The volume of the ice block became smaller and smaller, and so did the demon.
Suddenly, Lu Yu felt a pain in his waist. Looking down, he saw that the waist of his Divine Body was completely black and severely corroded.
He suddenly realized that it was where the demon's arm had pierced his body earlier.
"It was at that time!" Lu Yu thought of that strange spear.
The power of the Divine Body rapidly leaked from the crack at his waist, forcing Lu Yu to reluctantly dismantle his Cosmic Divine Body.
The colossal Divine Body turned into tiny stars and vanished in mid-air, as black material from the demon's Divine Body gathered into form, revealing the demon of the Ninth Layer of the Transcendent Realm before Lu Yu again.
It flew swiftly, launching an attack toward Lu Yu, who had emerged from the chest of the Divine Body.
Lu Yu assumed a sword-drawing stance, summoning the Astral River Divine Blade in his palm. The glow of the blade grew increasingly brilliant, gathering power.
The demon wielded a spear, thrusting forward.
Lu Yu delivered a slash, like the Astral River hanging from the Ninth Heaven.
BOOM~ The world darkened; time stood still as darkness cloaked the world. After a moment, the light of dawn broke through the darkness, the world brightened again, and the blinding light engulfed everyone and all the demons.
Lu Yu's figure emerged from the light, now with only half his body remaining, while the demon with whom he had been sparring had vanished.
Strands of spiritual light recomposed the form of Lu Yu's lower body, flesh rapidly regrew, and in the blink of an eye, Lu Yu was restored to his usual self, donned in a robe formed from spiritual power.
The laws of the Ninth Layer Transcendent Realm demon, all absorbed into Lu Yu's soul.
In a mere moment, over four hundred new stars emerged within him.
"Is this the true power of the Ninth Layer Transcendent Realm?" Lu Yu felt a sense of shock in his heart, unable to calm down for a long time.
This was vastly different from the pseudo Ninth Layer Transcendent Realm demon he had previously defeated, which caused him much less trouble.
But this Ninth Layer Transcendent Realm demon even shattered his strongest state, though it incurred great losses as well.
The greatest realization for Lu Yu from this battle was the difference in mastery of the Heaven and Earth Law between the two.
The pseudo Ninth Layer Transcendent Realm demons rarely used the Heaven and Earth Law to attack Lu Yu, relying solely on strength.
But the true Ninth Layer Transcendent Realm demon constantly employed the Heaven and Earth Law, consistently causing significant harm to Lu Yu.
The spear that pierced the Divine Body used the power of law to break Lu Yu's defense, and its transformation into a blood river to corrode the Divine Body also utilized the power of law.
After absorbing the soul origin, Lu Yu scanned his surroundings. With a shift of his form, he traversed space and time, appearing behind a Transcendent Realm demon, crushing its body with a punch.
With a thought, soul power shattered the demon's soul, devouring all of its soul origins.
After killing the Ninth Layer Transcendent Realm demon, nothing could withstand his assault; all the Transcendent Realm demons fell to his hand in the blink of an eye.
As this battle concluded, the new stars born within Lu Yu exceeded a thousand in number.
Gazing at the vast, endless black cosmic body, Lu Yu wondered how long it would take to illuminate the entire universe.
Looking at the accumulated experience from so many battles, Lu Yu advanced in rank.
He rose to the Sixth Layer of the Transcendent Realm.
The next level would be the Seventh Layer of the Transcendent Realm.
"How long will it take to reach the Myriad Forms Realm?" Lu Yu pondered.
He realized that even with the support of the Duel Space, reaching the Myriad Forms Realm was not an easy task.
After contemplating for a long time, Lu Yu made a decision. With a flash of his form, two Lu Yu appeared in mid-air. Another flash, and there were four Lu Yu...
In an instant, dozens of Lu Yu's clones appeared in the air, each possessing strength beyond the Transcendent Realm.
"Go!" At Lu Yu's command, over a hundred clones flew out, passing through a golden barrier, dispersing into over a hundred battle zones, simultaneously obtaining Heavenly Dao rewards in those zones.
Heavenly Dao rewards consisted of various insights into the Heaven and Earth Law, enhancing comprehension of these laws. Killing demons would yield feedback from Slaughter Law, boosting cultivation and power.
Lu Yu's main body sat quietly within a battle zone, expanding his domain to envelop the entire zone.
Within this domain, tens of thousands of strands of Heaven and Earth Law surged, forming various death zones and rampant natural disasters, causing suffering for the demons.
Seated there, he continuously received insights from the Heavenly Dao rewards, each time bringing about new deathly disasters in the domain or greatly increasing the power of existing ones.
Lu Yu spread out his clones, continuously harvesting demons, accumulating power and cultivation from the Slaughter Law within them, while the main body comprehended insights from the Heaven and Earth Law among the Heavenly Dao rewards.
In this coordinated state, Lu Yu's comprehension of the Heaven and Earth Law became more meticulous, allowing for deeper insights beyond just the Slaughter Law.
Every time he gained gifts from the Heavenly Dao was akin to enlightenment; how much insight he could gain depended entirely on his own understanding.
The vast majority of Martial Cultivators had no time to "enlighten" and could only hastily digest the rewards from the Heavenly Dao, unable to maximize benefits.
But Lu Yu was different. His main body was in an absolutely safe area, while clones harvested demons externally, obtaining Heavenly Dao rewards, enabling him to remain in a continuous state of enlightenment and quickly elevate his comprehension of the Heaven and Earth Law.
Suddenly, he sensed a clone vanishing, his brows furrowing slightly as his mind followed the residual soul to witness the scene over there.
A Seventh Layer Transcendent Realm demon had killed one of his clones, prompting Lu Yu to immediately send five clones over to encircle and eliminate the demon.
Alongside, he reclaimed the power and Slaughter Law remnants left by the destroyed clone.
Similar incidents repeatedly occurred across various locations within the Duel Space, the only difference being the number of clones dispatched each time.
Occasionally, when encountering tough opponents, Lu Yu would temporarily abandon the target, shifting to another location.
His current goal was to elevate his realm as quickly as possible, not to deal with particularly tough enemies.
With over a hundred clones continuously bringing Heavenly Dao rewards to the main body, Lu Yu's comprehension of the Heaven and Earth Law he grasped deepened steadily, and his own realm kept rising.
One of Lu Yu's clones, after annihilating all the demons in a battle zone, traversed the golden barrier.
Upon entering a new battle zone, Lu Yu immediately spotted a familiar figureβHuang Ying.
Unexpectedly, he had arrived in the battle zone where Huang Ying was, which seemed quite normal given that over a hundred clones were simultaneously present in over a hundred battle zones, encountering Huang Ying was anticipated.
He glanced at the battlefield below; nonchalantly, the clone exterminated a few clones of demons, then prepared to leave the zone.
A vortex appeared in the golden barrier, and a hand emerged from the vortex, seizing Lu Yu's clone.
BOOM~ The clone was crushed, and the hand slowly retracted back into the vortex and vanished.
After the clone exploded, the residual force in the world instinctively sought out the intact split soul within Huang Ying's body.
Unbeknownst to Huang Ying, that split soul within her absorbed the residual power of a Transcendent Realm clone, growing significantly stronger.
It evolved from adhering strictly to Lu Yu's set rules to possessing self-awareness.
Although still under Lu Yu's consciousness, the personality had changed considerably, incorporating the rules Lu Yu left for the split soul, making this consciousness prioritize protecting Huang Ying.
Elsewhere, Lu Yu suddenly opened his eyes, revealing a grave expression.
He witnessed what had happened to that clone; it undoubtedly possessed the power of a Myriad Forms Realm martial cultivator.
Who could it be? Why did they make a move against me?
Lu Yu's heart filled with doubt.
Able to traverse the golden celestial veil with ease, it was undoubtedly a Human Myriad Forms Realm martial cultivator.
He vaguely suspected someone, but before that, he needed to conceal his presence well.
Glancing around, the domain transformed, splitting time and space in two; above was the normal Duel Space battle zone, below was Lu Yu's domain.
Having prepared, Lu Yu focused his mind on the clones, which quickly mobilized, traveling through battle zones, seeking the figure of Zhou Hong.
After killing a clone, that giant hand disappeared for a long time before reappearing a second time.
Lu Yu guessed the opponent was puzzled as well, wondering why there were so many Lu Yu?
Such are the ways of time, fate, and destiny.
Lu Yu was not fated to perish.
