Chapter 15: The Full Might of the Supreme Treasure

Zhang Xiao narrowed his eyes upon hearing this. He had not expected that despite his meticulous planning, a fish had slipped through the net. This caught him off guard, but he remained indifferent; given his current strength, as long as he did not encounter a demon at the Unity stage, those at the Spirit Refining stage posed no threat. He responded coldly, "So, you have come to avenge the Shell Demon tribe?"

"Indeed. I am here under the orders of the Great Crow King to drag you back to the Myriad Spirit Cave. The Great Crow King will personally extract your soul and refine your spirit, leaving you praying for death in vain. Kill him!"

With a roar from Tie Ya, three thousand tiger sharks swarmed to surround the island. A surge of demonic energy shot into the sky, sealing off the space around Zhang Xiao.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!" Water arrows began to erupt from the sea below, each strike carrying the force of ten thousand pounds. Furthermore, the sea level rose rapidly, quickly submerging the island. Seeing this, Zhang Xiao had Hei Zi shrink to the size of a palm and retreat into his pocket.

Zhang Xiao then executed the Phantom of the Heavenly Demon, his figure ghost-like as he charged into the barrage of water arrows. Amidst the sky-filling projectiles, he moved with the ease of a leisurely stroll, his form flickering like lightning.

"Hmph! You think a mere formation can stop me?" Zhang Xiao let out a cold shout. Spiral spikes suddenly manifested over the scales on his arms. With a tremor of his arm, dozens of these spikes vanished, and the formation of tiger sharks below immediately fell into chaos. The spikes silently tore through space, emerging from every corner; each one claimed the life of a tiger shark. After Zhang Xiao unleashed nearly a hundred spikes, the sea surface turned blood-red, and a hundred carcasses floated upon the waves.

"Bastard!"

Seeing his elite forces decimated in the blink of an eye, Tie Ya was consumed by rage. He exploded from the sea surface toward Zhang Xiao, his speed not a whit slower than Zhang Xiao’s Phantom of the Heavenly Demon. He swung his steel fork, and a surge of water-elemental energy coalesced into an icy blue flood dragon, striking toward Zhang Xiao.

Before his seclusion, Zhang Xiao would have had to rely on the Five-Colored Cloud Banner to parry such an attack. But today, he was a different man; with his strength having surged, he did not even glance at the incoming dragon. With a flick of his palm, a silver light erupted.

The Heavenly Sun Sword glowed in Zhang Xiao’s hand like a scorching sun. With a gentle sweep, the sky was filled with silver radiance. Pure Yang sword energy descended like a torrential downpour, and the icy dragon conjured by Tie Ya was instantly evaporated by the sheer, majestic power of the Pure Yang energy.

As the sword rain fell, Tie Ya slammed his steel fork into the water beneath him. With a deafening boom, the sea level rose abruptly, and countless giant hands formed from seawater burst forth, parrying the Pure Yang sword energy.

"Die!"

Zhang Xiao roared, and the energy in his Heavenly Sun Sword shifted from Pure Yang to the pure, dark aura of a demon. His silver hair instantly turned jet black. As his dark hair danced, a tyrannical demonic aura descended, turning the surrounding seawater pitch black. Tie Ya’s expression shifted, and he was struck by a sudden, intense dread.

"How can this be!" Tie Ya cried out. The surrounding sea had become like stagnant water, perfectly still. No matter how much strength he exerted, he could not move the water beneath his feet by even a fraction. Moreover, his own elite guards in the water began to slaughter one another in a frenzy.

Tie Ya wished to intervene, but Zhang Xiao gave him no opportunity. The Phantom of the Heavenly Demon filled the sky with afterimages. Tie Ya swung his fork, creating a web of shadow, yet he failed to touch Zhang Xiao’s true form—he could not even brush against his robes.

Irritated, Tie Ya tossed his fork and shouted, "Dragon-Tiger Whale Shark!" His figure swelled, and as he swung his fork, he unleashed a barrage of water-elemental energy in the shape of dragon-whales, which detonated in the sky.

The raging water energy turned the very air into icy crystals, which began to fall like rice grains. Under this onslaught, Zhang Xiao was forced to reveal himself.

"A formidable water-elemental technique. But if this is all you have, then this is the end for you."

Zhang Xiao let out a long whistle, and three halos—gold, silver, and black—appeared behind his head. These halos represented not only the paths of Buddha, Tao, and Demon, but also the essence, energy, and spirit of Zhang Xiao. As the three colors intertwined, he pointed a finger.

A golden Buddhist wheel appeared in his hand, and the sound of chanting emerged from within. Inside the wheel, a world was revealed, filled with mountains, rivers, and vegetation—a true celestial landscape.

This was the true form of the Buddha’s Golden Wheel. Previously, his strength was insufficient to unleash the full power of this supreme treasure; typically, one needed to reach the late Spirit Refining stage to do so. However, Zhang Xiao’s current strength could not be measured by conventional logic.

Though he was at the late Nascent Soul stage, his power already surpassed that of a mid-Spirit Refining cultivator, allowing him to fully manifest the wheel's might. He cast the wheel toward Tie Ya, and a cascade of Buddhist light engulfed him. Four divine figures appeared around the wheel, their expressions shifting between great joy, sorrow, compassion, and fury. The four figures chanted, and the surrounding energy transformed into ancient scriptures that struck Tie Ya. He poured all his demonic energy into resisting, but the scriptures ignored his defenses and sank into his body.

Tie Ya’s expression flickered; he looked sorrowful, then compassionate, and finally furious. In the end, he dropped his steel fork, his face filled with smiles and a sense of liberation. His demonic aura transformed into a pure Buddhist essence.

He knelt before Zhang Xiao and bowed, "Thank you, Buddha, for the enlightenment. This disciple was wrong." With those words, Tie Ya transformed into a streak of light and dove into the Buddha’s Golden Wheel. Zhang Xiao retracted the treasure, feeling a sense of awe at its power. He knew of the "Sutra of Salvation" from the *Brahma Zen Scripture*, which claimed to convert others to Buddhism.

Zhang Xiao understood that this sutra was merely a means to scour the soul and turn others into puppets. When he had fought the ascetic Chloe in the main city of Cardoray in the Americas, he had used it to force others to turn against their master. He had studied the scripture afterward, only to find it too tyrannical—it forcibly wiped a person's mind, leaving them as nothing more than a mindless slave to his commands. It had no other utility, so he rarely used it.

But after witnessing the power of the Buddha’s Golden Wheel, Zhang Xiao had to admit that compared to the sutra, the wheel was far more absolute. A mid-Spirit Refining Tiger Shark demon possessed a formidable spirit, yet in the blink of an eye, it had been subdued and had voluntarily entered the wheel.

Zhang Xiao examined the wheel and saw a massive shark swimming happily in a lotus pond within the world inside—it was indeed the tiger shark demon. The creature would occasionally surface to chant scriptures. Furthermore, if Zhang Xiao wished, he could read Tie Ya’s memories at will; nothing could be hidden.

"Ding!" Just as he marveled at the treasure, his attribute panel chimed. He tapped it to reveal: "Ding! Your artifact, the Buddha’s Golden Wheel, has subdued the mid-Spirit Refining demon Tie Ya. Tie Ya will generate 20 points of Faith Energy every ten days for your use."

Zhang Xiao’s eyes lit up. Faith Energy! Though he did not know the specifics, he knew that a mid-Spirit Refining demon generating only 20 points every ten days showed how precious it was.

He hadn't expected the greatest utility of the Buddha’s Golden Wheel to be the generation of Faith Energy. Suppressing his excitement, he retracted the wheel into his body and transformed into a streak of rainbow light, continuing his flight eastward.

He had not expected to stir up the Myriad Spirit Cave. It wouldn't be long before they learned of Tie Ya’s capture, and they would surely launch a frantic pursuit. Zhang Xiao did not fear them, but having glimpsed Tie Ya’s memories, he knew the Myriad Spirit Cave was merely one of the thirty-six cave dwellings of the Sea King Palace, and the experts within the palace were as numerous as the hairs on an ox. He had no desire to provoke such a bottomless behemoth.

Since the Great Change, the oceans had been occupied by seven major powers. Besides the Sea King Palace and the Roc Palace, there were the four Dragon Palaces. Of course, their masters were not true dragons, but *Fan Jiao*—serpents with strong dragon bloodlines—whose strength was unfathomable. It was said they were supported by the Four Dragon Kings of the Immortal Realm, making them far wealthier and more powerful than the Sea King Palace or the Roc Palace.

Beyond these six, there was the Sacred Sea in the western waters of the Americas, rumored to hold the most mysterious power of all, though Tie Ya lacked specific details.

Zhang Xiao’s current goal was to fly out of the Myriad Spirit Sea as quickly as possible. Once he crossed this boundary, he believed even the Great Crow King could do nothing to him.

Once he refined the flames of the *Bi Fang* and mastered the *Bi Fang* Transformation, he could soar through the nine heavens and no longer fear those powerful demons in the skies.