Journey to the West: Signing in for 500 Years-Chapter 658 - 652: Head-On Clash【Request subscription】_1

"Buddha, save me."

No one expected that after just a single exchange, the Ancient Buddha would be calling for help.

Yang Jian, the Three Holy Mother, and the others were all surprised, truly not having anticipated such weakness from the Ancient Buddha. This was a Peak Quasi-Saint, immensely strong with extraordinary capabilities. For such a personage to call for help after merely one encounter with Sha Chen was staggering.

Even if he hadn't called for help, attempting to defeat Sha Chen would not have been easy for him. But his plea for help made it clear he knew the gap between him and Sha Chen was as vast as that between heaven and earth. Though both were Peak Quasi-Saints, the disparity in strength was monumental.

This made Six-Eared Macaque and Yang Jian's followers even more confident in Sha Chen, their excitement and shock palpable. The seven spider sisters were overjoyed to the point of tears. The stronger Sha Chen was, the more he could protect them.

They initially thought it would be a fierce battle since their enemy was so formidable, but they had not expected the Ran Deng Buddha to fail so miserably. But was the Ancient Buddha weak? That was not the case. Far from weak, the Ancient Buddha's strength was widely recognized, with a reputation that could place him among the top in the Three Realms. Once a Deputy Master of the Chan Sect, his strength had been acknowledged by all, and at one point he was even considered invincible below the rank of Saints. Not only was his power immense, his status noble, endowed with boundless divine powers and a multitude of magical tools. A major figure with such renown was now calling for help after just a single clash with Sha Chen; it was truly unexpected.

Tathagata too was greatly shocked. He had tested Sha Chen with a Tathagata's Palm, only to find after one solid clash that his opponent's strength was no less than his own. But even he, in a fight with the Ancient Buddha, would not have decided the battle so quickly, nor would he have put the Ancient Buddha under such immense pressure, compelling him to cry out for help. Yet Sha Chen had done it, not only applying immense pressure on the Ancient Buddha but also compelling him to call for aid openly.

Deeply shaken though he was, Tathagata did not choose to stand by idly. He had already, in a sense, subdued the Ancient Buddha, so he couldn't abandon him. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to command the entirety of Lingjiu Mountain. Moreover, waiting for Sha Chen to finish off the Ancient Buddha before stepping in might not ensure his victory. Teaming up increased their chances of winning.

Even at this juncture, however, Tathagata Buddha still did not believe that Sha Chen was stronger than himself. He firmly believed that he had reached the Sub-saint Realm and even taken a significant step within it. He could stand shoulder to shoulder with Saints and even face Saint Nuwa in a duel without falling behind. No matter how strong Sha Chen was, he was, after all, a Peak Quasi-Saint and definitely could not match a Saint.

So, Tathagata once again executed the Tathagata's Palm, while his other hand formed a Buddhist seal and began chanting the Six-character True Words of Buddhism. The Tathagata's Palm pressed down, but the real killer move was the Six-character True Words that followed, carrying a true suppressing force. If the Six-character True Words were endowed on Tathagata's Palm and descended, Sha Chen, if struck, would become the second Sun Wukong, suppressed under Five Finger Mountain.

But Sha Chen was not Sun Wukong, and the Tathagata's Palm was ineffective against him. Just as Tathagata had the Six-character True Words, Sha Chen possessed the Taoist Nine-word Mantra. And against the Tathagata's Palm, Sha Chen had his Heavenly Splitting Palm.

Sha Chen, too, executed a palm strike, while his other hand formed a Taoist hand sign, chanting the Nine-character True Words.

"Upon the warrior's approach, all formations march forward."

Palm seals collided, mantras contended. Their divine powers dissipated into nothingness, and the terrifying aftershocks of their battle swept out, causing cracks to appear in the small world that Sha Chen had set up.

Tathagata said, "I didn't expect your strength to be so considerable. Clearly, you emanate the aura of a Peak Quasi-Saint, yet you possess the power to contend with me."

Sha Chen replied, "You flatter yourself too much. Just contend with you?" 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

He smirked coldly. "You've used all your strength, while I have yet to truly exert myself."

Tathagata snorted, "Who told you I've used all my strength? Just now, that was but seventy to eighty percent of my power. Should I use my full strength, this small world wouldn't withstand it."

Sha Chen laughed too. "That's quite a coincidence, as I've only used about forty to fifty percent of my power. If I were to use my full strength, the aftershocks might reach Lingjiu Mountain."

Naturally, Tathagata didn't take it seriously, considering it a mere verbal gambit by Sha Chen.

Sha Chen did not bother to explain further and continued his attack. Simultaneously, he was constructing a spatial world, reinforcing its defenses to prevent the battle's effects from spreading outward.

It wasn't that he wished to conceal his power but rather that he did not want to harm the innocent. At their level of strength, a mere gesture could shatter heavens and earth. A single expectoration could flood a city of millions; a stomp of the foot could shatter a hundred thousand mountain ranges.

If the aftershocks of their battle truly spread out, the first to suffer would be ordinary mortals within a million li of Flowing Sand River. Sha Chen didn't want to harm the innocent, and Tathagata and the Ancient Buddha wanted it even less.

After all, the calamity of Journey to the West had already begun, and not far from Flowing Sand River, under Five Finger Mountain, were their scripture pilgrims. Moreover, if destruction commenced from Flowing Sand River, the lands within a million li might get damaged. And as Flowing Sand River was a critical hub in the calamity of Journey to the West, once the battle's aftershocks spread, they could affect the entirety of the disaster.

Neither party wished for their battle to injure the innocent, so Tathagata too employed his Great Spatial Divine Power to reinforce the defenses of the small world. In this way, as long as they did not deliberately attack the small world itself, the battle's aftershocks would not escape.

After all, at their level of power, their fights were no longer primarily about widespread destruction. Such tactics would only disperse the might of their Divine Powers, rather than concentrating their lethality. Both could control their Divine Power well, affecting only their opponents without reaching beyond the small world.

With that, Sha Chen felt reassured. He was genuinely concerned that Tathagata and the Ancient Buddha might resort to a scorched-earth tactic, unleashing a fury that could threaten everyone in the Three Realms as a bargaining chip against him.

Thankfully, both Tathagata and the Ancient Buddha had their limits. Moreover, they feared Sha Chen could use the same threat against them, as Buddhism's foundations, along with its followers' faith and merit, lay in the Realm of People. Sha Chen did not need faith, so the destruction of the Realm of People was inconsequential to him. But to Buddhism, it was critical, as it pertained to their very foundation.

The two sides readily agreed with a tacit understanding and battled on. In this clash, there was no testing of each other; they used their full power.