Chapter 51: The Great Taiyi Golden Splendor Scripture

Inside the Skull Mountain market, having personally witnessed Lu Yang and Yun Yun Miaozhen vanish simultaneously, everyone knew this must be the power of the Glazed Dharma Sword currently hovering in the air.

Seeing this scene, Luo Wuya's expression grew heavy, yet in his heart, he was secretly delighted.

'A Foundation Establishment True Person truly possesses unfathomable divine abilities; Senior Brother actually managed to hook such a big fish. The Heaven-escaping Sword—this magic treasure has actually reappeared!'

This treasure ranks thirty-seventh among the one hundred and eight swords of the Yushu Sword Pavilion, topping the list of the Earthly Fiend numbers; though not a magic treasure, it surpasses one, containing within it a mustard-seed cave heaven. When battling opponents, one need only shine the sword light to trap the enemy inside the cave heaven, thereby gaining overwhelming advantage in timing and terrain.

Within the cave heaven, the magic power of Sword Pavilion cultivators is replenished by the realm itself, allowing them to exercise divine abilities without consuming magic power.

In contrast, once non-Sword Pavilion cultivators fall into the cave heaven, their true qi is first reduced by thirty percent, their divine abilities are then diminished by another thirty percent, and finally, the power of their magic treasures is weakened by a further thirty percent.

With this waning and waxing, the overall situation is already decided.

This is also why Yun Yun Miaozhen, despite knowing Lu Yang had double array formations for protection, remained fully confident; she knew clearly that double arrays could not withstand the capturing power of the Heaven-escaping Sword.

In fact, most things of the Five Elements cannot stop the Heaven-escaping Sword.

The only way to block the Heaven-escaping Sword using array formations is to employ formations that also involve void transformations, but alas, such formations are exceedingly rare.

Moreover, even if one possessed such a formation, it is not something a Ninth Grade array master could set up.

"Judging by this, this demonic head is certainly destined to be executed today!"

On the other side, Ouyang Feng, an Elder of the Shenwu Sect, clapped his hands and laughed loudly; although he could not take revenge personally, Lu Yang's death still resolved the great hatred in his heart.

Hearing this, Luo Wuya could only shake his head without refuting, for in his heart he thought the same: if Lu Yang had relied solely on double array formations, the outcome of their battle might have been a fifty-fifty split, but falling inside the Heaven-escaping Sword meant certain death with no chance of survival; even if it were him in that position, he would likely face peril.

"However... this also aligns perfectly with Senior Brother's intentions."

"That Lu Yang failed to appreciate the honor bestowed upon him and repeatedly defied Senior Brother, entangling karmic ties; Senior Brother deliberately lured Yun Yun Miaozhen here, likely harboring the intent to kill with a borrowed knife..."

Thinking thus, Luo Wuya became completely at ease.

Although they were both disciples of the Holy Sect, he harbored not the slightest thought of offering aid, merely waiting for Lu Yang to be killed so Yun Yun Miaozhen could seize his fortune and open the Witch-Ghost Secret Realm.

At the same time, inside the Heaven-escaping Sword.

The sword light shone down, and layer upon layer of array formations proved unable to block it; by the time Lu Yang regained his senses and his vision cleared, the scenery around him had completely changed.

As far as the eye could see, there was only a raging torrent of sword qi.

As the sword qi descended, Lu Yang immediately felt his true qi weaken by thirty percent, and exercising his divine abilities suddenly encountered many obstructions; he realized this was the suppression within the cave heaven.

The next second, brilliant light appeared in the sky above, and Yun Yun Miaozhen stepped out.

"Initial Holy Demonic Head, today you are destined to meet this calamity; submit to execution!"

Clear and resonant sounds descended from the heavens, truly like an immortal speaking heavenly edicts; once the words were spoken, Lu Yang immediately felt that heaven and earth had become his enemies, intending to tear his body into ten thousand pieces.

Having spoken, Yun Yun Miaozhen pushed the Daoist crown atop her head, instantly revealing a brilliant golden splendor that illuminated the dome of the sky; it then split into three, transforming into golden, silver, and jade beams of light that coiled around her sides like swimming dragons, head to tail, interlinked, making her appear increasingly solemn and majestic.

Seeing this, Lu Yang's expression grew even graver.

After cultivating through several lifetimes, he was no longer as unfamiliar with the Yushu Sword Pavilion as he had been initially; with a moment's thought, he recognized the divine ability Yun Yun Miaozhen was employing.

"This is the 'Great Taiyi Golden Splendor Scripture'... the great divine ability of the Yushu Sword Pavilion!"

Thinking this, alarm bells immediately rang loudly in Lu Yang's mind.

The 'Great Taiyin Metamorphosis Corpse-Release True Method' in his possession was also a great divine ability; precisely because of this, he dared not harbor the slightest contempt for the power of such abilities.

"Now I truly must fight with my life on the line," Lu Yang's thoughts raced.

As far as he knew, the 'Great Taiyi Golden Splendor Scripture' of the Yushu Sword Pavilion could refine golden, silver, and jade beams of light, each beam constituting a superior divine ability.

To cultivate this great divine ability to perfection, one must achieve the 'Gathering of Three Splendors at the Crown,' refining the three beams into a single 'Great Taiyi Golden Splendor'; this Great Taiyi Golden Splendor not only possesses all the effects of the three beams but also multiplies their power, and even provides an amplification for breaking through to Foundation Establishment!

'... ortunately, her divine ability should not yet be perfected.'

As the saying goes, the Great Dao is singular; if her divine ability were perfected, Yun Yun Miaozhen should not have separated the three beams of light at the end, but should possess only a single Great Taiyi Golden Splendor.

'Perhaps this is my opportunity.'

Just then, Yun Yun Miaozhen made her move; with a sweep of her sleeve, the golden beam of light surrounding her moved according to her will, enveloping Lu Yang's location.

Lu Yang immediately drew back and retreated; the golden light, named 'Divine Light,' moves according to the mind, and if the spirit is chaotic, it self-immolates, so if even a speck of it shines upon one, heart-fire immediately erupts from within, causing the body to glow with golden light and burn; without a method to suppress it, one will inevitably turn into a heap of calamitous ash within the time it takes to burn three sticks of incense.

"Go!"

With a thought, Lu Yang summoned the Heavenly Demon Blood-Transforming Divine Light, which roared upward; the towering blood light forcibly blocked the descending golden splendor, and the two forces deadlocked in mid-air.

Seeing this, Yun Yun Miaozhen lightly pressed her brow.

The next second, a sword pill emerged, swift as flowing light and lightning, vanishing in an instant, only to reappear directly above Lu Yang's head, chopping down—

Clang! Clang!

Sword qi roared down; Lu Yang's Blood Sun Sword Pill was isolated outside the cave heaven, so he could only sigh and manifest a Wind-Thunder Treasure Mirror behind his head.

The Great Heaven Mirror!

The mirror surface shimmered, and instantly wind and thunder followed; the 'Great Heaven Wind-Thunder Qi' within the mirror instantly whipped up streaks of thunder, wrapped in whistling yin wind, forcibly holding back Yun Yun Miaozhen's sword pill as if a whirlpool had captured it, refusing to let go, while the rolling wind and thunder continuously ground away the sword qi on the pill.

Seeing this, Yun Yun Miaozhen was not anxious, instead offering a cold smile.

Although she acted decisively, she was not reckless; long before coming to the market and making her move against Lu Yang, she had already investigated Lu Yang's intelligence thoroughly.

The array formations and the Great Heaven Mirror were all within her expectations.

Now, having used the Heaven-escaping Sword to bypass the arrays and a sword pill to restrain the Great Heaven Mirror, Yun Yun Miaozhen felt victory was assured and immediately decided to settle the matter with one blow.

The next second, Yun Yun Miaozhen shook both the silver and jade beams of light beside her simultaneously; these two were respectively 'Qi Light' and 'Essence Light,' the former capable of breaking all qi under heaven, the latter able to sever steel sinews and iron bones; shaken together, they merged into a crystal-clear, transparent sword light that slashed down toward Lu Yang!

"Worthy indeed of a Sword Pavilion true disciple."

Seeing this, Lu Yang could only sigh; Yun Yun Miaozhen was clearly not a flower grown in a greenhouse, her execution of tactics and grasp of timing were nothing short of precise.

Under such circumstances, she still commanded a great divine ability.

Although it had not yet reached perfection, it lacked only the final step of fusion; at the very least, she had already mastered all three divine abilities that served as its components.

In comparison, Lu Yang's attainment in the 'Great Taiyin Metamorphosis Corpse-Release True Method' was far inferior.

The final component, the 'Great Wei Imperial Edict Treasure Register,' was still stuck at a bottleneck, making no progress; he had not even collected all three divine abilities, let alone achieved mastery and integration.

"In a magical battle, I am not her match."

Lu Yang clearly recognized this point; moreover, fundamentally, he was never skilled in magical battles; his strength lay in using higher cultivation to bully the weak.

But now?

Yun Yun Miaozhen was at the Ninth Layer of Qi Condensation, while he was at the Eighth Layer. Not to mention fighting within the same realm, he was even attempting to overthrow a powerful enemy from a lower realm, which was completely contrary to his usual style.

'If this were several months ago, I would likely have no choice but to start over.'

However, now there was another variable.

The next second, facing the two sword lights slashed out by Yun Yun Miaozhen, Lu Yang raised his hand and flicked out two talismans one after another, which exploded in mid-air in response.

Boom!

A loud crash rang out, and a bolt of lightning and a streak of sword qi roared forth, actually managing to block Yun Yun Miaozhen's slashing sword light at the critical moment!

"Ninth Grade talismans!?"

Yun Yun Miaozhen's eyebrows twitched slightly, but she quickly regained her composure: "Only two pieces; still a drop in the bucket. How many talismans can you possibly have?"

As a true disciple of the Sword Pavilion, although she did not study talisman arts, she was not unfamiliar with them; for graded talismans, even if only Ninth Grade, a Qi Condensation late-stage cultivator would need to spend at least three days to draw one, and that required abandoning all other affairs to focus solely on drawing talismans.

Therefore, she was certain that the number of talismans in Lu Yang's hands did not exceed the count of fingers on two hands...

The next second, Lu waved his hand again.

Then, a scene that left Yun Yun Miaozhen dumbfounded appeared: a second, a third, a fourth... dozens, then hundreds of talismans spread out across the sky like a blanket!

Behind the sky-full of talismans, Lu Yang shook the Myriad Souls Banner, while the banner spirits were still working overtime, rushing production.

"How many can I have? Don't compare your kind of small artisan workshop output with mine; let me show you the power of a ruthless industrial assembly line!"

As his words fell, the multitude of talismans moved in unison.

In an instant, sword qi and thunder light intertwined, illuminating the entire cave heaven! And illuminated along with it was Yun Yun Miaozhen's face, twisted in astonishment!

(End of Chapter)