However, the destruction of the Dingjia City altar and the seventy years of cultivation by the Six Sects would not be easily dismissed. Although the Great Manifestation Huaguang Dharma Lord, as the direct aggressor and traitor, was dead, and the Black Fiend Dharma Lord had also perished in the aftermath, coupled with the ordeal of the Spirit Communication...
Still, some Dharma Lords survived the confrontation of the immortal artifacts.
Due to the collision of the immortal and Buddhist artifacts, the Guanyin Dharma Lord witnessed the Great Manifestation Huaguang Dharma Lord being forced to defect. As the Great Manifestation Huaguang Dharma Lord resisted the Ying Sun Heavenly Lord of the Biyou Palace, the power of the Shangqing Dharma Realm that had previously crushed him was interrupted.
He immediately abandoned his altar and fled the city, showing no regard for his disciples. Fortunately, he managed to survive.
In contrast, the old Dharma Lord of the Sanxuan Laojun Sect was not as fortunate. He was too old to withstand the bombardment of the Dharma Realm's power. His mind had shattered, his soul annihilated, leaving only a twisted corpse.
As for the Guangze Dharma Lord and the Wulei Ding Dharma Lord, they fiercely resisted the bombardment of the Shangqing Dharma Realm, resulting in their deaths.
"I survived! Haha, I'm not dead!"
The Guanyin Dharma Lord, having narrowly escaped death, was filled with relief. At that moment, he finally understood the meaning of life!
To lie down was to win!
He was unaware of the outcome of the battle within the city, but it was clear that the victory or defeat of the two combatants no longer mattered, as he saw a cloud of mist ascend into the sky. The one riding the cloud was Ji Xiang.
He was the person the Six Sects had intended to deal with.
The fluctuations of the immortal and Buddhist artifacts' energies had also vanished from the city.
After a considerable time, the Guanyin Dharma Lord returned to Dingjia City. The city was no longer recognizable, with intact buildings nowhere to be seen. Bricks and tiles had turned to dust, and their altars were reduced to ashes, ceasing to exist.
The immortal and Buddhist artifacts lay on the ground. The Guanyin Dharma Lord picked them up as if they were treasures, but he could not sense any magical power within them.
They were two pieces of scrap metal.
Their power had vanished.
"Sigh! Bad luck!"
The Guanyin Dharma Lord looked at the two pieces of scrap metal helplessly. He had thought he had struck gold, but it turned out otherwise. It seemed that the power of the immortal and Buddhist artifacts had been seized by Ji Xiang.
But how had he managed to do it?
He replayed everything he had witnessed in his mind, preparing to search for any remaining possessions he might have, when he heard a call.
Immediately, she gathered some soil and piled it up to form an altar.
A beam of lightning descended upon the altar!
"Why is my proxy dead?"
Within the lightning, three divine forms appeared, descending through the altar from thousands of miles away!
It was the main god of the Wulei Ding Sect, the Thunder King Chen Hong!
"Great Master Qingzhu!"
The Guanyin Dharma Lord bowed when he saw his revered deity among the three divine forms.
Thunder King Chen Hong, Guangze Zunwang, Qingzhu Guanyin.
"What happened here? Why has Dingjia City, where the Six Sects were located, become like this?"
"Who did you provoke?"
Qingzhu Guanyin inquired of her Dharma Lord. The other Dharma Lords, enraged by the destruction of their altars and proxies, had descended to the southeast to investigate.
If the Shangqing Sect was responsible, then so be it.
If it was not the Shangqing Sect, then someone else would pay.
The Guanyin Dharma Lord recounted the events to the three divine lords. Upon hearing that the Shangqing Sect had initiated the trouble, the divine lords initially became hesitant to intervene, their arrogant demeanor softening by three parts.
However, upon learning that someone from the Biyou Palace had descended to seize treasures, their diminished arrogance immediately surged back!
"Damn it!"
The Thunder King Chen Hong roared in anger, "Even a dog looks at its owner before striking. The Six Sects offered their altars to us. Even if someone betrayed us, it's not for him to call for slaughter. He should have informed us!"
"The Dharma Lord held immortal artifacts, and they descended from the Shangqing Dharma Realm to the mortal world to rob them?"
What the Thunder King Chen Hong meant to say was that he hadn't even had a chance to rob them yet, and someone dared to get ahead of him?
"Where did Biyou Palace find a Pure Yang cultivator? Their Palace Master, that traitorous Shangqing Daozi, was only at the Nascent Soul realm!"
Upon learning that the Heavenly Lord who descended from Biyou Palace possessed the cultivation of peak Pure Yang, the Thunder King was also taken aback.
He himself, having gathered the incense and faith of more than half of the southern provinces, had only reached the Pure Yang realm. When Biyou Palace had come before, a Nascent Soul Daozi had led three traitors from the Yellow Court realm. Now, in such a short time, a peak Pure Yang cultivator had appeared?
"Thunder King, what do you think?"
Guangze Zunwang asked the Thunder King. The Thunder King remained silent for a moment, then asked the Guanyin Dharma Lord, "Then why are those two dead now?"
The Guanyin Dharma Lord spoke of Ji Xiang, and the Thunder King fell silent for a long time.
Then, his tone was filled with disbelief:
"There are so few Pure Yang experts in this mortal world. Even if they break through, so many wouldn't suddenly appear. The ancient powerhouses are long gone..."
"You said the person who caused you trouble was a helper found by the Shangqing Sect, a Dao Master from the imperial court?"
"How have I never heard of him? Is he a newly appointed expert?"
Guangze Zunwang: "Thunder King, are you still going to let this go? The three of us are Pure Yang, and if we bring in a few of our old monsters, with some extra benefits, we can still fight."
"If it weren't for the old Mountain Master of the Shangqing Sect and their formations, we could have helped them take down this generation of the Shangqing Sect."
The Thunder King snorted, "You know the Shangqing Sect has an old Mountain Master and great formations. The Shangqing Mountain Master, though not at his peak in the Pure Yang realm, is not far off. With a single formation he sets up, he can fight three or four of us. Besides, if we gather a bunch of rabble, aren't the Daoist sects more powerful than us?"
"The Three Teachings... indeed, they are not to be provoked lightly."
The Thunder King knew well that the tactic of calling for reinforcements was not initiated by their Dharma sects. The Daoist sects were most adept at calling for reinforcements. Moreover, it was said that the Shangqing Sect could artificially summon immortals. If two Ascension realm cultivators descended, what could they do?
Guangze Zunwang: "So, are we just going to swallow this insult?"
The Thunder King's face was grim, "Of course not."
"We are deities in the south and do not interfere in the affairs of the Daoist sects. The Three Teachings are difficult to deal with because we are seeking trouble with them, which is an offensive move. But this time, the imperial court is involved and is the main force. This is simply too much of a disregard for us."
"The imperial court has been growing weaker in recent years, and local officials have less authority than we do. I don't know if this Dao Master from the imperial court has come here to show us who's boss. In any case, I think it's time we showed the imperial court our displeasure."
Guangze Zunwang's divine form showed a playful expression:
"Not provoking the Three Teachings, but provoking the imperial court? Do you have the guts to attack the Forbidden City?"
The Thunder King sneered, "What if I attacked the imperial court?"
"Can they call the Three Teachings to help? We are all cultivators, and no one's methods are inferior to another's. And don't forget, once we reach the southeast, it's our territory. Although the Three Teachings are powerful, they won't easily come to the southeast. The imperial court is currently fighting the Koreans and Japanese pirates. Do they have the time to mobilize a large army to attack us? Aren't they afraid of rebellion?"
"A dragon from afar cannot suppress a local snake!"
"And fighting on our territory, with the faith and wishes of all people in our hands, coming here will only lower one's cultivation. Even an Ascension realm cultivator would have to bow down in the southeast!"
Qingzhu Guanyin, seeing that the Thunder King had made up his mind, said, "Then I will cast a curse on him so that we can know his whereabouts."
She then extended her hand and conjured a water screen, from which she retrieved a green bamboo. Chanting incantations, she began to perform a ritual. Several markings appeared on the green bamboo. Through these markings, she could grasp the opponent's aura, and using this residual aura, she could gradually deduce his destiny, thereby casting a curse or tracking him.
However, after Qingzhu Guanyin had been tracking for a while, her chanting grew softer and finally stopped, leaving her with a gloomy and perplexed expression.
"What is it?"
The Thunder King asked her. Qingzhu Guanyin's tone was filled with uncertainty:
"He has no destiny. His birth time is unknown, and his death time is also unknown... He is beyond the three realms and outside the five elements."
The Thunder King frowned, "There is no such person in the world. Even immortals' destinies are within the three realms and five elements. Even wild beasts, snakes, insects, rats, ants, and all beings in heaven, earth, gods, humans, ghosts, and those with scales, shells, fur, and feathers, all have a time of birth and death."
"Unless, he is not one of the ten categories of beings!"
"Then the question arises... what is he?"