Chapter 326 - 307: Cangque Celestial Will
"You... Who in the world are you?!"
The flames in Hao Yue Master’s golden eyes flickered violently.
The aura this Daoist before him exuded was completely different from any Daoist lineage in the Cangque Realm.
It was heavy, ancient, and profound, as if it came from another, completely unfamiliar, vast world!
"A dead man walking has no need for answers."
Qi Yun’s tone was flat, his right hand still held in a grasping gesture.
Within the Realm Heaven, the chaotic airflows no longer surged without order. Instead, following Qi Yun’s Heart Thought, they abruptly separated and took form.
A portion of the Pure Qi rose, forming the hazy illusion of a Star Map. As the Starlight flickered, it sent down streams of the "Power of Order," which restrained the trajectories of all things.
Another portion of Muddy Qi sank, condensing into a heavy phantom of the Nine Netherworld, emitting the "Meaning of Returning Ruins" that absorbed and submerged all things, tangible and intangible.
"Arrogant!"
Hao Yue Master was a Yang God Great Power, after all. His will was firm, and though startled, he was not thrown into disarray.
"No matter where you come from or what you rely on, remember this: beneath a Yang God, all are ants.
Today, I will show you the meaning of Pure Yang Dao Intent, which pierces the Ten Thousand Laws!"
The blazing white sphere of light abruptly shrank to about ten feet across, but its radiance became more than ten times as condensed, flowing like true liquid light and flame.
Hao Yue Master formed an ancient Seal Technique with his hands and pressed it out from afar toward Qi Yun’s position.
Light of the Pocket World, Return to the Source,
Break!
BZZZ—!!!
A beam of light whose color was impossible to describe burst forth from the sphere!
Upon a base of blazing white flowed a seven-colored, glazed luster that could illuminate the true nature of all things.
This was the ultimate demon-quelling Divine Technique of the Moonlight Sect, a secret passed down through the generations that could only be truly wielded by those in the Yang God Realm—the [Pocket World Divine Light]!
It specialized in breaking all manner of bizarre Dao Principles and heretical Dharma Gates, making it an exceptionally powerful tool against unconventional forces!
The moment the divine light appeared, the entire Array Domain trembled!
The pillar of light tore through the void, ignoring all distance, and instantly pierced into Qi Yun’s [Daluo Realm]!
Inside the Realm Heaven, the rising Star Map illusion was illuminated by the divine light, its Starlight rapidly dimming and its trajectories falling into chaos. The sinking phantom of the Nine Netherworld let out a groan as if unable to bear the strain, and the Meaning of Returning Ruins was continuously "purified" and diluted.
Qi Yun raised an eyebrow slightly.
’This [Pocket World Divine Light] is certainly impressive. The Yang God Great Powers of this realm aren’t completely without substance after all.’
Mastering All Skills!
Qi Yun tilted his head up slightly, and a Nine-Colored Divine Radiance flashed in his eyes.
He activated his Divine Technique with full force.
The immense, imperious beam of divine light suddenly froze, held fast as if seized by a formless giant hand. No matter how it struggled, it couldn’t escape in the slightest.
Using the Ten Thousand Laws to command the Ten Thousand Laws!
Taking the opponent’s Dao and merging it into one’s own!
"What?!"
Hao Yue Master was horrified. He was losing control of his ever-victorious [Pocket World Divine Light]. A force that was almost unreasonably powerful was rapidly wresting control of the divine light from his grasp.
’This boy must not be allowed to live!’
Hao Yue Master’s killing intent surged, and he held back no longer.
Blazing white light and flames shot toward the sky, forcefully inducing a change in the heavens within the Array Domain!
Nine Moons Grace the Sky!
Taiyin Monument!
Following his Daoist cry, the void around the sphere of light abruptly darkened.
Immediately after, nine "bright moons"—resplendent yet utterly frigid—materialized from thin air and began to slowly revolve around Hao Yue Master.
Within each lunar silhouette, the phantom of an ancient, damaged "Monument" covered in the marks of time drifted!
A terrifying Dao Rhyme flowed from the Monuments—one that could freeze time, seal the Divine Soul, and carry the desolation of ages!
As the nine moons spun, the Power of the Great Yin spread like a tide, forming a strange state of Yin Yang Balance with Hao Yue Master’s own Pure Yang Power.
The phantoms of the nine "Taiyin Monuments" slowly descended.
The ancient marks on the Monuments lit up, transforming into cold, deathly grey chains that ignored the barrier of space and shot down to suppress Qi Yun’s Realm Heaven!
The Pure Yang Cave Heaven Divine Light specializes in breaking techniques and purification!
The Taiyin Monument’s chains specialize in suppression and sealing!
With the two combined and Yin Yang in Reincarnation, their power more than doubled.
This was Hao Yue Master’s ultimate killing move.
Facing this terrifying combination attack that would make even an ordinary Yang God pale, Qi Yun showed no sign of panic as the Chaos Color light swirled in his eyes.
"I, too, wield the authority of the heavens.
The Thunder Skill is Venerable; how could Yin and Yang dare to transgress?"
Qi Yun formed an ancient Thunder Seal with his hands before his chest and softly chanted True Words.
There were no gathering winds and clouds, no premonition of lightning and thunder.
There was only a single point of golden light in the void before him, a light so utterly brilliant and pure it seemed to contain the first wisp of destruction and life from the dawn of Heaven and Earth, which suddenly flared to life!
The golden light rapidly stretched and extended, transforming into a physical Talisman no more than three feet long and three fingers wide, its entire body woven from countless, infinitesimally fine lightning Dao Patterns.
The Talisman hovered silently, yet it emanated a supreme majesty that surpassed all things, as if it were Punishing on behalf of Heaven and judging all living beings.
Its mere existence caused the chaotic rules of the surrounding [Heaven-Deceiving Array] and the power of Yin and Yang summoned by Hao Yue Master to instinctively "recoil" and "tremble"!
[Shenxiao Thunder Talisman]!
"Go."
Qi Yun flicked his finger.
The quietly hovering golden Thunder Talisman abruptly vanished.
The next instant, it appeared directly in the center of the nine incoming Taiyin chains.
And then, it detonated.
"BOOM—!!!"
Boundless golden light erupted!
Hundreds of millions of strands of golden lightning, each as fine as a hair yet condensed to the absolute limit, surged and interwove.
Every single strand of lightning pulsed with a majestic celestial might that could shatter evil, cleanse the universe, and reset Yin and Yang.
A sea of golden light and lightning instantly expanded from the Talisman’s center, swallowing the nine Taiyin chains, the nine resplendent moons, and even Hao Yue Master himself!
"HISSS—!!"
The Taiyin chains bore the brunt of the attack. Like snow meeting the blazing sun, their silent, extinguishing Dao Rhyme that froze time and sealed the Divine Soul rapidly melted and disintegrated under the pure, tyrannical might of the heavens’ thunder.
The chains broke apart inch by inch, dissolving into nothingness!
The nine resplendent moons shook violently, and the phantoms of the "Taiyin Monuments" within the lunar silhouettes let out pained cries, unable to bear the strain. Countless cracks appeared on the Monuments’ bodies.
"Thunder Skill?!
How can you control it?!"
Hao Yue Master’s figure let out a shrill, incredulous roar.
He could feel his Yang God body, the Pure Yang Dao Intent he had cultivated his entire life, and the Laws of Taiyin being fundamentally "erased" by this Majestic Celestial Thunder!
With every strike that landed, a large portion of his cultivation progress was shaved away.
This was the terror of the [Thunder Skill]!
As an authority of Heaven and Earth, besides its terrifying destructive power, the [Thunder Skill] could directly strip away an enemy’s Cultivation and progress!
It could even reduce them to a mortal once more!
The golden sea of lightning raged, dispersing all the grey fog within the [Heaven-Deceiving Array]. The entire Array Domain was illuminated in gold and white, as if it had transformed into the Thunder God’s Palace.
Qi Yun stood in the center of the lightning sea with his hands behind his back. The chaotic aura and golden lightning intertwined around him, making him look like an ancient deity who commanded all thunder, descending upon the mortal world.
He watched calmly as the Yang God’s sphere of light rapidly dimmed and shrank within the sea of lightning.
Then, with a grasp of his large hand, he sent countless Talismans spreading across it, placing it under heavy Seals before locking it away in [Daluo Heaven].
The golden light gradually receded, and silence returned to the Array Domain.
Only the lingering thunder Dao Rhyme in the air, which made one’s Divine Soul tremble, and the few scorched marks on the ground proved that the brief yet extremely high-level, cross-world Magical Combat had indeed taken place.
Mo Wenxuan poked his head out from behind a stone pillar, trembling. He looked at the deep blue figure standing before him with hands clasped behind his back, his aura as deep as an abyss and as vast as the sea. Then he looked at the empty sky where the Yang God incarnation had been. He opened his mouth, but found he was speechless.
Only a deep, soul-shaking awe and chill spread through his entire body.
’A Yang God Great Power... just... gone like that?’
There was no earth-shattering, prolonged battle, no difficult, drawn-out struggle as expected.
From the moment Qi Yun truly revealed his aura, as vast as the heavens, to the point where he suppressed Hao Yue Master, only a dozen or so breaths of time had passed.
A Yang God Great Power had vanished as cleanly as a thin mist under the blazing sun.
This level of absolute suppression through sheer power completely surpassed everything Mo Wenxuan and the others had ever imagined the two words "Magical Combat" to mean.
But Qi Yun paid no mind to their shock.
He slowly retracted his gaze from the sky. Deep within his eyes, the Chaos Color divine light swirled, hiding a trace of deep thought.
’In terms of raw power, the Yang God Great Powers of this world are roughly comparable to a Foundation Establishment Early Stage Master from my Profound Yellow Realm.
’But this power is only reflected in their Divine Soul, and it’s rather superficial, their foundation unstable.
’As for Magical Combat techniques, variations in Divine Techniques, and the subtlety and depth of their application of the Great Dao’s rules...’ He shook his head slightly.
’Far inferior to a Master of the same realm in my Profound Yellow world.’
This brief but direct exchange with Hao Yue Master gave him a clearer understanding of the level of the so-called "peak combat power" in the Cangque Realm.
The Yang God Realm corresponded to the Foundation Establishment Stage of the Profound Yellow Realm.
However, the level of power they displayed, their comprehension of Daoist Intent, and especially their adaptability in battle and their trump cards all seemed rather crude and simplistic.
While the [Pocket World Divine Light] and [Taiyin Monument] certainly had their unique points and were based on high-level concepts, but the methods of employing them were crude and lacked variation.
They also lacked the kind of decisive, murderous intent that could only be forged through countless trials and honed between life and death.
’In a world of this level, where the upper limit of cultivation seems to be locked at the [Yang God] realm... can it truly give birth to a [Fruit Position] naturally?’ Doubts swarmed in Qi Yun’s mind.
’If the [Fruit Position] that Desolate Halberd True Monarch left behind was truly born naturally in this realm, then this realm’s fundamental level should be extremely high.’
’Zhao Xuanji mentioned before... that the [Cangque Celestial Will] experienced a major incident, and the [Celestial Will] afterward was clearly different from before.
More volatile, more ruthless, and it appeared far more frequently than before...
In that case, there is only one possibility...’
Silently analyzing all the information he had gathered, Qi Yun’s slowly moving fingers, which had been forming calculations, abruptly paused after a moment.
He raised his head slightly, an answer surfacing in his mind.
’Someone... has replaced the [Cangque Celestial Will].’
...