Chapter 239: Captured in One Move

The terrified scream of True Monarch Liuyun echoed through the night sky, yet before his horrified gaze, the figure of True Monarch Huanglong was thoroughly shredded and submerged by the vast sword light, as if annihilated into flying ash.

At this moment, however, Lu Yuan raised his brows slightly, and as if he had discovered something, he sneered:

"As expected of a Nascent Soul Great Cultivator, you certainly hide quickly."

As the words sounded, the thunder-like sword light exploded in mid-air, violently tearing through the darkness and bursting forward.

And the target this time was none other than True Monarch Liuyun, who was already pale with terror!

In the eyes of True Monarch Liuyun, the sword light and thunder were exploding and swirling like a storm, occupying his entire field of vision and rolling toward him with boundless, overwhelming force, making him feel as insignificant as a mayfly between Heaven and Earth; even his Jiedan Late Stage cultivation could not allow him to resist it in the slightest.

"Wretch, how dare you!"

At this very same moment, a thunderous roar shook the night sky, and from another direction, a small, brilliant golden dragon shot over at an indescribable speed, instantly colliding with the sword light controlled by Lu Yuan!

Clang—

Like two meteors crashing together, countless sparks and thunderbolts erupted in mid-air, surging in all directions with a terrifying torrent of sharp energy.

At this moment, True Monarch Liuyun felt as if the sky were collapsing and the earth sinking around him, with thunder shattering everything; it was as if the Divine Thunder of the Nine Heavens were resounding in the sky, on the earth, and within his own soul.

The dharma robe and protective Talisman he had activated in advance did not fully shield him; the layers of protective spiritual light were torn apart in a mere instant under the aftermath of such earth-shaking power, and he let out a muffled groan, blood spilling from his nose and mouth as he retreated wildly.

However, before True Monarch Liuyun could even feel the joy of surviving a disaster, Lu Yuan, hundreds of feet away, casually flicked his finger. A brilliant golden ray split the dark night sky in two and, with a speed that left no room for reaction, crossed the long distance and pierced through his chest.

True Monarch Liuyun looked down in extreme terror and saw a hole the thickness of a finger appear in his chest.

For an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator, such an injury would not be fatal, provided it was treated in time, let alone for a Jiedan cultivator whose body had been tempered by spiritual energy and possessed powerful vitality.

Yet, under the perception of True Monarch Liuyun at this moment, countless violent golden rays were rampaging along his Meridians within the wound, causing his divine sense to nearly collapse in excruciating pain; he immediately let out a miserable shriek and fell helplessly from the sky.

"Scoundrel!"

Amidst a fierce shout filled with rage, the figure of True Monarch Huanglong, who had appeared in the distant night sky for unknown reasons, stepped through the gloomy night, raised his hand, and struck out a fist-sized spherical Dharma Artifact, which whistled toward Lu Yuan.

However, Lu Yuan had been in control of the entire situation from start to finish. Before the spherical Dharma Artifact even came within a hundred feet of him, he sensed a slight threat and flicked his finger again; a thunderous golden ray shot out and hit the object with absolute precision.

And then, in an instant.

Boom!

A streak of light, incomparably brighter than a thunderbolt, pierced through the thick darkness and flashed once. The surrounding air shook violently, and a ripple-like shockwave surged in all directions, as if the sun in the sky had suddenly fallen onto this land, and a crimson firelight that seemed capable of melting everything swept across time!

Amidst the earth-shattering explosion, a giant fireball, large enough to occupy the entire sky, burned fiercely, casting light ten thousand times more ferocious than sunlight upon the world, as if to burn everything, evaporate everything, and reduce the entire world to nothingness with its light and heat!

The blazing fireball burst open, sweeping across all directions with an overwhelming force. The sky was instantly ignited, burning into a boundless sea of fire; the sea of fire instantly swept across ten miles, and within its range, the surface of the earth, mountains, trees, and corpses were instantly incinerated into flying ash. The surrounding air waves, like thousands of monsters, roared and rushed in all directions, trampling the earth and shaking the sky with an incomparably brutal and ferocious posture.

Within a space of nearly ten miles, the area had been boiled and burned by this unimaginably violent sea of fire, all reduced to a terrifying state of chaotic distortion and fragmentation. The entire world was, for a moment, neither touching the sky nor the earth; Heaven and Earth were indistinguishable, and everywhere was filled with endless explosions, burning, and destruction. In such a scene, Lu Yuan's figure was completely submerged in the sea of fire, while True Monarch Huanglong took the opportunity to grab his disciple, whose life or death was unknown, with a Qi, and then, with his whole body blooming with faint escape light, he flew rapidly toward the outside of the Yin Corpse Mountain Range.

As a Nascent Soul Great Cultivator, having only exchanged one or two blows with Lu Yuan, he had unexpectedly chosen to avoid the sharp edge.

"Preposterous, simply preposterous."

As the clouds of Heaven and Earth flashed by, True Monarch Huanglong, who was fleeing at an incomparable speed using the Nether Light Evasion, had a face ashen with rage, his heart churning like a stormy sea.

He had never imagined that Lu Yuan, whom he had already regarded as fish on a chopping block, would possess such terrifying cultivation strength, causing him, a dignified Nascent Soul True Monarch, to misjudge the situation time and again.

The reason he had decided to flee and avoid the sharp edge without hesitation was very simple.

After only one or two rounds of fighting, he had already clearly felt that Lu Yuan's cultivation and means were so formidable that they were not a whit weaker than his own as a Nascent Soul True Monarch, and perhaps even superior!

The terrifying sword light of Lu Yuan's first strike had almost shattered the protection of his Star Dharma Robe in a destructive manner; if not for the Shift and Shadow Talisman he had for saving his life, that one sword strike alone would likely have been enough to instantly destroy his physical body.

Subsequently, in order to save his disciple Liuyun, he had used his own life-bound Dharma Artifact, the Huanglong Flying Knife, to attack with all his might. This artifact was a Fourth-Rank Spirit Treasure, refined with his heart's blood for over a hundred years, and was incomparably powerful, enough to secure victory in a battle between Nascent Soul cultivators.

Yet, under the sword light of Lu Yuan's Flying Sword, he had still fallen into a clear disadvantage, and had even suffered no small amount of shock and impact to his mind due to the life-bound connection.

If he had not timely activated the one-time-use Fourth-Rank Spirit Treasure, the Divine Fire Thunder Bead, he would likely have found it difficult to escape the battle so smoothly.

All these things undoubtedly proved that the opponent was an extremely terrifying and powerful Nascent Soul-level expert, which made True Monarch Huanglong, who had been careless and underestimated the enemy at the start, choose to flee without hesitation.

Nascent Soul cultivators possess a thousand-year lifespan and are mostly extremely protective of their lives, never doing anything without certainty. In this Yin Corpse Mountain Range, he could not overcome the opponent; only by returning to Longshan Immortal City and joining forces with the Guest Monarch of the Immortal Alliance, Wei Bufan, could he hope to defeat him.

These chaotic thoughts were but a matter of an instant. In the blink of an eye, True Monarch Huanglong had already fled dozens of miles away, leaving behind a sea of destructive fire that illuminated Heaven and Earth.

However, in the very next moment.

While fleeing at high speed, the void dozens of feet in front of him suddenly trembled violently, and then a terrifying sword light broke through the air without warning, aiming straight for his head!

What?

True Monarch Huanglong was terrified in an instant; unable to care about his disciple whose life or death was unknown, he immediately abandoned him and shifted his escape light to another direction, dodging the sword strike by a hair's breadth.

At the same time, the void rippled in the dark night sky, and Lu Yuan, having activated 【Flying Body Traceless】, stepped out from the water-like void and chuckled:

"Fellow Daoist Huanglong, where do you wish to flee?"

Yet, seeing this scene, True Monarch Huanglong's expression changed in utter horror, his aged face filled with shock and terror:

"Shuttling through the void? This is impossible! What means have you used!?"

The Nascent Soul leaving the body and teleporting through the void is a basic Supernatural Power that every Nascent Soul cultivator can perform.

But this is because the Nascent Soul of a cultivator is essentially an energy body; if one were to shuttle through the void with a physical body, the difficulty would be a hundred or a thousand times greater than Nascent Soul teleportation. No Nascent Soul cultivator, or even a giant at the Transformation to Divinity level, could possibly achieve it!

Only those with the power of Return to Void, with the Three Flowers gathering at the crown and the Five Qi Towards Origin, whose Primordial Spirit is fused with the void, can master the power of the cosmic void and teleport through the void with their physical bodies.

Yet, True Monarch Huanglong had never expected that he would see such a Supernatural Power in a Nascent Soul cultivator!

It was a pity that, facing his shock, Lu Yuan clearly had no intention of answering. He just smiled slightly, changed his sword formula, and the sword light, like a dragon and thunder, shot out again to intercept and kill.

The speed of the sword light was much faster than True Monarch Huanglong's escape light. Under the divine sense of True Monarch Huanglong, the sword light flashing with thunderous light seemed endless and omnipresent, as if it carried the killing intent of the entire Heaven and Earth, giving one a sense of despair—that there was nowhere to hide, nothing to block, no way to escape, that Heaven and Earth would not tolerate it, and that death was inevitable.

After all, he was a Nascent Soul Great Cultivator. Knowing that he could not shake off the opponent's pursuit without paying a huge price, True Monarch Huanglong's eyes suddenly turned fierce. The life-bound Dharma Artifact he controlled, the Huanglong Flying Knife, also let out a shrill whistle. Immediately, amidst the blooming golden light, the flying knife vaguely transformed into a giant golden dragon head, its eyes projecting blood-colored fierce light, and it dragged long, narrow light shadows through the air at an extremely fast speed, meeting the sword light.

Clang!

Then, a thunderous roar that seemed capable of shattering the sky and earth exploded in the sky! It felt as if it would shake one's ears, eyes, heart, lungs, and even the soul out of the body!

Where the sword light and the flying knife collided, the void seemed to have a large hole torn into it, sucking in the nearby flames and light, and indeed all things, instantly darkening into a boundless, bottomless darkness. Countless black electric rays spread wildly in all directions, as if the void had been struck with a giant hole!

And in such a scene.

True Monarch Huanglong's life-bound Huanglong Flying Knife also let out bursts of mournful cries, and he himself let out a painful roar, stumbling backward in the void, while blood snakes wound down from his nose and mouth.

In contrast, Lu Yuan's expression only fluctuated slightly.

Under the blessing of 【Slaying Demons】, 【Mastering Five Thunders】, and the Sword Technique Divine Ability, although the quality of his Seven Star Longyuan Sword Pill was far inferior to True Monarch Huanglong's life-bound Dharma Artifact, it could erupt with far superior and formidable power, occupying the absolute upper hand.

Furthermore, he used Supernatural Power to control his sword, so even if the Sword Pill were damaged, it would not have much impact on him, unlike ordinary life-bound Dharma Artifacts which, once damaged, would cause serious trauma to the cultivator.

Therefore, in the brief moment of the collision, Lu Yuan completely recovered; with a low shout, the sword light split and bloomed like a violent storm of proud, icy radiance, as if what he was driving was no longer just a sword, but Heaven, Earth, mountain ranges, ocean waves, and thunder.

The violent sword light tore through Heaven and Earth, striking with lightning speed; True Monarch Huanglong was still in a state of intense divine sense pain, and panicked attempts to dodge were of no use, so he was pierced through the body and limbs by the sword light on the spot and nailed into the void!

And it was precisely at the moment his physical body was pierced by the sword light.

Realizing that things had taken a turn for the worse, True Monarch Huanglong's face twisted hideously, the clear light around his body surged suddenly, and then a small, humanoid light-shadow was seen flying out from his body, snatching up his Dharma Artifact and Storage Bag, intending to escape into the void in one go.

The Nascent Soul void-escape technique is a Supernatural Power of teleportation that all Nascent Soul True Monarchs possess, but generally speaking, no Nascent Soul cultivator will rashly use this Supernatural Power unless they are at a life-or-death juncture.

Although a cultivator's Nascent Soul is the essence of their cultivation, it is relatively fragile without the protection of a physical shell and is easily targeted; being forced to have a True Monarch's Nascent Soul exit the body to flee clearly meant he had reached the end of his rope.

But at this moment, although True Monarch Huanglong's Nascent Soul exit was decisive and as swift as lightning, Lu Yuan had long been prepared; almost the instant it had just exited, he uttered a short sound that was like the decree of Heaven:

"Freeze!"

Hum.

The sun, moon, and stars all withdrew their brilliance; Heaven and Earth lost their light, and all things grew dim.

As the word "Freeze" drifted through the night sky, an indescribable force instantly descended upon True Monarch Huanglong's Nascent Soul.

This force was strange and inexplicable, descending out of thin air; the consciousness and Dharma Power he had intended to use to trigger teleportation suddenly ceased to turn or flow, as if his entire consciousness, his Nascent Soul body, and even the space and time around him had been completely solidified and stilled by an unprecedented power!

Heaven and Earth lost their voice for it, and within the range of the Body Immobilization Supernatural Power, there was not a shred of sound; under the night sky, True Monarch Huanglong's Nascent Soul stood stiffly in the void, eyes wide open, unable to move or speak, like a mosquito in amber, completely solidified within a strange, murderous, and terrifying atmosphere, forming a silent picture that was oppressive and suffocating.

An indescribable, horrifying terror swept through his nearly rigid heart like a tsunami, yet at this instant, he could do nothing but watch helplessly as Lu Yuan appeared before him in a flash, his Qi manifesting into a cage to seize him in his hand.

Merely seizing him was not enough; cultivators at the Golden Core and Nascent Soul levels still possessed the means of mutual destruction by self-detonating their Golden Core or Nascent Soul, so Lu Yuan flicked his fingers repeatedly, instantly forming over a dozen extremely dense light cones, which he then fiercely nailed into True Monarch Huanglong's Nascent Soul body, forming a Seal Spirit Absolute Array to completely seal his divine sense and Dharma Power.

At this point.

This Nascent Soul Great Cultivator who had governed Longshan Immortal City for over two hundred years had completely fallen into Lu Yuan's grasp, unable to even control his own life or death.

Until a breath or two later, when the power of the Body Immobilization Supernatural Power weakened and True Monarch Huanglong began to regain his basic ability to perceive and speak, his Nascent Soul face was occupied by a thick, indescribable look of horrifying terror, and he looked at Lu Yuan as if he were looking at a terrifying monster:

"This, what is this Supernatural Power..."

"Who, who exactly are you!?"