Chapter Fourteen: The Third Visit to Mount Zhaoyao

"Careful!"
With a deafening clang, a colossal, golden-eyed Vajra statue blocked an equally massive golden staff, sending sparks flying. The impact drove the entire Vajra figure more than three meters deep into the earth, sending soil and dust billowing everywhere.

A mechanical, spring-like screech erupted as Monk Luokong leapt onto the Vajra's shoulder. He struck the shoulder with his staff, instantly causing rings of radiant patterns to spread around the Vajra, arcane inscriptions swirling and spreading over its body.

The mechanical Vajra roared like a beast and, exerting its strength, sprang from the soil. It drew an enormous demon-subduing pestle from its back and swung it fiercely at the giant staff.

Across from them, the gigantic white-eared ape, wielding the massive staff, bellowed in rage as it was struck and sent hurtling through the air by the pestle. It smashed through two mountain peaks before finally coming to a halt against a third.

"Amitabha," Monk Luokong intoned from atop the Vajra's head.

Meanwhile, Xiaomei rapidly teleported the barrage of stones aimed at the group to the other side, where the "thump-thump-thump" of impacts struck the stone-throwing xingxing. The xingxing fell from the trees one after another, filling the scene with chaos and distress.

The enormous white-eared ape, witnessing this, flew into a fury. Its eyes turned blood-red, its muscles swelled even larger, and it leaped from the rubble, raising its massive club and bringing it crashing down upon the group. The force of the swing was so immense that it uprooted countless giant trees, sending a storm of shattered debris flying toward them.

"Ha!" Monk Luokong commanded the Vajra to block the main assault with the demon-subduing pestle, but the scattered force and flying debris swept him away, continuing toward the others.

"Arhat Golden Body!" A shimmering golden silhouette emerged from Monk Luokong, enveloping him in the image of an arhat. Instantly, he regained his balance. He couldn't help but marvel at the ape's strength—the force of that wind rivaled a tornado.

"Divine Bastion!" Peter raised his cross, unleashing a blinding light that quickly formed an inverted turtle shell, shielding the group from the remaining attack.

"Hmph! Did you think I was a sickly kitten? Stupid monkey, let your big sister show you a lesson!" Without anyone noticing, Lingmei had flown above the white-eared giant ape. Wielding a massive mining shovel, she struck the ape, sending it flying once more. The scene was bizarre—like a mosquito wielding a flyswatter and sending a full-grown adult hurtling away.

"Book of Prophecy—Eternal Light!" Peter's Bible floated into the air. "God said, let there be light..." It was as if an entire choir echoed Peter's chant, their voices swelling until they thundered like great bells. "Time Stop!" With Peter's final shout, everything around them seemed to solidify like jelly, frozen in place.

"Hurry, everyone! Rush through the xingxing horde—I can only maintain this for a moment!" Peter urged.

"Everyone stand together! I'll teleport us a short distance!" Xiaomei activated her teleportation power, and space began to twist—the surroundings melting away like a dissolving cake.

Before anyone could regain their footing, they plunged headlong into a river. As they hit the water, Xiaomei summoned a water elemental—a towering, humanoid figure—who gathered them all up. Though everyone got a little wet, it was far better than being submerged in the river.

"That's Yupei Grass! There really is a huge patch of it! The Lord will rid the world of the demon's scourge, and humanity will no longer suffer from cancer or tumors!" Peter leapt from the water elemental's arms and dove into the riverbed to collect the yupei grass.

"Be careful, Peter! Safety first—there may be hostile beasts!" Wu Ming called out in warning.