Chapter 481: Fortune in Hand, All Is Ready! |
At that thought, Lu Yang had already made his move.
He didn’t use【Palace of Returning Origin】, simply because this time was different from before. Fortune used the divine ability of Yi Wood, and Yi Wood was born in Wu; it did not fear Wu Fire's mystical properties.
Thus, if he were to summon【Palace of Returning Origin】right now, it would not only fail to be effective, but might even enhance the power of the opponent’s divine ability. If that happened, he would be the one at a disadvantage, a single misstep leading to failure. Therefore, after a brief moment of thought, Lu Yang shifted his thoughts, and the incantation formed by his hands changed accordingly.
The next second, sword light suddenly flared—
“Clang! Clang!”
Lu Yang did not use a divine ability, but held the【Tribulation-Pass Wave】in his hand. As he raised the sword, its light surged like a towering tree, forcibly enduring the violent wind of hacking and chopping.
“Boom!”
With a deafening boom, the rainbow light surrounding Lu Yang was peeled away layer by layer. Yet, the sword light maintained by his sword intent did not lose any of its brilliance under the storm. On the contrary, it grew ever fiercer. In the end, it advanced against the wind, righteously cleaving the gale apart, casting a crimson glow in Fortune’s pupils.
‘Hiss!’
Yi Wood feared not Wu Fire; it countered Wu Earth and feared only Metal!
This was precisely why Lu Yang didn’t use other divine abilities, but instead used sword arts to counter the enemy. This seemingly simple choice was entirely based on his profound Dao cultivation.
‘【Sword Intent】... Truly a swordsman from the Sword Pavilion!’
Fortune felt a chill of terror in his heart. He took a step back, instinctively raising a hand to his cheek. Mana surged, swiftly sealing up the bleeding sword wound.
However, the icy sting left on his face still left Fortune deeply shaken. Such sword intent, such sword light—just who was this man?
In a flash, Fortune made a decision:
“【Path to Heaven】!”
With a flick of his sleeve, boundless firelight burst forth—not raging flames, but rather a vision of mundane mortal fire.
Beneath layers upon layers of this mortal fire, there emerged a great open path. One end landed beneath Fortune’s feet, while the other vanished into the boundless void, carrying his body along. Then, with a single step, Fortune surged forward, leaving Lu Yang’s sword light far behind, unable to approach him.
“Boom!”
Another earth-shaking boom. Though Lu Yang’s sword still struck down, this time Fortune narrowly evaded it in the nick of time.
“Si Fire...”
Lu Yang’s Dao-seeing eyes blazed like torches; with a single glance, he discerned the foundation of Fortune’s divine ability—Si is the grand relay, bearing mortal fire and connoting accessible pathways.
Of course, this was just one aspect of Si Fire.
For instance, Chong Guang’s Si Fire divine ability was called【Rigid Flame Furnace】, drawing from a different interpretation of Si Fire—it intensifies radiance and is the zenith of the six Yangs.
This choice of divine abilities, to a certain extent, reflected the difference in personalities between Chong Guang and Fortune. Fortune sought a【Path to Heaven】, stable and reliable. But Chong Guang sought to burn—even if it meant failure, once he gained momentum, it would inevitably blaze like a sky-consuming fire.
To deal with this—was actually quite simple.
In the next moment, a mischievous smile appeared on Lu Yang’s face. Then he extended his hand, his palm lighting up with divine radiance—revealing a divine ability of Chen-Earth:
【Root of All Things】!
The moment this divine ability appeared, Fortune’s eyes nearly bulged in fury. That was his divine ability! And a very important one within his entire combat system!
‘Si delights in receiving the Chen hour; the snake transforms into a light dragon, categorized as a thousand-li Dragon Colt.’
In other words, Si Fire divine ability and Chen-Earth divine ability could form a marvelous synergy. When used together, the power of both would be greatly enhanced!
But now, Chen-Earth had been stolen by Lu Yang.
Not only was there no synergy—instead, Lu Yang was now using his own Chen-Earth divine ability against him. That【Root of All Things】was pressing directly down on his【Path to Heaven】!
In the blink of an eye, Fortune saw Lu Yang casually toss【Root of All Things】onto the mortal fire and divine path beneath his feet. In an instant, it took root, countless tendrils intertwining and locking down the【Path to Heaven】beneath him, rendering him utterly immobile.
How to counter this?
Fortune looked helpless, then opened his mouth and teeth, gathering all his strength, and let out a thunderous roar. Bursting Yang Qi surged outward in all directions.
【Thunder Draws Back】!
To suppress Chen-Earth, one must use Jia Wood. Amidst the thunderous resonance, Fortune immediately felt the grip of the【Path to Heaven】beneath him begin to loosen.
Yet the next moment—
“【Palace of Returning Origin】!”
Wu Fire’s radiance rose like the morning sun, bright and righteous. Layers of divine light stacked into a towering palace, crashing down upon Fortune.
‘I lost... skills inferior to others!’
‘This person knows me far too well—just who is he?!’
Fortune sighed deeply: ‘All these twists and turns, and in the end it all returns to【Palace of Returning Origin】. Grand and righteous, overwhelming with sheer force—what a lofty realm, what a profound Dao cultivation!’
From the start of this duel, apart from the early advantage gained with【Fear of Hacking and Chopping】, he had been entirely suppressed by Lu Yang. Every move targeted a vital counter, pushing him step by step to a dead end, culminating with【Palace of Returning Origin】sealing the victory in one fell swoop!
Such a defeat left no room for excuse.
This wasn’t a disparity of rank or power—it was a suppression of Dao cultivation. A loss that left no resentment, only a willing bow of respect.
And such grand righteousness was what【Heavenly Fire Above】favored!
At this moment, Lu Yang felt a sudden spiritual clarity. He vaguely heard a summons from the void—faint, unclear, but undeniably real.
In that instant, Lu Yang’s heart was filled with joy:
‘It must be that the Dao I displayed has sparked some resonance with【Heavenly Fire Above】. Though still far from attaining a Fruitional Rank, the seed has been sown.’
Even as he pondered this, Lu Yang’s hands did not slow.
“Boom!”
【Palace of Returning Origin】crashed down, and the rainbow light shattered completely, reducing Fortune’s Dharma Body to ash, revealing a golden, glowing soul.
In a flash, the golden soul tried to escape—
“Trying to flee?”
How could Lu Yang possibly give him the chance? Without the pull of【Underworld】, a disembodied soul like Fortune’s couldn’t possibly flee faster than him.
The Myriad Spirits Banner billowed and expanded in the wind, and in the blink of an eye, it swallowed him whole.
‘It’s done!’
Fortune’s Golden Nature was now in hand. Lu Yang’s face lit up with joy—not just because he could now use it for a false Golden Fruition, but also because he could use it to threaten【Ang Xiao】!
All was ready!
“Now it’s just about time for【Boundless Heaven】to emerge. After all, to make【Boundless Heaven】the foundational art coveted by all Foundation Establishment cultivators, thereby triggering the True Lords of the world to come out from hiding—we must first make【Boundless Heaven】a prized treasure.”
This would certainly take time.
However, with【Boundless Heaven】offering divine abilities as rewards for each trial passed, spreading it wouldn’t take long. After all, who would complain about having too many divine abilities?
“This works perfectly.”
“While【Boundless Heaven】grows, I can establish my own power base in the Dao Court. Once the time is right—I’ll replicate Uncle-Master Chong Guang’s hidden-game strategy!”
With this in mind, Lu Yang didn’t linger.
In the next moment, he withdrew his divine abilities, summoned a beam of escape light, and returned to that pockmarked, beehive-like wrecked place.