w.a.n.g Wei left his fighting s.p.a.ce, and the first thing he saw was his ancestor sitting cross-leg in the void with a weird puppet guarding her. His lips twitched, thinking how Mongke was probably suffering.
"Ancestor, what's the situation?"
Yan Hai looked at him before explaining what happened with the Elder Bark Puppet. w.a.n.g Wei frowned after hearing her explanation; this was not good news. The parasites must have been busy, so the actions of these puppets were not theirs.
w.a.n.g Wei casually destroyed the puppet and waited. He frowned after five minutes and no response. He looked at the seal in the distance. His first instinct was to start destroying it with his ancestor. After all, Mongke and Old Man Dai can still hold on for a while. However, will things be this simple? Will Supreme Unity let them act after expressing his desire to prevent them from freeing the Void Illusion Realm?
'Let's play it safe first,' w.a.n.g Wei thought. He realized that he was at an impa.s.se, and the wrong move meant he would fail his objective — he could not fail. The liberation of the mortals was the first step to dealing with the lock. His battle with Supreme Unity had just begun, and he could not afford any failures.
So, w.a.n.g Wei s.h.i.+fted his focus to the remaining two battles. Old Man Dai was fine. He followed his agreement with w.a.n.g Wei to the tee. His only objective was to hold off Seven Cauldron — nothing more, nothing less. Such a battle method was aggravating for the Taoist Priest, but Old Man Dai did not care. He remained steadfast, ensuring his opponent could not free herself to aid the others.
As for Mongke? Well, he was suffering. Undead Phoenix was lost in the l.u.s.t of torturing his opponent. As such, his body suffered countless minor and severe wounds but nothing that could be considered true damage. However, w.a.n.g Wei did not worry about him. In his eyes, w.a.n.g Wei saw a firm will, and more importantly, he could see Mongke was using this opportunity to increase his fighting experience.
'What should my next move be?' w.a.n.g Wei thought. Since he chose to play it first, his next move should be to free his ally so they can attack the seal together. The issue is who to help first.
'Seven Cauldron has the highest chance of something unexpected occurring,' w.a.n.g Wei a.n.a.lyzed. His gaze then s.h.i.+fted to Undead Phoenix. 'Additionally, although I already plan to use him to deal with Five Feathers, it's in my best interest for him not to be in his best state.'
If he could severely injure the Undead Phoenix and release the news to Five Feathers, it should accelerate the speed at which they confront each other. 'Unless Supreme Unity intervened, there is no way for Five Feathers to heal herself in the next 100,000 or even million Yuan Epoch. Meanwhile, I only need Undead Phoenix's injury unable to be healed in the next 100 Yuan Epochs, forcing them to fight each other. Then, he'll have no choice but to sacrifice one of his lives to heal himself.'
With a preliminary plan, w.a.n.g Wei no longer hesitated. He accessed his future wife's treasury and took out a dagger. He observed this Paragon Artifact and nodded. This item was one of the best artifacts for a.s.sa.s.sination, especially for making the target suffer.
w.a.n.g Wei then activated his [Power of Nothingness] and took the invisible characteristics of nothingness. He lurked in the unknown, waiting for the right moment to strike. According to his observation, Undead Phoenix had already lost himself. The latter's defense was at an all-time low due to how much he was "enjoying" himself torturing Mongke. However, w.a.n.g Wei still waited. He waited until the latter's emotions reached a peak, and his defense completely collapsed.
Then, he appeared behind Undead Phoenix, and his dagger pierced his back and broke his spine. The attack was simple and looked so inspiring or ordinary. However, only w.a.n.g Wei and Undead Phoenix knew how devastating that simple piercing was.
Firstly, w.a.n.g Wei's attack combined many powers, including his soul. In other words, Undead Phoenix's Paragon Soul received a terrifying blow. He would have died instantly without the Ring of White Flame surrounding his soul.
One of the True Will applications that w.a.n.g Wei learned from his future wife was to make his will similar to a curse, making it harder to remove. He did not hesitate to use it for this sneak attack. w.a.n.g Wei even added his understanding of replicating viruses to make his True Will even more challenging to deal with. As such, as soon as that attack succeeded, he knew Undead Phoenix would suffer in the future — unless he had some extraordinary means.
But even that was not everything he did. As a final gift, w.a.n.g Wei injected his power of Nothingness into Undead Phoenix's body. That alone should complicate things further.
"How…how can you do something as lowly as a sneak attack?" Undead Phoenix uttered.
"Don't you know who I am?" w.a.n.g Wei rolled his eyes. When did he have a reputation for being honorable? Earth Emperor thought he would do anything to rescue an acquaintance, and this Undead Phoenix thought that sneak attacks were below him.
"You will regret this," Undead Phoenix said with gritted teeth. A black flame enveloped his body, and w.a.n.g Wei retreated. Undead Phoenix turned into a black phoenix but was only a black skeleton with no flesh or feathers. The black flame then consumed his entire body until there was nothing left. w.a.n.g Wei's lips twitched. 'These people may be bad at fighting, but all their methods of running away are extraordinary.'
"How are you doing?" w.a.n.g Wei asked.
"I'm fine. My injuries were nothing serious." Mongke was telling the truth. It took him a few seconds to remove the opponent's Dao Will and return to his peak.
"I sense the breath of ceremonial magic from you. Did you ask for some unknown being for power to end your fight as soon as possible?" Mongke asked.
"I'm not stupid enough to do such a thing," w.a.n.g Wei replied before briefly explaining the situation. A glint flashed in Mongke's eyes as an idea flashed in his mind.
"Let's move," w.a.n.g Wei said. "Time is running out." The two reunited with Yan Hai before entering Old Man Dai's battlefield. 'Thank the Heavens, you're finally here."
"Thank you for your hard work," w.a.n.g Wei nodded before focusing on Seven Cauldron. The two stared at each other for a few seconds, making w.a.n.g Wei frown. "Kill her as quickly as possible," he ordered.
"What's with the worry in your tone?" Yan Hai asked.
"Haven't you realized? She's too calm." Indeed. Someone like Seven Cauldron should be panicking by now, trying to find a way to escape. However, she was calmly looking at them, with even some hidden disdain deep in her eyes. The team did not know whether w.a.n.g Wei was right, but they were not willing to risk it, so they all attacked simultaneously.
The result was unexpected. A black and white s.h.i.+eld surrounded Seven Cauldron, easily blocking the attack from so many Paragons. Moreover, the unknown pure Yin-Yang Power inside her body was activating, raising her aura drastically.
"d.a.m.n it, why didn't I think of that," w.a.n.g Wei cursed. He reacted swiftly by summoning his Golden Body of Merit.
"What's happening?" Old Man Dai asked, his voice not hiding his fear and worry. Of course, w.a.n.g Wei would not tell him he had figured out that the Seven Cauldron was Supreme Unity's vessel to use his power in the world, just like Feng Heng was to Maitreya.
"In my name and t.i.tle as the Honorary Buddha," w.a.n.g Wei's Golden Body uttered. "I call upon the Mother Buddha to descend into the world to a.s.sist me in sealing this evildoer." w.a.n.g Wei knew only power of the same level could stop Supreme Unity, so he made the best response to the situation. As expected, golden lights manifested in this sealed place, followed by Buddhist Chants and Mantras. He successfully summoned some of Maitreya's power using his [Sage Authority]. A golden palm descended from the sky, releasing a golden magic circle to seal Seven Cauldron and the descent of Supreme Unity's power.
"This is not enough," w.a.n.g Wei yelled as he watched Seven Cauldron's Yin-Yang Symbol block his seal. "Everyone, use your best sealing methods."
Yan Hai was the first to react. She waved her hand to manifest seven swords that emanated the power of stars. They formed a sealing array, channeling the endless power of Sword Dao and Stars to seal their target. Old Man Dai's method was an enormous turtle sh.e.l.l with unparalleled weight and ma.s.s. He pressed it above Seven Cauldron, using its power to immobilize her.
Mongke's approach was to summon 33 Ancestral Spirits of the Barbarian Clan and for them to work together to establish the [33 Spirit Temple Sealing Array].
No one hesitated after w.a.n.g Wei spoke and went all out, but the worry on his face did not diminish, and that's because they were still at a stalemate with Seven Cauldron despite all of them taking turns.