Pillar of the Skies made another appearance.
But this time, Wu Yu was attacking his master, Patriarch Bodhi!
It sure looked like blasphemy to everyone else. Destroying one's master and ancestors were counted among the most damned of all sins. But it was the only way to take Luo Pin and the others away.
Wu Yu had to make it convincing by bringing forth power to defeat a seventh tier immortal emperor!
As his Ruyi Jingu Bang came crashing down, it blinded all the spectators with its golden brilliance.
At this time, Wu Yu suddenly felt a powerful presence arrive.
These were the celestial soldiers who had descended to apprehend him. There were too many of them to count.
But seeing Wu Yu fight the Patriarch Bodhi, they halted and did not interfere.
Wu Yu's heart sank.
With them around, it would be hard for him to leave, even if he fake-beat the Patriarch Bodhi.
After all, the celestial soldiers moved with perfect synergy. Each of them were as strong as an immortal emperor, and together they were even stronger.
If they formed up, they could hold Wu Yu for a long time.
And then other powers would arrive, and Wu Yu would be well and truly trapped......
But at that moment, Wu Yu's Ruyi Jingu Bang landed on Patriarch Bodhi.
The Patriarch Bodhi was chanting scripture, which no one knew the purpose of. Suddenly a familiar wave of energy swept out towards the celestial soldiers.
"Fixed Body Art?"
Wu Yu started when he recognized it.
However, there was no time to be surprised now.
His Ruyi Jingu Bang had connected against Patriarch Bodhi, seemingly sending him flying!
"Go!"
Patriarch Bodhi pulsed to him. He realized that Luo Pin, Full Moon of Nanshan, and Ye Xixi had been set free.
Wu Yu bundled them up into his Devouring Apotheosis Realm, and then looked back.
The celestial soldiers were all rooted to the spot, and could only watch agog as he fled.
"The Patriarch Bodhi also knows Fixed Body Art?"
Wu Yu had no time to ponder this. Taking Luo Pin and the others, he vanished.
He did not dare to head to Heavenly Buddha's Domain. The only option left was Demon Immortal Realm.
By the time the wave had subsided, Wu Yu was already safely back in Demon Immortal Realm......
He slumped down in relief.
There should not be too much danger in Demon Immortal Realm for the moment. He could collect his thoughts for a moment.
How had the Patriarch Bodhi known the 72 Transformations?
Fixed Body Art was exactly the same as what Wu Yu knew about it. He had used it to hold all the celestial soldiers!
"Could the Patriarch Bodhi be somehow linked to the Great Sage, Heaven's Equal?"
Wu Yu guessed.
But besides Fixed Body Art, Patriarch Bodhi had not revealed any of the other moves.
It seemed presumptuous to conclude the link to the Great Sage, Heaven's Equal on this alone.
Still, Wu Yu recalled the first time he had sought refuge in the Eternal Emperor Tomb. It had been the Patriarch Bodhi who had called him back to be his disciple. And that was how their relationship had begun.
This too alluded to his link to the Great Sage, Heaven's Equal.
"Forget it, I have other things to think about."
Wu Yu shook his head vigorously. Such thoughts were of no help to him.
Even if he laid out all the information, there was no good conclusion to be drawn. He had too little information.
"In any case, it seems like the Patriarch Bodhi is the only one I can trust in the sky palaces."
Wu Yu was convinced of this point. He prepared to stay at Eternal Emperor Tomb in Demon Immortal Realm for a while.
After all, he could not come back to the sky palaces, unless he wanted to be hunted down like a diseased rat.
The fuss he had kicked up this time was huge.
To have eaten all of the peaches in the Heavenly Queen Mother's garden... Although it was not his fault, he wasn't about to rat Ming Long out about it.
Therefore, he had no choice but to be the scapegoat for this.
"Good timing. I've finished all of the divine sarira and immortal buddha corpses. If I want to continue rising, I can devour eternal demon emperor corpses."
Back in Eternal Emperor Tomb, the first thing he did was to let Luo Pin and the others out.
All three were scared out of their skins.
Wu Yu explained to them all that had happened.
"It can't be. Sister Ming Long fused with the Heaven Devouring Evil Lord?"
Full Moon of Nanshan found this hard to believe. "How is that possible? Ming Long is my goddess. That means......"
"Don't worry. It's not yet time for despair yet." Wu Yu thought back to the time that he had met with the Heaven Devouring Evil Lord. Her eyes had occasionally belied a glimpse of affection.
Definitely Ming Long. Definitely not the Heaven Devouring Evil Lord.
Which meant that Ming Long had not yet been completely assimilated. If she could be brought back, he might have a way of banishing the Heaven Devouring Evil Lord.
Not like Wu Yu hadn't done similar feats before.
Back when Jiu Ying had been controlled by the remnant of the Apocalyptic Chaos Demon's soul, he had used the mystical dragons' immortal design to restore him completely.
Of course, Ming Long's situation was a bit more complicated. It would be infinitely harder compared to Jiu Ying's situation.
"Luckily I left the Spirit Hunter Mark on her previously."
Wu Yu celebrated.
The Spirit Hunter Mark would allow him to track her down, no matter where she went.
This was part of the Spirit Hunter Art, one of the 72 Transformations.
Wu Yu could still feel her location even now.
Of course, ensconced in Eternal Emperor Tomb, he could not pinpoint the location precisely.
But the moment he returned to the sky palaces, he would know keenly.
"Even if I know where she is, it's not easy to catch her since she has Somersault Cloud......"
Wu Yu brooded on this. Finally, he hit upon an idea. To use the final transformation of the 72 Transformations - Nightmare Praying Art!
Nightmare Praying Art had the user read the Nightmare Immortal Prayer, which could hold the adversary in an endless nightmare, losing all fighting power.
In the grip of the Nightmare Immortal Prayer, their minds would be blank.
If he could just master it, then Wu Yu might be able to subdue the Heaven Devouring Evil Lord with the Nightmare Immortal Prayer and bring her back.
He immediately began work on it.
After all, he did not know when the Jade Emperor would lead the celestial soldiers to Demon Immortal Realm.
What he did know was that the Jade Emperor had destroyed Demon Immortal Realm once before.
There was nothing surprising if he could do it again.
Wu Yu did not at all doubt that the Jade Emperor could come here.
Of course, it was possible that he could not, if it was part of the memory wipe.
If the Jade Emperor had no memory of it, then Wu Yu was definitely safe......
Still, Wu Yu did not hold out high hopes for that.
In any case, it was best that he make full use of what time he had.
He began to study Nightmare Immortal Prayer day and night, training his Nightmare Praying Art until his eyes watered. He himself lived in the dream world of the Nightmare Immortal Prayer.
Each time, he would have to stop and rest.
But in the downtime, he would instead spend it desperately using Spirit Penetration Art to study the next epochal immortal design.
There was not a second to waste at all.
The situation was too urgent.
When he recovered, he was back to reading the Nightmare Immortal Prayer. He pressed on, day and night.
In this way, he spent 3000 years!
In these 3000 years, he never once stopped cultivating Nightmare Praying Art and studying epochal immortal designs.
Finally, he succeeded in cultivating Nightmare Praying Art!
"It's about time now."
Now that Wu Yu was done, he intended to capture the Heaven Devouring Evil Lord as soon as possible.
After all, Ming Long was still trapped there. If she was not rescued promptly, it was likely that she would be gone the next time.
His heart raced with anxiety each time he thought about it.
He would not let Ming Long disappear!
"Replicate!"
Wu Yu changed into an ordinary immortal before he left.
And then he returned alone to the Heavenly Domain, concentrating on the location of the Heaven Devouring Evil Lord.
He very quickly sensed the presence of his Spirit Hunter Mark, moving around.
He headed to the level of Heaven where the Heaven Devouring Evil Lord was.