The phantom of the tortoise and snake behind the opponent was almost identical to his own!
It was Zhenwu!
Impossible!
Before Ryūgen Shōkō could even cry out, his twin swords had already been unleashed. The Great Sword and the Juzumaru Tsunetsugu transformed into two descending beams of white light. The second thought that flashed through his mind was to kill the person before him immediately!
Immediately! He couldn't let him live for even a moment longer!
He possessed the power of a False Immortal, even if only partially. Coupled with the divine power of Myōken Tenjin and his own cultivation, instantly killing this True Immortal should not be difficult!
"Welcome, Gods, bow down to the Emperor, mountains and rivers follow, divine might is fully displayed...!"
The image of the white-faced Zhenwu leaped into existence.
A torrent of swords descended, the white light parting rivers, seas, and mountains.
Ji Xiang reached out a hand:
"Heaven's Retribution!"
An invisible, immense force vibrated into existence. The two beams of white light, which had not yet fallen, were forcefully halted and then vanished into smoke!
The sword energy disappeared abruptly, without any warning. The sacred sword Raikiri, like a flying sword, hovered beside the white-faced Zhenwu!
"....!"
What happened?
Why was his attack interrupted?
The divine artifact Great Sword, the sacred sword Juzumaru, the power unleashed by these two weapons... it had vanished! Right after the opponent reached out his hand and uttered those four words!
For the first time, a heavy drumbeat sounded in Ryūgen Shōkō's heart!
No matter how powerful an offensive technique, no matter how strong a defensive art, as long as there is a fight, there will always be flaws.
But if one cannot fight... it's not that there are no flaws, but that flaws abound!
Attack is defense, but if the attack is forcefully stopped midway, the attacker is almost defenseless against the counter-attacker!
This is impossible!
Ryūgen Shōkō, who had transformed into Myōken Tenjin Bodhisattva, now shifted into an angry form. He swung his sacred sword and divine sword once more, this time employing his sword skills!
One beam of white light became two, two became four, presenting a thrusting and slashing posture from different angles!
Yagyū Shinkage-ryū, Saru-mawashi Kage!
Although Yagyū Shinkage-ryū was a school whose ultimate principles were disarming and empty-handed sword snatching, with the saying that victory is achieved not by killing but by not being killed...
At this moment, Ji Xiang had no weapon in his hand. The Raikiri merely hovered around him like a flying sword. Sword manipulation was a technique unique to the Central Plains. Ryūgen Shōkō understood that even if he knocked away that flying sword, it would be useless, as the opponent's strength did not lie in that stolen sacred sword.
Who was truly snatching the sword empty-handed?
The four beams of white light intersected in an instant!
"Heaven's Retribution!"
The same scene unfolded again. The white light vanished as if it had never appeared, and the sword momentum was forcefully halted! Ryūgen Shōkō's chest was left wide open with a massive opening. He abruptly withdrew his sword and retreated hundreds of meters!
This time, the feeling was even clearer. The force he unleashed completely disappeared the moment the opponent raised his hand and spoke those four words, as if his own stylish pose had been actively struck and frozen in an instant.
What, aren't you going to attack? In Ryūgen Shōkō's eyes, the "white-faced Zhenwu" opposite him seemed to be provoking him like this.
Ryūgen Shōkō swung the Great Sword with a forceful movement!
This sword was a divine artifact, possessing the power to cleave mountains with a single strike! He absolutely refused to believe it couldn't kill an immortal!
One sword, two swords, ten swords!
The sword energy transformed into ten beams of white light. While their power was not as great as the previous four, they covered the sky like a surging tide, unleashing ten moves in an instant!
The Ten-Sword Style!
Following the ten moves, he followed up with the sacred sword Juzumaru, unleashing thirty-one consecutive strikes in the blink of an eye!
Gai-Rai-Tō Thirty-One Forms!
The sword and saber combined, capable of cutting through rivers and seas. But such immense power was once again casually resolved by those four words!
"Heaven's Retribution."
As the four words fell, dozens of sword and saber strikes were all eliminated. Only floating dust remained in the world; otherwise, it seemed as if nothing had happened.
A fear of the unknown surfaced in Ryūgen Shōkō's heart.
Clearly, the opponent was full of openings, yet the moment he fought, he would fall into the previous state. Was this divine power? Magic? Or was it the effect of a divine artifact on him? Was this the ability of a True Immortal?
Slashing, thrusting, parrying, returning. No matter how powerful the sword techniques, if they miss, they are meaningless. But he was the foremost swordsman in the land. Such consecutive slashes and thrusts, it was impossible for anyone to completely neutralize them instantly.
To see a strike and neutralize it was because the movement was perceived. But for dozens of strikes, his weapon was about to cut the Ming Dynasty immortal in an instant, yet the opponent made no move, waiting until the moment dozens of strikes converged to interfere and eliminate them. Had he seen through his sword techniques, or was he truly...
Inferior in skill!
"What did you do? That was neither blocking nor deflecting. Is this divine power? Magic? Or do you also carry the effect of a divine artifact? Is this the skill of a True Immortal?"
Ryūgen Shōkō attempted to extract some information from Ji Xiang's mouth. Ji Xiang chuckled, "How can one reveal their own secrets to others? I cannot answer."
"Hmm, your attack should have ended by now. I have also seen all your moves. Now, all your strength has been seen through by me."
"Seen through?"
Hearing Ji Xiang's words, Ryūgen Shōkō took a deep breath and sneered, "Are immortals all so arrogant?"
"You claim to have seen through me without even witnessing my full power? Truly arrogant and ignorant to the extreme!"
In Ji Xiang's eyes, the information about Myōken Tenjin appeared, and it was very extensive, including the spells and sword techniques Ryūgen Shōkō would employ. He had finally finished reading it, and it had also piqued his interest in this divine position.
Hearing Ryūgen Shōkō's loud retort, Ji Xiang reached out, startling him into raising his sword to block. However, Ji Xiang paid it no mind:
"When a fake meets the real, Myōken Tenjin. If I devour you, it will greatly enhance the form and spirit of the white-faced Zhenwu within me. However, since it is an extension of Zhenwu's divine position, it cannot be easily subdued. I must strip it away using the method of the source of your power, which is the Buddhist techniques from the beginning."
"As for full power, what are you to display your full power before me?"
Ji Xiang revealed a strange smile. Ryūgen Shōkō held his sword defensively, a sense of crisis inexplicably rising in his heart!
Bang! Ji Xiang clasped his hands together, then transformed them into Buddhist mudras!
"Om, Shuli Muli, Mo Mo Li Mo Li, Shu Shu Li, Svaha!"
"The Huiji Vajra's Purification Mantra!"
Boom! A foul divine power materialized out of thin air, carrying transparent pure flames! The form and spirit of Myōken Tenjin Bodhisattva erupted into flames in the blink of an eye!
Ryūgen Shōkō felt his internal organs being scorched by these suddenly appearing transparent flames, while Myōken Tenjin's divine power was dissolved by the foul and dark energies, gradually receding! His divine power circulation began to falter, and even his divine position seemed to be leaving him!
Damn it, what kind of spell is this?
Although Ryūgen Shōkō was skilled in sword techniques, his proficiency in spells was not high. However, after revealing his divine position, he could still unleash the divine spells with full power. Feeling the danger, he quickly recited Myōken Tenjin's protective mantra, hoping to counter Ji Xiang's Huiji Vajra Mantra.
"Jū Dī Tū Suō Zhā, Ā Ruò Mì Zhā, Wū Dū Zhā, Jū Qí Zhā....."
"The past forty Ganges sand Buddhas have said, I have heard this great divine mantra from the Buddhas in the past. Since then, for seven hundred kalpas, I have resided in Jambudvipa as the great national preceptor, governing the four continents, the king of stars, and achieving ultimate freedom...."
As the Myōken Tenjin mantra was recited, the pure flames on Ryūgen Shōkō's body gradually subsided, and the foul energy was repelled. However, the divine power that had been dissolved could not be regenerated. The starlight of the Big Dipper appeared outside Ryūgen Shōkō's body, protecting him.
Just as Ryūgen Shōkō felt the situation was stabilizing and decided to retreat for now to find some teammates to deal with Ji Xiang, before he could even move, the mantra from Ji Xiang's mouth, along with the mudra in his hand, suddenly changed!
"Cundi holds the wheel, shattering illusions, the cycle of life and death in the twenty-five realms depends on it to cease!"
"Cundi's Fire Cultivation Siddhi Repentance Method!"
"Peel!"
With a single word of the mantra, a bright fire wheel appeared out of thin air before Ji Xiang!
Ryūgen Shōkō's figure froze instantly, and the form and spirit of Myōken Bodhisattva were completely stripped away!
The divine tablet lost its form and spirit, and boiling divine power gushed from Ryūgen Shōkō's mouth, like threads being pulled out. Ji Xiang then drew a Golden Striking Hammer from his waist and threw it with great force.
"Universal Salvation of Heavenly Beings!"
The Golden Striking Hammer required the consumption of a fixed one-tenth of one's vital energy. Reciting different incantations could unleash different great powers. After the four words "Universal Salvation of Heavenly Beings" were uttered, the next strike of the Golden Striking Hammer was guaranteed to hit a vital point and break all magical enchantments on the opponent!
Ryūgen Shōkō's body trembled. A great sense of weakness enveloped him. Seeing the flying golden hammer, he quickly swung the Great Sword to block.
Clang! The sacred sword Raikiri slashed down from the sky, blocking the Great Sword for an instant. The next strike of the Golden Striking Hammer accurately hit Ryūgen Shōkō's heart.
Break!
At this moment, the form and spirit of Myōken Tenjin completely separated from Ryūgen Shōkō. Then, Ji Xiang opened his mouth wide. The form and spirit of Myōken Tenjin, along with the phantom of the tortoise and snake and the starlight of the Big Dipper, all converged into a seven-colored smoke, which Ji Xiang then inhaled into his abdomen!
This scene not only shocked Ryūgen Shōkō but also stunned the young Celestial Master hiding in the distance.
A... a god was eaten?
As Ji Xiang swallowed the form and spirit of Myōken Tenjin, he felt the form and spirit of the white-faced Zhenwu begin to solidify, as if preparing to manifest a divine position. However, this stripping battle was not over. What had been stripped away now was the external "Zhenwu image" of Myōken Tenjin. The Shinto and Buddhist magical powers remaining within Ryūgen Shōkō were still there.
"I am empowered by the Majestic Heaven. Rivers, sun, moon, mountains, seas, and stars are in my palm. I command light to be light, darkness to be darkness. The thirty-three Heavens are under my law; I command East to be East, West to be West, South to be South, North to be North!"
Ryūgen Shōkō was instantly suppressed by a vast power, unable to move. Thirty-three strands of killing energy manifested in the world, capable of severing flesh, destroying bones, and annihilating the three souls and seven spirits, and all evil energies!
"Ryūgen Shōkō!"
The white-faced Zhenwu called out his name!
Ryūgen Shōkō heard his name, and then the aura of the entire world seemed to thicken and expand twofold. In this vast heaven and earth, he appeared as insignificant as a tiny ant in the ocean.
"You have been captured by me, and will be judged according to the laws of my Great Ming Dynasty."
"For now, you will be treated as a bandit."
Ryūgen Shōkō heard Ji Xiang's voice, as if multiple mouths were speaking at once, causing his mind to reel and his spirit to destabilize. His vital essence was about to leak out, and the thirty-three strands of killing energy around him continuously surged into his physical body and primordial spirit!
"According to the Great Ming Law."
"If a bandit kills, sets fire to houses, rapes wives and daughters, plunders prisons and granaries, or commits offenses related to cities and government offices, and the number of victims reaches one hundred or more. If armed with bows, arrows, and weapons, ambushing and robbing on the road, and if the evidence is clear, regardless of the number of people, the offender shall be beheaded and displayed at the scene of the robbery!"
Bang! His physical body exploded according to the words, leaving only a head that rolled to the ground.
Ji Xiang pulled out the Great Sword. Under the night sky and the river of stars, divine power flowed along the blade, its brilliance shining. The national prestige of the Land of the Sun was also entwined upon it. It was truly a praise:
"What a good sword! I was just in need of a suitable magic sword!"
Then, he raised the sword and, facing the distant Yuan Mountain City... swung it with great force!