The Lord of Void and Real
Chapter 1044

Chapter 1044: Chapter 1041: The Rise and Fall of Zen Chapter 1044: Chapter 1041: The Rise and Fall of Zen “What a marvelous shedding of the mortal coil, turning decay into wonder,” Chiyou couldn't help but admire upon seeing this.

However, soon his expression darkened, and he added, “But such efforts are but a drop in the bucket to me, what hindrance do they pose?”

As his words fell, demonic blood still flowed from his wounds, but before the cicada wings could collect it, the blood ignited on its own, transforming into a fierce blaze that spread towards the cicada wings.

With the burning of the magic blood, a vast black area in the center of the Map of Mountains and Rivers began to rapidly expand, and in a blink, it had tainted half of the landscape black. The natural order of this realm was reversing, as the vibrant scenes of spring and summer gave way to the stark desolation of autumn and winter.

Zhenyuanzi, high above, felt the changes below and was overwhelmed with concern.

Due to the Heavenly Book not being fully restored, the power of the Heavenly Dao within the Map was always lacking. Now, with the demonic Qi surging and threatening to completely reverse the natural order, if successful, the Heavenly Book itself might be tainted by the demonic Qi.

His brow furrowed, he was slowly coming to a resolution.

“The chilling autumn wind, the solemn winter cold, let us see how much longer you can hop around, you Golden Cicada,” Chiyou said with unchecked laughter.

“Amitabha, the rise and fall of the cicada, the birth and cessation of Zen, are but a thought away, no need for concern…”

A serene sigh emerged from the void, followed by an amber glow forming around Chiyou, and a huge Golden Cicada Shell appeared out of nowhere, enveloping him entirely.

“Brother Zhenyuanzi, Brother Shen, the rest is up to you,” Tang Sanzang's ethereal voice sounded once again.

In the void, the soul shadow of a young monk dressed in a moon-white robe slowly descended upon the amber Cicada Shell, merging with it until it disappeared from sight.

Right then, dense golden texts started to appear on the Cicada Shell, revealing the entire script of the Vajra Sutra.

Once the text was completed, the entire Shell lit up, and a huge golden Buddha image appeared outside, the palms of its hands coming together in a gesture of prayer, with Chiyou encased within the Cicada Shell held between them.

With the Cicada Shell and Buddha image sealing him, Chiyou's blood flames still burned but could no longer affect the changes within the Map of Mountains and Rivers directly, and the tainted half of the landscape ceased to spread further.

“It's our turn now,” Sun Wukong said with a grin.

“Brother Monkey, let's go,” laughed Zhu Bajie.

Sand Monk remained his usual silent self but nodded at Little White Dragon, who had already transformed into a handsome young man, in the distance.

The four brothers separated once again, each leaping into the air and speeding off toward the four corners of the world.

Before long, it seemed as though four stars had fallen to the ground in each of the four directions, with light shooting up into the skies, which then turned into a rain of spiritual energy that fell upon the Earth.

The land, tainted by Chiyou, rapidly shed its blackness as the landscape rejuvenated, bursting with new life.

Shen Luo slowly stood up and saw a streak of golden light flying across the sky; he reached out with an open hand and grasped at the void.

The Golden Light fell into his hand and instantly transformed into a golden staff, with golden flames swirling around it and still carrying a hint of Wukong's essence. It was none other than the Ruyi Golden Cudgel.

Grasping the staff, he immediately felt a tremendous force coursing from the cudgel into his body, a gift left by Sun Wukong for him, a gift of power to conquer Chiyou.

Shen Luo soared into the air as his aura began to climb continuously, soon surpassing his original peak condition.

“Boom”

A thunderous explosion sounded, and Chiyou's battle axe struck heavily within the golden cicada shell, splitting the void with such force that it vibrated incessantly, and the palms of the Buddha joined in prayer trembled along with it. The golden light that spilled forth from them dimmed considerably.

Shen Luo immediately waved his hand, and an Exquisite Pagoda flew out, swiftly enlarging in the void, transforming into a golden Treasure Pagoda about seventy to eighty feet tall. It descended from the sky and suppressed Chiyou beneath it.

As the Treasure Pagoda landed, the Samadhi True Fire within surged out instantly and burned fiercely.

Shen Luo's eyes flickered with golden light as he looked into the Exquisite Tower. He could see Chiyou's body emitting rolling Demonic Qi that, under the scorching flames, began to dissipate quickly, while the golden text of the Vajra Sutra on the amber cicada shell sparkled brilliantly.

The oppressive forces converging from all directions grew stronger and stronger.

Shen Luo immediately leapt up and positioned himself above the Treasure Pagoda, retracting the Golden Cudgel and quickly forming magic spells with his hands–one palm facing the sky, and the other with fingers pointed to the earth.

In high altitude, the fissure in the Heavenly Book, barely mended by Zhenyuanzi, flickered with faint light, and in the depths of the sky, ripples of golden light spread out. Waves of power from the Heavenly Dao were drawn down by Shen Luo, entering the palm he raised high, and poured into his body.

“Ah…”

Shen Luo experienced a sudden agony as his bones and meridians turned translucent in an instant. The force that surged into his body was like red flames, roasting and scorching every inch of his flesh and blood.

His bones “cracked” alarmingly close to breaking, his meridians stretched and expanded, his flesh throbbed as if it might explode at any moment.

As his skin began to split bit by bit, patterns like turtle cracks emerged, oozing golden blood, yet not a drop flowed out.

Shen Luo gritted his teeth and exerted full control over the Heavenly Dao's power coursing into his body, forcing it out through his joined fingers and congregating it within the Golden Tower.

In the instant the power of the Heavenly Dao infused into it, the entire Golden Treasure Pagoda emitted a colored glaze gloss. The Samadhi True Fire inside burned even more fiercely, and Chiyou, sealed within, withstood layers of heavy pressure. His form continuously shrank, seemingly unable to bear it any longer.

But just then, an explosive shout suddenly rang out: “Demon Realm Descends!”

In the Exquisite Pagoda, where Chiyou seemed to have been suppressed immovably, he suddenly lit up with bright Demonic Patterns, and a black light sphere emerged from his chest, rapidly expanding in size.

In just a few breaths' time, the black light sphere expanded thousands of times over, transforming into a black light screen that expanded over a thousand miles, enveloping Shen Luo and the others within.

In an instant, everyone felt as if the world darkened; the surroundings, with their distinct colors of mountains and earth, vegetation, and rivers, all lost their hues, turning into a monochrome world.

Except for Shen Luo, everyone, including Zhenyuanzi, turned gray and white.

“This is Chiyou's supreme Divine Power. For a brief period, he has transformed this region into the Demon World. Apart from the power of the Heavenly Dao, the vitality and effectiveness of all mystic arts will be greatly reduced,” Zhenyuanzi realized the problem almost immediately and shouted a warning.

No sooner had his words fallen than a “bang” sounded. The golden cicada shell enveloping Chiyou was the first to shatter, and closely following it, the giant Buddha with palms joined together also collapsed, scattering into specks of golden light and fading away.

Chiyou shook his arms, and a mighty force surged to the sky, causing the Exquisite Pagoda above him to lift off the ground, nearly escaping.

Despite the severe pain in his body, Shen Luo forcefully descended with the weight of Mount Tai, stepping firmly on the top of the tower, suppressing the pagoda down again and continuing to seal Chiyou's movements.