Tuoba Dafeng narrowed his eyes slightly, gazing at the silhouette standing atop the isolated peak. Only after a good while did he exhale a breath of turbid air and call out, "Good!"
Wei Yuan looked down from above, standing firmly in Qingming. His stance was completely flawless, possessing the exact bearing a peerless immortal ought to have. Yet he was also clad in worldly dust, causing his aura and intent to straddle both the mortal and immortal realms. His presence was indescribably lofty; in terms of seizing the initiative before a battle, nothing more could possibly be done.
Yet Tuoba Dafeng shook his head again and sighed with regret. "A pity. It is still not enough."
This single remark nearly shook Wei Yuan's Dao heart. He cursed internally, astonished that he had run into someone who could posture even harder than himself.
Still, now that they had met and spoken, he could not simply let it slide. Being suppressed in momentum was a minor matter, but letting his Dao heart be obstructed was a grave one.
Wei Yuan smiled faintly. "Senior, what would be enough, then?"
Tuoba Dafeng let out a long laugh, his voice shaking the wind and clouds. "Against me, nothing is ever enough!"
A surge of vexation rushed straight to Wei Yuan's crown!
In all his years traversing beneath Immortal Heaven, this was the very first time he had lost a war of words. Wei Yuan immediately resolved to waste no more breath. In a deep voice, he said, "Whether it is enough or not can only be known once we fight."
Tuoba Dafeng glanced at the utterly unremarkable spear in Wei Yuan's hand. "Don't you hold the title of 'Spear Saint of the Great Desolation'? Is this that spear?"
Wei Yuan's gaze swept over the wooden spear in Tuoba Dafeng's hand. "Whatever title I take—even if I called myself the Culinary Saint of the Great Desolation—you would still come knocking looking for trouble, Senior."
Tuoba Dafeng smiled faintly. "That is true enough!"
Wei Yuan added, "Senior, there is one thing I do not understand. Might you enlighten me?"
Tuoba Dafeng stretched lazily. "Speak."
Wei Yuan asked with a smile, "How does it feel, playing the dutiful child at the knees of those eminent monks?"
Noticing the crow's-feet at the corners of Tuoba Dafeng's eyes deepen slightly, Wei Yuan knew at once that he had won back a point. His Dao heart cleared instantly, and his smile broadened brilliantly. "Senior..."
Tuoba Dafeng cut him off, replying coldly, "Your true lifespan is not that much younger than mine. Besides, the karma between me and the monks—even if I told you, you wouldn't understand."
Wei Yuan nodded. "I'm not interested in the karma between you either. I call you Senior because... your heart isn't old, you just look old."
Tuoba Dafeng's breathing remained steady, but Wei Yuan knew he had scored another point.
Having finally seized the upper hand, Wei Yuan broke into a loud laugh and took the lead, soaring beyond the heavens. Tuoba Dafeng maintained his plain, unadorned appearance and silently followed him out past the firmament.
Beneath Immortal Heaven and above the world's firmament lay a boundless void. This was the battlefield of Scenery Command cultivators.
Having won two rounds in the battle of wits, Wei Yuan engaged in no more banter. Holding the spear in one hand, he manifested a crimson sword in the other. Flames seemed to coil around the sword, radiating dense spiritual energy. Wei Yuan swiftly mounted the sword onto the spear's tip.
The moment Tuoba Dafeng emerged in the void beyond the skies, Wei Yuan swung his spear in a sweeping arc, cleaving straight down without giving Tuoba Dafeng any chance to speak!
With this thrust, Wei Yuan mobilized the power of his domain. Seven great stars revolved around his body, and the might of all his grotto-heavens was brought to bear at the same time. The instant he struck, he went all out!
As the spear moved, the boundless power of his domain and grotto-heavens condensed into a surging river, engulfing Tuoba Dafeng and scouring him relentlessly!
The rolling torrent seemed inexhaustible, dissipating only after a long time.
High above in Immortal Heaven, the gazes of many spectating immortals turned solemn. They knew Wei Yuan was formidable, yet none had anticipated he would be this strong, or that an attack of such magnitude could be sustained for so long! In that first strike alone, Wei Yuan had unleashed the Dao power of at least three or four peak Scenery Command cultivators. Even ordinary immortals would not dare fight in such a manner.
As the river faded away, Tuoba Dafeng's figure slowly rose from the waters. Countless streams of light drifted around him, each one a wisp of spear qi resisting the scouring torrent.
Upon seeing Tuoba Dafeng, many gazes from Immortal Heaven grew deep and inscrutable.
A look of gravity also entered Wei Yuan's eyes. In that brief exchange, both had probed the other's bearing and artistic conception. Tuoba Dafeng still appeared like an ordinary mortal; one could not see his mindscape world, nor could it be detected even through divine sense.
Tuoba Dafeng naturally possessed a mindscape world. But unlike Wei Yuan's unimaginably vast realm, his was condensed to the extreme, having shrunk into a minute point within his body. Only a hair's breadth separated it from becoming a purely conceptual point between existence and nonexistence. If he succeeded, he would become an immortal.
A peak Scenery Command cultivator's mindscape world condensed into a single point was naturally concentrated and heavy beyond measure. If Wei Yuan's casual strike was like a surging river, Tuoba Dafeng was a chunk of stubborn iron in the riverbed, standing unshakable no matter how the waters raged.
Tuoba Dafeng let out a long breath and shouted, "Thrilling! Now, take a thrust from me!"
Taking a single step, he arrived right before Wei Yuan and thrust his spear forward in an utterly ordinary manner!
This strike was actually tens of thousands of yards away from Wei Yuan, but he saw at a glance that the flow of time around Tuoba Dafeng was completely abnormal, collapsing backward like an iridescent stream and warped beyond recognition. By the time this thrust reached the end of its trajectory, when its power peaked, it would appear instantaneously before his chest to pierce his heart.
Wei Yuan also thrust his spear upward from below. As his spear moved, it carved a trail of flowing fire through the void. Countless lightning-fires detonated around the shaft, each ember backed by a twisted shadow.
High above in Immortal Heaven, the divine senses of numerous immortals clearly wavered.
This strike packed far too much power, moving as though carrying an entire major world with it. The void along its path could not withstand the strain, tearing and twisting everywhere. Judging by raw power alone, this thrust was no weaker than the immortal-slaying strike Wei Yuan had unleashed years ago with the backing of hundreds of millions of mortal luck. Only ten-odd years had passed, yet an attack of such devastation no longer required the reinforcement of mortal luck and could be cast at will?!
Tuoba Dafeng's wooden spear suddenly shot forward like a flood dragon bursting from the depths, ripping through the sky. Wei Yuan met it head-on, and the two spears clashed once more!
After only a momentary deadlock, the void spanning tens of thousands of yards visibly deepened in color. Everything within was shattering and annihilating, karma included. Beyond this deep void, everything was drawn in, surging wildly inward; yet whatever entered this expanse vanished entirely. The more matter and energy it drew in, the stronger its gravitational pull became.
In the eyes of the immortals above, an invisible ripple could be seen expanding rapidly. In an instant, it stretched across tens of thousands of li with no sign of slowing down, threatening to spill over into both Immortal Heaven and the realm below!
Three immortals each extended a finger, stabilizing the ripple. Otherwise, should the void completely collapse, heaven and earth would suffer irreversible damage, incurring karmic consequences too vast to fathom.
Tuoba Dafeng exhaled sharply, withdrew his spear, and stepped back. Joy as pure as a child's gleamed in his eyes as he asked, "What is the name of this strike?"
"Counter-Slay!"
"Good, good, good!" Tuoba Dafeng praised three times in succession.
In terms of aura and intent, Tuoba Dafeng's mindscape world, condensed into a single point of absolute hardness and purity, was actually slightly superior to Wei Yuan's boundless expanse. In a clash of arts, Tuoba Dafeng consumed comparatively less Dao power. In the eyes of traditional immortal paths, Wei Yuan's mindscape world was still somewhat impure. Yet Wei Yuan had already cultivated seven great grotto-heavens and seated six true spirits, all while deliberately holding back his breakthrough at the mid Scenery Command stage. With the foundation of his mindscape world, most early-stage immortals fell short of him. But there was no helping it: in the eyes of the Heavenly Dao, Wei Yuan was currently at mid Scenery Command. Facing a peak cultivator from the mid stage perfectly fulfilled the condition to trigger Counter-Slay, allowing Wei Yuan's spear to draw upon endless worldly power and fight him to another standstill.
Both stood at the pinnacle of the mortal world beneath Immortal Heaven; from a single clash, they already knew each other thoroughly.
Without another word, Wei Yuan swept forward with his spear. Tuoba Dafeng felt that the construction of Wei Yuan's spear was rather peculiar, but had no time to dwell on it. Wei Yuan's strike came crashing down once more, bearing the weight of all Qingming!
Wei Yuan delivered three consecutive strikes, all parried by Tuoba Dafeng. Both sides clashed with brute force, utterly devoid of trickery. Before power of this scale, all technique had become obsolete; they were simply smashing their respective mindscape worlds against each other to see who would buckle first.
In Immortal Heaven, the three immortals quickly found themselves unable to hold the line. One immortal after another pointed downward, helping to stabilize the void so the shockwaves would not harm the mortal realm. In the blink of an eye, seven immortals had combined forces to cast a grand formation, only barely containing the aftershocks of the duel.
From the very beginning, this unprecedented battle had opened at its highest crescendo. Wei Yuan wheeled his spear, cleaving and smashing with relentless fury, trading blow for blow as two worlds collided madly!
Before long, the battle reached a turning point. Tuoba Dafeng's hand suddenly trembled. With a crisp snap, a crack appeared on the wooden spear!
Only then did the assembly of immortals realize that Tuoba Dafeng's condensation to a single point had a limit, whereas Wei Yuan's boundless expanse was truly endless, possessing no ceiling. When their mindscape worlds clashed head-on, even though Tuoba Dafeng consumed less Dao power with each strike, he was ultimately overwhelmed by Wei Yuan's terrifying, inexhaustible mindscape world.
The two suddenly separated, holding their spears and facing each other from a distance.
For the first time, gravity appeared on Tuoba Dafeng's face. The light in his eyes grew increasingly bright, filled with joy and purity. This would be the final thrust, the strike to decide the victor.
Standing with his spear, Tuoba Dafeng resolved to overwhelm Wei Yuan with the pure spear heart he had forged through countless years of bitter cultivation.
He conceded that Wei Yuan was strong—so strong that few in history could rival him. But he, Tuoba Dafeng, was no lesser. His singular, pure spear heart was also unprecedented, unique across both ancient and modern eras.
Holding the spear in one hand, his stance lowered slightly, like an ordinary mortal spearman devoid of cultivation, calmly awaiting Wei Yuan's assault. The moment Wei Yuan's strike reached its zenith would be his opportunity to turn defeat into victory!
The splendor of the world would always be swept away by wind and rain. Such was the fate of heroes, and such would be the fate of Wei Yuan.
Then, Tuoba Dafeng watched as Wei Yuan raised that peculiar spear mounted with an immortal sword at its tip, and pulled the trigger...
The Dao power stored within the Spirit Herding Ring emptied in an instant. Hundreds of millions of mortal luck vanished along with it, while over a hundred thousand template Dao Foundation cultivators collapsed across the floor like weeds swept by a gale.
A single point of light flared in the void before expanding instantaneously into a swelling sphere of luminescence, so blazing that even immortals could barely look upon it. Numerous rings of light emerged across the sphere's surface, crisscrossing and rotating as they radiated in all directions. The rings crashed against the grand formation set by the immortals, instantly provoking violent tremors throughout Immortal Heaven!
The assembly of immortals paled in shock. Fortunately, this was merely the aftershock; had they faced the spear strike head-on, the grand formation likely would not have held for long. At this moment, the entire void was illuminated. From the center of boundless light and heat, Wei Yuan's voice rang out:
"Senior, the times have changed."
Chapter 1235