Heaven-Defying Rebel Sage
Chapter 235 - 228: Nether River Breaks Faith and Returns to Blood Sea

Chapter 235: Chapter 228: Nether River Breaks Faith and Returns to Blood Sea

The battle between Buddha and the demon tribe was on the verge of erupting, and the troops from both sides had already clashed, the war drums shaking the heavens, blood boiling with fury.

Victorious Fighting Buddha held the Nirvana Staff in hand, this iron staff had undergone Nirvana as well, reforged within the magnificent Nirvana Fire of seven colors, possessing exceptional power, such that even the two Divine Swords of the Nether River could hardly damage it. The two sides fought fiercely, sparks flying about like molten steel clashing with iron—the burst of a single large spark exploding like Divine Thunder.

The Blood God Child clones from the Nether River were released again, but Victorious Fighting Buddha, surrounded by Buddha’s Light and echoing with the chants of three thousand Buddhas, remained invulnerable to all evil and impervious to all spirits. The moment the Blood God Child clones touched it, they immediately evaporated in a cloud of blood mist, with no chance to self-destruct.

This time Victorious Fighting Buddha underwent Nirvana, although his cultivation level hadn’t surged tremendously due to severing his obsessions, it had indeed significantly increased. Nether River found it extremely tricky to fight, as the speed, prediction, and awareness of Victorious Fighting Buddha had all greatly enhanced, making it impossible for Nether River to gain any advantage, instead being suppressed.

"Great Mountains and Rivers Seal!"

Victorious Fighting Buddha invoked the vast expanse of mountains and rivers and the profound weight of realms, with the Laws of the Heavenly Dao thundering—a display of strength nearing that of a Saint, capable of invoking the Heavenly Dao Laws. Suddenly, a Great Seal, engraved with mountains and realms, pressed down heavily towards the Nether River.

The Nether River kicked forward the lotus platform he stood on, colliding with the Great Mountains and Rivers Seal with a loud boom, Karmic Fire roared, entwining with the essence of mountains and realms, neither ceasing until death!

"Nether River, do not deceive yourself any longer, surrender now!" Victorious Fighting Buddha bellowed, continuously striking with the Great Hand Seal.

Nether River was retreating while fending off the attacks, plotting how to escape Victorious Fighting Buddha and exit the battlefield. Once back within the Asura Blood Sea, he could once again stand invincible, taking advantage of the terrain of the Asura Blood Sea to set up the Blood River Grand Formation. Even a Saint would need to think thrice before forcibly breaking through. If forced to break through, a price would inevitably be paid, which was why Nether River had lived so leisurely and luxuriously for many years.

Victorious Fighting Buddha naturally knew that if he let Nether River escape now, it would be troublesome to defeat him later; now was the best opportunity. His own strength had increased significantly, and Nether River was no longer a match! The title of the strongest under the Saints was about to change hands.

"Bang!"

Victorious Fighting Buddha penetrated Nether River’s defenses with the Heavenly Emperor Sword Art, striking Nether River’s shoulder and sending him flying, his shoulder bone shattered, flesh and blood blurred, but Nether River merely wiped his shoulder and immediately recovered.

"Golden Crow Chasing the Sun!"

Victorious Fighting Buddha’s body turned into a streak of golden light and flashed past, seeming to teleport, breaking free from the constraints of time and space, and in an instant appeared in front of Nether River, his palms formed the Lotus Seal and pushed forward, shattering the void in front of him into dust, and then struck Nether River’s chest, hearing a thunderous boom, Nether River’s chest burst open, he couldn’t help but cry out in pain, swinging his hand, three million Blood God Child clones swarmed up, all exploding together.

Victorious Fighting Buddha shouted, "Victorious Fighting Light!"

The dazzling golden light enveloped all directions, these Blood God Child clones exploded but could never break through this seemingly fragile layer of golden light.

Nether River secretly thought, "I thought I could finally kill that rash monkey Sun Wukong this time, but unexpectedly at this crucial moment, he mastered the Great Nirvana Mystery, Nirvana into a proper Buddha! Now the grand momentum of the Buddhist Sect has ended, if I continue this entanglement, my Asura Blood Sea would suffer heavy losses, and maybe even I, the old ancestor, might leave my life here."

Assaulted by a series of fierce attacks from Victorious Fighting Buddha, Nether River was significantly injured, lost his will to continue fighting, and only thought of ways to retreat.

Then Mara, seated below the Asura Demon King, was also driven by Sun Wukong almost to a dead end. Wukong, with just an iron staff, had beaten him till his head bled, nearly losing his life under the staff several times.

Coldly watching Mara, Sun Wukong said, "Surrender, and I spare your life!"

Mara laughed wildly, "Dream on! I’d rather die than surrender."

Unable to agree, they clashed again, Mara using the Nei He Gui, striking at Wukong’s shoulder.

"I have undergone Nirvana; your Karmic Force in the Nei He Gui cannot harm me." Sun Wukong coldly stated, his left hand formed a fist, performing the Ascending Dragon Fist of the Dragon Clan.

He punched, hitting Mara directly in the chest, that simple punch blurring the skin and flesh of Mara’s chest, his mouth and nose bleeding fresh red. Struck by this punch, Mara felt his Five Qi disordered, hastily focused his mind, and presented the Nei He Gui forward.

"Boom!"

Wukong swept with his staff, striking the Nei He Gui, "Crack" was heard as he broke the Nei He Gui in half, directly collected it, turning back to use the Eastern Emperor Bell to repair it for others to use.

Mara of the Free Heaven had suffered successive defeats, and fear had already taken root in his heart. He intended to ask Nether River for help, but Nether River was entangled by the Victorious Fighting Buddha in a battle so fierce, it seemed as if heaven and earth were splintering apart, leaving him no chance to assist.

In the battlefield of Primordial Golden Immortals, it was indeed Nether River and the Victorious Fighting Buddha who fought the most intensely. The other Primordial Golden Immortals fought far away to avoid being affected by the strong vibrations here, which could have caused unnecessary harm. Merely the aura of invincibility emitted by the Victorious Fighting Buddha could impose some suppression on their fighting strength, and such an invincible will was too psychologically overwhelming.

With fear brewing in Mara of the Free Heaven’s heart, how could he possibly perform at eighty percent of his abilities? Struck in the abdomen by a staff from Wukong and sent flying, while he was still catching his breath, he saw Wukong drawing close rapidly, using the Golden Crow Chasing the Sun Body Technique. Almost teleporting, he reached behind him and aimed a staff strike at the back of his head.

This strike, if landed, would have split open his head, likely annihilating his Primordial Spirit inside as well.

Mara of the Free Heaven felt his scalp explode. By slightly tilting his body, he narrowly saved his old life! He felt the gale graze painfully past his ear, followed by a crisp snap from his shoulder, then a piercing, heart-drilling pain erupted, so intense it made him scream out loud.

Mara of the Free Heaven was, besides Nether River, the only other Primordial Golden Immortal from the Asura Blood Sea, the backbone of their force. Seeing him falter, how could Nether River not be anxious? He endured a slap from the Victorious Fighting Buddha and released a million Blood God Child duplicates rushing towards Wukong, essentially human bombs, exploding dramatically as they drew near.

Wukong grunted angrily, preparing to slay Mara of the Free Heaven under his staff, but Nether River suddenly interfered, blocking him—truly infuriating! However, the self-destruction of these million Blood God Children was no small matter; he did not possess the ability of the Victorious Fighting Light like the Victorious Fighting Buddha.

A Golden Lotus surged within Wukong, conjuring over his head, expansively spreading the Three Thousand Great Paths, all terrible vibrations from the explosions being blocked outside these paths.

Mara of the Free Heaven seized this chance to breathe, rapidly retreating backward into the gigantic Blood River suspended in the sky.

Nether River secretly transmitted a message using a special method, "Disciples of Asura, retreat into the Blood River immediately, return to the Asura Blood Sea!"

Nether River felt that the tide had turned against the Buddhist Sect and he was no match for the Victorious Fighting Buddha, especially with Sun Wukong there as well. Moreover, the Buddhist Sect’s Turning Wheel Sage King Great Seal was being countered by the Six Soul Banner. Nether River recognized the formidable power of this banner.

Using a secret method from the Asura Blood Sea, audible only to his disciples, Nether River ordered, hardening his heart. They burst out in force, repelling the Demon Tribe enemies before them, and flipped out of the melee, entering the giant Blood River spanning the void.

"Blood God Child duplicates, explode for me!" Nether River commanded in a roar. The remaining two hundred million Blood God Child duplicates, one hundred million surged towards Wukong and the other hundred million towards the Victorious Fighting Buddha.

Wukong and the Victorious Fighting Buddha, thinking Nether River was fighting a desperate battle, summoned their Magical Treasures to protect themselves. Though their Mana had greatly increased and they no longer feared Nether River’s self-destructing Blood God Children, an oversight could still injure them.

These two hundred million Blood God Children detonated simultaneously, unleashing a tremendous force, sweeping through the area; over eight million Demon Soldiers and Buddhist Soldiers were instantly killed, turned utterly into dust! The dense Spiritual Mount battlefield now had an empty area of a thousand li. Truly, when deities clashed, mortals suffered—though these soldiers had Cultivation Levels, they were no different from ants to a Sect Founder.

Nether River plunged into the Blood River as these two hundred million Blood God Children exploded. Although the loss pained him deeply, it was nothing compared to his own life. Reaching out his hand, he scooped up six or seven million souls from the battlefield that hadn’t been dissipated by the blood energy, feeling slightly relieved.

Protector Mosquito, seeing this scene, flicked eighteen Buddha Beads driving Jiang Liang and Houtu away, and cursed loudly, "Nether River, you dare betray and abandon us!"

Nether River snorted coldly, "The prosperity of your Buddhist Sect has ended, old ancestor I have done all I could! Here, take back this Eight Divisions of Heavenly Dragons Flag."

With that said, he threw down seven flags, the Yaksha flag having been destroyed by the Victorious Fighting Buddha. Holding them now, these seven flags couldn’t exhibit their greatest power, extremely useless, better to discard them and settle the karma. Nether River was much more precise in his calculations than any others!

Protector Mosquito was furiously enraged to the point of buddha manifestation, the Eight Divisions of Heavenly Dragons Flag had already lost one of its flags, and Nether River returning it now was a malicious act of sabotage. If he didn’t have the capability, why did he accept this gift? Protector Mosquito only wished he could free his hands to tear Nether River alive.

He had invited Nether River for help, also giving him the Eight Divisions of Heavenly Dragons Flag, which was akin to seeking skin from a tiger. Had the Yaksha flag not been destroyed by the Victorious Fighting Buddha, Nether River likely would never have returned them!

"Nether River, I curse you—may you die without reaching the Deification Platform!" Protector Mosquito swore vehemently.

Nether River ignored him, and with the operation of the Blood River, disciples of the Blood Sea formed the Blood River Grand Formation, slowly retreating towards the Asura Blood Sea.

The Victorious Fighting Buddha and Wukong, knowing the formidable nature of the Blood River, did not pursue and let them go.

Driving Nether River away was a dire omen for the Buddhist Sect.

To find out what happens next, await the next episode. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please come to qidian.com to cast your recommendation votes and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to continue reading.)