Top-Tier Perception Starts From Basic Fist Techniques

"It held! Haha, it actually held!"

"Even a major divine ability can do nothing to the Vast Immortal Sect's mountain-guarding formation. It really deserves its name as the strongest immortal sect of our Ancient Region!"

"The Vast Immortal Sect's Dao tradition is extraordinary, and its mountain-guarding formation even more so. Ouyang You thinks he can easily crush the sect's formation? Impossible!"

"The moment Ouyang You falters or drains too much of himself, that will be our chance. For now, we wait..."

Many were elated. The formation had held after all.

"Damn it. How could it stop my major divine ability?" Ouyang You's face darkened.

Since leaving the Black Light Merchant Association and arriving in the Ancient Region, he had been all but invincible everywhere he went. Today, a mere formation had actually survived his attack.

For someone as proud as Ouyang You, it was galling. This was his first time leading an expedition, and what did he have to show for it so far? If he failed to sweep the Ancient Region, he would become a laughingstock. Worse still, that man was watching him embarrass himself again...

"Once more."

Unwilling to accept it, Ouyang You unleashed every divine ability he had, but it was useless. A formation that could not be broken simply could not be broken, no matter how many divine abilities he threw at it.

And as for a battle of attrition, this was the Vast Immortal Sect's home ground. Its Golden Core True Ones feared no such contest. The sect's foundations ran fathomlessly deep. Even if it came down to grinding Ouyang You to death, the Vast Immortal Sect would not be troubled in the least.

"All of you, attack together!" Ouyang You roared.

The dozen or so Divine Ability Realm martial artists behind him struck as one. Even the Golden Core True Ones released their enchanted treasures, raining them down on the Vast Immortal Sect in an overwhelming barrage.

Rumble!

The Vast Immortal Sect's mountain-guarding formation proved truly remarkable. No matter how Ouyang You and the others bombarded it, it showed no signs of collapse.

Even the ten Divine Ability Supreme Elders of the Sacred Earth Heavenly Sect could not help but marvel. "The Ancient Region is so barren, yet it produced a great Immortal Dao sect like the Vast Immortal Sect. That mountain-guarding formation is formidable indeed. Ouyang You is no weakling, and even he cannot blast through it."

"The Vast Immortal Sect's Dao tradition is clearly no ordinary one. A mountain-guarding formation that can withstand a major divine ability and this many divine abilities pounding it without the slightest sign of breaking is no common formation."

"Which Dao tradition does the Vast Immortal Sect descend from, exactly? Surely not from a Nascent Soul expert, right?"

Lu Changsheng said nothing. He was silently watching a figure behind Ouyang You. Nearly every member of Ouyang You's group had joined the attack, yet one black-clothed martial artist simply stood in the void, watching coldly from the sidelines, showing no intention of lifting a finger. That man was no simple figure!

"Stop." At last, Ouyang You called a halt, his face grim.

But what could he do? What would not break would not break, even under their combined bombardment.

Just then, the man in black finally spoke, "Enough. Fall back."

The moment he did, everyone withdrew at once. His status was clearly lofty. Even Ouyang You, however unwilling, retreated several steps at his words.

"Zhou Lie, I've made a fool of myself in front of you. My first time leading an expedition, and I couldn't even breach the grand formation of one measly Immortal Dao sect. Laughable..." Ouyang You said bitterly.

The man before him was the very target he had been chasing all these years: the Black Light Merchant Association's sole Martial Venerable, Saber Venerable Zhou Lie!

"Hmm?"

"He is..."

"Zhou Lie! Saber Venerable Zhou Lie of the Black Light Merchant Association. It has to be him."

"What a terrifying presence. He is like a saber that had been sheathed all this time, and now that he has stepped forward, that aura is simply dreadful."

"Saber Venerable Zhou Lie is a true Martial Venerable! I remember that Sword Venerable Chen Peng fought more than a hundred battles with hardly a single defeat. Yet from beginning to end, Chen Peng never once challenged Saber Venerable Zhou Lie."

"Some have said Zhou Lie's Saber Dao major divine ability is even more fearsome than Sword Venerable Chen Peng's Sword Dao major divine ability."

"Who would have thought Zhou Lie himself would come, hidden away in Ouyang You's ranks all along..."

Behind Lu Changsheng, the Supreme Elders of the Sacred Earth Heavenly Sect paled instantly. They had never seen Saber Venerable Zhou Lie in person; otherwise, they would have recognized him long ago.

But they knew of his Saber Dao major divine ability, and that aura was unmistakable. No one below a Martial Venerable could possess a presence so terrifying, far beyond what Ouyang You had displayed moments ago.

Combined with the Black Light Merchant Association, Zhou Lie's identity was not hard to guess.

Zhou Lie was clad all in black, cold and remote as ten-thousand-year ice. Step by step, he advanced to the front of the Vast Immortal Sect's base and slowly gripped the hilt of his saber.

This saber had followed Zhou Lie for a hundred years. He had made his name early, and in all that century, the times he had actually drawn the blade could almost be counted on one hand.

But this time, he had to act. If he did not, Ouyang You would never crack the Vast Immortal Sect's mountain-guarding grand formation.

"Everyone, be on your guard! That is Saber Venerable Zhou Lie, stronger than Ouyang You, the mightiest Martial Venerable beneath the Martial Saints!" the Vast Immortal Sect's sect master shouted gravely, his expression deathly solemn.

At a moment like this, no one else mattered. If the grand formation broke, what could they possibly use to stop two terrifying martial artists wielding major divine abilities?

Against Ouyang You alone, they could risk everything and fight. But add Saber Venerable Zhou Lie, and what did the Ancient Region have left to fight with?

The moment the formation fell, the Vast Immortal Sect was finished, and the Ancient Region would go along with it, so they had to hold on!

Zhou Lie said nothing. His hand closed around the saber's hilt, and then he drew it.

The saber left its sheath with a shing, and a blazing saber light manifested. Everything in the void seemed to lose its color before that single brilliant streak.

This was no mere saber light. It carried his Saber Dao major divine ability, and it was utterly pure. Nothing but pure edge. Domineering, destructive, sharp beyond measure! Its sharpness surpassed even Sword Venerable Chen Peng's!

With a boom, the slash struck the Vast Immortal Sect's mountain-guarding formation head-on. The formation convulsed violently, its light flickering wildly, and then, in a single instant...

With a rumble, the grand formation's light shattered.

Broken! The Vast Immortal Sect's mountain-guarding grand formation was broken!

The several Golden Core True Ones shuddered as one, their faces turning paper-white. With the formation broken, they had suffered its backlash, but the backlash was nothing. What shook them to their souls was Zhou Lie. With the grand formation gone, what could they possibly use to stop him?

"It's over. Since the mountain-guarding formation couldn't stop Zhou Lie, the Vast Immortal Sect is finished, and so is our Ancient Region..."

Face after face turned ashen. All the bold declarations from moments ago had vanished without a trace, leaving only a profound helplessness.

They had all seen that slash. Its terrifying power had no answer! No matter how many of them there were, anyone who took that slash head-on would die, without question!

This was a Martial Venerable, an overlord who stood above all Divine Ability martial artists, second only to the Martial Saints! Even a Major Divine Ability expert like Ouyang You fell distinctly short of a Martial Venerable.

Zhou Lie sheathed his saber and looked down upon everyone in the Vast Immortal Sect from on high.

"I give you two choices. Submit, or die!" His voice was cold as ice, chilling the many Divine Ability martial artists and Golden Core True Ones of the Vast Immortal Sect to the bone marrow.

Die or submit. Did they even have a choice?

"So be it. This is our Ancient Region's calamity. Even if we dragged ourselves to mutual destruction with the Black Light Merchant Association, we couldn't so much as scratch them..." Bitterness filled the hearts of many martial artists.

"Changsheng, we—" Grand Elder Lu Tong of the Ancient Region Heavenly Sect could hold back no longer, but before he could finish, Lu Changsheng raised a hand and cut him off.

"Grand Elder Lu Tong, be at ease. Whatever happens, it does not matter. Because I will act!" With that, Lu Changsheng stepped forward. He looked as if he were climbing an invisible stairway beneath his feet. Step by step, he walked slowly into the void until he stood facing Saber Venerable Zhou Lie.

"Who are you?" Zhou Lie said coldly.

Lu Changsheng stood with his hands clasped behind his back, his expression tranquil. "Sacred Earth Heavenly Sect, Lu Changsheng!"

The moment the words left his mouth, Zhou Lie's pupils constricted sharply, his gaze locking dead onto Lu Changsheng.

"The Sacred Earth Heavenly Sect..." he muttered.

Zhou Lie was a Martial Venerable of the Black Light Merchant Association, and the Association's intelligence network was exceptionally well informed. A piece of news surfaced in his mind at once.

For the first time, there was a tremor in Zhou Lie's voice as he asked, "Are you Venerable Lu of the Heavenly Sacred City himself?"