The moment Xu Ying saw Daoshengzi's move, he knew the Firmament of Divine Powers could never withstand it.
It was not that the Firmament of Divine Powers was lacking, but that he was.
Daoshengzi's strike mobilized the half of the Jing Realm under his command, taking Jing as the source, drawing the various Great Daos of heaven and earth from it, and governing them through reincarnation.
His divine power was the simultaneous detonation of all the myriad Daos in the heavens!
In wielding the Great Dao of Reincarnation, Daoshengzi indeed far surpassed him.
The Firmament of Divine Powers was exceptionally formidable as well—one could call it the absolute pinnacle of the world's divine powers, the very art Emperor Haotian had used to defeat Grand Dao Lord Taiyi.
Yet Xu Ying had not managed to command the Daos of the Jing Realm as Daoshengzi did.
"And yet, I too can mobilize the heaven-and-earth Daos of the Jing Realm! What is more, I can mobilize the Daos of Hongyuan!"
The instant their divine powers clashed, Xu Ying's Firmament of Divine Powers was crushed by his opponent's tremendous Dao power.
Daoshengzi's reincarnation divine power bore down with terrifying momentum, but Xu Ying had already unleashed a second Firmament of Divine Powers.
It was still not a reincarnation art, but the Firmament of Divine Powers.
This time, however, Xu Ying used reincarnation to mobilize the heaven-and-earth Daos of the Jing Realm, while the myriad Daos within Hongyuan surged forth as well to augment the power of his Firmament of Divine Powers!
The Firmament of Divine Powers was never a fixed technique. Rather, Emperor Haotian had blended different heaven-and-earth Daos into each art, exploring whether different combinations could elevate a divine power's might.
In truth, upon reaching the Immortality Realm, one's Dao was already equal to the body. Every gesture was a Dao divine power, leaving no need to polish individual arts.
Emperor Haotian, however, had done the opposite, ingeniously combining different Daos to push the might of divine powers to the absolute limit.
The instant the two divine powers collided, it was Xu Ying who seized the upper hand, suppressing Daoshengzi and rattling his vitality so violently that the emerald rock multi-decked vessel beneath his feet cracked and split in two!
Half of the emerald rock multi-decked vessel shot backward under his feet, skimming across the surface of the Chaos Sea without sinking into the depths.
The divine powers ravaged the Chaos Sea, disturbing its currents and churning up turbulent waves that battered the Jing Realm with heavy tremors.
Xu Ying strode forward onto the other half of the vessel, charging through the raging wind and surging waves straight toward Daoshengzi.
"Daoshengzi, I only learned the Great Dao of Reincarnation from your Scripture of Passing a Thousand Tribulations to Attain Reincarnation. When it comes to reincarnation divine powers, I am definitely no match for you," Xu Ying laughed. Half of the Jing Realm universe still hung behind his head, appearing as though it were tucked inside his reincarnation ring. "So I will not use a reincarnation divine power before you! Cause and Effect Retribution!"
He channeled the Great Dao of Cause and Effect, transforming it into a divine bow. Standing at the bow of the vessel, Xu Ying drew the string. At the same time, he used the Great Dao of Reincarnation to drive the heaven-and-earth Daos of the Jing Realm, treating that half of the realm as a Hongyuan as raging Dao power poured into the bow!
From the other side, the complete heaven-and-earth Daos of his Hongyuan surged forth as well, lending their Dao power to his karma divine power!
This technique was one he had created on the spot after gaining clear insight into all the karma of the Jing Realm. As the bowstring was drawn, countless karmic threads from the Jing Realm converged to form an arrow!
These karmic threads were none other than the karma Daoshengzi had incurred by forcibly refining the heaven-and-earth Daos of the Jing Realm. How could they number merely in the hundreds of millions?
The living beings of the Jing Realm alone numbered in the hundreds of millions. Added to Daoshengzi's refinement of various stars, mountains, rivers, lakes, and the Daos of heaven and earth, the karma was vastly too immense and heavy!
Now, gathered into the fletching of an arrow, its might was truly earth-shattering!
*Whoosh!*
Xu Ying released his fingers. The light of the arrow shot forth, cleaving the churning waves of the Chaos Sea clean in two!
Even as he studied the new Dao patterns to alter his own Dao structure, Daoshengzi steered his half of the vessel and drove the Great Dao of Reincarnation, passing through halo after halo of light!
Every time he passed through a halo, he entered a cycle of reincarnation, severing past-life karma.
Yet before Xu Ying's arrow, this proved utterly useless!
The Great Dao of Reincarnation and the Great Dao of Cause and Effect inherently restrained each other, though overall, Cause and Effect was the more profound and mysterious.
The Great Dao of Reincarnation could cut off karma, but cultivators of their caliber knew that reincarnation did not truly sever karma—it merely obscured it.
Yet his karma with the Jing Realm was simply too vast and deep; traversing reincarnation time and again could not obscure Xu Ying's Karmic Retribution.
Left with no choice, Daoshengzi mobilized the heaven-and-earth Daos of the Jing Realm and raised his hand to meet the blow head-on.
The beam of the arrow pierced through his divine power, punched through his palm, and struck him between the brows!
*Boom!*
Daoshengzi's head exploded!
The headless corpse swayed and plunged into the Chaos Sea, swallowed by the waves!
Xu Ying felt a surge of joy and was about to disperse the divine bow of karma when he noticed that half of the Jing Realm was still in reincarnation, floating atop the Chaos Sea. In front of the Jing Realm lay a vast darkness, where reincarnation cave abysses of all sizes drifted within the void.
In the darkness, a figure stirred and walked outward.
Without hesitation, Xu Ying drew his bow and notched an arrow once more, gathering all the karma of the Jing Realm into an arrow and letting it fly with a shrill whistle!
This strike was not a whit inferior to the last, tyrannical and unmatched in power.
The figure emerging from the darkness was indeed Daoshengzi. Facing Xu Ying's arrow, his expression remained composed as he switched to a different reincarnation divine power to break the attack.
*Bang!*
His divine power was pierced through by the arrow, his head burst, and his corpse tumbled into the Chaos Sea. But then another figure walked out from the darkness behind, revealing a face—still Daoshengzi!
Xu Ying repeatedly drew his bow, firing arrow after arrow, pushing the Great Dao of Cause and Effect to its peak. Each shot struck Daoshengzi down, yet each time, a new Daoshengzi stepped out from the darkness!
*No, this isn't right! What I'm killing isn't an avatar—it is definitely his true body! But why does he keep surviving?*
Xu Ying drew the bow and released yet another arrow. This time, however, Daoshengzi caught the flaw in his Karmic Retribution. Suddenly flipping upside down, he reversed reincarnation and inverted karma, causing the Jing Realm to flip alongside him!
With a casual flick of his hand, the incoming arrow of karma reversed direction, shooting straight back at Xu Ying!
Standing at the prow, Xu Ying dissolved the great bow and raised his right hand, splaying his five fingers. The arrow of karma abruptly shattered with rapid pops, turning into countless silk threads of karma that streamed around his sides, above, and below, flowing into the half of the Jing Realm enveloped by his Great Dao of Reincarnation.
Daoshengzi's reversal of reincarnation and inversion of karma was undeniably ingenious, but Xu Ying was an Immortal of the Great Dao of Cause and Effect. Smoothing out hundreds of millions of karmic threads took him no more than a wave of the hand, which was why he appeared so unruffled.
"The Great Dao of Cause and Effect is truly extraordinary. In this world, the only one who could cultivate the Dao of Cause and Effect to your level was Dao Lord Hong," Daoshengzi praised, standing head-down and feet-up as he lightly touched down upon his half of the vessel. "Yet even Dao Lord Hong did not wield it as subtly as you do. His realm was higher and his cultivation deeper, but his divine powers fell short of yours. You are remarkable."
Xu Ying adjusted his reincarnation, his gaze flickering. "You are remarkable as well. Facing my lethal arrow, you actually used your self from the preceding moment to absorb the calamity. What I killed was merely you of a moment ago; you of the next moment remain alive. Am I right?"
Daoshengzi was astonished. "You saw through it?"
From the darkness behind him, light suddenly flared. One Daoshengzi after another appeared in a neat, endless queue stretching into the distance without end!
This was the spacetime reincarnation born of the Great Dao of Reincarnation governing space and time.
In this spacetime, there were countless Daoshengzis, each one being the subsequent moment of the one before.
In other words, he could die countless times.
And after countless deaths, he still had countless next moments!
Though Xu Ying had deduced the nature of the technique, witnessing it firsthand still stirred a sense of powerlessness. To cultivate the Great Dao of Reincarnation to Daoshengzi's level was even more defying of natural order than Daoist Wukong's Leakless Golden Body!
"Daoshengzi, your reincarnation divine power can be taken a step further," Xu Ying said, eyes glinting. "If I were you, I would channel the Great Dao of Reincarnation to cut into past and future spacetimes. Past me and future me would strike toward the present together—that way, countless versions of me across past and future would attack at the same instant!"
He coaxed persuasively, "If you did that, you would be invincible throughout the world. Even a Dao Lord would not necessarily be your match!"
Daoshengzi was both startled and overjoyed. "The method you describe is indeed feasible! In theory, it can be done! I am versed in spacetime reincarnation, past me is also versed in spacetime reincarnation, and so is future me. That means past me can drive reincarnation divine powers to invade the present, and future me can invade the present as well!"
The more he spoke, the more thrilled he became, laughing aloud, "In this single moment, countless versions of me could coexist in the present..."
While he was still lost in his excitement, Xu Ying had already driven his half of the vessel forward in a brazen assault, unleashing the big bell without a word!
Upon the bell's surface, the strange folds of the Chaos Sea grew increasingly radiant. With an ear-splitting chime, the big bell surged toward Daoshengzi!
In this moment, Xu Ying was not merely offering up Master Bell with his own cultivation; he was channeling the heaven-and-earth Dao power of half the Jing Realm and the entirety of Hongyuan, driving the big bell's might to an unprecedented extreme!
As Master Bell flew out, the Chaos Pond surged forward as well, radiating divine light. The chaos lotus within the pond was also unleashed by Xu Ying!
Empowered by the Dao power of half the Jing Realm and the whole of Hongyuan, it bore down on Daoshengzi!
Daoshengzi was still envisioning Xu Ying's concept, trying to pioneer the technique, when the big bell arrived before him! Acting on instinct, he raised both hands to block.
*Clang!*
The flesh of his hands and fingers instantly disintegrated into chaotic energy, exposing pale bone. Immediately afterward, his arms, chest, cheeks, hair, and garments were all reduced to chaos!
Daoshengzi stood there as a skeleton for a fleeting breath before the bones exploded as well, turning to dust!
The big bell plowed into the darkness, charging toward the successive Daoshengzis. At the same time, more Daoshengzis were walking outward.
*Clang!*
The next Daoshengzi struck the bell wall. Even as his body disintegrated into chaotic energy, the force of his blow sent the big bell flying backward!
Yet another Daoshengzi stepped out of the darkness, only to be met by the flying chaos lotus.
The lotus possessed might far exceeding even the big bell's. Its petals rippled in layers like a breeze brushing through them, vibrating in succession.
With every vibration, a Daoshengzi was ground into powder!
The chaos lotus had twelve tiers of petals, with seven petals per tier. Vibrating eighty-four times in rapid succession, Daoshengzi after Daoshengzi burst apart, meeting violent deaths!
Yet another Daoshengzi emerged from the darkness with a smile, reaching out to grasp the chaos lotus.
Right then, Xu Ying charged out from behind the lotus, his figure shifting through countless forms in an instant as myriad divine powers formed a firmament, clashing heavily against this Daoshengzi.
"Xu Ying, are you at your wit's end? What other tricks do you have left?"
With an eerie smile, Daoshengzi's physical body abruptly exploded, revealing another Daoshengzi behind him.
This Daoshengzi's Great Dao of Reincarnation was completely transformed into new Dao patterns, his cultivation and strength far greater than before. With a flick of his finger, Xu Ying was sent hurtling backward!
He thought he was about to fall into the Chaos Sea, but quickly realized he was not—he was falling into reincarnation.
Falling into the Chaos Sea would not have killed him immediately; he carried over a hundred emerald rock multi-decked vessels, and calling forth just one would have saved his life.
Falling into reincarnation, however, made his heart sink, knowing he had fallen into Daoshengzi's technique.
"Xu Ying, you truly are a genius."
Daoshengzi's voice echoed. Xu Ying was still tumbling downward. Looking up, he saw Daoshengzi's face occupying the entire sky.
He attempted to take flight, only to find the various Daos inside his body in complete disarray, beyond his control.
*Hum!*
Xu Ying fell into the first layer of reincarnation. Suddenly, the Thunder Dao within him was transformed into the Dao of Wind, slipping from his control and detaching from his body.
"Reincarnation also includes the reincarnation of Daos," Daoshengzi's face said lazily from across the sky, explaining, "The reincarnation of Daos can alter the form and structure of a Dao. It originally belonged to you, but once it passes through reincarnation, it no longer does. This is the reincarnation of Daos, which I use to strip Daos away."
Even as he spoke, the Metal Dao within Xu Ying was converted into the Dao of Wind and flowed out of him. Xu Ying continued to plunge, one Dao after another turned into the Dao of Wind through reincarnation and stripped from his body.
This was likely due to some imperfection in Daoshengzi's mastery over the Great Dao of Reincarnation, which left him only able to reincarnate another's Daos into the Dao of Wind.
Even so, Xu Ying's Daos continued to bleed away, and his cultivation steadily dropped.
His heart sank deeper and deeper as his body plummeted faster through reincarnation, more and more Daos stripped away.
Eventually, Xu Ying landed in the three hundred forty-eighth layer of reincarnation, with only his Martial Dao remaining unstripped.
He fell into the three hundred forty-ninth layer; the Martial Dao remained utterly motionless within him.
Daoshengzi let out a soft exclamation of surprise and dropped Xu Ying another layer, yet the Martial Dao remained unmoving, resisting conversion into the Dao of Wind.
*Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!*
Under Daoshengzi's control, Xu Ying was suddenly sent plummeting wildly downward, dropping through two thousand layers in the blink of an eye. Yet the Martial Dao still did not budge.
"Strange. Truly strange!" Daoshengzi was utterly astonished.
Xu Ying landed, feeling despondent.
Daoshengzi's face loomed over the sky and said, "Xu Ying, if you tell me why this Dao in your body is not within reincarnation, I will spare your life."
Xu Ying gave no answer.
Just then, a gentle, melodious voice rang out: "It is probably because he tempered this Dao through his own fists and feet, strike by strike. This Dao never existed between heaven and earth; it can only be forged through acquired human effort. That is why even the Great Dao of Reincarnation cannot strip it away."
Daoshengzi froze. Looking toward the sound, he saw that at some point, a girl wearing a crown of circular thorns had appeared beside Xu Ying. She had a baby face that looked somewhat childish.
Yet this was the two thousand three hundred fiftieth layer of his reincarnation. How had this baby-faced girl entered? Why had he felt no sensation of it whatsoever?
Suddenly, Daoshengzi remembered someone. His expression warped in sheer terror, the colossal face covering the sky contorting in horror. The baby-faced girl looked up and thrust a single finger toward the sky, and all two thousand-plus layers of reincarnation vanished in an instant.
Her finger struck with unmistakable precision between Daoshengzi's brows.
At the exact same instant, the brows of countless future Daoshengzis were pierced through by a single beam of finger force.
Chapter 781