Chapter 473
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: [Unknown]
Chapter Title: Dominating Hong Yun
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“Boom!”
As Lu Yang spoke, the divine ability was already striking—or rather, he struck first and spoke only to distract Hong Yun’s attention.
Yet Hong Yun was a veteran of countless battles and paid no mind to Lu Yang’s words. The instant Lu Yang spotted him, the figure left in place was already a false body. His true body swiftly slipped into the nearby formation, intending to put some distance between them before deciding his next move.
But he had overlooked one thing.
Lu Yang knew the formations here just as well as he did.
“Want to run?”
Lu Yang pinched a hand seal, and his divine sense whistled forth. Wherever it passed, Hong Yun watched in shock as the formations he had laid were shattered in a single breath.
‘Impossible!’
In that instant, not a single formation shielded Hong Yun any longer. Shock filled his heart—this speed of breaking formations was something even he could barely match!
How had he done it?
In a flash of insight, Hong Yun wasted no time. His lips parted, and a thunderous roar exploded from his throat, sweeping outward in all directions. It was as if a massive blaze had ignited on the spot, thunder rumbling and flames roaring as a storm surged toward Lu Yang.
‘[Thunder Recedes Gradually]!’
Thunder was the exhalation of yang qi, resounding in mid-spring and gradually fading by midsummer, aligned with the wood of burgeoning life. Thus, it was an utterly yang and rigid wood divine ability.
Hong Yun had great confidence in it. It should at least buy him some time.
But the next moment, a brilliance like the sun bloomed from behind Lu Yang’s head. It spilled forth like mercury, unfurling freely until it filled the heavens and earth in an instant.
‘[Returning Origin Palace]!’
Amid the solar radiance, jade towers and crystal palaces rose from the ground—pavilions and grand halls that instantly encompassed Hong Yun and all the surrounding formations!
Hong Yun’s face twisted in drastic change.
‘Noon Fire divine ability!?’
And not just any Noon Fire divine ability! To manifest the sun’s light and shadow meant it was profoundly orthodox within Noon Fire, perfectly embodying its essence!
“Boom!”
The next second, [Returning Origin Palace] slammed into the storm unleashed by [Thunder Recedes Gradually]. But the divine ability Hong Yun had pinned his hopes on behaved like a mouse encountering a cat, crumbling at the slightest touch. In a flash, the thunder fell silent, the yang flames guttered out, dissolving into scattered glimmers that rained down around them.
‘Run into my counter!’
Hong Yun clenched his teeth. Had he known beforehand that his foe wielded such a pure Noon Fire divine ability, he never would have led with wood.
Wood meeting Noon Fire: the fire blazes while the wood burns to ash!
Worse still, Noon belonged to Departing Fire. Fire relied on wood for fuel—wood as mother, fire as child. When the child prospered, the mother withered. How could it end otherwise? Wood met its doom in Noon!
What truly horrified Hong Yun was that the interplay between wood and Noon Fire divine abilities touched on cosmic truths. Cultivators lacking sufficient attainment couldn’t grasp the subtleties, and without that grasp, they couldn’t manifest such utter克制. Thus, this克制 relied on both sides’ depth of dao.
In other words:
‘This man’s attainment in Noon Fire likely rivals mine in wood!’
But how could that be?
He was a True Lord! Reincarnated or not, a True Lord’s foundation endured. How could some ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator compare?
That thought sparked a flurry of guesses in Hong Yun’s mind, settling at last on the most plausible:
‘Dao Court?’
Across the four realms, only the Dao Court’s [Immortal Kingdom Dao Laws] could elevate a Foundation Establishment cultivator to match a True Lord in a single elemental attainment.
Even there, such figures were rare phoenix plumes. Only the Tianwu Imperial Clan, free to cultivate independently and draw unbound from [Immortal Kingdom Dao Laws], could achieve it. So was this man Tianwu royalty? But he bore no grudge against the Dao Court—why target him?
Doubts flooded Hong Yun’s mind.
Worse, failing to anticipate the clash had put him at a disadvantage from the first exchange. One misstep led to more; defeat loomed!
‘Must escape somehow.’
Hong Yun’s thoughts raced, his initial greed forgotten. The situation was too bizarre—he just needed to flee and regroup.
But Lu Yang had no intention of letting him off.
This venture into Jiangbei served two purposes: forcing Hong Yun far away to [Seven Luminaries Heaven], and testing his own prowess after switching to [Heavenly Fire]!
With that in mind, Lu Yang pinched his hand seal.
‘Time to show you what it can do.’
[Heavy Departure Imperial Edict Mountains and Seas Chart]!
Hong Yun looked up to see the world around him receding at blinding speed. Vast mountains and rivers filled his vision, crowned by a blazing crimson sun overhead.
In a blink, Lu Yang activated all four profound mysteries of his natal divine ability.
‘Folk Without Deviance!’
The first mystery governed edicts, like an emperor proclaiming heavenly law—one utterance becoming the world’s rule. Words now poured from Lu Yang’s mouth, each manifesting as glowing characters:
[Do not move!]
Longer rules consumed more mystery, so Lu Yang kept it terse: three words froze Hong Yun in place for a heartbeat.
The next instant—
‘[Materials Self-Refine]!’
The second mystery bolstered [Returning Origin Palace], encircling Hong Yun in scorching solar blaze that seared his magic power and form, creasing his brow in agony.
But Lu Yang’s onslaught pressed on.
‘[Rise and Fall Affairs]!’
The third mystery served self or foe: on oneself, [Rise] to avert peril; on enemies, [Fall] to summon calamity!
Even as Hong Yun mustered his divine ability and dao arts, errors plagued him—hand seals botched, magic power insufficient, arts stalling. Gazing at his own fortune, he saw a massive [Fall] glyph hovering, as if doom itself descended!
This barrage of hindrances snuffed his final chance.
Lu Yang’s natal divine ability [Heavy Departure Imperial Edict Mountains and Seas Chart], its fourth mystery now fused with his innate [Emperor Oversees Fate], descended upon him.
‘[Radiant Sovereign Rules]!’
Dazzling golden light swept forth, brilliant and unstoppable. It brushed Hong Yun like a blade through bamboo, locking his expression in stunned rigidity.
Only then did realization strike:
“[Heavenly Fire]... oh no!?”
The next instant, he watched his own innate divine ability [Thunder Recedes Gradually] ripped away from nothing, drifting placidly into Lu Yang’s grasp!
All under heaven is sovereign soil; to the realm’s edge, all are sovereign subjects!
[Radiant Sovereign Rules]—as its name implied, it ruled.
This mystery could strip divine abilities, treasures, magic power, even forms, binding them under one’s [rule]. And as Lu Yang’s stature climbed, [rule] could extend to fortune, thoughts, lifespan, space, time... all things of the present world!
“This is mine.”
A second divine ability fell to Lu Yang’s seizure—a Chen Earth art called [Roots of All Things], which Hong Yun had meant to use for escape.
“This one’s mine too.”
Hong Yun’s magic power gushed forth, only to find what should have been an extension of his will submitting utterly beneath [Radiant Sovereign Rules]’ golden light—to Lu Yang.
It even turned to devour him!
“Everything’s mine!”
Hong Yun flicked his sleeve, sending over a dozen spirit treasures flying to bar the way. Yet in a heartbeat, Lu Yang claimed them all, like lambs tumbling into a tiger’s maw.
Hong Yun: “...”
Bastard!
Forget Tianwu royalty—this had to be some True Person from my Holy Sect!
Meanwhile, Lu Yang cradled the two innate divine abilities stripped from Hong Yun, the dozen-plus spirit treasures, his own magic power brimming anew from the seized reserves. He couldn’t be more pleased with his natal divine ability. [Heavenly Fire] truly lived up to its supreme status.
Such overwhelming dominance!