Sea of Light, outside the Celestial Court.
The moment he saw the twelve heaven-spanning divine lights slowly rising from within the Celestial Court, Exalted One Hao Yuan instantly narrowed his eyes, his gaze growing heavy.
"The Immortal Nexus... has indeed come."
He had to admit, even though they had made preparations and had mental expectations beforehand, when this moment truly arrived, it was hard to avoid feeling the pressure.
After all, over a hundred thousand years ago, they were the ones driven out by the Perfected Lords of the Immortal Nexus. It was one thing that the Immortal Nexus Perfected Lords were strong enough to fight one against many; the crucial point was that those scoundrels could continuously resurrect using Dao Fruits. They simply couldn't be killed. Who knew how much trauma that left on the Ancient Method Perfected Lords.
"Exalted One, this is an opportunity."
On the side, Zhen Gao, having fully recovered from his injuries, wore an excited expression. "The Immortal Nexus Perfected Lords have voluntarily abandoned their geographical advantage. Without the Netherworld, they are no match for us!"
"The plan succeeded."
Why was the Star Palace's first stop the Celestial Court? To put it bluntly, it was attacking what the enemy absolutely had to save, drawing the Immortal Nexus Perfected Lords out to fight in the outer heaven lands where the Netherworld's influence couldn't reach.
Only then did the Star Palace have a chance of winning.
Otherwise, the Immortal Nexus Perfected Lords could resurrect infinitely. All it would take was one Great Perfected Lord charging into their ranks and frantically self-detonating, and they would just be sitting ducks waiting for death.
Thinking of this, Exalted One Hao Yuan also let out a sigh of relief. He looked at the other five Great Perfected Lords of the Spiritual Power Dao and said in a deep voice: "Everyone, the formidable enemy has arrived. It is time to deploy that Innate Dao Chapter we've spent years refining. This is the perfect chance to catch all the Immortal Nexus Perfected Lords who came to reinforce them in one fell swoop!"
The other five Great Perfected Lords nodded one after another upon hearing this.
Following that, the six Great Perfected Lords of the Spiritual Power Dao stepped forward in unison. They each formed hand seals, and with a Dao shout, the [Sea of Bitterness] instantly tore open with a resounding boom!
Amidst the billowing waves, a Great Dao led straight to [Paramita]!
It was shockingly the [Spiritual Power Dao]!
For Grotto-Heaven Method Perfected Lords, possessing a Dao Fruit Secret Method was the mark of a Great Perfected Lord. This method of judgment was originally derived and passed down from Ancient Method cultivation.
In the cultivation of the Ancient Methods and the Three Foundations Dao, there were similarly comparable methods. However, they didn't prioritize Dao Fruits, but rather used the Primordial Great Dao as their foundation. This was called an [Innate Dao Chapter]. It was formed by Ancient Method Great Perfected Lords using their own Dao comprehension to expound upon the Primordial Great Dao, receiving augmentation from the Primordial Great Dao, and reflecting it back onto the present world.
"[Supreme Law Fate-Deciding Dao Chapter]!"
Before the Dao resonance faded, the six Great Perfected Lords simultaneously sent out a streak of radiant light. In the light sea, the radiant light merged the six elements into one Qi, instantly enveloping the surrounding heaven and earth.
"The Dao Chapter is anchored; the grand endeavor is complete!"
Seeing this, Exalted One Hao Yuan immediately broke into a smile. Under the shroud of the radiant light, the Star Palace and the Celestial Court each manifested an ocean of spiritual power.
The oceans were formless, seemingly real yet illusory, only surging within the radiant light. Yet they connected to every Perfected Lord present. Every wave and undercurrent in the oceans was manifested from the spiritual power fluctuations of a Perfected Lord. And every collision between the two oceans was a clash between the Perfected Lords.
"They cannot escape!"
"With this, our chance of winning should be eighty percent!"
Speaking of this, Exalted One Hao Yuan glanced at Lu Yang beside him and explained, "The [Supreme Law Fate-Deciding Dao Chapter] is something we specifically deployed for this very moment."
"Within the area shrouded by the Dao Chapter, it doesn't matter who has higher combat skills or stronger cultivation. The only thing that matters is which side can instantaneously erupt with a greater total amount of spiritual power."
"The stronger side can assimilate the spiritual power of the other side."
"The only way for the weaker side, whose spiritual power is being assimilated, to counter this is to proactively attack, attempting to reduce our numbers and thereby lower our total spiritual power."
"Under these circumstances, we only need to firmly defend our position and not attack proactively, avoiding any loss of numbers to ensure our total spiritual power always remains ahead of the weaker side. Then, as time passes, we will naturally assimilate all of their spiritual power. As they wane and we wax, we will ultimately win without fighting!"
Exalted One Hao Yuan stroked his beard and smiled.
"Rivers and lakes flow into the sea; water flows downwards, and ultimately, it must all merge into the ocean. Once this method is complete, the side with higher spiritual power can hold an absolute advantage."
"This is also the result of us learning a painful lesson."
"Otherwise, if we had this wondrous method back then, even if we couldn't win in the end, we wouldn't have been beaten so miserably that only the thirty-six of us managed to escape..."
Over the years, the Ancient Method Perfected Lords of the Star Palace hadn't just been sleeping and doing nothing. They had put in the effort to prepare some methods to deal with the great tribulation. This [Supreme Law Fate-Deciding Dao Chapter] was one they placed great hopes on, believing it could maximize the advantage of the Spiritual Power Dao.
Almost simultaneously, within the Celestial Court.
As the [Supreme Law Fate-Deciding Dao Chapter] descended, the Perfected Lords sensed it. Their brows furrowed slightly as they immediately felt an anomaly in their own spiritual power.
"Hm?"
Immortal Venerable Taiyin and Perfected Lord Qingcheng Feixue looked up simultaneously at the sky canopy above. The two women, both possessing a cold and elegant temperament, stood side by side like twin white lotuses on a single stalk.
"An Innate Dao Chapter?" Perfected Lord Qingcheng Feixue raised an eyebrow.
"It's more than that." Immortal Venerable Taiyin's tone grew slightly heavier. "It's not an ordinary Innate Dao Chapter. It's one jointly deployed by those six old ghosts from the Star Palace. I fear it won't be easily broken."
Just as Dao Fruit Secret Methods had a distinction between three elements and five elements. The same applied to the Innate Dao Chapters of the Ancient Methods. The power of one deployed by a single person compared to one cast jointly by many could not be spoken of in the same breath, and the scale of the latter was vastly larger than the former.
"Interesting." Seeing this, Perfected Lord Qingcheng Feixue chuckled lightly. Following that, she sensed it briefly and performed a divination with her fingers. The specific effects of the [Supreme Law Fate-Deciding Dao Chapter] were instantly reflected in her heart.
After all, such a grand method, with a scale encompassing the Celestial Court and the surrounding light sea, touched upon karma immensely. Even Great Perfected Lords couldn't cover up its commotion; trying to do so would only waste energy. Therefore, Exalted One Hao Yuan and the other Great Perfected Lords of the Spiritual Power Dao simply hadn't bothered hiding it.
"Good timing!" Perfected Lord Qingcheng Feixue formed hand seals. Her beautiful face showed no fear; instead, she laughed aloud. "But I don't like this rule. It's better if I make some slight modifications!"
With that said, three streaks of radiant light converged at her fingertips.
[Ravine Stream Water], [Abyssal Sea Gold], [Mulberry Silkworm Wood]. Three Dao Fruit stars lit up simultaneously on the sky canopy, then merged their Qi into one, transforming into a beam of iridescent light.
Subsequently, the iridescent light slowly rose like the morning sun, shining straight into the sky and colliding mid-air with the [Supreme Law Fate-Deciding Dao Chapter].
[World-Cleansing Radiant Dao Fruit]!
This was the Dao Fruit Secret Method corresponding to [Ravine Stream Water]. It pushed its profound wonder, [Cleansing World Light], to the absolute limit, no longer restricting it to the surface of all things and phenomena.
Instead, it delved into the conceptual level!
[Cleansing World Light]: Removed impurities and purified all "filth" identified by Perfected Lord Qingcheng Feixue. At this moment, it was being used on the [Supreme Law Fate-Deciding Dao Chapter].
In an instant, a significant portion of the rules of the [Supreme Law Fate-Deciding Dao Chapter] were directly stripped away by Perfected Lord Qingcheng Feixue. Although she couldn't add new rules, she could delete the rules she considered "impurities." At this moment, the rules that originally favored the Spiritual Power Dao underwent a dramatic change.
This was solely because the power of the [Supreme Law Fate-Deciding Dao Chapter] was too vast.
With six Great Perfected Lords of the Spiritual Power Dao jointly supporting its profound wonder, it was difficult for Perfected Lord Qingcheng Feixue to erase it completely by herself. Otherwise, a sweep of the profound wonder would have rendered all the rules obsolete!
Meanwhile, Exalted One Hao Yuan also sensed it: "Not good!"
He formed hand seals, his brow furrowing tightly. "The rules have changed. It's no longer a contest of total spiritual power, but rather depends on individual spiritual power to determine assimilation."
"This way, they don't need to forcibly attack us, and we can no longer firmly defend without stepping out. We must send people to engage them in one-on-one combat and fight head-on. The tide of battle has been dragged into the domain of combat, which the Immortal Nexus Perfected Lords excel at. We can no longer win without fighting; it's now a winner-takes-all, loser-falls scenario..."
"So what?" On the side, Zhen Gao said coldly, "Without the Netherworld to resurrect them, are we supposed to be afraid of them? This actually suits me perfectly. I can finally wash away the humiliation of the battle back then!"
For a time, the crowd in the Star Palace was filled with righteous indignation. Clearly, ever since the devastating defeat over a hundred thousand years ago, and then being forced into slumber due to their lifespans, the Ancient Method Perfected Lords of the Spiritual Power Dao had long been unable to hold back.
Lu Yang watched all this with cold detachment.
He wasn't anxious. He silently sank his mind into his true body, sensing the profound wonders, and then continuously accumulated mighty power using the profound wonder [Gaining Momentum] of [Placer Gold in Sand].
Looking up, Lu Yang's eyes burned brightly.
His gaze pierced through the [Sea of Bitterness]. In a daze, he seemed to see a few figures sitting high above the [Sea of Bitterness], looking down upon the present world.
Like chess players watching the pieces slaughter each other.
'Watch carefully.'
Lowering his eyelids, he restrained all his emotions. Only a chilling indifference remained on Lu Yang's face, along with the fiery eyes hidden beneath that indifference.
'Sooner or later, there will come a time when you won't be able to sit still!'