Chapter 447: Ang Xiao: Shameless!

“Boom!”

With a thunderous explosion, Lü Yang and 【True Lord Cheng Tian Zheng De】 vanished from the mortal world at the same instant, replaced by two blazing stars upon the firmament.

【Wall Earth】.

【Overturning Lamp Fire】!

In that instant, visions appeared across the four realms of the world. Countless houses and palaces suddenly burst alight with flames within their halls. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

Some fires were quickly extinguished.

Some grew ever fiercer.

Scenes like these rose and fell across the land without end. Each blaze’s outcome triggered ripples of resonance between the two Heavenly Fruitional Ranks.

Moreover, all cultivators who practiced 【Wall Earth】 or 【Overturning Lamp Fire】 had their eyes turn red. The clash of Dao Lords’ resonances directly influenced them, driving them into frenzied combat. Only Foundation Establishment True Persons could barely keep their clarity under such pressure.

Yet these were only the surface signs.

They were not even intentionally caused by Lü Yang or 【True Lord Cheng Tian Zheng De】—merely the collision of their Fruitional Rank visions had already thrown the world into chaos.

“Clang! Clang!”

The sword light of 【True Lord Cheng Tian Zheng De】 fell, carrying no sharpness—only a mountain-like weight, an indescribable oppression.

In an instant, Lü Yang’s movements halted completely.

【Wall Earth】: its qi dwelled in closure, its nature in concealment—hiding form and sealing body, inside and outside unlinked. Its Fruitional Rank itself was the supreme method of suppression and sealing!

And 【True Lord Cheng Tian Zheng De】’s sword intent, born of this resonance, was likewise the blade without edge—without sharpness, yet heavy as Mount Tai. At that moment it crashed upon Lü Yang, making his Dharma Body feel as if burdened by mountains and rivers, his mana as if bearing the weight of seas—he could not move at all!

‘Got him!’

At that moment, 【True Lord Cheng Tian Zheng De】 formed a hand seal with his other hand; golden light condensed upon his sword tip, piercing straight toward Lü Yang’s brow.

‘【Heaven-Cloud Sun-Bearing Marvel Art】!’

Cloud represented Earth-Yang—when fallen to ground it became mountain, qi transforming from floating to substantial soil. Now it struck into Lü Yang’s crown, seeking to seal even his consciousness!

Then he would be left at his mercy.

At that instant Lü Yang’s plight reached its peak of peril—standing undefended before 【True Lord Cheng Tian Zheng De】, completely unable to counter.

Yet at that very breath, a black dot suddenly surfaced upon Lü Yang’s brow. In a blink it expanded, manifesting a vast and solemn palace that stood between him and the descending sword light, cutting off the divine brilliance of that 【Heaven-Cloud Sun-Bearing Marvel Art】.

【Yama Hall】!

In that moment, radiance flowed from Lü Yang’s entire being, dazzling and resplendent, making him seem like a deity descended, washing away all shackles upon his body.

“Crack!”

With a clear shattering sound, Lü Yang staggered back a step. The seal imposed by 【True Lord Cheng Tian Zheng De】 upon him broke apart with it.

Almost at the same time, he too completed his hand seal.

“Hu!”

Lü Yang opened his mouth, and a stream of flame shot forth between his teeth. Meeting the wind, it swelled instantly into a sea of blinding fire.

Within that sea, waves rose layer upon layer; myriad colors overlapped and intertwined until they condensed into a single spark of blue—bright as the heavens themselves. It gave 【True Lord Cheng Tian Zheng De】 no chance to retreat or evade—at the instant of its arising, it already blazed upon him.

‘【Upper Radiant Golden-Cup Jade Light】!’

That blue flame seemed tiny, yet carried an image of indestructibility, bursting upon 【True Lord Cheng Tian Zheng De】’s Dharma Body into countless dazzling lights.

“Boom!”

The two powers clashed without restraint; mana upheaved through the Thirty-Six Layers of Gang Clouds, even shattering stray meteors in the outer sky.

For a while, stars fell like rain, and heavenly fire streaked across the firmament.

As the two instigators, however, 【True Lord Cheng Tian Zheng De】 and Lü Yang had already withdrawn their divine powers, standing opposite each other across a celestial river.

In the next breath, both fixed their hand seals, and across the four realms cultivators of 【Wall Earth】 suddenly found their mana self-combusting, their Dharma Bodies wounded; while those of 【Overturning Lamp Fire】 were mysteriously restrained, unable to move—instantly, countless new slaughters erupted.

Such was the Dao Lords’ means.

Just now, both had diverted the backlash from their Fruitional Rank visions into the Foundation and Qi-Refining cultivators beneath their respective lineages.

Of course, this transfer only applied to Fruitional Rank phenomena—

Such as the sealing of 【Wall Earth】, or the burning of 【Overturning Lamp Fire】; true, physical damage could not be shifted away.

Seeing this, 【True Lord Cheng Tian Zheng De】’s expression grew ever darker.

‘So familiar with the way Dao Lords duel—this really is Hong Yun… No, even more—he seems to understand my methods as well as I do!’

That was what he could not comprehend. His sword intent complemented 【Wall Earth】 perfectly; a sudden strike usually caught foes off guard, seizing the advantage. Yet Lü Yang had clearly prepared—he not only evaded the killing blow but even turned it against him.

‘Fortunately, my cultivation is higher.’

【True Lord Cheng Tian Zheng De】 was long used to setbacks; though his sword had failed, he did not despair: ‘False Golden Position—ultimately, not a true Golden Core!’

At that instant, brilliance surged skyward from his body.

A familiar sensation instantly arose in Lü Yang’s heart—akin to the 【Obstruction of Knowledge and View】. Not the same thing, but of similar mystery and level.

It was the unique marvel of 【Wall Earth】:

【Rising of Palaces and Halls】!

In a moment, clouds rolled behind 【True Lord Cheng Tian Zheng De】, parting to reveal a resplendent, majestic palace.

Lü Yang saw only crimson gates flung open, golden studs glittering like stars; within, deep corridors and lofty towers rose. Pillars as thick as several men’s embrace were lacquered in vermilion and dusted with gold; the floors paved in dark jade tiles polished to a mirror sheen, rising layer upon layer toward a towering imperial throne.

Upon that throne sat 【True Lord Cheng Tian Zheng De】 himself.

All around, pavilions and halls enclosed him at the center, shielding him completely—every foreign force was repelled beyond the palace bounds.

“Boom!”

Two streams of light crossed. This time Lü Yang’s flesh burst apart, half his Dharma Body shorn away by a single stroke from 【True Lord Cheng Tian Zheng De】, tumbling amid the sea of clouds.

Meanwhile, though he should have borne Lü Yang’s counterstrike head-on, 【True Lord Cheng Tian Zheng De】 remained wholly unscathed—the mana striking him was drawn into those layered palatial visions, refined from great to small, from small to nothing, vanishing utterly!

‘Just like the 【Obstruction of Knowledge and View】!’

Lü Yang understood. This was the profound essence of Heavenly Fruitional Ranks—mysteries of the highest order, only accessible through one’s inner Cave Heaven.

‘【Overturning Lamp Fire】 has one too… but I can’t use it.’

Such were the limits of false possession of a Golden Position; without truly forming a Cave Heaven, one could not manifest the genuine profundity of a Fruitional Rank.

Lü Yang circulated his mana to reconstruct his Dharma Body.

With a breath he spat forth again the 【Upper Radiant Golden-Cup Jade Light】, yet once more it was dissolved into nothing by the layered palace visions.

“It’s useless. Forcing me to this point, all your divine arts are meaningless before me—you have only one road left: defeat and death!” 【True Lord Cheng Tian Zheng De】 sneered.

“Boom!”

Another thunderclap. Lü Yang was struck again, his foe not only blocking all outer attacks but also sealing his own qi, hiding his form within void and gloom. By the time Lü Yang sensed him, the sword had already fallen.

“Crack!”

Another stroke flashed by; one of Lü Yang’s arms flew skyward, bursting into blood and flame, masking his true body’s retreat as he re-formed himself once more.

But 【True Lord Cheng Tian Zheng De】 pressed closer with every step, giving him no breath to recover.

“Clang!”

Yet another slash came, drawing fresh bloodlight.

Facing this, Lü Yang instead grinned, the corner of his lips curling as he shouted aloud, “Ang Xiao! Why aren’t you here helping me yet?!”

【True Lord Cheng Tian Zheng De】: “???”

【Ang Xiao】: “…”

At that very moment within the Nether Realm, 【Ang Xiao】 cursed aloud—for Lü Yang, while calling for aid, was simultaneously reversing the flow of 【Star-Earth】!

He was forcing him to intervene!

“Shameless!”

Though he swore, 【Ang Xiao】 dared not delay his action.

In the next instant, 【True Lord Cheng Tian Zheng De】—who had just been preparing to strike again—suddenly froze, blank minded, with only one bewildered thought remaining:

‘What… was I about to do?’