Chapter 2850 Stalemate

Chapter 2850 Stalemate

On the mountain summit, Lin Xun and Li Zhen stood side by side.

Before them, four Zen Buddha masters of the Zen Sect hovered a thousand feet away, their radiance blazing through heaven and earth and flooding the world with sacred brilliance. Behind, Wang Juehuan raised a hand, halting his group in midair a thousand feet from the mountain.

“Fellow Zen Sect cultivators,” he said calmly, “to avoid unnecessary conflict, I suggest you step aside and hand over this man, Lin Xun, for us to capture and execute.”

As the chosen of the Wang Clan, Wang Juehuan radiated calm arrogance even in the face of the Zen Sect masters.

“This person is an enemy of our Zen Sect,” replied the leading Buddha Master, Ku Xuan. His palms pressed together as he spoke in a serene, tranquil tone, “We will take him back to the sect and pass judgment ourselves. I ask that you do not make this difficult for us.”

Neither side made the first move, wary of one another. They both knew one misstep could turn the hunt for Lin Xun into open war.

A storm of fury and killing intent surged within Li Zhen’s chest.

They dare to treat us like prey to be slaughtered at their leisure!

Lin Xun, however, remained calm, his eyes fathomless and still.

Wang Juehuan’s brow creased. “This stalemate only buys Lin Xun more time to recover. If you insist on standing in our way...then we’ll have to take matters into our own hands.”

“So be it.” Ku Xuan inclined his head, calm and unmoved as still water.

Boom!

With a lift of his left hand, Wang Juehuan’s pine-grained sword gave a clear, piercing cry and slashed toward Lin Xun. That sword strike ripped through the skies, its power earth-shattering!

At nearly the same instant, Ku Xuan made his move. A golden alms bowl rose into the air, tilting slightly as a flood of dazzling Buddha light poured out, sweeping toward the mountain peak where Lin Xun and Li Zhen stood.

Clang!

Li Zhen swung his black blade to block the attack, but at that very moment the flow of time between heaven and earth twisted and warped. Countless streams of light danced as threads of temporal power intertwined and wove together, forming a vast, translucent seal that shrouded the mountain like a celestial veil.

The fourth stage of his innate talent, the Seal of Temporal Restriction! Wang Juehuan’s sword qi disintegrated the instant it struck the seal. The torrent of Buddha light pouring from the golden alms bowl also dissolved into nothingness.

There was no sound. Not even a ripple. The attacks melted away, like snow dissolving into water, like a clay ox sinking into the sea! The impossible scene made Wang Juehuan, Ku Xuan and everyone else’s eyes contract in disbelief.

“A seal woven from the power of time!” Wang Juehuan gasped.

Time was one of the most supreme of daos. Even Emperors could only faintly sense it, but could never truly comprehend it. Immortals could grasp its traces, yet never master its true essence.

In this world, only beings of the Eternal Realm could truly grasp and wield the mysteries of time! Despite that, before their eyes, Lin Xun had drawn upon the power of time to forge a grand restriction array that sealed heaven and earth!

Had Wang Juehuan not known beforehand that Lin Xun’s innate talent was tied to time, this moment would have upended his very understanding of reality. He was not the only one. Every cultivator present was shaken to their core.

Li Zhen’s gaze flickered. For a moment, he seemed dazed, then, without a word, he sheathed his blade. When he turned to Lin Xun, his expression changed. Lin Xun’s face was pale as paper, and his aura was weak and unstable. The toll of maintaining the seal was written all over him. His energy was nearly spent and he was on the verge of collapse!

From suppressing Jing Ying’s group to now, Lin Xun had unleashed Time Stopping, the Gate of Exile, and now the Seal of Temporal Restriction. These three forbidden arts had nearly drained his cultivation dry.

“Elder, pay them no mind. We’ll meditate right here.” Lin Xun sat cross-legged as he spoke, scooping up a handful of Sun Moon Immortal Pills and swallowing them without hesitation. His gaze turned inward, completely indifferent to the enemies surrounding him, as if they simply did not exist.

Li Zhen blinked in surprise, then couldn’t help but grin. Without a word, he sat down cross-legged beside Lin Xun and began to meditate.

Watching this, Wang Juehuan’s face darkened, and the expressions of the surrounding cultivators soured. Even Buddha Master Ku Xuan and the other Buddha Masters furrowed their brows.

“I’ll test it!” Ku Ji’s voice was low and steady as he stepped forward, drawing a green lantern from his sleeve. Its flame flickered, spilling waves of soft, jade-hued light imbued with the power of time. They spread like ripples across the void toward the mountain peak.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

A string of clear detonations echoed through the air. The ripples met the Seal of Temporal Restriction, only to be absorbed and swallowed whole, like streams sinking silently into the sea. Ku Ji’s expression darkened. He hastily withdrew the lantern, a flicker of doubt and unease crossing his brow.

“Slash!” A Nirvana Spirit expert beside Wang Juehuan roared, swinging his halberd down in a savage arc. Faint threads of temporal power flowed along its gleaming edge as it tore through the air.

Shua!

The halberd’s edge slammed into the seal with a deafening crash, yet all it produced was a faint ripple, like a stone tossed into still water, before the seal returned to perfect calm. The faces of all present turned grim.

Is this barrier unbreakable?

They couldn’t accept it! They had gone through great effort to corner Lin Xun, yet still couldn’t capture him. That failure filled them with fury and frustration.

One after another, Wang Juehuan’s group and the four Buddha Masters unleashed every means at their disposal, such as divine arts and secret treasures, in a desperate attempt to shatter the seal.

In the end, every attempt ended in failure. The power of the Seal of Temporal Restriction was too unfathomable. Before it, every attack and every ounce of power seemed to turn pale and powerless.

Meanwhile, Lin Xun and Li Zhen sat quietly, their breathing calm and their minds still, as if in another world entirely. This only deepened the gloom and fury on Wang Juehuan and the others’ faces.

From the very start of this battle, Jing Ying and other Jing Clan members had been wiped out. Soon after, a Zhongli Clan cultivator met a tragic end in the depths of a ravine. Later, beneath the might of Lin Xun’s Gate of Exile, seven more fell!

Of the twenty-five who had originally surrounded Lin Xun, only twelve remained. Such a heavy loss, how could anyone not erupt in fury?

Most infuriating of all, Lin Xun sat right before their eyes, calm and unshaken as a mountain, but they could do nothing. The helplessness made their blood boil.

The four Buddha Masters, Ku Xuan, Ku Ji, Jue Wen and Jue Zhen, frowned even more deeply.

“This restriction is formed from the power of time. It’s impossible for it to last forever. Perhaps before long, it will unravel on its own.” someone murmured thoughtfully.

Someone muttered sourly, “Even if this one collapses, Lin Xun can just form another.”

“That kind of forbidden power drains him immensely. I don’t believe he can keep it up for ten years!” Wang Juehuan ground his teeth. “Spread the word. Have the other five clans rush here at once and seal this place off completely. Let’s see who can endure longer, him or us!”

It was a passive strategy, but at this moment, they had no other choice.

“That’s right, if he wants to drag this out, then we’ll drag it with him!” Someone said viciously, “It’s just ten years, isn’t it? If Lin Xun can hold on until then, I’ll cut my own throat!”

Ku Xuan, Ku Ji, and the others exchanged helpless looks.

They were not like Wang Juehuan and the others. Their goals in the Immortal Dao Battle was not only to deal with Lin Xun, but also to hunt Desolate Law Power Beasts to accumulate merits. Their Zen Sect’s ranking in the Immortal Dao Battle depended on it.

“We’ll wait a month,” Ku Xuan decided at last. “If nothing changes by then, we withdraw.”

In the time that followed, the mountains and rivers returned to their former calm yet it remained strangely eerie. On the peak, Lin Xun and Li Zhen sat cross-legged in meditation.

Around them, the four Buddha Masters of the Zen Sect, and Wang Juehuan’s group also sat cross-legged in silent meditation. Far away, above a canyon, Yuan Changtian froze for a moment as he took in the scene.

What’s going on?

Cloaked in a black feathered robe that radiated a hazy, obscure power, Yuan Changtian hid himself, Cao Beidou, and Yun Tianming from view. This was the Heaven-Veiling Feather Robe, a treasure capable of concealing all auras. Its power was so profound that none beneath the Eternal Stage could see through it. Its only flaw was that it could not be used in battle.

“Lin Xun’s surrounded. He’s holding out behind a restriction array, but he won’t last long!” Cao Beidou said with a grin.

“A temporal restriction array. That guy really has many tricks up his sleeve. What a pity...he’s nothing but a trapped beast now,” Yun Tianming said coldly.

“Indeed...what a pity.” Yuan Changtian sighed. “I had intended to lend him a hand, but if we intervene now, we’ll be branded as enemies of Wang Juehuan and the Zen Sect. I don’t fear them, but I have no wish of bringing unnecessary trouble on ourselves.”

Cao Beidou chuckled. “Elder Yuan is absolutely right. To save Lin Xun now would be inviting disaster upon ourselves.”

“Elder Yuan, what should we do next?” Yun Tianming asked.

𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

Yuan Changtian fell silent for a moment, then said, “Say, if we spread word of this place, do you think it would draw the attention of the Shaman Sect’s participants?”

Cao Beidou’s eyes gleamed. “Of course it would!”

“Leave this matter to me.” Yun Tianming said with a faint smile.

Lin Xun was trapped here. How could the forces that despised him possibly remain indifferent once they learned of it?

“In truth, breaking this array would be quite simple,” Yuan Changtian said lightly. “If we capture Well Moon, the successor of Fangchun Mountain from the Spirit Sect, and use him as leverage, Lin Xun will have no choice but to abandon that restriction array.”

He paused, then sighed softly, “Unfortunately, Ji Shanhai is leading the Spirit Sect’s participants this time. With her temperament, she would never allow such a thing to happen.”

Cao Beidou’s eyes gleamed. “But if Well Moon were to learn of this, he would surely come to rescue Lin Xun, and then, perhaps, some unforeseen accidents might occur.”

Yuan Changtian shot him a cold look. “Foolish! If Ji Shanhai came as well, do you really think she’d stand and watch Well Moon throw his life away?”

Cao Beidou’s face stiffened and he muttered, “Elder Yuan is right.”

“Just send word to the Shaman Sect.” Yuan Changtian said decisively after a moment’s thought. “With the combined power of the Shaman Sect, the Zen Sect, and the Ten Immortal Giants, Lin Xun should have no chance of surviving this time...”

He was careful with his words, saying only ‘should’ and not ‘would.’

This was because he knew that until the very end, there were always variables that could change the outcome.

However, he had already concluded that the variables that might let Lin Xun survive...were growing vanishingly small!