Immortal-Exterminating Divine Venerable

"Do you understand now? Even if you capture us, you can't do anything to us!"

Looking at Lu Dingyuan's shocked expression, Yang Xiao smiled faintly.

A moment ago, he was still afraid that Lu Dingyuan would use Ye Wanqing to threaten him, forcing him to hand over the antidote for Lu Qianfan or even do other things against his will.

But now, he no longer had to be.

Why would Yang Xiao fear him now?

"I don't believe it! What kind of Evil Skill are you using?"

Lu Dingyuan roared.

He raised his hand and struck Yang Xiao with another palm.

The result...

...was the same as before. It was as if his palm hadn't struck Yang Xiao's body of flesh and blood at all; all the force was blocked, having no effect on him whatsoever.

As for Yang Xiao, a blood-red poison pill flashed into his hand.

He crushed it lightly, and it scattered into the wind.

The enraged Lu Dingyuan, however, didn't notice any of this.

He just stared at Yang Xiao, his expression grim and unsettled.

Suddenly, his gaze swept over to Ye Wanqing.

"You might be able to do that, but I refuse to believe she can too! If you don't want her to die, you'll obediently hand over the antidote for Qianfan. And tell me about that Evil Skill of yours. Otherwise, hmph!"

Lu Dingyuan threatened.

Yang Xiao was suddenly speechless.

'After all this, has this guy still not figured out what just happened?'

'Or maybe, this old geezer just can't believe that fruit could have such power.'

At this moment, seeing Yang Xiao remain silent, Lu Dingyuan reached out and grabbed for Ye Wanqing again. He was starting to lose his composure.

Otherwise, given how concerned he'd been about his image in front of Ye Wanqing before, he probably wouldn't have attacked her so readily.

He was clearly attacking now because Yang Xiao had provoked him.

But the result...

As he grabbed, Lu Dingyuan quickly discovered that while his power had caught Ye Wanqing, it couldn't penetrate her body at all.

The situation was exactly the same as when he had faced Yang Xiao.

His expression froze for a moment.

'Could it be... that fruit from before?'

A thought flashed through Lu Dingyuan's mind.

At that moment, a flash of dark sword light glinted.

Ye Wanqing made her move.

Unlike Yang Xiao, who had also consumed a Desolate Divine Fruit but had no cultivation, leaving him only able to take hits passively without any way to fight back, Ye Wanqing was different.

She possessed the strength of the Small Divine Power Realm Third Stage Peak, had access to the Ye Family's Secret Techniques, and even had several sets of the Pills Yang Xiao had given her before.

Unleashing her full power in that instant, her might almost reached the level of the Great Divine Power Realm Fourth Layer.

It could be said she was pushing herself to her absolute limit.

Coupled with the Ultimate Grade Spirit Weapon in her hand—which was Ye Wanqing's Lifebound Artifact—it shot forward with a SWISH and pierced into Lu Dingyuan's body. Only then did he barely manage to react.

His figure retreated hastily.

He stared at Ye Wanqing in utter astonishment.

"Well done!"

Yang Xiao started clapping.

To be honest, although he had seized the initiative, the feeling of being passively beaten, both this time and the last, was truly unbearable.

If his own cultivation hadn't been sealed, he would have definitely landed a vicious blow on that old geezer just now.

Now, seeing Ye Wanqing land such a ruthless strike, Yang Xiao was naturally delighted.

It was just that Ye Wanqing's strength was still a little lacking. If she herself had the power of the Great Divine Power Realm and wielded a Treasure Weapon, then by stacking her Secret Techniques and augmenting them with Pills, she might have actually been able to severely injure Lu Dingyuan with a single strike.

But as it was, although the sword had pierced his body, it hadn't caused any serious harm.

With a surge of aura from Lu Dingyuan's body, he forced out the Pure Yin Power from Ye Wanqing's sword, and the wound healed in an instant.

He looked at the two of them with a gloomy expression.

"Good. Very good. It has been a long time since I have suffered such a loss. However, do you really think this is enough to stop me from dealing with you? How laughable. I refuse to believe that no matter how miraculous that fruit you swallowed is, it can withstand my family's ancestral Devouring Secret Technique!"

Lu Dingyuan sneered.

Immediately after, a peculiar aura began to surge from his entire body.

The moment this aura appeared, Yang Xiao's expression changed.

He could sense that this was distinctly the aura of the mysterious power that had enveloped them earlier, preventing Lu Fangliang and the others from discovering them.

It was the very same power that Yang Xiao had found familiar yet had never truly seen before.

'Devouring Secret Technique? I get it now. No wonder it felt so familiar. It's the power of devouring!'

Yang Xiao understood instantly.

The power of devouring.

He had seen it once before on the Bloodthirsty Celestial Cyan. Later, that piece of Bloodthirsty Celestial Cyan had merged with the Bloodthirsty Divine Sword, giving birth to Devouring Secret Patterns.

Yang Xiao had even considered learning this type of Secret Pattern.

After all, it was one of the supreme Secret Patterns, comparable to the Time Secret Pattern, the Void Secret Pattern, and the Greater Yang Secret Pattern. Even the Nine Yang Secret Pattern, comprehended by his master from his first life, the Nine Yang Supreme, couldn't compare to them.

If he could obtain it, it would be of immense benefit to his path of cultivation.

However, back then, the Devouring Secret Pattern possessed by the Bloodthirsty Celestial Cyan was incomplete.

Yang Xiao's cultivation, strength, and Spiritual Level were also insufficient.

Even if he had exhausted all his efforts, it would have been difficult to comprehend even a tiny bit of it.

So he had set it aside.

But now, this old bastard before him...

'Does he know the Devouring Secret Technique?'

'If that's the case, does his Devouring Secret Technique contain the complete Devouring Secret Pattern?'

'If this is truly a Secret Technique with the Devouring Secret Pattern, then I must experience it. It would be best if I could learn it. Things like Secret Patterns are the foundation of the Great Dao, the most primal manifestation of Dao Patterns. The more I can obtain, the easier it will be for me to attain the Dao of a Dominator in the future, and the more powerful I will become.'

Having once been on the verge of attaining the Realm of a Great Emperor, Yang Xiao naturally knew very well what was needed to step into that realm.

Perhaps some people could step into this realm by taking a single Great Dao to its absolute limit, and this was widely acknowledged as the most orthodox path.

But Yang Xiao, who had walked that path before, knew that the only reason it was considered the "most orthodox" was because there were always more mediocre people in the world than geniuses.

And for the mediocre, just walking a single Dao to its end was already an arduous journey fraught with countless dangers, an almost impossible goal.

So how could they even think of walking a second one?

But Yang Xiao was different.

He was a genius.

A true genius.

Uniquely blessed by the heavens, he possessed the Heaven and Earth Origin Flame.

In his first life, he relied on this very thing to walk to the limit of fire.

In his second life, he again used the Heaven and Earth Origin Flame to pioneer the Medicine Dao and walk it to its limit. While teaching the Xuanyuan Sword Emperor, he even created the Void Sword Manual—a Supreme Swordsmanship that used one Dao to contain the Ten Thousand Dao.

Now, in his third life...

How could he be satisfied with just one path?

Void, Time, Greater Yang, Nine Yang, Fire, Wood, Golden Roc, Star... Yang Xiao wanted to walk all these powers to their limits.

Adding Devouring to the list wouldn't hurt.

In fact, it would only make him stronger.

Therefore, when Lu Dingyuan unleashed the Devouring Secret Technique and prepared to attack them, Yang Xiao had no intention of retreating or dodging whatsoever.

With a flash, his figure shot forward to meet Lu Dingyuan.

The Devouring Secret Technique instantly took effect on Yang Xiao.

And as it did, Yang Xiao actually smiled.

Because he discovered that this so-called Devouring Secret Technique was actually working.

It had actually penetrated the barrier of time and probed into Yang Xiao's true body. However, the first thing it made contact with and tried to devour was not Yang Xiao's power or Essence Qi...

...but the seal.

The seal of Emperor Xuanyuan.