Chapter 52: Ruthlessly Destroying the Flower

Talisman Arts and Formation Arts— though each has its own merits, they ultimately reach the same goal by different routes. As external objects, both are means for a cultivator to overcome superiors and defeat the strong while weak.

A Rank 9 Formation could allow Lu Yang to gain the upper hand in a battle of arts.

And a Rank 9 Talisman, even if inferior to a Rank 9 Formation, was enough to make Yun Miaozhen wait in full battle array. It was by no means something that could be dealt with casually.

Not to mention that at this moment, the talismans Lu Yang scattered with a wave of his hand numbered nearly five hundred. Activated simultaneously by him now, their power truly caused the color of heaven and earth to change.

Although talismans turn to ash after battle and leave nothing behind, making them consumables that many cherish dearly, Lu Yang was not among them. If the talismans were used up, the worst that could happen was making the Banner Spirits work overtime to rush out a new batch later.

Boom! Rumble!

In an instant, Sword Qi traversed the sky, thunder rolled, and countless talisman lights moved as swiftly as lightning, surrounding Yun Miaozhen in the center like thousands of knives and axes adding to her body.

Seeing this, Yun Miaozhen could only helplessly defend.

The next second, the “Qi Light” rose like steam, transforming into a silver jeweled canopy that firmly protected her underneath, blocking all the talismans outside.

However, this was only temporary. The talismans did not consume Lu Yang’s spiritual power, whereas Yun Miaozhen’s use of the Golden Flower Great Unity Scripture consumed a massive amount. With one side waning and the other waxing, the Qi Light around her was immediately chopped and minced by the countless talismans. She could only barely support herself by raising another “Essence Light.”

“Slash.”

Lu Yang naturally had no intention of showing pity to the fairer sex. The Sword Qi Talismans and Five Thunders Talismans fell together, instantly tearing apart the protective rosy cloud robes on Yun Miaozhen’s body.

In a flash, the rosy robes shattered, scattering like rain, revealing a large expanse of snow-white skin.

“Ah!”

Yun Miaozhen’s pretty face flushed red with anger. Her mutton-fat jade-like body trembled violently. She subconsciously wanted to cover herself, but Lu Yang’s attacks left her no hand to spare.

“Demon! You seek death!” Yun Miaozhen’s expression twisted. Having reached the Ninth Layer of Qi Refining at a young age and mastered the Great Divine Ability of the Jade Pivot Sword Pavilion, she was a True Disciple and a Foundation Establishment seed of her sect. She had always been high above others, cold and arrogant. When had she ever fallen into such a predicament?

Lu Yang, seeing this, raised the corner of his mouth slightly.

“Fellow Daoist is truly a national beauty.”

Although Yun Miaozhen tried her best to cover up, it was merely like stealing a bell while covering one’s ears—self-deception. It could not hide anything from his eye; he took in everything, whether he should have seen it or not.

Yun Miaozhen was incredibly sensitive to his gaze and instantly became even more frantic.

What made her even more furious was that Lu Yang actually revealed a look of disgust: “In broad daylight, what kind of propriety is this? Does Fellow Daoist count this as the behavior of the renowned Orthodox Path?”

While speaking, Lu Yang continued to manipulate the talismans to attack Yun Miaozhen. His provocative words were merely a tactic to disturb her state of mind; everything was aimed at killing the enemy.

Sure enough, being humiliated by Lu Yang in such a way—combined with the fact that she clearly had the upper hand earlier, only to be beaten until her clothes could not cover her body by Lu Yang’s prodigal behavior—ignited the heart-fire of many emotions. It finally caused a tiny flaw to appear in her Dao Heart.

“Now…!”

Lu Yang naturally would not miss the moment when Yun Miaozhen’s Dao Heart wavered and her mind fell into a trance. He immediately pinched a hand seal, and a circle of light abruptly appeared behind his head.

The round light shone through, and the scene in Lu Yang’s eyes changed drastically.

In the place where he and Yun Miaozhen had just fiercely battled, countless wisps of Qi belonging to Yun Miaozhen appeared. These were the traces she had left behind in this area.

“Mystic Yin Seizing Form, Nail-Head Life-Claims Life…”

With a thought from Lu Yang, the round light immediately shone upon a cluster of Yun Miaozhen’s Qi, seizing it and reflecting Yun Miaozhen’s graceful figure.

The next second, Lu Yang did not hesitate to slash with his fingers.

Still a vertical chop.

The round light split in two, and the figure of Yun Miaozhen within the light was also separated. Subsequently, an invisible force rapidly acted upon Yun Miaozhen’s true body.

Crack!

Suddenly, with a soft sound of skin splitting, a clear bloody line appeared on Yun Miaozhen’s snow-white, delicate forehead, which looked as if carved from ivory.

Immediately after, the bloody line began to expand…

“…You wish!”

In an instant, Yun Miaozhen’s pupils shrank abruptly. A dense flush spread over her snow-white skin, her eyebrows stood erect, and a golden light suddenly bloomed from her beautiful eyes.

The next second, Yun Miaozhen actually withdrew the “Divine Light” that was stalemating the Heavenly Demon Blood-Dissolving Divine Light. She then gathered the “Qi Light” and “Essence Light” together. At this moment, the three lights instantly united, transforming into a brilliant golden light that rose from the ground, making her look like the Mystical Maiden of the Nine Heavens descending to the world.

Three Lights United, Great Unity Golden Flower!

In this instant, Lu Yang felt that the Yun Miaozhen before him suddenly became “taller”… not in a physical sense, but on a dimensional level.

‘This is a Great Divine Ability!?’

If Yun Miaozhen was merely using the superior divine abilities that composed the Great Divine Ability before, she was now managing to activate the true Great Divine Ability itself.

This was a completely different feeling.

Under the blessing of the Great Unity Golden Flower, Yun Miaozhen seemed to detach from this mortal dust, gradually ascending to stand at a height completely different from Lu Yang.

Two people, one high and one low.

Lu Yang was incredibly familiar with this disparity… although it was far less terrifying than that day, it still gave him a bit of the horror he felt when he first met Daoist Great Fortune!

Just then, Yun Miaozhen moved.

She raised her pale hand slightly, and the Mystic Yin Seizing Form Great Art originally acting on her body was forcibly deflected onto another person with similar Qi.

Her twin sister, Yun Miaoqing!

The next second, the bloody mark on Yun Miaozhen’s forehead healed rapidly, while Yun Miaoqing, who was outside the Grotto-Heaven and still unconscious, suddenly split open.

“Ruthless enough, decisive enough…”

Seeing this scene, Lu Yang immediately mocked: “Fellow Daoist acts quickly indeed. Killing your kin to protect yourself the moment you encounter danger—is this the Orthodox Path of the Sword Pavilion?”

“This is Miaoqing’s tribulation. Do not invert black and white.”

Yun Miaozhen’s tone returned to indifference: “You harmed her cultivation, causing her tribulation to remain unfinished, which led to today’s disaster. You are the chief culprit.”

Lu Yang laughed loudly: “Fellow Daoist has thick skin indeed. You are wasted talent in the Sword Pavilion; you should have joined my Saint Sect!”

Yun Miaozhen remained unmoved, but the killing intent in her beautiful eyes became increasingly severe. She said coldly: “Sharp-tongued. Demon, today I will enforce justice on behalf of Heaven!”

The next second, the Great Unity Golden Flower condensed by Yun Miaozhen crashed down. Like pushing over a golden mountain or toppling a jade pillar, it brushed violently against Lu Yang and all the talismans he had activated. Instantly, Lu Yang’s figure and the hundreds of talismans were swept away completely, like a mantis trying to stop a chariot!

This change was as if writing in a book had been erased by an eraser.

There were no corpses, no residual Qi, not even a trace left behind. It was as if they had never appeared in this world from the start.

Immediately after, the Great Unity Golden Flower vanished, revealing Yun Miaozhen’s staggering figure. However, the face of this favored daughter of heaven was now ashen to the extreme.

“Pfft! Urgh…”

The moment she landed, Yun Miaozhen violently spat out a mouthful of fresh blood. Then, the lights all over her body collapsed with a bang; she could no longer condense even a shred of light.

“Gone… it’s all gone…” Yun Miaozhen’s red lips trembled slightly, showing no joy of victory. This was the price of forcibly activating the Great Unity Golden Flower with a secret technique while her cultivation was not yet at the Perfection of Qi Refining. The three lights of Essence, Qi, and Spirit had all shattered; decades of bitter cultivation were all torched in a moment.

The originally clear path to Foundation Establishment was now covered with a layer of haze.

Yun Miaozhen sighed in grief and prepared to leave the Grotto-Heaven. But at that moment, she saw a human figure suddenly appear that made her disbelieve her eyes.

“Fellow Daoist, the outcome is undecided. Are you leaving already?”

Lu Yang stood there, handsome and spirited, his wide sleeves fluttering. Although he also had a massive deficit of True Qi and severe spiritual power exhaustion, there was not a single injury on his entire body!

“This is impossible!”

Yun Miaozhen turned pale with fright, her usually crisp and pleasant voice becoming shrill: “That was the Great Unity Golden Flower! How could you possibly withstand it?”

Lu Yang naturally would not tell her.

Indeed, relying solely on his own divine abilities, Lu Yang could not withstand that strike of the Great Unity Golden Flower; a true Great Divine Ability already possessed some might of Foundation Establishment.

What blocked it was his Talent.

[Purple Talent · A Few Tricks Up Your Sleeve]

[A Few Tricks Up Your Sleeve: No matter how terrifying the attack you encounter, as long as it is within your limits, you can handle a few moves with ease.]

A talent he obtained after restarting his life following his angry sword slash at the Peak Master of Heaven-Mending Peak in his previous life!

If Yun Miaozhen could manipulate the Great Unity Golden Flower to brush against him four or five times in a row, he would undoubtedly die. But she could only do it once… so she couldn’t blame him for cheating!

Although it was only “a few tricks,” he truly had a few tricks up his sleeve!

Lu Yang smiled calmly. He first grabbed the Supreme Sky Mirror in his hand, then walked in front of Yun Miaozhen and used the mirror light to fix her entire body in place.

Yun Miaozhen struggled subconsciously and glared at Lu Yang: “What are you going to do!?”

“To tell you the truth, this humble one is very interested in the Golden Flower Great Unity Scripture.”

“I won’t tell you anything!”

“Rest assured, you will tell me.”

Lu Yang sneered: “I am a disciple of the Saint Sect…”

…

“…Pity, it’s not the complete volume.”

Lu Yang closed his eyes to comprehend for a moment, then shook his head helplessly: “Only one-third. The remaining parts have restrictions; I really can’t get them…”

The next second, he looked at Yun Miaozhen again.

Seeing this, Yun Miaozhen gritted her silver teeth but dared not show the slightest resentment. She could only smile fawningly: “You have already obtained the cultivation method. Is that not enough…”

Lu Yang looked disgusted.

Boom!

Before Yun Miaozhen’s voice could fall, Lu Yang shook the Supreme Sky Mirror. Instantly, wind and thunder combined, shattering that graceful body into dust on the spot.

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