The great battle broke out instantly!
The first to make a move was still Lingxiao. His movements carried not the slightest hint of fireworks, devoid of any ferocious actions, yet they were as insidious and ruthless as a venomous snake.
More importantly, in his current peculiar state, although there was no thin mist to obscure him, his figure was illusory. This made him enter a state of "unobservable" the moment he moved, as if he had jumped out of the restrictions of time and space, arriving right in front of Lu Yang.
Then, he pushed out with a palm.
On his fair palm, a towering palace hall was spinning round and round. Five-colored brilliance flowed within the palace hall, and then poured out like a flood bursting a dam.
Boom!
Instantly, the field of vision in Lu Yang's eyes was enveloped by the [Dao-Attaining Hidden Profound Palace]. Layer upon layer of colorful light smashed down, comprehensively weakening his will to resist.
Pan Huang had stumbled on this previously.
However, unlike dealing with Pan Huang before, Lingxiao truly went all out this time, holding nothing back, vowing to make Lu Yang drool on the spot.
But seeing this, Lu Yang smiled.
"Barrier of Perception and Knowledge, again and again. Fellow Daoist, though this trick is effective, it cannot bear such repeated use. It truly lacks any novelty."
Lu Yang's voice slowly spread out, seeming to jump out of the cage of time, seemingly slow but actually swift. As the Dao sound reverberated, visible ripples of light also surfaced wherever it passed. In the blink of an eye, the place where the two stood transformed into a vast, boundless ocean. Beneath the sea was bottomless darkness.
[Mortal Dust Tribulation]!
This wonder inherited the [Tribulation]. Externally, it could cause all those locked onto by the wonder to suffer a tribulation for no reason; internally, it could allow Lu Yang to remain untainted by calamities.
Executed at this moment, it immediately achieved a miraculous effect.
Tribulation waves were seen surging, swallowing Lu Yang's body, disappearing without a trace, actually dodging Lingxiao's all-out strike and evading this tribulation.
...Ho!
Seeing this, a trace of amazement instantly surfaced in the depths of Lingxiao's eyes. However, he didn't continue the pursuit, but stood still in place, earnestly sizing up Lu Yang.
He wasn't surprised that the [Dao-Attaining Hidden Profound Palace] was blocked.
The Barrier of Perception and Knowledge wasn't invincible. Moreover, in matters concerning life and death, sometimes the Barrier of Perception and Knowledge wasn't of much use either; it would always give people a chance to struggle for survival.
What truly surprised him was that Lu Yang seemed completely unaffected by the Barrier of Perception and Knowledge. With his stature, once the Barrier of Perception and Knowledge was executed, an ordinary person would be dazed for at least an instant, leading to him seizing the initiative—one step behind meant falling behind at every step. Yet Lu Yang didn't even pause for a moment.
This isn't normal...
Lingxiao admitted that the other party's strength was very high, incredibly high. Even his stature seemed faintly a bit higher than his own, although not enough to form a qualitative change.
It was impossible for the Barrier of Perception and Knowledge to be ineffective against him.
But facts speak louder than words. The result placed before his eyes told him that Lu Yang truly engaged in a battle of offense and defense with him while withstanding the Barrier of Perception and Knowledge head-on!
Lingxiao focused his gaze, staring straight at Lu Yang. Within those profound eyes, he saw a constantly operating wonder shining brightly.
[Dripping Essence of Heaven].
What is that thing?
Lingxiao's curiosity was piqued. He then slowly formed a hand seal. The next second, his figure dimmed, replaced by a Dao shadow connecting to the heavens.
[Inversion]!
After the Dharma Body Dao was broken, cultivators in the world had long ceased cultivating the Dharma Body. Especially upon reaching their realm, physical combat had already been reduced to a vulgar act.
At this stage, what they fought with was the [Dao].
A Dao Dispute!
Instantly, the magnificent Dao shadow encompassed [The Mortal World]. Even the [Dao-Attaining Hidden Profound Palace] merged into it, intensifying the might of this Great Dao.
In the end, the Dao shadow disappeared, leaving only an expanse of azure light between heaven and earth. Wherever the azure light passed, the two poles reversed. The first to become chaotic was space, next was time, and then karma. The reversal of various upper-level narratives caused the Light Sea, which originally had constant order, to become bizarre and multicolored.
[Edict of Obedience].
Seeing this, Lu Yang's gaze focused slightly. He recognized this wonder; it was the wonder contained within the Great Dao of [Inversion], Lingxiao's true ultimate hidden trump card.
With this thought, Lu Yang's eyes grew increasingly profound.
And in the depths of his eyes, Bagua patterns surfaced in sequence, colliding and rapidly deducing. Wherever his gaze reached, it directly locked onto a certain direction within that magnificent azure light.
The brilliance of the [Dripping Essence of Heaven] was bright.
This divine wonder corresponding to [Destiny] had achieved a leap that could be called a qualitative change after Perfected One Vanquishing-Demon attained the [Divine Throne of the Black Tortoise, Protector of the Sacred and Overseer of Fate].
Why wasn't he afraid of the Barrier of Perception and Knowledge?
Because I have already seen the future.
It wasn't that he wasn't affected by the Barrier of Perception and Knowledge, but rather that before being affected, he had already made arrangements in advance according to the future he saw. That was why he could handle it with ease.
By the same logic, under the illumination of the [Dripping Essence of Heaven], Lingxiao's hazy state, unique because of the [Great Forest Wood], also gradually became clear in Lu Yang's eyes. His origin, background, and even wonders were being deconstructed and analyzed bit by bit by Lu Yang, leaving no secrets to speak of anymore.
Instantly, all sounds faded into silence.
Having cast aside his Dharma Body form and manifested the true form of the Great Dao, Lingxiao finally moved at this moment. The boiling azure light illuminated Lu Yang's eyes in an instant.
Reversal of Life and Death!
Bathed in the azure light, Lu Yang immediately felt his vitality fading. Intense death qi was born out of thin air, sweeping through his entire body in the blink of an eye.
Black hair turned white, and wrinkles densely covered him.
Emptiness, frailty, and stupor.
An instant of time falling on his body felt as if tens of millions of years had passed. The uncontrollable aging and the shadow of death made even thinking a luxury.
Lu Yang immediately wanted to circulate his wonders to resist, but the azure light continuously surged over.
Reversal of Wonders!
A muffled loud noise reverberated between heaven and earth, causing the wonders that had just condensed around Lu Yang to thunderously collapse. The extraordinary and the ordinary underwent a reversal at this moment.
Losing wonders, losing mighty power, all extraordinary and transcendent essences were entirely erased at this moment. As a mere mortal, how could he block birth, aging, illness, and death?
The next second, Lu Yang, who had already turned into a white-haired old man, directly lowered his head.
He died of old age.
After that, the intense death qi still didn't spare his remnant body. In the blink of an eye, it caused his corpse to turn into dry bones, and subsequently into a flurry of dissipating scattered ash.
However, even so, Lingxiao still didn't relax in the slightest.
Just an incarnation.
His Dao Lineage has an extremely high attainment in life-preserving methods. I only killed an incarnation; his main body is unharmed and can continue to be projected over.
Right at this moment, Lingxiao suddenly froze.
His field of vision was expanding.
Originally, to him, a Great Perfected Lord who had walked to the extreme of the Late Stage of Golden Core, [The Mortal World] was pitifully small, greatly restricting the use of his abilities.
But now, the originally narrow [The Mortal World] suddenly grew larger. The world realm fragment that he could previously see in its entirety with a single glance abruptly expanded a hundred times, turning into a colossal behemoth. It was as if the original space had been expanded a thousand times, ten thousand times, making him appear somewhat minuscule instead.
Hm?
This isn't right!
Instantly, Lingxiao woke up with a start, a look of surprise surfacing in his eyes.
[The Mortal World] itself hasn't changed. It's not that it appears minuscule, but that I have become smaller!
Raising his head, he looked at the sky.
Finally, he saw a pair of massive eyes that seemed to have been silently watching him from the very beginning. In their depths shimmered a radiance woven into an intricate net.
Lowering his head, he observed the ground.
What entered his sight was a broad, plump palm. The fine, dense texture was like rolling mountain ranges, and the five fingers supported all things like heavenly pillars.
[Heaven within a Palm].
A thunderous profound sound drifted over—
"It seems."
"I am the stronger one."