Burning the Bridge After Crossing the River
"Destroy!"
With a single word, he dispersed the heavenly punishment. In Qi Yun's right eye, the azure phantom of mountains, rivers, sun, and moon slowly Lunzhuan, reflecting the scene of the azure-gray halo above the nine heavens trembling violently.
Feeling the immense power surging within me, vast as the starry sea, heavy as the entire world pressing down on my shoulder.
Qi Yun's mind was as clear as a mirror.
This power, though immense, is ultimately borrowed from elsewhere.
The position of True Lord cannot be usurped simply by power.
It lacks that "Golden Nature" that has been tempered and refined through countless tribulations, achieving immortality.
He was unable to use many profound techniques, divine Divine Ability, and even the supreme authority of his own Dao Fruit that truly belonged to the level of True Lord.
This falsely obtained position of True Lord is more like a massive but clumsy suit of armor.
He possesses unparalleled power, but lacks the effortless grace and masterful control required to achieve anything.
But so what?
Qi Yun has always been using his strengths to attack the enemy's weaknesses!
There's no need for those lofty but not necessarily practical supernatural Divine Ability.
He possesses an innate supernatural Divine Ability, [Wield Myriad Laws], which perfectly aligns with his own Dao Foundation and points directly to the root of all laws!
With his mind made up, Qi Yun no longer hesitated.
He raised one hand, making a very simple grasping motion.
And just as he raised his hand, "BOOM!!!"
The Great Luo Heaven behind them, which covered tens of thousands of miles and was still expanding and strengthening under the infusion of the True Heaven's Will, suddenly burst forth with Infinite Light!
They intertwined and emitted countless dazzling nine-colored divine rays!
The nine colors flow and circulate, containing a supreme rhythm that governs everything.
"Execute!"
Qi Yun spoke the truth, and his five fingers, which had been loosely clenching, suddenly clenched!
"Buzz!!!!!"
An indescribable roar of Principle resounded throughout the very origin of heaven and earth and all things!
The target was directly aimed at the very core of the [False Heaven's Will] halo, at the [Profound purple qi] that was frantically drawing upon the last vestiges of heaven and earth's power in a desperate last stand.
"You—daring to usurp my throne?!"
A grand, distorted roar exploded from the core of the halo.
"Boom--!!!"
[False Heaven's Will] held nothing back, even sacrificing its own stolen essence.
The bluish-gray halo suddenly shrank to a size of a hundred feet, its color turning into a deathly pale white. Countless illusory faces of suffering and twisting appeared on the surface of the halo, all emitting silent wails!
This is its final counterattack, bought with its Heavenly Position potential!
Two forces, both reaching the pinnacle of authority in this realm, collided with a deafening roar!
There was no earth-shattering explosion, no dazzling brilliance.
Centered on the point of impact, the space within a radius of tens of thousands of miles was like glass that had been hit by a boulder, instantly covered with countless fine cracks. The cracks were no longer dark, but flowed with all sorts of bizarre and illogical colors and scenes.
The natural forces of heaven and earth went completely berserk, transforming into a chaotic storm that swept everything away.
The Five Elements are reversed, Yin and Yang are in disarray!
This is no ordinary battle of magic, but a fierce struggle between two forces at the "Heaven's Will" level for the ultimate ownership of the same world!
Qi Yun's expression was solemn, and a trace of pale golden blood slowly spilled from the corner of his mouth.
Although the power of the false True Lord is strong, the burden of forcibly stripping away a will that is almost integrated with the Heavenly Position through the [Wield Myriad Laws] is far beyond imagination.
But his eyes remained as sharp as ever, even more resolute than before.
"I rule the Great Luo, and I forever govern all the heavens!"
With a thought, the Great Luo Heaven behind him trembled violently, and the support from True Heaven's Will surged in like a tide.
"Get down here!"
Qi Yun growled, and his loosely clenched five fingers suddenly yanked hard!
"Sizzle!!!!"
A tearing sound, clearly audible throughout the entire [Azure Gate], suddenly rang out.
Boom!!!
The pale gray aura around that acre expanded and contracted violently, and the faces of countless beings wailed in agony, becoming even more distorted and painful.
Pale chains tightly bound the nine-colored light!
[False Heaven's Will] burns everything, and the pale chains are constantly regenerated and reinforced, even eroding the nine-colored radiance in reverse, attempting to pollute and assimilate the control of Qi Yun.
This is the ultimate test of willpower, endurance, and the depth of understanding of the rules!
Time seemed to stretch out.
Every breath is accompanied by the annihilation of countless rules and the change of power.
Within Qi Yun's seven orifices, the pale golden bloodstains became increasingly prominent, his body trembled slightly, and the power of the false True Lord he was holding was being consumed like a tide.
In contrast, the pale halo of light within the [False Heaven's Will] dimmed and shrank at a visible speed, and the wailing faces of the beings within vanished one by one.
The balance of power, amidst fierce attrition, slowly tipped towards Qi Yun's victory.
"Click----"
A soft yet crystal-clear cracking sound.
The thickest, palloring chain, under the relentless cutting of countless nine-colored rays of light, finally—broke!
Then came the second, the third—a chain reaction of collapse!
Just as the last few core chains were about to be severed, the cry rang out, "If I can't have it—neither can you!!!"
The lingering will of [False Heaven's Will] erupts in a final frenzy!
"Boom--!!!"
An invisible yet powerful impact exploded at the level of authority!
Qi Yun let out a muffled groan, and the nine-colored radiance manifesting around his body instantly dissipated, returning the [Great Luo Heaven] to its original state.
The Profound purple qi that was tightly controlled by the False Heaven's Will instantly transformed into a Flowing Light and disappeared into the highest point of the sky.
Power has returned to its rightful owner.
The terrifying phenomena arising from the struggle for power in the world began to slowly subside.
The chaotic rules gradually returned to their proper place, the shattered space slowly mended itself, and the inverted inspiration gradually straightened out.
Qi Yun slowly lowered his trembling hand, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and gazed in the direction where [Heavenly Position] had returned, his eyes deep and unreadable.
Although they failed to directly seize the Heavenly Position.
but----
With a thought, he sensed the Purple Mansion.
A clear halo, about an acre in size and radiating a majestic aura of the Great Dao, was firmly suppressed at the very bottom by him.
[Fruition Status], obtained!
Standing in the center of this gradually pacifying world, the mixed azure light flowing around Qi Yun due to the power of the false True Lord was slowly dimming and receding.
The purpose of this trip has been achieved.
It's time to leave.
Without further hesitation, he communicated with the Six Realms Heaven, preparing to unleash its last accumulated power and open a stable passage back to the Xuanhuang Realm.
However, the moment his mind connected with the [Six Realms Heaven], a sudden change occurred!
The power that had been infused into him by Heaven's Will was suddenly and rapidly drained away.
"Um?"
Qi Yun frowned sharply and looked inward at himself.
The power was lost at an extremely fast pace. In the blink of an eye, seven or eight tenths of the power of the Heaven's Will that gave him the authority to shake the heavens and the earth had already disappeared!
The aura emanating from him also rapidly declined from that supreme realm of being above all things and equal to heaven and earth, returning to his original Yang Spirit Realm level.
Even the emptiness and backlash caused by the forced extraction of power made his aura slightly disordered and weak.
at the same time--
"Boom!!!"
An unprecedented, domineering, magnificent, and intense aura, yet carrying an ancient imperial majesty, suddenly erupted from not far away.
Like a dormant volcano suddenly erupting, it instantly swept away the land that had just calmed down!
The source of the aura was none other than the Great Cang Emperor, Zhao Xuanji, who had been slumped on the edge of the ruins of the Hall of Diligent Governance, his aura weak and aged!
At this moment, Zhao Xuanji, whose hunched back had somehow straightened, slowly stood up from the ruins.
He was still wearing that tattered, blood-stained bright yellow dragon robe, his white hair was disheveled, and the wrinkles on his face were still deep.
But those eyes, which were originally cloudy and tired, were now frighteningly bright!
His eyes no longer held the deep shrewdness and cunning of an ordinary emperor.
Instead, it burned with two blazing golden flames that seemed to condense fragments of the power of heaven and earth and the fortune of the dynasty and its people!
Amidst the flames, the faint phantoms of the nation and its people rose and fell, and the sounds of people paying homage echoed.
Furthermore, he is frantically devouring, absorbing, and refining fragments of pure Daoist essence and authority that were just dispersed between heaven and earth and released upon the return of the [True Heaven's Will]!
His aura was surging wildly at an astonishing rate!
Early Yang Spirit) – Middle Yang Spirit) – Late Yang Spirit) – Peak Yang Spirit)
Within its aura, a sense of the authority of heaven and earth, similar to the previous [False Heaven's Will], but more majestic and righteous, and more in line with the rhythm of this world's mountains and rivers, began to be mixed in!
This is not merely a surge in cultivation level, but a leap in life level and the bestowal of authority!
He stood there, no longer an old, mortal emperor, but a god rapidly awakening and wielding power over the land!
Surrounded by pale golden imperial dragon energy and azure-blue Daoist aura, the dragon energy took form and was no longer an illusion.
Instead, it was a nearly solidified five-clawed golden dragon, encircling its body, emitting a deep and majestic dragon roar that resonated clearly with the spiritual energy of the surrounding heaven and earth!
In just a few breaths, Zhao Xuanji's aura and power had surged to a terrifying level!
Although it cannot compare to the boundless power of Qi Yun when he was holding the True Lord.
But that sense of "sovereignty"—pure, refined, and exceptionally compatible with this Azure Gate world—is even more dangerous!
Zhao Xuanji slowly raised one hand, palm facing upward, fingers slightly bent.
With this action, the last part of the power belonging to [True Heaven's Will] in Qi Yun's body, as if summoned by a king, completely broke free from his control, transformed into a stream of azure Flowing Light, and entered Zhao Xuanji's palm, where it was easily absorbed and refined by him.
After doing all this, Zhao Xuanji's eyes, burning with blazing golden flames, slowly turned and finally landed on Qi Yun, whose gaze was calm and whose aura had returned to its original level.
Between the two lay hundreds of feet of shattered void and lingering smoke and dust.
The atmosphere suddenly froze.
Qi Yun felt waves of emptiness and dull pain in his body caused by the forced extraction of his power.
He then glanced at Zhao Xuanji, whose aura was already infinitely close to that of True Lord, and whose body was intertwined with the imperial dragon aura and the Dao rhythm of heaven and earth.
At this moment, the eyes of this Great Cang Emperor were filled with undisguised coldness and scrutiny, as well as a hint of hidden sharpness.
He suddenly tugged at the corners of his mouth, a half-smile playing on his lips, breaking the suffocating silence. His voice was calm, revealing neither joy nor anger: "Heh—"
"Is this a case of 'crossing the river and then burning the bridge'?"