All along, Lu Yang harbored a question in his heart.
[Perfected Lord Qingcheng Feixue], this indisputable pillar of the Saint Sect after [Sky-shrouding], this widely known crazy woman—just how strong was she?
This time I can witness it!
Lu Yang focused his vision and looked towards Jiangnan from afar, only to see several Dao Fruit stars lit up simultaneously at this moment. The world's spiritual atmosphere was cleared by it.
"Demon... how dare you."
"Do you really think we afraid of you?"
In an instant, three sharp shouts came from the [Jade Pivot Sword Pavilion], accompanied by the emergence of three Dao Fruits, which Lu Yang hadn't even seen in the [Jade Pivot Sword Pavilion] in his previous life.
[Rooftop Tile Earth]!
[Furnace Crucible Fire]!
[Wall-Top Earth]!
Besides [Perfected Lord Chengtian Zhengde] and that late-stage Golden Core [Perfected Lord Gangxing Budao], the remaining two Perfected Lords of the [Jade Pivot Sword Pavilion] are all here!
Just from this, Lu Yang could discern many things.
No wonder [Perfected Lord Chengtian Zhengde] seemed not very valued in the [Jade Pivot Sword Pavilion]. Turns out the [Jade Pivot Sword Pavilion] already has a Perfected Lord who attained Dao with an Earth Element Dao Fruit!
That [Perfected Lord Gangxing Budao] cultivates [Placer Gold in Sand]. I remember [Sky-shrouding] told me that for late-stage Golden Core, one either completes all five elements or utilizes three elements... So he should have joined forces with the two Perfected Lords of [Rooftop Tile Earth] and [Furnace Crucible Fire] to achieve late-stage Golden Core with three elements.
In this situation, [Wall-Top Earth] was useless.
The result was the three Perfected Lords of the [Jade Pivot Sword Pavilion] banded together to form a clique, shutting out [Perfected Lord Chengtian Zhengde].
However, soon, a bigger question arose.
[Perfected Lord Gangxing Budao] ... a solid late-stage Golden Core. Compared to him, the Saint Sect without [Sky-shrouding] has no late-stage Golden Core holding the fort.
Looking at it this way, the [Jade Pivot Sword Pavilion] was the party with the advantage.
Not to mention there were also the Pure Land and the Dao Court. Even if the Pure Land sat on the fence, with such a huge gap in combat power, how did the Saint Sect manage to stand as an equal?
Soon, Lu Yang knew the answer.
"Hahaha! Good timing!"
Above the vault of heaven, [Perfected Lord Qingcheng Feixue]'s laughter resounded in all directions, completely devoid of fear. Although a woman, her heroism at this moment was no less than any man's.
Immediately after, [Perfected Lord Qingcheng Feixue] advanced instead of retreating. The Dao Fruit transformed from [Ravine Stream Water] boldly crashed into the three Dao Fruits manifested in the [Jade Pivot Sword Pavilion]. The [Cleansing World Light] drawn from the Dao Fruit illuminated all phenomena, sweeping away everything in its path. Fighting one against three, she took the absolute advantage!
"That crazy woman is too fierce!"
"She actually dares to fight..."
"What does she not dare? When that person from the Dao Court attacked her back then, she dared to fight back just the same... The key is she can win. That is true ability!"
At this moment, many Perfected Lords were watching the battle.
Meanwhile, Lu Yang also found the reason why [Perfected Lord Qingcheng Feixue] ranked first in fighting skills for five thousand years from [Perfected Lord Chengtian Zhengde]'s memories.
This deed was regarded by [Perfected Lord Chengtian Zhengde] as untrustworthy gossip and placed in the farthest corner of his memory, so Lu Yang had overlooked it initially.
Now, picking it up again, its truly astonishing—
Good Heavens...
Everyone knows that in this wretched place, fighting above one's level is the trend. Foundation Establishment killing Qi Refining is normal, and Golden Core beating Foundation Establishment is a common matter.
However, over a long time, there are always exceptions.
[Perfected Lord Qingcheng Feixue] was that exception—she was the first Perfected Lord in recorded history to achieve fighting above her level at the Golden Core stage.
True fighting above one's level!
Xue Feihong had just become a Perfected Lord for less than a hundred years. The Saint Sect was weak at that time, and the Dao Court wanted to take advantage of the situation. The current Grand Preceptor personally pressured the Heaven-Connecting Cloud Sea...
The Dao Court Grand Preceptor at that time was a middle-stage Golden Core!
And at that time in the Saint Sect, whether it was [Perfected Lord Qingcheng Feixue], [Perfected Lord Iridescent Brocade], or [Perfected Lord Hanguang Who Drifts Above the Heavens], all were early-stage Golden Core...
Undoubtedly, that was the Saint Sect's weakest moment.
The Dao Court was even thinking of taken advantage of it!
As a result, [Perfected Lord Qingcheng Feixue], who had just become a Perfected Lord for a hundred years, came out of seclusion. One battle shocked the world, she managing to beat the Dao Court Grand Preceptor!
This was a battle record who only Golden Core Perfected Lords could understand how exaggerated it was. Middle-stage Golden Core— with their Grotto-Heaven un-falling, was almost equivalent to permanently occupying a Dao Fruit.
Even if lifespan ended or killed by someone, as long as the Grotto-Heaven was undamaged, one could instantly return to the Perfected Lord position after reincarnation.
Compared to that, what early-stage Golden Core?
The Grotto-Heaven only had a lifespan of a thousand years. Once the time was up, it would fall together with the Perfected Lord, starting all over again... just look at Hong Yun to know how much risk there was.
The gap was obvious.
The two sides engaging was equivalent to middle-stage Golden Core using countless lives to fight early-stage Golden Core's one life. I can make mistakes countless times; you cannot make a mistake even once.
Not to mention the combat power of middle-stage Golden Core was inherently higher than early-stage, and their Dao comprehension was also stronger.
Yet with such a gap... [Perfected Lord Qingcheng Feixue] won.
Before [Perfected Lord Qingcheng Feixue], there were also extremely few brilliant early-stage Golden Core cultivators who could contend with middle-stage Golden Core for a short time.
But over a long time, the essential advantage of middle-stage Golden Core would manifest. No early-stage Perfected Lord could hold out. Ultimately, it would only result in defeat and fleeing in distress. Even if a few more early-stage Perfected Lords joined forces, it was meaningless, merely holding for a bit longer.
But [Perfected Lord Qingcheng Feixue] changed all this.
In one great battle, she really didn't make a single mistake. With one life, she killed the Dao Court Grand Preceptor more than fifty times in a row, killing faster and more skillfully each time!
Originally, the Dao Court Grand Preceptor was completely red with rage, planning to continue the battle.
After all, middle-stage Golden Core Grotto-Heavens didn't fall, allowing infinite resurrection. He didn't believe [Perfected Lord Qingcheng Feixue] could outlast him. Fighting for a hundred years, the winner would still be him.
However, on the fifty-third battle, the situation changed abruptly.
On the fifty-third battle, [Perfected Lord Qingcheng Feixue] seemed to catch a certain flaw of the Dao Court Grand Preceptor.
While killing him, she hit his Grotto-Heaven!
This really cost him his life.
Dao Court Perfected Lords were different from other Perfected Lords, especially the Three Excellencies. Their Grotto-Heaven wasn't refined by one generation, but inherited through generations. It was property belonging to the Dao Court!
And now, the Grotto-Heaven was damaged!
In this situation, no matter how unwilling the Dao Court Grand Preceptor was, he couldn't continue fighting. He could only swallow the bitter fruit of defeat with hatred.
After this battle, [Perfected Lord Qingcheng Feixue]'s fame rose greatly.
As for that Dao Court Grand Preceptor, because of the great crime of damaging the Grotto-Heaven, he was toppled by Emperor Jiayou, who had not been on the throne for long at that time, and was forced to reincarnate.
So in fact, it was equivalent to [Perfected Lord Qingcheng Feixue] fighting above her level and killing a middle-stage Golden Core!
How exaggerated was that?
Only after understanding the whole story did Lu Yang understand why [Perfected Lord Qingcheng Feixue]was so fierce, remaining completely fearless even when fighting one against three.
But...
Where is that late-stage Golden Core of the [Jade Pivot Sword Pavilion]?
[Perfected Lord Gangxing Budao] once pressured overseas, making the middle-stage Golden Core old Dragon Lord dare not speak, only able to watch his own son White Chi Dragon be divided and eaten by various faction.
[Perfected Lord Qingcheng Feixue] was so arrogant now.
Where did this Great Perfected Lord go?
Save the situation!
Lu Yang's question was also the question of many Perfected Lords watching in secret at this moment. In fact... [Perfected Lord Gangxing Budao] hadn't appeared for a very long time.
Could he be dead?
Impossible. A middle-stage Golden Core could permanently occupy Heaven and Earth Dao Fruits. Unless a Dao Lord acted, how could a late-stage Golden Core Great Perfected Lord die?
"Hahaha!"
Another burst of laughter came, still from [Perfected Lord Qingcheng Feixue]. The face of this mad woman was now brimming with a beautiful smile capable of toppling countries and cities.
Lu Yang, and even many Perfected Lords, had such questions because their Dao comprehension wasn't enough.
However, she was different.
Her dao comprehension had long reached the level of late-stage Golden Core. Only because she lacked a suitable Dao Fruit, she remained at middle-stage Golden Core until now.
Therefore, she could guess the state of that [Perfected Lord Gangxing Budao] at this moment.
"Dao comprehension insufficient, forcing a late-stage... although he is successful, the restrictions are extremely great... Hehe, [Furnace Crucible Fire] and [Rooftop Tile Earth]? Not a pleasant experience isn it?!"
As soon as these words came out, the expressions of the two Perfected Lords of the [Jade Pivot Sword Pavilion] changed drastically!