Amid the sea of flames, an ancient, heavy yellow barrier stood firm, like the pillar that steadied the sea amid crashing waves.
Lu Changsheng still held the same pose as before, standing behind the barrier. Not even a single feather had been singed.
The Southern Bright Separation Fire, powerful enough to melt a Post-Heaven Spiritual Treasure, vanished without a trace the instant it touched the barrier of the Mysterious Yellow Shield, like a drop of water falling onto red-hot iron.
"This... How is this possible?!"
The old man was utterly horrified. His all-out strike felt as though it had slammed into an immovable Chaos Divine Mountain.
The rebound force even shattered the bones in his already gravely injured right arm, one after another!
"The might of a Mystic Immortal? Is that all?"
Behind the barrier, Lu Changsheng slowly raised his head.
The timidity and retreat in his eyes had long since vanished, replaced by a cold, frenzied look born of pushing the Dao of Cowardice to its very limits.
Those who followed the Dao of Cowardice did not provoke trouble lightly.
But once driven into a corner, with nowhere left to retreat, they were more ruthless than anyone! They would completely and cleanly wipe out every hidden danger that threatened their lives!
"Are you done?"
A cruel smile tugged at Lu Changsheng's lips.
"Now it's my turn."
The moment the words left his mouth,
Lu Changsheng slapped the Storage Jade Box at his waist.
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—"
In an instant, hundreds of streaks of light burst from the box, blotting out the sky.
These weren't magic treasures, but three hundred discarded array plates, each inscribed by Lu Changsheng with a "Miniature Sky Thunder Detonation Array"!
They were all failed pieces from his usual practice. They weren't very powerful, but there were so many of them it was downright outrageous!
"Detonate!"
Lu Changsheng didn't even look. He simply formed a hand seal.
"Rumble!!!"
All three hundred array plates detonated at once around the four Mystic Immortals.
Although they couldn't inflict any real harm on them,
the sea of flames, the ear-splitting thunderclaps, and the violent torrents of spiritual energy unleashed as the array plates destroyed themselves instantly blocked their vision and spiritual sense.
"Not good! This ant has strange tricks. Everyone, attack together and finish this quickly!"
The Phoenix Clan elder, a mid-stage Mystic Immortal, finally realized something was wrong and roared furiously.
But Lu Changsheng's counterattack had only just begun.
Taking advantage of the chaos caused by the explosions, Lu Changsheng did not unleash some mighty divine ability.
Instead, he poured the True Immortal magic power he had accumulated over the past fifteen hundred years into the Cowardly Immortal Vine coiled around his wrist.
"Go!"
At Lu Changsheng's low command,
the Cowardly Immortal Vine, originally only as thick as a bracelet, instantly swelled to a hundred zhang long. Like a green venomous snake, it silently slipped into the surrounding currents of spiritual energy.
"Argh—!"
A shrill scream suddenly rang out amid the chaos.
One of the Dragon Clan remnants, positioned farthest from the others, was warily defending against the aftershocks of the explosions.
Suddenly, his ankles tightened. A green vine had somehow wrapped itself tightly around both his legs.
The vine carried an exceptionally sinister paralyzing poison and devouring power. The instant it touched him,
the Dragon Clan remnant lost all feeling in half his body, while the magic power in him poured away like water bursting through a dam.
"Help me..."
He cried out in terror, desperately swinging his weapon in an attempt to cut the vine.
But the Cowardly Immortal Vine had been nurtured with Nine Heavens Breathing Soil and Three Lights Divine Water. It was incredibly tough; even the magic power of a Mystic Immortal couldn't easily cut through it.
"First."
Lu Changsheng's icy voice rang through the smoky haze of the explosions.
He stood behind the absolute defense of the Mysterious Yellow Shield, like a hunter without a shred of feeling. He yanked hard on the Cowardly Immortal Vine with his right hand.
"Whoosh!"
The Dragon Clan remnant was dragged toward Lu Changsheng, utterly unable to resist.
The instant he drew near, Lu Changsheng joined the fingers of his left hand like a sword. A Pure Yang Sword Qi, condensed to the utmost, pierced the remnant's brow with pinpoint precision.
There was no hesitation, no wasted motion—one strike, one kill!
Even his primordial spirit was instantly reduced to ashes beneath the scorching Pure Yang Fire.
Silence.
In Phoenix Fall Valley, aside from the echoes of the explosions, one of the four Mystic Immortals had vanished in an instant.
The three who remained, including the Phoenix Clan elder, finally felt fear.
This wasn't an ordinary True Immortal.
This was a monster with absolute defense, strange and unpredictable methods, and a ruthlessness that knew no bounds!
"Form a formation! Don't let him pick us off one by one!"
The Phoenix Clan elder roared, beckoning the two remaining Dragon Clan remnants to close in around him.
But would Lu Changsheng give them the chance?
"Too late."
Lu Changsheng gave a cold snort.
He no longer used the Cowardly Immortal Vine to launch surprise attacks, but directly put away the scattered array plate fragments.
The Mysterious Yellow Shield floated above his head, draping him in wisps of Mysterious Yellow Qi and protecting him securely.
Then Lu Changsheng formed an extraordinarily complex seal with both hands.
This was the only offensive divine ability he had comprehended from the fragmentary Great Dao Memory in his mind during the eight thousand five hundred years he spent in seclusion on the Nameless Low Mountain.
He had never used this divine ability before.
Because using it was no different from burning himself up along with his enemy!
It wasn't a true self-detonation, but a terrifying killing move that squeezed his own essence to the extreme, unleashing power in an instant ten or even a hundred times greater than his current level!
The price of using this move was immense. At best, he would fall in cultivation; at worst, his essence would be damaged and take countless ages to recover.
But in this life-or-death crisis,
if he couldn't keep these three here today, and they escaped and exposed his secret—the Mysterious Yellow Shield—he would never know a day of peace in the Primordial Land!
"Fight to the death! No quarter!"
Lu Changsheng's eyes burned red as he forcibly extracted a sliver of the Great Dao Merit essence within him!
He wasn't merely leaking its aura. He was truly drawing out a sliver of its essence!
"Buzz—!"
The instant that sliver of Great Dao Merit essence merged with his True Immortal magic power,
the heavens and earth changed color.
The Calamity Sha Mist that lingered in Phoenix Fall Valley year-round seemed to have encountered its most terrifying natural enemy and frantically scattered in every direction.
A dazzling golden flame ignited around Lu Changsheng.
The flames gave off no heat. They possessed only an absolute power of annihilation that transcended every law.
"What... What is this power?!"
The Phoenix Clan elder and the two remaining Dragon Clan remnants looked at Lu Changsheng, his whole body wreathed in golden flames. Feeling the pressure that made even their souls tremble, they fell into utter despair.
This was power no True Immortal could possibly possess!
This power was even more terrifying than the Daluo Golden Immortals they had seen at the peak of their strength!
"Run! Scatter!"
The Phoenix Clan elder no longer cared about his dignity or treasures. With a shriek, he burned his life essence and shot skyward in a streak of blood-red light, trying to flee the valley of death.
The two Dragon Clan remnants finally snapped out of their daze and fled frantically in opposite directions.
"Do you think you can escape?"
Before you continue