Terran Guardian - Chapter 4023

Chapter 3998: Ancient Corpse

After an unknown amount of time,

the two stopped.

Before them lay a blood-red ancient coffin, its eerie and chilling aura causing both to tense.

“Amitabha, this humble monk has no intention of contending with you. Please make way!”

Bao Chan clasped his hands together and chanted a Buddhist prayer.

But as his words fell, the blood-red coffin trembled violently, its lid seemingly about to burst open. Evil and violent emotions surged from all directions, like ghostly howls echoing in their ears.

In that instant

, Shen Changqing’s physical body circulated his qi and blood, his power, like a blazing furnace, instantly repelling all the eerie aura.

At the same time,

Bao Chan’s expression also darkened, his eyes dimming, and he loudly chanted a Buddhist prayer.

“Amitabha, it seems this humble monk will have no choice but to perform the Vajra Subduing Demon act today!”

he said.

Suddenly, golden Buddhist light emanated from Bao Chan, and the phantom of an unparalleled Buddha materialized from the void, its majestic power suppressing billions of miles of starry sky, a truly awe-inspiring sight.

The moment this Buddhist light appeared, the strange auras seemed to have encountered their nemesis, instantly dissipating.

Immediately afterward,

Bao Chan unleashed a palm strike, the tangible palm print slamming heavily onto the blood-red ancient coffin. This terrifying power caused the coffin to tremble violently, and the various Dao patterns engraved on it emitted a strange blood-red light before shattering and dissipating inch by inch.

“Break!”

Bao Chan uttered a soft cry, and the blood-red ancient coffin instantly exploded.

An ancient corpse, its body mostly decayed and its original face unrecognizable, burst forth the instant the coffin shattered, directly attacking Bao Chan.

“Amitabha—”

Bao Chan chanted a Buddhist prayer, transforming into an angry Vajra, completely abandoning her previous gentle demeanor, and engaged the ancient corpse in battle.

While the two clashed, Shen Changqing stepped back, showing no intention of intervening.

He refrained from attacking

, wanting to assess the strength of this Glazed Buddha Child.

After observing for a moment, Shen Changqing gained some understanding of Bao Chan’s strength.

“The former second on the Immortal Emperor’s Stele is indeed not simple. The many geniuses of the Nine Heavens Immortal Realm are not to be underestimated!”

he thought to himself.

Shen Changqing wasn’t particularly shocked by Bao Chan’s strength. In

terms of actual power, she was probably on the same level as Luo Xinghe.

Of course,

this referred to the current state of the Crimson Jade Dao Palace.

Whether it was Luo Xinghe or Bao Chan, the power they were currently using was at the very limit of the Immortal Emperor realm.

A little more and they could break through the Immortal Emperor realm and rival the Half-Saint level.

In comparison,

the power Shen Changqing could actually use was roughly the same.

After all, this time, with the suppression of the Ancient Dao Venerable’s rules, any Half-Saint level power was suppressed. No matter how outstanding one’s talent or how astonishing one’s foundation, the power one could ultimately use was only at the Immortal Emperor level.

Bao Chan’s current strength has reached the limit of the Immortal Emperor realm, but that doesn’t mean it’s her entire power.

In the outside world, her strength would likely be at the Half-Saint level.

Therefore,

the suppression of the Crimson Jade Dao Palace’s rules is quite favorable to ordinary cultivators.

Otherwise,

without this suppression, ordinary Immortal Emperors would be no different from ants.

With this suppression, their strength can be kept at a relatively uniform level, and even if there are differences, they won’t be as exaggerated as in the outside world.

However—

this suppression isn’t so favorable for Shen Changqing himself.

It’s only because he achieved physical sainthood and isn’t afraid of the Immortal Emperor’s threat that he faced such a challenge in the previous battle, dealing with just Luo Xinghe alone would have been difficult.

Both are at the peak of the Immortal Emperor realm; who can truly be much stronger?

Ultimately ,

their strength limits are fixed. Don’t be fooled by

Shen Changqing’s complete domination of Luo Xinghe in the previous battle; in fact, he largely relied on the advantage of his physical sainthood.

Even an Immortal Emperor at the peak of their realm can’t break through his defenses!

There’s no comparison.

For Shen Changqing, it’s a straightforward sweep.

As his thoughts raced, the battle in the starry sky had reached a fever pitch.

The ancient corpse was incredibly powerful in life; even if it hadn’t broken through to the Saint realm, it was at least a top-tier Half-Saint.

Although it had been dead for many years, its body decayed, and its strength had significantly declined, it still possessed a level roughly equivalent to the peak of the Immortal Emperor realm.

Therefore,

it wouldn’t be easy for Bao Chan to suppress the ancient corpse.

However,

upon closer observation, one could discover that the power Bao Chan cultivated had a significant restraining effect on the ancient corpse. Even though the latter possessed a level comparable to the peak of the Immortal Emperor realm, it was gradually suppressed, left only with impotent rage.

Defeat!

It was only a matter of time.

Seeing this,

Shen Changqing suddenly said, “Fellow Daoist Bao Chan, this battle shouldn’t be delayed too long; it’s best to resolve it as soon as possible.

Otherwise, if other strange entities notice, we’ll likely face considerable trouble!”

This

wasn’t an exaggeration.

Shen Changqing had already sensed the strange fluctuations deep within the starry sky.

Countless powerful beings have perished in the Ruins of Return, and the Ancient Corpse is by no means the only one.

From the moment they stepped into the Ruins of Return, they had already attracted the attention of some strange beings.

Otherwise, how could the Ancient Corpse have blocked their path?

Upon hearing this,

Bao Chan punched the Ancient Corpse in the chest, sending it flying backward. Then, he summoned his supreme treasure:

a nine-ringed staff, seemingly forged from gold. A Buddha was carved at the top, and the nine rings resembled stars, shimmering with a faint starlight.

“Destroy!”

When Bao Chan swung the Nine-Ringed Staff down, its terrifying power tore the space before them apart. The ancient corpse seemed to sense a threat; a strange blood mist emanated from its rotting flesh, from which a supreme phantom was born, unleashing a tremendous power.

“Boom—”

The Nine-Ringed Staff crashed down, the blood mist instantly dissipating. The supreme phantom didn’t even last a breath before being annihilated.

The remaining force struck the ancient corpse.

In an instant ,

the ancient corpse’s rotting body shattered into pieces, all life utterly wiped out.

From Bao Chan wielding the Nine-Ringed Staff to the ancient corpse’s demise, only a moment had passed.

Shen Changqing looked at the Nine-Ringed Staff, his expression shifting slightly.

“Interesting!”

He could see that the power unleashed by the Nine-Ringed Staff was clearly beyond the capabilities of an Emperor-level artifact.

If nothing unexpected happened, this treasure was of the same type as the Nine-Star Mace.

However—

if a comparison were to be made…

The Nine-Ringed Staff is probably inferior to the Nine-Star Mace.

After all, the power unleashed in that attack was at most at the level of a first or second tribulation half-saint. If Shen Changqing had used the Nine-Star Mace, the power would have been far greater.

Of course,

there is another possibility:

that Bao Chan was still holding back and hadn’t fully utilized the power of the Nine-Ringed Staff.

Regardless, from Bao Chan, Shen Changqing had glimpsed a small part of the Glazed Holy Land’s hidden strength.

But at that moment,

the void trembled.

Three blood-red ancient coffins broke through the air and stood upright in the void, completely surrounding the two of them.

“Three ancient corpses, how many can you handle, fellow Daoist?”

Shen Changqing glanced at the three blood-red ancient coffins, his expression unchanged.

Bao Chan held the Nine-Ringed Staff, his expression returning to its original gentleness, as if the previous fierce expression was not his own.

“This humble monk’s strength is meager; I can probably only handle one.”

“Very well, leave the remaining two to me!”

Shen Changqing nodded, ignoring whether Bao Chan’s words were true or false. He took a step forward, arriving before a blood-red ancient coffin. Then, with a sudden burst of powerful force, he blasted out a fist, causing the coffin to explode.

The ancient corpse hidden within was exposed, seemingly caught off guard.

But the next instant

, the corpse roared, its hands reaching for Shen Changqing, its sharp nails easily tearing through space.

However, this attack left no mark on Shen Changqing.

At the very moment the corpse attacked, Shen Changqing’s fist struck like a cannonball, shattering its head and splattering foul blood.

Immediately afterward,

he struck the corpse’s chest with a palm strike, unleashing his power that shattered its rotting body into pieces, scattering them across the void.

All of this

happened in the blink of an eye.

When Bao Chan witnessed this scene, his pupils contracted sharply.

He knew Shen Changqing was very strong, but he hadn’t expected that the other party could kill an ancient corpse monster so easily without using any extra methods.

It should be noted that

the latter’s strength was also at the peak of the Immortal Emperor realm.

“Physical sainthood is truly domineering!”

Bao Chan murmured to himself.

He could see that Shen Changqing’s ability to kill the ancient corpse so easily was due to his incredibly powerful physical body.

These ancient corpse monsters were filled with potent poison; being scratched by them would definitely cause serious trouble.

Even Bao Chan himself wouldn’t dare to be careless when dealing with such ancient corpse monsters.

Although the corpse poison might not be fatal, completely removing it wouldn’t be easy.

But Shen Changqing was different.

His physical body was sainthood, and his skin defense was astonishing; the ancient corpse monster couldn’t even break through his defenses, so the so-called corpse poison was insignificant.

In this way,

the ancient corpse monster’s greatest advantage vanished.

Without this advantage, the ancient corpse’s monstrous body wasn’t actually that strong.

While it possessed formidable physical strength in life, the passage of time had eroded everything considerably.

In this state, killing the ancient corpse was much easier.

Seeing Shen Changqing instantly kill an ancient corpse, Bao Chan didn’t hesitate and immediately attacked the blood-red ancient coffin before her.

The nine-ringed staff struck the coffin, and with a deafening crash, the blood-red coffin shattered into pieces.

The ancient corpse hiding within roared angrily.