Journey to the West: Signing in for 500 Years-Chapter 515 - 509: Saint’s Intervention [Seeking Subscriptions and Monthly Tickets]_1

Chapter 515: Chapter 509: Saint’s Intervention [Seeking Subscriptions and Monthly Tickets]_1

BOOM.

Sha Chen’s punch shot out with the force of ten thousand jun; it was immensely heavy and powerful, its might boundless. Wherever the fist’s wake passed, space itself collapsed.

Maitreya Buddha, who had already turned and was preparing to flee, saw his expression change dramatically. From behind, he felt an overwhelming aura, profound malice, and killing intent. He whirled around in terror and was stunned by the sight of Sha Chen’s punch.

Such terrifying strength! he thought. That fist alone is comparable to my Realm Breaking Hammer, capable of shattering space with sheer force! How is this possible? How can anyone in this world possess a physical body so formidable? Could his physique truly rival that of an Ancestral Witch?! But legend says that among the Twelve Ancestral Witches, even Qiang Liang, the Thunder Ancestral Witch—whose physical body was the strongest and whose raw power was the most terrifying—wasn’t this strong!

BOOM.

The punch struck home. Maitreya Buddha resisted with all his might. But ultimately, he couldn’t withstand it. His Legal Body was shattered, and his Buddha idol collapsed.

However, he didn’t die. Instead, Sha Chen reached out, plucked him from the air, and held him like an ant pinched between his fingers. He had used all his Mana in his initial attempt to flee and hadn’t resisted with his full strength, so Sha Chen’s punch had then shattered his defenses. His physical body simply couldn’t endure such a blow. At this moment, he was an arrow at the end of its flight, severely injured. Pinched in Sha Chen’s grip, he lacked even the ability to defend himself and could perish at any moment.

Sha Chen, in contrast, had an indifferent expression and a cold gaze. Holding him, Sha Chen said, "Don’t be too surprised. None of the Twelve Ancestral Witches possess a physical body like mine, because I cultivate the Power of Strength."

Maitreya Buddha, his eyes dazed as he coughed incessantly on blood, exclaimed, "The Power of Strength! Impossible! None of the Twelve Ancestral Witches cultivate the Power of Strength! How do you know it?"

Sha Chen said, "The Twelve Ancestral Witches merely possess Pangu’s flesh and blood, whereas I possess Pangu’s Heart Blood. Never mind mastering the Power of Strength; if I chose to cultivate them, I could grasp the abilities of the other Ancestral Witches as well." A brilliant spatial distortion appeared in his palm. "For example, Di Jiang, the Ancestral Witch of Space and leader of the Twelve. My abilities are already very close to his. Once my physical body advances further, matching his spatial power will be no problem at all."

Maitreya Buddha, terrified, cried out, "Release me! Even if you can match Di Jiang, you mustn’t kill the innocent indiscriminately!"

Sha Chen chuckled. "Remember, it will be my *abilities* that match his, not my overall *prowess*. My prowess will far surpass Di Jiang’s."

Maitreya Buddha stammered in terror, "You... you... you think you can surpass Di Jiang and stand equal to a Saint?!"

Di Jiang’s might is renowned, evident to all, he thought. For Sha Chen to dare say such a thing... does he truly believe he can match a Saint?! Impossible!

Sha Chen grinned. "In any case, just remember this: you are nothing more than a stumbling block on my path forward. I just need to kick you aside."

He didn’t elaborate, Sha Chen thought. In truth, matching a Saint wasn’t his goal; he aimed to surpass Saints. Only by being stronger than the very strongest could he feel secure. Even if someone could match him, he would still feel insecure, constantly sensing grave danger. For this reason, he had to become so powerful that no one else would dare harbor any untoward designs against him.

Still holding Maitreya Buddha, Sha Chen grinned. "Now that you’re my captive, what more do you have to say?"

Maitreya Buddha, enraged, retorted, "Release me, and I will act as if this never happened! Otherwise, you will be an enemy of Buddhism!"

Sha Chen chuckled. "You may want to pretend this never happened, but I’m not willing. I dare to defy even the Tathagata Buddha, let alone a mere nobody like you."

Maitreya Buddha furrowed his brow. He was already severely injured and his face was pale; escape seemed incredibly difficult. Sha Chen was simply too strong. Held in that grip, Maitreya couldn’t break free. It wasn’t just the overwhelming power; it also seemed as if Sha Chen’s palm had condensed into a separate space, making escape impossible.

"Why? Why is your power so immense, and your spatial abilities so terrifying?" Maitreya Buddha struggled desperately but couldn’t break free. He roared furiously, "Release me! I have already become a disciple under Saint Jieyin! If you kill me, the Saint’s fury will instantly descend and incinerate this place!"

Sha Chen sneered, "You weren’t afraid of Tongtian Holy Man’s rage, yet you expect me to fear Saint Jieyin’s?"

"You said it yourself: disciples of Saints no longer carry any weight and are useless for threatening anyone. For you to try and threaten me with that now is truly laughable."

Maitreya Buddha’s expression turned ugly; he hadn’t expected Sha Chen to turn his own words against him.

A growing unease filled his heart; he could actually sense the threat of death, he thought.

He cried out in fear, "Sha Chen, after all this talk, do you really intend to kill me?! You must think this through! I am Maitreya Buddha, the Future Buddha of Buddhism! Killing me will undoubtedly enrage all of Buddhism!"

"At that point, there would be no need for a Saint to act! The collective fury of the Buddhas of Buddhism alone would be enough to incinerate your Flowing Sand River!"

Sha Chen merely chuckled. "Your words are laughable. I’m not even concerned about Saints, so why would I worry about your Buddhist followers joining forces?"

"However, you were right about one thing: I truly do intend to kill you. You’ve come here to challenge me more than once. Since you dared to come, you should have been prepared to be slain by me."

When Maitreya Buddha heard this confirmation, terror filled his heart, and he seethed with uncontrollable rage. "Sha Chen, don’t be reckless! I am Maitreya Buddha, the Future Buddha of Buddhism, a figure of high status and great power! Killing me would have profound consequences!" He bellowed and roared, desperately parading his identity and status in an attempt to make Sha Chen abandon the idea of killing him.

But Sha Chen was exceptionally resolute this time, completely unwilling to yield. His eyes were cold and filled with killing intent.

"Since you dared to come here in the first place, you should have been prepared for this. There is no one in this world who cannot be killed. Even Saints slaughter each other, let alone someone like you!"

Then, he tightened his grip, and a terrifying crushing force erupted from his hand.

SPLAT. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Maitreya was instantly crushed by Sha Chen’s grip, exploding into a mist of blood. To prevent Maitreya’s rebirth and potential revenge, Sha Chen intended to obliterate his Primordial Spirit as well.

Unexpectedly, however, Maitreya Buddha’s soul radiated a brilliant Buddha Light that repelled Sha Chen. The soul then instantly shattered space and fled into the distance.

Sha Chen frowned but didn’t pursue, nor did he use his spatial power to intercept. He had sensed the aura of that Buddha Light; it was extraordinarily vast and powerful, definitely not something Maitreya Buddha himself could possess. Nor was it the aura of Tathagata. Within all of Buddhism, there were no more than two individuals capable of repelling him with a single ray of Buddha Light.

"Saint Jieyin, Zhunti," he muttered, his teeth clenched and brow furrowed.

He had already guessed that the Buddha Light must have been left by the two Saints, Saint Jieyin and Zhunti. They probably hadn’t come personally but had left a protective mark on Maitreya. Maitreya’s body had perished, but his Dao was not extinguished, precisely because of the mark left by Saint Jieyin and Zhunti, which had protected his soul, allowing it to flee.

Sha Chen felt no particular regret. Although Maitreya’s soul had escaped this calamity, to be reborn, he would have to reincarnate and begin his Cultivation anew.

Even if he retained his memories, cultivating back to his current realm would require enduring an unknown number of tribulations and trials. After all, for a reincarnated soul, even with past-life memories and comprehension, cultivation to a high level is impossible without a flawless physical body. Whether Maitreya Buddha, in his next life, could even reach his previous heights, let alone become a Quasi-Saint again, was highly uncertain.

Therefore, Sha Chen wasn’t particularly concerned about Maitreya’s escape.

What worried him most was that Buddha Light—had it come from Saint Jieyin or Zhunti? And if they learned of this, would they intervene personally? If they did intervene, things would become truly troublesome. Sha Chen wasn’t afraid of a single Saint, but he did fear two Saints joining forces. The Flowing Sand River was supposedly impregnable; a lone Saint, unless it was The Sage Laozi, could not breach its defenses. But he didn’t know if the Flowing Sand River could withstand a combined attack from two Saints. If it couldn’t, he would have to flee as soon as possible!