"Junior brother, let us go."
With that, the two flew straight toward Shouyang Mountain.
Seeing Jieyin and Zhunti rush to seize the Kongtong Seal, Nuwa immediately shouted to Tongtian, "Senior Brother Tongtian, please step in and stop those two bald donkeys! We must not let them get the Kongtong Seal, or the Human Race will be in grave danger."
Hearing Nuwa's words, Tongtian also flew toward Shouyang Mountain.
Seeing Tongtian approaching, Jieyin immediately said to Zhunti, "Junior brother, go take the treasure; I will intercept Tongtian."
With that, Jieyin turned and manifested his Golden Dharma Body. "Boom!"
A gigantic golden dharma body blocked Tongtian's path. "Senior Brother Tongtian, please stop here. If you take another step forward, this junior brother will have to offend you."
Hearing Jieyin's words, Tongtian could not help but curl the corners of his mouth upward.
"So what if this seat steps forward? Do you think you can stop me?"
"You had better step aside for this seat right now, or I won't mind staging a Sage-slaying today."
As his voice fell, Tongtian reached out and grabbed a jade-green treasured sword—none other than the top-grade innate spiritual treasure, the Qingping Sword.
"Jieyin, I will ask you once: will you step aside or not?"
"Senior Brother Tongtian, it is not that this poor daoist is unwilling, but rather that I have already promised Senior Brother Taiqing to help him secure this treasure."
"Very well, since you refuse to step aside, don't blame me."
"Cleaving Heavens Sword, break!"
Following Tongtian's command, an incomparably huge cyan giant sword materialized in the void.
"Boom!"
The cyan giant sword descended from the void and slashed straight toward Jieyin.
Seeing this, Jieyin immediately urged his Golden Dharma Body to meet the attack.
"Bang!"
Jieyin's dharma body thrust out its palms, firmly clamping onto the cyan giant sword. However, the sword Qi of the cyan giant sword was not so easily contained; the blade suddenly erupted with an overwhelmingly terrifying sword Qi.
"Whoosh!"
With a single slash, Jieyin's dharma body was instantly cleaved in two, and Jieyin himself directly spewed a mouthful of blood before half-kneeling in the void.
"How is this possible? Even if you are one heaven higher than this poor daoist, it should not be possible to shatter my golden body so easily."
"Humph!"
"There is nothing impossible about it. My strength is beyond your imagination, and even with Zhunti added to the mix, I would not fear you in the slightest."
"I will give you one more chance. If you leave now, I can spare your life."
Jieyin clutched his chest, filled with deep regret. Had he not made that promise to Taiqing, he would not have suffered such severe injuries.
Tongtian's previous sword strike had already inflicted heavy wounds upon him; if he had to take another, it would likely take him a century of recuperation to recover.
Yet now that he had given his word to Taiqing, backing out was impossible. His only option was to deploy the Twelfth-Grade Karmic Fire Red Lotus—no, the Twelfth-Grade Merit Golden Lotus—in hopes of blocking Tongtian for a moment and buying some time for his junior brother!
At this thought, Jieyin directly summoned the Twelfth-Grade Merit Golden Lotus and sat cross-legged upon it.
Seeing Jieyin deploy the Twelfth-Grade Merit Golden Lotus, Tongtian's lips curled upward once more!
"It seems you have no intention of leaving. In that case, I will personally send you back to the Western World."
As his voice faded, Tongtian waved his hand and slashed out with another sword. "Boom!"
The void trembled as an incomparably massive cyan sword Qi slashed toward Jieyin.
"Bang!"
A tremendous impact resounded through the void. The cyan sword Qi slammed into the defensive barrier of the Twelfth-Grade Merit Golden Lotus, instantly sending terrifying shockwaves rippling in all directions.
The massive shockwaves battered the surrounding space, instantly fracturing the void with countless microscopic cracks.
Yet the shockwaves continued to expand outward. Seeing this, Dijun and Taiyi jointly erected a protective barrier to withstand the aftermath of the Sages' battle.
Seeing the shockwave surging toward him, Ling Wudao immediately cast a defensive talisman to block the aftermath of their clash.
On the other side, seeing his senior brother being beaten down by Tongtian, Zhunti immediately wanted to turn back to assist him. Just then, a voice echoed in Zhunti's sea of consciousness.
"Junior brother, pay no heed to me. Hurry and take the treasure; come back to assist me once you have it in hand."
Hearing Jieyin's transmission, Zhunti charged straight toward the Kongtong Seal.
At this moment, Nuwa, who was locked in fierce combat with Taiqing and Yuanshi, saw Zhunti approaching the Kongtong Seal and immediately tried to rush over to stop him, only to be intercepted by Yuanshi and Taiqing.
Seeing this, Nuwa flew into a rage.
"Get lost!"
With that, Nuwa hurled her Red Hydrangea ball at Taiqing, and simultaneously unleashed seven Heavenly Blade Sabers to slash at Yuanshi.
Seeing Nuwa's profound anger, Ling Wudao spoke up from the side, "Empress Nuwa, there is no need for such anger; Zhunti will not be able to obtain the Kongtong Seal."
Just as Zhunti was about to lay hands on the Kongtong Seal, Ling Wudao extended his palm and shouted, "Kongtong Seal, return!"
At these words, the Kongtong Seal on Shouyang Mountain erupted with a brilliant radiance before instantly vanishing from where it was. When it reappeared, it was already resting in the palm of Ling Wudao's hand.
At this sight, the Sages all wore expressions of shock.
Logically speaking, an unrefined magic treasure should be impossible to summon. Yet Ling Wudao had merely shouted a command, and the Kongtong Seal had traveled through space of its own accord to land in his hand—a truly baffling feat.
While the Sages were still reeling in shock, a voice echoed within Nuwa's sea of consciousness.
"Empress Nuwa, shortly I shall use the Kongtong Seal to abolish the Human Teaching. Once Taiqing loses his position as the leader of the Human Teaching, his cultivation realm will inevitably plummet drastically—he might even drop from the Sage realm entirely."
"When I abolish the Human Teaching in a moment, Empress, you must seize the opportunity to cut him down."
With the telepathic transmission concluded, Ling Wudao cast a wicked grin toward Taiqing.
"Old dog Taiqing, the time has come to return the Qi fortune of my Human Race that you seized."
"I hold the Kongtong Seal and am rightfully the Human Sovereign of the Human Race. Taiqing established the Human Teaching yet failed to civilize the Human Race; when the Human Race faced peril, he offered no aid, instead assisting the Monster Clan in oppressing them. Such conduct renders him unworthy of being the master of the Human Teaching."
"Today, with the supreme treasure of the Human Race, the Kongtong Seal, I abolish the Human Teaching! May the Great Dao witness this!"
As Ling Wudao's words fell, a muffled rumble of thunder rolled through the void, followed by the Kongtong Seal erupting with a terrifying divine light.
Bathed in this divine light, the Human Race Qi fortune within Taiqing's body began to be forcibly stripped away.
Seeing his Human Race Qi fortune being ripped from him, Taiqing panicked completely and roared, "No.........!"
Watching the Human Race Qi fortune depart his body, Taiqing fell into utter panic.
"Taiji Diagram, suppress it for this poor daoist!"
The Taiji Diagram flew above Taiqing's head, and a pillar of white light poured down, enveloping his body in an attempt to suppress the departing Human Race Qi fortune.
However, Nuwa had no intention of letting Taiqing succeed. With a wave of her hand, the Red Hydrangea ball slammed toward Taiqing once more.
At this moment, Taiqing was pouring all his energy into suppressing the Human Race Qi fortune and was entirely unable to spare a thought to block Nuwa's attack.