Zhou Chengli stared at Crown Prince Fei Heng in horror.
Crown Prince Fei Heng stood three meters tall. His hideous, muscular body possessed a decaying, pale hue, and his eyes were bloodshot.
The berserk corpse dragon had lost its divine sense and only numbly protected Fei Heng.
The Spiritual power of one man and one corpse dragon resisted the Buddhist light raining down from Nun Dairou's Bodhisattva of Rebirth in the cloudy sky.
"The Corpse-Stitching Art of the Mountain of Esoteric Stratagems... the corpse dragon of the Dao-Glimpsing realm Corpse God from the Mountain of Esoteric Stratagems, and... a Dao-Glimpsing realm body!"
Back then, the ones who handled the matter of the Mountain of Esoteric Stratagems were the Department of Immortal Suppression, whose duty was to suppress demons and evil spirits, but the Imperial Protectors Guard was equally aware of the intelligence regarding the Mountain of Esoteric Stratagems.
Zhou Chengli found it hard to believe.
After the sect's gate was destroyed, during the battle with Holy Monk Yidian, the Corpse God of the Mountain of Esoteric Stratagems had fled when he saw no hope of salvaging the situation.
The world did not know where the Corpse God went.
But now, the already deceased corpse dragon was being used by the Crown Prince.
With just a little thought, Zhou Chengli could guess exactly whose corpse Fei Heng had integrated into his own body using the Corpse-Stitching Art... the Corpse God!
And this made Zhou Chengli even more incredulous.
"How is this possible? Where did the Crown Prince learn the Corpse-Stitching Art? And by what means did he kill the Corpse God and the corpse dragon of the Mountain of Esoteric Stratagems?"
And the answer to all of this...
He looked at the two from the Li Clan. These two didn't seem surprised at all.
Zhou Chengli seemed to understand why Li Yaozu wanted their four Void Refinement cultivators to lead the way.
Rather than saying they were leading the way, it was more like they were brought along to be witnesses!
To witness a Crown Prince cultivating a forbidden art not tolerated by the world, or perhaps some other matter entirely.
Zhou Chengli's heart pounded wildly.
He looked at Li Yaozu and Li Yaoqing. "You two, should we help?"
In the cloudy sky, Nun Dairou's Bodhisattva of Rebirth and Perfected Qinghe were engaged in a fierce battle.
The statue of Nun Dairou's Bodhisattva of Rebirth had a compassionate face and profound Buddhist Dharma.
Its left hand thumbed prayer beads, while its right hand struck a wooden fish. Buddhist Dao chants filled the cloudy sky.
Even though they were far from the battlefield, everyone present could still feel that under the Buddhist chants, their Spiritual power, vital blood, and souls were falling into a state of lethargy.
The Buddha statue did not move, yet it was already manifesting Buddha palms; in fact, wherever the Buddhist light shined, massive lethal damage could be inflicted at any moment.
This was the Dao of the so-called 'Rebirth', which delivered a person's physical body and soul.
If directed toward good, it truly could allow someone to step into reincarnation. But if the Bodhisattva directed it toward evil, the opponent would fall into the predicament Perfected Qinghe was currently experiencing.
Under Perfected Qinghe's Dao intent, it was as if there was a quagmire around him.
The sound of boiling water could be heard in the cloudy sky, and black bubbles popped up in the surrounding space, full of corrosive and highly toxic intent.
Wherever his Spiritual power touched, things withered and decayed at a speed visible to the naked eye.
How did this prominent figure of the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion still resemble the transcendent, immortal-like being holding an array disk that outsiders usually saw.
The smiling mask on his face was gone, revealing a gloomy young man's face.
He held two Spirit Treasures shaped like poisonous fangs, and behind him loomed the phantom of a cyan nine-headed dragon.
As the Buddhist Dharma clashed with Perfected Qinghe's 'Dao of Poison', Perfected Qinghe fell to a disadvantage, playing out exactly as if evil could not triumph over good.
.......
"A dignified almighty expert of the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion, an elder of the dynasty's Department of Imperial Divination, has actually cultivated such a vicious Dao path."
Nun Dairou struck her wooden fish, seemingly entering a state of meditation. Behind her, the Bodhisattva of Rebirth wore a tranquil and gentle expression.
Its voice was majestic, its form solemn, and it looked righteously toward Perfected Qinghe.
"The imperial court is corrupt and full of filth. My Buddha is compassionate. Benefactor, turning back is the shore.
Hand the court's Crown Prince over to this poor nun for enlightenment, and only then can you cross the sea of suffering."
Perfected Qinghe's twin spikes pierced into the void. Behind him, the phantom of a nine-headed dragon roared in all directions, but his poison arts were suppressed by the Buddhist Dharma.
Having fought for four hours, he was already at his wit's end.
Glancing at the ground where the Crown Prince was also struggling to resist, his corpse energy suppressed by the Buddhist Dharma, Perfected Qinghe's gaze flickered uncertainly.
"If I had known, I wouldn't have waded into this muddy water."
Perfected Qinghe gnashed his teeth.
Wenren Jiuyue, who was fighting the Nirvana Sage Elder at the Dusheng Nunnery, was definitely cursing him right now.
But how could that old bastard know that this was the true center of trouble?
Nun Dairou was a master at hiding her true strength, and Crown Prince Fei Heng was no simpleton either.
Not long ago, when he saw Fei Heng use the Corpse-Stitching Art, Perfected Qinghe was almost scared silly.
"This is really going to cost me my life," Perfected Qinghe thought inwardly while resisting the Buddhist Dharma.
"The Empress wants me to kill the Crown Prince, while His Majesty ordered me to save him. Now look at this—I can neither kill him nor save him.
Anyway, he is neither human nor ghost; it would actually be better if Nun Dairou captured him!"
Having made up his mind, he was just about to leave when he pursed his lips.
He saw numerous auras approaching from all directions.
"Amitabha!"
Nun Dairou's tightly closed eyes furrowed.
The Bodhisattva of Rebirth chanted scriptures, and six giant jade Bodhisattva hands reached out from the sky, blocking Void Refinement Spiritual power from six directions.
Six Void Refinement cultivators!
Two of the auras were particularly eye-catching.
One exuded the aura of a supreme-grade Dharma Treasure, as heavy as a mountain.
It was an ancient and unadorned bracelet. When it blasted against the palm of the Bodhisattva of Rebirth, the phantom of a mountain range appeared, shattering one of the Bodhisattva's palm's fingers.
The other aura was accompanied only by a sword's hum and a myriad rays of seven-colored light.
With a soft sound, an incredibly ordinary sword pierced into the center of the Bodhisattva's palm, before being shattered by the Buddhist light.
Following the booming sounds, the six Void Refinement cultivators who had come from Deston Prefecture surrounded Nun Dairou from afar on six sides.
"Perfected Qinghe, we have come to hold the line for you."
Li Yaoqing's voice rang out, causing the corners of Perfected Qinghe's mouth to twitch. He actually knew Li Yaoqing.
The Heavenly Secrets Pavilion and the Azure Cloud Li Clan had an inexplicable and unclear relationship.
Back when Li Yaoqing was an imperial physician in the Imperial Capital, everyone knew of her.
Over these years, the merchant Li Clan had amassed a fortune, and their ties with the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion had grown even closer.
"Thank you all for your assistance. This old demoness is truly difficult to deal with."
Perfected Qinghe forced a smile. Great, now if he ran away, it would be exactly as Wenren Jiuyue had said—his reputation would rot and stink to high heaven.