Inside Skull Mountain Market, everyone had witnessed Lü Yang and Yun Miaozhen vanish without a trace. They all understood this was the work of that crystal-clear sword suspended in midair.
Watching this, Luo Wuyai's expression remained grave, but inwardly he was secretly elated.
A Foundation Establishment True Person is truly unfathomable. Senior Brother has caught himself a big fish. The Heavenly Escape Sword—that spiritual treasure—has reappeared in the world!
This treasure ranked thirty-seventh among the 108 swords of the Jade Pivot Sword Pavilion, first among the Earthly Fiend swords. It was not merely a spiritual treasure—it surpassed them. Within it lay a mustard-seed cave heaven. In battle, one need only shine the sword's light upon an opponent to drag them into that cave heaven, seizing complete advantage.
Inside that cave heaven, Sword Pavilion cultivators found their mana replenished, their divine powers costing nothing.
For anyone outside the Sword Pavilion, however, being trapped meant first losing thirty percent of their true qi, then thirty percent of their divine power, and finally thirty percent of their spiritual treasure's efficacy. Tides turned. Tables flipped.
The outcome was all but decided.
This was why Yun Miaozhen, knowing full well Lü Yang was protected by two formations, had remained utterly confident. She knew that even those two arrays could not stop the Heavenly Escape Sword.
Indeed, most five-element artifacts were powerless against it.
The only formations capable of blocking the Heavenly Escape Sword were those that also manipulated void-space itself—and such formations were vanishingly rare.
Even if one existed, no mere ninth-grade formation master could set it up.
"It seems this demon will finally meet his end this time!"
On the other side, Elder Ouyang Feng of the Divine Martial Sect clapped his hands and laughed. Though he couldn't take his revenge personally, Lü Yang's death would ease the hatred burning in his heart.
Luo Wuyai heard this and could only shake his head, offering no rebuttal. In truth, he shared the same thought. If Lü Yang had relied on his two formations, the fight might have been evenly matched. But trapped inside the Heavenly Escape Sword? Certain death. Even he, in Lü Yang's place, would be in grave danger.
Yet this is exactly what Senior Brother wanted.
That Lü Yang, ungrateful wretch, repeatedly defied Senior Brother's karmic arrangements. Senior Brother lured Yun Miaozhen here deliberately, using her as a blade to end him.
With this thought, Luo Wuyai's expression calmed.
Though they were fellow disciples of the Holy Sect, he felt no obligation to help. He merely waited for Lü Yang to die, for Yun Miaozhen to seize his fortune and open the Witch Ghost Secret Realm.
Within the Heavenly Escape Sword, Lü Yang found himself elsewhere.
The sword light had shone down, and even the layered formations could not stop it. When his senses cleared, his vision sharpened, and the scene around him had completely transformed.
All he could see was surging sword aura.
As that aura descended, Lü Yang immediately felt his true qi weaken by thirty percent. His divine powers became far more difficult to wield. He understood this was the suppression of the cave heaven itself.
The next moment, a bright light appeared above, and Yun Miaozhen stepped forth.
"You primordial demon! Today, this calamity is your due. Submit to your punishment!"
A clear, resonant voice descended from on high, as though an immortal pronounced divine judgment. With a single word, Lü Yang felt the entire world turn against him, eager to tear him apart.
Having spoken, Yun Miaozhen touched her Daoist crown.
Instantly, a dazzling golden light blazed forth, illuminating the heavens. It then split into three—gold, silver, and jade—three beams of light coiling around her like dragons, their tails intertwined, making her appear even more majestic and exalted.
Lü Yang's expression grew increasingly solemn.
Having lived countless lifetimes, he was no longer as ignorant of the Jade Pivot Sword Pavilion as he had been at the start. After a moment's thought, he recognized the divine power Yun Miaozhen wielded.
This is the great divine power from the Sword Pavilion's Taiyi Golden Flower Elixir Book!
Alarm bells clanged in Lü Yang's heart.
The Taiyin Metamorphosis Corpse Dissolution True Method in his possession was also a great divine power—he knew its might all too well.
Now I truly have to fight for my life.
As far as he knew, the Jade Pivot Sword Pavilion's Taiyi Golden Flower Elixir Book could refine three beams of light: gold, silver, and jade. Each was a supreme divine ability.
To perfect this great power, one must achieve "Three Flowers Gathering at the Summit," refining the three beams into a single Taiyi Golden Flower. This golden flower not only possessed all the properties of the three beams but amplified their power many times over—and even enhanced the chances of breaking through to Foundation Establishment!
Fortunately, her divine power isn't perfected yet.
As the saying goes, the Great Dao is One. If her power were perfected, Yun Miaozhen wouldn't manifest three beams—only that single Taiyi Golden Flower.
Perhaps this is my opportunity.
Just then, Yun Miaozhen struck.
With a flick of her sleeve, golden light emanated from her. It moved as she willed, enveloping Lü Yang.
Lü Yang retreated instantly. This golden light was called Divine Light—it moved with the mind. If the mind was disturbed, it would self-immolate. The slightest touch would ignite his inner fire, causing his body to burn with golden radiance. Without a way to suppress it, he would surely be reduced to ash.
"Go!"
Lü Yang willed it, and the Heavenly Demon Blood Transformation Divine Light roared upward. Overwhelming blood light clashed against the descending golden light, the two locked in stalemate in the air.
Seeing this, Yun Miaozhen pressed her brow.
The next second, a sword pellet appeared—vanished like a streak of light—and reappeared above Lü Yang's head, slashing down.
Clang!
Sword energy whistled downward. Lü Yang's Blood Sun Sword Pellet was isolated outside the cave. He could only sigh as a Wind and Thunder Mirror manifested behind his head.
The Taixiao Mirror!
The mirror trembled, and instantly wind and thunder followed. The Taixiao Wind and Thunder Qi within whipped up bolts of lightning, accompanied by howling gales, seizing Yun Miaozhen's sword pellet. Like a vortex, the rolling wind and thunder continuously eroded the sword energy surrounding the pellet.
Yun Miaozhen remained calm, offering only a cool smile.
Though decisive, she was not reckless. Long before she had entered the market and attacked Lü Yang, she had thoroughly investigated his situation.
The formations. The Taixiao Mirror. All within her expectations.
Now that she had evaded the formations with the Heavenly Escape Sword and neutralized the Taixiao Mirror with her sword pellet, victory was certain. She moved to deliver the final blow.
The next moment, Yun Miaozhen shook the silver and jade beams beside her simultaneously.
These were Qi Light and Essence Light—the former capable of shattering all qi under heaven, the latter able to cut through steel and iron. Shaken together, they converged into a crystalline sword light, slashing down toward Lü Yang!
Truly worthy of being a true disciple of the Sword Pavilion.
Lü Yang could only sigh. Yun Miaozhen was no hothouse flower. Her tactics and timing were impeccably precise.
In this situation, she had also mastered a great divine power.
Though not yet perfected, it was only one final step from fusion. At the very least, she had mastered all three component divine abilities.
Compared to her, Lü Yang's grasp of the Taiyin Metamorphosis Corpse Dissolution True Method was far inferior.
The final technique—the Taiwei Imperial Edict Treasure Talisman—remained stuck at a bottleneck. He hadn't even collected all three divine abilities, let alone mastered them.
In a direct fight, I'm no match for her.
Lü Yang understood this clearly. Moreover, he was not particularly skilled in combat. His strength lay in using superior cultivation to bully the weak.
But now?
Yun Miaozhen was at the ninth level of Qi Refining. He was at the eighth. Far from being on equal footing, he was fighting someone stronger while at a cultivation disadvantage—utterly unlike his usual style.
If this were a few months ago, I'd probably have to start over.
But now, a different situation had arisen.
The next second, facing the two sword lights Yun Miaozhen had unleashed, Lü Yang raised his hand and threw out two talismans. They exploded in midair.
Boom!
A deafening roar erupted, followed by a bolt of lightning and a sword aura. Miraculously, they blocked Yun Miaozhen's descending sword light at the very last moment!
"Ninth-grade talismans?!"
Yun Miaozhen's brow twitched slightly, but she quickly regained composure.
"Two are nothing. A drop in the ocean. How many talismans can you possibly have?"
As a true disciple of the Sword Pavilion, though she hadn't studied talismanic arts, she was familiar with them. Even a ninth-grade talisman, once a certain quantity was reached, would take a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator at least three days to draw—and that required abandoning all else to focus solely on talisman crafting.
She was certain Lü Yang possessed no more than ten.
The next second, Lü Yang waved his hand again.
Then, a scene unfolded that left Yun Miaozhen utterly speechless.
A second talisman. A third. A fourth. Dozens. Hundreds. A sky full of talismans spread across the heavens!
Behind that sea of talismans, Lü Yang shook the Myriad Spirits Banner. The banner spirits within continued working overtime, churning out more.
"How many do you think I have? Don't compare your little lone cultivator's workshop output to mine."
He smiled.
"Let me show you the power of a properly managed production line!"
As his words fell, every talisman activated simultaneously.
In an instant, sword energy and lightning intertwined, illuminating the entire cave heaven.
And along with it, Yun Miaozhen's face—twisted in astonishment—was also illuminated by the dazzling light.