Volume 8, Chapter 479 – The Immortal

Du Wu no longer had any will to fight. He turned and fled.

“Hmph!”

Lu Yao vanished like a ghost from her original position, leaving behind a distorted space in her wake. The nails of her right hand elongated into pitch-black blades, and as she moved, they sliced through the air, leaving visible spatial fissures in their path.

At the same time, the surrounding light began to dim. The dark clouds above grew heavier, accompanied by the dull rumble of thunder. Occasional flashes of violet pierced through the clouds, this was the precursor to the arrival of heavenly tribulation.

Lu Yao nearly teleported behind Du Wu. The blade formed from her nails plunged into the back of his skull, pierced out through his mouth, then swept upward in a vicious slash.

Just like that, Du Wu’s head was split cleanly in half. His body stiffened before plummeting from the sky. With his brain destroyed, he lost consciousness instantly, never even getting the chance to transfer his injuries to a doppelgänger.

‘So, attacking the head can instantly kill a cultivator above the Divine Realm!’

Qi Huang had an epiphany and committed this knowledge firmly to memory.

With Du Wu’s death, his seven corporeal souls scattered, and his Life Soul fled in desperate panic.

As a zombie, Lu Yao could see souls even without the aid of cat tears. Thus, she pursued relentlessly, her blade-like nails slashing horizontally at Du Wu’s fleeing soul like a sickle reaping wheat. The razor-sharp edge sliced open yet another spatial rift.

Yet, this devastating strike had no effect. It passed straight through Du Wu’s Life Soul as though cutting air.

“Hah! Souls are immune to physical attacks! What does it matter if you tear through space? Just wait, I’ll take my time making you suffer!”

Du Wu mocked her shamelessly as he fled.

“Oh really?”

Lu Yao remained utterly unfazed, continuing her pursuit without pause. As Yin energy flooded her body, her strength grew, and the spatial rifts she carved became increasingly pronounced. Above, the thunder grew deafening, and an overwhelming pressure descended from the heavens.

Affected by this heavenly might, Du Wu’s speed began to slow. Fear gradually twisted his face as he screamed, “It’s the heavenly tribulation! Stop now, or none of us will survive!”

Lu Yao acted as though she hadn’t heard. Her “blade” moved even faster, splitting space wherever it passed, while the heavenly pressure above grew ever more oppressive.

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“You madwoman!”

Terrified out of his wits, Du Wu scrambled desperately, yet no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t shake Lu Yao. Worse, as the heavenly might intensified, his movements grew sluggish until he was finally crushed flat against the ground.

“Run. Why aren’t you running anymore?”

Lu Yao stepped forward, her feet leaving deep imprints with each movement. The heavenly pressure weighed heavily on her, bending her posture as though she had aged decades in an instant.

“Stay away from me!”

Du Wu’s face contorted in horror.

“You said physical attacks don’t work on you. I just wanted to see if that’s true.”

Expressionless, Lu Yao stepped forward and plunged her nail-blade into Du Wu’s Life Soul. As Yin energy surged into her, her hunched back slowly straightened.

“Help me!”

Du Wu wailed in terror, but no matter how he struggled, he couldn’t break free from the heavenly suppression.

Whoosh—!

A piercing sound tore through the air as the first bolt of heavenly lightning, blinding violet, descended from the sky and struck Lu Yao directly. She stood firm as an unshakable mountain, and the lightning traveled down her elongated nails, coursing straight into Du Wu’s Life Soul.

“AHHH—!”

A soul-rending scream tore from Du Wu’s throat as his Life Soul was instantly obliterated by the heavenly tribulation.

“The heavenly tribulation in this world seems stronger than the one in my original world.”

Having just slain the leader of the Immortal Alliance without so much as a flicker of emotion, Lu Yao tilted her head slightly and murmured to herself.

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Qi Huang, too, felt a stinging pain in her body. If the heavenly tribulation here was of the same intensity as in Lu Yao’s original world, it shouldn’t have had such an effect. After all, Lu Yao’s current strength was far beyond what it had been before!

“But so what? No matter how strong the tribulation is, can it possibly contend with the Yin energy of multiple worlds?”

Lu Yao calmly sat down in a meditative posture, focusing all her perception on the single tear of blood on her face. The vortex in her heart spun faster, doubling the rate at which it absorbed Yin energy.

At the same time, Yin energy from all corners of this world began converging toward her. Even the spatial rifts she had torn open earlier now spewed forth endless streams of Yin energy, belonging to another world entirely.

Lu Yao’s power surged once more, far outpacing the intensifying heavenly tribulation above. Thus, the so-called heavenly punishment couldn’t harm her in the slightest. Instead, it served only to temper her further.

As time passed, Lu Yao’s mere seated presence began causing spatial distortions. Her physical body had grown so powerful that it was on the verge of collapsing the very fabric of this world.

“Listen well. From today onward, the Immortal Alliance is disbanded. As long as I live, no one is permitted to mend the heavens!”

Lu Yao’s voice, though not loud, carried an overwhelming force, reaching even the wandering ghosts of the entire imperial capital.

As the ninth and final bolt of heavenly tribulation struck, Lu Yao’s body collapsed space itself, and she sank into the void.

Looking around, she found herself in a vast, starry expanse. Before she could examine her surroundings, a figure in the distance caught her attention.

It was an old man with snow-white hair and beard. His face was unblemished, and his pristine white robes were untouched by dust, giving him an air of transcendence. Yet his twisted features and bloodshot eyes ruined this otherwise divine impression.

“Who are you?”

Lu Yao remained on guard.

“Was it you who killed my descendant in the lower realm just now?”

The old man spat out each word through gritted teeth.

“Your descendant? You mean Du Wu, the leader of the Immortal Alliance?”

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Lu Yao tested the waters.

“Correct. I am Du Jie, the immortal ancestor of the Du family.”

Du Jie’s breathing was ragged.

‘An… immortal?’

Qi Huang’s heart clenched at those words. She had already experienced the terrifying might of immortal artifacts like the Immortal Stele. But how fearsome would an actual immortal be?

“Since you saw everything, don’t you think he deserved to die? Ignoring the will of the people, reversing the natural order, slaughtering innocents—”

Lu Yao fired back.

“According to the will of Heaven, as an evil entity, you should have died long ago. The Mandate of Heaven supersedes the will of the people. And now, on top of that, you’ve slain my descendant. Your crimes are unforgivable. Since my grandson failed, I, his ancestor, shall complete his mission in his stead!”

Du Jie remained unmoved.

Qi Huang was momentarily stunned. Wasn’t the entire point of cultivation to defy the heavens? Why, then, did this old fossil keep spouting nonsense about the ‘Mandate of Heaven’ after ascending? This makes no sense.

“Heh. ‘The Mandate of Heaven supersedes the will of the people,’ huh? I’d like to know, where exactly is this ‘Heaven’ you speak of?”

Lu Yao’s laughter was icy with fury.

“If you have the ability to shatter the barriers of the immortal realm, you might just get to see the true ‘Heaven’. But since you’ve crossed paths with me, you’ll never get that chance.”

Du Jie’s sneer was dripping with malice.

“Heh. So there really is a ‘Heaven’ in this world. In that case, I swear I will cut it down! Anyone who stands in my way will become stepping stones beneath my feet, be they man or immortal!”

Lu Yao laughed from the depths of her soul, for she finally had hope of avenging her family.

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“Good! Then let this old man see if you have the qualifications to make such a claim.”

Du Jie’s eyes sharpened. With a sweep of his immortal-grade Divine Sense, he hurled a nearby asteroid, dozens of kilometers in diameter, straight at Lu Yao.

Qi Huang jolted awake, sitting frozen on her bed for a long time, unable to process the sheer impact of everything she had witnessed in her dream.

After what felt like an eternity, her mind finally settled somewhat. As she carefully reviewed the dream, she realized that not only had it been shocking, but it had also granted her invaluable insights. How to swiftly kill a cultivator above the Divine Realm, the attack patterns of the Immortal Stele, and even information about the immortal realm and the so-called “Heaven”. All of this would be of immense help in her future cultivation journey.

Assuming, of course, that any of it was real!

Once her heart had calmed a little, Qi Huang immediately dove into her Sea of Consciousness. She had no idea how long she had been asleep.

But the moment she entered, she froze.

That androgynous Essence Soul had abandoned its brother, the Humanly Soul, and was now shamelessly mingling with the five female Corporeal Souls.

“Big Brother! The Essence Soul has betrayed us again!”

The Humanly Soul cowered in a corner, whispering its complaint, terrified of provoking a group beatdown from the female souls.

“Get your butt over here! Have you forgotten whether you’re male or female?!”

Qi Huang roared at the Essence Soul in fury.