Chapter 592: Chapter 567 Just One Move is Enough
The disciples of Taiyi Palace were all seething with anger, yet they had nothing to say.
Shang Yixing did not last ten moves; he was defeated in just nine.
Although Taiyi Palace still had a monstrous disciple, an Initial Body, his strength was only on par with Shang Yixing. Even if he stepped forward, it would only bring disgrace upon himself.
"I will give it a try."
At this moment, Lu Yan stood up and stepped forward.
The eyes of Shang Yixing, Linghu Changri, and others lit up.
On that day, Lu Yan also defeated Shang Yixing with an overwhelming force, revealing his unfathomable strength; otherwise, they would not have tried so hard to court him.
There was a possibility that Lu Yan could defeat Xing Yu and claim vengeance for Taiyi Palace.
But their hopes were soon dashed.
Lu Yan didn’t head toward Xing Yu but toward the battle platform where Lin Wuxu stood, finally landing on Lin Wuxu’s platform.
Lu Yan was extremely curious about the path of the Immortal Tao and was eager to battle, to glimpse its mysteries.
Seeing can never compare to personally experiencing.
"Begin."
Lin Wuxu looked at Lu Yan and made a slight wave of his hand, exuding strong confidence.
Lu Yan couldn’t be bothered with idle chatter and immediately made his move.
His entire being, like a razor-sharp battle knife, struck out with a palm, the vast Sword Light filling The sky’s Vault, slashing down towards Lin Wuxu.
The expression on Lin Wuxu’s face instantly became exceedingly grave.
You know an expert by their first move.
Lu Yan’s strike posed a threat to Lin Wuxu that was far beyond that of an ordinary Initial Body.
The power within Lin Wuxu’s body erupted like a volcano. Light points emerged from all over his body, converged through his meridians, layering over one another, transforming into a force capable of shattering stone and shocking the heavens.
Boom!
Lin Wuxu shattered the void, mobilizing the power of two thousand True Self Cosmoses, and attacked Lu Yan.
Clash! Clash!
After clashing twice, both figures shook simultaneously and retreated, but they then charged back at each other and engaged in intense close-quarters combat.
Within moments, they had exchanged dozens of moves without a clear winner.
It wasn’t that Lu Yan was only capable of this level of strength.
If he had used his full strength, one move would have sufficed.
He remained in a closely contested fight with his opponent primarily to experience and observe the methods of the Immortal Tao.
To create new techniques, one needed accumulation. The more techniques he mastered, the more it would help with his own creations.
The path of the Immortal Tao, though different from ordinary paths, still leads straight to the end and naturally has its exceptional aspects.
Understanding this path deeply, taking its essence and discarding the dross to nourish oneself, would eventually lead to a breakthrough when the time was ripe.
In the midst of the battle, Lu Yan discreetly activated his Tao Soul Pupil. Under its gaze, intricate mysteries that were difficult for ordinary people to detect were laid bare before Lu Yan.
The light points within Lin Wuxu’s body seemed endlessly magnified in his eyes.
Indeed, they were each a cosmos, albeit miniature ones. They couldn’t compare in size with the vast starry heavens, but they were also incredibly mystical, with countless principles interwoven, self-dominating, and forming a cosmos.
An unending stream of power burst forth from the True Self Cosmos, transforming into formidable strength.
The techniques used by Lin Wuxu were also different from Immortality Skill and Great Tao Skill, yet their power was by no means weak.
The strengths and weaknesses of these techniques were also plainly exposed in Lu Yan’s eyes.
As Lu Yan observed, he cross-referenced his findings with the techniques he had mastered, leading to many novel ideas forming in his mind, greatly benefiting him.
After more than a hundred exchanges, Lu Yan began to gradually increase his strength.
Lin Wuxu felt a tremendous pressure and, under its weight, his latent potential was spurred; he pushed the various techniques he had mastered to their limits.
This, in turn, allowed Lu Yan to observe some fresh nuances.
Soon, their engagement reached over two hundred moves.
Lu Yan’s power once again intensified; Lin Wuxu could no longer resist and started losing ground.
"Zhang Wei is about to win."
The disciples of Taiyi Palace were overjoyed.
As long as Zhang Wei won, Taiyi Palace would secure a spot among the thirty-six battle platforms.
Although they would still have to face other challengers, which was not the final outcome, there was still a great chance.
"Hmph, it took him over two hundred moves to gain the upper hand. His strength is only average after all. Even if he temporarily occupies a battle platform, he will soon be knocked off."
A disciple from Star Palace jeered.
Both sides couldn’t help but glare at each other.
Clash!
When the engagement between Lu Yan and Lin Wuxu reached two hundred and fifty moves, Lu Yan’s palm struck Lin Wuxu in the chest, sending Lin Wuxu flying off the battle platform.
"This battle, Zhang Wei wins. Zhang Wei, you may rest for a while and adjust to your peak condition before accepting other challenges," said The Ruler of Desolate Heaven with a smile on his face.
Finally, someone had succeeded in the challenge, which meant there were indeed prodigies concealed among the stars. Thus, the strength of the starry sky contenders had grown stronger.
Lu Yan nodded his head, sat cross-legged, and pretended to regulate his breathing.
In reality, he had not lost much in the previous battle.
While he was ’resting,’ battle after battle took place with fierce confrontations.
After some time, Lu Yan stood up, indicating that he had finished resting.
As soon as he got up, a figure immediately landed on his battle platform and challenged him.
It was a woman, beautiful and with formidable strength.
Those who dared to challenge Lu Yan after watching him defeat Lin Wuxu naturally had something to rely on.
The two exchanged over a hundred moves.
"I concede."
Suddenly, Lu Yan retreated and raised his hand in concession.
"This..."
The onlookers were all taken aback.
Lu Yan had not shown any signs of defeat just now; why did he suddenly concede?
Could it be that his judgment was clouded by lust?
Seeing the opponent was a beautiful woman, did he concede on purpose to ingratiate himself with her?
Many people thought this, and even the woman herself seemed to think so. She smiled slightly at Lu Yan and bowed with cupped fists, "Thank you."
"No need to thank me."
Lu Yan smiled and stepped down from the battle stage, but to the astonishment of the onlookers, he flew toward another stage and landed upon it.
This stage belonged to Xing Yu.
This was Lu Yan’s true objective.
His initial challenge against Lin Wuxu was mainly to witness the profound mysteries of the Immortal Tao, but challenging Xing Yu was a must for him.
There was no other reason.
He simply disliked the people from Star Palace.
Therefore, after his victory over Lin Wuxu, no matter who challenged him, he would forfeit.
"Xing Yu, let me see how strong your so-called self-created methods really are."
Lu Yan said.
"You’ve just fought a battle. I’ll give you time to recuperate, and once you’ve recovered, we can fight."
Xing Yu said.
However, Lu Yan shook his head and said, "There’s no need. It won’t take much effort to deal with you, just three moves."
These words immediately enraged the people from Star Palace.
Barefaced contempt.
"Arrogant! This kid is outrageously arrogant!"
"Thinking he’s so strong just because he defeated Lin Wuxu, and now talking about defeating Zhang in three moves, it’s ludicrous."
"Haha, such a fool who doesn’t know his own strength."
Many disciples from Star Palace cursed angrily.
"This..."
Even the disciples of Taiyi Palace were somewhat dazed.
They were of course happy to see Lu Yan challenge Xing Yu, hoping that Lu Yan would defeat him.
But Lu Yan not only did not take time to recover, he also boasted that he’d defeat Xing Yu in three moves, which made even them feel that Lu Yan was too arrogant and underestimated Xing Yu.
"Three moves to defeat me?"
Xing Yu laughed in anger and then looked up to The Ruler of Desolate Heaven in the sky, waiting for his directive.
"Lu Yan, do you really not need to recover?"
The Ruler of Desolate Heaven asked.
"Reporting to my senior, there’s no need."
Lu Yan bowed as he spoke.
"Allowing you to recover is to maintain fairness in the duel, but it’s all voluntary—if you believe there’s no need to recover, I will not insist. So let’s begin,"
The Ruler of Desolate Heaven said.
"The stars as my sword."
As soon as The Ruler of Desolate Heaven finished speaking, Xing Yu could not restrain himself and immediately made his move.
The moment he acted, it was with his full strength.
Calling upon the stars to enhance himself, he used his self-created method to push his power to the extreme.
Lu Yan had boasted that he would defeat him in three moves, but he was determined to do the opposite—to defeat Lu Yan in three moves and leave him utterly devastated.
"Earth Annihilation."
Lu Yan used his newly created method, invoking the five rules of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth fused together, and slashed with his saber.
The saber light collided with the sword light of the stars.
Boom, boom, boom...
The sword light of the stars that Xing Yu had executed with all his might shattered like paper mâché, breaking continuously.
In an instant, seven sword lights had all broken, the saber light did not stop, and it struck Xing Yu, piercing through his protective field.
Xing Yu cried out miserably as his body retreated, crashing heavily upon the stage and dragging a long trail of blood behind him.
Half of his body was split open, almost cleaved in two, and he suffered heavy injuries.
This was still Lu Yan showing mercy; otherwise, that single blow could have taken his life.
"It seems I’ve overestimated you, after all. Three moves aren’t necessary; one is more than enough,"
Lu Yan mumbled to himself.
The entire place fell into a deathly silence.
With just one move, Lu Yan had severely injured Xing Yu.
The gap was too vast.
Now, anyone who wasn’t a fool could tell that Lu Yan had definitely concealed his strength in his duel against Lin Wuxu.
His real power was terrifyingly strong.
On the other battle stages, those with Multiple-Origin Bodies all revealed expressions of utter shock.
Only a few individuals remained composed.
"Good."
The Ruler of Desolate Heaven, along with another True One State powerhouse, couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration.
The two exchanged glances, seemingly having guessed Lu Yan’s origins, as if deep in thought.
"Very good, impressive."
"Well done, Zhang."
After a brief silence, the disciples from Taiyi Palace all leaped up excitedly, cheering loudly.
"The Star Palace’s freak is nothing special, unable to even receive one strike from Brother Zhang Wei."
"We gave you face before, and you strutted around in front of us like a clown."
The Taiyi Palace disciples mocked, all their previous frustrations swept away.
The people from Star Palace, on the other hand, looked incredibly awkward.
"Well, well, Taiyi Palace is truly eye-opening, secretly harboring such a freak, yet remaining so quiet."
The Palace Master of Star Palace spoke in a peculiar tone.
"Mediocre strength, not worth showing off."
The Taiyi Palace Master responded with a smile.
This left the Palace Master of Star Palace feeling as sick as if he had swallowed a dead rat.
The challenges continued.
But after Lu Yan’s battle, no one else challenged him.
The strength he displayed when he heavily injured Xing Yu had already surpassed that of a Dual Primebody.
With such strength, there were probably very few in the entire cosmos of the Tao Realm who could defeat Lu Yan.
