As the Monkey King's life dissipated in an instant, the Bull Demon King suddenly stopped all his movements, standing there dumbfounded, staring blankly at the Monkey King's corpse slowly turning into a pool of blood, his gaze empty and lifeless.
Although the Bull Demon King had inexplicably ceased to act, the others had not. On the contrary, the death of the Monkey King drove everyone into even greater frenzy. Everyone understood that this was war. What is war? If you don't fight with all you've got, you'll be dead.
Therefore, including Tang Sanzang, the majority of people unleashed the strongest attacks they'd ever mustered in their lives.
And what about Master Tongtian's side?
Master Tongtian too had sustained injuries, but he forcefully suppressed them in the face of a formidable enemy. After all, those Demon Kings were no ordinary foes. In particular, the Vajra Bracelet from the Rhinoceros Demon and the hundred beams of rosy light fired by the Hundred-eyed Demon Monarch had inflicted heavy injuries on Tongtian.
However, the one who suffered the most was the Supreme Elder Lord. He had been severely injured by a direct hit as he attempted to suppress the Eight Trigrams Fire and Sanzang's Transcendence Bloom together, not only had a large portion of his Eight Trigrams Fire been extinguished, but the elder had also spat out blood, his complexion sickly and listless.
"Transcendence Bloom, truly worthy of its reputation, to actually be able to annihilate my Eight Trigrams Fire, cough cough, indeed there is always someone better out there," he muttered.
It turned out that the petals of the Transcendence Bloom released by Sanzang, augmented by that green leaf, were capable of contending with the Elder Lord's Eight Trigrams Fire, with each petal able to extinguish a strand of flame.
The extinguishing of a single strand of flame might seem trivial, but don't forget, though numerous, the Elder Lord's flames were finite, while the petals of the Transcendence Bloom, conjured through illusions, were endless. Matching them one by one for annihilation, the outcome was clear.
Only less than a third of the Elder Lord's flames remained, and due to the annihilation of his flames, his vitality had been greatly diminished. However, Sanzang's Transcendence Bloom, aside from a slight dimming in color, seemed to be completely unharmed, and except for a significant drain on his mana, Sanzang bore no other injuries.
All of this did not escape Master Tongtian's watchful eyes, who sighed to himself: "Although my elder brother is unmatched in alchemy, when it comes to battle, he is always just a step behind."
After the first round of probing, each side had gained a certain understanding of the other's capabilities and strength. Next would be a strike of life or death.
Breath held, expressions tense and solemn.
"Elder brother, be careful. If you can't hold out, retreat quickly, and I'll cover the rear," Master Tongtian transmitted to the Supreme Elder Lord.
Meanwhile, discussions had started on this side too.
"Master Sanzang, I'll leave the Elder Lord to you later. We'll put all our efforts into holding down Master Tongtian. Aim to severely injure the Elder Lord with the Master's help, and then we can join forces to take on Master Tongtian."
This was Bodhi Patriarch secretly transmitting to everyone. Originally, among these individuals, Bodhi Patriarch was the strongest, and Tongtian had always been suppressed by him. However, he had become slightly distracted due to the situation with Sun Wukong, allowing Master Tongtian to break free. Bodhi Patriarch felt quite guilty about this. He should have taken on the Supreme Elder Lord by himself.
But unexpectedly, at the crucial moment, Tang Sanzang achieved enlightenment, becoming the strongest among them. Besides, the Elder Lord's fire was indeed a counter to Bodhi Patriarch's Bodhi Tree, so the task of facing the Supreme Elder Lord was left solely to Tang Sanzang.
Indeed, the Transcendence Bloom proved to be an effective counter to the Eight Trigrams Fire.
Ready for a second strike, they gathered their strength.
This time, it wasn't the Bull Demon King who made the first move but instead the other five Great Saints along with the three demons of Lion Camel Ridge.
Flood Dragon Demon King's arms vibrated with force, his battle armor shattered to reveal a pair of dragon claws, exceptionally sharp and incredibly large.
The Peng Demon King this time didn't attack alone, but instead joined forces with the Roc. Both transformed into their original forms, though significantly reduced in size. Their wings crossed as they started to soar, and as the two Rocs took flight, the sound of wind and thunder echoed, sparks of lightning crackling through the air.
Similarly, the Lion Camel King teamed up with the Azure Lion of Lion Camel Ridge, both transforming into their reduced original forms. The two fierce lions crossed their paws, sparking brilliant fire, and ran crisscrossed toward Tongtian in the sky. Yes, they ran through the air.
After that, the Yulei King and the White Elephant of Lion Camel Ridge also teamed up to provide cover as they launched an assault on Tongtian.
Following these three waves of attacks, there was silence.
But even with just these seven attacking, Master Tongtian dared not underestimate them; their combined forces meant the power was far more than just the sum of their parts.
Master Tongtian raised his hand and released three magic treasures.
One was the Purple Lightning Hammer, a supreme rank innate spiritual treasure. Dwelling within the laws of thunder and lightning, it was one of Master Tongtian's primary weapons for vanquishing demons and slaying fiends.
Another was the Tai Sui Whip, a supreme rank innate spiritual treasure. Once wielded, anyone struck by it would have their soul and essence scattered, their body shattered to pieces, and their aeons of cultivation would be rendered into nothingness.
The last one was the Purple Cloud Dust Brush, a supreme rank innate spiritual treasure. Its power and function unclear, it was a treasured artifact wielded by the ancestral Hongjun, given to Master Tongtian as a handheld treasure when Hongjun distributed his artifacts.
Having released three treasures, Master Tongtian's face turned slightly pale.
However, the Flood Dragon Demon King and the others didn't give Tongtian any time to rest, for their combined attack was already upon him.
The thunderous wings of the two Rocs collided first against Tongtian's Purple Lightning Hammer. Both were thunder and lightning attacks, and the collision result was a deafening boom. Looking again, the two Rocs were sent flying backward, and the Purple Lightning Hammer returned to Tongtian's hands, still trembling on its own.
Soon after, the assault of the two mighty lions arrived, their sharp aura assaulting the senses as the huge crossed claws latched onto the Purple Cloud Dust Brush.
And this time, only two ferocious lions were sent flying backward, their claws used for the attack completely broken and bleeding profusely. Meanwhile, the Buddha Dust did not retreat in the slightest.
The ones to let out a miserable scream were the jailor king and the white elephant of Lion Camel Ridge. These two, not particularly strong to begin with, faced the Tai Sui Whip and ended up with severe injuries and blood flowing freely.
Seeing this outcome, Tongtian breathed a slight sigh of relief, but before he could relax completely, he was faced with an enormous dragon claw that had already reached him.
So, the attacks from the six individuals earlier were just a cover for this single claw? A flicker of shock and trepidation showed in Tongtian's eyes.
It was too late to summon his Magic Treasure; he had no choice but to awkwardly catch the strike with the Purple Lightning Hammer in his hand.
A wild roar of a dragon reverberated through the land, thick with the intent of revenge and triumph. Although the Flood Dragon Demon King's claw was hurt from grabbing the Purple Lightning Hammer, causing the flesh to peel back, the enormous force also caused the other end of the Purple Lightning Hammer to strike fiercely against Tongtian's chest.
Finally, unable to suppress his injuries, blood flowed from the corner of Tongtian's mouth.
In this fierce battle, the most powerful, Sect Hierarch Tongtian, had finally been injured.
However, it was not yet over.
An injured Tongtian wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, looked back at the Supreme Elder Lord, and immediately felt his soul leave his body.
And then, something even more horrific for Tongtian happened. Just as he turned his head back from looking at the Supreme Elder Lord, he realized he was trapped in a Great Formation; one that seemed familiar, yet he had never seen before.
A thought emerged—all the previous attacks were a diversion; the true killing move was this Great Formation.
So, what exactly was this Great Formation?
Want to know?
Perhaps you've already guessed.
It was the Demon Clan's infamous Zhou Tian Xing Dou Great Formation.
Arranged by the talents of the Demon Clan, including White Bone Spirit, Fang Monstrosity, Nine-headed Fiend, and many others, the first killing formation of the Demon Clan—the Zhou Tian Xing Dou Great Formation. A chill went down Tongtian's spine. This Great Formation had a notorious reputation, and even though he was a master of formations, he wasn't confident he could break through it.
Alarmed, Tongtian had no choice but to delve into the secrets of this formidable Formation. Once trapped inside the Zhou Tian Xing Dou Great Formation, it was like entering a starry expanse; surrounded only by stars, one could see nothing else. Furthermore, no matter which direction you flew, even if you flew until the end of time, there would be no end.
Tongtian floated in the air, closed his eyes, and the Array Diagram of Immortal Slaying manifested out of thin air, hovering above his head. Although it was not a formation itself, it was still an ancient and fierce array that shared some common characteristics. What Tongtian intended to do was to use the peculiarities of the Array Diagram of Immortal Slaying to probe the mysteries of the Zhou Tian Xing Dou Great Formation.
After a long while, Tongtian opened his deep eyes, the corners of his mouth slightly raised with an unmistakable look of triumph, "Hmph, a rabble, relying on an incomplete Zhou Tian Xing Dou Great Formation to imprison me? Wishful thinking."
Having spoken, the light of the Array Diagram of Immortal Slaying intensified, and it began spinning rapidly, shooting out billions of sharp sword lights. These sword beams angrily shot towards the countless stars within the Zhou Tian Xing Dou Great Formation.
A moment later, a spatial tremor occurred and, in the once flawless star space, a minuscule hole appeared, where an out-of-place breath drifted in.
"Hmph, a flaw has been revealed. Watch as my Immortal-slaying Sword Light breaks this illusory starry facade."
Before the words had finished, the Immortal-slaying Sword Formation transformed into a massive Immortal Slaying Sword, lightly twirling a sword flower before exploding forth. Its target was the pinhole-sized gap.
A split second later, another earth-shattering bang resounded.
The space trembled, and a figure in a Taoist robe emerged from the void—an opulent Daoist with undisguised satisfaction in his eyes.
This Daoist was none other than Sect Hierarch Tongtian, who had broken out of the formation.
What about the elite of the Demon Clan who had arranged the formation?
As the formation shattered, those elites and leaders of the Demon Clan were sent flying back and vomited blood.
The difficulty of hastily arranging an incomplete ancient fierce formation, especially one used to imprison a saint who had attained enlightenment for tens of thousands of years, can only be imagined—their mana was depleted just maintaining the formation, let alone activating its killing moves.
Otherwise, even if Tongtian could have broken the formation, it would not have been so easy.
However,
When Tongtian, eyes full of triumph, looked upon the Supreme Elder Lord, who was on the brink of death, his triumph disappeared, replaced by towering rage and dread.
It turned out that while the later Demon Clan leaders were using the Great Formation to imprison Sect Hierarch Tongtian, Tang Sanzang had risked his life to launch the Transcendence Bloom with all his might, completely eradicating all the Eight Trigrams Fire behind the Supreme Elder Lord. The cost, however, was Tang Sanzang losing all his mana and damaging his Taoist foundation due to forcibly activating the Transcendence Bloom.
Only the veins of the two green leaves remained on the Transcendence Bloom. Everything else had been completely consumed.