Journey to the West: Treasure Vase of the Great Dao

When the Purple Qi appeared, the powers of the Lord of Trickery were no longer restricted. As his powers activated, the cosmos was deceived, and the Purple Qi began to dissipate.

However, how could All Saints let them escape so easily? With the sound of a bell, the surroundings seemed to be influenced by time; the old days also sensed the strangeness and, looking at Lu Ya holding the Eastern Emperor Bell, recalled the scene from the past.

He nearly achieved Transcendence back then; little did he think he was still alive. After the Dark Side of the Cosmos had entangled a thread of demonic thought around him, there had been no sensation since, as though the demonic thought had long since dispersed like smoke.

The moment he acted now, it immediately drew the attention of a few, all of whom became cautiously guarded. As the Eastern Emperor Bell resonated, the force of time began to echo in this world, causing the four individuals only to feel their personal times becoming disordered, their energies gradually becoming unstable, sometimes strong and sometimes weak, indicating the states they had been in throughout countless years.

The first to show a weakness was the Dark Side of the Cosmos; he had engaged in an earth-shattering battle with the Lord of Heaven's Mountain amidst Chaos, sustaining severe injuries. It took him a long time to recover, yet the power of the Eastern Emperor Bell accurately found the state where he had been weak.

In the blink of an eye, the aura of the Dark Side of the Cosmos became lackluster, and significant injuries suddenly appeared on his enormous body, with resplendent Holy Light shining forth.

This was the weakest moment of the Dark Side of the Cosmos's life, now once more inflicted upon him. The three sect hierarchs of the west applied their methods, chants abounding as the endless Buddha Land seemed to appear at this location, a powerful force of Conversion enveloping the Dark Side of the Cosmos.

This caused the Demon Lord immense agony. He could feel his power slowly fading away into the force of Buddhism, involuntarily let out a roar, feeling the mutual generation and antagonism between his power and that of Buddhism.

Upon realizing this, he naturally did not dare to be careless, unleashing his full combat power. The dark demon nation also displayed itself, with various demons uttering shrill cries. More demons plunged into the Buddha Land, tempting all beings, attempting to corrupt the Buddha Land.

But the three from the west, having dealt with the Demon Lord for many years, were very familiar with such tactics and naturally had countermeasures, even converting many demons, causing numerous powerful illusory figures to appear within Buddha Land.

At this point in the battle, everyone unleashed their most potent techniques. Ghost Mother was no longer stingy, throwing three worlds down, while the Lord of Death summoned a River of Death, sweeping towards All Saints. The Lord of Trickery's whole body lit up, surprisingly moving counter to expectation, preparing to charge directly towards the lands of the three realms.

This move hit a critical spot for All Saints. They had chosen to deliberately bring the battle to this world, not wishing the three realms to be damaged, yet the Lord of Trickery had found this loophole and attempted to drag the three realms into ruin with him in a decisive manner.

Tongtian Sect Leader's Infinite Yin-Yang Pagoda instantly blocked before the three realms, and other All Saints also hurriedly came to the rescue, while the old days opportunely chose to escape amidst this moment.

The Lord of Trickery also feigned an attack, activating his deceitful abilities, returning himself to his original position. This back and forth actually let him truly find a glimmer of opportunity to escape.

However, the ordeal was no less harsh on them; in this short time, it had caused unprecedented severe damage to the four, especially as the Dark Side of the Cosmos would likely have fallen right there had not All Saints came to his aid.

With their present conditions, they did not dare stay even outside the three realms; if they remained outside the realms, they would likely be immediately slaughtered by the emerging All Saints. What was once a delicious feast had instantly turned into a deadly sword, leaving them utterly disheartened.

"Alas, it's a pity we couldn't keep the two," Tongtian Sect Leader said somewhat regretfully, his presence now carrying a world-destroying aura, his massive intent to kill making even All Saints take notice.

"It was an expected occurrence. Such beings, if determined to flee, are impossible to kill—mere folly to think otherwise. Fortunately, our objective has been achieved; at least they won't dare come near the three realms lightly, allowing us to start preparing for Transcendence," Laozi said softly, his aura still naturally serene after such a massive battle, as though he had only been out talking to someone.

"Amitabha, after this battle, they will probably only wait until we attempt Transcendence to obstruct us," Jieyin Buddha pronounced, recognizing that the situation was clear. If there were a direct battle, with their four's strength, they were no match for All Saints, only by becoming calamities at the time of All Saints' Transcendence might there be a chance.

"Wasn't this expected? Now that they have been severely damaged, recovery is as difficult as ascending to heaven, and I'm afraid their strength may not be fully restored by the time we achieve transcendence. This is already the best outcome," Lu Ya said with a loud laugh, holding the Eastern Emperor Bell.

"Fellow Taoist, did you gain anything this time?" Tathagata suddenly asked.

As soon as the words fell, a pitch-black figure appeared before All Saints—it was the Demon Lord. At this moment, he was holding four faint breaths, looking complexly at the Tathagata in front of him.

He had once regarded the other as the greatest enemy of his life; thus, he fought endlessly with Tathagata, attempting to contend for the position of transcendence until he understood his own origin and knew that he was innately flawed and fundamentally unable to transcend. If he forcefully chose transcendence, he would likely only end up benefiting others, especially the Lord of the Dark Side of the Cosmos. This realization had dispelled his thoughts of transcendence, and instead, he prepared for transcendence in the next era.

In this situation, the Demon Lord chose to cooperate with All Saints. One of the conditions was to use the power of transcendence after the saints had ascended to compensate for his own foundational weaknesses, allowing him not to be limited by innate defects and thus preparing himself for transcendence in the next era.

That's why, in this great battle, he chose to stay hidden; after all, his power and that of the Dark Side of the Cosmos originated from the same source. It was hard to discern the difference between the two without careful identification.

He seized the opportunity to capture the breath of four beings from days past to trade with All Saints.

"These are the breaths of those four people. I didn't dare capture them too conspicuously to avoid alarming them," the Demon Lord said somberly.

Tongtian Sect Leader examined the breath in the Demon Lord's hand and laughed, saying, "That's enough; it's just a minor method to make them suffer a secret loss when the time comes."

Upon taking the breath of the four, Tongtian Sect Leader pulled out a purple box and placed the breaths inside, solemnly sealing it off to isolate them from the outside world. He certainly didn't want these breaths to attract the old schemes and end up being counterproductive.

The great battle thus drew to a close, and All Saints achieved their goal. They could begin to address the next phase of their target, as steps toward transcendence became increasingly firm.

"Well, fellow Daoists, I shall take my leave first. See you upon transcendence," Lu Ya said nonchalantly with a smile, vanishing into the horizon.

"See you upon transcendence!" The others echoed in unison. At this point, transcendence was everything to them, the term filled with confidence in their own impending ascension.

All Saints returned to the Three Realms, leaving behind a world nearly destroyed, and a dumbfounded Lu Yu, with the Demon Lord, who wore a complex expression, standing not far in front of him.

The Demon Lord turned to glance at Lu Yu, smiled, and said, "You are indeed lucky. There might be a place for you in the transcendence of the next era." After saying this, he too disappeared on the spot.

Seeing this, Lu Yu breathed a sigh of relief. Facing the Demon Lord, he felt enormous pressure, as there had been past conflicts between them, and the other was known for his unpredictable nature. Fortunately, after these events, the Demon Lord's personality had changed and was not like before. He even nodded and smiled at Lu Yu, which was pleasantly surprising to him.

Now, Lu Yu stood alone in his place, the world after its destruction becoming a vast Chaos. His figure appeared particularly lonely standing here.

With a gentle wave of his sleeve, the beings he had tucked inside instantly appeared on the spot. These people looked around blankly, only to see the void left by the world's destruction, the once beautiful world now gone.