In the center of the light sea, thunder rolled. Brilliantly golden radiant light blotted out the sky and earth, ever-changing and unpredictable. Working in concert with the [Righteous Dao Banner], a vast expanse of purple qi spread out.
Faced with the howling crowd of Perfected Lords charging at him, Lu Yang's response was very simple: [Thunderbolt Flame] combined with Banner Spirits, then unleashing his peerless might with [Sever All Evil!]
Spiritual power, Dao Arts, cultivation realm, Dao comprehension, Dao Fruit—with his current overpowered state, he held a crushing advantage in these five domains against Middle Stage Golden Cores. At most, due to fighting frequently and repeatedly using various methods, his spiritual power would weaken slightly, but holding the advantage in four domains was equally effective.
Boom!
In the next second, Lu Yang single-handedly charged into the group of Perfected Lords. Augmented by the [Mountain-Bearing Dao Fruit], he tanked whatever methods they threw at him head-on.
[Wellspring Water], [Future Life Aspect], damage transfer!
[Pine & Cypress Wood], adaptation!
Accumulating energy from injuries, [Tribulation Evil Profound Light]!
Lu Yang charged wildly with his sword, his face brimming with exhilaration. Like a tiger among a flock of sheep, he didn't even bother defending. Facing an attack, he would simply return it with a backhanded sword strike.
As for the attacks that landed on him—whether they were profound wonders, Dao Arts, or True Treasures—perhaps they had some effect initially. But as time passed, he adapted to these attacks, and they could no longer deal even a sliver of damage. In fact, his previous wounds were even beginning to heal!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
With a sweep of the purple qi and the howling of the Banner Spirits, several Immortal Lords of the Celestial Court fell inside on the spot. Locked onto by [Sever All Evil!], they exploded into smithereens with a loud boom!
Following that, Lu Yang raised his sword again.
But this time, Perfected Lord Hanguang Futian and the others had moved a step ahead, intercepting this sword strike and preventing him from striking down another Celestial Court Immortal Lord.
"Heh."
Seeing this, Lu Yang chuckled lightly. The lightning light in his hand dissipated, replaced by a new combination of Dao Fruit profound wonders, ultimately transforming into a bright mirror hanging high:
"[Yin-Yang Insight Dao Fruit]!"
The mirror divided Yin and Yang, its light displaying brightness and obscurity. Lu Yang formed hand seals and struck a thunderbolt with his palm. This bright mirror Dao Fruit instantly flipped over, its Yin side illuminating all directions.
In an instant, endless obscurity spread along the mirror light. Any Perfected Lord who saw this Dao Fruit felt as if they had been thrown into a place where lamps did not shine and the sun and moon were not bright. Their divine sense and five senses were completely severed, leaving them unable to see their own fingers. Only their consciousness remained drifting.
Seeing this, Perfected Lord Hanguang Futian gritted his teeth tightly.
"[Sovereign Eastflow]!"
Without hesitation, he immediately activated the profound wonder. His figure turned illusory, intending to escape into the inner universe created by the profound wonder first. However, bright light suddenly appeared before his eyes.
"Ugh!" Perfected Lord Hanguang Futian let out a muffled groan.
Where the bright light passed, he only felt unbearable, excruciating pain throughout his entire body, like a moth flying into a flame.
A second later, all obscurity and haziness were broken through by a single breath. A single beam of golden light passed unimpeded, illuminating his sea of consciousness and landing on his soul.
[Yin-Yang Insight Dao Fruit]: The Yin side possessed the ability to seal the sea of consciousness and isolate perception, while the Yang side struck directly at the soul. Using the sea of consciousness as oil and the soul as the lamp, it ignited them directly. The profound wonder would not dissipate, and the lamp fire would not extinguish. Only when the sea of consciousness was burned dry and the soul turned to ash would this golden light flame dissipate!
Not daring to hesitate, Perfected Lord Hanguang Futian immediately self-detonated!
Riding the fierce wind of his self-detonation, his soul, dragging the golden light along, instantly escaped into the Netherworld. Borrowing the power of the Netherworld, he finally managed to extinguish the soul-igniting flame.
While he was reincarnating and returning, Lu Yang had already changed direction.
He stretched his arms, and his true body frantically expanded at this moment. In the blink of an eye, he filled the universe. His left hand was empty, while his right hand slowly formed a Dharma seal.
[Mountain-Bearing Dao Fruit]!
Boom!
The palm strike that had once suppressed the Primordial Heavenly Demon and left him with nowhere to run now reappeared in the mortal world. Beneath its five fingers, all the Perfected Lords were encompassed within!
For a time, all the Perfected Lords simultaneously executed their profound wonders, attempting to prop up the descending palm. However, the fiercer their resistance, the better the effect of the [Mountain-Bearing Dao Fruit] and the faster its adaptation speed. The impact of their methods on Lu Yang became increasingly negligible!
Seeing this scene, Perfected Lord Qingcheng Feixue finally sighed.
"Invincible..."
On the other side, although Immortal Venerable Taiyin's beautiful face was gloomy, she couldn't help but admit: 'This person's... strength has clearly exceeded the scope of the Middle Stage of the Golden Core.'
If there was a heavenly chasm between a Great Perfected Lord and the Middle Stage of the Golden Core.
Then at this moment, Lu Yang stood about one-third of the way across this heavenly chasm. Although he was still a negligible minor character compared to a Great Perfected Lord.
Compared to the Middle Stage of the Golden Core, he held a crushing advantage!
"Three Dao Fruit Secret Methods, different Dao Fruit proportioning, and those Dao Fruit profound wonders... How is he doing this? Evolving all of this from just one Dao Fruit?"
"Unbelievable!"
After a moment of silence, Immortal Venerable Taiyin still looked towards Perfected Lord Gangxing Budao, who had remained silent all along. "Fellow Daoist, the Sword Pavilion cannot stay out of this battle."
"Only you can subdue this person."
The Great Perfected Lords of both sides were currently in a standoff, and neither side wanted to break the balance. After much thought, only Perfected Lord Gangxing Budao, who stood in the middle, could make a move.
However, Immortal Venerable Taiyin didn't notice that the moment she spoke, the look in Perfected Lord Qingcheng Feixue's eyes on the other side suddenly changed. She then gave Taiyin a half-smile but had no intention of reminding her. Instead, she forcefully suppressed her laughter and crossed her arms, acting as if this had nothing to do with her.
"You want me to fight? Fine."
Meanwhile, Perfected Lord Gangxing Budao also spoke: "But I am heavily injured at the moment. Forcibly elevating my stature will also cause immense damage to myself."
"I can resolve this matter."
Immortal Venerable Taiyin reached into her sleeve and directly pulled out a lustrous, jade-colored pill. "This item is called the [Taiyin Jade Liquid Pill], capable of calming all methods."
"If you take this pill, Fellow Daoist, and then forcibly elevate your stature, it can offset the damage for you once."
"...Alright."
Only then did Perfected Lord Gangxing Budao nod and accept the pill. Afterwards, he launched a magnificent sword light, speeding out of the Celestial Court towards Lu Yang's position.
Almost simultaneously, Lu Yang also noticed Perfected Lord Gangxing Budao's movements. Without a second thought, he raised his hand and struck out with the profound wonder of the [Master of Great Tribulations].
"Hm?"
Perfected Lord Gangxing Budao's eyes suddenly lit up, followed by a burst of wild joy.
As expected of someone from the Saint Sect!
I haven't even said anything yet!
In the next second, under everyone's surprised gazes, Perfected Lord Gangxing Budao showed no intention of dodging. Instead, he charged right into Lu Yang's profound wonder.
And then he stopped moving.
He neither went to deal with Lu Yang nor went to rescue the others. He just stood blankly in place, then closed his eyes, revealing an expression of enjoyment.
For a moment, some Perfected Lords had already started cursing.
"Gangxing! Why are you just standing there watching!?"
Seizing this excellent opportunity, Lu Yang continued to press his large hand down. Faced with such a critical situation, while Perfected Lord Gangxing Budao remained motionless, the suppressed Perfected Lords didn't dare to hesitate.
One after another, they all self-detonated!
The light and flames of the self-detonations surged up, finally burning one charred wound after another onto Lu Yang's palm, instantly shattering it.
However, the timing had arrived!
"Gangxing!"
Lu Yang suddenly spoke, and upon hearing this, Perfected Lord Gangxing Budao's eyes snapped open. His stature skyrocketed instantly, stepping into the domain of a Great Perfected Lord in the blink of an eye!
Stature suppression!
The sudden heavy pressure of stature caused the souls that should have been guided away by the Netherworld instantly to abruptly halt, forcefully stagnating for a brief moment!
At this moment, time seemed to stop.
Only Lu Yang could move freely. And outside the present world, above the [Sea of Bitterness], at an infinite height, chilling gazes seemed to be faintly cast down.
"You want to stop me?"
Lu Yang smiled. The Tribulation Wave at his waist rang as it left its sheath and fell into his hand. Inside the Righteous Dao Banner, Perfected One Vanquishing-Demon activated the [Sword Dao] and augmented it onto the sword as well.
"Then come down yourselves!"
With that said, only a clear whistle was heard between heaven and earth. Lu Yang's figure merged with the sword light, transforming into a flying streak of profound rainbow light that instantly swept across all the souls!
Rumble!
Perfected Lord Hanguang Futian, Great Sage Ming Zhu, Great Sage Xuan Yuan, Immortal Lord Tianshu, Immortal Lord Yanxiu, Immortal Lord Mingtang... A full six Middle Stage Golden Core Perfected Lords, amidst the ringing of the sword, their souls were shattered before the Netherworld could guide them in time. From their bright Dao Fruits, their respective Grotto-Heavens and spiritual platforms plummeted with a loud boom!
In the light sea, the universe was clear.
All opponents had completely vanished, leaving Lu Yang alone, holding his mystic sword and standing firmly in the void. Above his head was the spectacular sight of Grotto-Heavens collapsing and plummeting from the sky.
Looking around, stars fell like rain.
If tens of thousands of years passed, small worlds would inevitably be born in the places where these Grotto-Heavens collapsed.
"...Heh."
Lu Yang retracted his aura and laughed at the sky. He only felt that the heavy pressure as vast as the dark sea, which had shrouded his heart throughout several lifetimes of cultivation, had now all been smashed to pieces by this single sword strike!
At the same time, he could also sense a vast aura rising from the [Sea of Bitterness], unerringly locking onto his body.
The resonance of the [Tribulation]!
(End of Chapter)