Without a second thought, Blue Goat pulled out his two long horns and charged toward Jinghong, but his feet stumbled, and he nearly fell.

His fighting style was extremely ferocious, trading wounds for wounds, life for life. During his previous battle with Jinghong, this was the exact approach he had used.

Jinghong's movement speed was fast, and his attacks were swift, but in terms of mana, Blue Goat had the advantage, backed by the spiritual energy and manifestation power of Tai Hua Mountain's twenty-eight peaks and eighty-eight demon peaks. Combined with his suicidal fighting style, he had been able to secure victory.

But now his physical body was covered in injuries, his wounds were extremely severe, and he no longer had the strength to fight again.

And even if he did, he couldn't find Jinghong's weak point, nor did he know how to kill this evil-mutated monster.

"Swish—"

A long sword shot past him, dragging trails of dazzling radiant light. The sword broke through the air at incredible speed, it was Chen Shi, offering up his sword.

The tip of the immortal sword trembled, one sword split into two, two into four, four into eight, and in an instant, it had transformed into one thousand and twenty-four swords. Then the sword tip trembled again, turning into two thousand and forty-eight swords!

Seeing this, Blue Goat channeled his own mana, pouring it all into those two thousand and forty-eight immortal swords!

The radiant light blazed forth, magnificently beautiful, like tens of thousands of phoenixes dragging their brilliantly bright tails as they charged toward Jinghong!

Chen Shi shouted, stepping forward, his left and right hands forming sword seals. At the same time, the Bodhi Battle-Victory Method of Great Bao Guo Temple activated, fusing his Primordial Spirit with his physical body in an instant. The transformation technique erupted, and bloody fleshy arms grew from his armpits, sides, and ribs, taking on the form of a thousand-armed Bodhisattva.

This Bodhi Battle-Victory Method was recorded in the forest of steles outside the True King's Tomb. It was a combat method, one of the top-tier combat methods near the entrance of the True King's Tomb.

Chen Shi had never used this technique before. This combat method required simultaneous transformation of both the Primordial Spirit and the physical body, demanding the cultivation level of the Unity realm to execute. Having reached the Unity realm, his three-zhang Primordial Spirit, when fused with the Dao Field of his physical body in an instant, granted his flesh immense vitality. It rapidly grew, transforming into a three-zhang-tall form, like a deity.

The key to activating the Bodhi Battle-Victory Method lay in that instant of Triple Union—body, spirit, and Dao. At that moment, by pushing the technique, using the Dao Field's vitality and the Primordial Spirit's transformation, he could cause a change in his physical body, rapidly growing a thousand arms, allowing him to forge the Bodhi True Body and gain this supreme combat method!

This was an esoteric secret of the Bodhi Monastery!

Chen Shi had only just mastered the Unity realm not long ago and had been unable to use it before. This was his first time unleashing it.

His Primordial Spirit was ten zhang tall, thanks to the ten-zhang soul's effect. As a result, his Bodhi True Body was also over ten zhang tall. His thousand arms varied in length—the shortest were like a child's, only as thick as a duck egg, while the longest stretched seven or eight zhang, branching out in a dizzying array.

"Ya! Ya! Ya! Ya! Ya!"

Chen Shi bellowed, his thousand arms each forming sword seals as they thrust forward. Each arm controlled one or several sword lights.

The immortal sword's light, dragging trails of radiant light, pierced through Jinghong's corpse, engulfing him!

Chen Shi's heart sank.

He sensed that he had struck nothing, that he had failed to hit the true physical body.

Jinghong flapped his wings and flew backward, his speed so incredible that he evaded the True Martial Exorcising Sword and the countless beams of radiant light.

Chen Shi roared, stepping forward as he raised his sword seal into an upward Lifting Sword posture. Then he turned, transitioning from the Lifting Sword posture into the Cloud Sword stance, and then into the Chop posture!

Under his control, the True Martial Exorcising Sword split again, forming four thousand and ninety-six sword lights, carrying countless beams of radiant light as they pursued the elusive figure darting through the air from every direction. The torrent of sword lights and radiant light flew from one mountain peak to another, engulfing the summit!

His mana wasn't enough to fully activate the True Martial Exorcising Sword, nor was it sufficient to unleash its true power. He was relying on Blue Goat's overwhelming mana; Chen Shi was merely the one wielding the techniques.

Chen Shi's gaze locked onto the flying figure in the sky. He took another step forward, and the thousand arms' sword seals suddenly opened. Each finger controlled a single sword light, giving him command over more than four thousand sword lights. Each sword light executed a different sword technique, pushing the moves of the Mysterious Subtle Sword Scripture to their absolute limit!

In that moment, his brain operated at peak efficiency, his mind boiling hot, his consciousness clearer than ever before. The precise trajectory of every single sword light was clearly reflected in his mind!

For the first time, he sensed such distinct trajectories; the changes in the sword lights and radiant light moved at his whim!

Jinghong had only just transformed. His cicada wings were not yet hardened, and his body had not reached a perfect state. Forced by the countless sword lights and radiant beams, he had to dodge between the mountain peaks. But those sword lights and radiant beams were like layers of massive nets, trapping him within, and they were slowly tightening!

Panic rose in his heart. If the sword formation tightened any further, he would have nowhere to run!

"Swish!"

He flapped his wings, tearing through the barrier between the mortal world and the underworld, vanishing into the underworld and fleeing.

Chen Shi roared in fury, taking another stride forward. Electricity crackled and hissed around his body. A vertical eye opened on his forehead, with lightning swirling within it. He had activated the Thunderous Jade Pivot Great Method, summoning the true body of the Thunder Ancestor, piercing through the boundaries of the mortal world and the underworld to locate Jinghong.

The moment Jinghong entered the underworld, he saw a sky-spanning sword net descending from above, closing in. Layer after layer of the sky-spanning sword net trapped him, tightening!

His cicada wings gradually hardened, and his body stabilized, his speed increasing, but the sword net was already formed, leaving him no escape!

Jinghong let out a sharp hiss, vanishing into his own Realm of Emptiness. Standing on a sea of clouds, he looked up at the sky.

His Realm of Emptiness had long been invaded by Demonic Energy. The sun, moon, and stars shone with a pale, sickly light. Below, a sea of flesh rippled. Rivers and oceans had already turned into corrupted flesh. The mountains were covered in flesh, and the earth itself was scattered with thick, fleshly tentacles stretching out in every direction.

In this polluted Realm of Emptiness, sword lights dragged trails of radiant light, cutting in from different directions, stabbing toward him.

Jinghong's face twisted in terror as he poured everything he had into mobilizing all the power of his Realm of Emptiness to block the sword lights descending from the sky!

Blood streamed from Chen Shi's eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. The Bodhi Battle-Victory Method and the Thunderous Jade Pivot Great Method were clashing within his body, the strain growing heavier and heavier. These two combat methods—one Buddhist, one Daoist—were incompatible, barely running under his forced control.

As time passed, the burden of these two techniques on his physical body grew.

Chen Shi widened his eyes to keep the blood from blurring his vision. He let out a fierce shout, splaying his fingers as his thousand arms pressed downward.

Jinghong roared back in fury. Within his Realm of Emptiness, countless lumps of flesh churned like a vast ocean, and thick tentacles shot up, charging toward the sword lights!

In the sky of the Realm of Emptiness, shattered flesh fell like rain, while the sword lights, dragging trails of radiant light, still rushed toward him at terrifying speed.

The sword lights closed in to a hundred li!

To thirty li!

To ten li!

To two hundred zhang!

Jinghong's eyes bulged wide. The fear of death made him scream.

Suddenly, he remembered the scene from long ago when Chen Yindu had nearly killed him.

It had been just like this. So despairing, so helpless, leaving him unable to struggle, only waiting to die.

And now, he was experiencing that same despair again!

The densely packed immortal swords had already closed in around him, less than ten zhang away!

He screamed in terror, waiting for death. Even though he was a Ghost Immortal, even though he had cultivated the Golden Cicada Shedding Immortal Diagram, even though he possessed a nearly immortal technique, before the True Martial Exorcising Sword, he was utterly powerless to resist.

If he was struck, it was death.

Just then, all the sword lights suddenly stopped, trembling.

Jinghong, still shaken, suddenly realized: "He can't hold on!"

Chen Shi's body shook, and his thousand arms trembled as well. The skin on his arms burst with a sharp crack, misting into blood. His muscles began to rot and fall away.

His body wobbled. His physical form could no longer bear the strain, and his mental strength was failing too.

The surging mana flowing from Blue Goat began to wane as well.

Chen Shi clenched his teeth, letting out a roar. He took one step into the air, striding forward, resisting the clash and collision of the two combat methods within his body. He mustered his last remaining strength, and his thousand arms slammed forward simultaneously!

Within the Realm of Emptiness, all the sword lights folded in like a peacock closing its tail, coalescing into the single True Martial Exorcising Sword. With its final burst of power, it shot toward Jinghong with a sharp *swish*!

Above Tai Hua Mountain, the void shook violently. Strands of rootless light flashed through the emptiness, traveling hundreds of li in an instant.

"Boom!"

The light crashed out of the void, slamming into a demon peak hundreds of li away. The summit of that peak suddenly flew off horizontally, a massive mountain top soaring over ten li before crashing down.

Chen Shi's arms exploded with sharp cracks. The flesh of his thousand arms rapidly rotted, and his bones shattered into powder. He collapsed stiffly, but still raised his head, straining to see what had happened hundreds of li away.

That final strike was launched by the last shred of his will, forcing his body to deliver one last blow. He didn't even know if he had killed Jinghong.

His connection to the True Martial Exorcising Sword was also fading. The sword had vanished from his perception.

Suddenly, a fleshy tentacle shot up with a *whoosh*, plunging into the void.

Chen Shi's eyelid twitched. The small temple behind his head materialized.

"Stone Ji, hold him back! Don't let him complete his transformation!"

Stone Ji Your Ladyship flew out of the small temple, charging straight toward the area hundreds of li away.

There, tentacle after tentacle of flesh flew into the sky, sinking into the void, drawing in the Demonic Energy of heaven and earth.

Stone Ji Your Ladyship shouted. Auspicious clouds formed in the sky, and Yellow Turban Warriors rained down from above, pounding at Jinghong, who was still suspended in the air, pierced by swords. They beat him until his flesh was a bloody mess.

Tentacles shot out with sharp *swishes*, piercing through the Yellow Turban Warriors.

Stone Ji Your Ladyship rushed forward, opened her mouth, and spat out a sword qi that pierced straight through Jinghong!

Flesh writhed all over Jinghong's body as Demonic Energy from heaven and earth poured into him continuously, transforming into new flesh to repair his injuries.

Tentacles lashed out, blocking Stone Ji's attacks. The transformation was stalling.

Chen Shi lay on the ground, wanting to move, but every muscle in his body had been nearly pulverized. He didn't even have the strength to move a finger.

Just then, Blue Goat staggered over and hoisted him onto his shoulder.

Chen Shi's voice was hoarse: "Uncle Blue Goat... and Black Pot... save him..."

Blue Goat stumbled under his feet. He barely managed to summon his Primordial Spirit, extending a sharp claw into the underworld to grab hold of Black Pot, who was still in the midst of his transformation, and drag him back to the mortal world.

He tried to leap into the air, but fell from the sky.

"I can't save anyone else."

Blue Goat hit the ground, struggled back to his feet, and carried Chen Shi and Black Pot on his shoulders, one on each side. His voice was filled with grief. "I can't save everyone at Tai Hua Qingyang Palace... I can't save them..."

Tears streamed down his face as he revealed his true Blue Goat form. Ignoring his injuries, he trudged with difficulty toward the mountain's exit.

Tentacles of flesh zipped through the sky, and the more Stone Ji Your Ladyship fought, the more alarmed she became.

"He's not transforming... He's undergoing a Cataclysm!"

Realization dawned on her, and she attacked Jinghong even more furiously. Suddenly, another sharp *swish* rang out as a massive tentacle brushed past her, plunging into the void.

That tentacle was nearly a zhang thick. A bulge suddenly swelled at its tip, rolling along the tentacle, surging rapidly toward Jinghong, still suspended in the air.

The other tentacles also bulged, frantically drawing Demonic Energy from heaven and earth, channeling it toward Jinghong.

The Cataclysm had begun.

At Lone Star Province, Youzhou City, near the Tai Hua mountain range.

It was still dark when the people of Youzhou woke up early. The night before, tremors had been coming from the direction of the Tai Hua mountain range, along with massive flashes of lightning, disturbing their sleep. But now, the commotion had stopped. Dawn was near, and many early risers had already come to the streets, greeting each other and asking about the previous night's disturbances.

Fu Xiu was Chen Shi's classmate, both having passed the metropolitan examinations to become Presented Scholars. After the Spring Examinations, he had been assigned to be a Secretary in the Youzhou Prefectural Yamen, a lowly ninth-rank official. But he was very conscientious and had managed his duties flawlessly over the past half year.

He was also the branch head of Red Mountain Hall in Youzhou, responsible for managing the entire Lone Star Province's Talisman Master Association, which gave him considerable authority.

Lone Star Province was the second-largest province in the Western Ox New Continent, with vast territories. It also had a holy land to protect the region and its people, keeping demonic influences at bay. Evil spirits often surrendered to the Daoist sects, becoming local godmothers. Because of this, the Red Mountain Hall Talisman Master Association's development was not easy.

But the Talisman Master Association had still been put in order under his leadership.

As a result, Fu Xiu had gained the trust of Red Mountain Hall and was allowed to enter the minor heaven to choose various Daoist techniques to cultivate.

His cultivation had also advanced rapidly. In just half a year, he had reached the peak of the Spirit Transformation realm, making him a formidable figure in Youzhou.

Fu Xiu had also noticed the commotion from last night. It seemed to have come from the direction of Tai Hua Mountain. He couldn't help but wonder: "Something major must have happened at Tai Hua Mountain. Right, yesterday a Daoist priest came from Tai Hua Mountain, saying they had found the Tai Hua Qing Palace's immortal artifact and were planning a ceremony for the sword's return to the mountain. They invited Prefect Xia and others to attend in half a month. Could it be that the Thirteen Great Clans sent people to seize the sword, causing all this commotion?"

He shook his head. Tai Hua Mountain was a holy land. Although the Thirteen Great Clans were powerful, they wouldn't go so far as to snatch an immortal artifact from a Daoist holy land.

He washed up and headed out the door. He was still young, only twenty-six, unmarried, and living alone.

Fu Xiu opened his door, stepped into the street, and headed toward the government office.

"Sister Tian'er, you're up early."

Fu Xiu greeted a woman. Then he nodded to another early-rising elder by the street. "Good morning, Uncle Fu. Good morning, Aunt Six."

The woman, the elder, and Aunt Six didn't respond.

Fu Xiu was taken aback. He walked forward and gradually noticed something strange. Every person on the street seemed to be frozen in place, as if struck by a paralysis talisman. They didn't move at all.

Not only them, but even the dogs, chickens, and ducks on the street were all frozen in place.

Alarmed, Fu Xiu quickly tried to use a talisman decryption method, but it was completely useless!

He rushed out of that street and onto the more spacious Pingyang Street. There, he saw people standing scattered about with eerie smiles on their faces, completely motionless.

*Pop.*

The back of a dog's head suddenly split open, and a bloody dog's head crawled out from inside.

Fu Xiu's hair stood on end. He quickly summoned his Primordial Spirit, floating up into the sky to look down. The entire city of Youzhou was deathly silent.

Every single person and animal seemed to have been possessed, frozen in place with eerie smiles.

Then, faint popping sounds echoed from all over Youzhou City. Every citizen was beginning to shed their skin!

Terror seized Fu Xiu's heart. He sent his Primordial Spirit flying out of the city to a nearby county town. The people there were the same as those he had seen in Youzhou, frozen in place. Some had already shed half their skin, pulling their bodies out from their own human skin!

He flew further away. Villages, towns, countryside—everywhere he went, people were in the middle of transformation!

In the mountain forests, even the exotic beasts were shedding their skin and transforming!

His Primordial Spirit flew for hundreds of li. As far as he could see, every living thing was shedding its skin, but he still hadn't found the edge of this disaster!

"A thousand li... it's a thousand-li range..."

Fu Xiu was horrified. He withdrew his Primordial Spirit, his face ashen white. "A thousand-li Cataclysm... this is a disaster! Quick, I have to inform the Prefectural Yamen! Yes, and the Talisman Master Association, we need to evacuate as fast as possible!"