Chapter 87: Heaven's Collapse
The moment the Sword Qi appeared, Patriarch Nether Whisper also looked up at the sword that had pressed on his head for a thousand years, causing him to fall from the clouds.
The next second, his face suddenly contorted:
“Perfected Lord… a thousand years! A full thousand years.”
“How long will you trap us?”
“Do you truly want to exterminate my Shaman-Ghost Dao tradition!?”
His voice fell, but the Sword Qi in the sky paid no heed, merely silently appraising something, seemingly ready to slash down with a boom at any moment.
Patriarch Nether Whisper knew this was because the obscured karma from his possession a thousand years ago was still in effect.
However, as his aura was completely exposed, it wouldn’t be long before the Golden Core Sword Qi thoroughly identified him and then flew over to take his life.
“I refuse to accept this!”
Thinking of this, Patriarch Nether Whisper suddenly turned around and looked at Lu Yang: “Today, borrowing your life, I insist on defying the heavens and continuing my Shaman-Ghost Dao tradition!”
As his voice fell, Patriarch Nether Whisper manipulated the [Hall of Yama] to press down with a boom!
Lu Yang activated the array talismans, once again triggering the power of the formation to bless himself. However, this time, no matter what Wind, Thunder, Water, or Fire he used, they couldn’t injure Patriarch Nether Whisper in the slightest.
Because a gap in stature had appeared.
With the eight Great Elders returning to their positions, the [Hall of Yama] was complete. Patriarch Nether Whisper’s stature had already surpassed Lu Yang’s and was even rapidly approaching the direction of Foundation Establishment!
“Useless. Since you forced me to expose myself and reassemble the [Hall of Yama], all your methods are worthless. This Supreme Divine Ability was jointly deduced by all of us Foundation Establishment cultivators in the past. If nine Perfected Foundation Establishment cultivators presided over it, we might even temporarily hold the Golden Core ‘stature’ and battle a Perfected Lord!”
Patriarch Nether Whisper’s tone was full of pride.
Of all the Dao traditions under heaven, which one doesn’t want to stay in the world for a long time? Which one doesn’t want to go a step higher? The Shaman-Ghost Dao was one of them, and they almost succeeded!
If not for that generation’s Sect Master of the Jade Pivot Sword Pavilion… That Perfected Lord… That Sword Qi…
“…Kill!!!”
Patriarch Nether Whisper roared. The stature of the [Hall of Yama] was still climbing, actually entering the ascension state that only appears when breaking through to Foundation Establishment in one fell swoop!
“Junior, let me show you the true ultimate of Qi Refining.”
Patriarch Nether Whisper sat high atop the [Hall of Yama], his aura lofty and ethereal. He actually broke through the Nine Heavens and Earth Passes in an instant, standing within the “Foundation Establishment Realm”!
The next second, Lu Yang’s pupils shrank abruptly!
Because he had broken through before, he knew that breaking through to Foundation Establishment is divided into two steps. The first step is ascending to the “Foundation Establishment Realm,” and the second step is building the Immortal Foundation.
At this moment, Patriarch Nether Whisper had already completed the first step, ascending into the “Foundation Establishment Realm.”
However, he didn’t choose to build an Immortal Foundation.
Instead, he began—
Falling!
Patriarch Nether Whisper stood on the “Foundation Establishment Realm,” pointed a finger out, and simultaneously began to fall. Instantly, a shadow enveloped Lu Yang’s entire mind.
He understood almost instantly the method Patriarch Nether Whisper displayed. It was actually using a “failed breakthrough” as the price to launch an attack from the level of the “Foundation Establishment Realm”! But looking at the power alone, this strike wasn’t much inferior to a true Foundation Establishment Perfected One!
This was—
“Heaven’s Collapse.”
The next instant, the shadow covered down.
Lu Yang’s figure was instantly swallowed by it. The ground within a hundred miles collapsed. All formations and talismans shattered together. The rolled-up dust and smoke were like an earth dragon ascending to heaven.
A single collision, like the dome of the sky crushing down, turbulent waves emptying the air!
For a time, rolling airwaves boiled, spiritual lights intertwined, lasting for a long time before gradually dissipating, finally revealing Patriarch Nether Whisper’s wretched figure.
One must know that ‘Heaven’s Collapse’ was no ordinary divine ability.
Strictly speaking, this wasn’t even a divine ability, but a method.
Of the two steps to break through to Foundation Establishment, failure in the second step meant certain death. Failure in the first step depended entirely on the cultivator’s personal foundation; a strong foundation meant survival.
And ‘Heaven’s Collapse’ was a self-destruct method created based on this. Purely using one’s foundation to crush people, borrowing the momentum of the fall from failing ascension to attack the opponent. Although one would definitely suffer heavy injuries due to the failed ascension, exchanging it for a Foundation Establishment-level strike was considered worth it.
“To win quickly, this is the only way…”
Patriarch Nether Whisper looked calm. After the eight Elders returned to their positions, relying on the [Hall of Yama], he steadily suppressed Lu Yang. But steady suppression didn’t mean a quick victory.
And with the Golden Core Sword Qi above, he couldn’t afford to waste time.
That was why he chose this extremely cruel method to beat Lu Yang to the verge of death in one fell swoop. Only then could he carry out the final step of his plan.
“…Ten Thousand Souls Devouring Spirits Seizing Heaven Great Art…”
As Patriarch Nether Whisper pinched a hand seal, a secretive fluctuation instantly spread out. It wasn’t targeting Lu Yang, but the City of Unjust Deaths below.
The next second, the City of Unjust Deaths overturned!
In just a blink of an eye, the living beings within the City of Unjust Deaths were slaughtered completely by Patriarch Nether Whisper! Not only the City of Unjust Deaths, but blood light splattered everywhere in the secret realm at this moment!
Immediately after, visible lights of souls surged toward Patriarch Nether Whisper’s direction. Finally, clustering around his soul, they transformed into a flying light and lingering lightning, pouncing toward Lu Yang with lightning speed. His face wore a ferocious grin of success.
“Raising spirits for a thousand years, they should be used at this moment!”
However, the next second, his smile suddenly froze.
As the smoke and dust cleared, Lu Yang paced out. He wasn’t on the verge of death as imagined; his clothes were merely stained with blood, and he appeared unharmed!
“So that’s it. It wasn’t the Golden Core Sword Qi committing a massacre, it was you…”
Lu Yang sighed, understanding the causes and consequences.
Why were there so many more people in the Shaman-Ghost Secret Realm? Because a secret method of Patriarch Nether Whisper required them; they were all human materials raised like livestock!
The reason the secret realm turned into a dead land in the previous life was likely because Patriarch Nether Whisper killed everyone to cast his secret method, but failed to deceive the Golden Core Sword Qi and ended up with his soul scattered… Thinking of this, Lu Yang couldn’t help sighing, looking at Patriarch Nether Whisper with a hint of pity.
Pitying his thousand years of lingering existence, which still ended in futile effort.
“Impossible!”
Patriarch Nether Whisper looked ferocious, staring at Lu Yang in disbelief: “You clearly took a hit from my ‘Heaven’s Collapse’; how can you be safe and sound?”
Lu Yang smiled faintly: “To tell you the truth, I still have A Few Tricks Up My Sleeve…”
[Purple Talent · A Few Tricks Up Your Sleeve]
[A Few Tricks Up Your Sleeve: No matter how terrifying the attack, as long as it is within your limits, you can handle it twice with ease…]
With his current cultivation, the Qi Refining realm was within his limits.
Even “Heaven’s Collapse” was no exception!
In an instant, Patriarch Nether Whisper revealed a look of despair. Lu Yang’s strength was not weak. If he were heavily injured and dying, the possession could be said to be one hundred percent successful.
But if Lu Yang only suffered minor injuries, the situation was different.
A hundred percent chance of winning instantly plummeted to fifty percent, or even lower!
However, things having reached this stage, Patriarch Nether Whisper had no retreat. He could only rouse all his mind and, clustered by ten thousand souls, rush into Lu Yang’s Sea of Consciousness!
He wanted to achieve everything in one battle!
Destroy Lu Yang’s Sea of Consciousness in one blow, then possess and replace him!
The next second, Patriarch Nether Whisper saw inside Lu Yang’s Sea of Consciousness.
Lu Yang’s soul stood up calmly. With a few casual moves as if divinely aided, he handled it with ease, dashingly throwing Patriarch Nether Whisper directly out of his Sea of Consciousness!
Patriarch Nether Whisper: “???”
Because Lu Yang’s operation was so relaxed and freehand, Patriarch Nether Whisper didn’t even react to what happened until he was thrown out of the Sea of Consciousness.
“I told you, I still have a few tricks up my sleeve.”
One trick to handle “Heaven’s Collapse,” one trick to handle possession.
“NO—!!!”
Patriarch Nether Whisper, having failed the possession, only had time to let out a scream.
Clang Clang!
The next second, a magnificent Sword Qi fell from the sky, crushing his soul without explanation. Countless thoughts exploded, dazzling like stars.
Seeing this, Lu Yang didn’t say a word. He waved his large sleeve, instantly gathering all the thoughts back. These were transformed from the Divine Sense of a shattered Foundation Establishment soul, containing most of the memories of Patriarch Nether Whisper, the Last Sect Master of the Shaman-Ghost Dao. It was no exaggeration to say these were priceless treasures!
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