Chapter 52
Chapter 52
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 52
Chapter Title: A Ruthless Hand
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Talismans and formations, though each had its own merits, ultimately led to the same goal. As external aids, they were all means by which a cultivator could overcome a superior foe, allowing the weak to defeat the strong.
A single ninth-grade formation could allow Lu Yang to gain the upper hand in a fight.
And a ninth-grade talisman, even if it couldn't compare to a ninth-grade formation, was enough to make Yun Miaozhen treat it with utmost seriousness, not something that could be handled casually.
Not to mention, Lu Yang had just unleashed nearly five hundred talismans with a wave of his hand. Activated all at once, their power was truly enough to make the heavens and earth change color.
Although talismans would turn to ash after being activated, leaving nothing behind and making them consumables, many people cherished them. Lu Yang, however, was not one of them. Used up all his talismans? He could just have the banner spirits work overtime later to rush-produce a new batch.
Boom!
In an instant, sword qi filled the sky, the sound of thunder rolled, and countless talisman lights, as swift as lightning, surrounded Yun Miaozhen, as if a thousand blades and axes were descending upon her.
Seeing this, Yun Miaozhen had no choice but to defend herself.
The next second, a radiant light steamed forth, transforming into a silver canopy that firmly protected Yun Miaozhen beneath it, blocking all the talismans.
However, this was only temporary. The talismans didn't consume Lu Yang's spiritual power, but Yun Miaozhen's execution of the Supreme Taiyi Golden Flower Art was immensely draining. As one side waxed and the other waned, the radiant light around her was quickly shredded to pieces by the countless talismans, forcing her to muster another ray of essential light to barely protect herself.
"Slay!"
Lu Yang naturally had no intention of showing pity for the fair lady. Sword Qi Talismans and Five Thunders Talismans descended in unison, instantly tearing apart the protective rosy cloud robe on Yun Miaozhen.
In that instant, the rosy robe shattered and scattered like rain, revealing a large expanse of snowy white skin.
"Ah!"
Yun Miaozhen's pretty face flushed red with anger, her mutton-fat-jade-like body trembling violently. She subconsciously wanted to cover herself but was too busy fending off Lu Yang's attacks to spare a hand.
"Demon! You're courting death!"
Yun Miaozhen's expression twisted. She had reached the ninth level of Qi Refining at a young age, mastered a grand divine ability of the Jade Pivot Sword Pavilion, and was ranked among the true disciples. As a Foundation Establishment seed of the sect, she had always been high and mighty, aloof and proud. When had she ever been in such a sorry state?
Seeing this, the corner of Lu Yang's mouth lifted slightly.
"Fellow Daoist, you are truly a national beauty. Very large, very white, and very... supple."
Although Yun Miaozhen tried her best to cover herself, it was a futile effort. She couldn't hide anything from his discerning eyes; he took in everything, both what he should and shouldn't see.
Yun Miaozhen was extremely sensitive to being looked at and became even more frantic.
What enraged her even more was that Lu Yang actually showed a look of disgust.
"In broad daylight, what a disgrace! Is this what you call a member of a prestigious orthodox sect, Fellow Daoist?"
While speaking, Lu Yang continued to manipulate the talismans to attack Yun Miaozhen. His verbal provocations were merely a means to disrupt her state of mind; his sole objective was to kill his enemy.
Sure enough, being humiliated by Lu Yang like this, coupled with the fact that she had clearly been in the dominant position before being beaten to a state of undress by his prodigal, nouveau-riche behavior, finally ignited the fire of rage in Yun Miaozhen's heart, causing a tiny flaw to appear in her Dao heart.
"Now!"
Lu Yang would naturally not miss the instant Yun Miaozhen's Dao heart wavered and her mind fell into a trance. He immediately formed a hand seal, and a circular halo of light abruptly appeared behind his head.
The circular light shone through, and the scene in Lu Yang's eyes changed drastically.
In the place where he and Yun Miaozhen had just fought fiercely, countless traces of Yun Miaozhen's aura now appeared. These were the traces she had left behind.
"Profound Yin Form-Seizing, Nail Head Life Claiming."
With a thought, Lu Yang directed the circular light to shine on a cluster of Yun Miaozhen's aura, capturing it and then reflecting her graceful figure.
The next second, without hesitation, Lu Yang slashed with his fingers joined like a sword.
Still a vertical chop.
The circular light split in two, and the reflection of Yun Miaozhen within it was also divided. Then, an invisible force swiftly acted upon Yun Miaozhen's real body.
Crack!
Suddenly, with the faint sound of tearing skin, a clear line of blood appeared on Yun Miaozhen's snowy-white, delicate forehead, which was like a carving of ivory.
Immediately after, the line of blood began to widen...
"...Don't even think about it!"
In an instant, Yun Miaozhen's pupils shrank. A blush spread across her snowy skin, her shapely eyebrows shot up, and a golden light suddenly burst forth from her beautiful eyes.
The next second, Yun Miaozhen actually withdrew the "spirit light" that was in a stalemate with the Heavenly Demon Blood Transformation Divine Light. She then gathered her "qi light" and "essence light" as well. The three brilliant lights instantly merged into one, transforming into a magnificent golden radiance that shot up from the ground, making her look like a celestial maiden descending from the Ninth Heaven.
The three lights merged into one—the Supreme Taiyi Golden Flower!
In that instant, Lu Yang felt that the Yun Miaozhen before him had suddenly become "taller." Not taller in a physical sense, but on a dimensional level.
'This is a grand divine ability!?'
If before, Yun Miaozhen was merely using the several superior divine abilities that composed the grand divine ability, now she was managing to activate the true grand divine ability itself.
This was a completely different feeling.
Under the empowerment of the Supreme Taiyi Golden Flower, Yun Miaozhen seemed to have detached herself from this mortal world, gradually ascending to stand at a completely different height from Lu Yang.
The two of them, one high, one low.
Lu Yang was extremely familiar with this kind of disparity. Although it was far from being as terrifying as that day, it still gave him a sliver of the same horror he felt when he first met Daoist Hongyun!
Just then, Yun Miaozhen moved.
She lightly raised her fair hand, and the Profound Yin Form-Seizing Grand Art that had been acting on her was immediately and forcefully deflected onto another person with a similar aura.
Her twin sister, Yun Miaoqing!
The next second, the bloody line on Yun Miaozhen's forehead healed at a rapid pace, while Yun Miaoqing, who was outside the grotto-heaven and still unconscious, suddenly split apart.
"Vicious enough, decisive enough."
Seeing this, Lu Yang immediately mocked, "Fellow Daoist, you act quite fast. Sacrificing your own kin to save yourself the moment you're in danger. Is this the righteous way of the Sword Pavilion?"
"This is Miaoqing's tribulation. Do not twist right and wrong."
Yun Miaozhen's tone returned to its usual indifference.
"You harmed her cultivation, causing her to fail her tribulation. That is the reason for today's disaster. You are the true culprit."
Lu Yang burst out laughing.
"Fellow Daoist, you're quite thick-skinned. Your talents are wasted in the Sword Pavilion. You ought to join my Saint Sect!"
Yun Miaozhen remained unmoved, the killing intent in her beautiful eyes growing ever more chilling. She said coldly, "Sharp-tongued demon. Today, I shall enact justice on behalf of the heavens!"
The next second, the Supreme Taiyi Golden Flower that Yun Miaozhen had condensed collapsed with a roar. Like toppling a mountain of gold or a pillar of jade, it swept fiercely towards Lu Yang and all the talismans he had activated. In an instant, Lu Yang's figure, along with the hundreds of talismans, were all swept away as if they were a mantis trying to stop a chariot!
The change was like words on a page being erased by a rubber.
There was no corpse, no residual aura, not even a single trace left behind, as if he had never existed in this world to begin with.
Then, the Supreme Taiyi Golden Flower vanished, revealing Yun Miaozhen's staggering figure. However, at this moment, the favored daughter of heaven's face was ashen to the extreme.
"Pfft! Blergh—"
As soon as Yun Miaozhen landed, she violently spat out a mouthful of blood. Then, the brilliant light around her body collapsed with a bang, and she could no longer condense even a sliver of it.
"Gone... It's all gone."
Yun Miaozhen's red lips trembled, without a trace of joy from her victory. This was the price for using a secret art to forcefully activate the Supreme Taiyi Golden Flower when her cultivation was not yet at the peak of Qi Refining. All three brilliant lights of essence, qi, and spirit had shattered, and decades of hard cultivation had been put to the torch.
Her originally bright path to Foundation Establishment was now cast in shadow.
Yun Miaozhen sighed in sorrow and was about to leave the grotto-heaven when she suddenly saw a figure appear that she couldn't believe.
"Fellow Daoist, the winner hasn't been decided yet, and you're already leaving?"
Lu Yang appeared, handsome and elegant, his wide sleeves fluttering. Although his true qi was also greatly depleted and his spiritual power severely drained, there wasn't a single injury on his entire body!
"This is impossible!"
Yun Miaozhen's beautiful face lost all color, and her usually crisp and pleasant voice became shrill.
"That was the Supreme Taiyi Golden Flower! How could you possibly have withstood it?"
Lu Yang naturally wouldn't tell her.
That's right. Relying on his own divine abilities, Lu Yang could not have blocked that Supreme Taiyi Golden Flower. A true grand divine ability already possessed a sliver of the might of the Foundation Establishment realm.
What blocked it was a talent.
[Purple Talent: Got a Few Tricks]
[Got a Few Tricks: No matter how terrifying the attack, as long as it is within the limits of your ability, you can handle it with ease twice.]
This was the talent he obtained after restarting, from his previous life when he drew his sword and furiously slew the Heaven Mending Peak Master!
If Yun Miaozhen could have controlled the Supreme Taiyi Golden Flower to sweep four or five times in a row, he would have undoubtedly died. But she could only do it once... so she couldn't blame him for using a cheat!
Although it was only a couple of tricks, they were real tricks!
Lu Yang smiled calmly, first grabbing the Supreme Empyrean Mirror, then walking up to Yun Miaozhen and using the mirror's light to immobilize her.
Yun Miaozhen struggled subconsciously, glaring at Lu Yang.
"What are you doing!?"
"To be honest, I am very interested in the *Supreme Taiyi Golden Flower Pill Scripture*."
"I won't tell you anything!"
"Don't worry, you will."
Lu Yang sneered.
"I am, after all, a disciple of the Heaven Mending Peak of the Saint Sect..."
A long time later, the clouds dispersed and the rain stopped.
"...A pity, it's not the complete version."
Lu Yang closed his eyes to comprehend for a moment, then shook his head helplessly.
"Only a third of it. The rest is under a restriction, so I really couldn't harvest it..."
The next second, he looked at Yun Miaozhen again.
Seeing this, Yun Miaozhen bit her silver teeth but dared not show the slightest resentment. She could only force a fawning smile.
"You already have me, isn't that enough..."
Lu Yang looked disgusted.
"What use are you?"
Boom!
Before Yun Miaozhen could finish her sentence, Lu Yang shook the Supreme Empyrean Mirror. In an instant, wind and thunder raged, and her graceful, delicate body was blasted into dust on the spot.