The pressure of a Great Luo Golden Immortal spread out without restraint. In an instant, monstrous waves rose across a million-mile stretch of sea. The Celestial Court cultivators following behind hurriedly retreated, afraid of being caught in the aftermath of a clash between two Great Luo beings.
The Daoist fixed his gaze on Luxuan.
He had come bearing the Celestial Court's decree. According to his original expectations, as long as he invoked Dongwang Gong's name and the title of foremost among male immortals, even if the other party was also a Great Luo, he would likely be shown some respect.
Who could have expected Luxuan not only to show him no respect, but to tell him to get lost in front of so many Celestial Court cultivators?
If he left in disgrace today, he would have no standing left when he returned to Purple Palace Isle.
"I'll ask you one last time, Fellow Daoist."
"Will you erect the Celestial Court Dao Stele or not?"
His Great Luo aura rose steadily. Behind the Daoist, crimson-gold immortal light condensed into a massive blazing sun, within which the laws of the Great Dao faintly intertwined. Its scorching heat even caused vast stretches of seawater nearby to evaporate.
It was the first time Yunxiao and her sisters had experienced the pressure of a true Great Luo from such close range.
That level was utterly beyond comparison with Golden Immortals.
The mere aura naturally emitted by the Great Dao caused the circulation of their mana to noticeably stagnate.
Qiongxiao instinctively gripped the Mystic Origin Immortal-Slaying Sword.
Bixiao also quietly held the Golden Flood-Dragon Scissors in her palm.
The moment the auras of the two Supreme-grade Innate Spirit Treasures emerged, the Daoist's pupils abruptly contracted.
Supreme-grade Innate Spirit Treasures!
And there were two of them!
He had only heard the sea-patrolling immortal generals say that Penglai was rich in resources, and he had not thought much of it. Only now did he truly realize just how wealthy this immortal island was.
Several juniors at the Golden Immortal realm each possessed a Supreme-grade Innate Spirit Treasure?
What kind of extravagant setup was this?
Even the wealthy and powerful Celestial Court could not afford to play like this.
An uncontrollable flash of greed crossed the Daoist's eyes.
Luxuan naturally saw the change clearly, but could not be bothered to care.
Although the Three Cloud Sisters now had supreme-grade spirit treasures to protect themselves, the gap in cultivation between both sides was too great. If an experienced Great Luo truly went all out, there was no need for his three disciples to risk their lives testing their limits.
"You three, fall back."
Luxuan gave the order casually.
Yunxiao had wanted to say something, but seeing her master's calm expression, she ultimately retreated into the island with her two younger sisters.
Before leaving, Bixiao could not help looking back.
She was very curious.
The commotion caused by her master's breakthrough had already been terrifying, but she had never seen Luxuan truly fight anyone.
Since this Celestial Court envoy dared to act so arrogantly, he ought to have some skill, right?
Seeing the Three Cloud Sisters retreat, the Daoist assumed Luxuan was finally preparing to fight seriously, and a sneer appeared at the corner of his lips.
"If you had known this would happen, why bother..."
Before he could finish speaking—
Luxuan turned and plucked a leaf from an ancient tree beside him.
The Daoist's brows instantly furrowed.
What did this mean?
He was not even taking out a magic treasure?
Luxuan held the verdant leaf between two fingers and casually flicked it forward.
"Go."
When the leaf left his fingertips, there was not even the slightest earth-shaking phenomenon.
The Daoist was initially stunned, but then his expression changed drastically.
Because the instant that leaf flew beyond the bounds of Penglai, an incomparably terrifying aura of the Great Dao suddenly erupted from it.
The leaf, no larger than a palm at first, swelled wildly in the wind.
Thirty feet.
Three thousand feet.
Thirty thousand feet!
In the span of a single breath, the entire sky went dark.
The emerald divine leaf seemed to bear an entire world. Its veins transformed into mountains and rivers stretching across heaven and earth, while countless Array Dao patterns lit up naturally upon it, instantly sealing the surrounding space-time.
The crimson-gold blazing sun behind the Daoist bore the brunt of it.
Boom!
Before the two sides had even truly collided, the Great Luo Dharma Form that could burn mountains and boil seas trembled violently beneath the terrifying pressure.
There was no trace of disdain left on the Daoist's face.
"Red Sun Burning Heaven!"
With a thunderous roar—
A boundless sea of flames erupted. Countless crimson divine flames converged into a giant hand that blotted out the sky and slammed fiercely toward the descending divine leaf.
The instant the two sides collided—
Crack!
The crimson giant hand did not even last a breath before collapsing into flames that filled the sky.
The divine leaf barely slowed at all.
"How is this possible?!"
The Daoist finally lost his composure.
His hands formed seals in rapid succession. Several innate magic treasures flew from his body, and he laid down layer after layer of defensive divine abilities before him.
The first treasure.
Shattered.
The second treasure.
Sent flying.
The third layer of protective immortal light had only just risen when, in the next instant, it was crushed apart inch by inch as though it were made of paper.
The Celestial Court cultivators who had been watching from behind were utterly dumbfounded.
Was this even a battle?
Why did it look like an adult smacking a child with a pot lid?
Most absurd of all, Luxuan had not even moved from his spot from beginning to end.
"No!"
The Daoist finally stopped caring about the Celestial Court's dignity. His body transformed into a streak of crimson light as he fled into the distance.
But the surrounding space had already been completely sealed by the array patterns on the divine leaf.
He had fled less than ten thousand miles when the sky above him suddenly darkened.
Rumble!
The entire Eastern Sea seemed to shudder.
The emerald divine leaf crashed down, smashing that Great Luo Golden Immortal from the sky all the way into the sea.
The sea surface across ten thousand miles instantly sank inward.
Then, the surrounding seawater surged back, raising a circular tidal wave tens of thousands of feet high.
When everything finally settled, the leaf had returned to the size of a palm and drifted back into Luxuan's hand.
On the sea surface, only the Daoist remained, so disheveled that he was nearly unrecognizable.
More than half his immortal robe had been torn apart.
His hair hung in disarray.
Blood stained the corner of his mouth.
Even his Great Luo aura had withered to its weakest point.
Most importantly, when he looked up at Luxuan, none of his former arrogance remained in his eyes.
Only shock.
He simply could not understand it.
They were both clearly Great Luo beings.
How could the gap between them be this enormous?
Within the island.
Bixiao looked down at the Golden Flood-Dragon Scissors in her hand, then at the utterly ordinary leaf between Luxuan's fingers, and suddenly fell into deep thought.
"Elder Sister."
"Why do I suddenly feel like Supreme-grade Innate Spirit Treasures aren't all that impressive?"
Yunxiao did not know whether to laugh or cry.
"It's not that spirit treasures aren't impressive."
"It's that Master is too impressive."
Qiongxiao, meanwhile, kept staring at the lingering Array Dao aura on that leaf, her eyes gleaming with wonder.
Luxuan's strike had appeared simple, but in truth, he had infused his mana, Array Dao, and the force of Penglai's heaven and earth into a single leaf. Only then had it produced such terrifying suppressive power.
A leaf itself was naturally worthless.
What mattered was the person throwing it.
On the sea, the Daoist struggled to suppress his surging blood and qi. At last, he no longer dared to mention erecting a stele or registering anyone.
"I will remember what you bestowed upon me today, Fellow Daoist."
Luxuan raised a brow.
Even at a time like this, he was still making threats?
Great Wilderness cultivators truly could not escape the standard villain routine.
"If your memory is truly so poor, I can help you deepen the impression."
As his words fell, the leaf in Luxuan's hand rose slightly once more.
The Daoist's expression changed sharply.
"Farewell!"
This time, he did not even bother with pleasantries before turning and fleeing.
The other Celestial Court cultivators were even faster. The more imposing they had been when they arrived, the more smoothly they fled now.
Luxuan did not pursue them.
Whether those people lived or died made no difference.
Besides, compared with several ordinary Celestial Court cultivators, he was more interested in seeing what Dongwang Gong planned to do next.
"Go back and tell Dongwang Gong."
Luxuan's calm voice carried across hundreds of thousands of miles in an instant and reached the Daoist's ears.
"Penglai does not belong to the Celestial Court."
"If you come again, bear the consequences yourselves."
The distant crimson light visibly paused, then fled even faster.
Bixiao finally could not hold back her laughter.
"Master, wasn't he just saying he wanted us to register in the immortal registry?"
Luxuan turned and walked into the island.
"That is why I told him to go back and think it over again."
Bixiao followed behind him and nodded solemnly.
"I think he has probably thought it through quite clearly by now."
Yunxiao shot her a helpless glare, though a faint smile also rested on her lips.
At the same time.
Above Purple Palace Isle.
A disheveled streak of crimson light finally passed through the Celestial Court's grand formation and landed directly before the immortal palace.
The immortal generals guarding the gates were all stunned when they saw the newcomer's appearance.
Was this not the Great Luo Immortal Lord who had just been ordered to go to Penglai?
He had been perfectly fine when he left.
Why did he return looking as if someone had smashed him with a mountain?
And in the deepest part of the immortal palace.
Dongwang Gong slowly opened his eyes at that very moment.
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