The space around the Dao Fruit began to warp. Wisps of incomparably pure Power of Taiyin Reincarnation Origin were forcibly torn away by the vortex, coalescing into a spectral blue band of light—caught between illusion and reality, yet visible to the naked eye—that streaked across the battlefield and surged madly toward Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva’s shattered Grotto Heaven.
"Bastard! How dare you!"
Xu Yunfan naturally wouldn’t let Ksitigarbha succeed.
He truly hadn’t expected that Ksitigarbha, despite being so grievously injured, still possessed such a bizarre technique to forcibly absorb the Dao Fruit’s Origin from a distance.
Although he couldn’t devour the entire Dao Fruit instantly, absorbing this pure Taiyin Origin would be enough for him to recover some of his strength. It might even trigger a deeper resonance with the Dao Fruit, leading to unpredictable consequences.
This was tantamount to snatching away the prize Xu Yunfan was determined to obtain, and it was Ksitigarbha’s only hope for a comeback from this desperate situation.
’I really can’t underestimate these old monsters. Thank goodness I set up two nestable arrays that can unleash the power of the Seventh Grade.’
"Annihilate!"
Xu Yunfan’s eyes were as cold as Ten Thousand Years Profound Ice. He held nothing back.
He controlled Han Shi’s body and thrust his hands down forcefully.
The long-primed Double Destruction Array roared its final challenge, like an Ancient Fierce Beast that had been thoroughly enraged.
Sword Gang and Thunderbolt cascaded down like a torrent.
SWISH SWISH SWISH!!
From within the Ten Thousand Tribulations Yin Sha Extinction Sword Formation, tens, even hundreds of thousands of ghastly white Sword Gang blades—condensed to their absolute limit from Yin Evil Death Qi and Endless Killing Grudge—unleashed an Extinction Sword Intent that could end all things. They tore through space, transforming into a storm of pallid Sword Gang that shot toward Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva from all directions.
Wherever the Sword Gang passed, the Sea of Blood was silently sliced apart, leaving behind black rifts in space that refused to heal. The shrieks of the dead souls became their terrifying accompaniment.
RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE!!!
At almost the same instant, the final killing move of the Nine Nether Profound Evil Slaughter Immortal Thunder Array descended.
This was no longer scattered Thunderbolt, but four Destruction Thunder Pillars of different attributes, all forcibly unified under the True Meaning of Destruction Divine Sky.
One Purple Gold Destruction Thunder Pillar wreathed in ghastly green Yin Fire; one pitch-black Abyssal Thunder Pillar entwined with the Chain of the Dead Soul; one Profound Yin Thunder Pillar, so green it was almost black, brimming with venomous evil; and one silent, ghastly white Soul Thunder Pillar that tugged at the Divine Soul.
The four thunder pillars, like four world-ending demonic dragons, spiraled down together with a terrifying might capable of destroying everything. Their target was also Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, who was on his lotus platform, about to absorb the Dao Fruit’s Origin.
A double annihilation.
The torrent of destruction, formed by the Sword Gang storm and the Destruction Thunder Pillars, instantly engulfed Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva and the shattered lotus platform beneath his feet.
"I am Ksitigarbha!!!"
Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva let out a final roar.
His shattered Golden Body, under the slicing of the pallid Sword Gang, crumbled and annihilated inch by inch like rotten wood.
The spectral blue band of Taiyin Origin he had forcibly drawn in was instantly shredded to pieces by the rampaging Thunder Fire and Sword Intent.
The last vestige of the Buddha Light Shield he struggled to maintain popped like a soap bubble before the torrent of destruction.
The already crumbling Buddha Country Grotto Heaven Illusion behind him shattered with a BOOM, like a piece of colored glass struck by a Heavy Hammer. It broke into a sky full of dancing, dim golden specks of light that quickly dissipated within the destructive energy.
The terrifying explosion once again illuminated the Sea of Suffering.
The destructive energy, like an ever-expanding orb of death, completely annihilated and vaporized everything in the core area.
The shockwave swept out for hundreds of miles, violently shoving back the Sea of Blood that had just begun to flow back in, creating even taller crimson waves.
It was impossible to say how much time had passed. Perhaps it was just an instant, or perhaps it was an eternity.
When the destructive light and raging energy slowly dissipated, all that remained was a terrifying crater, even deeper and larger than before, with dark red molten rock flowing along its edges.
The scorched smell grew stronger, even carrying a strange, meaty fragrance left after flesh had been completely incinerated.
The figure of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, along with his shattered Eight-Treasure Lotus Platform, had vanished without a trace.
As if he had never existed.
Only the space above the giant crater still held violent, distorted fluctuations, along with the slowly fading traces of an extremely faint yet incomparably pure golden Buddha Power Origin, proving the complete demise of a Bodhisattva.
Xu Yunfan was panting heavily, his face as pale as paper, his body swaying slightly.
Forcibly activating the superimposed, unparalleled Killing Array was a tremendous burden, even for him controlling it via Divine Thought. It strained both Han Shi’s physical body and his own primary Divine Soul, which was far away on Divine Sky Mountain.
Han Shi’s Life Force was almost completely drained, his meridians felt like they were tearing apart inch by inch, and even his Divine Soul had grown dim and unstable from bearing Xu Yunfan’s will and the backlash from the Array.
The remains of the True Martial Sword in his hand turned completely to dust.
However, his gaze was fixed on a point outside the core of the explosion.
In the final moment before the torrent of destruction engulfed Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, he had clearly seen a faint golden speck of light. It was incredibly weak, yet its essence was extremely tough and condensed, enveloping Ksitigarbha’s last wisp of Origin, Buddha Nature, and the imprint of his great vows. The instant the terrifying destructive power of the double array tore open the Sea of Suffering’s spatial barrier, the speck of light—as if prepared all along—fled at an incredible speed into the depths of a spatial rift, vanishing into a chaotic torrent of space-time.
That speed, that grasp of timing... it was clearly his trump-card, life-saving Escape Technique. He might have even sacrificed a portion of his Origin to activate it.
"The Bodhisattva’s True Spirit escaped?"
Xu Yunfan’s voice held a trace of regret, but not much surprise.
’A Golden Core True Monarch, especially a Bodhisattva who established his Dao through great vows and was rooted in the Sea of Suffering for ten thousand years, would naturally have an endless array of life-saving measures. Completely eradicating his True Spirit was indeed an incredibly difficult task.’
’If I hadn’t laid down two Grand Arrays beforehand that, when combined, could match the Seventh Grade, and supplemented them with the Fury Killing Sword Intent and the Divine Sky Thunderbolt technique, how could I ever have taken him down?’
’However, his True Spirit escaped before he reached the Mid-Stage Golden Core. This means his life’s Daoist Cultivation has been completely destroyed. Whether he can return after countless eons to once again attain a Daoist Golden Core is unknown; the probability is as slim as a speck of dust.’
’For now, at least, this threat has been eliminated.’
His gaze slowly moved away, passed over the terrifying explosion crater, and once again fell upon the gnarled and twisted White Bone Monster Tree, which had miraculously survived the shockwave at the edge of the Double Destruction Array.
Atop its branches, the Taiyin Nether Dragon Fruit still hung quietly, emitting a cold, pure radiance that seemed as eternal as time itself.
After enduring such a world-shaking calamity, it appeared completely unscathed. The only difference was that the Supreme Yin and Cold aura it emanated seemed more restrained and profound than before.
Xu Yunfan raised his hand in a Hand Seal, expanding the double array to cover eight thousand miles of the Sea of Blood, preventing anyone else from secretly spying on him.
’The Golden Core Realm Cultivators of the Taihua Spirit Ruins Realm are all a bunch of schemers. I have to be on guard.’
"Tsk, why so cautious?"
In a dark corner somewhere, a low, grumbling voice sounded. A moment later, a gust of wind swept by, leaving no trace that anything had ever been there.