Chapter 2353 Raw 2460 : Buddhist Light Obliterated
“The sword, hand it over.”
When the Demonic Dao Hall Sovereign Emperor experts took over the palace, the imperial ancestral temple not only did not stop them but even colluded with them.
This dramatic scene looked ridiculous, utterly incredible. However, upon further thought, this had been planned long ago.
When Xi grasped the Demonic Imperial Sword during the succession race and prepared to consume the dynasty’s Dragon Veins, these imperial ancestral temple’s patriarchs, who managed the Ancient Yan Emperor Tomb, had simply ignored him and did not do anything.
If not for a surprise that Xi could not control, Yuan Zhen and Wang Yan making a strong counterattack, Xi probably would have already consumed the dynasty’s Dragon Veins. The situation would be even worse than now.
Wang Yan was not stupid; he quickly figured out the crux of this issue.
Wang Yan’s hand, which held the Yan Imperial Sword, trembled endlessly as he looked at Xi with a sullen expression and said, “Is my father still alive?”
Xi smiled faintly and said, “Naturally, he is still alive. However, if you do not cooperate, then it is hard to say. Don’t even think of resisting. The imperial ancestral temple has already reached an agreement with my Demonic Dao Hall. The Yan Dragon Formation in the palace will not activate.”
The many princes at the drill ground were shocked. Some appeared dispirited, unable to stand stably.
Xi’s words meant that the Yanwu Dynasty, under the control of the imperial ancestral temple’s patriarchs, had already submitted to the Demonic Dao Hall. They had already become prisoners.
The imperial ancestral temple’s Imperial Ancestor showed up in the palace again. Then, he said calmly, “Princes and feudal lords, there is no need to be anxious. After Lord Xi becomes the new Yan Emperor, everything will be the same as before. There will not be any changes in your nobility and conferred lands. The Martial Epoch is about to end, and the new epoch will start soon. Lord Xi has promised us a greater glory.”
After this announcement, the various feudal lords calmed down somewhat.
At the same time, the feudal lords started thinking about how their clans and personal benefits would be affected if this were true.
Even if someone were upset, they did not dare say anything when they looked around at the Demonic Dao Sovereign Emperors and the imperial ancestral temple’s hidden experts.
“Xiao Chen, are we rescuing the Ninth Prince?” Ao Jiao asked softly as she looked at Xiao Chen.
Xiao Chen’s heart remained as calm as a still lake. He replied after some thought, “Don’t worry. Someone will make sure he survives. I only need to take care of you all.”
“Ninth Elder Brother, just hand the Yan Imperial Sword to Lord Xi. Don’t end up causing all our deaths because of your impulse,” the Thirteenth Prince Wang Yi said indifferently as Xi walked over.
“Exactly, our royal father is still in their hands. Not to mention harming us, are you going to cause our royal father’s death as well?”
The various princes who failed in the succession race did not want to see Wang Yan become the crown prince in the first place.
Upon seeing the situation, they all started speaking up in deliberately ambiguous tones, wanting Wang Yan to surrender his Yan Imperial Sword.
A corner of Wang Yan’s mouth quirked as he sneered, “You all are really my good brothers! Xi, I’ll tell you this. Either you die, or I die today. Otherwise, I will never hand my Yan Imperial Sword to you.”
“You have backbone. However, is it of any use?”
Xi’s smile disappeared, and murderous intent replaced it.
“Clang!”
Wang Yan drew his sword, and his Yan Imperial Sword dazzled, showing the dynasty’s might of an entire dynasty.
Even if everyone wanted to submit to the Demonic Dao Hall, Wang Yan would not.
Even if Wang Yan had not become the crown prince today, he would still be the first to step forward in such a situation.
There was no other reason than this being his character.
Xi showed a mocking smile. “Are you sure I will be the one fighting you? That’s not happening.”
Xi spread his arms and floated back.
“Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!”
Dozens of figures then appeared from the darkness, all of them imperial ancestral temple experts.
These people showed cold expressions, radiating killing intent from their bodies.
The hundreds of Demonic Dao Sovereign Emperors in the surroundings showed cold gazes, silently circulating their Demonic Qi Divine Energy. This caused roiling black clouds to cover the sky of the palace instantly.
The atmosphere of an entire palace turned cold and austere, feeling very suppressive.
Now, this space was completely isolated, preventing Wang Yan from running with the Yan Imperial Sword.
Wang Yan smiled bitterly as he looked at the imperial ancestral temple’s Sovereign Emperor experts while holding up his Yan Imperial Sword.
Unexpectedly, he had to kill his own people during the final battle.
“Whoosh!”
However, just at this moment, a change happened. A beam of golden Buddhist light pierced through the black clouds and encased Wang Yan. Closely after that, the golden Buddhist light spread out rapidly. In mere moments, the Buddhist light scattered the demonic clouds overhead.
As the Buddhist light shone, the place appeared solemn and dignified.
When everyone looked up, they saw the golden Kāśyapa Buddha statue at the summit of the Spirit Vulture Mountain outside the imperial capital radiating a resplendent light. A Buddhist nation materialized behind it.
When all the common people—both inside and outside Yan City—saw this miraculous sight, they knelt and prayed.
The Kāśyapa Buddha statue’s eyes fixed on Wang Yan across the distance.
“The Hidden Spirit Temple!”
Commotions broke out all over the palace.
This seemed to be expected and yet also unexpected. As a storm rocked the Yanwu Dynasty, on the verge of falling into the hands of the Demonic Dao Hall, this hidden force, the super faction that had not made a move for many years, finally bared its fangs.
The palace always had Buddhist light shining on it; that had never changed.
The Lord Buddha that had always been paying attention to the Yan Emperor never vanished.
The Yanwu Dynasty would always be at the foot of Spirit Vulture Mountain.
Indeed, Xiao Chen thought to himself. It was pretty much as he guessed.
From the start to the end, Xiao Chen remained relatively calm. He believed that no matter what, the Hidden Spirit Temple would not sit idly and watch the Demonic Dao Hall take control of the Yanwu Dynasty.
However, things were far from being that simple.
Since the Demonic Dao Hall dared to make their move under the nose of the Hidden Spirit Temple, they had to be confident of success.
No matter what, Xiao Chen could not afford to be careless. He had to protect the people beside him.
“Whoosh!”
Three figures approached from afar, coming from Spirit Vulture Mountain’s summit and appearing above the palace’s drill ground.
The ones who appeared were the Hidden Spirit Temple’s Abbot Xu Ye, the Spring Snow Bladesman Pan Huang, and the Sword God Su Hanshan, the latter two flanking the abbot.
The imperial ancestral temple’s Imperial Ancestor showed a grave expression as he quickly flew forward. Then, he said, “Senior Abbot, my Royal Court is dealing with some internal affairs. Please return. The Hidden Spirit Temple has long since stopped interfering with us. Could it be—”
“Scram to the side!”
Before the imperial ancestral temple’s Imperial Ancestor could finish speaking, Pan Huang took merciless action, throwing a slap from a distance and sending the Imperial Ancestor flying.
Before Pan Huang, the 8-Vein Sovereign Emperor Imperial Ancestor could not last even a move.
This greatly startled everyone.
“Boom!”
A terrifying aura erupted from deep within the palace. Nine Yan Dragon images converged from different directions.
Then, the nine Yan Dragons formed one substantial-looking Yan Dragon. A white-haired, old man stood on the Yan Dragon, exuding a faint Faux God’s Might.
“That is…the ninth-generation Yan Emperor. He is actually still alive?!”
“Whoosh! Whoosh!”
Three old men followed behind this white-haired, old man. All the Faux God experts of the Royal Courts appeared.
This was a dynasty with more than one hundred thousand years of inheritance, after all. Normally, they did not reveal themselves, but that did not mean that there were no Faux God experts.
Wang Yan, who was on the drill ground, was startled. Then, he showed an extremely unsightly expression.
Now, he finally understood. The Royal Court’s Faux Gods sanctioned the Demonic Dao Hall’s actions.
“Hehehe! There are really a lot of undying old fogeys! Who else is there? Stop hiding. The four of you are not enough for me to beat up.” Pan Huang chuckled. He did not think much of these four at all.
It looked like a great battle between Faux Gods would soon start.
Xiao Chen knew that he needed to leave, so he prepared to take out the Divine Universe Stele with a thought.
Suddenly, he sensed a strong aura appear behind him. When he turned back to look, shock flashed on his face.
It was Mu Zifeng!
Even more shocking for Xiao Chen was that Suiren Ji, Mu Zifeng’s opponent, arrived with Mu Zifeng.
There were Suiren Ji, the Heavenly Alliance’s Doyens, and many incredibly strong Faux God experts.
Xiao Chen could not help saying, “Lord Mu?”
Mu Zifeng smiled and said, “What’s wrong? Surprised to see me? This is not the time to speak. A Faux God battle is about to erupt. Suiren Ji, bring them away first.”
“You don’t have to tell me what to do.”
Suiren Ji coldly eyed Mu Zifeng. Then, he flung his long sleeves out, sending out a gray light that encased Xiao Chen and the others.
Within the gray light, they could not see the sky and sun.
Xiao Chen thought very quickly, finding this strange. However, he resisted making a move.
“Whoosh!”
When his vision recovered, he turned his head to look. He could only see a blurry golden light at the imperial capital Yan City.
However, he still could feel the strong auras of Faux Gods.
Everyone, including Xiao Chen, looked at Mu Zifeng in confusion.
“What is going on?” Xiao Chen asked Mu Zifeng.
Suiren Ji glanced over and said indifferently, “Brat, be more respectful. It was I who made a move to bring all of you out.”
Mu Zifeng raised his hand, stopping Suiren Ji. “Let me explain. It is as you saw; the Demonic Dao Hall and the imperial ancestral temple are working together to chase away the Hidden Spirit Temple from this land of Luck. However, what you did not see is that the Underworld God Hall is also participating.
“A battle between Faux Gods is inevitable. No matter who wins, the Yanwu Dynasty is finished.”
Xiao Chen’s heart skipped a beat. He looked at Mu Zifeng and asked, “Is it because I killed the First Prince Wang Fei?”
Mu Zifeng said after some thought, “That’s not wrong. Wang Fei was the representative of the imperial ancestral temple, the Demonic Dao Hall, and the Underworld God Hall. If he did not die, they would not need to push Xi to the front. The Faux Gods would not have appeared, either. However, the battle between Faux Gods was inevitable, as the Hidden Spirit Temple would not just sit back and wait to die.”
Ao Jiao asked, “Then, how did you enter the palace? Did the Demonic Dao Hall’s people not make a move against you?”
Suiren Ji replied softly, “Young lass, right now, the Faux Gods of the various super factions are scattered in the Yanwu Dynasty. No matter how bold the Demonic Dao Hall and the Underworld God Hall are, they would not dare to offend all of us in one go. After all, they only want to deal with the Hidden Spirit Temple. People like the Dragon God Crown Prince Qin Ming, the Profound Heaven’s Holy Son Wenren Yu, and the others were also taken away by the Faux Gods of their factions.”
“Then…since they are all here, why not help the Hidden Spirit Temple?” Hao Kai could not help asking.
Mu Zifeng sighed softly. Then, he said self-mockingly, “You are overthinking. Now that the epoch is changing, there is no longer any distinction between righteous and demonic. The various super factions are hoping that the two sides will fight and end up severely injured, both sides sustaining heavy losses.”
Xiao Chen did not feel surprised. He turned his head back and looked, frowning heavily. He still felt worried for Pan Huang.
“Bang!”
Just at this moment, Buddhist light shone at the summit of Spirit Vulture Mountain. The golden Kāśyapa Buddha statue that everyone looked at suddenly spun around.
This revealed the other side to everyone.
Xiao Chen knew about the two sides of the golden Kāśyapa Buddha statue—good and evil. However, he did not expect that the other side would appear before the world one day.
The bright, golden light immediately vanished. Then, a dark Buddhist light shrouded everyone as the Kāśyapa Buddha showed a strange cold face.
Just as Xiao Chen felt surprised and uncertain, the Kāśyapa Buddha statue turned around again, showing its benevolent, peaceful, solemn, and dignified side once more.
The golden Kāśyapa Buddha statue kept alternating between good and evil. Then, it suddenly shattered without any warning.
“This…”
Mu Zifeng and Suiren Ji were stunned, gaping and feeling dumbstruck.