“After entering the dojo, every illusion will be dispelled.” Ye Zhen parted his palms, and the Daoist veins dissipated. “In my dojo, I’m the overlord.”
Lu Zhou returned his gaze to Ye Zhen. Ye Zhen was clearly trying to show his strength; this was Ye Zhen’s so-called sincerity to work together. He looked at Ye Zhen, perplexed. “Overlord?”
Ye Zhen said tonelessly, “The path lies in the heart, and the path is the heavens. Knowing the heart is the same as knowing the path and heavens… Your avatar has appeared, sir.”
Lu Zhou had a treasure called the Golden Taixu Mirror that would reveal all creations’ true forms. He did not expect Ye Zhen would be capable of pulling this off with the Daoist veins in the dojo. However, only his golden lotus was exposed, not the karmic fire. No wonder Ye Zhen was so confident and wanted him to pass a message to ‘Senior Lu’.
The dojo was silent for a moment. Lu Zhou said, “I don’t need your approval if I want the crystal. If I wish to take it away, no one can stop me. As for working together, what if I refuse?”
Ye Zhen shook his head. “A wise man submits to circumstances. Those who cannot understand current trends are dumb mules. You’ve traveled a long distance over the Endless Ocean, why must you make enemies for yourself? You have no reason to reject my proposal, sir…”
Lu Zhou had to agree Ye Zhen had a point. Under normal circumstances, it was indeed a good idea to work with Ye Zhen. He replied indifferently, “You’re wrong.”
“Hm?” Ye Zhen was puzzled.
“You’ve planned and accounted for many things, but you miscalculated one thing…” Lu Zhou said. He paused for a moment before he added, “You’re irritating.”
Ye Zhen’s smile faded. “Is this the reason?”
“It’s a good reason,” Lu Zhou said.
Ye Zhen joined his palms together again. The Daoist veins in the surroundings flowed like water and surged again.
A buzzing noise rang in the air. It was as though the Daoist veins were resonating with something. Their strength seemed more powerful compared to before as well.
“To tell you the truth, I’ve studied the crystal before. Unfortunately, I was too forceful, and damaged it a little,” Ye Zhen said.
Lu Zhou frowned slightly. If Ye Zhen’s earlier actions merely irritated Lu Zhou, his actions of damaging the crystal had stepped on his bottom line. He thought to himself decisively, ‘This man will surely become the source of a great problem in the future. I can’t let him live.’
“Although your reply disappoints me, I’d still like to hear Senior Lu’s reply. Leave the crystal here, sir, and then, you can leave.” Ye Zhen’s tone was calm, and he did not sound the least bit disappointed. From the beginning, he had no intention of letting the person in front of him leave with the crystal. Everything was just a test; the real contest was just about to begin.
Lu Zhou stared at Ye Zhen as he said, “That’s enough.” He rose his feet slowly. He did not plan to entertain Ye Zhen. As soon as he got to his feet, the scenic paintings shot out red lines that merged together. Moreover, they were merging at blinding speed. It was as though they were leaving the Formation veins inside the dojo. It was a unique Formation vein.
“You can only leave once you leave the crystal behind,” Ye Zhen said.
Lu Zhou flipped his palm casually.
A golden palm seal sailed toward Ye Zhen.
Ye Zhen’s figure faded out of focus. The palm seal hit thin air and did not touch the moving lines.
“In this dojo… I am the overlord.”
The buzzing sound grew even louder at this point.
Lu Zhou noticed Ye Zhen’s figure was becoming more ephemeral as well.
In the next second, Ye Zhen appeared behind Lu Zhou. He stood with a straight back and a calm expression on his face. He extended his hand and said, “Crystal.”
“Formation?” Lu Zhou looked at the Daoist veins around him.
“This is my dojo. It contains the Absolute Heaven Formation. In this Formation, the greater your cultivation base is, the more powerful I’ll become.”
“Becoming stronger when faced with a stronger opponent… Interesting.” Lu Zhou nodded. “Alas, I can’t leave the crystal here.”
Ye Zhen shook his head again. “You know nothing about me.”
Hundreds of runes immediately appeared in their surroundings from the scenic paintings. The red script seals seemed as though they were crafted out of human blood.
Lu Zhou spread his legs.
Seeing One’s Nature, the Buddhist Dhyana Mudra.
Golden circles appeared, keeping the red script seals at bay.
Ye Zhen flitted toward the character ‘ru’. He seemed to be everywhere all at once.
‘An illusion? From the very beginning, the one I’ve been talking to wasn’t Ye Zhen, but an illusion? I might have miscalculated.’ Despite his thoughts, Lu Zhou was not flustered. He was more than strong enough to leave this place.
“Avatar.” When Lu Zhou’s Nine-leaf avatar appeared, its height and size were suppressed. It was only as big as an average adult. It did not even have the karmic fire.
This was one of the Absolute Heaven Formation’s effects. It provided the user with more power when the opponent was powerful. It was superior to the Ten Terminal Formation. The Ten Terminal Formation cut off all Primal Qi and barred all entries and exits. However, the user of the Formation would also be restricted. Absolute Heaven Formation had no such restrictions. Additionally, it strengthened the user while it weakened the opponent.
Ye Zhen appeared half a meter before Lu Zhou. His Confucian robes hung loosely on his body.
Lu Zhou was not flustered. He waved his arm.
A palm seal sailed forth and hit Ye Zhen.
Ye Zhen’s body rippled with red radiance as he absorbed the golden palm seal. At the same time, his aura grew stronger as well. His expression was neutral as he stood with his hands on his back. “I’ve told you. You know nothing about me.”
Realization dawned on Lu Zhou. He retracted his avatar, deactivated Seeing One’s Nature, and the Dhyana Mudra. His Primal Qi faded away as well. Then, he sealed his dantian’s sea of Qi and blocked his Extraordinary Eight Meridians.
With these actions, the red lines, the red light, and the script seals in the dojo gradually faded away.
“Hm?” Ye Zhen clapped his hands. “You’re the first person to understand how to deal with the Absolute Heaven Formation. Alas, with this, you don’t even have the energy to strangle a chicken.”
Lu Zhou remained silent as he stepped forward. He extended his hand and pushed out. He was no different from a mortal now.
Ye Zhen continued to stand with his hands on his back; he did not move. He was certain Lu Zhou would not even be able to touch his clothes without Primal Qi.
Alas…
Originating from nothing, from it comes everything. Living in samsara and learning from it!
The moment Lu Zhou’s palm touched Ye Zhen, his extraordinary power surged out.
Ye Zhen felt as though his chest had been hammered. His eyes widened as a shocked expression appeared on his face. It was too late.
Bam!
Ye Zhen reeled back like a cannonball.
Bam!
Ye Zhen crashed through the ‘ru’ character of the dojo and through the wooden door, flying out into the courtyard before he landed at the base of a lonely cherry blossom tree. Fear washed over him at this moment as he looked at the human-shaped hole he left behind.
Lu Zhou walked over nonchalantly. Then, with a burst of movement, he was upon Ye Zhen again. He launched another palm strike.
Ye Zhen did not understand what was happening. ‘Did the Absolute Heaven Formation lose its effects?’ He saw Lu Zhou sealing his sea of Qi and Extraordinary Eight Meridians; he did not understand how Lu Zhou was still capable of unleashing a technique.
The palm strike caught Ye Zhen off-guard again. He flew back and crashed through the five-story courtyard and flew off the middle peak. He quickly struck with his palm and summoned his avatar. His 150-foot red lotus avatar illuminated the northern side of Lofty Steep Mountain.
Thousands of disciples looked up.
The karmic fire burned and dyed the sky red. It shone as brightly as the sun and the moon.
Ye Zhen was no longer looking ahead. He joined his palms together, and Confucian scripts appeared around him. The Taiji produced two forms, the two forms gave rise to four phenomena, the four phenomena gave rise to the Eight Trigrams, and the Eight Trigrams would dictate fate. Thousands upon thousands of script seals surged out.
At this moment, a voice rang from above Ye Zhen. “Young man, the one who’s ignorant is you.”
Lu Zhou shattered the Deadly Strike Card in his hand and pushed his palm down. His fingers shone with a golden light.
The Daoist Nine Cuts Hand Seals, the Sole Diamond Seal, the Great Blitz Treasure Seal, the Outer Circle Mystic Seal, the Inner Eight Words Seal, Fetterless Seal, the Pantheon Seal, the Eight Trigrams Seal, the Magic Gourd Seal, and the Sun Moon Seal dropped down.
‘Will you dare to act so savagely now that I’m suppressing a Confucian cultivator with Daoist moves?’
Bam!
The first palm seal pushed through the red lotus avatar like a hot knife through butter.
Ye Zhen frowned deeply. He grunted and spat out a mouthful of blood. He hastily retracted his avatar and attempted to escape.
The second palm seal approached Ye Zhen silently as though it was locked onto him.
Bam!
It landed on Ye Zhen’s chest.
The next two palm seals followed suit and landed on Ye Zhen’s chest consecutively, causing him to plummet from the height of 100,000 feet.
Boom!
The five final palm seals struck the ground.
“Ding! Killed a target. Reward: 4,500 merit points.”
“There’s no domain extra?” Lu Zhou was puzzled. ‘He’s not from the red lotus domain?’
However, this was not the time to dwell on this matter. Lu Zhou unsealed his Extraordinary Eight Meridians and sea of Qi, restoring his cultivation base.
At this moment, the Flying Star House disciples were flying toward him from below.
