He raised his eyes toward a spot in the void. His gaze seemed to pierce layer upon layer of spatial barriers, locking onto the aura still lingering around the outskirts of the great array.
The Primordial Sky Measuring Ruler in his palm trembled faintly, as though sensing its master's thoughts. Dao patterns gradually lit up along its length.
Donghua had already put away the Primordial Sky Measuring Ruler, so the Innate Great Array naturally dispersed of its own accord.
Ripples spread through space. The Innate Great Array receded like a tide, then finally dissolved into specks of starlight and vanished into the void.
As the final array pattern faded into the void, Donghua was already standing atop the barren mountain where he had been before.
The mountain breeze brushed against Donghua's gilded Daoist robe. It was as if the astonishing array that had trapped a Great Luo Golden Immortal had been nothing more than a dream, leaving not a trace behind.
Naturally, the commotion had not escaped the notice of the two outside the array.
Taizhen swept the area with her divine sense. When she saw Donghua appear unharmed, a smile immediately spread across her bright eyes. "Donghua, are you all right?"
Unlike Taizhen's delight, the Illusory Daoist's expression changed drastically. Shock, grief, and fear flickered through his eyes before finally erupting into a furious, hysterical roar:
"Impossible! How could you break out of the array so quickly? I cultivated the Dao of Space and was still trapped for several yuanhui! What makes you think you can do it?"
"What makes me think so? This!" The Primordial Sky Measuring Ruler in Donghua's hand glimmered faintly.
"Taizhen, withdraw your Supernatural Ability!"
There was no earth-shaking spectacle. Donghua simply raised the ruler and made a light, forward slash.
Where its edge passed, space split soundlessly like thin silk. A mysterious light containing the Dao Rhyme of measuring the heavens and surveying the earth vanished into the void.
At the same time, the Daoist, who had been roaring just moments earlier, abruptly paled. He felt the space around him suddenly solidify, while an oppressive force that made his true spirit tremble descended from the highest heavens.
"Please accept this token of thanks."
Donghua's voice came through the void, so calm that it held not the slightest ripple of emotion.
As Taizhen restored the normal flow of time, the Illusory Daoist wasted no time. He immediately brought out the Bronze Ancient Door.
The Primordial Sky Measuring Ruler trembled faintly, having already locked firmly onto his aura.
The moment the ruler's Mysterious Yellow light appeared before the Daoist, the Bronze Ancient Door rose in time to block its path.
Seeing that the Mysterious Yellow edge of the Primordial Sky Measuring Ruler had sunk more than halfway into the Bronze Ancient Door, the Illusory Daoist curled his lips in scorn.
"So what if you got out? You still—"
Before he could finish, the ruler's light flashed. The Mysterious Yellow Ruler Shadow shot past like lightning.
But the Illusory Daoist was, after all, a Great Luo Golden Immortal. At the brink of death, he forcibly twisted half his body aside.
The Sky Measuring Ruler's blade grazed his left shoulder and slashed diagonally across his chest to his right waist.
"Riiip!"
A sound like tearing cloth rang out. Before a supreme treasure, a Great Luo Dao Body was as fragile as paper. Wherever the ruler's edge passed, the protective immortal light vanished at once, and his body was cleaved in two.
"Argh!"
The Illusory Daoist let out a shrill scream and flew backward like a kite with its string cut, blood tracing a startling arc through the void.
Impossible. He had only been cut in two, so why couldn't he sense the severed half of his body? The Daoist's eyes were filled with shock and disbelief.
The Illusory Daoist winced in pain, anger and suspicion flickering in his eyes.
"What is that thing?!"
Donghua's fingertips brushed over the body of the Primordial Sky Measuring Ruler. The Mysterious Yellow Dao patterns rippled gently at his touch.
He lifted his eyes to the Illusory Daoist's horrified face, the corner of his mouth curving in a faint, enigmatic smile.
"I should thank you for leading me here, fellow Daoist. Otherwise, how could I have found this treasure?"
"Now that you've said your last words, I'll send you into reincarnation!" Before his voice had faded, Donghua struck again with the ruler.
As the Illusory Daoist saw the Mysterious Yellow Ruler Shadow sweep toward him once more, a desperate madness flashed in his eyes.
He paid no heed to Donghua's attack. With trembling fingers, he drew a charred Willow Branch from his sleeve with his withered right hand.
The Willow Branch looked ordinary, yet its tip gathered a Space-Time Dao Rhyme that made one's heart quail.
Just as the Daoist ignored everything else and was about to slash the Willow Branch through the void—
"Clang!"
A crisp ring echoed across Buzhou Mountain.
An unremarkable, broken Jade Fragment had appeared behind the Daoist at some point, directly in the path of the Primordial Sky Measuring Ruler.
The broken Jade Fragment was carved with innate Dao patterns containing an endless void. It firmly blocked the Mysterious Yellow Ruler Shadow, which was powerful enough to tear apart a Great Luo Dao Body!
In the briefest instant of obstruction, the Willow Branch in the Illusory Daoist's hand had already swept down.
Space split open, revealing an ancient-sounding rift. A dense baleful aura could be glimpsed on the other side.
The Jade Fragment struck by the Primordial Sky Measuring Ruler traced an intricate arc, then plunged straight into the Space Rift the Illusory Daoist had just opened.
The instant the broken Jade Fragment appeared, the fragment of the Jade Disk of Creation hidden deep within Donghua's Nascent Soul, where it had been nourished day and night by his Dao Rhyme, stirred!
The two fragments trembled in resonance. Donghua's pupils contracted sharply, as though thousands of thunderbolts had exploded in his sea of consciousness.
A blazing joy far beyond that of gaining any ordinary opportunity surged through his entire body.
Donghua had thought that obtaining one fragment of the Jade Disk of Creation was already an incredible stroke of fortune. He had never imagined he would witness another fragment with his own eyes here. Even with his steadfast Dao Heart, he could not help but feel shaken.
"Your severed half is still here, fellow Daoist. Why hurry away?"
Before his words had faded, Donghua's figure turned into a streak of Clear Radiance that tore through the sky. His Pure Yang Daoist Robe snapped in the rushing wind as he pursued the fading streak of light.
At the very moment he used his Evasion Technique, the Primordial Sky Measuring Ruler in his hand shot through the air, carrying the Dao Rhyme of severing cause and effect. This strike went straight for the Illusory Daoist, who was about to flee into the rift!
Wherever the ruler passed, the River of Time rippled.
The Mysterious Yellow Ruler Shadow caught up from behind. Its edge did not stop outside the Space Rift. Instead, following that intricate trajectory, it struck directly into the rift!
The Mysterious Yellow Ruler Shadow flashed like lightning tearing through the void. It pierced straight through the Daoist's head.
"Pfft!"
The ruler's edge passed through his skull. Before his Nascent Soul could let out a final wail, it was ground to pieces beneath the Primordial Sky Measuring Ruler and vanished completely in specks of light.
As his Nascent Soul was annihilated, a barely perceptible spark of light broke free from its fading remnants. Without looking back, it plunged deep into the Space Rift, heading for the other side.
In the blink of an eye, the Space Rift began to close rapidly.
At this critical moment, a cold, moonlit glow suddenly flared. Taizhen had arrived through the air, holding the Kunlun Mirror!
Where the mirror light flowed, the rapidly shrinking Space Rift stalled slightly, slowing its closure by a third.
Her dark hair streamed behind her, and her plain white Daoist robe snapped in the spatial turbulence.
Surrounded by an enigmatic Space-Time Dao Rhyme and sheltered by the Kunlun Mirror's Clear Radiance, she forced her way into the rift just before it closed completely.
Seeing Taizhen rush in after him, Donghua's gaze sharpened.
"We don't even know where this Space Rift leads, and there could be danger at every turn. Why take such a risk and follow me, Taizhen?"
Before you continue