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"Commander?"

No one expected Tian Liang to turn his gun directly on those around him!

In an instant, the Royal Guard was thrown into chaos, and the front-line troops were affected as well. The military formation wavered, showing signs of instability.

The Arhats, who had been on the verge of total defeat, suddenly regained their vigor, launching a frenzied counterattack.

They realized that if the army formation collapsed, the humans who barely sustained their strength with elixirs wouldn’t last long—the side effects of the elixirs were simply too harsh.

The tide of the battle shifted dramatically, but the Past Buddha’s expression darkened slightly in the distance.

The causal changes resulting from this turn of events were immense, and they had triggered significant backlash on his body.

He had warned the other party that he couldn’t assist in altering such a massive causal shift twice. Yet the other party chose to go through with it. Was this an attempt to determine victory or defeat in one round?

Could they really pull it off?

Watching as the trusted aides were picked off one by one by King of Qin’s gun, Ali, who was hidden among them, remained unshaken.

She knew King of Qin wouldn’t kill her. He was trying to intimidate her, forcing her to emerge. As long as she remained undiscovered, she still had options.

However, King of Qin was exceedingly cautious, closing his eyes every time he struck, relying on the sound of the wind to pinpoint positions. This left her with no chance to act. If this continued, once his weapon was aimed at her, she wouldn’t be able to hide any longer.

What now?

Retreat was impossible; there was no way she could outpace King of Qin in such close quarters. This had nearly become a dead end.

"Kill!"

Suddenly, the trusted aides steadied themselves from their panic, gripping their long spears and charged at King of Qin.

King of Qin frowned. The soldiers’ actions against him were resolute, without a hint of hesitation, completely illogical. What had transpired?

But in a flash, he understood. These soldiers had been manipulated by Ali.

This fox had certainly prepared well. She must have altered the soldiers’ memories ahead of time or laid out contingencies so that if Tian Liang failed, they would move against him without hesitation.

The Royal Guards, most of whom were members of the Four Holy Guard, were no weaklings. The sudden surge of blood energy from these coordinated attackers clearly formed a small-scale military array.

King of Qin was forced into a clumsy defense.

The whitened transformation ability of the Demon Statue had a drawback: it not only replicated someone’s appearance but also mimicked their power extensively. Consequently, it sealed his original strength.

Unless the limitations were instantly lifted—but doing so would release Tian Liang, who could quickly rally the troops and restore the inner military formation. In that case, King of Qin would be caught within it and either perish or incur grievous injuries.

However, keeping the power restricted while needing to watch his back against Ali...

He simply couldn’t endure it.

"Monk, are you going to reset the timeline or not?"

King of Qin immediately transmitted a low growl.

"Amitabha Buddha, benefactor, this humble monk has already informed you earlier: altering such immense causality comes at a great cost. I will not intervene again. Has your Highness’s ingenuity reached its limit?"

"Monk, you better not regret this!" King of Qin sneered. He instantly released Tian Liang, reverting to his true form. With a surge of blood energy, his long spear swept out, sending the encircling Four Holy Guards flying backward.

Forced into this corner, he hesitated not a second. If breaking out was necessary, he would do so immediately. As for whether Tian Liang would later lead the troops to seize the Buddhist Temple, it was no longer his concern.

"Amitabha Buddha..." The Buddha pressed his palms together, unsurprised by this turn of events.

He had anticipated King of Qin being cornered like this, but what would follow...

The Buddha smiled faintly. Since earlier, he had been observing those trusted aides. King of Qin, with his closed eyes, could not fully monitor them. From the outside, however, the Buddha saw it all clearly—even though the Demon Fox had concealed herself skillfully, some flaws remained.

These weren’t real soldiers, and at certain moments, their movements were noticeably stiff. During their encirclement of King of Qin, certain individuals lagged deliberately behind their companions, choosing to linger on the periphery to avoid injury.

Upon closer inspection, the truth was apparent.

His steps shifted—a seemingly casual step forward—and in an instant, he was within the formation!

With a face of solemn compassion, the Buddha began chanting a mantra, his hand moving slowly toward the stunned soldier.

Though his movement appeared slow, it sealed off every possible escape route in the heavens and earth. It was the Buddhist Mystic Power: World in Palm!

Under the grasp of this technique, no matter what methods—be it Spatial Art or anything else—you could not escape. Those under the domain of World in Palm could only choose to endure it. This was one of the highest sacred techniques of Buddha’s Gate.

Truthfully, using such a godly technique in this situation imposed a heavy burden, but the stakes justified the cost.

Many believed the Past Buddha could only alter the past momentarily, but few truly understood him.

This misunderstanding was why King of Qin collaborated with him, never imagining he might act against the Thousand-Faced Fox too.

Because in King of Qin’s view, only a handful of individuals could absorb the abilities of the Thousand-Faced Fox. The Ancient Buddha certainly shouldn’t have such capabilities; otherwise, he would have taken the fox long ago. Why wait until now?

Yet reality proved otherwise.

The Thousand-Faced Fox’s power was terrifying, and many top-tier factions were well aware of it.

Thus, they were wary of both the fox’s growth and the possibility of monsters capable of stealing its abilities—such as the suppression of Fragment Bee.

Once the bee absorbed the Thousand-Faced Fox’s abilities, it would become nearly invincible.

For an existence like this, if it could be used personally, who wouldn’t covet it?

He had actually schemed for it long ago. The Past Buddha possessed a capability many were unaware of—going back to eras long past to subtly alter historical events.

The prerequisite was that he could not cause major disruptions, or he would suffer severe repercussions. Thus, every time he traveled back, he operated with extreme caution, minimizing disturbance while striving for his goal.

From the moment he disagreed with Old Liu, he had been plotting for the Thousand-Faced Fox.

Long ago, he had planted the Buddha’s seeds within the fox’s body. These were his own seeds. He executed this meticulously, using multiple time-travel instances to avoid karma—each of his traversals heavily scrutinized by other factions—requiring myriad distractions to cloak his intentions.

To shield his true aim, he had devoted two entire Eras. By the end, no one even knew what his real reason for traveling to the past was.

Figures like the Three-Eyed God General deemed his efforts futile attempts to alter destiny.

In reality, altering the past was the very thing he dreaded most.

Ultimately, after countless cover-ups and exhaustive efforts, he finally placed his seeds inside the Thousand-Faced Fox. But then... disaster struck.

Old Liu introduced a batch of new players into the fold—a group whose genetic makeup stemmed from designer players—and used a highly specialized ancient pathway. This led certain designers to replace the original demon natives.

The Thousand-Faced Fox was among them.

That modern girl who inherited the Thousand-Faced Fox bloodline rendered his seeds half-useless. To merely attract her through Buddha Light was now impossible.

But... if she could be captured alive, the situation would be different. Once the seeds awakened, her abilities would belong to him!

And once he mastered the Thousand-Faced Fox’s powers, his doctrines could truly reign supreme in the world!