The sound of dragons chanting and tigers roaring suddenly erupted.
Merely hearing this sound caused every cultivator below the level of Primordial Pill to have their thoughts freeze, unable to move.
Zhong Shenxiu saw True Monarch Zhang’s flesh rapidly expand, transforming into an imposing figure that towered between heaven and earth.
A vast expanse of purple aura surged, spreading for thousands of miles.
A terrifying Dharma Body slowly emerged.
’He’ wore a crown adorned with stars on his head, cloud-patterned boots on his feet, Cloud Sleeve Feather Robes on the outside, and a Dao Rhythm Gang Robe inside, holding a sword in his left hand, and a seal in his right, his face brimming with purple energy, vaguely revealing True Monarch Zhang’s original appearance.
However, on either side of this Dharma Body’s head, on his shoulders, two additional heads had grown.
One a dragon head, the other a tiger head!
These two were like shoulder armor, firmly attached to the shoulders, adding an aura of majestic solemnity to the whole Dharma Body.
— The Dragon-Tiger Dharma Body!
Zhong Shenxiu merely glanced at it and felt as if a heavy hammer had struck inside his sea of consciousness.
As if suddenly filled with a massive amount of paste, his thoughts became blurred, but he managed to maintain a thread of clarity.
After all, he was no longer the Primordial Pill of before!
At this moment, he saw True Monarch Zhang on the opposite side raise the long sword in his left hand.
This sword, in its most common Seven Stars Sword style of the Dao Rhythm, had no physical form; it was merely a manifestation of the Dragon-Tiger Dharma Body’s Divine Skills.
But the sharpness at this moment, as well as the sense of danger it gave to Zhong Shenxiu, was not at all less than that of the Immortal Slaying Flying Sword!
The Dharma Body gently swung the sword.
The void itself seemed to be cleaved open a gap, the worlds on either side becoming disjointed.
Zhong Shenxiu let out a sharp cry, and the Wuji Pearl flew out, infinite demonic light pouring into it.
The Wuji Pearl shone brightly, conjuring an illusory realm within, filled with the mortal world’s tumult, the myriad faces of humanity, seven emotions, and six desires...
Yet, everything shattered with a thunderous crash before that line that seemed capable of cutting through heaven and earth—a black thread.
The sword light streaked past, and the Wuji Pearl cried out pitifully, falling into Zhong Shenxiu’s hands, seemingly much diminished in spirit.
Alongside it, numerous Heavenly Demon Secret Spells on the Heavenly Demon Banner were also cut off, greatly diminishing its vitality.
Seeing this, the Immortal Slaying Gourd made a whooshing sound, like a bullied puppy.
It seemed to convey the thought ’we cannot defeat this person, let’s run away quickly.’
At this time, the towering and imposing Dragon-Tiger Dharma Body had already raised the jade seal in its right hand high.
Heaven and earth seemed to freeze in this instant.
As if that seal was the symbol of divine authority over heaven and earth!
Zhong Shenxiu understood that he absolutely could not withstand this attack head-on and immediately let out a long howl.
Underneath him, a towering stone Buddha rose with a roar, spreading a thousand hands and eyes from behind, each palm with an eye open at its center, containing the evolutionarily advanced space poison, like black insects.
Amidst the stone Buddha’s roaring, thousands of arms smashed down with the sword light of the Immortal Slaying Flying Sword mixed within.
The Dragon-Tiger Dharma Body remained motionless as the thousand hands and eyes fell beside him, dissolved by the endless purple aura.
Immediately after, he slammed down the jade seal.
The seal infinitely enlarged, like the Sky Flipping Seal, reversing heaven and earth, obliterating an entire realm.
The stone Buddha’s struggle was laughably futile, like a mantis trying to stop a chariot.
In the next moment, the sword light, the stone Buddha... were all ground to dust under the great seal.
But Zhong Shenxiu had vanished without a trace.
Only his faint words echoed between heaven and earth, "The leader of the Supreme Dragon and Tiger Sect is indeed extraordinary. I concede these winds are not for my sails..."
Time seemed to stretch on indefinitely before the Fourth Prince finally opened his eyes, his pupils filled with an indescribable shock, "He escaped... Facing a Dharma Body True Monarch, Young Master Shen Xiu actually escaped!"
"How many years has it been since such an event was witnessed following the introduction of the new laws?" Bai Yunxian also sighed leisurely.
Initially, she had some dissatisfaction with the royal court’s conferring of the title of True Monarch upon a Primordial Spirit.
But now, all her dissatisfaction had dissipated.
After all, that was an extraordinary monster capable of resisting a Dharma Body with just his Primordial Spirit alone!
And that Dharma Body was the famously powerful Qingwei Dao Miao Zhenjun among the leader-level strength bearers!
With such combat achievements, the name of Young Master Shen Xiu would surely thunder throughout the world!
Lord Qingyuan watched this scene, feeling a sense of loss.
Shortly after, True Monarch Zhang, who had resumed human form, floated in and said, "His Majesty orders that the Fourth Prince and the County Lord quickly return to the capital to prepare for the Heaven Sacrificial ceremony."
His expression was neither sad nor happy, as if undisturbed by the battle that had just taken place.
The Fourth Prince and Lord Qingyuan hastily obeyed the order, yet their hearts were beset with turbulent waves.
’Father’s plotting, is it finally about to succeed?’
’Heaven Sacrifice and the Mandate... From now on, our Second Yan Han Empire will be completely detached from the past, following only the path of the Seven Luminaries Heaven...’
’What will be the reaction of others to this upheaval?’
’And the assassination attempt this time, could it also be related?’
The danger and cunning involved, even as the Prince of Yan Han, sent chills down his spine.
True Monarch Zhang did not say much, his gaze then turned to Bai Yunxian.
"What are your orders, True Monarch?" Bai Yunxian promptly bent forward in a bow, as she was not Zhong Shenxiu. Even though she had advanced to Primordial Spirit, facing such a powerful Dharma Body figure, she was still doomed to be suppressed.
Thus, her obeisance was very reverent, almost to the point of subservience.
"The remnants outside will be left to you to deal with."
True Monarch Zhang ordered indifferently, and with a majestic surge of purple aura, he enveloped the Fourth Prince and Lord Qingyuan and whisked them away instantly, vanishing from sight.
Bai Yunxian kept her body bent until half an hour had passed before she finally stood up straight and exhaled a long breath, inwardly sighing, "Finally, they’re gone!"
Just then, she seemed to hear a piercing, mournful howl from outside, filled with a crazy, bloodthirsty intention.
With a sigh, Bai Yunxian stepped out of the Daoyuan Pavilion.
Suddenly, she saw several humanoid monsters. They seemed to have originally been the servants and guards of the pavilion, but now they had seemingly torn their own skin apart, revealing reddish-brown muscles, with madness in their eyes.
’Did they subconsciously witness the true form of the True Monarch’s Dharma Body?’
Bai Yunxian already had a conclusion in her mind, and her heart grew sadder when she saw a few other lump-like monsters.
They were her subordinates, and perhaps among them were her close disciples.
The full force of a Dharma Body True Monarch’s actions was too terrifying for the surrounding environment!
Mortals who directly gazed upon a Dharma Body either died or became monsters!
This was determined by the Dao Rhythm inherent within the Dharma Body itself and could not be changed.
Even she would be heavily injured by directly facing the Dharma Body!
’No... That’s not right!’
Recalling earlier events, Bai Yunxian suddenly felt even more horrified: ’This True Monarch Zhang, perhaps, had not even used his full strength... Because with the Fourth Prince and Lord Qingyuan present, even if they closed their eyes, if the might of the Dharma Body had been fully unleashed, even a blind man would perceive that terrifying form in their heart...’
’On such a scale, can it be said that Qingwei Dao Miao Zhenjun exercised restraint? The power of the Dharma Body, so terrifyingly awesome?!’