Time and space stretched without end.
Above and below, across the four directions of the universe, the long river of destiny surged and roared—proclaiming the fate of all phenomena as it overturned and came crashing down toward the sea of light like a ruptured flood.
The towering giant manifested by Lu Yang—who commanded the sea of light—began to collapse. Within the Dark Void, its vast scale and boundless size lost all meaning. In the blink of an eye, the giant condensed into a single figure— a dark-robed young man. His appearance mirrored Lu Yang's exactly, and within his eyes, firelight seemed to burn with explosive intensity.
He was but one person.
Yet within that seemingly fragile body lay the immeasurable world realms of the sea of light, trillions of living beings, and deities as countless as the sands of the Ganges. All had converged to forge this single form.
In the next instant, he moved.
"Slut, watch closely."
Facing the descending river of destiny, his palm appeared insignificant—yet it remained utterly steady, drawing forth a streak of sword light from the void itself.
The Heaven's Bane Sword.
The rank of this supreme spiritual blade far exceeded even Lu Yang's expectations. For within it resided not only the legacy of the Great Sword Ancestor, but also the Sword Lord's long years of refinement.
In the true history, after the Great Sword Ancestor was forged into the Sword Lord's personal sword, it became the very foundation of the Sword Pavilion. In the false history, however, the Great Sword Ancestor sacrificed his Primordial Spirit to forcibly seize that very sword—one tempered over countless years—making it his own.
Thus, through the convergence of true and false histories, the present Heaven's Bane Sword was finally born.
"Sever!"
In the next second, the edge of the sword rose. The resplendent sword light instantly illuminated the Dark Void. Under the Investiture of the Gods Dao Lineage, the endless concepts of the sea of light were all added upon it.
Wherever the sword light passed, the Dark Void was bisected, and the light split into two sides.
One side was the sun, moon, and stars, the mountains and rivers, the vicissitudes of time. It was the material foundation of the sea of light, containing the weight of the entire sea of light within the Eight Extremes of Heaven and Earth.
The other side was the myriad living beings living in the sea of light. Enduring great hardships in pioneer work, hunting and cultivating. Whether human, demon, or even innately sacred beings, their consciousnesses, the history of their evolution, and endless karma similarly gathered upon the sword blade, transforming into a speck of unparalleled sharpness on the Heaven's Bane Sword.
"This sword..."
The Sword Lord's cold, exquisitely beautiful face was covered with a layer of haze. She hadn't expected that she still underestimated Lu Yang's strength.
'No, it's not just him.'
Her judgment wasn't wrong. If it were just Lu Yang alone, he would not be a match for her strike. However, a sudden variable changed the result.
It was the Great Sword Ancestor.
Sanhe, that discarded pawn whose value had already been exhausted. At the very moment the false history returned, he assisted an outsider, causing her such massive trouble.
All her grace of nurturing and educating him was wasted!
Meanwhile, Dou Xuan, not far away, also felt lingering fear, his eyes full of shock and doubt.
If it was him facing this sword, then it probably wouldn't be something that could be resolved just by getting injured. There might even be a certain risk of perishing!
In the next second, the sword light and the long river of destiny collided. Endless light and color erupted the instant the two clashed. What was affected was not just the present, but tracing back into history, and deducing forward into the future, encompassing all space and time, omnipresent. A world-shocking battle unfolded simultaneously!
Time became chaotic.
Before the return of the false history, Lu Yang, relying on Mu Changsheng's hands, was about to escape into the false history. Yet a streak of sword light fell from the sky, smashing him into nothingness on the spot.
Within the false history, Ling Xiao entered the false history thirty years early. Just as he was preparing to go all out, a streak of sword light suddenly fell, thoroughly erasing him from the false history.
During Lu Yang's first Heaven-Defying War, right before Pan Huang and the others called for everyone to switch to cultivating the Investiture of the Gods Method and provided him with crucial support, a streak of sword light abruptly surfaced, killing Pan Huang, and then sweeping across Jiangxi, killing all the Three Foundations cultivators. Lu Yang lost his support because of this and could only be despairingly swallowed by the thunder.
The first time Lu Yang approached the [Heavenly Dao].
Before he could even react, he was discovered by the [Heavenly Dao], and then a sword hum killed him. With a Dao Lord personally taking the field, the result had no suspense whatsoever.
Everything was guided towards the final [Death].
However, in the next instant, as the sword light lit up, the scenes within the long river of destiny abruptly changed. A brand new torrent was washed out, revealing a new future.
Before the return of the false history, Lu Yang was about to be killed by the sword light, but suddenly raised his head, similarly slashing out a streak of sword light, fighting the other party to a standstill.
Within the false history, right when Ling Xiao was about to die, another towering palm suddenly surfaced, snatching the sword light away out of thin air, subsequently saving him.
During the first Heaven-Defying War, he saved Pan Huang.
While exploring the [Heavenly Dao], he saved himself.
In the blink of an eye, Lu Yang changed the altered destinies back again. Layers of illusionary colors faded, revealing the scene truly happening at this moment.
That was a finger.
The Sword Lord's finger, fair and slender. And at her fingertip was the edge of the Heaven's Bane Sword. An inaudible Dao sound affected the universe.
Within the Dark Void, time and space were meaningless.
Time, space, past, future, present, universe, heaven and earth—these only held true value within the sea of light where order had been born.
The Sword Lord saw this point.
She saw through Lu Yang's powerful foundation, which was nothing more than turning the entire sea of light for his own use. Its massive volume was enough to withstand lethal damage in any sense.
This was why Dou Xuan had lost.
Setting aside divine abilities and profound wonders, in a direct confrontation—especially under the current collapse of [Paramita]—no Dao Lord could overcome Lu Yang while he wielded the sea of light.
Yet it so happened that the Spiritual Power Dao and the Dharma Body Dao shared a similar nature: both specialized in head-on clashes.
And so, they were utterly countered by Lu Yang.
That was why Dou Xuan was struck down with a single punch—gravely wounded and blasted out of the sea of light. While it was true that his strength fell short, the deeper reason lay in the clash of paths itself: an unfavorable affinities, where his Dao was perfectly suppressed.
However, the Sword Lord was different.
From the very beginning, she had no intention of clashing head-on with Lu Yang. Instead, she executed the profound wonder of [Destiny], using divine ability methods to dismantle Lu Yang's foundation.
Therefore, there was the clash spanning across time just now. The Sword Lord was trying to dismantle Lu Yang's time, making him break his close connection with the sea of light. So their battle didn't just happen in the present, but also in the past, and in the future. Seemingly a single strike, it was actually countless collisions!
"Rumble!"
The source of the false history.
Looking at the chaotic time outside the seal, the vast brilliant light of the collapsing universe, and the endless mighty power surging within it, the Xiu Zhen couldn't help but swallow his saliva.
"Teacher..."
Finally, he couldn't help but look at Sisui beside him: "That... how did that Lord do it. He doesn't truly have hope of defeating the Sword Lord, does he?"
He originally wanted to say "that junior."
But considering that the current Lu Yang was no longer what he used to be, he had no advantage in front of the other party. At the same time, the other party was also a scheming and petty person.
So he still held back.
However, even so, the shock in his heart was still indescribable.
Who was the Sword Lord?
If not for existences like the Ancestral Dragon, Sisui, and the Primordial Saint dominating the era, she would undoubtedly stand as the foremost figure beneath the heavens—her strength beyond dispute.
More striking still was the disparity in time.
How long had the Sword Lord cultivated? And how long had Lu Yang cultivated?
He had only just forged his Primordial Spirit—barely securing the confidence to be called a Dao Ancestor—and in the very next moment, he was already able to contend with the Sword Lord. How could cultivation proceed in such a manner? Where, then, was the order of heaven?
"This is not his power alone."
Observing the fluctuations beyond the seal, Sisui spoke in a low voice, his tone carrying unmistakable admiration: "The power of the sea of light, the power of all living beings—gathered into a single body. With such a foundation, how could he fail to contend with Nian Yao?"
A moment later, he let out a soft sigh.
"He has surpassed what I accomplished in the past."
"Incredible."
By contrast, although his own strength was greater and his comprehension of the Dao more profound, when it truly came down to it… he was, in the end, only a lone cultivator.