Chapter 191 - 190: Fighting Chu Kuang
It was utterly useless.
The Army-Breaking Art crashed into the Chu cultivators like a raging tsunami of blades slamming into a fragile wall of sand. The overwhelming momentum of the technique swept forward with unstoppable force, crushing everything in its path and easily bypassing the hastily erected spiritual shields.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Countless sword lights tore through the battlefield, leaving the Chu cultivators no time to react. Their weapons shattered upon contact, exploding into countless fragments. Defensive treasures were cleaved apart, spiritual shields collapsed one after another, and the armor covering their bodies was violently sheared open beneath the relentless storm of sword qi.
The formation of the Chu cultivators was completely broken in an instant.
Before the overwhelming might of the Army-Breaking Art, their combined defenses were as fragile as paper.
As the groaning, bleeding bodies of the Chu cultivators crashed back to the earth, Lin Yuan did not give them a chance to recover or flee.
He immediately reversed his grip on the sword, plunging the tip of the blade directly into the bedrock of the crater, and activated his trapping formation: Heaven as Net, Earth as Web.
A massive, invisible grid of spiritual energy instantly expanded outward, encompassing the entire crater. It wove itself into the fabric of Heaven and Earth, creating an inescapable prison. The groaning cultivators who tried to crawl away found themselves slamming into invisible walls that shocked them with paralyzing arcs of purple lightning, leaving them with absolutely nowhere to escape.
In the span of ten seconds, Lin Yuan had shattered their ultimate illusion, defeated their army, and trapped them.
The camp was decimated, leaving only two men standing in the center of the ruins.
Across, the blinding white orb of Immortal Energy was finally absorbed.
Chu Kuang’s eyes snapped open.
BOOOOOOM!
A terrifying, suffocating aura exploded from his body. It was something heavier, something that felt as though it was attempting to crush the very concepts of time and space within the crater. He had successfully bridged the gap. He had reached the Half-Step Transcendent stage of his Dao Resolve within the Spirit Severing realm.
The difference between the Ninth Step and the half of the Tenth Step was significant. Chu Kuang’s Qi had taken on a dense, almost liquid quality, radiating a dark, blood-red light that pushed back against Lin Yuan’s aura.
Chu Kuang slowly stood up from his lotus position. He looked around at the moaning, bleeding bodies of his defeated retinue. He looked at the shattered remains of his camp. And finally, his manic, bloodthirsty eyes locked onto the figure standing amidst the destruction.
"You," Chu Kuang growled, his voice vibrating with a newfound resonance. He reached out, hefting his massive halberd from where it rested. "You are the rat from the Zhao Province. Lin Yuan. I expected you to be cowering in a ditch, weeping for your mother. Yet here you are, trashing my courtyard."
Lin Yuan pulled the Emperor’s Primordial Sovereign Sword free from the bedrock, resting the blade casually against his shoulder. His expression remained flawlessly serene.
"Your courtyard was in my way," Lin Yuan replied simply.
He deliberately held his tongue. He did not mention the Golden Diting cultivators. He did not mention the Golden Immortal Beasts. The evidence he had gathered was safely secured within his spatial ring, and Lin Yuan had no intention of revealing it just yet.
Right now, Chu Kuang was standing at the peak of an unprecedented breakthrough, intoxicated by the surge of power coursing through his body. His Dao Resolve had taken half a step toward the Transcendent Stage. After spending so long struggling against the limits of Spirit Severing, Chu Kuang was undoubtedly experiencing the euphoric sensation of finally breaking through his shackles.
At such a moment, trying to blackmail him would be foolish.
A cultivator’s Dao Heart could be tempered by reason, but pride was another matter entirely. If Lin Yuan suddenly revealed the evidence and threatened to expose Chu Kuang’s crimes, there was a high possibility that his absolute pride would drive him to attack regardless of the consequences.
After all, a desperate man could gamble with his life.
And a proud man who believed he had already reached the heavens might be even more dangerous.
If Chu Kuang decided to act too rashly, Lin Yuan would lose the initiative he had carefully established.
Therefore, Lin Yuan remained silent.
He needed to test Chu Kuang first, and more importantly, Lin Yuan wanted Chu Kuang to understand one simple truth.
Reaching Half-Step Transcendent did not make him a god.
Chu Kuang threw his head back and laughed, a booming, arrogant sound that rattled the area.
"Arrogance from an Early Stage peasant! I love it!" Chu Kuang roared, his liquid-red Qi expanding into a suffocating domain that began to melt the rock beneath his boots. "You have excellent timing, Zhao rat. I just finished my ascension. My blood is boiling for a test. I will peel the flesh from your bones and mount your skull on my throne!"
Chu Kuang took a massive, thundering step forward, raising his halberd.
Lin Yuan’s eyes flashed. He immediately activated his illusionary formation: Illusory Array Concealment.
It was a technique that flawlessly combined illusion techniques with profound formation arts. It was designed to confuse the enemy’s mind and trap them within a fabricated reality, making it impossible to distinguish reality from falsehood.
The world around Chu Kuang instantly vanished.
The ruined camp, the silver sky, and the groaning bodies of his fellow cultivators were swallowed by a sudden, expansive void of swirling, pitch-black mist.
Chu Kuang halted, his brow furrowing as he swung his halberd through the empty fog. "An illusion? You dare use parlor tricks against a Transcendent will?!"
Suddenly, the black mist parted.
Lin Yuan stepped out from the shadows. But he did not look like an Early Stage cultivator. The aura radiating from him was apocalyptic. It carried the exact, overwhelming, and undeniable pressure of a true Soul Transformation expert. The illusory Lin Yuan possessed a fully formed Primordial Spirit that radiated a blinding, purple light, illuminating the black void.
"What?!" Chu Kuang gasped, his eyes widening in genuine shock. His instincts screamed at him that the threat before him was absolutely real.
The illusionary Lin Yuan did not speak. He merely raised his hand and delivered a casual, backhanded strike.
The impact was devastating. Chu Kuang tried to block with his halberd, but the sheer force of a Soul Transformation strike bypassed his guard entirely. The blow slammed into his chest, sending the massive heir flying backward through the black mist. Chu Kuang crashed into the unseen floor, coughing up a mouthful of blood. The illusion was so profound it was inflicting damage upon his actual body.
The fight felt absolutely, and indisputably real.
Chu Kuang scrambled to his feet, his mind racing, genuine terror creeping into his heart. What’s the meaning of this!!!