"Not good!..."
At this moment, the Primordial Heavenly Demon had no spare energy to ponder how his whereabouts had been leaked. All his thoughts transformed into a single notion:
'Flee!'
However, it was too late. The moment he turned around, that familiar sensation had already struck. He was infinitely shrunk, while Lu Yang's figure infinitely expanded.
This time, situated in the light sea, Lu Yang didn't need to restrain his mighty power. His unparalleled Dharma Body freely stretched its limbs at this moment, head touching the sky and feet planted on the earth. Its scale was even larger than the Myriad Martial World Realm below. The intense aura of a high stature made it almost impossible for the Primordial Heavenly Demon to breathe.
He just lowered his eyelids like that.
That head, which rivaled a World Realm in size, slowly lowered. His eyes, like the sun and moon, bloomed with divine light, piercing through the heavy layers of the light sea and locking onto the Primordial Heavenly Demon.
A second later, Lu Yang slowly raised his palm.
Behind him, [Divine Firmament Thunder] surfaced. Brilliant golden lightning shot out around him, finally forming a magnificent halo of light at his back.
Boundless mighty power was entirely focused onto this single palm.
The palm tore through the light sea, stirring up thunderbolts and lightning fire. It blotted out the sky and sun, casting a shadow of death downwards that completely enveloped the Primordial Heavenly Demon.
Rumble!
The sound of thunder echoed through the heavens, deafening the ears. One must know that this was inherently a method designed to counter inner demons, not to mention that the Primordial Heavenly Demon's current state was already at rock bottom!
Under these circumstances, when he tried to change formlessly, the booming thunder would jolt him right back out of formlessness. He tried to split into clones to flee, but every time he separated one, lightning would instantly respond to his thoughts, striking the clone dead on the spot. In the end, it was completely useless and only wasted his energy.
'I can't escape!'
It wasn't until the palm lines were clearly visible like overlapping mountain ranges that the Primordial Heavenly Demon finally realized he was probably doomed this time.
Will the World Honored One save me?
This thought subconsciously flashed through the Primordial Heavenly Demon's mind, but he gritted his teeth and rejected it.
Impossible. Falling to this state only proves that my abilities are lacking. I'm not a useful chess piece, and if I'm not useful, I can only be treated as an abandoned piece!
Me? An abandoned piece?
The Primordial Heavenly Demon's eyes instantly turned bloodshot. Even though he was an inner demon himself, at this moment, he felt as if he had ironically given birth to the thoughts of an inner demon.
Past memories resurfaced once more.
He was the Primordial Heavenly Demon, but the Primordial Heavenly Demon was merely the result of the World Honored One's manipulation. What was the true him? Who could his origins be traced back to?
The answer was simple.
'[Sky-shrouding]!'
Before becoming the Primordial Heavenly Demon, he was Bodhisattva Coiled Dragon Shadow's inner demon... So, why did Bodhisattva Coiled Dragon Shadow suddenly birth an inner demon?
On one hand, it was certainly because the World Honored One intentionally severed Bodhisattva Coiled Dragon Shadow's [One Mind], deliberately accelerating the process. However, on the other hand, it was also because Bodhisattva Coiled Dragon Shadow truly possessed an obsession. Because it was only after being parasitized by [Sky-shrouding] that he abruptly realized he was merely a chess piece.
First he was used by [Sky-shrouding], then he was used by the World Honored One. He had never truly controlled his own fate, until he was finally cast aside like worn-out shoes by both sides.
To this day, the Primordial Heavenly Demon had not forgotten the words Bodhisattva Coiled Dragon Shadow said to him the moment he was born.
"That's wonderful, you are not a puppet... unlike me, an abandoned piece."
That's right, I am different.
Independent from [One Mind], vying for the [Tribulation], possessing a chance to attain the Dao. I am not the puppet of any Dao Lord, much less an abandoned piece!
An inner demon was born within the Primordial Heavenly Demon's body, yet it rapidly merged with him, allowing him to regain a portion of his state. Boundless demonic qi erupted from his body, then entirely combusted, protecting his sole true consciousness. It transformed into a faint streak of mystic light, desperately fleeing toward the outside.
He had to escape!
An inner demon was inherently an obsession. Not only did it want to escape the descending palm, but it also wanted to escape the fate of becoming an abandoned piece. Even if it had to die, it would die on the road!
It was born precisely because of this.
Even in death, it should perish because of this!
'As long as I escape this palm, I can enter the dark void. Even if only a single demonic thought remains, I won't die, nor will I be reduced to an abandoned piece!'
The Primordial Heavenly Demon roared furiously in his heart.
The mystic light continued to flee outward, while he abandoned the vast majority of his demonic body. At this moment, it shockingly transformed into a giant as large as a mountain, pushing its hands upward to support the sky.
Rumble!
Instantly, a visible storm spread out with Lu Yang's descending palm as the center. Even the aftershocks instantly cleared away the astral clouds outside the Myriad Martial World Realm.
Such an anomaly naturally triggered unrest among the living beings of the Myriad Martial World Realm. Countless people raised their heads, looking at the mutated sky with faces full of terror.
"What's going on?"
"The Life Star above... is the sky tearing apart?"
"That's... a hand!?"
"Quick! Run!"
Instantly, the entire Myriad Martial World Realm was in turmoil. Countless people ran around blindly in panic, only to find that there was nowhere to hide, finally standing blankly in place.
However, as the palm drew closer, someone finally saw that there seemed to be a black giant beneath the palm, desperately pressing its hands against it, seemingly wanting to hold back the collapsing sky and stop the palm from falling. For a time, countless people immediately bowed their heads and kowtowed.
At the same time, the Myriad Martial World Realm also seemed to sense that something was wrong.
Instantly, Life Stars lit up one after another. The [Imperial Decree] Dao Fruit belonging to the Myriad Martial World Realm actually began to respond to the Primordial Heavenly Demon, allowing him to catch a breath.
'Such a thing actually happened?'
The Primordial Heavenly Demon's heart instantly surged with wild joy. He felt that at this moment, he wasn't fighting alone; the mighty power from the Myriad Martial World Realm was supporting him.
"Hold on for me!"
"Detonate!"
The Primordial Heavenly Demon didn't hesitate, immediately self-detonating ninety-nine percent of his demonic body. Coupled with the support of the Myriad Martial World Realm, he attempted to pry up that descending palm even slightly.
However, Lu Yang's palm remained steadfast.
Boom!
Accompanied by a deafening boom, all the thoughts of the Primordial Heavenly Demon were instantly cleared. Looking at it, under the scan of divine sense, only an endless vastness remained.
In a daze, he seemed to see an abyss.
Even though the abyss of the fate of an abandoned piece was right before his eyes, he was powerless to resist. He could only watch helplessly as he fell into it, until he completely drowned.
The palm landed!
The palm flowing with lightning and fire crashed heavily into the Myriad Martial World Realm, gouging into the earth, ultimately smashing out a bottomless, palm-shaped sinkhole.
However, this wasn't the end.
'[Master of Great Tribulations]!'
Lu Yang altered the concept. The descending palm spread its five fingers, then slowly formed a hand seal. Afterward, the originally flesh-and-blood palm was instantly covered in a layer of grey light.
In the blink of an eye, the flesh and blood of the palm turned into rocks and earth, the blood beneath the skin turned into water sources within the mountains, and the palm lines turned into overlapping mountain ranges. Amidst the rumbling sounds, it merged seamlessly with the entire Myriad Martial World Realm, as if crafted by nature itself, as if it had stood within this World Realm from the very beginning.
(End of Chapter)