"Retire!"
"Your command is our decree, Buddhist Son."
His subordinates withdrew to the four corners, forming a semicircular cordon, wary of Lin Yu's side.
The Buddhist Son raised his hand slightly. A flash of Buddhist light streaked across. Dozens of particle-sized worlds of dust exploded with a bang.
Rumble!!!
The colossal explosion sounded like the roar of creation. A massive mushroom cloud ascended. The terrifying heat seared the earth, and space itself seemed to burn through.
Seeing this, Lin Yu also waved his hand. Numerous clones opened up space, and temporary worlds were born in the void. Then, under the clones' control, these worlds surged into the explosion, like ravenous gluttons opening their maws to devour the explosive energy.
Boom boom boom!!!
The explosive energy was too immense. The powerful shockwave, though contained within a certain range by the temporary worlds, still shattered a large portion of the surrounding space.
Spatial turbulence erupted, destroying everything in its path.
Lin Yu immediately commanded his clones to retreat. Now that the Blue Star had transformed, the spatial turbulence had become countless times more potent. Even those at the Lord God realm would find it difficult to protect themselves without spatial energy shielding.
Lin Yu retreated a hundred miles. The Buddhist Son frowned upon seeing the spatial turbulence, and decided not to confront it head-on, also retreating a hundred miles.
They faced each other.
At this moment, the battlefield's explosion and the temporary worlds had reached a dynamic equilibrium.
The Buddhist Son's eyes flickered with surprise.
His skill was a Lord God-tier divine ability, specializing in spatial destruction. He hadn't expected the opponent to counter it this way.
Furthermore, the fact that so many of the opponent's Lord Gods possessed the ability to create worlds astonished him.
He had seen some deities with extraordinary talent capable of creating worlds. Though they were only temporary and couldn't last without a stabilizing object, such an ability was still extremely rare.
In his entire life, he had only encountered two individuals with this capability.
Yet, here, a third of the hundreds of Lord Gods possessed the power of creation. It was terrifying.
The Buddhist Son exhaled a breath of turbid air, "Amitabha, fellow Daoist possesses the ability to create worlds, a rarity in this world. Would you be willing to trade this method with this poor monk?"
He was tempted to negotiate with Lin Yu, and this was also a sign of goodwill.
He waved his hand, shifting Dust Realm from offense to defense, a gesture of his sincerity.
Lin Yu chuckled, "Since you are so sincere, could you trade this skill with this humble one?"
The skill Lin Yu referred to was naturally Dust Realm.
This method of opening a world within dust was a specialty of Buddhism.
Furthermore, though Dust Worlds were small, they were incredibly solid and possessed immense quality, making them a nemesis to spatial skills.
The Buddhist Son frowned and shook his head, "This is a Dharma passed down by an Immortal Buddha. If you are willing to convert to my faith, fellow Daoist, you will naturally learn it. Are you willing?"
Willing my foot!
To abandon being a proper person and become a bald monk?
He had no such leisure.
Lin Yu feigned disappointment, "Since a trade is not possible, this humble one can only take it by force!"
"What do you intend to do, fellow Daoist?" The Buddhist Son's face darkened.
Lin Yu raised his hand, and all of his hundreds of clones charged towards the Buddhist Son.
"It's not just you who can play with explosions, taste mine!"
"Self-destruct!"
The next moment.
The hundreds of combined clones flickered and appeared above the Buddhist Son.
*Bang!*
The Buddhist Son was protected by a shield, and the clones were blocked outside.
However, the order from the main body had been given. The combined clones immediately compressed their energy.
Rumble!!
Boom boom boom!!
"Ah~"
The sound of explosions, interspersed with a few screams, reverberated through the surroundings.
The gods watching from afar stared in stunned silence at the scene.
Truly madmen! Hundreds of Lord Gods self-destructing, how reckless!
"Why self-destruct? Are they tired of living?"
"Is the Buddhist Son too powerful, and they foresaw no hope of victory, thus choosing mutual destruction?"
"That's a possibility, but with their mastery of space, the Buddhist Son couldn't have stopped them from escaping."
"The Buddhist Son is likely dead too. Those Arhats and Bodhisattvas were very close, so they're probably dead as well. Isn't this our chance?"
"Let's wait a bit longer. Once we're sure they're all dead, we'll loot the scene."
"The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. We are all those orioles!"
"Hahaha~"
"............"
The gods chattered amongst themselves, some joyful, some distressed.
Upon realizing they were the orioles, they became ecstatic.
Time flowed by. In the blink of an eye, half an hour had passed.
The smoke of battle cleared, and the gods peered forward.
They saw a tattered figure barely standing in the void. In his hand, he clutched a broken string of prayer beads. Beneath his feet lay a faded lotus flower, and faint Buddhist light protected him.
Seeing this, everyone gasped.
"He's actually still alive!"
"Hundreds of Lord Gods self-destructing couldn't kill him, truly terrifying!"
"What world is this Great Brahma, that it can birth such a fearsome Lord God?"
"I know of Great Brahma, it's an immensely powerful Buddhist realm, said to be guarded by an Immortal Buddha!"
"An Immortal Buddha! That's a powerhouse comparable to a God King or Golden Immortal!"
"Indeed, so it's reasonable for the Buddhist Son to be this powerful."
"Great Brahma has arrived, has Great Luo Heaven come as well?"
"Who knows? Look, the Buddhist Son is about to leave."
"Although it was a hard-won victory, he still won. It's a pity his attendants all died in the explosion."
"It's even more unfortunate that their divine artifacts were all destroyed."
"........... "
The Buddhist Son's face was grim, and a murderous aura flickered in his brows.
He collected the corpses of the Bodhisattvas and his other attendants, chanted a Buddhist mantra for transcendence, and turned to return to Great Brahma.
The explosion had been too powerful. Even with his array of divine artifacts, he had withstood hundreds of waves of explosions. Though he survived, all his divine artifacts were ruined, and he himself was severely injured. For his own safety, it was best to return quickly.
As for the treasure, he no longer intended to claim it.
A mere Lord God artifact couldn't compensate for his losses. Survival was paramount now.
He formed a Buddhist mudra, golden light enveloping him, making him appear divine.
"Gate of Reincarnation, open!"
*Boom!*
A spatial gate formed in the void. He stepped one foot in, about to leave.
Suddenly, sounds of tearing air came from behind him.
"Fellow Daoist, why the haste? Fancy another bout with this monk?"
Hearing the familiar voice, he trembled violently. He turned to look and saw that the Lord Gods who had self-destructed earlier had reappeared.
Not only that, but there were fifty more Lord Gods.
What was going on?
Hadn't they died from self-destruction?
Why had they reappeared?
Could it be that self-destruction could also be faked?