In an instant, the entire [Seven Luminaries Stabilizing the World and Preserving Truth Grand Formation] trembled violently.
The collision of two heaven-shaking spiritual powers, even after the shockwaves were diluted by the formation, caused anomalies in the neighboring Seven Luminaries Heaven: mountains and rivers shifted, and rivers flowed backward.
There was no room for maneuver in this collision; it was purely head-on!
Lu Yang and Perfected Lord Qingcheng Feixue faced each other across the void. On one side, brilliant light flooded like a sea, with thunder and lightning roaring. On the other side, a white silk-like waterfall cascaded from the sky, and a boundless heavenly river swept across.
The two deadlocked for a moment. Finally, the boundless heavenly river was the first to collapse, shattering into countless bubbles. It was clearly unable to sustain the spiritual power output, seemingly showing signs of defeat. However, seeing this, Lu Yang watched coldly from the sidelines, showing absolutely no intention of pressing his advantage. Instead, he proactively held back and restrained his spiritual power.
Something's not right.
With my current foundation—the [Divine Firmament Thunder] at perfection, the Dao Fruit Sublimation Ritual completed, and the blessing of the Dharma Body Dao—winning isn't surprising, but it shouldn't be a crushing victory.
This is a trap to lure me in.
If I pursue recklessly, I'll probably fall right into it.
Lu Yang pondered inwardly, his eyes cold. Although he believed he had absolute certainty of winning this duel, he wouldn't truly underestimate his opponent because of it.
On the other side, the shattered bubbles regrouped after pulling away from Lu Yang. The boundless heavenly river reappeared, and Perfected Lord Qingcheng Feixue stood barefoot on the water's surface.
Her stunningly beautiful face bore traces of surprise and admiration.
Such high spiritual power.
She considered her own cultivation to be quite extraordinary, having almost reached the pinnacle of the middle stage of the Golden Core. Aside from a slight deficiency in her Dao Fruit, everything else could be said to be maxed out.
Therefore, even after seeing that Lu Yang's cultivation was no less than hers, and perhaps even superior, she still chose to clash head-on. The result was that Lu Yang's strength still exceeded her expectations. Although her retreat just now involved an element of luring the enemy, the act itself was a display of weakness.
At this thought, Perfected Lord Qingcheng Feixue immediately changed her tactics:
Since I can't match him in spiritual power, I can only compete in concept profound wonders and True Treasure foundations. This person doesn't cultivate the Grotto-Heaven method, so I hold the advantage in this area.
If force cannot subdue the opponent, win through variation.
Perfected Lord Qingcheng Feixue hadn't suffered a single defeat in her five thousand years of dueling. The reason wasn't solely her profound Dao comprehension, but also her sheer talent for combat!
The next second, she rolled up her sleeve.
[Ravine Stream Water] profound wonder, [Cleansing World Light]!
In a flash, a ray of light appeared in her palm. Its color was pure, a flawless incandescent white, as if formed by the convergence of the most crystal-clear substances in the world.
The light shone forth, surprisingly sharing similarities with the lightning of the [Divine Firmament Thunder]. Its speed was so fast it completely surpassed the lock-on of a Perfected Lord's divine sense, making it impossible to capture. Lu Yang had barely registered it when a stinging pain pierced his eyes in the very next instant. Following that, wherever the light touched his body, it began to turn ethereal.
The nature of ravine stream water is clear, cold, and transparent.
Therefore, the initial function of the [Cleansing World Light] was to remove impurities and purify objects. It was less of an offensive profound wonder and more of a supportive one.
However, in Perfected Lord Qingcheng Feixue's hands, it took on a completely different form.
It erased all "impure objects" as determined by Perfected Lord Qingcheng Feixue. A perfectly good supportive profound wonder was used by her to produce an incredibly overbearing phenomenon!
Lu Yang didn't panic upon seeing this. Setting aside the fact that his Dharma Body was near perfection and his sturdy body difficult to injure, even the [Pine & Cypress Wood] wouldn't be instantly killed by a single move.
The next second, light also ignited at his fingertips, and a Daoist chant left his lips:
"Wind stirs the sheng and huang; rain swells the banners and pennants!"
[Pine & Cypress Wood] profound wonder, [The Heart of Eternal Rectitude]!
No matter what the attack was, as long as it couldn't kill him, he would gradually develop a resistance to it. At the same time, the heavier his injuries, the faster he recovered!
As soon as this profound wonder was stabilized, Lu Yang's initial trend of being erased by the [Cleansing World Light] immediately slowed down. It even continued to slow further as time passed. If the two sides remained deadlocked like this, there would come a day when the [Cleansing World Light] completely lost its effect on him.
Her skills end here... Impossible!
Lu Yang pondered internally. Instead of relaxing, he concentrated his mind and focused his energy. Suddenly, within the overwhelming incandescent white light before him, a brilliant golden light flashed.
However, he only saw its true form clearly when the golden light drew near.
It was a stone.
Golden talismanic patterns were inscribed on the stone. It was no larger than a fist, easily grasped in one hand, yet it instilled an indescribably strong sense of crisis in Lu Yang.
Moreover, just like the [Cleansing World Light], this stone was too fast to block!
By the time Lu Yang saw it, it had already reached the center of his brow. Without a hair's breadth of deviation, it suddenly sank, smashing right into his Niwan Palace!
"Boom!"
With just this single strike, Lu Yang understood what it was.
A True Treasure refined by extracting the [Ravine Stream Water] concept and using countless duels via the Dao Fruit Sublimation Ritual of [Five-Thousand-Year Combat Supreme]!
In an instant, Lu Yang's entire body shook violently. His Dharma Body, which should have been indestructible, was as fragile as paper under the smash of this stone. It was effortlessly cleaved right open, sliced cleanly in half vertically from the center of his brow. It then exploded, transforming into a sky full of blood-red light!
The next second, the blood qi reformed.
Lu Yang's figure reappeared. Aside from a red mark between his eyebrows, there were no other abnormalities. However, a hint of astonishment hid in the depths of his eyes as he looked at Perfected Lord Qingcheng Feixue.
What a formidable True Treasure!
It was able to cleave open my Dharma Body not because its sheer power was that strong, but because an concept was attached to it that inherently possessed the characteristic of breaking through defenses.
Does the [Ravine Stream Water] have such a concept?
On the other side, Perfected Lord Qingcheng Feixue's figure also reappeared.
She held the glittering golden stone in her hand, where it bounced restlessly. As for the gaze she directed at Lu Yang, it also hid a hint of surprise at this moment.
The [Sea-Mountain Heavenbreak Stone] actually didn't kill him.
This is going to be troublesome...
Despite how casual that strike might have looked, she had actually gone all out, aiming for a one-hit kill. The result, however, left her greatly disappointed.
With the characteristics of the [Pine & Cypress Wood], since the first strike failed to achieve its merit, the power of the next strike will decrease. Since he survived just now, it will only get easier and easier for him. Given his stature, I also can't expect him to be like Bodhisattva Precious Vajra Victory and have all his profound wonders occupied by my attacks.
There is no divine ability in the world that cannot be broken.
The [Pine & Cypress Wood] was no exception. Perfected Lord Qingcheng Feixue had at least two ways to deal with a Dao Fruit profound wonder like [The Heart of Eternal Rectitude], which became harder to fight the longer the battle dragged on.
The first was naturally a one-hit kill.
Using absolute strength to directly crush the opponent, giving [The Heart of Eternal Rectitude] absolutely no time to stack resistance.
The second was to compete in foundation.
As the name implies, when unable to kill the opponent in one strike, one would use a sufficient number of lethal attacks to force [The Heart of Eternal Rectitude] to stack more resistance.
Because Dao Fruit profound wonders were finite.
[The Heart of Eternal Rectitude] could not stack infinite resistance. The amount of resistance it could stack actually had a total limit determined by the Dao comprehension and stature of the Dao Fruit's master.
Exceed that total limit, and it would collapse.
From the looks of it, it seems I can only choose the second method. After all, given my strength, wanting to simply crush the opponent is a bit too much of a fantasy.
The probing ended here.
The next second, Perfected Lord Qingcheng Feixue was seen laughing loudly: "Fellow Daoist underestimates me far too much. Did you think you could suppress me with just one [Pine & Cypress Wood]?"
"Today, I shall let Fellow Daoist witness what it means to possess vast divine abilities and boundless spiritual power!"