In this moment, the world within Lu Yang's eyes changed.
Previously, he saw the immeasurable concept of [Destiny], [Threads of Sentiment], [Wisdom Swords], and the [Destined Ending of Death].
Now, however, they were decomposed and transformed under his gaze into dense clusters of texts, detailed with relevant explanations. Lu Yang became a transcendent being existing outside the texts, appearing as if he could freely adjust the content and changes of the words before him with a mere gesture.
'What is [Heavenly Destiny Reckoning]?'
'It is stature, it is a system, it is a law. It defines the principles of cultivation in the current Light Sea and expels Chaos and the Dark Void. Its essence is the purest—'
[Order].
This was the final interpretation Lu Yang made of [Heavenly Destiny Reckoning]—the Great Dao he had attained through Void Attainment—on his path of practicing [The Great Dao Responds to Me].
Like the Sword Lord's [Threads of Sentiment] and [Destiny], this interpretation remained in a state of forced connection. Lu Yang, like the Sword Lord, had not yet completed his practice of [The Great Dao Responds to Me] and could not yet self-define the Great Dao, but as long as he disregarded the damage, he could force the issue.
After all, [Destiny] was deeply connected to the Sword Lord.
How could [Heavenly Destiny Reckoning] be any different for him? He had attained the entire Great Dao through Void Attainment himself; no one could have a closer connection to it than he did.
Lu Yang lowered his gaze and looked toward the Light Sea.
[Foundational Base of Creation].
The current Light Sea now surfaced with a clear description and introduction—a result defined by the Daoist comprehension and knowledge Lu Yang possessed.
Beyond that, [Destiny], [Threads of Sentiment], [Fortune], Dao Lords, World Realms... all things and all concept were reduced in dimension into simple textual content. Only Lu Yang remained as he was. To the current him, even the strongest attack was merely a line of complex data.
He didn't need to block it at all.
The only thing he needed to do was hold down the delete key.
"Whoosh!"
The sword light flashed and vanished, turning into a gentle breeze. The Sword Lord exited her state as a three-foot azure blade, remanifesting her graceful human form.
"Pfft."
Upon manifesting, the injuries within the Sword Lord could no longer be suppressed. She spat out iridescent blood on the spot, her eyes filled with unspeakable shock.
'He blocked it...'
How? The [Destiny] and [Threads of Sentiment] that had run wild due to the forced fusion caused an unbearable, piercing pain in her brow. The chaotic wonders seemed as if they would explode at any second.
She had paid such a heavy price, thinking that even if she couldn't kill Lu Yang, she could at least heavily wound him to buy herself time to recover. Yet Lu Yang was, if not entirely unharmed, at least unchanged save for a weakening of his aura.
'Why?'
The Sword Lord was utterly baffled.
On the other side, Lu Yang's perception was much clearer: 'Although it's just deleting a segment of unwanted content, it isn't that easy'.
In that preceding instant, though he had deleted all content related to the Sword Lord's strike, he had lost nearly thirty percent of his spiritual power because of it.
And that only involved the Sword Lord's strike.
As for the Sword Lord herself, Lu Yang did not attempt to delete her. His intuition told him that if he tried, it would be futile even if he exhausted all his power.
'In the final analysis, my cultivation is still too low'.
'If my stature were higher and stronger, I could perhaps digitize not just her sword, but the entire Light Sea and the vast Dark Void!'
At that point, he could completely rewrite all data, adjust the content, or even create an entirely new system different from the stature-based cultivation of the Light Sea. If he could reach that level, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he would exist in a different dimension from the current Dark Void.
'High-stage Deity Transformation...'
This name instinctively jumped into Lu Yang's mind.
To transcend the Dark Void and even create a new system—wasn't that the great achievement of the Light Sea's first transcendent, the high-stage Deity Transformation being?
No wonder the Primordial Saint called his [Heavenly Destiny Reckoning] an unorthodox path to [Transcendence]. Seen this way, it truly did share a slight connection with that being.
Besides that, there was another problem that prevented him from directly erasing the Sword Lord: the [Threads of Sentiment] still entwined around his Primordial Spirit.
This was the lingering hazard from earlier when he had abandoned all defense to counterattack. The threads were pervasive; one could not proactively break or evade them, or it would trigger the [Wisdom Swords] and damage one's own cultivation. The only way was to endure them, using his own robust foundation to resist.
However, the function of the threads went far beyond that.
More importantly, they created an invisible link between the Sword Lord and the person they were planted in, forcing the victim to share all damage the Sword Lord received.
Just like Cang Hao previously.
'At this stage, I have already won'.
'The Sword Lord's trauma is heavier than mine, and she is powerless to continue this wager... but as long as she retreats now, it won't be hard for her to save her life'.
How could he allow that?
One must remember that he had not practiced the [Seven Emotions Reaching Heaven Incantation]; as long as the Sword Lord lived, these threads would haunt him forever like lingering ghosts.
Furthermore, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
'I must find a way to heavily wound the Sword Lord one more time and completely snuff out her life!'
With that thought, Lu Yang raised his eyes.
"BOOM!"
In an instant, the vast lands of Tianhuang behind him shook violently. Under the rule of the Investiture of the Gods Method, a massive volume of majesty was summoned.
The magnificent Light of Order coalesced once more at Lu Yang's brow like a third eye, analyzing all phenomena. Under its gaze, the heavily wounded Sword Lord had lost her human form and had become a stream of data that was incredibly complex and constantly changing.
In this moment, the light of [Heavenly Destiny Reckoning] flared.
In a single instant, this Dao attained through Void Attainment—propped up by the [Heavenly Palace]—emitted a groan as if it were buckling under an unbearable weight.
[Delete]!
Almost simultaneously, the Sword Lord's pupils constricted!
But before she could respond, she felt a golden light, like the rising sun, instantly seize her entire field of vision!
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"
The sound of the Long River of Destiny rushing echoed in the Dark Void. It was not the flow of real water, but the resonance between the Great Dao of [Destiny] and the Dark Void.
In this river, a full tenth of its volume was suddenly intercepted and turned into a tributary, which then rapidly dried up. The water vanished at a visible rate, and all destiny-related concept collapsed until a graceful figure emerged from the remaining nine-tenths of the torrent.
The Sword Lord reopened her eyes.
To her sight, it seemed nothing had changed, yet it felt as if a massive upheaval had occurred. An unspeakable, chilling sensation surged from the depths of her Primordial Spirit.
What had happened?
The Sword Lord performed a calculation and immediately understood the source of the chill— 'Just now, I was killed? In a single move?'
Of course, she had pre-arranged a life-saving method.
At the critical moment, the Long River of Destiny had severed the tributary representing her death and future changes from the main flow.
Nearly every Dao Lord possessed a similar method.
The problem was that such methods depended on their secrecy to save lives; once the details were exposed, their effectiveness would be greatly diminished.
And her method had been exposed.
In fact, due to this public wager, it had been witnessed in its entirety by Cang Hao nearby!