Chapter 397: Calamities Arrive in Succession

“Rumble!”

At this moment, the entire sky above Seven Luminaries Heaven was sealed off. Below, the boundless sea of clouds condensed out of thin air, transforming into a solid barrier.

This was to prevent the aftermath from affecting the people below.

Thus, the Grand Ancestor Yan, suppressed by the spell of Patriarch Ting You, did not fall to the ground, but instead crashed onto the sea of clouds. Only after ten breaths did a sound resound.

“Crack.”

On the stone statue that was his incarnation, countless cracks began to spread, followed by endless divine power of incense erupting outward, sweeping away all the earth and dust.

Patriarch Ting You frowned slightly at the sight, but quickly relaxed again:

‘It seems there’s still room for improvement. In the end, the difference lies in the quantity of incense power. The other party forcibly broke through my Daoist arts by exhausting incense. But that is all— they are not my opponents.’

This was because his state had yet to be fully restored.

After all, at present, his cultivation had only just recovered to the late Foundation Establishment stage. Even he could not fight evenly against someone at the peak of Foundation Establishment with just late-stage cultivation.

Thus, he could only rely on incense power.

Otherwise, if their ranks had been equal and he truly had cultivation at the peak of Foundation Establishment, he could have slain these so-called incense deities before him within three moves.

‘The gap is far too great.’

‘Moreover, Seven Luminaries Heaven has long been at peace, and their research in spell duels is pitifully lacking. They basically just swing giant hammers and brawl in close combat— even rogue cultivators are better.’

Patriarch Ting You pondered calmly, his responses growing ever more composed.

Even though the incense power he possessed was only one-sixth of the combined total of Grand Ancestor Yan and the City God, he could still hold the two at bay with ease.

He even had the spare attention to glance toward Lü Yang.

Meanwhile, within 【Heaven of Parting Grief】, Lü Yang continued to swallow and exhale the vital energy of heaven and earth. Finally, a second divine ability manifested in radiant colors:

‘【True Qi Containment】!’

As this divine ability appeared, Lü Yang seemed to hear the sound of a water droplet falling by his ear— clear and pleasant, sending ripples through his sea of consciousness.

‘Taiyi True Qi Containment— spirit and soul united.’

‘When stillness reaches its extreme, one perceives the Heavenly Heart, and naturally the divine radiance manifests.’

As the name suggested, this divine ability had the power to swallow all things and refine all forms. At this moment, as it operated, it seemed about to absorb all the essence of Seven Luminaries Heaven.

“Swish!”

Lü Yang’s figure vanished abruptly, replaced instead by a vast manifestation of sun, moon, mountains, and rivers— the true appearance of 【Heaven of Parting Grief】.

And within 【Heaven of Parting Grief】, a great banner was seen fluttering proudly in the wind.

The Ten Thousand Spirits Banner!

At this moment, all the essence of heaven and earth that Lü Yang had drawn in through 【True Qi Containment】 was being injected into the Ten Thousand Spirits Banner, where he began to refine it.

However, as time passed, the process gradually became more difficult. The difference in scale between Lü Yang and Seven Luminaries Heaven was simply too vast. Even though he had already pushed himself to the limit, Seven Luminaries Heaven remained as immovable as Mount Tai, its essence like a boundless ocean, inexhaustible.

“Pu!”

Suddenly, Lü Yang’s body faltered slightly. Immediately afterward, the entire 【Heaven of Parting Grief】 shook violently, with cracks clearly appearing in many places.

Patriarch Ting You, who had been watching Lü Yang closely, was instantly alarmed.

“Be careful!”

Although he had long expected that refining a Heaven Realm would be extremely difficult, they had barely taken the first step, and Lü Yang was already approaching his limit.

“It’s nothing.”

At the same time, Lü Yang quickly calmed down after a moment of panic. In fact, a trace of expected composure appeared in his eyes.

‘Man’s strength has its limits.’

He had understood this truth long ago.

The reason he had just been injured was because the heaven-and-earth essence had exceeded his control limit in that instant, and the backlash had caught him off guard.

Yet, the amount of essence that exceeded his control limit was nothing at all for Seven Luminaries Heaven.

‘It’s deliberate.’

Lü Yang’s heart sank slightly. It was clear that Seven Luminaries Heaven had grown more skilled. It was no longer ignorant as it had been at first— it was learning how to counter him.

Normally, after suffering so many losses in succession, one would already be utterly destroyed, with no chance to learn and adapt. But the foundation of Seven Luminaries Heaven was simply too deep for Lü Yang. Its margin of error was so high that he could not simply crush it with a single blow. It had ample time to grow.

‘It’s not even unleashing tribulations anymore…’

Once more activating 【Exquisite Heart】 to look, Lü Yang saw that the second calamity within Seven Luminaries Heaven had already been fully prepared, yet it remained hidden, never descending.

Clearly, it had grown cunning.

Suffering once was enough to learn a lesson. After rashly unleashing a human calamity earlier, only to have Lü Yang easily dissolve it, Seven Luminaries Heaven would obviously not offer him another chance.

‘Damn, even this fishpond situation grows stronger over time…’

Lü Yang sighed inwardly, but he did not panic. Instead, he turned toward the Ten Thousand Spirits Banner, extending his divine sense deep within, activating a long-unemployed method:

‘『Supreme Void Sacrificial Rite』!’

This was originally a method to communicate with 【Heaven of Non-Existence】. But ever since 【Heaven of Non-Existence】 had been validated by Chong Guang, this method had lost its purpose.

Yet that was only true for others.

For Lü Yang, this method still had another great use— to communicate with and draw upon the embryonic fruit-position within the Ten Thousand Spirits Banner!

However, unlike Seven Luminaries Heaven, the embryonic fruit-position within the banner was even more primitive. Strictly speaking, it was only a seed— far from sprouting, much less blossoming or bearing fruit. Therefore, its response to Lü Yang could only grant him very limited power.

‘No helping it. Otherwise, the Innate True Person would have long since validated 【Heaven of Non-Existence】.’

‘Back then, the reason 【Heaven of Non-Existence】 could be validated was ultimately because the Innate True Person spent five thousand years irrigating it with 【Everflowing Stream】.’

‘That said, this much is already enough!’

Lü Yang remained calm. With the support of the embryonic fruit-position within the Ten Thousand Spirits Banner, his wavering 【True Qi Containment】 shone once more with dazzling brilliance.

A vast influx of heaven-and-earth essence surged in again.

This time, Lü Yang absorbed it all. At the same time, a third radiance gradually bloomed upon him— yet another innate divine ability was sprouting!

‘【Harmonizing Origin Art】!’

As soon as this divine ability manifested, it revealed extraordinary effects.

At this moment, Lü Yang was still under the influence of incense empowerment. The issue of incense clashing with his consciousness was certainly not something Seven Luminaries Heaven would kindly resolve for him.

Yet in order to refine Seven Luminaries Heaven, and to seize sufficient rank to push his realm to the peak of Foundation Establishment, he could not abandon incense empowerment. On the contrary, to resist Seven Luminaries Heaven’s backlash, he even had to increase its usage, which naturally intensified its impact on his mind.

This impact was worse than death by a thousand cuts.

And he could not lose consciousness— he had to remain fully aware and endure it all.

If it were not for the fact that Lü Yang was maintaining the state of 【Sword Heart Clarity】, he might already have been driven mad by the unbearable pain.

Yet at this moment—

With the radiance of 【Harmonizing Origin Art】 descending, Lü Yang’s mind suddenly grew incomparably clear. His once-chaotic sea of consciousness stabilized once again!

Even the borrowed power from the Ten Thousand Spirits Banner fused smoothly within him, no longer foreign.

‘Assimilating foreign powers— all methods return to one.’

A flash of insight arose in Lü Yang’s heart. This was the marvel of 【Harmonizing Origin Art】— it could integrate external forces of entirely different systems and foundations into one whole!

Just like now.

The divine path of incense, which should have been a foreign force with tremendous side effects, was assimilated under the effect of 【Harmonizing Origin Art】, truly becoming part of his own strength.

Of course, this could not last forever.

【Harmonizing Origin Art】 also had its limits. Unless Lü Yang truly achieved the peak of Foundation Establishment, the divine ability could only persist for at most one and a quarter hours before dissipating.

But to stir the heavens, that much was enough.

Boom!

In an instant, a heavy thunderclap resounded not only in Lü Yang’s heart, but also in the hearts of Patriarch Ting You, Grand Ancestor Yan, the City God, and all beings of Seven Luminaries Heaven.

“This is…”

“Heaven’s Punishment!”

The City God raised his head to the sky, a deep fear flashing in his eyes. Above the dome of heaven, dark clouds spread endlessly, with ten thousand lightning serpents roaming through them.

The boundless thunderclouds resembled a colossal eye gazing down from above. The lightning serpents within were like blood vessels of fury in that eye. As the thunderclouds churned, a destructive aura filled the world, locking firmly upon Lü Yang, intent on reducing him to scattered ash across the sky!

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