Chapter 868: Above All Gods, the Great Sage Equal to Heaven!

"My heavens..." Beholding the lightning dancing across the battlefield and the thunderous arts shaking heaven and earth, all while a single individual fought multiple immortals alone without yielding an inch, the onlookers let out bursts of startled cries.

"Is that not..."

"The Salted Fish Streamer—!?" The eyes of several disciples from the Haotian Sect lit up instantly, for they were particularly fond of watching this streamer.

"The art being used is...!?" The minds of the crowd suddenly raced with realization.

"Woo—!" Simultaneously, the note of a flute pierced the sky like a sharp shriek, seemingly exploding within the minds of all the immortal soldiers!

A Confucian scholar clad in black robes held a crisp jade flute, unleashing one wave after another of brain-piercing demonic melodies.

Then came a grey-clothed swordsman treading upon a sword, the blade-light flowing like white silk...

"The three ancestors have arrived as well...!"

...

"Honored One... the immortal soldiers below, I fear within a short time... cannot take down these mortals..." At this moment, above the vault of heaven, the Seventy-Two Earthly Spiritual Generals, the Thirty-Six Heavenly Spiritual Generals, and the strongest Four Directional Spiritual Generals had mostly gathered here. Layer upon layer of troops and horses, inside and out, armed with various immortal artifacts and dharma treasures, surrounded the demon monkey before them as securely as an iron barrel.

Of the one hundred thousand immortal soldiers and generals, except for those who had descended from the clouds to capture the mortals, all were gathered here.

"Useless fools! A pack of absolute useless fools! To be unable to take down even a gathering of mortals!" Superior Master Miaofa glared coldly at the demon monkey before him, and finding that this monkey was still watching the battlefield below, his heart burned with even greater fury. "Even at a time like this, you still have the mind to care for others...? You had best spend more effort worrying about yourself!"

"Earthly and Heavenly Spiritual Generals, Spiritual Generals of the Four Directions, and immortal soldiers of all clans, hear my command! Take down this demon monkey for me!"

"We obey!" With a single command, ten thousand immortals surged forth together!

"A mere demon immortal dares to oppose heaven. No matter your origin, today, you shall vanish into ash and smoke along with the land beneath your feet!"

Each of these entities was a majestic existence utterly unimaginable to ordinary men; which among them had not reached the absolute pinnacle of divine abilities and supernatural arts!? Which among them had ever met an equal!?

As they swarmed forward, wind, fire, thunder, and lightning—all manner of immortal arts and divine abilities unfolded, instantly plunging the entire battlefield into pitch darkness, stripping the sun and moon of their light!

Never mind a petty mortal realm demon god; even... the powerhouses among the various immortal clans might not escape with their lives!

Countless immortal soldiers in brilliant silver armor radiated light in all directions, their grim formations resembling a giant wall of silver mountains suspended in the sky.

Bursts of stern shouts echoed from all quarters and the eight wildernesses. Above the heavy clouds, one could only see striking thunder clearing the sky, ten thousand changs of spiritual light, and dharma idols propping up the heavens!

Some immortal bodies towered high like mountain-dwelling giant deities; some spiritual lights were so piercing they resembled a blazing sun burning the void; some dharma treasures defied the heavens, ten thousand weapons chiming in unison with profound mystery; some... even trod upon heavenly dragons, clad in precious armor, radiating divine majesty that awed the eight wildernesses!

The Earthly Spiritual Generals arrived to the count of twenty-seven, taking the lead as their baleful aura extended for ninety thousand qing. Driving dragon chariots and wielding immortal treasures, they attacked simultaneously from all directions! One spiritual general wielding a heavy halberd smashed it straight down at his face!

Right at that moment, he saw the demon monkey before him reach his right hand into his ear, drawing out a thin, goldenly radiant rod.

The As-You-Will Gold-Banded Cudgel!

He pointed it toward the heavens!

Looking at the battlefield from outside the entire encirclement, one could see the originally airtight formation suddenly burst apart!

The giant cudgel expanded with the wind, bearing down on the heavy-halberd-wielding spiritual general and sending him flying backward like a cannonball, shattering thousands of immortal soldiers and their silver-armored iron formations along the way!

Immediately after, within the encirclement, one figure after another was seen flying backward. Vaguely, one could see the shadow of the cudgel rotating within; when extended, it was like a flood dragon emerging from the sea, and when retracted, it was like a hidden dragon entering the abyss. For a time, figures shot through the air like rain!

All the immortal soldiers watched this scene with shattered courage as a single, giant gold-banded cudgel, stretching to the very ends of heaven and earth, swept across the sky!

Rumble—!

The tremendous roars never ceased as the ten-thousand-man immortal formation was smashed into two halves almost in the blink of an eye!

Between heaven and earth, the multitude of immortals fell like rain!

"Heavenly Spiritual Generals!" Superior Master Miaofa’s face was as dark as deep water.

"Demon monkey, no matter how great your capability, can you escape the Heaven-Overturning Cauldron of my Ying Immortal Clan!?" A golden-armored spiritual general roared in fury as a three-legged green cauldron flew from his palm. The cauldron was shrouded in hazy green mist and filled with chaotic darkness, seemingly bearing the weight of heaven and earth, as massive as a primeval mountain, pressing down ruthlessly!

The As-You-Will Cudgel grew as tall as the pillars supporting heaven, and down it smashed.

A tremendous boom reverberated through heaven and earth!

That hazy green cauldron actually cracked right down the center, and as the second strike thrust into the core of the cauldron, it exploded directly from within, the sheer magnitude of the sound heard by all of heaven and earth!

With the immortal treasure destroyed, the Heavenly Spiritual General felt the impact as if struck by lightning, his face turning as white as paper.

"Try my Elemental Spirit Gold Sword next!"

"Take my Heavenly Limit Immortal Light!"

"Take my Image-Transforming Divine Blade..."

The Heavenly Spiritual Generals who joined the siege numbered sixteen, and one after another, immortal lights descended, strike following strike, with a momentum so grand it truly seemed capable of destroying heaven and earth!

"No matter how formidable you are, you are but one person. We have ample troops and numerous generals; let us see how many rounds you can withstand!"

The words had just fallen when the golden-armored monkey king pulled out a clump of fur and blew it from his palm.

All around, above the heavens and below the earth, there appeared Great Sages Equaling Heaven, all holding As-You-Will Gold-Banded Cudgels. As the cudgel shadows fell, countless dharma treasures and immortal artifacts shattered with a crash like glazed jade cups, leaving not a single one intact!

At this moment, even these high and mighty Heavenly Spiritual Generals trembled to their very cores. What they saw before their eyes seemed no longer a monkey, but... an invincible god of war!

Even though they had experienced countless years and countless battles, they had never once seen such a terrifying deity, destroying heaven and earth with nothing but a single iron rod, utterly unstoppable. Just which god... was this!

"Honored One..." The Spiritual Generals of the Four Directions also bore faces as grave as water. "Shall we...?"

At this time, Superior Master Miaofa’s expression remained unchanged, his eyes harboring a chilling coldness: "Fine demon monkey, today... we cannot leave you alive! Four Spiritual Generals! Assist my Supreme Dharma Body!"

The spiritual formation of the four directions suddenly manifested in the mortal realm. Superior Master Miaofa's supreme arts were all converged into this single path at this moment.

The very instant the Gold-Banded Cudgel fell, his figure could no longer be found in the mortal world.

Spiritual light surged from the boundless void; beyond the white clouds, the sea of clouds parted, revealing a divine shadow over ten thousand changs tall.

"The Heavenly Venerable Dharma Body, this is... the Heavenly Venerable Dharma Body!" The immortal soldiers and generals looked in absolute horror at that true immortal who seemed to prop up the heavens and stand upon the earth. Even everyone present, the immortal soldiers and mortals on the ground, stopped their movements subconsciously to look upon this terrifying dharma body that completely surpassed their imagination.

Is this what an immortal is...!?

The heritage of the ancient immortal clans surpassed nearly everyone's imagination; at this moment, almost everyone gave rise to the thought that a mortal was but a drop in the vast ocean.

Mankind before them was truly far too insignificant!

An incredibly massive palm reached out from beyond the heavens, grasping toward that unimaginably tiny monkey.

No one could escape this Supreme Dharma Body, nor could anyone withstand this boundlessly vast and terrifying power. It was like a tribulation descended by mandate of heaven, crashing down!

"Somersault Cloud—!" Suddenly, everyone saw mist arise beneath his feet, and a figure escaped from that sky-blotting giant palm like a streak of flowing light, charging upward against the current!

The Gold-Banded Cudgel in his hand shot out like a sharp arrow, expanding thousands and tens of thousands of times in mid-air within an instant. Upon the tip of the cudgel, which was as massive as a heavenly pillar, a roaring celestial wind was brought forth, followed by blazing fires!

That figure trod upon the clouds and ascended. Beneath the giant cudgel, that tiny figure seemed to lift a heavenly pillar, and with one swing, smashed it down ruthlessly!

Everyone actually witnessed that dharma body crack open right from the head, a drop of golden immortal blood splashing across the firmament, sending a massive tremor through the universe!

Never mind the mortal world; even the Sea of Ten Thousand Immortals shook to its core, the sea of clouds rolling backward, and at its center, several golden palaces shook incessantly!

"Charge—!"

"Kill—!" Countless cultivators and warriors who witnessed this scene rose up, their cries of slaughter shaking the heavens. At this moment, the army of mortal cultivators raged like a towering tsunami!

As if the horn for a counteroffensive had been blown, countless cultivators and warriors charged into the enemy ranks without fear of death. Above the heavens and below the earth, the host of immortals lost all their courage!

This single strike... perhaps, for at least the next ten thousand years, they would firmly remember this name in their hearts, along with this figure that looked down upon heaven and earth and disdained the gods.

The Great Sage Equaling Heaven—Sun Wukong!