Chapter 1278: Don't Even Think of Turning the Tables
Zhu Hongwu's expression turned cold and he appeared enraged.
He had never been so furious in all these years.
The Celestial Sect of Wonders actually used him to help Zhu Yi. He was Zhu Yi's stepping stone. Zhu Yi managed to overcome his last bottleneck after sparring with him and reached the Immortal Soul Second Level.
But he didn't even realize and walked straight into their ploy.
In the past, Zhu Hongwu did face the schemes of others too. But he continued to advance without any hesitation even though he was aware of the traps. He would use his strength to destroy all barriers in front of him and turn the opponents' carefully designed schemes into a joke.
However, he was extremely humiliated by Zhu Yi and the Celestial Sect of Wonders rom the start till the end.
Zhu Hongwu stared at Zhu Yi, Yue Hongyan, the Higan Golden Bridge, Saros Magical Tree and Nine Luminaries Heaven-Crushing Formation. His vision even transcended layers of void space, as he looked at the City in the Sky and Two Elements of Creation Formation that engulfed Tianjing. Behind all this, he seemed to see a youth in purple. This youth wore a calm expression and his eyes seemed to tell that he was in control of everything.
There was a time when he didn't even bother himself with Zhu Yi, Yue Hongyan and even that youth in purple. He was confident in his own abilities to crush his opponents. But because of other misgivings, he was yet to be able to do everything that he wanted.
But he's now actually unfit to be equals with the other party now.
Even this person's disciple could trap him.
It's as if the Great Zhou's fortune had reversed ever since this person appeared. The Great Zhou seemed to have undergone all sorts of setbacks and was on the decline.
Zhu Hongwu turned calmer as he was still trapped in the sealed boundary. The fury in his eyes disappeared, "From today onwards, all of this is only just the beginning."
"The Celestial Sect of Wonders has been having it good these few years, such that all of you have become delusional apart from your master. Using me? Unfilial son, you shall be the first core member of the Celestial Sect of Wonders to perish today."
"All your schemes will come down to nothing eventually. How long do you think this sealed boundary can continue to trap me?"
Although the Saros Magical Tree was there to supplement the sealed boundary, Zhu Hongwu and the Great Heavenly Wheels continued to exert pressure on the sealed boundary and Higan Golden Bridge. After all, Zhu Yi was cultivating the virtual entity now and his powers were incomparable to Zhu Hongwu and the Great Heavenly Wheels which were committed in their offense.
"You won't need much time indeed. You'll break out eventually." Zhu Yi said, "But you're still slower than me, like just now."
After he finished speaking, Zhu Yi stood up and he kept on writing literary words with his fingers.
His new essay wasn't as elegant or as sophisticated as the common essay. But there was a simple concept of the Great Dao that was revealed from it.
His air of literacy spread and resonated with the entire human cultivation world in the Divine Lands. It's as if he was urging all the human powers to advance and combine their magnificent strengths together.
His shirt lit up with a bright, white light. Countless figures appeared amidst the light and recitation chants sounded.
These figures were all scholars across many generations. They were all moved by Zhu Yi's essay, and achieved a resonance with the Great Dao to further on the humans' momentum.
Humans spanning across empires and generations all started to achieve a resonance with one another too.
Zhu Yi and his essay was like a bridge that connected the past to the present. This self-improving momentum was clearly communicated at this point and started to take form gradually. It was used to support Zhu Yi and allowed everything to fall into place.
The light projection above Zhu Yi also started to turn solid and converted into a 3 foot tall human figure. This figure wore a crown and ancient costume, and his sleeves flowed freely as he stood there.
"Unfilial son, your plans to form the virtual entity are about to be thwarted. If I give you more time, even I cannot stop you then. But now, you're only inches away from your target. But these few inches will cause you to fail." Zhu Hongwu lifted the Great Heavenly Wheels and his figure shook. It's as if he was divided into countless parts.
Countless Zhu Hongwu's figures surrounded the revolving Great Heavenly Wheels at this point and countless fists moved at the same time too. The fists supplemented the Great Heavenly Wheels. The wheels spun and crashed towards the sealed boundary and Higan Golden Bridge.
Zhu Hongwu unleashed fists after fists. Besides his own fist will, most of these fists contained power concepts that weren't really what they appeared to be.
Through closer analysis, the Emperor of the Dead's mantras, Mount Shu's art of wordplay and Scholarly Sect's mantras seemed to have infused within Zhu Hongwu's fist will.
"You seemed to comprehend many weird manuals and can deduce many different mantras. You are quite talented in your own way, but I've managed to see through the concepts of these mantras too. I don't have to cultivate them. I just need to guide them into my fist."
Zhu Hongwu said coldly, "I infused the Heaven's Gate and Buddhist's mantras, which can be used to deduce other types of manuals. Along with Emperor Tai's mantras, the 3 of them will allow my powers to ascend a higher level and enable me to control all mantras in the world. I can control everything!"
"Unfilial son, you want to use me? The result is that I'm going to become stronger. I will even trample over the mantras of your Celestial Sect of Wonders. They will become my Martial Way foundation and aid me to become even more powerful!"
As he shouted, countless fists spun the Great Heavenly Wheels and it crashed towards Zhu Yi.
The sealed boundary cracked open immediately and even the Nine Luminaries Heaven-Crushing Formation started to shake. The luminaries seemed as if they were going to fall from the skies.
Zhu Hongwu's will was extremely resilient. After the initial fury, he calmed down very soon. He summoned his powers to their fullest and wanted to kill Zhu Yi, effectively turning the tables.
His and Liang Pan's plan was to make the necessary preparations before mounting an irresistible offense. He would take care of Yue Hongyan and Zhu Yi over here before returning to Tianjing to get rid of Shi Tianhao and the others.
Zhu Hongwu adjusted his attitude very quickly although he was tricked into the Celestial Sect of Wonders' ploy. He focused on what's important.
The key factor affecting the development of things was his fight with Zhu Yi. As long as he emerged victorious, the Celestial Sect of Wonders' plan would be for naught.
But at this point, Zhu Yi shouted, "Don't even think of turning the tables. You can't do it!"
"Humans strive for self-improvement and dream of establishing themselves. But you're turning to slavery. Your momentum will not last and you'll be destroyed eventually!"
"You're not trying to turn the tables on me. You're trying to turn the tables on all life. How can you succeed?"
As he shouted, Zhu Yi wrote the last word of his second essay. There were two strokes.
One stroke left and one stroke right, he wrote the word 'people'. (Translator's Note: The word 'people' in Chinese is written as 人.)
The light projection above Zhu Yi was also fully formed after he finished his essay. The 3 feet tall figure appeared just like Zhu Yi. He held an ancient scroll and the cover of the book was titled 'The Way of Changes'.
As the book flipped, there were words on the first few pages of the book. They represented Zhu Yi's second essay, whereas the back part of the book was empty.
These empty pages didn't appear to be hollow. Rather, they contained countless possibilities that could drive countless concepts.
The unknown became known, while the known became even more unknown. As they came together, they created boundless possibilities.
There was no end to learning. As humans explored the learning process, they comprehend the unknown. They used many methods to turn many of the things that they didn't know or understand into things that they could finally comprehend. Doing so related the process of humans' continuous seek for improvement and advancement.
On the forehead of this projection, there was a black and white Taiji Diagram that spin. It seemed to contain the brilliance of the world within it.
This 3 feet tall projection was Zhu Yi's virtual entity. He landed and combined with Zhu Yi's entire body. After that, he opened both his eyes and streaks of flowing lights were emitted from his pupils.
The recitation chants in the Divine Lands became even louder. The statues that were used to worship saints in the examination halls of the Great Zhou's Empire Tianjing and Great Qin Empire's Xiling City started to shake together.
Zhu Yi lowered his head and looked down. He received the attack of Zhu Hongwu's Great Heavenly Wheels.
Zhu Yi shouted, "There's boundless suffering and it's difficult to see the end. I lift the golden bridge and guide everyone across the boundless sea of suffering!"
As he shouted, the Higan Golden Bridge started to light up with countless, colorful light rings. The foundation of the bridge that originally only had 7 light rings appeared with a 8th light ring. A 9th light ring even appeared subtly before disappearing.
The Higan Golden Bridge became even more majestic with the 8 light rings shining on it. Zhu Yi even supplemented with his greater powers. Golden lights from the bridge descended like ribbons and shone on the entire Heavens and Earth.
The golden bridge carried Zhu Yi as it landed. It collided with the Great Heavenly Wheels that wanted to flip it!
Void space was destroyed, and the boundaries of the Greater World were distorted at this moment. Flashing, piercing white light interlaced with chaos created after void space was distorted. It's as if this world had returned to its barren ages.
As everyone watched in shock, Zhu Yi and the Higan Golden Bridge didn't move a single inch. Whereas Zhu Hongwu and the Great Heavenly Wheels were sent flying after the collision!
Before Zhu Hongwu even made his next move, Zhu Yi's voice sounded in void space, "Are you sure that your Martial Way can control the Heavens, and allow you to serve under Liang Pan as he deems everyone to slavery?"
"Then let's see whether you can handle my Higan Divine Fist first!"
As he spoke, Zhu Yi's virtual entity combined with the Higan Golden Bridge and turned into a huge golden giant. 8 light rings shone above this giant's head.
As this giant appeared, he immediately unleashed a fist. The vital energy of the Heavens and Earth was blown apart directly.
This fist caused the countless fists that surrounded the Great Heavenly Wheels to be crushed. The Great Heavenly Wheels was struck until it moved back once again!