Longevity, starting from being a chicken raising servant Chapter 2335: 179: Striving with All One's Might
Previously on Longevity, starting from being a chicken raising servant...
A sweeping strike slammed into the treasure tower, resounding with a thunderous crash!
Bang!
The treasure tower got hurled backward, yet the palm stood firm, the nearby void continuing to fracture!
No time to waste on this, he pivoted sharply to target the purple-robed youth instead.
The Cloud Sky Sect cultivator pulled back the treasure tower, his face turning graver by the second, but without a pause. He blurred forward once more, lifting the treasure tower and flinging it straight at the Southern Great Bodhisattva!
Blocked by this assault, a spark of fury flared in the Southern Great Bodhisattva's eyes, and he bellowed toward the encircling forces:
“Quickly, stop Bai Lechan!”
With that said, he spun around and lunged at the Cloud Sky Sect cultivator!
Catching the Southern Great Bodhisattva's furious shout, a handful of bodhisattvas from the nearby monks broke free at once and soared toward the purple-robed youth!
“So few, are they here to add fuel?”
In the midst of his fierce clash with the Southern Great Bodhisattva, spotting just those few bodhisattvas heading over, rage boiled within him, and seizing a moment after shoving back the Cloud Sky Sect cultivator, he roared out over a dozen names:
“Wisdom Scripture, Wisdom Longevity, Wisdom Injured…”
In a flash, despite their unwillingness, more than a dozen bodhisattvas abandoned their foes ahead and zipped swiftly to the purple-robed youth's location!
Right then, the purple-robed youth, channeling the full might of the Cloud Sky Realm’s formation, displayed faint weariness across his striking features.
Even if it was merely a single realm's formation, it demanded pulling in wild surges of Chaos Origin Substance from the Cloud Sky Realm to mend the breaches caused by the monks right away, keeping the Realm Membrane and formation linked to unleash peak defensive strength and fully ensnare the invading monks.
It also had to guide the array's divine light to bolster the cultivators in battling the monks as much as feasible, while shielding the fallen ones with the formation without delay.
Without that, outnumbered so vastly by the enemy, they simply wouldn't last.
So, even without diving into direct spell battles, the mental drain and the outcomes it yielded surpassed any solo fight.
Just then, he spotted over twenty Bodhisattvas charging from every side, and his face shifted!
More than twenty Bodhisattvas, each armed with top-grade Dao Treasures; a joint strike from them would make even him shy away from a direct clash.
Sure, if he weren't managing the great array and could just dodge in time, biding for a weak spot to exploit, then the moment they slipped up, victory could come in a single exchange.
But right now…
He muttered under his breath:
“Taoist Friend Taiyi!”
Wang Ba's eyes bored through the Realm Membrane, fixing on the world beyond, but only a blur of radiance met his view, blocking any sight of the outer chaos.
Hearing the purple-robed youth's voice laced with strain at that instant, he snapped alert.
“Can you handle it?”
The purple-robed youth replied in haste, a sliver of unlikely hope in his tone.
Wang Ba glanced around swiftly, and a shadow of solemnity crossed his own features.
“So many Bodhisattvas…”
Handling three or five bodhisattvas was one thing, but over twenty changed everything entirely.
The challenge leaped to another level altogether.
Particularly since each brandished top-grade Dao Treasures; a unified blast from them, even shielded by the Land-Parting Staff, could drain his Primordial Spirit in a heartbeat if they all connected.
After all, despite his swift rise, bolstered by deep rule insights and Dao Treasure aid, he dominated spell fights against anyone below late-stage Crossing Tribulation, yet he remained just an early-stage Crossing Tribulation cultivator at core.
His earlier unbeatable feats in battle had simply overshadowed that he, like most aiding cultivators, was merely early-stage Crossing Tribulation.
His eyes roamed wider, taking in how the whole Cloud Sky Realm now brimmed with cultivators and monks locked in savage fights, where even Unification and Void Refining stages had joined the fray, let alone Crossing Tribulation.
Not a soul remained free to back him up, none at all.
He drew in a steadying breath and sent his final query:
“Taoist Brother Bai, may I ask, where are True Man Gai and Xiahou Demon? Why is only Master Chao battling up front?”
The purple-robed youth's face tightened a bit, then he paused before murmuring:
“They should have already begun.”
“Began? Should have?”
Wang Ba jolted; in that beat, a dim understanding dawned on him.
Besiege Wei to rescue Zhao?
Or… straight to striking the yellow dragon?
A torrent of images raced through his thoughts in a blink.
Knowing of the Sea of Chaos Realm's presence, letting hordes of Supreme True Buddha monks pour in, the three hidden Mahayana, bolstering the Cloud Sky Realm Membrane and formation, the foe's endless stress on perfect timing…
All these scattered hints wove together into a clear picture in his mind.
A bolt of insight struck!
“No, the bait, it’s not just Master Chao!”
“Cloud Sky Sect is using the entire Cloud Sky Realm as bait!”
“To attract all attention of the Supreme True Buddha monks!”
“The real goal is to destroy the vortex in the Realm Sea leading to the Sea of Chaos Realm and the Buddha Kingdom!”
Shatter that Realm Sea vortex, and the Supreme True Buddha loses a crucial font of top-grade Dao Treasures plus a flood of elite recruits.
That damage cuts deeper than shedding a handful of Great Bodhisattvas.
The Supreme True Buddha won't sit idle on that!
“I’m afraid that the Cloud Sky Sect’s original aim was not just passive defense!”
Wang Ba grasped it dimly.
This truly fits the Cloud Sky Realm's desperate straits.
Rather than weathering the relentless drain from the Supreme True Buddha that promised inevitable ruin, why not gamble big, launch a bold counter? Safeguard the Cloud Sky Realm's core, and triumph means crippling the Supreme True Buddha at its source. Failure still buys time like besieging Wei to rescue Zhao or hitting reinforcements at a key point.
The plan sounds straightforward, echoing the East Saint Sect's fake elite raid to trap the Tianmen Cult or Taoist Master Chang Ying's ploy in the Sea of Chaos Realm to draw out and crush the Double Body Realm.
One flopped, the other won, hinging on one vital factor.
The base must endure unbroken.
The East Saint Sect bit off more than they could chew, crumbling as the Tianmen Cult overran their base, forcing them to ditch it and run. But Taoist Master Chang Ying's deep reserves in the Jade Pot Realm let them, amid the dangers, bury the Double Body Realm under their piled-up power.
The Cloud Sky Realm's gambit followed the same line.
If the Cloud Sky Realm withstands this Supreme True Buddha onslaught, then as True Man Gai and Xiahou Demon hit the Supreme True Buddha's heartland, even Tianshang Buddha's wonders won't save them from being swamped. The Supreme True Buddha would pull back then, no longer a looming threat to the Cloud Sky Realm.
“So… this is the crux of it?”
As the realization settled, a spark of rare thrill and elation stirred in Wang Ba’s heart.
Should True Man Gai and Xiahou Demon wreck the Reclining Buddha's vortex sans the Supreme True Buddha's watch over the Realm Sea link, he could slip into the Sea of Chaos Realm, remake the Realm Sea vortex, and ferry out the Little Cang World cultivators step by step.
True, he might never pierce the Immortal Pass, but he'd claim his personal victory all the same.
Yet the key lay in defending here, pinning down the Supreme True Buddha monks, buying True Man Gai and company the needed window!
That decided, doubt vanished from Wang Ba’s mind.
His eyes flicked over the swarm of Dao Treasure-wielding Bodhisattvas closing in, and he murmured:
“Let me give it a try first.”
The purple-robed youth blinked in surprise. Wang Ba’s words echoed his prior resolve.
But now, they inexplicably filled him with an uncommon rush of reassurance!
Once Wang Ba spoke, a colossal Dao Treasure emerged from his Primordial Spirit.
It traced nine ‘Guard’ characters mid-air, hovering protectively over the purple-robed youth.
Next, he flung out a Buddha Bowl to shield it all.
As the Bodhisattvas faltered in alarm, halting at a safe range before launching their Dao Treasures from afar, Wang Ba called forth the Four Spirits. Through the Secret Technique of Unbridled Beasts, they merged in haste, and the human-faced, snake-bodied Candle Dragon sealed its eyes!
Darkness swallowed the sky, hush blanketing everything!
Meanwhile, Wang Ba turned his palm to reveal a jade-green staff etched with two ancient characters:
“Silkworm Dragon!”