Chapter 1722: Bitter Endeavor

Everything happened so fast that Li Changsheng watched, dumbfounded. He had originally hoped these two would destroy Zhao Hao's physical body and play a decisive role in the battle, but who knew they would be defeated so quickly?

Xuan Bajing's situation was still understandable; his previous move was quite stunning. However, no one expected that striking the opponent would result in his own injury. As for Guan Chouhai, he was simply ridiculous. Xuan Bajing had tested out the opponent's special ability for him, yet he ended up knocking himself unconscious? He used to think Guan Chouhai was quite clever. Had he lost his mind today?

At that moment, the two figures charged directly towards Li Changsheng, Xuan Bajing, and Guan Chouhai, intending to use this opportunity to eliminate these threats entirely. With Xuan Bajing already unconscious, Li Changsheng and Guan Chouhai were filled with despair. They were severely wounded and completely powerless to resist, able only to watch, waiting for death.

Just then, Elder Xuandu, the young monk Jie Se, and some Taoist masters who had been closely following the battle rushed over to rescue the leaders of their respective sects. Unfortunately, despite their high cultivation, they were no match for the Grandmasters who had cultivated Primordial Spirits. Screams soon echoed as a large number of them died almost instantly upon encountering the enemy.

Seeing Elder Xuandu, who had just been fighting alongside them, so easily killed, the young monk Jie Se turned pale with fright. These people weren't from Wuyou Temple; it was a case of "better a dead Taoist than a dead monk," so he turned and ran. The two figures wouldn't let him escape; they pursued him immediately, their weapons still dripping with blood. The young monk Jie Se was so terrified he cried out desperately, "I'm going to die, I'm going to die! Master, save me!"

Just then, the ethereal Buddha image in the sky suddenly raised its hand and slammed it towards "Guan Chouhai" and "Xuan Bajing," who were chasing him. One moment it was a hand in the clouds, the next it descended with the crushing weight of Mount Tai. Although the two figures were powerful, they were no match for the ethereal Buddha image, which was comparable to a Celestial Immortal's Primordial Spirit. They quickly dodged backward.

At this moment, a cold snort was heard as Zhao Hao's Primordial Spirit also struck, deflecting the Buddha image's hand. Seemingly having identified Grandmaster Jian Huang's weakness, Zhao Hao then pressed a finger directly towards the young monk Jie Se. It was a seemingly light finger-poke, yet it was like crushing an ant, an utterly overwhelming strike. The young monk Jie Se stood frozen in place, completely unable to resist, only able to watch helplessly as the finger pressed closer.

Grandmaster Jian Huang naturally could not stand idly by, so the ethereal Buddha image rushed to save him. Zhao Hao's Primordial Spirit revealed a sinister smile and then attacked the ethereal Buddha image.

Initially, King Qi was the main force, with Grandmaster Jian Huang providing support. The two cooperated surprisingly closely, forming a formidable pair that made it difficult for Zhao Hao to break through for a while. This time, using the opponent's disciple as bait, he lured Grandmaster Jian Huang into taking the initiative, causing a momentary crack in his coordination with King Qi. Zhao Hao naturally wouldn't miss this opportunity. He unleashed a punch, a palm strike, and a finger strike, all landing on the ethereal Buddha image. The Buddha image flickered, could no longer hold, and completely disintegrated.

Grandmaster Jian Huang, sitting cross-legged below, did not spit blood, but no one believed he was unharmed. His skin was visibly cracking all over his body, like shattered glass. A cold wind blew across the golden summit. First, a patch of skin peeled off his face, revealing a black void beneath. Then his entire body could no longer hold together and completely broke apart into pieces. Finally, he was carried away by the wind, turning completely into ashes.

When King Qi saw him go to save the young monk, he immediately knew something was wrong and rushed over to help. Unfortunately, he was still one step too late; the ethereal Buddha image had already been shattered. Even with his firm resolve, he felt a moment of panic seeing Grandmaster Jian Huang turn to dust. After all, without his assistance, he alone would certainly not be a match for Zhao Hao.

Zhao Hao seemed to have anticipated this. Carried by the lingering power from killing Grandmaster Jian Huang, he seized the opportunity and attacked directly. King Qi frantically defended, but Zhao Hao, who had been the strongest in the world for many years, possessed such vast experience that he gave King Qi no chance at all. Soon, King Qi's defenses collapsed layer by layer until he was struck in the chest by the opponent's fist. His massive figure crashed down, unable to maintain itself, and returned to his physical body.

Zhao Hao breathed a sigh of relief. In that brief moment, he had repeatedly dealt heavy blows to two powerful enemies; even with his cultivation, it was a bit much to bear. He had held nothing back just now, unleashing almost his full power in the shortest time possible. Grandmaster Jian Huang was one thing, but King Qi was also a Celestial Immortal. Severely wounding him also cost Zhao Hao a considerable amount of energy.

However, now that he had dealt with their combined forces, he could recover to peak condition in a few breaths with his powerful recovery ability as a Celestial Immortal. The rest were mere ants.

Unexpectedly, at this moment, a sudden change occurred. A burst of Buddhist chanting resounded, and lotuses rained down from the sky. The previously panicked young monk Jie Se now had a calm expression, halos of light appearing behind his shining bald head, and his entire being became sacred and majestic.

Zhao Hao's expression changed drastically, and he quickly dodged backward. Unfortunately, having just defeated two great powerhouses, he was currently at a point where his old strength had waned and new strength had not yet emerged. At the same time, the young monk Jie Se suddenly made intricate hand gestures, almost instantly imprinting several seals on Zhao Hao's body.

Zhao Hao's Primordial Spirit returned to his physical body. His originally robust and tall body swayed, and then he sat down on the ground with a thud. He had always presented himself as invincible; never before had he appeared so disheveled in front of others. Guo Zhi and the other imperial guards were greatly alarmed by this sight and rushed over to help.

The young monk Jie Se put his palms together, and a red light swept across. The remaining imperial guards and Embroidered Uniform Guards on the field immediately burst into flames and were reduced to ashes in the blink of an eye. The civil and military officials in the Hall of Reception halfway up the mountain changed their expressions. "How could there be another new Celestial Immortal aura?"

The successive appearance of Celestial Immortals made even the calmest Meng Yi and Bi Qi restless. Although the Emperor was powerful, this situation was becoming dangerous. So they directly ordered the army at the foot of the mountain to bring up the rune siege cannons, deciding to directly blast open the True Yang Sect's mountain-protecting formation.

At this moment, Zhao Hao's face was dark red, his grim eyes fixed on Jie Se not far away. "You are not the young monk. Who exactly are you?" he demanded.

Jie Se put his palms together. "This monk is naturally Jie Se," he said, "but this monk also had a dharma name called Ru Hua in the past. I suppose Your Majesty wants to know that."

"So it was you!" Zhao Hao exclaimed, his pupils contracting slightly.

King Qi was also panting at this moment, but he was more shocked. He also knew this name: Ru Hua was the previous abbot of Wuyou Temple, and also the master of the current Grandmaster Jian Huang. Legend had it that he was Wuyou Temple's most outstanding genius in nearly a thousand years, and the most promising person to break through to Celestial Immortal. Unfortunately, later Zhao Hao emerged, dominating an era. Knowing he could not surpass him, and being old, Ru Hua passed away with regret. Who could have imagined he hadn't died and had become Grandmaster Jian Huang's disciple?

"No, that's not right. The details of your daily interactions with Grandmaster Jian Huang couldn't have been faked," Zhao Hao said in a deep voice. "If you were his master, how could you have acted so flawlessly?" Clearly, he also had his own informants on Mount Zi and was perfectly clear about the intelligence concerning such important figures.

"How else could I have deceived Your Majesty?" Monk Ru Hua smiled slightly. "In fact, even Jian Huang didn't know about this. To truly deceive everyone, I sealed my own consciousness. In my daily life, I genuinely believed I was Jie Se. It was only in that very moment just now that I remembered everything and understood my plan."

Zhao Hao sneered, "Indeed, a clever scheme. But your Buddhist sect constantly preaches compassion, yet you deceive even your own disciple, sacrificing his life to ambush me. What kind of Buddhism do you practice? What kind of path have you achieved?"

King Qi also felt a chill run through him; he, too, had been used. If Ru Hua had revealed his identity from the start, their two primordial spirits, along with Grandmaster Jian Huang and the others, might not have found it impossible to defeat Zhao Hao. But he had chosen this most sinister scheme. Now, some were dead, others crippled, and both King Qi and Zhao Hao were severely wounded, while only Ru Hua remained with full combat strength.