Chapter 427: Refining Heaven

Huang Dao saw this, watching the four-legged small tripod take shape calmly in your hand.

A sudden storm of shock surged within your heart!

In an instant, this four-legged tripod seemed like the "Primordial"—he felt it vast and unfathomable, beyond comprehension.

The black hole behind him that had been devouring spiritual energy now froze as you lifted the small tripod.

He could no longer devour or manipulate it.

Shocked inwardly, he could not help but turn his gaze toward you and ask:

"What kind of martial art is this?"

On your open palm, the small tripod rotated slowly, blending crimson flame, pure spiritual energy, the fortune carried by the northern wind, and the surrounding qi of life and death.

You spoke calmly: "Using calamity, spiritual energy, and fortune as fuel."

"Using heaven and earth as the furnace, mountains and rivers as its form, fully manifesting its art!"

You shook your head slightly and added: "This art was created by me alone, unnamed until now. Since the Demon Master asks…"

"Let it be called: Refining Heaven's Calamity Hand!"

Huang Dao saw the small tripod grow ever more lifelike, its inscriptions emerging as if struggling to break free from the void.

Transforming the illusory into the real, refining falsehood into truth!

How could this be within the reach of mortal martial arts!

Huang Dao's shock lasted only an instant; he quickly regained his composure.

His gaze shifted to a distance, where Lu Yu's black divine form stood like a Rakshasa descending, his fist intent as fearsome as a hellish prison.

Wu Ying's mask had long shattered; her figure was agile, her sword qi slashing wildly, leaving deep fissures in the ground behind her, while her own divine form blazed like a great sun.

The two had exchanged over a hundred strikes, each move reaching the pinnacle of mastery, each technique embodying supreme finesse.

"Indeed, this world is not destined solely for me, Huang Dao—there are still talents like you!"

"Ha! How exhilarating!"

With that, he retracted his divine form, his body shifting like a phantom, closing in instantly.

His left hand became a claw, weaving countless threads around you like razor blades.

You dispersed the small tripod, and the crimson qi in your hand accelerated its flow.

"Ying—"

A cry that shattered the four directions.

The spiritual energy threads around you were torn apart; a stream of qi shot from behind you like a falcon's strike.

Huang Dao's advance halted abruptly; he shifted to defense. His fingers plucked spiritual energy like a slingshot, while his body split into three illusions, retreating gracefully.

His sleeve was still half-sheared off by the qi, drifting downward.

Yet he seemed unaware, his gaze fixed directly behind you.

In his eyes, as your left hand moved lightly, the four-colored qi swirling around it coalesced into the shape of a bird-beast behind you.

It was a golden creature with four wings, a single eye, and a tail like a dog's, slowly taking form, poised to spread its wings and soar.

Huang Dao's eyes changed—this was the Outer Manifestation of "Xiao Yue."

How could it appear on you?

Had he not personally pierced Xiao Yue's chest, torn out two hearts unlike any human's, and confirmed the man dead beyond doubt?

Huang Dao had believed Xiao Yue was truly dead.

He suddenly recalled your words: "Refining Heaven's Calamity Hand," "fully manifesting its art!"

Could it truly manifest the Outer Manifestations of other martial arts?

How could this be possible!

Outer Manifestations are intrinsically tied to one's cultivated art, the innate acupoints formed since childhood, and personal martial insights.

Even those who cultivate the same scripture cannot produce identical Outer Manifestations.

Just as no two leaves in the world are exactly alike!

No—

Though this was Xiao Yue's divine form, its power was clearly weakened.

It was an incomplete Xiao Yue Outer Manifestation—yet even so, it had shattered the bounds of reason, defying belief.

As Huang Dao reeled in shock, the strange bird behind you slowly dissipated, replaced by a divine form similar to Lu Yu's.

But this form was much smaller, under two zhang tall, not black and white, but crimson mist, with three heads and six arms, its heads blurred, swirling only in chaotic qi.

Your left hand drifted lightly; the crimson qi in your palm flowed ceaselessly, and one of the divine form's massive hands lunged toward Huang Dao.

Huang Dao's shock deepened—he could hardly believe his eyes: this was Lu Yu's Outer Manifestation, now appearing on you!

A nameless awe surged within Huang Dao.

He dared not hesitate; he leapt into midair and smashed the "great hand" with a single punch.

The great hand immediately restored itself, as if never shattered.

Huang Dao had believed his strange Outer Manifestation, capable of devouring spiritual energy, would secure him victory.

Yet he never imagined your "small tripod" could suppress his Outer Manifestation.

In this moment, Huang Dao finally realized: the path to enlightenment and ascension demands fighting for one's life.

Huang Dao's body had vanished without warning, reappearing before you.

You began fighting with the Three True Teachings' "Kongming Fist," its movements ethereal and unpredictable, yet also powerfully forceful, flames engulfing your arms.

Yet in demonic arts, there exists the extraordinary "Taiyin Suyue Chapter," capable of generating bone-chilling cold in the hands.

Huang Dao mastered all demonic arts; with spiritual energy aiding him, his cold qi could barehandedly withstand your flames.

The two forces collided in midair, spreading vast clouds of mist.

Your eyes remained clear; facing Huang Dao's assault, your movements never slowed.

Huang Dao had split into three illusions before you, each as solid as reality, indistinguishable in truth or falsehood.

His fingers and hair could instantly become razor-sharp weapons, launching sudden lethal strikes.

Just now, purple light a foot long had shot from his eyes and hands—light capable of attacking the spirit, inducing brief daze.

Fortunately, you had anticipated it and activated Xiao Yue's Outer Manifestation to counter it.

Four Grand Masters clashed without pause.

Today marked the second day of total war between the two armies.

On the battlefield, both sides charged into the fray, corpses piled high, countless streams of blood qi rising from fallen soldiers and drifting toward the heavens.

The rifts in heaven and earth widened further!

Huang Dao silently turned his gaze to another battlefield: Lu Yu and Wu Ying's clash was vast and unrestrained, utterly unlike your duel with the Demon Master.

Your battle with the Demon Master saw each strike hide lethal intent, yet paused at the brink, retreating to wait for the next opening.

The Demon Master had exhausted all his arts, yet still could not gain the upper hand.

Lu Yu's Outer Manifestation had receded—clearly, it had little effect on Wu Ying. Their duel entered its second phase.

Lu Yu, having reached the Heavenly-Person realm, now unveiled his nine-fist art.

Eighth Form: "Treading the Song!"

Wu Ying did not yield; she unleashed her self-created sword art, drawn from the "War Heaven Scroll," containing only two moves—both cold and tyrannical: one called "Crush the City."

Both used techniques meant for one-strike kills, their qi mutually entangled—now they could not retreat!

The surrounding air was violently pushed back by the residual shockwaves of their clashing spiritual energy.

You and Huang Dao both sensed it.

…

…

On a hill near the battlefield, eight figures gathered in silence.

Among them,

The two from the tavern—Sword Saint "Li Lanjiang" and "Thousand-Hand Immortal" Ye Shengnan—were clearly present.

With the deaths of Xiao Yue and Xuantianzi, outside of Lu Chen's four, Li Lanjiang and Ye Shengnan now led the martial world.

Upon hearing of the Four Grand Masters' battle, they had rushed from the north, arriving early to wait.

Behind Li Lanjiang and Ye Shengnan stood several familiar faces.

The Four Elders of the Sword Sect and the sect's "Golden Boy and Jade Girl," Huang Yuwei and Hu Jie.

Since her breakthrough at the tavern, Huang Yuwei's cultivation had far outpaced Hu Jie; now she stood just one step away from reaching the Grand Master realm.

Her ranking on the Jingzhe List had climbed to 315th.

The Four Elders had brought her here to observe the battle, hoping she would find the key to her breakthrough.

"Is this the Heavenly-Person realm?"

Ye Shengnan stared at Lu Yu's manifested divine form and Wu Ying's tyrannical sword intent, silently awed.

Lu Chen's manifested Outer Manifestations, especially the small tripod just now, had nearly made her want to bow before it.

The Demon Master's ever-changing arts could kill her in mere rounds.

Li Lanjiang remained silent; he had spent his life pursuing martial dao, and since childhood, his father had told him his sword talent was equal to any.

Li Lanjiang's ambition had always been the same: to become the greatest in the martial world.

But!

This generation produced geniuses like towering mountains, worthy of awe.

The astonishing Demon Master, the peerless Empress, the Dao-born Lu Yu, and the sudden emergence of Lu Chen—these four were unquestionably the brightest peaks of martial dao in this age.

Ye Shengnan was not joking this time; for those who pursue martial arts, being born in the same era as these four men was indeed both a blessing and a curse.

The blessing was witnessing such a glorious golden age of martial cultivation; the curse was that one might never surpass these towering peaks.

Mountains piled upon mountains, yet the blue sky was nowhere to be seen.

Around the hills gathered numerous veteran martial artists, all renowned in their regions and ranked on the Jingzhe List.

They had come not only to witness this war between two nations, but also to behold the ultimate clash among the Four Grand Masters.

Moreover, among them were heirs of ancient sects that had endured for millennia, and they understood the extraordinary omen this celestial phenomenon foretold.

The omen of ascending to heaven!

"Brother Li, what do you make of this duel? Who will ultimately prevail?"

Li Lanjiang stared at the battlefield; he had assumed Lu Chen would be slightly inferior to the Demon Master, but now it seemed the two were evenly matched, neither gaining the upper hand.

As for Wu Ying and Lu Yu, though he could discern little from a martial perspective, a deep intuition within him suggested Lu Yu might win.

Yet Li Lanjiang still shook his head.

"At the Heavenly Person realm, spiritual energy is no longer a limitation. The Demon Master's external manifestation just now could devour spiritual energy—he holds the greatest advantage. Now, the Prince of Yan happens to counter him."

"It's about who holds the strongest hidden technique, not who exhausts first."

"Thus, the outcome is truly unpredictable."

Upon hearing this, Ye Shengnan nodded, deeply agreeing.

At that moment!

The surrounding environment gradually grew noisy and chaotic.

Everyone looked up toward the heavens.

Above the battlefield, where the sky had split into north and south, three magnificent gates suddenly appeared.

At the junction of heaven and clouds, countless brilliant rays of aurora poured down!

Li Lanjiang, Ye Shengnan, and even the Four Elders of the Sword Sect all turned pale with shock.

"Tianmen!"

That was precisely the ascension gate recorded in ancient texts.

There's another chapter tonight; at the start of the month, dear benefactors, please support with monthly votes—thank you, thank you!

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(End of Chapter)