Jiangnan, Sword Pavilion's Extreme Heaven Cliff.
Lu Yang's voice rumbled over. Wherever it passed, all things resonated, as if this heaven and earth were speaking for him. Nothing could obstruct his words.
For a time, wind and thunder rose from all directions.
And before the cliff, the Great Sword Ancestor sat cross-legged. In front of him was a small desk, with a teacup placed on either side. The tea water in the cups was smooth as a mirror.
"Rumble!"
Startling thunder resonated within the clouds, lightning flashed, and heaven and earth suddenly turned white. Only after the light faded did a figure appear on the other side of the desk. He was dressed in green robes and had a handsome face, yet inexplicably carried an ethereal air. He picked up the teacup on the table and drank it all in one gulp on the spot.
Seeing this, the Great Sword Ancestor shook his head: "Is Fellow Daoist going to assist in the battle?"
"I am not going."
Ling Xiao shook his head: "Since that person hasn't summoned me yet, it means it's not time for me to emerge. Since that is the case, I won't go join the fun."
Hearing this, the Great Sword Ancestor frowned deeply:
"It's too early."
"He has already occupied Jiangxi and the overseas region at this moment. His best target shouldn't be Jiangbei, it should be Jiangdong. Why didn't he head in that direction?"
Among the four current factions of the Immortal Nexus, only Emperor Cang of the Jiangdong Dao Court was still a Immortal Bridge stage Great Perfected Lord to this day. Although he had one body with three incarnations, all three having Immortal Bridge stage cultivation, in front of a Heaven Treading stage expert, he was still the sort to be kicked to death with a single strike. Even with the amplification of the Immortal Kingdom Dao Laws, it was difficult to bridge the gap between them.
"Could it be he is apprehensive of me?"
The Great Sword Ancestor was puzzled despite thinking it over a hundred times: "Previously in Fellow Daoist's grotto-heaven, I already clearly showed my goodwill. He should be able to see that I have no intention of intervening."
"Fellow Daoist thinks too little."
Hearing this, Ling Xiao chuckled lightly and said: "If my expectations are not wrong, it should be the Heavenly Lord who caused a problem. That fellow Daoist of mine was forced to answer the battle."
"Why?" The Great Sword Ancestor asked in return.
"Fellow Daoist said it yourself, his best strategy right now is to take Jiangdong, yet he precisely did not take this path. As the saying goes, when things are abnormal, there must be a demon at work. And in the present world, only Fellow Daoist and the Heavenly Lord pose a threat to him. Since Fellow Daoist didn't make a move, it can only be the Heavenly Lord."
Ling Xiao stated it as a matter of course.
He completely adopted a tone of "The logic is so clear, how can Fellow Daoist actually not understand?", making the corner of the Great Sword Ancestor's eye twitch slightly, unable to resist rubbing the space between his eyebrows.
"Truly worthy of being a demon."
"It's merely the basic qualities of the Saint Sect." Ling Xiao smiled and put down his teacup: "But since things have come to this, does Fellow Daoist wish to fight a battle with that fellow Daoist of mine?"
"Not interested."
The Great Sword Ancestor shook his head: "I have not been fond of fighting my entire life... moreover, I still need to suppress Fellow Daoist. With Fellow Daoist holding me back, I truly do not have the spare capacity."
"Really?"
Ling Xiao's expression was strange: "Fellow Daoist didn't look like you exerted much effort previously."
Hearing this, the Great Sword Ancestor's expression remained unchanged, saying faintly: "How can that be the same? Previously Fellow Daoist was heavily injured. Now that you have recovered, it's naturally difficult to deal with."
"Hahaha."
Hearing this, Ling Xiao laughed loudly: "Calling me a demon, you're not much better yourself, sword maniac."
"Rumble!"
In Jiangbei, fierce winds howled, and torrential rain poured down. Overwhelming dark clouds completely obscured the sun and moon. Blazing white thunder whistled and shook within the cloud layers.
And beneath the cloud layers, at the center of the converging thunder, Lu Yang stood proudly, calculating silently in his heart: 'Using Martial Uncle Chong Guang's matter to force me to leave Jiangxi, leaving the foundational land of the Investiture of the Gods Method. This way, my combat strength is reduced by three-tenths out of thin air, while it can go all out.'
Indeed, something wasn't right.
Given the intelligence the Heavenly Lord had displayed previously, he didn't seem capable of setting up this kind of interlocking scheme. It was evident there was definitely another mastermind behind the scenes designing this.
'The World Honored One...'
Lu Yang looked around, only to see three figures pacing out from the direction of Jiangdong, until a bolt of lightning struck down, forcibly smelting them into a single form.
Emperor Cang!
This greatest traitor of the Three Foundations had received the Heavenly Lord's amplification at this moment. His originally Immortal Bridge stage stature brazenly broke through the barrier, reaching straight into the Heaven Treading realm!
"Hahaha!"
"Finally, it's finally done!"
At this moment, Emperor Cang appeared incredibly smug, only feeling that his decision to side with the Heavenly Lord at this time was simply brilliant. Not only did the Heavenly Lord help him break through to the Heaven Treading realm, he also promised that as long as he killed the heaven-defying person before him, he would be the co-master of the Immortal Nexus in the future!
Of course, someone as smart as him definitely wouldn't easily trust the Heavenly Lord.
So he demanded the benefits in advance.
"Come!"
Emperor Cang clapped his hands together. Endless light instantly converged in his palms, transforming into countless circular halos, interlocking with one another, finally condensing into a ball of light.
[Immortal Kingdom Dao Laws]!
The foundation of the Dao Court, the Great Dao he attained out of thin air, crossed thousands of mountains and rivers from Jiangdong at this moment, spreading all the way and covering the land of Jiangbei!
And during this process, the numerous emotions in Emperor Cang's eyes also rapidly faded. He looked down at Lu Yang indifferently. The Immortal Kingdom Dao Laws in his hand slowly rotated, surging with densely packed talisman characters rolling across the sky vault. In a daze, Lu Yang seemed to see scenes of all things between heaven and earth.
Sun and moon, mountains and rivers, stars, all living beings.
The myriad phenomena of heaven and earth were all interpreted by those densely packed talisman characters. Then, utilizing their concept, they locked straight onto Lu Yang's figure situated below.
"Rumble!"
In the next instant, the myriad phenomena shattered.
The blazing white light was like a world realm collapsing and falling. The heaven and earth qi went berserk because of it, the void shattered, and the pure concept of destruction transformed into a streak of mystic light.
Wherever the mystic light passed, the universe turned dim.
All colors were erased out of thin air. Only the purest darkness remained, filling the four directions. This immediately caused the various Perfected Lords still observing secretly to retreat in succession.
In the face of such mighty power, even Great Perfected Lords needed to be cautious and didn't dare to approach. If ordinary Perfected Lords encountered it, they would inevitably be severely injured upon grazing it and die upon touching it.
However, before that dim mystic light could spread further, a faint glimmer lit up within the darkness like a spark. It then rapidly achieved the momentum of a prairie fire, expanding swiftly, effortlessly tearing apart the darkness like the morning sun high in the sky, re-illuminating the heaven and earth previously swallowed by darkness.
Above the sky vault, Lu Yang's figure surfaced.
His figure was like the most distinct boundary line, cutting heaven and earth apart, transforming them into two sides of a mirror surface. On one side were the mighty and rolling Immortal Kingdom Dao Laws.
On the other side, however, there was gentle breeze and light rain, without a ripple.
Following that, in the dim heaven and earth in the distance, twelve colors surfaced in sequence. The light of the Dao Fruits shone resplendently, making the corner of Emperor Cang's eye twitch.
"Heavenly Lord, aid me!"
Before Emperor Cang's voice faded, the lightning symbolizing the Heavenly Lord was seen striking down again, triggering the Immortal Kingdom Dao Laws to erupt with full force, even manifesting layers upon layers of phantom scenes.
In this instant, with the Heavenly Lord's amplification, Emperor Cang's stature even surpassed the previous first-generation Pill Cauldron Peak Master. And around him, there were flowers, birds, fish, insects, dragons and snakes rising from the land, the sun, moon, and stars, mountains, rivers, lakes, and seas. Using the laws as an anchor, he recreated the universe, intending to isolate the light of the Dao Fruits outside.
However, the light of the Dao Fruits remained unmoved.
The heavenly light broke through the clouds, erasing all talisman characters and overpowering the numerous profound wonders manifested by the Immortal Kingdom Dao Laws. Finally, it revealed a bright dharma decree hanging high in the sky:
[Imperial Decree: Jiangdong Perfected Lord Cang, wait for execution.]
The handsome young man was seen dressed in a dark robe, fluttering in the wind. [Heavenly Fire] hung high at the zenith, dominating the changes of water and fire, crashing down riding the thunderous profound voice—
"Overstepping as a false emperor, unsanctioned by the sun and moon, yet you dare to establish laws and execute punishment?"
"Stand down!"