This scoundrel is a bit of a swordsman.

The explosion caused by the collision scattered everyone, and the once magnificent and sacred hall was instantly shattered, even cracking the golden Buddha statue.

But with just this one strike, the young monk Miaowu's Dharma form vanished, and he himself was deathly pale. Clearly, that attack was his last ounce of strength.

The Dharma form of Pigsy is not his true form, and therefore cannot be used continuously.

"Look! The Buddha statue is about to shatter!" an exclamation rang out as the golden Buddha image that had appeared on the pagoda simultaneously cracked.

Suddenly, the Buddhist seal on Xiao Xingchen's forehead emitted a blinding golden light, and he felt something being dragged out of his body.

"Look at the golden Buddha!" ​​Xiao Xingxue screamed and backed away. Tang Sanzang's golden body was melting, revealing stark white bones beneath his robes, with his breastbone engraved with countless birth dates and times.

The stolen lifespan transformed into a golden stream, flowing along the earth's veins to the blood pool at the bottom of the tower.

At that very moment, the three incense sticks on Xiao Xingchen's body suddenly ignited. His lifespan merged with the golden stream, his life force was stolen, and he felt himself aging, his body beginning to slow down.

Xiao Xingchen suddenly knelt on one knee, and the smoke from three incense sticks on his shoulder rose straight to the sky. The Demon Lord's voice rang in his mind: "Xiao Xingchen, may I borrow your body for a moment? I smell the scent of an old friend."

Before he could respond, Xiao Xingchen felt his consciousness plunge into darkness, and a deep black light rose in his pupils. A monstrous demonic power erupted from his body, clashing head-on with the golden Buddhist light.

"If it is indeed a meeting of old friends, then..."

Xiao Xingchen's sudden outburst surprised everyone, but Ling Xue recognized him at a glance as the Demon Lord.

"Disperse!" With a loud shout from the Demon Lord, the life force that had gathered into a golden stream began to flow backward, returning to Xiao Xingchen's body.

With that, he stomped his foot hard on the ground, creating a huge crack that revealed the overwhelming demonic energy deep within, and also showed the true scene below.

The blood pool boiled like lava, the demonic ape roared to the sky, the black iron chains binding its limbs snapped inch by inch, and the black flames rising from its dark golden fur crackled and popped as they burned the Sanskrit characters.

The Demon Lord's left eye glowed with an eerie purple light, and a wisp of pink mist seeped from his palm. Ling Xue's sword suddenly emitted a mournful cry.

With a flick of his finger, the ghost sword was unsheathed and charged towards the Demon Lord.

"Borrow the sword and use it!"

"You bear the aura of Ksitigarbha." The Demon Lord's voice, tinged with amusement, rang in Ling Xue's ear.

Do you know why you can ignore the ghost sword's malevolent aura?

The Demon Lord slowly raised his sword, not forgetting to explain to her as he did so.

"Next, pay close attention; this move is called the Sword of the Other Shore,"

Everyone felt a blur before their eyes, and when they opened them again, it seemed like a dream. Everything had returned to normal; the golden Buddha statue still stood there, watching Xiao Xingchen, who was also lost in thought before it.

"Was it all a dream?"

The first floor had now returned to what it had been when they first entered, except that there were more people. The group looked at each other, puzzled.

Only Ling Xue knew that what had just happened was not an illusion. Her sword was still resonating softly, and that sword from the other shore had slashed towards the unknown. It seemed that something had been severed by that single strike.

She even heard someone roar, and the voice seemed to be saying, "Houtu."

Xiao Xingchen awoke as if from a dream, the Demon Lord's words still echoing in his ears. Others couldn't see what the sword had struck, but he clearly saw it in the void: that Great Sage—no, it couldn't be called a Great Sage, it was a demon-possessed ape. The Demon Lord had severed all the shackles on the demon ape with a single sword strike. As for the demon ape's final destination, he only vaguely heard that it was related to Houtu.

He had always thought this was the work of the Nine Heavens, but now it seemed perhaps it was Houtu's doing.

But he wasn't quite sure what Houtu was. People in the Nine Heavens called them immortals, which was easy to understand—they were a group of powerful cultivators. But what about Houtu?

What does this represent? Is it referring to a specific person, an entire race, or even a world? He could sense the Demon Lord's hostility towards Houtu, a resentment that had existed for countless years.

"Regardless of who's behind it, breaking all this will naturally reveal the real person in the shadows,"

Thinking this, ignoring the astonished looks of others, he raised his fist and leaped into the air, then slammed it down fiercely towards the golden Buddha.

Although he possessed no cultivation power, the Demon Lord's residual power remained, which was why he was now desperately trying to destroy the golden Buddha. If a Golden Cicada truly appeared inside, all his questions would be answered. After all, Tang Sanzang was a good person.

"Ling Xue, draw your sword and extinguish the three incense sticks at the same time," he transmitted his voice to Ling Xue even while still in mid-air. Those three incense sticks were the key; as long as the incense burned, the theft of lifespan could not be stopped.

"it is good!"

The ghost sword was drawn once more. This time, the aura it brought was extremely intense, with even a hint of demonic energy swirling within it. Paradoxically, this seemingly sinister sword also gave off a comfortable feeling, as if this sword was slashing at everyone's life.

Recalling the Demon Lord's sword-wielding gesture, Ling Xue directly imitated his movements. Although she couldn't compare to the Demon Lord, it was still Ksitigarbha's sword, and the lingering trace of the Other Shore's aura on it was enough to astound the world.

One sword cleaves three incense burners, one punch smashes a golden Buddha.

With a deafening roar, the entire space trembled, and the aftershocks rippled outwards. The golden statue shattered instantly, and at the same moment, the Ghost Sword severed the Three Incense Sticks.

"It's done!" Xiao Xingchen was overjoyed, but before he could finish speaking, a sudden crisis descended.

A flash of cold light appeared beside him, aimed straight at his chest. He was in mid-air, unable to gain any leverage, and could only watch helplessly as a sword pierced his chest.

"Who goes there?" Ling Xue roared in anger, lunging forward and unleashing another upward sword strike to intercept Xiao Xingchen.

But the distance was too great, and there was no time to stop him. A mouthful of blood spurted from Xiao Xingchen's mouth. When he saw who it was, he exclaimed, "It's you?"

"Thank you so much for breaking this deadlock for us, sir. The Shen family will gladly accept this golden statue!"

Shen Hao laughed loudly. On the other side, Shen Li had appeared at some point and directly took the relic from the golden statue.

"Buddha's relics! I never expected to find them here. Let's go!" Shen Hao drew his sword and kicked Xiao Xingchen in the chest, sending him crashing down from the air.

"Haha, good, this place is occupied by the Shen family."

At the entrance, people kept rushing out, all from the Shen family and the Water Domain, but Tian Ling was nowhere to be seen, which made everyone's hearts sink.

The young monk frowned even more deeply. Where were the people from Tianling?