Monk Hai Chan respectfully kowtowed a few times to Zhang Chen, then looked at Zhang Chen with a full face of ingratiating smiles: "Little Daoist brother, are you satisfied now? Can you let me out of the grand formation?"
Zhang Chen looked at Monk Hai Chan, his voice filled with emotion: "I never thought there could be such a shameless person in the world, looking down on others like ants, yet calling them little brother when in need."
Upon hearing Zhang Chen's words, Monk Hai Chan felt anger in his heart, clenching his teeth in hatred, yet still wearing a smiling face.
Zhang Chen found this quite uninteresting, and said: "Little Monk Hai Chan, I was deceiving you. Since you've fallen into this grand formation, how could there be any chance for you to get out? Rest assured, I will send someone yearly to burn paper offerings for you."
Upon hearing this, Monk Hai Chan's heart skipped a beat, realizing he had been fooled by Zhang Chen.
Suddenly, his eyes blazed with anger, and without another word, he leaped up and transformed into a stream of light, charging towards Zhang Chen, intending to seize him and force him to release him from this place.
Monk Hai Chan was incredibly fast, giving Zhang Chen no time to react, and had already grasped his critical points, a sinister look in his eyes: "Little Daoist child, how dare you play me? Open the grand formation and let me out quickly, or today you'll stay here as my companion in death."
As soon as he said this, the Zhang Chen in his arms exploded, transforming into yellow sand that scattered into the air, slipping through Monk Hai Chan's palm.
Watching the yellow sand slip through his palm, Monk Hai Chan's heart sank, inwardly crying 'This is bad!', yet it was already too late to react, only Zhang Chen's voice echoed from the endless yellow sand: "Monk Hai Chan, today is your death day, rest peacefully buried in this yellow sand."
"Little Daoist brother, everything can be discussed, why must we fight to the death? Whatever you need, just tell me, I will surely satisfy you, even if you want the true teachings of my Buddhist sect, I will impart them to you." At this moment, Monk Hai Chan's voice was filled with humility.
Though he has lived for tens of thousands of years, he absolutely does not want to die. Living is always better than being extinguished. If he could escape today, there would be a bright future ahead, countless years to live, endless beauties to accompany him, how could he bear to die?
Upon hearing Monk Hai Chan's words, Zhang Chen chuckled lightly, his laughter full of mockery: "I think dispersing your soul would be better, then everything you own will be mine."
"You truly refuse to leave me a path to life? Though this grand formation is formidable, my ancestor's cultivation is not made of paper either, you may not be able to kill me! Should any trace of my True Spirit escape, I will ensure you meet a fate without burial!" Monk Hai Chan's eyes were fiercely aggressive, seeing Zhang Chen leave him no path to life, his pupils constricted severely, and his voice shifted from weak to increasingly firm.
"You wish to escape? Haha, if you have the ability to escape, show it, let us see whose skills are true!" Zhang Chen's words fell without further nonsense, directly activating the Nine Bends Yellow River Array, intending to refine Monk Hai Chan to death within the formation.
As Zhang Chen activated the formation, yellow sand billowed furiously, spreading over Monk Hai Chan overwhelmingly.
Monk Hai Chan roared angrily, his body surrounded by Buddhist light, transforming into a Dharma Aspect a thousand feet tall, standing firm between Heaven and Earth, enveloped by mysterious power, rune scriptures circulating over his skin, the giant slapped out, raising ten thousand zhang of yellow sand, yet the array space was boundless, despite the giant's rampaging, it was like a mortal facing an endless sea of sand, unable to budge it in the slightest.
Meanwhile, an unknown force in the void continuously assaulted Monk Hai Chan's Magical Power and soul, destined that eventually his entire Dao Practice would dissipate like flowing water, falling to mundanity.
Zhang Chen watched the Heaven and Earth Monk Hai Chan, seeming to possess the power to move mountains and shift stars, eyes filled with astonishment: "Is this the existence above the Twelfth Tier? In direct confrontation, I'm afraid I would not be a match."
"You haven't seen anything yet. What you're witnessing is merely Monk Hai Chan's fundamental power, he hasn't even used his Magical Treasure, his Vajra Pestle was disarmed preemptively by you, otherwise, his capability would be tenfold, a hundredfold stronger! Remember, the gap between a bare-handed person and one wielding a treasure sword is as vast as Heaven and Earth." The Great Freedom Celestial Demon beside Zhang Chen sneered, finding Zhang Chen's knowledge shallow.
Enduring the inexorable siege of yellow sand, Monk Hai Chan's Heaven and Earth Dharma Aspect was continuously reducing in stature, his Dao Practice relentlessly eroded by the sand, within barely thirty breaths, his Heaven and Earth was driven back to its original form.
At this moment, Monk Hai Chan finally panicked, his eyes filled with horror. Standing amidst the yellow sand with Buddha's light swirling around him, he desperately resisted the onslaught of yellow sand, roaring, "Changsheng, do you truly disregard our millennia of friendship and intend to ruthlessly kill me?"
His voice was full of sorrow and despair, filled with disbelief, causing tears to fall from the listener: "If it weren't for me taking a sword for you in the past, you would have been slain by an immortal long ago, and how could you have achieved today's accomplishments? Later, you established the Qingcheng Mountain Dao lineage and chose Qingcheng Mountain's dragon vein for cultivation. Qingcheng Mountain had a great demon dwelling, and I risked a life-threatening crisis to pull you out from the great demon's jaws, yet how could you treat me like this?"
Alas, no matter how angry and bitter Monk Hai Chan's roars were, the only response he received was the endless yellow sand.
"Longevity Thief Dao, from today onwards, I will be irreconcilable with you. Let us sever all ties, and I will surely perform soul extraction and refining on you!" Monk Hai Chan, feeling his magical power and soul continually attacked, realized the severity of the situation and knew he couldn't delay any longer. Sacrificing all his Dao practice, a bright light shot from the Baihui point above his head, aiming to break out of the Nine Bends Yellow River Array and escape.
Zhang Chen sneered at this scene: "I was prepared for you long ago!"
Then, Zhang Chen concentrated his thoughts, and within the yellow sand, two Flood Dragons, one black and one white, blocked Monk Hai Chan's path. The black and white Flood Dragons twisted, and then a scream from Monk Hai Chan echoed, transforming into a bright light that fell from the void. Zhang Chen reached out his palm to catch the light, examining it closely, revealing a bead the size of a bowl, like a crystal, bright white, glittering and flawless inside.
"What is this? A Shariputra?" Zhang Chen had never seen such an object, and a curious look filled his eyes as he asked in surprise.
Hearing this, the Great Freedom Celestial Demon replied, "This is Monk Hai Chan's 'fruit.' This indestructible object is Monk Hai Chan's foundation, and in the future, if he has an opportunity, his true spirit will coalesce and resurrect within it. So if you want to utterly kill Monk Hai Chan, you must suppress this 'fruit's' existence, ensuring Monk Hai Chan's true spirit never has a chance to revive."
Holding the crystal ball in his hand, Zhang Chen curiously asked, "What exactly is the fruit?"
The Great Freedom Celestial Demon pondered briefly, then said, "If I explain the existence of the fruit, you might not understand, but to put it in terms you can grasp, for all beings under Heaven, to attain the state of the fruit, one must use a specific part of the body, such as the mouth, tongue, eyes, nose, ears, limbs, or even the spirit, as a foundation. Further refining it to an extreme state that is indestructible. Even if killed, as long as the fruit still exists, they can eternally resurrect from space-time, reuniting their dispersed true spirit."
"For example, the crystal Monk Hai Chan left behind was cultivated from spiritual power, forming a spiritual relic. But this crystal is only the fruit's proxy and not the true fruit, representing a manifestation during the attainment of the 'fruit' when using an external skill." explained the Great Freedom Celestial Demon.
Zhang Chen couldn't comprehend it, as such mysterious realms were far beyond his reach, akin to the vast distance of 108,000 li.
Fiddling with the crystal, a peculiar gleam filled Zhang Chen's eyes: "I wonder if my devouring skill can swallow this fruit? Indestructible for eternity? Can it withstand my devouring skill?"
As Zhang Chen pondered, Monk Hai Chan's body experienced another change. Along with the departure of Monk Hai Chan's true spirit, five colorful feathers floated up, then a mass of five-colored light surged from the five-colored feathers into Monk Hai Chan's body. Zhang Chen watched attentively, realizing that it was the true spirit of the Innate Peacock attempting to possess Monk Hai Chan.
Now that Monk Hai Chan's true spirit was shredded by his golden scissors, leaving only an empty shell of a body, the Peacock Ancestor found it very easy to occupy that body.
Zhang Chen casually threw the bead into the Ba Snake Space, intending to leave, but unexpectedly, a golden alms bowl fell from Monk Hai Chan's sleeve. It was inscribed with dense scripts and looked extraordinary. As the wind and sand swept through, the inscriptions on the golden alms bowl were corroded and disappeared. At this moment, a ray of colored light revived inside the bowl, and a voice exclaimed in shock: "Nine Bends Yellow River Array!!! How did my true spirit end up inside the Nine Bends Yellow River Array?"
Then, the colored light flew out, hovered briefly in the yellow sand, and turned to rush toward Zhang Chen.
He had realized Monk Hai Chan's body had been occupied, and the one who possessed it was his most formidable nemesis. If he attempted to seize control, he might not be the opponent, leading to an embarrassing defeat.
However, Zhang Chen, not far away, although weaker in cultivation, was easier to possess precisely because of that. Furthermore, he perceived Zhang Chen as an easy target for possession and control. Zhang Chen's lack of strength wasn't an obstacle; once he possessed the body, restoring his power would be straightforward. Furthermore, successfully possessing it first meant he could act against the Innate Peacock, slaying its body, and profiting immensely by consuming the Peacock's creation, conveniently extinguishing a major adversary.