Chapter 1965: Horizontal Push

"The rules have changed..."

In the golden world, Shen Yi stood holding his staff, keenly sensing the changes in the Dao methods at that instant.

There was no one around, and no extraneous noise.

In the dead silence, only his own breathing and heartbeat were clearly audible.

He had been in the inverted Buddha Pagoda for a long time.

Similarly, he had been trapped in this place for a long time.

From the moment he jumped down that hole, then blasted another hole in the inverted Buddha Pagoda with a single strike, leading people into the pagoda's world, Shen Yi lost contact with everyone else.

"A hallucination."

Shen Yi analyzed the strangeness of the pagoda world immediately, and also concluded that there was resentment or that it had been polluted by the Demon Ancestor.

Though dispersed, it wasn't entirely a bad thing.

Because the fingers left in their bodies had not been activated.

This meant that even within the pagoda world, Tianren Wushuai, Lei Xier, Liu Guifen, and Wu Sinang were all still alive and well.

Under the might of the Demon Ancestor, those four could still retain their lives, indicating that the Demon Ancestor was not very strong.

Or perhaps the Demon Ancestor was afraid of disturbing them four, touching a part of his own body, being discovered by himself, and then breaking the illusion to trace back to the past.

Essentially, it also meant the Demon Ancestor was very weak and feared him.

The conclusion he drew was plain and unpretentious, but it should be considered fair, as the Demon Ancestor had initially resisted his approach to his coffin.

"I want to go smash the coffin."

"The Demon Ancestor, on the other hand, doesn't want me to go smash the coffin."

"The inverted Buddha Pagoda lured the people from Shizi Jiejiao into the pagoda, indicating that the person the Demon Ancestor wants is among them, most likely Lei Xier, who possesses the Zhisheng Moti and Shenmo Tong."

"To date, the Demon Ancestor hasn't moved against the four; firstly, perhaps waiting for Ba Zun'an's battle results, secondly, still fearing me, thirdly, perhaps the power of resentment still lingers, and fourthly, probably hasn't found a better way to deal with me..."

The heart demon hallucination of the inverted Buddha Pagoda was weak; Shen Yi had no heart demons, so he was not greatly affected.

He was very stable, thought deeply, and all his answers pointed directly to the essence.

In fact, these thoughts were merely a pastime born of boredom; Shen Yi always acted on intuition, without so many twists and turns.

Before entering the inverted Buddha Pagoda, he had basically set the tone for this battle: protect Lei Xier and either destroy the Demon Ancestor's body or be possessed by the Demon Ancestor's body.

There was a very low probability of any other major accidents occurring.

"And now, an accident has occurred."

Mentioning the Overlord, Shen Yi walked forward.

After walking tens of zhang, he came to a small pit, a stick pit made by the Overlord Rod, used for marking directions.

The heart demon hallucination was weak, but the power of the inverted Buddha Pagoda was not bad.

Of the eighteen layers of the inverted Buddha Pagoda, after entering, Shen Yi descended all the way, breaking through to the eleventh layer.

The Demon Ancestor's coffin was beneath the pagoda's bead, which was outside the eighteenth layer.

But upon reaching the twelfth layer, which was the seventh from the bottom, it seemed he only entered the true world of the inverted Buddha Pagoda.

Trying to push further down was impossible.

Shen Yi had tried three hundred and sixty-five times; each time he broke the current pagoda layer and entered the next, he would always inexplicably walk back to the stick pit mark at his feet.

This meant he had been going in circles, trapped on the seventh layer from the bottom.

"Seven-level Pagoda..."

Brute force could no longer break the pagoda.

Even with Ancient Martial Arts opened to six paths, it was useless.

And using parts beyond the six paths before seeing the Demon Ancestor would surely only waste the Xiangshi Zhuou Jing in vain, falling into the Demon Ancestor's trap.

Shen Yi's choice was to wait.

Either wait for one of the four, Lei Xier, to be in distress first, then he would directly anchor his position and push through.

Or wait for the Demon Ancestor to finally be unable to hold back and make a move, then he would adapt and counter.

There was no third possibility in his anticipation.

Man proposes, God disposes; the rules of Shizi Jiejiao had unexpectedly changed.

"I can go down now."

Although it was only a change in the rule level and didn't mean much, as Shen Yi didn't plan to take the Xiangshi Zhuou Jing in advance, meaning he still couldn't activate Sishe.

But staying here for so long was not without收获.

Firstly, Shen Yi had basically comprehended the "world" rules of the inverted Buddha Pagoda.

When the Dao method level changed and he pushed further down, the specific operation of the inverted Buddha Pagoda's power that trapped him would inevitably undergo some changes, which could then be captured.

If he struck the pain points directly, the "ghost wall" situation would likely be slightly broken. This should be achievable with the six paths and the Overlord.

Secondly, as the saying goes, "pull one hair and the whole body moves." Far more than just he was paying attention to the Shizi Jiejiao battlefield, and the intervention of external forces would bring deeper, subtle changes, all of which would be like...

Lastly...

No need to think further.

The two points above were already enough to fight with.

"The opportunity for battle is fleeting."

Without much thought, he waited until the Dao method level had fully ascended and gradually stabilized.

His initial estimate was that it had reached a level close to the ruins of a god, meaning it could supply the Ancestral God's action, roughly to the point where he could activate Sishe.

Then, Shen Yi made his move.

"Boom!"

A single strike landed.

The ground exploded into a huge pit.

It seemed that even the invisible barrier connecting to the next layer was shattered.

It had been like this before, but after he jumped down, he would always walk back eventually.

Would it be the same this time?

"Whoosh."

Shen Yi closed his eyes, holding the Overlord Rod, and leaped.

Jumping down the passage, a familiar sensation enveloped him.

Air currents swept across his naked upper body, resonating with every slightly vibrating muscle, sharing the secrets of the world.

Power was changing...

Exactly the same...

No matter!

This was just the beginning!

"Three breaths, two breaths, one breath..."

He counted the time silently with his eyes closed, bending his knees slightly in advance, and sure enough, the feeling of solid ground beneath his feet came.

Entered the next layer!

The three hundred and sixty-sixth attempt!

Without any talent bonuses, under the Ancestral God's control, the only things a mortal body could output were sweat, effort, and continuously accumulated experience.

By force, change fate.

His eyes remained closed, but from the rippling force, he could feel every dust particle dancing, like elves.

They stirred the nearby and distant air currents, conveying the information of an "uninvited guest's" arrival to the inverted Buddha Pagoda, or rather, the Demon Ancestor.

The inverted Buddha Pagoda would then respond by activating the heart demon hallucination while applying the rule of the "ghost wall."

It's coming...

It's coming...

An invisible wave of light swept across his true self.

Shen Yi made no defense, knowing it would be useless against him.

Its only purpose was interference.

The heart demon hallucination, he passed through...

So, next...

"Buzz!"

A very subtle sound, at a familiar temporal node, echoed amidst the fading sound of landing.

Coinciding with this faint tremor of Dao magic were his own breaths and heartbeat.

Shen Yi expertly controlled every muscle in his body, making them vibrate at the exact same frequency as the previous three hundred and sixty-five attempts.

Using this as a reference, the faint tremor of Dao magic heard could, in an instant, be dissected into more than just high, medium, and low frequencies, allowing for insight and identification of changes.

A faint sense of restriction assaulted him, the rule of the "ghost wall" once again applied to him.

But this time, Shen Yi's lips curved, and he smiled.

Found you...

"Hah!!!"

He opened his eyes in anger, his pupils turning crimson instantly.

The illusory figure of Tian Dao Shen Yi behind his waist expanded in an instant, seemingly filling the entire world, then vanishing.

Just this one angry roar brought forth the myriad Dao laws and rules within the thirteenth layer of the inverted Buddha Pagoda's world.

"Break!"

Shen Yi struck with lightning speed.

The Overlord Rod was just one, but in an instant, it elongated, transforming into three rod shadows, pointing respectively to the front-left, front-right, and rear-right directions.

A hundred zhang away...

Three hundred zhang away...

Fifty-six zhang away...

These three locations, due to the elevation of the inverted Buddha Pagoda's world rule level, when the Demon Ancestor attacked, his control was slightly less precise, causing the rule's location to float slightly higher by a small point.

An ordinary person couldn't see it, but in Shen Yi's eyes, it was a fatal flaw, the most obvious core of the formation that maintained the "ghost wall."

"Bang!"

Three places simultaneously exploded with fist-sized black holes.

The three shattered spacetime nodes made only one sound.

With just this small strike, the faint sense of restriction vanished.

Without needing further attempts, Shen Yi knew he had successfully reached the next layer.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Yet, he didn't let go of this fellow who had wasted so much of his time so easily. His tiger-like eyes narrowed, and as the Overlord Rod retracted and twirled around his waist, it naturally swept across the air from west to east as it re-entered his palm.

Horizontal strike!

A thunderous explosion.

A simple and unadorned horizontal sweep, like a sword, cut out a circle of black light and split the thirteenth layer of the inverted Buddha Pagoda into two halves.

"Sizzle—"

Beneath the dark glow of the staff's shadow, a palm-sized black figure ducked, letting out a piercing shriek.

From the sound, one could hear lingering fear and terror.

If it hadn't ducked in time, Shen Yi would have missed, and that one staff strike would have surely ended its life then and there.

"Demonic obstacle."

Shen Yi's gaze sharpened, discerning what it was.

It was merely residual consciousness, nurtured by a Demon Ancestor's body that had resided there for years.

Of course, it was nothing to him, but for those like the Tianren brothers with disordered consciousness, the damage could probably be maximized.

After all, this thing was most skilled at heart demon attacks.

The Demonic Obstacle, having narrowly escaped death, fled without hesitation to the next layer below, directly passing through the thirteenth layer of the inverted Buddha Pagoda.

"Can you run?"

Shen Yi sneered, pulling the Overlord Rod back to his elbow and lunging forward in a bow stance.

Power rose from the ground, passed his knees to his waist, then to his shoulders and elbows, and with both his upper and lower arms exerting force simultaneously, he thrust it forward.

"Boom!"

The shadow of the Overlord Rod plunged downward, instantly shattering the ground of this layer and continuing further down.

"Boom boom boom!"

In an instant, it pierced through three more layers.

The Demonic Obstacle was greatly terrified, scurrying away clumsily.

Fortunately, Shen Yi was too weak, and the tip of the rod always slowed down just before hitting it, allowing it to twist its body and avoid.

Just as the little Demonic Obstacle spirit was about to escape to the last layer and hide in the coffin, a furious roar echoed throughout the entire inverted Buddha Pagoda:

"Fool!"

The little Demonic Obstacle spirit was instantly stopped by the roar, fixed in place.

The Overlord Rod followed, mercilessly crushing this special life form that was not truly a living being.

"Heh."

Shen Yi chuckled, shaking his chin slightly, "Snakes and rats scurrying back to their nests, it saves me the trouble of searching."

Then he retracted his staff.

But he didn't return the staff to his hand.

Instead, he pulled himself back towards the location anchored by the staff's tip.

In an instant, he went from the twelfth layer of the inverted Buddha Pagoda to the seventeenth layer.

"Shen Yi..."

A familiar yet unfamiliar voice called out beside his ear.

Having reached the seventeenth layer, it was now very close to the coffin beneath the pagoda, so Shen Yi did not dare to be careless.

Turning back, he saw many familiar faces on the seventeenth layer.

There were corpses everywhere; from their shriveled appearance and build, it was impossible to tell exactly who they were, but their clothing mostly matched styles seen at Shizi Jiejiao.

Few were still standing. Liu Guifen and Wu Sinang were in one place, trapped within a spiritual formation.

In another area, the tall and imposing master of Xijie, Qianshou Caifeng, stood, one of his arms piercing through someone's chest.

The battle had clearly just ended, perhaps halted by the Demon Ancestor's roar. The life force of the slumped corpse was quickly absorbed by Qianshou Caifeng.

Only these three were left standing.

"Shen Yi..."

The call sounded again in his ear, clearly not coming from any of the three.

The voice of resentment?

Or rather, the Demon Ancestor?

Shen Yi temporarily ignored it, glancing at Qianshou Caifeng, the master of Xijie, then looking at Liu Guifen and the other.

"Boss Shen Yi!"

After a moment of stunned silence, Liu Guifen exclaimed in surprise, as if seeing a savior descend, and hurriedly pointed at Qianshou Caifeng, saying:

"She suddenly went crazy! Everyone was fine here, and she suddenly attacked and killed everyone."

"Sinang and I could only protect ourselves with a spiritual formation. Boss Shen Yi, if you had arrived a step later, we would all be dead!"

Shen Yi frowned slightly, looking at Qianshou Caifeng.

Life force?

Demonic power?

"Heheheh..."

Qianshou Caifeng covered her mouth and chuckled, stepping forward, about to speak.

Shen Yi reached out, pressing an imaginary hand forward.

The atmosphere suddenly solidified, and Qianshou Caifeng's body stiffened.

Looking again, she felt that what stood before her was no longer a human, but a ferocious beast ready to strike.

She instinctively stopped her steps, her foot suspended in mid-air, unable to land, and even the words in her throat were caught.

Liu Guifen dared not step out of the spiritual formation. Seeing Boss Shen Yi looking back at him, he knew what he wanted to ask and immediately said:

"Senior Tianren and Miss Lei are both below!"

"We've been here for some time. The ground cracked once and swallowed them both into the next layer. We've tried everything, but we can't open the passage to the eighteenth layer."

"Oh, and the master of Nanjie, that entangled corpse, was also swallowed into the next layer."

The eighteenth layer...

Shen Yi poked the Overlord Rod in his hand, testing the strength of the ground.

Before he could make a move, Qianshou Caifeng behind him stomped heavily, making a thud.

"Shen Yi!"

As a fellow street master, a mere lift of his hand had subdued her.

Qianshou Caifeng, now recovered, was somewhat enraged and humiliated. If it had been before, it might have been fine, but now...

"This is as far as it goes, Shen Yi!"

"If you few still wish to live, turn back, go up, and perhaps you can still save your lives!"

Qianshou Caifeng approached step by step, the countless arms behind her, of varying lengths like tentacles, deftly twirling the embroidery needles at their fingertips, her expression appearing relaxed, natural, and comfortable.

As if everything was under her control, even Shen Yi was no exception, and would become one of her defeated opponents.

But she suddenly became furious.

Because Shen Yi didn't even turn his head, leaving her only a side profile.

Shen Yi still stared at Liu Guifen: "This spiritual formation alone can't stop the Master of Xijie. They either went down or died. You're still here, still alive."

Liu Guifen was stunned, then immediately terrified: "Boss Shen Yi, I'm a good person, and I have some tricks up my sleeve. This has nothing to do with the Demon Ancestor!"

Still talking...

How dare you still talk...

Qianshou Caifeng's steps halted, her gaze fixed on the back of Shen Yi's head, no longer able to suppress her rage. One hand reached out, and with a flick of the flying needle in her hand, she was about to shoot it.

The void exploded with a loud bang.

No one saw what happened, but Qianshou Caifeng's hand broke and fell to the ground with a smack.

Shen Yi didn't even turn his head, his gaze shifting to Wu Sinang: "And you?"

Wu Sinang shuddered violently, unable to tear her gaze away from Qianshou Caifeng's suddenly severed hand, and instinctively said, "I also have nothing to do with this..."

"Ah!"

From behind, Qianshou Caifeng, ignored again and again, chose to unleash a furious attack.

This time, she sent out ten hands flying towards Shen Yi's back.

Bang bang bang...

In just an instant, all of them broke and fell to the ground.

"Impossible!"

"This is impossible!"

Qianshou Caifeng's eyes widened.

This time, all three saw clearly.

Shen Yi merely used one finger to lightly tap the void, and even before she could make a move, her hand was broken.

It was as if the moment her muscles twitched, her intention to attack, and what effect she wanted to achieve, were all seen through by Shen Yi, and every move was stifled in its infancy.

"Shen Yi!!!"

Qianshou Caifeng leaped up, spreading a thousand arms behind her, transforming into a sky-obscuring curtain. The silver glint of countless embroidery needles flashed with sharp light...

Bang bang bang!

In the blink of an eye, they all broke.

The broken hands falling to the ground like a rain of worms, scattered everywhere.

"Ah—"

Intense pain assaulted her, and before Qianshou Caifeng could use her life force to regenerate her broken hands...

Bang bang!

Her legs also broke.

Her waist seemed to have been smashed horizontally by an elbow; after folding in half, her head hit her backside, and her spine also broke.

Her throat bone caved in, as if struck by a hand blade, sinking completely.

Her two large, bell-like eyes protruded forward, almost flying out.

"Ugh—"

Impossible!!!

The fallen bird plummeted to the ground, its terror lingering.

Qianshou Caifeng's face was filled with disbelief. As fellow street masters, she was the master of Xijie, and he was the master of Dongjie.

There could be a gap, but how could it be so vast?

Moreover...

"Boom!"

Demonic power exploded.

Life force surged.

Amidst the powers of the two Ancestral Gods, Qianshou Caifeng's broken body rapidly repaired itself, her expression growing increasingly ferocious, and a semi-saintly status slowly emerged above her head.

"Shen Yi, with just you alone..."

The staff's shadow, sweeping across the sky, flashed in the eyes of the three, silencing all sounds in the field.

When it descended again, the semi-saintly status floating in the air was smashed by the Overlord Rod into Qianshou Caifeng's neck and chest, then shattered and emerged from beneath her buttocks.

The entire colossal body of the Master of Xijie was instantly broken in half, exploding outwards, scraping the floor to the left and right.

The Overlord Rod's momentum did not diminish in the slightest, striking the ground directly, blowing up the entire ground of the seventeenth layer and shattering the barrier of this layer of the inverted Buddha Pagoda.

Boom! Boom!

The force waves swept through, and Qianshou Caifeng's two exploding halves, in the distant sky, again burst like fireworks, shattering into countless bits of flesh.

Life force and demonic power played no protective role whatsoever.

At the same time, after the Overlord Rod was retracted, the hole leading to the eighteenth layer of the inverted Buddha Pagoda had been cleaved open.

The eighteenth layer was not a world, but a pool of demonic liquid.

Inside, demonic liquid bubbles boiled, submerging three figures with lifeless eyes: Lei Xier, Tianren Wushuai, and Chansi Ren.

Demonic power frantically drilled into the three bodies, but their souls and consciousness seemed to have been extracted, leaving only unconscious spasms.

"Gulp."

Liu Guifen swallowed, then suddenly convulsed.

He pulled his gaze back from the demonic liquid pool on the eighteenth layer, from the three figures, and then his peripheral vision swept over Qianshou Caifeng, who was clearly dead beyond dead, yet she had been so incredibly powerful...

"Close it!"

"Close the barrier!"

Liu Guifen kicked Wu Sinang, then, impatient, immediately rushed out of the ridiculously absurd Saint-level Protective Spiritual Formation.

I am the master of Beijie...

His pride stirred within him, but his body was extremely honest.

Liu Guifen looked at Shen Yi, whose gaze was still fixed on him and Wu Sinang, and without hesitation, he knelt down, raised his hands, and began to swear:

"Boss Shen Yi, I, Liu Guifen, absolutely, absolutely have not been contaminated by the Demon Ancestor or the Medicine Ancestor, nor have I laid a hand on Senior Tianren or Miss Lei... I! Swear!"