased by an eraser, leaving behind a series of hideous black cracks! Even before the cudgel reached the user, the terrifying wind pressure it generated had already taken hold!
The wind pressure was no longer ordinary airflow, but a destructive gale that condensed Sun Wukong's boundless divine power and violent demonic energy. It connected the sky and the earth, like an invisible but indestructible wall of death, crushing towards the army of Buddhist soldiers!

The Venerable Ananda, who was at the forefront, instantly turned as green as jade! He felt the terrifying power contained in the golden cudgel, enough to crush even a mid-stage Grand Luo Golden Immortal into dust! What Demon-Subduing Cudgel Technique, what Ten Thousand Buddhas Paying Homage to the Ancestor Formation, all seemed so laughable in the face of this absolute power!
"Get out of the way! Get out of the way quickly!!"

Venerable Ananda cried out in terror, no longer caring about his venerable dignity or the absolute authority of military orders. His figure transformed into a disheveled golden light as he frantically fled to the side and rear! He would rather be punished afterward than be hit by this blow!

The Five Directions Protectors reacted even faster! The instant Sun Wukong transformed into a giant ape and the golden cudgel began to change, they had already exchanged a glance and reached an amazing tacit understanding.

"The wind is strong! Hurry!"

With a low growl, the Golden-Headed Guardian turned without hesitation, transforming into five streaks of light. They fled even faster and more resolutely than Venerable Ananda, vanishing into the horizon in an instant, leaving only a faint, distant, almost inaudible explanation: "We... must quickly go to Mount Ling to report to the Buddha! We beg the Buddha to make a decision!"

They really did "run away with the buckets"!

However, while they could run, the remaining eight hundred Arhats and the millions of Buddhist soldiers were not so lucky or fast.

The golden cudgel swept across!

There was no earth-shattering explosion, only a tooth-grinding, extremely dull sound of crushing and breaking!

The "Ten Thousand Buddhas Paying Homage to the Ancestor" formation, composed of millions of Buddhist soldiers and their light, and presided over by eight hundred Arhats, was more fragile than paper before the golden cudgel, which stood like a pillar of heaven! Wherever the cudgel's wind passed, the Buddhist light vanished like bubbles, and the formation collapsed instantly!

Next, there is the flesh and blood body!
"Puff puff puff puff puff—!!!"

It was like millions of water-filled balloons being popped at the same time! Or like the world's largest millstone grinding grains of wheat!
Countless Buddhist soldiers, without even having time to utter a scream, were instantly reduced to a cloud of blood mist and shattered flesh by the force of the blow and the subsequent terrifying physical crushing! Golden armor, shimmering Buddhist treasures, and even their once vibrant lives, all vanished in this single strike!

The eight hundred Arhats, those eminent monks who would have been able to establish sects and be revered by thousands in the mortal realm, were now like fallen leaves in a raging storm. Those with higher cultivation could barely summon their magic weapons to protect themselves, but they were still blown away, coughing up blood and flying backward, their fate unknown. Those with slightly weaker cultivation followed in the footsteps of the Buddhist soldiers, their bodies completely destroyed by the wind from the sticks!

Just one hit!
The area within a hundred miles centered on Sun Wukong was completely cleared! Only a thick rain of blood, like a torrential downpour, remained, along with countless tarnished fragments of broken magical artifacts and armor slowly falling to the ground! The air was filled with a nauseatingly heavy stench of blood, and a deathly stillness of decay that seemed to extinguish everything!

Venerable Ananda, who had miraculously escaped to a distance and witnessed this scene, felt his legs go weak, his scalp tingle, and a chill run from the soles of his feet to the top of his head! Millions of Buddhist soldiers! Eight hundred Arhats! Just like that... gone?!

The giant ape that Sun Wukong had transformed into slowly retracted his golden cudgel, which was covered with dark gold blood and bits of flesh, dripping down.

He looked down at the devastated "battlefield" below, his face devoid of pity, only filled with endless ferocity and the pleasure of revenge!

"Bald monks! Five hundred years! I, Old Sun, have been imprisoned under the Five Elements Mountain by you, suffering endless torment! Today, thanks to your 'care,' I, Old Sun, will repay you all!!"

Sun Wukong's voice, like the roar of a demon god from the netherworld, resounded in the ears of every surviving Buddhist soldier.

“It’s not over yet!!”

His eyes flashed with ferocity again, and he gripped the golden cudgel that seemed to be able to support the heavens and the earth again, as if he was about to smash it down again, his target being the remaining Buddhist soldiers who were already terrified and defeated, as well as Venerable Ananda whose face was as pale as paper!
At the same time, on the other side of the battlefield.

After Lin Zhu dispersed the Heavenly Tribulation by "Quickly", he had no more worries. The Chaos Demon God phantom, wielding the God-Slaying Spear, launched an even more fierce and continuous attack on the Tathagata Dharma Image formed by the Golden Relic!

Each shot contained the power to split the heavens and the earth, bombarding the Dharma image and causing its golden light to tremble wildly, the cracks to continue to widen, and the cracks on the relic at its core to become denser and denser!

Guanyin and Fudō Myō-ō were already exhausted and facing numerous dangers.

Their combined defenses appeared so weak in the face of the God-Slaying Spear's sharpness and Lin Zhu's eerie chaotic demonic energy. The Immovable King, still recovering from his injuries, became the primary target, suffering heavy losses and his dharma form beginning to become illusory and unstable.

The entire Five Elements Mountain area was transformed into two distinct yet equally devastating battlefields!

On one side, Lin Zhu fought against two opponents, his demonic power overwhelming, suppressing the two half-step quasi-saints of the Buddhist sect so much that they couldn't lift their heads, and their golden Dharma forms were in imminent danger!
On the other side, Sun Wukong transformed into a giant ape ten thousand feet tall, sweeping away a million Buddhist soldiers with a single blow, leaving corpses strewn all over the ground, the Buddhist army collapsed, and Venerable Ananda fled for his life!
Two battlefields, engulfed in flames, where demonic and monster energies danced together, and Buddhist light and bloodlust mingled! A scene of unprecedented devastation and utter defeat unfolded before the eyes of Buddhism! Truly... a double whammy!
"Pfft——!"

A strange sound, like shattered glass yet even more muffled and tearing, was particularly clear and piercing amidst the raging demonic energy of the chaotic demon god's phantom and the final resistance of the golden dharma image.

The chaotic demon god phantom that Lin Zhu had transformed into gripped the god-slaying spear that seemed capable of piercing through eternity with both hands. The demonic patterns on the spear shone to their fullest extent, and the aura of destruction was condensed into one.

His eyes flashed with a cold light, his arm muscles bulged, and he thrust the spear forward with a sudden movement, then twisted it hard with his wrist!
"Break for me!!!"

"Crack! Boom—!!!"

With Lin Zhu's icy voice, the indestructible tip of the God-Slaying Spear pierced through the already cracked and dimmed chest of the Golden Tathagata's Dharma Image! The terrifying tearing force brought by the twisting of the spear was like the most violent millstone, instantly tearing open a huge, irregularly edged black hole in the Dharma Image's chest!
At its core, the golden relic, the size of a longan but now covered with spiderweb-like cracks and its light flickering, let out a mournful sound before finally succumbing to the destructive power of the God-Slaying Spear.

With a soft "bang," it shattered completely, turning into countless tiny golden specks of light. Like the last embers of a candle flickering in the wind, they flashed a few times before vanishing into nothingness!

As soon as the golden relic shattered, the once majestic and dignified Buddha statue, which had withstood Lin Zhu's repeated attacks, instantly lost all its splendor and power, like a sand sculpture without a skeleton. It collapsed and dissipated, turning into specks of Buddha light like fireflies, which were quickly swallowed up and annihilated by the surrounding chaotic demonic energy.

"No--!!"

A terrified scream rang out.

The Immovable King, who had been hiding behind the Buddha's image and trembling while relying on the image to withstand most of Lin Zhu's attacks, was now terrified as he watched the relics shatter, the image dissipate, and the last barrier completely disappear. His face turned as white as paper, and even his massive image began to flicker erratically.

He pointed at Lin Zhu, his voice trembling, and cried out incoherently.

"Lin...Lin Zhu! You...you actually dared to destroy the life-saving relic bestowed by Buddha! You're finished! You're completely finished! Buddha...Buddha asked me to tell you! If you dare to kill me, the Western Paradise will fight you to the death! We will be irreconcilable enemies!!"

He tried to intimidate Lin Zhu by invoking the Buddha and the entire Western Paradise in order to buy himself a chance to survive.

The equally disheveled and breathless Guanyin Bodhisattva, upon hearing Acala's blustering yet cowardly and almost foolish threat, nearly spat out a mouthful of blood in anger! She cursed inwardly that this fool was utterly hopeless!
The Western Paradise and Lin Zhu have long been sworn enemies, dating back five hundred years or even earlier—they've been irreconcilably opposed! Do you really need to emphasize that now?! Using this to scare Lin Zhu is an insult to both sides' intelligence! (End of Chapter)