A calm voice slowly rang out above the clouds.
Huanglong Zhenren froze in place, a look of astonishment appearing on his pale face.
Then he couldn't help but let out a mocking laugh, full of scorn.
He was so angry that he actually laughed.
"So what if you can withstand a few strikes of my Jade Purity Divine Thunder?"
Huanglong Zhenren hadn't noticed that Lu Changsheng was using the Lightning Power to temper his body.
He only thought his own injuries were too severe and the Jade Purity Divine Thunder had lost much of its power, which was why it hadn't killed Lu Changsheng.
"Don't think I can't tell—you're badly wounded too."
"What can a severely injured Heaven Immortal like you do to me?"
Huanglong Zhenren hadn't taken Lu Changsheng seriously at all.
Even if he couldn't kill Lu Changsheng outright right now,
Lu Changsheng had no way to deal with him, either.
If they kept this up, there was no way the Heaven Immortal Lu Changsheng could outlast him, a Golden Immortal.
When that happened, the Xuanling Fruit would still be his.
It would merely take a little more time.
Hearing Huanglong Zhenren's doubts, Lu Changsheng raised his right hand and looked at his palm.
It had been charred black by the Jade Purity Divine Thunder.
Beneath the horrifyingly burned flesh, faint arcs of lightning flickered.
Huanglong Zhenren was right.
An ordinary Heaven Immortal could never have survived an attack like that.
Lu Changsheng had taken the opportunity to cultivate the Indestructible Thunder God Body. Though it had kept him alive, he had still suffered severe injuries.
Lightning Body Tempering always came at a cost.
But the price was one Lu Changsheng could afford.
"Huanglong Zhenren, you're too arrogant."
"What makes you think I can't defeat you?"
That retort was surely the funniest joke Huanglong Zhenren had heard in all his years of cultivation.
"Arrogant?"
"Then I'd like to see how a Heaven Immortal like you can possibly defeat me!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a Sword Cry rang out.
A long sword appeared in Lu Changsheng's right hand.
It was over three feet long and about two inches wide. Faint cloud patterns shimmered across its blade, giving it an air of mystery.
It was none other than Ling Yun Jian!
The smile on Huanglong Zhenren's face instantly froze. He stared at Ling Yun Jian, utterly shocked.
"This—this is impossible!"
Huanglong Zhenren murmured, his voice trembling.
Though he had never seen Ling Yun Jian before, he was a Saint Disciple, after all, and had a discerning eye.
He could clearly sense that the power radiating from Ling Yun Jian was that of a Xiantian Lingbao!
But how could that be?
Even he, a Golden Immortal and a Saint Disciple, didn't have a single Xiantian Lingbao.
What right did this Heaven Immortal standing before him have to own one?!
His shock instantly turned to envy and resentment.
"There's nothing impossible about it."
"I'd like to see how many strikes you can withstand now."
As he spoke, Lu Changsheng's gaze suddenly turned cold.
His right hand moved, gripping Ling Yun Jian. Its Sword Cry rang out as a razor-sharp sword beam slashed toward Huanglong Zhenren.
The Innate Might made Huanglong Zhenren tremble.
Even uninjured, he would have been wary of a Xiantian Lingbao, let alone now, when he was already gravely wounded.
At this critical moment, Huanglong Zhenren threw caution to the wind.
He spat out a mouthful of blood and used a Secret Technique to conjure a barrier before him.
The sword beam swept through, shattering his defenses.
A ghastly gash stretched from Huanglong Zhenren's left shoulder down to his waist, nearly splitting him in two.
His face twitched uncontrollably from the pain.
But more than the pain, he was overwhelmed by fear.
He had a feeling that if Lu Changsheng's cultivation hadn't been so low and his condition so poor, that strike could have taken his life.
"You clearly had such a Magic Treasure. Why didn't you use it when you fought the Xuan Sha Mang earlier?!"
Huanglong Zhenren demanded.
"Ridiculous."
Lu Changsheng couldn't be bothered to entertain him.
"Let's see what you can do to stop my Second Sword!"
Ling Yun Jian rose again.
"Wait!"
Huanglong Zhenren's eyes were filled with fear.
"I admit your Xiantian Lingbao is powerful."
At this point, he had no choice but to admit that he couldn't defeat the Heaven Immortal before him in a head-on fight.
"But so what?!"
"Honghuang isn't as simple as you think."
"I'm a disciple of the Saint Yuqing. If you provoke the Saint, I'll make you wish you were dead!"
Huanglong Zhenren invoked Yuanshi.
"I nearly forgot you were a Saint Disciple."
Lu Changsheng wore a look of sudden realization.
"Scared now, are you?"
"Hand over the Xuanling Fruit and the sword in your hand, and I might consider letting you go!"
Huanglong Zhenren made his offer.
So what if he couldn't beat Lu Changsheng?
He had the Chan Sect and a Saint backing him!
"Huanglong, Huanglong. Maybe your strength doesn't rank among the best of the Jade Void Twelve Immortals, but when it comes to shamelessness, you're number one."
Lu Changsheng's face was full of mockery.
"You're a Golden Immortal who can't beat a Heaven Immortal. What gives you the nerve to call yourself a Saint Disciple?"
"You're the one trapped in a hopeless situation, yet you think a few words will make me hand over the Xuanling Fruit and Ling Yun Jian. How ridiculous."
Those few words struck Huanglong Zhenren where it hurt.
"You..."
"Don't push your luck!"
"Do you really think one Xiantian Lingbao is enough to guarantee your victory?"
"Let me tell you, the Jade Void Twelve Immortals have powers beyond your imagination."
"See this talisman? It was bestowed by a Saint. With a single activation, I can make sure you die without a burial place!"
A talisman had appeared in Huanglong Zhenren's hand.
Yet Lu Changsheng's expression remained perfectly calm.
Someone else might have been intimidated by Huanglong Zhenren.
But Lu Changsheng was a transmigrator.
He knew every Magic Treasure and Trump Card Huanglong Zhenren had.
Lu Changsheng raised Ling Yun Jian once more, a fearsome sword beam forming along its edge.
"Then let's see whether your talisman is more powerful or my Ling Yun Jian."
Seeing the sword beam appear again, Huanglong Zhenren's face went deathly pale.
So he still couldn't bluff Lu Changsheng?
He had no choice but to activate the talisman. In an instant, a wash of Golden Light enveloped him.
But the Golden Light posed no threat at all.
"What, is that your last resort?"
Lu Changsheng mocked him.
"I, Huanglong Zhenren, will remember this. The next time we meet, I'll repay you a hundredfold!"
Huanglong Zhenren's threat rang out from within the Golden Light.
He had already been wounded so badly by Lu Changsheng. If he'd had a way to defeat him, he would have used it long ago instead of resorting to threats.
The talisman had no offensive power at all. It was meant to help him escape.
Since he hadn't managed to fool Lu Changsheng, he could only flee.
Once Lu Changsheng confirmed Huanglong Zhenren had left, his taut nerves gradually relaxed.
He let out a long breath.
He had finally made it through.
From Lingganhu until now, and after the Lightning Body Tempering just moments ago, his Heaven Immortal body had long since reached its limit.
He had only had enough strength for one strike. He couldn't manage a second.
In other words, Huanglong Zhenren had been scared off.
Regardless, the outcome was good: he had obtained the Xuanling Fruit, and his Lightning Body Tempering was mostly complete.
As for offending Huanglong Zhenren, that wasn't a problem either.
If Huanglong Zhenren had any sense, he wouldn't dare tell Yuanshi about this.
After all, he'd be too embarrassed to show his face.
And the next time he met Huanglong Zhenren, things would be completely different.
Lu Changsheng took two Yuling Pills. Once his injuries had stabilized, he set off back to his Dojo.
Three Immortal Island.
Inside her cave abode, Yunxiao slowly opened her eyes as she meditated.
Her exquisitely beautiful face held a trace of helplessness.
With the formation's aid, all the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy around Three Immortal Island had gathered there.
Cultivating in such an environment should have yielded twice the results with half the effort.
She had planned to use the formation to reach the Primordial Unity Golden Immortal Peak as quickly as possible and break through to Daluo.
But after decades of seclusion, her cultivation had made no progress at all.
The reason was simple: Lu Changsheng!
Her becoming Dao Companions with Lu Changsheng had been an accident to begin with.
What Qiongxiao and Bixiao had said afterward about Dao Companions had only left her more confused.
As a result, she hadn't been able to focus on cultivating at all during this period.
She couldn't go on like this.
Yunxiao made up her mind, rose, and left her cave abode.
She was going to find Lu Changsheng.
Before you continue