43: How noisy!

With the strategy established, all parties sprang into action upon hearing the news.

The Fox Immortal transformed into a strand of invisible moonlight, merging into the stream of faith from the living beings of the Southern Region. Using her supreme talent for stealth and perception, she traced the ultimate destination of that vast Power Of Will.

The Empress returned to Great Qin in the Eastern Region. As her imperial edict was issued, the Empire's war machine began to operate quietly.

Within three days, more than thirty Emperor Realm Auras, as deep as abysses and as heavy as mountains—each suppressing a part of the world—silently and orderly stepped into the entrance of the hundred phoenix diagram opened by Chu Ye.

Some were clad in black armor, their Evil Qi piercing the sky; some wore fluttering Daoist robes, with purple Qi coming from the east; others were shrouded in mist, with Laws following them... This terrifying wealth of resources made even Chu Ye secretly shocked. The foundation of an established Empire was indeed not something that could be easily caught up to by piling up resources in a short time.

The Witch Queen returned to the Hall of Ten Thousand Witches in the Western Region, where ghost fires ignited on the ancient altar. The true forms of the Twelve Ancestral Witches appeared—some with bird bodies and human faces, others manipulating snakes and treading on dragons, exuding an Aura of primordial antiquity.

Six more Witch Coffins, sealed for an unknown number of years, burst open. Out stepped six withered old witches with nether fires burning in their eye sockets. Their Auras were vast and obscure, as if coming from the other end of time.

On Great Chu's side, the Old Ancestor let out a long whistle, causing the royal ancestral grounds to tremble.

Twenty-six Great Emperors, some wielding Dragon Qi, others with sword light reaching the stars, or manifesting colossal avatars, converged into an unstoppable torrent.

The Old Ancestor himself was in high spirits, his body faintly surrounded by immortal light and his Aura unfathomable. He laughed heroically, "Grandson, do not worry. This Old Ancestor will surely 'invite' the Buddhist Abbess you've taken a fancy to back to be a daughter-in-Law of the Chu family with great fanfare!"

Watching this spectacular scene of "family-wide mobilization," Chu Ye was both moved and amused.

Inside the hundred phoenix diagram, a world of its own existed.

At this moment, the Great Emperors of the Eastern Region were solemn and murderous, the Witch Ancestors of the Western Region were mysterious and profound, and the Great Chu royal family's Aura was like a rising rainbow. Nearly sixty Great Emperor-level Auras intertwined and collided.

Had this diagram not been so extraordinary, it likely would have already triggered a cataclysmic change in the outside world.

More than half of the continent's top-tier combat power had gathered for such "practical" goals as "bride-snatching" and "territory expansion," a scene that could be called a spectacle in the Xuanhuan world.

The Fox Immortal quickly sent back precise coordinates: the source of the Power Of Will was hidden deep within the core Forbidden Ground of the Buddha Land, the "Sea of Three Lives Reincarnation."

The night was moonless. The wind carried the scent of sandalwood and a trace of barely perceptible bloodiness.

Chu Ye, along with the Empress, the Witch Queen, and the Fox Immortal, descended silently upon the "Sea of Three Lives Reincarnation" like four streaks of light crossing the Void Realm.

The scene before them was a combination of divine miracle and horror. The boundless golden Power Of Will was so dense it had turned liquid, forming a literal "ocean."

It was magnificent and vast. Brilliant spots of faith rose from the sea surface, converging into golden rivers of light that flowed into the towering Golden Buddha Body at the center of the ocean.

That Golden Buddha Body was no dead object; it seemed to be the ultimate crystallization and Incarnation of the Southern Region's faith. Every subtle breath caused the sea of Power Of Will to ebb and flow, emitting a magnificent Aura that suppressed all ages and saved all living beings.

The Empress's phoenix eyes held authority as her jade hand already rested on the hilt of the "imperial sword," which symbolized supreme imperial power and immortal slaughter.

Just as the Sword Intent was about to burst forth, that lofty Buddha suddenly opened its eyes!

In those eyes, there was neither sorrow nor joy, only an absolute majesty that encompassed all things yet disregarded everything. "Amitabha."

The Buddha's voice was grand. It did not travel through the air but echoed directly in the depths of the Soul, carrying the power of cleansing and persuasion.

"The sea of suffering is boundless; turn back to the shore. Lay down the blade in your heart and sever the Mortal World's Karmic Obstruction, and you shall immediately see my Buddha and attain the fruit of Bodhi."

The corners of Chu Ye's mouth curled into a mocking arc. Responding to the Buddha were three streaks of immortal divine light that tore through the heavens and made the Reincarnation sea boil!

"Noisy!"

The Empress gave a cold shout, and the Great Void Dragon Emperor Sword unsheathed violently!

The sword's cry was like a Nine Heavens dragon's roar. The Sword Qi transformed into a purple-gold giant dragon spanning the sky, its scales and claws flying. Carrying the Emperor Dao's immortal might that suppressed the universe and destroyed all Laws, it lunged directly at the towering figure representing the "Present" within the Golden Buddha Body!

Everywhere it passed, space collapsed in layers, and the Power Of Will was forcibly evaporated and pushed aside with overbearing dominance.

"The past is like a dream, all returns to dust."

The Witch Queen raised her slender hand, chanting Witch Ancestors incantations that were even older than the history of the Buddha Land.

Countless dark and deep chains, composed of the purest curses and the power of time, wound out from the Void Realm. They silently coiled toward the Buddha figure representing the "Past," whose Aura was slightly ethereal.

As the chains passed, time seemed to freeze and flow backward. The Buddha light and the Witch Curse dissolved intensely in silence, enacting a confrontation on the most ancient level of civilization.

Fox Immortal Su Qingyue appeared the most elegant. Her figure flickered as if transforming into thousands of moonlight illusions, her true form appearing before the "Future Buddha," whose form was unstable and seemed woven from countless future possibilities.

She did not use any grand Divine Ability; she simply tapped out repeatedly with her slender fingers. Each strike landed precisely on the nodes of the Future Buddha's power flow, either diverting, cutting off, or overlapping counter-shocks, using the subtle method of deflecting a thousand catties with four taels.

She firmly trapped the opponent's unpredictable attacks, which contained "Future Tribulations," within a Moonlight Domain, even forcing the opponent to retreat repeatedly as its light trembled wildly.

Three against three, the Immortal Rank battlefield was instantly divided!

The Empress clashed head-on with the Present Buddha. Every collision between the dragon sword and the Buddha's palm was like stars crashing together, erupting with light and heat that annihilated everything, blasting huge vacuum abysses into the Reincarnation sea.

The contest between the Witch Queen and the Past Buddha was silent yet treacherous. The mutual consumption of time curses and ancient Buddha light made the scene in that area sometimes clear as new and sometimes blurred as if from eons ago; the very structure of time and space was twisting and groaning.

The Fox Immortal suppressed the Future Buddha. It looked effortless, but danger was hidden within; every strike was a gamble against countless future possibilities, and the slightest mistake would lead to a backlash from future tribulation power.

Chu Ye took this opportunity to turn into a streak of light, lunging straight for the core hub of the Power Of Will ocean—the lotus pedestal base of the giant Golden Buddha Body. The heavenly secret abacus in his hand calculated frantically, searching for the weakest "array core" of the Power Of Will system.

However, the moment he approached, a sudden change occurred!

The three Buddha figures fighting the three women simultaneously let out a grand Buddhist chant. Their Golden Bodies, which had dimmed slightly due to the battle, suddenly burst with ten thousand zhang of radiance!

The boundless sea of Power Of Will seemed to receive a king's command, churning up monstrous waves and transforming into three golden pillars of light that pierced heaven and earth, frantically pouring into the bodies of the three Buddhas!

Their Auras expanded rapidly like inflating balloons, and their statures rose level by level. Within the Buddha light, strands of dark red, blood-like evil demonic patterns began to mingle!

Although their power levels had not yet truly broken through the Immortal Realm barrier, the pressure became several times heavier and more solid, as if heaven's might had descended!

"He is borrowing from the 'Heavenly Dao'!"

The Witch Queen said urgently, her voice piercing through the roar of the battlefield. "He is using the Buddhist Great Vow Method to advance great power, but looking at his turbid Aura, where Buddha and Demon are intertwined and Karma is clinging to him, this is definitely not Righteous Path cultivation!"

The Fox Immortal also concentrated her perception and said coldly, "The Power Of Will is nourishing him in reverse... even transforming its nature. This is not a long-term path, but in the short term, his power will explode!"

Chu Ye's thoughts raced as a flash of realization accompanied by a chill arose. But before he could react,

"Om—!!!"

A boundless Sanskrit chanting echoed from all directions of the Buddha Land!

The sky, originally shrouded in darkness, was completely illuminated by countless golden array runes that suddenly lit up!

Layer upon layer of extremely complex Great Buddhist Arrays emerged from the Void Realm, like an inverted giant bowl, completely sealing and imprisoning the entire "Sea of Three Lives Reincarnation" and the surrounding ten thousand miles of space!

The space became as stable as divine iron, and the Laws were forcibly rewritten into a Buddha Land Domain.