The Dark Void loomed as the Sword Lord stood in disbelief, feeling the icy gaze of Cang Hao upon her back. For the first time, a bone-chilling sense of dread washed over her.
The shadow of death.
It was a shadow she thought had long vanished after she forged her Primordial Spirit, a phantom she believed would never return. Now, it crawled across her features once more.
On the other side, Lu Yang lightly flicked his sleeves, stowing away the [Heavenly Destiny Reckoning]. The Dao fruit was buckling under the strain of consecutively deploying the unperfected [The Great Dao Responds to Me] twice. He meticulously analyzed the sensation and insight he had gained during that instant of "deleting" the Sword Lord at the data level.
'Though the manifestation differs,' he mused.
'[The Great Dao Responds to Me] truly is a state that allows a cultivator to widen the gap between themselves and their peers to the extreme, even under the same stature'.
Powerful! Extremely powerful.
'No wonder Sisui could flick the Sword Lord away with a single finger right after breaking his seal, before even achieving transcendence. It seems he was showing mercy back then'.
And then there was the World Honored One.
The Primordial Saint from two lifetimes ago took a full hundred moves to kill him. At the time, Lu Yang thought the World Honored One was incompetent; now it seemed the Primordial Saint was simply being generous.
'Speaking of which, Sisui once admitted to me that he couldn't beat the Primordial Saint in a pure duel. Does this mean the Primordial Saint's attainment in [The Great Dao Responds to Me] is higher than Sisui's? It's possible—after all, he's played with [Time] and [Inevitable Fate] to an absurd degree'.
In the Primordial Saint's hands, it seemed anything could become [Inevitable Fate].
It was ridiculous.
As he reflected, Lu Yang savored the "sensation" of slaying the Sword Lord—a subtle, hidden concept that blurred the lines between reality and illusion.
A second later, Lu Yang looked up.
The Sword Lord had vanished. A single streak of sword light—abandoning even the [Heavenly Dao]—was fleeing frantically toward the depths of the Light Sea.
"...Hahaha!"
Lu Yang, exhausted and nearing his own limit, burst into laughter. "A Dao Lord! The dignified Sword Lord! How are you any different from the rest of us?"
She was nothing more than this!
Nearby, Cang Hao cupped his hands decisively. "Nian Yao has been defeated. We have lost this wager. From this day forth, the [Heavenly Dao] belongs to you".
"Farewell!"
There was no trace of reluctance or pain in Cang Hao's eyes. Having entered the state of Supreme Forgotten Emotion, he had truly discarded his obsession with life and death.
His eyes held only the Great Dao.
Compared to the [Heavenly Dao], the fleeing Sword Lord was his only hope for returning to the rank of Dao Lord. The choice was incredibly simple.
In the next instant, Cang Hao and Myriad Laws pursued the Sword Lord in tandem.
Lu Yang shook his head:
'A pity!'
'If I could have slain the Sword Lord directly and extinguished her sea of consciousness, preventing Cang Hao from using the momentum to return to his Dao Lord rank, that would have been the perfect outcome'.
Now, he had to settle for the second-best result.
Even though the Sword Lord hadn't truly died, having a full tenth of her Long River of Destiny lopped off meant her Great Dao was fundamentally damaged.
Combined with her existing heavy injuries, she was now beyond recovery. Unless Cang Hao and Myriad Laws were intentionally pulling their punches, the Sword Lord had zero chance of survival—unless the Primordial Saint intervened. At this thought, Lu Yang pulled back and looked at Sisui, who had accompanied him.
"...Rest assured."
Without needing words, Sisui understood Lu Yang's concern and nodded slightly. "I am watching. If I do not act, the Primordial Saint will not act either".
Lu Yang finally smiled.
'Good. Let me see this too.'
'Cang Hao has been suppressed by the Sword Lord for so many years; he must have a hidden trump card. If I can see it revealed now, perhaps I can put it to use in the next life.'
In the depths of the Light Sea, a brilliant, river-like sword light pierced through the void, leaving a trail of rainbow-colored blood with every distance covered.
Within that sword light, the waters surged, rising and falling with endless scenes that manifested various futures. All futures where the escape failed were crushed to the bottom of the river, while only the successful escapes surfaced to manifest in reality.
Yet, it was futile.
No matter how the future scenes shifted, a vast expanse of boundless gray color pursued the sword light relentlessly. Simultaneously, a melodious, profound voice echoed:
"Nian Yao, there is no need for this desperate struggle."
"In this regard, Sisui's criticism was not wrong. You are too immersed in [Destiny], and you trust the wonders of this Great Dao too much".
"As Dao Lords who have forged Primordial Spirits, we inherently possess the ability to determine the future. Even if you truly find a future favorable to yourself, in your current state of diminished strength, you cannot hold onto it. Failing to realize even this... you truly have made no progress".
This was a lie.
In truth, while the Sword Lord's strength hadn't skyrocketed over the years, she had certainly not been stagnant. Cang Hao was merely attacking her heart.
The Sword Lord remained unmoved.
"Cang Hao, you don't understand at all."
"[Destiny] is special... having cultivated to this point, you should know that the Five Great Heavenly Destinies are essentially different manifestations of the same thing".
Destiny, Tribulation, Fortune, Inevitable Fate, and Variable.
"Among these five, Tribulation is the obstacle, Fortune is the factor, Inevitable Fate is the conclusion, and Variable represents change. Only Destiny is the core subject!".
"Therefore, using [Destiny] as the foundation to unify the other destinies and evolve the [Heavenly Dao] is a viable path. Someone tried it in the pre-ancient era and even contended with that high-stage Deity Transformation being. They only failed because the destinies were split into five parts".
"The Primordial Saint seeks transcendence."
"He is ahead of you. You seek transcendence as well, but following the path of the [Paramita] will never allow you to win against him. The only way is to find another path—to walk the path of the [Heavenly Dao]...".
The Sword Lord's voice continued incessantly.
As Cang Hao drew closer, her tone grew more urgent, attempting to use pre-ancient intelligence to bargain for her life.
Unfortunately, Cang Hao didn't care.
After entering Supreme Forgotten Emotion, such intelligence could not stir a single ripple in his heart. His bone-deep killing intent did not waver in the slightest.
Right then.
The frantically fleeing Sword Lord stopped. She descended into a realm in the depths of the Light Sea. The sword light dissipated, revealing her graceful silhouette once more.
In the next instant, Cang Hao and Myriad Laws arrived. Boundless light and gray color covered the entire realm, accompanied by the shimmering glow of hundreds of millions of condensed Dao Arts. The two Dao Lords acted in unison to seal all secrets, ensuring the Sword Lord was locked within this realm and could not escape.
Then, the Sword Lord spoke.
The previous panic and urgency vanished as if they had never existed. Her tone regained its steady composure as she slowly uttered:
"Myriad Laws, strike."