Chapter 654 - 445: Lie Down for Me (Part 2)

"The Four Spirits unite, returning to True Essence; the Five Elements converge in a divine glow. The Dharma Aspects dance with my will across heaven and earth; I shall attain the Dao, live forever, and tread upon the azure clouds!"

...

Silence was the prevailing mood. After Fang Qingyuan’s body absorbed all four spirits, empowered by four Late-stage Golden Core Dharma Aspects, none of the Golden Core experts present dared to guess what realm his cultivation had truly reached.

’Surely he can’t still be in the Golden Core Realm, right?’

This led to a single question that surfaced in everyone’s mind: could Fang Qingyuan, a Fifth-Layer Golden Core Cultivator, withstand such immense energy?

To that, Fang Qingyuan had a definitive answer: ’I can!’

His ability stemmed from several factors: his own exceptionally high-level theories on the Golden Core; his philosophy of infinite evolution and boundless inclusion; the various elemental resistances he had cultivated through the Five Elements Undying Body; and finally, the fundamental understanding of the Five Elements Dao granted by his Five-Colored Light Divine Techniques. Together, these all contributed to his extraordinary capacity to contain the Five Elements Dharma Aspects.

So, while an ordinary Golden Core Cultivator would have exploded from the strain of bearing just one Dharma Aspect’s power, Fang Qingyuan had absorbed four—and this wasn’t even his limit.

From his battle with Chunyu Hua, Fang Qingyuan had learned that while the Four Spirits Dharma Aspects were formidable, they lacked the power to deliver a single, decisive blow. ’If the Dharma Aspects can’t finish the job,’ he thought, ’then I, their master, will have to do it myself.’

Thus, Fang Qingyuan attained enlightenment and created this Divine Technique: Dharma Aspect Fusion—Four Spirits’ Return to Essence!

As Fang Qingyuan finished his verse, his aura swelled to its zenith. He was now less than ten zhang from Hao Shi, hovering slightly above him.

"Come, Hao Shi. Let me see how strong you really are. Didn’t you endure for a hundred years just to shock the world with a single feat? Today, I will use you to validate my ultimate technique, and in doing so, grant you a worthy death!"

Fang Qingyuan crooked a finger at Hao Shi, beckoning him to attack. This wasn’t arrogance; rather, he was determined to test the true power of his new Divine Technique.

Just as a new weapon must undergo rigorous testing before it can be used in actual combat, Fang Qingyuan wanted to use Hao Shi, a powerful opponent, to temper himself and identify any flaws in his technique.

As for whether Hao Shi might find an opportunity to escape in the process, Bear Wind, who was waiting outside, would likely be more than happy to answer that question.

Stunned by the sight, Hao Shi fell silent, his expression becoming the same one he had worn for the vast majority of the last hundred years.

Hao Shi did not attack immediately. At this level of power, seizing the initiative was not as critical as it was for Cultivators in the Qi Cultivation or Foundation Establishment Stages.

In their battles, lower-level Cultivators loved to seize the slightest advantage, because their lives were often decided in an instant. A single moment of carelessness, a single talisman, or a single flying sword could end the fight completely, leaving the slower-reacting Cultivator to die filled with regret.

But in the Golden Core Realm, conflicts were clashes of core theories and Divine Techniques. The element of surprise was far less effective than it was for those in the Qi Cultivation and Foundation Establishment stages.

Moreover, given Fang Qingyuan’s current state, hoping to kill him in a single blow was an unrealistic fantasy.

So, Hao Shi simply sized Fang Qingyuan up, his gaze slowly sweeping from top to bottom. Every slight shift of his eyes triggered an invisible clash of their divine senses, which in turn caused thousands of shifts in their auras.

The two didn’t immediately launch into a desperate struggle, but they remained locked onto each other. The only difference was that time was on Fang Qingyuan’s side. Hao Shi’s transformation couldn’t be sustained forever, whereas Fang Qingyuan’s Four Spirits Union could continue as long as he had enough energy in his Immortal Mansion.

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

In the end, Hao Shi was the first to act. Tens of thousands of rings of blade qi materialized once again. This time, he held nothing back. The storm formed by the myriad blade rings expanded in all directions. Chunyu Hua’s Grand Palace Hall could no longer endure the onslaught and was utterly annihilated by the high-speed slicing, reduced to a pile of rubble.

The moment Hao Shi attacked, everyone present moved away with a tacit understanding. After witnessing Fang Qingyuan’s majestic power, they all understood one thing clearly: the battle before them was far beyond anything they could participate in.

Meanwhile, the giant turtle that carried the now-shattered palace on its back began to slowly, silently shuffle toward the great river in the distance. ’That scene just now scared this old turtle half to death,’ it thought. ’You all just pretend you don’t see me.’

The bright moon hung high in the sky. The spectators had scattered into groups, spread out over a several-mile radius. Among them, Chunyu Hua, protected by Commander Xu and Qing Ji, stared up at the battle high above, a bitter feeling welling up inside him:

’It’s only been half a year, so why does it feel like thirty years have passed? If Fang Qingyuan had shown this move back then, why would I have ever agreed to a duel!’

Meanwhile, Qiqi and the other three Bear Beasts were also communicating secretly:

"The four of us together probably couldn’t beat him now, right?"

"Why would you think that?"

"He just looks so powerful. To think, just over ten years ago, he was still trying to butter us up."

"No, I mean, why would you even entertain the idea of fighting him? Ever since we came back from the Abyss of Black Soil, I haven’t had a single thought like that."

...

"Flashy tricks!"

Fang Qingyuan allowed the high-speed blade rings to slice at his body. Under the protection of the Black Tortoise Dharma Aspect, as soon as the rings drew near, they were forcibly halted by the abyss-like weight of the Black Tortoise Power, before helplessly fading into nothingness.

At that moment, the Blood Eye in the center of Hao Shi’s brow flew wide open, unleashing a crimson ray of Soul Capturing light that shot toward Fang Qingyuan’s head.