Chapter 402
Chapter 402
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: [Undesignated]
Chapter Title: Sparring with the Ancestor
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Lu Yang had always been quite curious about Ancestor Tingyou's strength.
If you had to call it strong, it definitely was—his freakishly perverse comprehension let him dominate in spell battles, and his talent for imitating divine abilities was outrageously exaggerated.
Undoubtedly, the perfect opponent for a spar.
Ancestor Tingyou wasn't just powerful; he'd seen plenty of the world, and his astonishing insight was more than enough to accurately judge Lu Yang's current power level.
"You want to fight me?"
After hearing Lu Yang's request, Ancestor Tingyou paused for a moment.
But he quickly caught on and nodded.
"Mm, now's not a bad time, actually."
He was pretty curious himself.
Second-grade true techniques were a relatively unfamiliar realm even for Ancestor Tingyou, so just watching wouldn't let him pin down Lu Yang's exact strength.
And there was an even more important matter.
*If Lu Yang's strength is sufficient, combined with the incense fire system, perhaps... I can try passing on the true method of [Hall of Yama Demons] to him as well.*
The False Golden Throne Possession Method!
Ancestor Tingyou's lifelong masterpiece, cut short before it could truly shine—and now, he saw hope in Lu Yang.
At the same time, Lu Yang cracked his knuckles, a smile on his face.
"Then, Ancestor, don't mind if I don't hold back!"
With those words, his sharp blade cleared its sheath!
Though it was just a spar, Lu Yang held nothing back.
He opened with [Calamity Wave], and a brilliant speck of starlight suddenly flared on the sword edge.
That single point of starlight was understated, unremarkable.
Even the imagery within was utterly plain: unyielding refusal to submit, unbreakable resolve—no matter how many hardships and perils lay ahead, cleave them apart with one sword!
"Boom!"
Ancestor Tingyou's figure offered no resistance.
In an instant, Lu Yang's sword slew him.
Yet at the moment of death, it dissolved into an illusory remnant shadow.
The next second, the remnant shadow shattered.
Behind it, Ancestor Tingyou's true body emerged, a trace of astonishment on his face as he sighed.
"So strong... truly too strong."
Lu Yang went speechless at those words.
*[Phantasm Intent]!?*
One of the sword path clone's innate divine abilities: within its domain, anything unfavorable dissolved into nothingness, retaining only the beneficial.
Ancestor Tingyou couldn't perfectly replicate its essence, of course.
But he'd mimicked the surface form, conjuring a false body to take the sword's strike while his true form calmly slipped away unscathed.
He'd even broken free of the [Sword Intent]'s lock!
"Careful—I'm striking back."
Before the words finished, Ancestor Tingyou's figure vanished from the spot.
"This is..."
The familiar scene made Lu Yang's pupils contract.
Though he'd lost this divine ability after the reset, he could still recognize it.
*[...Fix Affinity and Distance]!?*
The innate divine ability Lu Yang had once relied on most—now replicated by Ancestor Tingyou in weakened dao art form, countless times diluted!
The next second, Ancestor Tingyou appeared behind Lu Yang.
The true [Fix Affinity and Distance] allowed ultra-long-range shifts.
But Ancestor Tingyou's diluted dao art version had range limits.
*[Lesser All-Heavens Void Escape Marvelous Method]!*
Law-light flickered in Ancestor Tingyou's hands.
He thrust forward.
Lu Yang's figure vanished from the spot, reappearing hundreds of meters away out of thin air.
*Shifted hundreds of meters? What's the point?*
Lu Yang was still pondering when dark clouds suddenly billowed around him.
Thunder serpents wove through the clouds, instantly forming a sea of lightning!
Heavenly Punishment Thunderclouds!?
The next second, the vast thunder sea crashed down, engulfing Lu Yang's figure.
But before Ancestor Tingyou could relax—
Sword light brazenly slashed from the thunder sea, ripping the clouds apart.
Lu Yang strolled out casually.
Though Ancestor Tingyou had seized the initiative, Lu Yang felt no frustration.
Instead, he was a bit thrilled.
*I can take him!*
Ancestor Tingyou was currently maintained at peak Foundation Establishment through incense fire, surely some distance from his prime.
But his strength was no joke.
The fact that Lu Yang could trade blows with him meant his own power, even in the Broken Realm, wouldn't get him insta-killed by peers—he had real fighting chance.
"Again!"
With a thought from Lu Yang, he withdrew his [Sword Intent].
Instead, he lit the white jade halo behind him.
Treasure visage solemn, like a deity, hands forming seals:
*[Bearing Heaven's Order]!*
This time, no casual use like against Yan Taizu or the City God.
The true divine ability's light erupted outward.
Wherever it passed, scenes of sun, moon, stars appeared; images of mountains, rivers, lakes, seas.
Like hands parting left and right, then clapping together—directly enveloping Ancestor Tingyou in the divine ability's radiant splendor.
"What is this?"
Even worldly Ancestor Tingyou showed curiosity at the sight.
Clearly, he'd never seen a divine ability manifest this way.
"This is my world."
Lu Yang grinned, extending one finger toward Ancestor Tingyou.
"Ancestor, see any difference between my divine ability and yours?"
With that, radiance flared.
*[Fix Affinity and Distance]!*
The next second, Ancestor Tingyou's form vanished from the spot.
Sent hundreds of li away by Lu Yang, just like before—plummeting into a roiling thunder sea!
In a flash—
Ancestor Tingyou burst into hearty laughter.
He clapped his hands together, then pressed outward, raising a majestic mountain shadow that slammed down on the surrounding thunder sea from above.
In an instant, all spells stilled and extinguished; the divine ability wiped clean, every bolt of lightning swept away.
*[Mountain-Embracing]!*
Lu Yang understood.
Another dao art evolved from a divine ability by Ancestor Tingyou.
This world-shaking intellect was absurd no matter how many times he saw it.
Little did he know, Ancestor Tingyou on the other side was equally shocked.
"How did you do it?"
No doubt about it—Lu Yang had just done exactly what he had: re-enacted a lost innate divine ability!
But he could because of his superior comprehension.
Lu Yang... how well did he know that kid's talent? Average at best, a bit there but not much—how had he pulled this off?
"Just a little trick."
Lu Yang waved it off modestly.
"A bit of [Bearing Heaven's Order]'s wonder. Didn't I say? This is my world now."
*My world, my rules!*
Within the minor heaven crafted by [Bearing Heaven's Order], Lu Yang could, to some extent, manifest his thoughts.
Imitating divine abilities was naturally no issue!
Sure, it was surface-level only—the inner logic completely different, effects like Ancestor Tingyou's mimicked dao arts: far weaker than the originals.
But the variety was plentiful; as combat tools, more than sufficient.
"Like this..."
Lu Yang's hand seals shifted.
A majestic mountain shadow materialized in his grasp too, smashing toward Ancestor Tingyou—[Mountain-Embracing] once more!
"Boom!"
Ancestor Tingyou shifted seals in kind.
Mountain shadows collided, both annihilating.
Then both sides switched moves simultaneously, new divine abilities and dao arts clashing!
"Die!"
Lu Yang intoned a heavenly decree—the Xuanling Realm's word-becomes-law technique.
"Live!"
Ancestor Tingyou was undaunted, instantly spotting the flaw in Lu Yang's technique, then thundering his own counter to wash away the divine ability's effect.
*[Death Decree]! [Phantasm Intent]!*
Ancestor Tingyou struck with both.
First conjuring a false body, then using it to unleash a [Death Decree] sword, slashing fiercely at Lu Yang!
He even mimicked [Cognitive Barrier] midway, briefly blinding Lu Yang's perception of the strike.
By the time Lu Yang broke free, sword light was before his eyes—piercing flesh, shattering bones, blasting his entire body into a cloud of blood mist.
Yet the next second—
The scene shifted.
The blood mist dissolved into illusion.
Lu Yang's true body steadily retreated hundreds of meters, brow furrowed.
At this rate, it was just mutual depletion—no path to victory.
With that thought, Lu Yang withdrew [Bearing Heaven's Order].
*Let's try this one...*
Five divine abilities emerged behind his head like stars.
They linked into a ring, hovering there, casting down a pristine jade-white glow.
[One with the World]!