The Heavenly Thunder, but with this single, effortless stroke, it vanished instantly, as if it had never existed.
The Tribulation Cloud in the sky seemed to be intimidated by the residual power of this sword, and their rolling speed slowed down.
As if sensing something, Jian Jiu suddenly opened his eyes.
He happened to see the tall, straight back of the person blocking his way, and slowly turned around.
It's Zhang Yu.
The pale golden aura around him had completely subsided, and his eyes were calm and profound, as if they contained the infinite starry sky and the ultimate truth of the birth and death of the universe.
The aura emanating from him was as deep as the sea and as vast as the sky, completely different from before.
It was an aura of perfection, immortality, and transcendence.
More importantly, Jian Jiu sensed from him a strange feeling of perfect harmony with this world.
This is completely different from Zilu's feeling of forcibly "controlling" and "suppressing" heaven and earth.
"You... broke through?"
Jian Jiu looked at Zhang Yu, a complex and indescribable light flashing in his eyes—a mixture of relief, understanding, and a touch of sadness.
He knew how devastating the price would be for this breakthrough.
Zhang Yu nodded silently, his gaze meeting Jian Jiu's.
In those eyes, there was gratitude, heaviness, and endless sorrow.
But more than anything, it was a chilling coldness and Killing Intent that had settled to its extreme.
He glanced down at the unconscious, completely annihilated Western Chu War Souls in the Houtu, and at the heavily injured Xu Xinwu and the others.
Finally, he slowly raised his gaze and locked it on Zilu, whose face had become extremely pale high in the sky.
His voice was calm, yet it seemed to contain a chilling power that could freeze the heavens and earth, clearly reaching Jian Jiu's ears and echoing throughout the entire world:
"Yes, you've broken through."
"Leave the rest to me."
Zhang Yu slowly raised his head and looked at Zilu in the sky, whose expression had changed from shock to extreme solemnity.
"Zilu..."
He slowly spoke, his voice filled with a ferocious Killing Intent, "You deserve to die."
Before he finished speaking, he stretched out his hand, facing the void, and gently clenched his fist.
"Buzz--!"
In the distance, the broken half of the Exterminating Immortal Sword, stuck in the shattered earth, suddenly emitted a clear and melodious Sword Cry.
With a whoosh, the Exterminating Immortal Sword transformed into a dark golden streak of light, traversing space and instantly appearing in Zhang Yu's hand.
The longsword was in hand, emitting a joyful, soft ringing sound.
"Cut!"
Zhang Yu didn't waste any words, nor did he use any complicated sword techniques Divine Ability.
He simply swung the newly refined Exterminating Immortal Sword down at Zilu high in the sky!
With a single sword strike, the world lost its color!
There was no dazzling sword light, no whistling Sword Cry.
Only a simple, pale golden sword mark extended from the tip of the sword, silently cutting through Liao Kong, cutting through light, and even cutting through all the active Principle and energies along the way!
This sword strike was both incredibly fast and incredibly slow, seemingly transcending the constraints of time.
The moment the sword was drawn, the Sword Intent and murderous intent locked onto Zilu, sealing off all his possibilities of evasion!
Zilu's pupils suddenly contracted!
Zhang Yu's seemingly simple sword strike posed a threat to him far exceeding that of Xiang Yu's previous ferocious attack, which gathered Million Battle Souls, and also far exceeding Houtu Tu's incomplete Samsara Divine Ability!
This sword strike is simple and unadorned, abandoning all unnecessary embellishment.
It concentrated all its power, will, and understanding of the newborn Heavenly Dao into this single word, "Slay"!
"Hmph, you've only just entered the Golden Immortal, yet you dare to be so arrogant!"
Although Zilu was shocked, he did not panic.
But after all, he was once a true Daluo Golden Immortal, and his understanding and application of power far surpassed that of Zhang Yu, who had just broken through to become Golden Immortal.
After a brief moment of shock, Zilu quickly regained his composure, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.
Without dodging or avoiding, facing the pale golden sword mark that was powerful enough to cleave through the void, he suddenly clasped his hands together in front of his chest, and then, as if drawing an invisible bow, pushed forward!
"Heaven and Earth Net, bind them!"
With a low shout, the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, the Earth Vein Power, and even the Unseen Principle of space within a radius of tens of thousands of miles seemed to transform into his arm.
With his push, boundless power and Principle surged and intertwined wildly!
In an instant, a net covering the entire sky, woven from countless Principle Chains Heaven and Earth Net with various colors, appeared out of thin air and blocked the pale golden sword mark!
This is not a simple energy barrier, but a web of Principle that Zilu forcibly wove by mobilizing the Heavenly Dao Authority of this realm!
Each chain represents a fundamental or derived Principle of this world.
They are interconnected and endlessly regenerating, containing powerful forces of binding, attrition, and decomposition!
"Laugh--!"
The pale golden sword mark pierced into the Heaven and Earth Net without any hindrance.
The anticipated violent collision did not occur.
The seemingly indestructible sword mark slowed down visibly the moment it touched the net of Principle!
Countless Principle Chains coiled around the sword mark as if they were alive, some hard, some soft, some entwined, some twisted, constantly eroding the sharpness and power contained within.
The sword marks continued to advance, and wherever they passed, the Principle Chains snapped one by one.
But with each broken sword, the light of the sword mark dimmed a little, and the speed of progress slowed a little.
Finally, after severing countless thousands upon thousands of Principle Chains.
The pale golden sword mark, when it was only a hundred feet away from Zilu, exhausted its power and completely dissipated into the air.
"That's all there is to it!"
Zilu sneered, feeling much more at ease.
He could see that although Zhang Yu had broken through to the Golden Immortal and merged with the Heavenly Dao Origin, his power level was no weaker than his own.
However, Zhang Yu lacks combat experience at the Golden Immortal level and the skillful use of power!
He possessed immense strength, yet he was like a child who had suddenly gained divine power, only knowing how to smash with brute force, without understanding how to use the most ingenious techniques and minimize energy expenditure to unleash maximum power.
"Let me show you what true power is!"
Zilu, seizing the advantage, pressed his advantage and launched a surprise attack!
He no longer stood still and passively defended, but instead used profound footwork, his figure instantly splitting into countless forms, as if appearing simultaneously in every corner of the sky, making it difficult to distinguish between reality and illusion!
"Myriad Laws Return to the Origin, the Spear of Heavenly Punishment!"
Countless phantoms of Zilu simultaneously raised their hands in a grasping motion, and the Tribulation Cloud in the sky responded once more.
Countless bolts of purplish-black lightning were forcibly extracted, compressed, and condensed, transforming in their hands into spears of Spear of Heavenly Punishment wrapped in destructive lightning!
These spears are not illusions; each one contains terrifying divine punishment power, enough to easily pierce through stars!
"Go!"
Thousands of phantom figures simultaneously hurled spears!
In an instant, the sky was filled with purple-black spear shadows tearing through the heavens, like a torrential downpour, shooting towards Zhang Yu from all directions, up, down, left, and right, without any blind spots!
The trajectory of each spear was mysterious and unpredictable, subtly blocking all possible evasion routes for Zhang Yu.
What's even more terrifying is that these spears are not simply physical or energy attacks; they are connected to the Heaven and Earth Principle controlled by Zilu, and can change direction, accelerate, or even cooperate with each other at any time to form a deadly formation!
Zhang Yu frowned slightly; he could sense the threat emanating from those spears.
He wielded the Exterminating Immortal Sword, its light gleaming like a wheel, creating a dense, impenetrable curtain of swords before him.
"Jingle bells--!"
Countless Spear of Heavenly Punishment struck the sword curtain, unleashing a dense barrage of explosions.
Most of the spears were shredded by the sword curtain, turning into scattered lightning.
However, Zilu's control over power was truly exquisite.
Some spears can bypass the weak points of the sword barrier, or several spears can attack a single point at the same time, breaking through the barrier's defenses and piercing Zhang Yu's body!
Zhang Yu dodged and blocked, his Exterminating Immortal Sword swirling like the wind, shattering the incoming spears one by one.
But he clearly seemed to be struggling, and his movements were no longer as relaxed as they had been at the beginning.
Zilu's attacks were not only powerful but also had tricky angles, often able to anticipate Zhang Yu's defensive weaknesses, forcing him to expend more energy to compensate.
In contrast, Zhang Yu, although powerful, was still rather crude in his use of power. Many of his attacks, though seemingly fierce, actually wasted most of his strength on useless things.
With this shift in momentum, Zhang Yu gradually found himself at a disadvantage!
"Boom boom boom!"
Zilu seized an opportunity, and the several illusory figures suddenly merged into one, with his true form appearing behind and to the side of Zhang Yu.
A spear of Spear of Heavenly Punishment, refined to its ultimate form, silently pierced Zhang Yu's back!
Although Zhang Yu was alert and parried with his sword, he was a beat too slow due to his previous exhaustion and mishandling of the situation.
"Sizzle--!"
Although the Exterminating Immortal Sword successfully severed the spear tip, the destructive lightning and annihilation Principle attached to the spear still grazed past Zhang Yu's protective Immortal Light, tearing a hole in the imperial robe on his back.
Although it was just a superficial and insignificant injury, it was the beginning of a dangerous situation!
This indicates that Zhang Yu has begun to be injured due to Zilu's seasoned combat skills and exquisite application of the Principle!