Chapter 407: Simply a Beast!

Overseas, above the Vault of Heaven, a stream of iridescence hovered among the clouds.

This stream of iridescence was the miniature world conjured by 【Heaven-Bearing Net】 through its divine and mysterious power, currently trapping Tianqiu within, making it nearly impossible for him to escape.

“Roar——!”

A thunderous dragon roar rang out. At this moment, Tianqiu had once again transformed into his true dragon form. Upon his head, the Ruler Tree summoned wind and rain, while his scaled armor shimmered with a frosty gleam. Without any supernatural ability taking form, he simply struck forward with one claw. The manifestation was stripped of all embellishment, distilled to the utmost simplicity—

Strength.

“One force to break ten thousand arts!”

Such was the profundity of the True Dragon bloodline—an indestructible Dharma body, strength enough to move mountains and overturn seas. Though this was not a divine ability, its display surpassed one!

Yet seeing this scene, Lü Yang remained utterly unfazed.

The next moment, an intense surge of blood qi erupted from his body. Without retreating even half a step, he punched forward, intending to clash head-on with Tianqiu!

“Rumble rumble rumble!”

In the blink of an eye, the two clashed dozens to hundreds of times. Gone was the poise of a perfected Foundation Establishment expert; it was sheerly the most primal and savage melee of flesh against flesh. On Lü Yang’s side, tendons tore and bones snapped, blood splattered. On Tianqiu’s side, his scales were peeled and shattered.

‘Impossible.’

Tianqiu staggered back a step, his expression dark to the extreme. He was a descendant of the True Dragon bloodline! In terms of Dharma body alone, he claimed supremacy under heaven—yet he failed to overcome the opponent.

Could the other also be a demon cultivator?

Thinking this, Tianqiu immediately frowned and tentatively asked, “Are you human? Or demon?”

“Of course I’m human!”

Lü Yang stretched his arms. Blood qi surged like a tide throughout his body, instantly regenerating tendons and bones, regrowing flesh. What had appeared to be serious wounds were already healed!

‘【Heaven-Bearing Net】... is truly useful!’

This divine ability might lack an instant-kill offensive capacity, but its variety and completeness made up for it. At the same tier, it almost had no weaknesses.

And he had not only activated this one divine ability.

At the same time, upon seeing Lü Yang recover, Tianqiu tried to restore his own blood qi, but as he moved—

His face instantly contorted in alarm.

‘My blood qi and mana have mysteriously diminished by a tenth!?’

In a flash of insight, Tianqiu suddenly awoke, as if breaking through an illusion, and sharply saw another divine ability glimmering beside Lü Yang. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

【Containing True Qi】!

It devoured all things and refined all forms. In every previous clash, Lü Yang had silently been using this divine ability to absorb Tianqiu’s blood qi and mana!

Now that Tianqiu had realized, Lü Yang inwardly sighed with regret:

‘Even though I already used 【Heaven-Bearing Net】 to mimic 【Perception Obstruction】 for cover... he still noticed the irregularity so quickly.’

If the real 【Perception Obstruction】 were in use here, Tianqiu likely wouldn’t have realized he was being drained of blood qi and mana until death. Unfortunately, Lü Yang’s cultivation wasn’t high enough, and the divine power too limited, to fully simulate 【Perception Obstruction】’s effect. Thus, the plan failed just shy of success.

“Again!”

Lü Yang grinned widely. The blood qi just devoured from Tianqiu was now drawn out and poured into his own Dharma body.

Seeing this, Tianqiu sneered coldly:

‘Courting death!’

His dragon blood was poison to human cultivators. To use it directly without refinement would not heal the body, but rather inflict great harm!

Yet in the next second, Tianqiu froze in place.

‘【Returning Origin Art】!’

Lü Yang, unhurried and calm, activated another divine ability, instantly neutralizing all toxicity in the dragon blood and merging it flawlessly with his Dharma body!

Assimilating foreign power. Uniting all methods into one.

The profundity of 【Returning Origin Art】 could refine and integrate even the essence of Heaven and Earth. Naturally, the rejection reaction of dragon blood within a human body posed no challenge.

In a flash, Tianqiu’s expression turned utterly hideous. Lü Yang fought in such a manner—fighting while draining his opponent’s blood qi and mana. After both were left wounded, he would then heal using the stolen vitality, resulting in him being unscathed while his opponent grew ever weaker!

‘What’s the point of fighting further?’

Tianqiu began to consider retreating. But Lü Yang didn’t give him the chance—upon healing, he charged forward with the clear intent to exchange injury for injury.

“Rumble rumble rumble!”

With resounding explosions, man and dragon tangled once again. This time, Tianqiu shifted to a defensive stance and was swiftly beaten into retreat.

Tianqiu’s expression grew gloomier by the moment.

Yet beneath the surface, he remained deathly calm. Step by step, he baited Lü Yang into expanding his spells further and further.

At a glance, it looked like he was running out of tricks.

Even his occasional counterattacks were within Lü Yang’s calculations—far from turning the tide, they only drove him into greater peril.

Finally, Tianqiu seemed to falter.

His dragon body shifted abruptly—abandoning all caution, he turned and fled, seemingly choosing to endure Lü Yang’s spells just to put distance between them.

“Trying to run?”

Lü Yang laughed triumphantly, immediately giving chase.

The gap between them shrank swiftly—until they were within arm’s reach!

Then, just as Lü Yang caught up, Tianqiu suddenly whipped his head around, eyes flashing with beast-like ferocity and savagery.

“Die!”

His bloody maw gaped open. A burst of radiant light surged forth like a dam bursting—like a tidal sea, waves crashing and rolling, filling the entire world in an instant!

“Boom!”

In that instant, the brilliance swallowed Lü Yang whole. It was a Dao spell Tianqiu had meticulously cultivated for over a hundred years, now perfected.

It contained countless tons of 【Profound River Heavy Water】, with the mystery of “a feather cannot float, even a True Person cannot pass.” Anyone struck by it would almost certainly perish.

‘I’ve won!’

Joy flashed in Tianqiu’s eyes. Seeing Lü Yang overwhelmed, he prepared to bite down and crush his Dharma body—to seize final victory.

But before he could act, a thunderclap exploded in the sky!

Tianqiu froze.

The next moment, he saw Lü Yang, unscathed, robes fluttering, calmly step out of the Profound River Heavy Water.

Behind his head, a wheel of circular light slowly revolved.

【Same as the World】!

“Boom!”

In an instant, Tianqiu’s face turned ashen—his years of painstakingly accumulated fortune and merit evaporated under the thunderclap!

Heaven’s Punishment!

“No——!!!”

Tianqiu’s eyes turned bloodshot. He was at a critical point in seeking the Golden Core—how could he lack fortune and merit? This was a severance of his Dao path!

‘What divine ability is this? What the hell is this!?’

At the same time, the distant Foundation Establishment True Persons who were spectating all showed horrified expressions and began calculating Lü Yang’s background.

“Damage transference?”

“No... not to external objects, but to Heaven and Earth. That’s why it triggered Heaven’s Punishment. What a vicious technique... does he have a grudge against the heavens?”

“More than that, he’s from beyond the heavens. He has no fortune or merit on him, so Heaven’s Punishment doesn’t harm him—only his opponent suffers...”

Soon, the secrets of 【Same as the World】 were deduced.

“Tianqiu is finished!”

In that moment, countless Foundation Establishment True Persons fell silent. When they looked at Lü Yang again, their gaze held a disgust too deep for words—

Untouchable.

Unfightable.

Unkillable.

“Simply a beast!”

“This doesn’t look like something a rogue cultivator from the Outer Realm could do... could he be some True Person from the Saint Sect, who ventured beyond the heavens to cultivate a second-grade true art—and has now returned in glory?”