As soon as the words fell, Lu Yang's silhouette vanished from where he stood.
The very instant he departed, a dim, dark color emerged in his place, like the gaping maw of an abyss, instantly swallowing a corner of his dark-robed sleeve.
"Heh heh..."
Ten thousand miles away, Lu Yang stood with his hands behind his back. He looked at the missing corner of his profound robe, blinking with great interest: "That is a method of the [Feng Shui] Dao."
Similar to the light of destruction that the Dao Ancestor of [Feng Shui] had unleashed from afar, both acted by forcibly extracting the pillars of heaven and earth, triggering the collapse of earth, water, wind, and fire.
It was a crude imitation of the Final Tribulation; based on Lu Yang's personal experience, it was at most one percent of the true Final Tribulation's power.
Just then, a voice rolled in like thunder:
"Junior Brother dodges quite quickly, but since you have already fallen into my [Nurturing Immortal Land], don't even think about leaving without my permission."
As the words finished, a roar echoed.
In an instant, Lu Yang felt his connection to the outside world abruptly dissipate. The connection between heaven and earth was severed; in a single moment, he felt as if he had become an enemy of the entire world.
Subsequently, the light of destruction bore down upon him.
Lu Yang didn't mind. He pinched a hand seal, and the Infinite Ring symbolizing [Order] manifested, layering itself in endless stacks and allowing the light of destruction to wash over him.
All the power within the light of destruction, once it landed on him, was funneled into the Infinite Ring, where it was continuously eroded—the large transformed into the small, the small into nothing, and then dissipated like smoke. This change immediately caused a sound of surprise to echo from the distance, followed by ten thousand rays of light emerging from the edge of the horizon.
"Come again!"
The voice was still full of arrogance, seemingly unwilling to admit defeat. It felt that the previous light of destruction was simply insufficient in quantity, so it poured forth spiritual power, launching a massive tide.
However, it was meaningless.
Before [Infinite], the quantity changing from one to ten million made no difference. Lu Yang moved his thoughts, and the Infinite Ring unhesitatingly met the tide.
The two profound wonders collided violently above the [Nurturing Immortal Land].
In an instant, the clear sky shattered like glazed glass, and the originally stable Feng Shui was shaken. Layer upon layer of brilliance boiled, filling the wilderness and surging with vast majesty.
In the end, the light of destruction was the first to retreat.
The Infinite Ring grew increasingly fierce, concentric circles overlapping continuously, looking as if they were about to suppress and seal the figure situated in the distance.
"Hmph."
Suddenly, the light of destruction vanished, replaced by a cold snort. Lu Yang then discovered to his surprise that a vast, overwhelming majesty had struck out.
Crack!
In the next instant, the Dao Ring that had been rising infinitely came to an abrupt halt. Then, a figure tore through the air, escaping from Lu Yang's suppression.
Lu Yang was somewhat surprised. Sensing for a moment, he understood the karma: "You calculated the flaws in the operation of my Great Dao and broke it with a single strike."
There is no [Absolutely Perfect] Dao in the world; every technique has flaws and weaknesses. That is not strange. However, at the level of a Dao Ancestor, profound wonder is already [Relatively Perfect]. Finding a flaw in the same realm is nearly impossible. Yet, this Bu Changming's methods were different.
"Is his Dao specifically for finding flaws?"
Lu Yang was somewhat surprised. Could there really be such a boring Dao Ancestor who doesn't seek the Dao, but specializes in pointing out where others' Dao is wrong or problematic?
"Does this count as [Health Preservation]?"
"Why wouldn't it count?"
From the distance, the voice of Shan Qiu—or rather, Bu Changming—rumbled: "[Health Preservation] is nothing more than discarding the old to welcome the new, repairing one's own defects."
"The more you repair, the more you are practicing [Health Preservation]."
"Shan Qiu's Dao seeks the external, stressing the avoidance of misfortune and the seeking of luck. But my Dao seeks the internal, stressing the investigation of defects and the filling of gaps. The integration of internal and external is true [Health Preservation]!"
Lu Yang shook his head. He hadn't forgotten the main goal of his trip, so he didn't bother arguing with him and simply said: "This time, it was entrusted to me by Senior Brother Zhu Liuxian. You cleaved the Divine Land and pioneered the [Nurturing Immortal Land], which damaged his Feng Shui Grand Formation. This is correct, is it not?"
"Zhu Liuxian?"
A hint of coldness surfaced in Bu Changming's tone: "That fellow's ambition is too great; wanting this and wanting that—naturally, he doesn't get along with anyone."
"Guiming didn't get along with him either."
"I understand. Did he give you the foundation of that Feng Shui Grand Formation, wanting you to plant it in my [Nurturing Immortal Land]? Tell him to stop daydreaming."
"This is damaging my Dao!"
"Achieving his Dao by damaging mine? I also cultivate [Feng Shui]; do you think I'm afraid of him? If he dares to come, I dare to run, and he will never be able to find me!"
Lu Yang heard Bu Changming's words with a strange expression. Despite the arrogant and domineering tone, the moment he opened his mouth, he talked about running away. Everything about it felt wrong.
"But Fellow Daoist, you failed."
Lu Yang thought for a moment and decided not to hide it, saying directly: "In the end, only this [Nurturing Immortal Land] survived the Final Tribulation, though it was largely damaged."
"And you perished completely."
"Your path does not work."
Bu Changming sneered upon hearing this: "Does not work? Should I learn from them and go compete for some Seed of the Great Dao to save the Divine Land? It is senseless."
"I have painstakingly cultivated for countless years, not to save them. I was originally just a member of the myriad sentient beings; it was only after cultivating for countless years that I had my current cultivation and the capital to break free from the Final Tribulation. Why should those lower cultivators, who are inferior to me, be able to gain without labor from me?"
Lu Yang shook his head upon hearing this.
Clearly, these remarks had been buried in this [Health Preservation] Dao Ancestor's heart for a long time. Now, they had erupted in one go, but he had unfortunately chosen the wrong audience.
Destruction of the Pre-Ancient Era, Final Tribulation of the Divine Land.
"It has nothing to do with me."
At this thought, Lu Yang no longer bothered to speak. The Infinite Ring expanded once more, falling violently toward Bu Changming, intending to seal him again.
Following this was another earth-shaking roar. The brilliance manifested by Bu Changming once again tore through the Infinite Ring and escaped.
However, his face didn't look pleasant, for in this back-and-forth, he truly hadn't gained the slightest advantage, and his aura had even declined, while his opponent remained at his peak.
"What Dao is this?"
Bu Changming frowned, somewhat resentfully: "It's a pity; I haven't mastered the [Feng Shui] Dao. Otherwise, I should have been able to sever another thought manifestation."
"At that time, if the Three Spirits were unified, [Feng Shui] would be able to fill the defects in my offensive methods. That would be true perfection."
"...Hmm?"
Compared to Shan Qiu, Bu Changming clearly had an arrogant personality, and thus spoke without reserve, looking like someone who was suppressed but remained unconvinced.
Yet, Lu Yang was rather surprised when he heard this.
'Three Spirits unified?'
'No way...'
Shan Qiu was one person with two sides, practicing two Dao Ancestor paths, and had such high attainments in [Feng Shui]. Lu Yang had thought that was already quite a surprise.
He hadn't expected an even bigger one.
One person, three spirits. It sounded like a fantasy, but in the long history of the Light Sea, there actually had been a cultivator with such traits.
'The Great Sword Ancestor, San He?'
(End of Chapter)