Records of Mysterious Things in the Southern Dynasties

Chapter 314: Eight Hundred Arhats Formation

Two thousand elite soldiers headed straight for the foot of Purple Gold Mountain, but Xiao Wei and Xiao Hui did not show any complacency. Instead, they both looked solemn.

"The Zijin Mountain's protective formation is the core part of the Jinling formation. The two are of the same origin. If the Jinling formation is closed, the Zijin Mountain's protective formation will naturally be closed as well." They recalled what the third brother said when he was calculating the time that day.

"But this does not mean that you can easily capture Tongtai Temple. Wu Yang has placed eight hundred Arhat stone statues in his earthly palace, as well as the Four Heavenly Kings, all of which contain his divine power and are very difficult to deal with. You must go all out, quickly break through the defense line, and rush to the square in front of the Buddha."

"You will meet the truth there. His Arhat realm is deeper than mine. You can't kill him, but you can trap him, Old Eight, and buy time for Old Nine."

"Old Nine, you have only one mission, destroy that Buddha statue at all costs!"

"That is the only passage connecting reality and dreams. If I destroy it, Wu Yang, the huge stone hanging over my head, will be completely removed..."

~~
In a blink of an eye, the two brothers led the army to the foot of Zijin Mountain. The vanguard immediately crossed the forbidden area that they were not allowed to enter on weekdays and advanced rapidly along the mountain road.

Xiao Wei and Xiao Hui also dismounted and flew into the air to provide support.

Xiao Hui looked up at the pure white Buddha statue with a compassionate face on the top of the mountain, and couldn't help but ask softly: "Myna, is Wu Yang really not going to wake up?"

"Of course." Xiao Wei nodded and said, "Didn't you hear from Third Brother that after Wu Yang and Wu Xian had a falling out, he spent a full twenty years building the Dreamland. But He is not the Lord God, and He forcibly created miracles far beyond His own abilities. As a result, He exhausted His divine power and fell into a deep sleep."

“Although my generals are trying their best to replenish his energy, it is still a long way to go before he recovers his power and wakes up.” He gritted his teeth and said, “As long as we can cut off the passage between dreams and reality this time, he will no longer be able to replenish his energy from everyone’s nightmares.”

"But He will recover on his own." Xiao Hui said softly.

"Yes, although we will eventually wake up, it will be at least one or two hundred years later." Xiao Wei smiled proudly, "With such a long time, we will either become gods or turn into dry bones. There is nothing to worry about."

"I understand." Xiao Hui nodded heavily and raised his fighting spirit to the highest level. The war roar that burst out of his throat made the grass and trees on the entire Zijin Mountain change color, and the birds and beasts died of fright.

"The Tongtai Temple's plot to murder the emperor and commit treason has been thwarted by the emperor. My brothers have been ordered to suppress the Tongtai Temple! Soldiers, follow me to rush up the Purple Gold Mountain and smash those clay statues that are pressing on the beams!"

The sound waves rolled and turned into a red gust of wind that swept across the army formation. The pupils of the Imperial Army officers and soldiers were suddenly filled with bloodshot, and the weapons in their hands were soaked in the murderous aura and burst into a three-foot blood-red glow!
The fighting spirit of the God of War can inspire the entire army, allowing the soldiers to burst out with infinite fighting will and exert combat power far beyond their own. Although Xiao Hui is only half a God of War, his battle cry has added frenzy, and the effect is not bad.

The soldiers howled and rushed towards the eight hundred stone arhats on both sides of the mountain road. When the first battle axe hit the demon-subduing arhat guarding the mountain gate, the ten-foot-tall, moss-covered stone statue suddenly woke up from what seemed like eternal stagnation, and the precious pestle in its hand smashed the head of the imperial guard.

More soldiers surrounded him, wielding hammers, iron pestles and other blunt instruments, smashing at the face, torso and arms of the demon-conquering Arhat. Debris mixed with sparks flew out, and the sound of blunt instruments hitting him was as dense as hail, smashing the statue of the demon-conquering Arhat into a pile of rubble...

But more stone arhats woke up, roared, and joined the battle. The bowl-holding arhat slapped the giant bowl in his hand and trapped three heavily armored guards in it, turning them and their shields into meat paste.

Shi Hu, the Subduing Tiger Arhat, pounced on a Liang soldier and ripped his head off his neck in one bite.

The golden dragon of the demon-subduing Arhat roared through the Liang army, and blood mist rose up, and broken limbs and bodies flew everywhere. But before the blood mist had dispersed, the following Liang army soldiers had already jumped up on the broken bones of their companions - they easily wielded heavy blunt weapons, and the hammers were wrapped in scarlet evil spirits, and they actually smashed spider-web-like cracks on the stone Arhat!

Moreover, the Liang army far outnumbered the enemy. Although the narrow mountain road limited their advantage in military strength, they still advanced from all directions, jumped from high places, and drilled out from the ground, and attacked the Stone Arhat like a group of ants devouring an elephant.

The stone arhats were about to be defeated. Suddenly, golden light lit up in their empty eye sockets and terrible Sanskrit sounds came out of their mouths. The sound waves shocked the soldiers within five steps and made them bleed from all seven orifices. They fell to the ground with a crackling sound.

"Magic arrows!" Wei Zheng, the leader of Mengzhang Guards, who served as the vanguard officer, shouted loudly. The archers, who had already occupied an advantageous position, immediately drew their bows and shot crossbows, shooting colorful magic arrows at the stone arhats who were obvious targets!

These precious magic arrows were originally prepared for them, and the rebels under Xiao Hong simply took advantage of them.

Amid the sound of whizzing wind, icy arrows shot towards the stone arhat's head, instantly freezing his head into a lump of ice.

The chanting stopped abruptly, and the imperial guards immediately raised their hammers and smashed his head to pieces. The headless stone arhat immediately lost his direction, and the weapons in his hands were waving wildly, most likely falling on his companions.

The powerful Fire Crow Arrows, with blazing flames, turned the Stone Arhats into charred lava giants. At this time, as long as an Ice Arrow followed up, the indestructible Stone Arhats would be shattered into pieces in an instant.

The Liang army soldiers also pushed over a powerful Sky-Breaking Crossbow. With a heavy hammer strike, the crossbow string as thick as a finger shot out a huge arrow weighing thousands of pounds. One arrow was enough to pierce the stone arhat's chest!
In addition, the two demigods and the Nine Apertures generals led the way, and the Eight Hundred Arhats Formation, which originally seemed to be impregnable, was breached by more than half in the blink of an eye...

~~
The air in Tongtai Temple was extremely stagnant.

The monks were in a high position and could see the battle situation clearly. They knew that the Arhat Formation might not be able to hold out.

They all picked up their weapons, ready to fight to the death with the damn Liang army.

The nine thousand nine hundred monks chanting sutras sitting in front of the giant Buddha statue also started to recite the Diamond Sutra, but the scriptures were incorrect and would not trigger the formation.

Zhen Guan couldn't help but whispered to Zhen Di: "Brother, you should open the formation again, otherwise it will be too late."

Zhenzhi shook his head, opened his yellow eyes which were slightly glowing, looked towards the chaotic formation several miles to the south and said, "Xiao Yan is not dead yet, so if we start the formation, all our efforts will be wasted."

"Let's take care of ourselves first." Zhen Guan said anxiously.

"Don't panic." Zhen Di said calmly, "If you are really panicking, just burn some incense. Buddha will bless us."

"Will it be useful to cram at the last minute?" Although Zhen Guan said this, he still burned incense to the Buddha as he was told.

"Maybe." The truth is to create a sense of relaxation.

(End of this chapter)