Though the decision had been made, the crisis was not resolved.
The reason was simple:
"We still need time."
Patriarch Nether Whisper looked solemn. The light of spiritual wisdom in his eyes was almost overflowing his pupils, and sparks practically flew from his fingertips. Even Lu Yang couldn't understand what he was doing.
Yet it still wasn't enough.
"The [Celestial Court]... is too far away. Even with the karma from the water and fire disaster on your body as a locator, deriving the path is still extremely difficult."
"The location is even constantly shifting, like surging waves. Only in the instant a wave rises can the location be fixed. Once the wave falls, a miss by a hair's breadth in location will result in a thousand-mile error. A single careless step could even land us in some certain-death predicament."
Lu Yang wasn't surprised to hear this.
After all, the [Celestial Court] was a Super World Realm only slightly inferior to the wretched place. Having a defensive network of this level was entirely normal.
Rather, the fact that Patriarch Nether Whisper could still lock onto the [Celestial Court]'s position under these circumstances, only needing more time, was already a display of world-shocking wisdom.
"How much longer?"
"We need at least one more trip to the dark void," Patriarch Nether Whisper said in a deep voice. "In other words, you must survive another assassination attempt from the opponent."
"Fine." Lu Yang nodded readily.
At the same time, Suo Huan stood up and came to Lu Yang's side, his expression calm. "I leave the rest to you, Fellow Daoist. Take care of the universe ruins realm for me."
Lu Yang nodded as well.
In the next second, a clear, cold brilliant light slowly emerged from Suo Huan's palm. The fundamental profound wonder of [Wellspring Water] was pushed to the limit by him at this moment.
[Shared Nourishment]!
In the eyes of many perfected lords, [Wellspring Water] wasn't a powerful dao fruit. Its supportive nature was too strong, and its fundamental profound wonder was far from impressive.
However, only Lu Yang knew just how valuable this dao fruit truly was. It might only have a "damage transfer" effect, but the key lay in its ability to take on "all injuries." Regardless of what kind of injury, what nature, or what profound wonder caused it, he could take it over perfectly.
And it wasn't limited to just one person.
So far, what truly limited Suo Huan from exerting the full profound wonder of [Wellspring Water] was actually his cultivation. Being at the Early-Stage Golden Core, if he died, he would have to start over.
But what if he broke through?
Mid-Stage Golden Core, grotto-heaven never falling, infinite resurrection... At that time, he could take on injuries from others without any limit!
What was the difference between this and invincibility?
A top-tier support position!
In the next second, cracks gradually appeared on Suo Huan's body. Water and fire light emerged, while the cracks on Lu Yang's body vanished rapidly.
Immediately after, a visible bloody line appeared on Suo Huan's neck. In just a few breaths, he had grafted all of Lu Yang's injuries onto himself, simultaneously transferring all his spiritual power to Lu Yang, restoring Lu Yang's aura to its peak!
Crack!
With a soft sound, Suo Huan's head was about to fall from his neck, but he pressed it down. Blood light slowly flowed from his seven orifices.
"Its okay, I won't die yet."
Suo Huan smiled faintly, showing no sign of pain. Compared to the hundreds of years of waiting and the torment of seeking the Golden Core without result, this was nothing.
He endured it gladly.
As his voice fell, Suo Huan's figure quickly dimmed and fell into the deepest part of the [Righteous Dao Banner]. Lu Yang didn't delay; he immediately formed a seal and shook the banner.
In an instant, the rolling purple qi around the [Righteous Dao Banner] whistled over, submerging Suo Huan. It helped him suppress and stabilize the transferred injuries, maintaining his body from destruction and his grotto-heaven from collapse. This was the last of the three newly added divine wonders after Lu Yang refined it into a true treasure.
[Upholding Righteousness]!
As the name implied, this divine wonder was specifically used to protect banner spirits. With its suppression, at least Suo Huan wouldn't perish and die right now.
After doing all this, Lu Yang took a deep breath.
At this moment, Patriarch Nether Whisper was still calculating with his eyes closed, seeming to have completely lost perception of the outside world. Empress Xiao sighed and then walked towards Lu Yang.
"I've really been miserable because of you, my enemy..."
Lu Yang chuckled lightly. "I won't admit to that. Back then, it was clearly you, Your Majesty, who begged me, and begged quite happily at that."
Hearing this, Empress Xiao broke into a smile. "You aren't wrong about that. These past few days have truly been happier than my previous few hundred years."
"Forget it, forget it."
As her voice fell, Empress Xiao gently raised her hands in a lotus-holding gesture, manifesting the incense dao fruit of [Seven Luminaries Heaven] and handing it to Lu Yang.
"I am merely an unorthodox cultivator; I cannot help you much."
"Thinking it over, only this perfected lord body and some incense divine power might be of barely any use. Keep the dao fruit true spirit for me; don't let me really die."
Lu Yang nodded and collected her into the [Righteous Dao Banner].
At this moment, the dark void trembled. Lu Yang knew this was a silent warning. If he didn't return to reality to catch his breath, staying any longer would mean certain death.
"...Go!"
In the next second, Lu Yang put away the [Righteous Dao Banner], letting Patriarch Nether Whisper continue calculating, while he and Empress Xiao fell into the outer heaven light sea together.
In a flash of lightning, sword light struck.
Just as Lu Yang guessed, this time upon falling into the outer heaven light sea, [Perfected Lord Gangxing Budao] was right in front of him, seemingly having waited for a long time.
Boom!
Clang!
Two loud sounds rang out in the outer heaven light sea. The first was Empress Xiao's self-detonation; the second was [Perfected Lord Gangxing Budao]'s sword cry.
Although Empress Xiao was only an Unorthodox Perfected Lord, barely fifth-grade, she still touched the edge of being a perfected lord. The power of her self-detonation was quite considerable, at least barely blocking [Perfected Lord Gangxing Budao]'s sword light for a split second, buying Lu Yang precious time to respond.
'[Enlightenment]!'
The [Righteous Dao Banner] fluttered, and a strong power of enlightenment swept out like a gale. In a sense, this was actually also a kind of [Deprivation].
It was just that what was seized were thoughts and the mind.
However, [Perfected Lord Gangxing Budao] was a Great Perfected Lord after all. He was affected for a moment before because he was unprepared. How could he fall for it again now?
My heart is like a sword, clear and transparent!
The sword light didn't deviate, completely unaffected by the influence of [Enlightenment]. After slashing through the aftermath of Empress Xiao's self-detonation, it continued towards Lu Yang's neck.
Three-foot sword edge, [Ascendant Victor] shining brilliantly.
Even in this instant, [Perfected Lord Gangxing Budao]'s stature skyrocketed. Slashing out with his sword, his entire person seemed to enter a transcendent state.
Stature Elevation!
To ensure this sword could kill Lu Yang, while activating the titled sword intent, he also forcefully restored his own stature to the Great Perfected Lord level!
Just this one action crushed all of Lu Yang's preparations.
If [Perfected Lord Gangxing Budao] maintained the state of a first-grade perfected lord, Lu Yang, who had recovered to his peak, could at worst withstand it head-on and still survive.
But now it was different.
The Great Perfected Lord's stature crashed down. Where the sword edge pointed, the [Inscribing Heavenly Chapter] on Lu Yang's forehead extinguished instantly, unable to operate even a bit of profound wonder!
Clearly, [Perfected Lord Gangxing Budao] had also discovered Lu Yang's restored state in that flash of lightning. Coupled with Empress Xiao's self-detonation, he knew he was a step behind, giving Lu Yang a chance to breathe. But how could a sword cultivator like him give the enemy a chance?
"Die!"
Sword light flashed. Seeing that it was about to kill Lu Yang, causing his grotto-heaven to collapse and incidentally damage the concept of [Heavenly Fire], achieving all his schemes—
Clang!!!
In the nick of time, a third sword hum rang out in this outer heaven light sea. It simultaneously triggered two changes, instantly disrupting the originally destined outcome.
The first change was to [Perfected Lord Gangxing Budao]'s [Ascendant Victor] Sword Intent.
Without any warning, the brilliant sword intent that was originally sufficient to kill Lu Yang suddenly withered. The concept collapsed, losing the profound wonder to surely kill Lu Yang.
The second change was to Lu Yang's Unyielding Sword Intent.
In stark contrast to [Perfected Lord Gangxing Budao], this sword intent skyrocketed abruptly, allowing Lu Yang to hold on the moment he was struck by the sword light.
With one waning and the other waxing—
Boom!
Lu Yang took a step back. One hand pressed on top of his head, clamping it down tightly. Half his head had already separated from his neck, but he ultimately steadied it.
He didn't die!
On the other side, [Perfected Lord Gangxing Budao] stood still. The expression on his face was gloomier than ever before as he silently looked at the source of the variable.
Drip.
Blood dripped down, spreading across the outer heaven light sea.
Where [Perfected Lord Gangxing Budao]'s gaze landed, he saw only a sword, a person—a person who, in his calculations, should not have appeared here.
"Vanquishing-Demon... Ye Guangji..."
[Perfected Lord Gangxing Budao] sighed faintly. "Why do this? What's wrong with staying in Jiangnan and became [Sword Lord Vanquishing-Demon and Protecting-Saint]... what was wrong with that?"
Responding to him was a pair of eyes—blazing with white light, calm yet resolute.