After repelling [Sky-Shrouding], Lu Yang sat down in the [Sea of Bitterness], entering a concealed state again, ready to welcome new enemies at any time.
Fortunately, his luck was good.
Or rather, Patriarch Nether Whisper acted very quickly. If dragged on for a while longer, perhaps new strong enemies guided by karma would come to disrupt the situation.
However, Patriarch Nether Whisper was simply too fast.
Before the great net of karma could react further after [Sky-Shrouding] was blocked, Patriarch Nether Whisper had already completed all the steps.
Boom!
At this moment, Lu Yang stood in the [Sea of Bitterness] looking up, only to see [Heaven of Carefree], surrounded by Five Elements psychedelic colors, appearing somewhat illusory at this moment. It seemed as if it would ascend in broad daylight the next second, reaching a brand-new realm, yet it got stuck at the last step, unable to advance an inch.
"Sigh..."
Suddenly, a sigh spread faintly, carrying intense regret. The emotion even triggered fluctuations in the surrounding water of the [Sea of Bitterness].
"Still a bit short."
Patriarch Nether Whisper shook his head. He originally thought that relying on this method of taking off by stepping on the left foot with the right foot, he should be able to directly obtain a Stature comparable to a Great Perfected Lord.
However, in reality, it was still far short.
Although a Wonder was born and promoted to Orthodox, the foundation of [Heaven of Carefree] is still too weak, which is why the final qualitative change couldn't be completed.
To put it bluntly, the starting point was too low.
Every time he switched Dao Fruits to climb again, the magnitude of his own Stature drop exceeded expectations, so the final climbing height did not meet expectations.
Solving this problem was also simple: promote [Heaven of Carefree] to a Supreme Dao Fruit. With the Stature of a Supreme Dao Fruit, it would be enough to push Patriarch Nether Whisper across the threshold of a Great Perfected Lord... Alas, even with Patriarch Nether Whisper's aptitude, the promotion to a Supreme Dao Fruit was still somewhat of a fantasy.
"...Forget it."
The next second, Patriarch Nether Whisper's aura climbed rapidly. Under the enhancement of this propulsion rocket, [Heaven of Carefree] had already climbed to a certain limit.
Next was the fall.
Normally speaking, this kind of fall would kill people. Because there was no foothold at the corresponding Stature, stepping into empty air would only result in a death without a whole corpse.
However, Patriarch Nether Whisper had long prepared for this.
Seeing this, his expression remained unchanged. The hand seal in his hand changed again, and the conjured Five Elements Dao Fruits immediately unfurled, turning into a chaotic colored light curtain.
Whoosh whoosh.
Under the shroud of this light curtain, the Stature that should have fallen rapidly was suddenly delayed countless times, turning into a slow descent.
Lu Yang watched dumbfounded.
"Holy shit..."
If it were anyone else here, they probably wouldn't understand what Patriarch Nether Whisper did. But he was different; he understood the principle almost at a glance.
—Parachute!
Patriarch Nether Whisper used the propulsion rocket method to climb the Stature to the highest point by stepping on his left foot with his right foot, and then actually wove a parachute! Slowing down the speed of his Stature falling by countless times, he not only reduced the damage from the Stature falling but also prolonged the time of his peak state!
This is ridiculously absurd!
At this moment, Patriarch Nether Whisper's aura surged again, wildly, vigorously! From the initial early-stage Golden Core, it climbed to the mid-stage Golden Core almost instantly!
And it didn't stop!
If according to Lu Yang's "Five Grades of Perfected Lords" evaluation standard, Patriarch Nether Whisper was now approaching the peak of Second Grade, actually reaching his level!
However, it wasn't over yet!
Boom!
A loud bang, deafening. The [Sea of Bitterness] churned. Even Lu Yang involuntarily took a step back, intense surprise surfacing in his eyes.
Broke through! First Grade Perfected Lord!
[Heaven of Carefree], the Dao is achieved!
In an instant, Lu Yang felt the entire [Sea of Bitterness] undergo changes. Heaven-shaking giant waves spread with Patriarch Nether Whisper and [Heaven of Carefree] as the center.
Immediately after, a voice surfaced in his heart. It was Patriarch Nether Whisper's voice... Not only him, this voice was just like the Dharma Body Dao, also falling into the Immortal Nexus, echoing in the ears of many mid-stage Golden Core cultivators, and then spreading to the entire sea of light through the Immortal Nexus!
The content was just one sentence:
[You all should know, I have far surpassed the great achievements of the predecessors!]
"Hiss!"
Listening to the voice echoing in his ears, Lu Yang instantly gasped. This live broadcast to the entire light sea was almost only slightly less impressive than the Dharma Body Dao manifesting to the world!
Does it have to be so exaggerated?
Could this step of transformation in the Dao Fruit Sublimation Ritual actually have such momentum? If so, its significance might be even greater than he imagined!
Lu Yang turned around, only to see Patriarch Nether Whisper looking embarrassed, waving his hand and sighing: "This statement... it hasn't reached the exaggerated level of far surpassing predecessors. I just have a little bit more aptitude than others, which allowed me to take a small step standing on the shoulders of giants..."
Lu Yang was instantly speechless upon hearing this.
But soon he sorted out the current situation, then said with a solemn face: "Patriarch... your Stature will eventually fall back to its original position, right?"
"That's right."
Patriarch Nether Whisper nodded: "This is also the drawback of my path. Before ascending to the Paramita, my combat power is not lasting and will slowly fall."
"And after falling, it requires at least a day of rest to climb again."
It's fine, not lasting is also great!
Lu Yang was satisfied. According to his calculation, with Patriarch Nether Whisper's current falling speed, he could maintain the combat power of a First Grade Perfected Lord for at least two hours (one shichen)!
This was already decisive combat power.
After all, if the battle couldn't be resolved in two hours, wasting a few more hours would be useless. It would be better to run away as soon as possible.
Unfortunately, [Sky-Shrouding] ran fast...
Lu Yang thought with gnashed teeth. If [Sky-Shrouding] had run a bit slower, he could have just teamed up with Patriarch Nether Whisper to give him a doubles beating!
Just at this moment.
Suddenly, the [Sea of Bitterness] churned. A dragon head, towering like a mountain with prominent horns, poked out from the [Sea of Bitterness], its huge eyes full of horror.
"This is... How is this possible! Dao Fruit Wonder Sublimation?"
The Old Dragon Lord!
Lu Yang looked over instantly, enlightenment in his heart: This is the tribulation after [Sky-Shrouding]. Unfortunately, the Patriarch was too fast and succeeded ahead of time.
The result was that the Old Dragon Lord arrived late.
Of course, he couldn't be blamed. After receiving the guidance of karma, he had rushed over as fast as possible. He could only blame Patriarch Nether Whisper for being too monstrous.
Consider him unlucky.
The next second, the Old Dragon Lord who had just appeared realized the situation was wrong. Immediately turning Mount Sumeru into a mustard seed, he reverted to human form, wanting to return to the present world immediately.
However, Lu Yang's voice rang out before him:
"Patriarch! Attack!"
Rumble!
Before his voice fell, Lu Yang and Patriarch Nether Whisper had already acted. Lu Yang summoned the re-circulated Banner Spirits again, borrowing [Thunderbolt Flame].
Patriarch Nether Whisper looked calm, speaking slowly:
"Stop."
[Ruyi Heart], everything goes as one wishes! All phenomena follow the heart!
This wasn't some kind of forceful control, but the development of things was naturally guided to the result of the Old Dragon Lord being unable to move under Patriarch Nether Whisper's influence.
Patriarch Nether Whisper just needed to "make a wish."
Then [Ruyi Heart] would naturally make his wish come true.
Therefore, the next second, the Old Dragon Lord's movements came to an abrupt halt. The injuries from [Tribulation Evil Profound Light], previously masked by Mu Changsheng, erupted!
This eruption instantly made the Old Dragon Lord suffer.
Not only did his movements stop, but his originally flawless dragon body exploded by more than half in an instant. The mountain-like dragon head couldn't stop spurting blood.
This directly caused a fatal decline in his condition.
What was more fatal was that Lu Yang's attack also arrived!
The attacks of countless Banner Spirits fell on the Old Dragon Lord like scattered stars. Without much lethality, they instantly stacked ten layers of Severing Marks.
[Sever All Evil] detonated!
[Judgment: You exceeded the target in the fields of Spiritual Power, Dao Fruit, and Realm. The opponent has fallen into a semi-crippled state with heavy injuries difficult to heal]
Almost at the moment this prompt popped up.
"Roar—!!!"
Accompanied by a heaven-shaking scream, the Old Dragon Lord, whose old injuries relapsed, could no longer maintain himself. His towering dragon body exploded with a boom!
In the exploding blood light, a soul quickly returned to the present world, escaping into the Netherworld.
Body death and reincarnation!
At this moment, the Old Dragon Lord's heart was filled only with panic— He died! If he weren't mid-stage Golden Core, dying this time would mean falling from the position of Perfected Lord!
Surviving until now, the Old Dragon Lord regretted a decision he had made for the first time... That day in the [Nourishing Life Master], he really shouldn't have made a move!