Beside them, Uncle Jiu and his group saw the Seated Arhat preparing to act, and they all stood behind Shi Jian.
Among their group, only Sikong Yu had ascended to the Golden Immortal realm through meritorious deeds. The rest of them wanted to refine personal magic treasures using meritorious deeds, which was much better than using them to enhance their cultivation.
“How many chances do you think I have of defeating the Seated Arhat?”
“No need to guess, Senior Brother. You should focus on dealing with the Seated Arhat. I and a few junior brothers will handle the Rebirth Monks.”
After entrusting the primary adversary to Shi Jian, Uncle Jiu turned and led Qian He and the others towards the Rebirth Monks, determined to avenge Sikong Yu.
The Judge in charge of the eighth layer of hell dared not interfere in the dispute between the two great forces and could only hide in the distance to watch the show with the ghost attendants.
“You want to leave? Did you ask this Arhat first?”
Seeing Uncle Jiu and his group about to attack the Rebirth Monks, the Seated Arhat quickly intervened to prevent the Sutra of Rebirth from being interrupted, which would lead to the failure of saving the souls.
“Your opponent is this Judge!”
Shi Jian, having ascended to the Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm through meritorious deeds, instantly appeared before the Seated Arhat and engaged in a fistfight.
Unexpectedly, the Seated Arhat’s physical body was incredibly powerful. His punch felt like hitting a steel plate.
Not only did it cause no damage to the Seated Arhat, but Shi Jian was also sent flying backward.
“You reckless and incompetent fool, how dare you obstruct this Arhat here!”
“Fine, today I will first send you to the Western Pure Land to meet the Buddha and properly repent for the sins you have committed in this life.”
Seeing Shi Jian obstruct him, the Seated Arhat became furious and swung his fists to attack.
“The Western Pure Land has no connection with this humble Taoist, and I am not qualified to go there. I see that Arhat has a connection with the Western Pure Land, so why not I send you there!”
After exchanging some taunts before the battle, Shi Jian, having suffered a setback, no longer engaged in close combat with the Seated Arhat. Instead, he used his instantaneous movement to continuously bombard him with the Purple Lightning of Life and Death.
Little did he know that the Golden Body of the Eighteen Arhats could not be broken by a single type of Purple Lightning of Life and Death.
The lightning techniques landed on the Seated Arhat as if ants were tickling an elephant. The Purple Lightning of Life and Death struck the Seated Arhat, only producing a few sparks.
Within a second, the sparks vanished.
“Judge of Heavenly Punishment, your lightning techniques are no different from a tickle to me. Now it’s my turn to attack.”
The Seated Arhat twisted his neck, completely disregarding the Zi Xiao Divine Thunder Technique, and his entire body erupted in golden light.
The Eighteen Arhats focused on cultivating their Golden Bodies externally. Ordinary magic techniques could not harm the Arhat Golden Body; only lightning techniques of the Five Directions Thunder Emperor level could break it.
Just as he was about to launch an attack, the Seated Arhat discovered that Shi Jian had inexplicably vanished from the eighth layer of hell.
“Did he escape?”
“Consider yourself lucky to have some self-awareness, saving me the trouble of sending you to the Western Pure Land.”
Within the eighth layer of hell, the Seated Arhat could not sense Shi Jian’s presence for a long time, so he shifted his attention to Uncle Jiu and his group.
Without the Seated Arhat’s obstruction, Uncle Jiu and his companions quickly dealt with several arrogant Rebirth Monks. The Sutra of Rebirth was thus interrupted, leading to the failure of saving the souls.
“You are seeking death! You refuse the path to heaven and insist on breaking into the gates of hell!”
Seeing several Rebirth Monks fall to the ground, the Seated Arhat’s face instantly turned ferocious as he charged towards Daoist Qian He and Uncle Jiu.
“How utterly ridiculous. This is the territory of the Great Emperor Dongyue, not the palace of your Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva.”
Shi Jian, hiding in the shadows, seized the opportunity when the Seated Arhat’s attention was focused on Uncle Jiu and his group. He unleashed four lightning techniques of different colors and hurled them towards the Seated Arhat not far away.
Although the four Zi Xiao Divine Thunder Techniques could not subdue all things, they were sufficient to break the Arhat Golden Body.
With a scream, the Seated Arhat was sent flying by the four Zi Xiao Divine Thunder Techniques. His Arhat Golden Body was instantly broken, and he tumbled a few times in mid-air before collapsing on the ground, appearing on the verge of death, his former arrogance gone.
“The Seated Arhat is defeated! The strength of the Judge of Heavenly Punishment is truly immense!”
The Judge, who was spectating, was shocked by the four lightning techniques and was unsure whether to assist Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva’s palace.
After all, he had already reached an agreement with the Rebirth Monks and the Seated Arhat, so it would be difficult not to intervene and help at this time.
“Judge Xing, quickly activate the Judge’s Seal and forcefully expel these individuals from the eighth layer of hell. We can barely hold on.”
After careful consideration, the Judge in charge of the eighth layer of hell could not resist the temptation of heavenly merit. He took out his Judge’s Seal and banished Shi Jian, Uncle Jiu, and Sikong Yu from Bulu Banhu (the eighth layer of hell).
Those who were still fighting the Rebirth Monks were instantly transported to the Underworld Capital.
“Damn Xing Xing. The three Grand Patriarchs still allowed him to appoint the Judge of the eighth layer of hell. He’s simply raising a white-eyed wolf.”
Sikong Yu cursed in the Underworld Capital, attracting the attention of many ghost attendants and wandering souls.
“Senior Brother, we should quickly go to the Palace of Great Emperor Dongyue to find the three Grand Patriarchs and inform them about the matter of the eighteen layers of hell.”
Uncle Jiu, with his wits about him, did not curse Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva’s palace. After calm deliberation, he proposed seeking out the Three Pure Ones to discuss countermeasures.
“Senior Brother Lin is right. The priority is to go to the Palace of Great Emperor Dongyue to find the three Grand Patriarchs.”
Daoist Qian He and the other junior disciples strongly agreed with Uncle Jiu’s opinion.
“Very well, you all go to the Palace of Great Emperor Dongyue first. I need to return to Guangjiu Residence to hold the fort.”
After discussing the plan, Shi Jian used his Judge’s Seal to open the first layer of hell.
Sikong Yu, Uncle Jiu, and Daoist Qian He and his group then proceeded to the Palace of Great Emperor Dongyue to seek support from the Three Pure Ones.
“It seems unavoidable to encounter Buddhist followers wherever we go. Fortunately, I have earned a lot of heavenly merit this time, which is almost enough. It’s a shame I can’t break through to the Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm.”
Upon entering Guangjiu Residence, Shi Jian first observed the scene within hell, confirming that the punishments were being carried out in an orderly fashion.
He then found a quiet spot and used his heavenly merit to cultivate the God-Slaying Demon Thunder to the fifth level. The remaining merit he planned to use on magic artifacts.
Now, Shi Jian regretted not bringing the Tai Qing whisk down with him earlier. If he had refined the Tai Qing whisk into a magic treasure using heavenly merit, its power would have been elevated by another level.
However, as a hereditary magic artifact of the Maoshan sect, he could not bring the Tai Qing whisk to the Underworld. For magic artifacts, he had to make other choices.
“Whisk won’t do. Should I get a gourd, or perhaps a sword?”
Shi Jian pondered for a moment and could not make up his mind in the short term. He decided to temporarily abandon the idea of a weapon and devote himself entirely to cultivating his lightning techniques.
Time passed slowly. Uncle Jiu and his group returned to the eighteen layers of hell with the Lord of Mount Tai.
“Senior Brother, I have both bad news and good news. Which would you like to hear first?”
(Cough, cough, the author is back from the brink of death. I have lost my sense of taste and smell.
Also, the cultivation realms in this book later on will be the same as those in the Primordial World.)