Chapter 263: Fierce Battle of the Nascent Soul

Before the owner of the voice could arrive at Longshan Immortal City, Lu Yuan had already taken a step forward and abruptly vanished into thin air, leaving only Kong Linsen and Wei Bufan standing there in a daze.

At the same time, hundreds of miles away from Longshan Immortal City, a rainbow light tore through the sky like a meteor, heading straight for the Immortal City at an astonishing speed, while a vast Divine Sense had already completely covered a radius of a thousand miles.

It was a Daoist riding atop a massive black dragon; his hair and beard were silver-white, his expression was stern and cold, and within his eyes, the shadows of the sun and moon flowed, his gaze seemingly capable of peering through all things and even piercing the void itself.

It was none other than the Nascent Soul Heavenly Monarch of the Immortal Alliance, Zhulong Heavenly Monarch.

However, when this person was still one or two hundred miles from Longshan Immortal City, the void suddenly rippled, and immediately, Lu Yuan's figure stepped out from it like a dreamlike bubble, blocking the other's path forward.

Hm?

In an instant, Zhulong Heavenly Monarch on the back of the dragon discovered the abruptly appearing Lu Yuan; his gaze turned cold, and with a shift of his mind, he made the dragon beneath him come to a sudden stop, then coldly spoke:

"Are you the person my disciple spoke of? Who are you, and where is my disciple?"

Lu Yuan smiled as he sized up the other party:

"Zhulong Heavenly Monarch? Your disciple should be on the way here; there is no need to worry."

At this moment, Zhulong Heavenly Monarch's Divine Sense also sensed Kong Linsen, who was rushing over at high speed, which made him even more surprised and vigilant; he searched the surroundings with his Divine Sense, guarding against an ambush:

"What is your origin, and what is your intention in luring this old man here?"

Lu Yuan laughed aloud:

"It is useless to say anything now; you and I had better fight it out first!"

Rumble.

Before the words had faded, in the next instant, a dull Thunder Sound suddenly rolled and spread through the void, as if the deathly silent night had awakened. Immediately following this, in mid-air, layers upon layers of rolling dark clouds abruptly began to gather; like an avalanche, they expanded rapidly with a rumbling sound, and the speed of their spread was truly unimaginable—in just this brief moment, they had actually expanded to cover the entire firmament!

Within the dark clouds, dazzling light flashed incessantly, as if lightning and thunder were brewing within the thick clouds; and as the lightning flashed, the earth-shaking thunder grew louder and more terrifying! It was as if tens of thousands of ferocious giant beasts were roaring in the sky at the same time, or as if the firmament itself were enraged!

Sensing such an astonishing scene, the dragon beneath Zhulong Heavenly Monarch immediately let out a low roar of fear, while he himself changed expression slightly; in an instant, he stowed the dragon beneath him into a Spirit Beast Bag, and his figure flickered, instantly splitting into dozens or hundreds of figures scattered throughout the void, and at the same time, he pinched a Dharma seal and shouted:

"How bold!"

The next moment, a violent divine wind surged into the sky, instantly stirring up the flying sand and rocks for a hundred miles, changing the color of the heavens and earth; tons of grass, trees, sand, and stone from the ground were swept up, rapidly forming dozens or hundreds of giant tornadoes hundreds of feet tall, connecting heaven and earth, intending to grind the newly formed thunderclouds filling the sky into powder!

It must be said that he was worthy of being a long-renowned Nascent Soul Heavenly Monarch; his opening move was grand in scale and struck directly at the vital point. It was just a pity that Lu Yuan's current cultivation in executing the 【Mastering Five Thunders】 Supernatural Power was also extraordinary; under the churning of the violent tornadoes, the sky-covering thunderclouds remained unmoved, and instead, thunder exploded instantly, with streaks of giant thunder dragons tearing through heaven and earth, striking straight down!

Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom!

Only earth-shattering roars were heard, shaking the area for a hundred miles; hundreds of giant thunder dragons struck directly onto the tornadoes formed by the gale, sand, and vegetation. The vast power erupted in multiple places in an instant, and an indescribable shockwave began to sweep wantonly at a speed over a hundred times that of sound!

Wind and thunder surged angrily; the spiritual energy in the void was torn and stirred, as if shredded by a pair of scissors, gathering then scattering, scattering then gathering. The world was in chaos; collapsing, decomposing, shattering—in an instant, everything within a hundred miles was converted into gaseous dust, and with an incredibly majestic momentum that seemed to swallow the world, it crushed toward all directions in a savage and terrifying manner!

And amidst such an astonishing scene, it was visible to the naked eye that the wind dragons were instantly disintegrating under the violent thunder. The hundreds of clones manifested by Zhulong Heavenly Monarch were destroyed in the blink of an eye, leaving only one figure radiating a lotus-like divine light, blocking the terrifying shockwaves and lightning bombardment for him, like a lonely boat drifting in the midst of a raging storm.

Lu Yuan laughed heartily:

"Zhulong Heavenly Monarch, aren't you going to bring out your real skills?"

While laughing, he reached out and grasped the void; immediately, dozens of thick thunder dragons burst out from the thunderclouds, tangling and intertwining in mid-air to form a giant hand of thunder, reaching out to grab Zhulong Heavenly Monarch.

As the giant thunder palm gripped, the spiritual energy and air within a radius of several hundred feet collapsed and exploded; the destructive power seemed as if it would crush the void itself. Zhulong Heavenly Monarch, who had never been forced or underestimated by an enemy to such a state in many years, flashed a look of surprise and anger; light burst forth from between his brows, and a strange five-colored wheel flew out, spinning.

The moment the wheel appeared, the five forces of the Five Elements upon it—fiery, heavy, sharp, vibrant with life, and silently nourishing—began to rotate, colliding with the giant thunder palm like a five-colored star.

Following this, a terrifying, blinding light that could not be described in words flashed; everything turned from extreme darkness and silence to extreme chaos and agitation, and a terrifying scene of destruction with surging earth, water, wind, and thunder erupted!

In an instant, the concept of space ceased to exist here, and the concepts of up, down, left, and right lost their meaning. The two sides' battle converted everything around them into chaos, causing the passage of time to even present a kind of fractured fault and distortion, leaving only shockwaves like a tsunami!

The monstrous giant wave shockwave that swept across the entire world was so fast that it left sound far behind. It was as if, in this instant, the heavens and earth were silent to the extreme; the surroundings were like a scene from a silent film, welcoming the frenzied eruption with a silent posture!

The ground had been torn and shaken into fragments. New, extremely large, natural chasm-like canyons stretching for a hundred miles appeared on the ground. And in the center of the countless fissures, there was a massive, elliptical crater that had been melted into an unrecognizable state. Flames were slowly burning, chaotic Dharma Power was fluctuating and vibrating, lingering with destruction.

Under these circumstances, the giant thunder hand disintegrated, but Zhulong Heavenly Monarch's Five Elements Wheel also flew back while wailing. He let out a muffled groan, forcibly suppressing a mouthful of blood in his throat in shock, and shouted sternly:

"Sun and Moon Netherworld, Dongxuan Tai-Xuan!"

In an instant, his eyes turned into true suns and moons, causing the originally clear sky to suddenly turn black, as if night had descended; at the same time, wherever he looked, the colors of all things gradually faded. In the blink of an eye, only black and white remained; the colorful world seemed to have turned into a black-and-white scene, and it continued to become paler, fainter, and blurrier...

The thunderclouds and lightning raging across the world, and even Lu Yuan beneath the thunderclouds, clearly felt the surrounding scene becoming increasingly pale, colorless, and blurred, losing its majesty, momentum, and profoundness, as if it were merely a false illusion that was gradually drifting away and fading like a dreamlike bubble.

No, it was not just the scene; following it was a strange and inexplicable power that was infiltrating the void, corroding him himself. It not only wanted to erase his existence but also made bits and pieces of his life from growth to death flash out of thin air—all kinds of desires, all kinds of hatred, all kinds of greed, all kinds of pursuits—turning into endless hallucinations!

When closing one's eyes, everything is as usual, and all things exist; when opening one's eyes, one sees that the five aggregates are empty, and all appearances are illusory. Zhulong True Monarch had clearly displayed his trump card, the Dongxuan Sun and Moon True Pupil, seemingly intending to completely virtualize and erase everything he saw before him!

"This Supernatural Power is worthy of being called extraordinary!"

Even Lu Yuan, who possessed many Heavenly Gang and Earthly Fiend Supernatural Powers, could not help but praise it at this moment, and then, without any visible movement, he simply vanished into the void and out of the other party's lock-on.

What?

No one had ever been able to escape so easily under his trump card Supernatural Power. Zhulong Heavenly Monarch, who had fully activated his True Pupil, felt a great shock in his heart; his eyes, capable of peering into the netherworld, immediately discovered that the opponent had not hidden his figure or used some escape technique to flee, but had directly merged into the void!

Even with his cultivation and status, he could not help but feel his mind tremble, blurting out: "Controlling the void, Return to Void Virtual Immortal?"

That was correct.

The most basic and iconic Supernatural Power of a Return to Void Great Ability was the Primordial Spirit lodging in the void, thereby wielding the power of the void; every move was no longer the power of ordinary heaven and earth, but using the unrivaled power of the void to fight the enemy.

Mastering such void Supernatural Powers, a Return to Void Great Ability could teleport through the void with just their physical body, and could also launch strikes from thousands of miles away; those who had not entered this realm had no way to defend against it.

How could he have imagined that this cultivator, whose origin was extremely mysterious and who hadn't even spoken a few words upon meeting, would actually be an existence of this level!?

No, that's not right!

This person absolutely cannot be a Return to Void Virtual Immortal; if they were such an existence, I would not be able to withstand a single blow! They must have used some extremely special Talisman or even a Dharma Artifact to achieve this!

After all, being knowledgeable and experienced, after a moment of shock, Zhulong Heavenly Monarch realized his judgment was wrong and began to scan his surroundings for the hidden figure.

But the next moment.

A brilliant sword light that made countless dazzling stars pale in comparison erupted from the void, like a bolt of lightning flashing through the vast night, tearing through the starry universe, illuminating the ages, and being incomparably gorgeous.

Zhulong Heavenly Monarch had been prepared; his natal Dharma Treasure, the Great Five Elements Wheel, bloomed with five-element radiance at the first moment. But it was also at this moment that another extremely strange, sealing power that seemed to seal the heavens and lock the earth appeared out of thin air, causing his Dharma Power, Divine Sense, and Dharma Treasure to instantly freeze and solidify for a moment, and then—

Chi!!

The sword light erupting from the void behind him instantly tore through his prideful Five Elements divine light protection and nailed it into his chest.

The moment the sharp pain and shock arrived, Zhulong Heavenly Monarch roared in shock and anger; his Dharma robe bloomed with extremely gorgeous radiance, shaking off the sword light that should have pierced through his chest, and then he changed his position as if teleporting.

And even so, he could clearly feel at this moment that this extremely precious Sixth Rank Heaven-Reaching Spirit Treasure of his had sustained significant damage, and a sword mark remained upon it, still emitting a peerless Sword Intent that seemed to slice through the void, wanting to penetrate the protection of his Dharma robe and slash his physical body and Primordial Spirit.

"Good, good, good."

Zhulong Heavenly Monarch retreated repeatedly through the void, his extraordinary eyes, which manifested the phantom images of the sun and moon, already locked onto a certain direction in the void, and he said in a stern, harsh voice:

"With such formidable and astonishing Supernatural Power, you are certainly no nameless figure in Yuanling Heaven. Do you not dare to reveal your name?"

"Interesting. Your eyes seem capable of perceiving my existence; among the Heavenly Monarchs of the Spirit Transformation realm, you are likely the only one."

Over a hundred zhang away, Lu Yuan stepped out from the void and laughed:

"As for my name, I do not change my name when I walk or sit; I am Lu Yuan."

Zhulong Heavenly Monarch's expression turned as cold as frost:

"Lu Yuan, is it? Your Supernatural Power is already comparable to a late-stage Spirit Transformation cultivator. Forgive this old man for his ignorance, as this is my first time witnessing it. May I ask where you come from?"

Through the exchange just now, Lu Yuan already had a rough idea of the level of his own Supernatural Power, so he was in no rush to act and simply fabricated a story:

"I was originally a cultivator from the Beihao Continent. Years ago, the continent fell and my family was destroyed, leaving me no choice but to drift to the Xiyan Continent and become a rogue cultivator. I simply dislike conflict, so I have rarely walked in the world."

Zhulong Heavenly Monarch clearly did not believe this nonsense and sneered:

"Since you rarely walk in the world, why have you come out of seclusion now to provoke me? Plotting against the Immortal City Lord of Longshan Immortal City—how does such conduct befit your status as a Heavenly Monarch of the Spirit Transformation realm?"

"Do not blame me for acting without further ado; if I did not weigh your strength, I fear you would not listen to my words."

Lu Yuan remained calm and composed:

"As for plotting against Huanglong Zhenren, that is even more of a baseless accusation. I will explain the specific situation later. After all, if I am not mistaken, there should be other Heavenly Monarchs from the Immortal Alliance on their way here now, right?"

Seeing that the other party did not show the slightest bit of apprehension or fear, Zhulong Heavenly Monarch's gaze could not help but shift slightly.

At the same time.

From the distance, two streaks of light flew over at high speed, soon arriving near Zhulong True Monarch; they were none other than Kong Linsen and Wei Bufan.

Kong Linsen did not dare to get too close, and not knowing the situation of their battle, he could only anxiously shout:

"Master!"

Zhulong True Monarch swept his Divine Sense across them, and after confirming his disciples were unharmed, he shouted:

"Why have you come here? Retreat at once!"

Kong Linsen and Wei Bufan did not speak, but their gazes swept across the two sides in a faint standoff, and the more they looked, the more shocked they became.

In fact, on the way here, their divine senses had already clearly felt the destructive scene of the battle between the two, but because the aftershocks were too violent, their divine senses dared not—and could not—investigate in detail, so they did not know the specific details of the fight.

But at this very moment, the two saw clearly that Lu Yuan was calm and composed in the void, standing proudly between heaven and earth, while in contrast, Zhulong Heavenly Monarch had a wary look in his eyes, a livid complexion, and appeared somewhat disheveled.

A suspicion that made them feel terrified and incredulous welled up in their hearts:

"Could it be that even Zhulong Heavenly Monarch is...?! "