The eyes and ears of the Heavenly Maiden Sect stretched into every corner of Zhanhai City. When it came to gathering intelligence, few factions in the city could hope to rival them.
At that moment, a female disciple hurried before Heavenly Maiden Yun Haitang.
"Heavenly Maiden, per your instructions to keep close watch on the major factions in Zhanhai City, we just spotted the Sect Master of the Youhai Sect, Old Ancestor Youhai, entering the Three Dragons Association."
"Not long after, Old Ancestor Youhai departed, followed closely by the Three Chieftains of the Three Dragons Association, who left right after him."
Yun Haitang's brows knit together.
Old Ancestor Youhai. The Three Chieftains of the Three Dragons Association.
Every one of them was a Divine Gang Realm expert, undisputed local hegemons in Zhanhai City. The city's pinnacle combat strength peaked around the Divine Gang Realm. The Heavenly Maiden Sect possessed a Divine Gang Realm martial artist of its own, but only one—far fewer than the Three Dragons Association.
"Where did they go?" Yun Haitang asked.
"It seems... they went to the Ocean Commerce Guild!"
"The Ocean Commerce Guild..."
Yun Haitang's face drained of color.
The Ocean Commerce Guild was nothing more than a guild run by foreign merchants. What could possibly warrant the personal arrival of Old Ancestor Youhai alongside the Three Chieftains?
It made no sense! Yet knowing Lu Changsheng's ties to the guild, she could not help but fear the worst.
"The Ocean Commerce Guild... Is Mister Dao there?"
"Mister Dao just returned from the open sea to the Ocean Commerce Guild."
Yun Haitang's heart sank.
Disaster!
She did not believe the Ocean Commerce Guild possessed the weight to draw Old Ancestor Youhai. Only Dao Twelve could provoke such a joint appearance from Youhai and the Three Chieftains. Though she had no idea how Dao Twelve had crossed the man, Old Ancestor Youhai was a genuine Divine Gang Realm martial artist. No matter how much confidence she had in Lu Changsheng, his position was perilous.
*No, I must go to the Supreme Elder at once. Nothing can be allowed to happen to Mister Dao.*
With no time to lose, Yun Haitang rushed directly to the Supreme Elder.
The Supreme Elder had herself been a Heavenly Maiden of the sect in her youth. After stepping down, she had devoted herself entirely to martial cultivation. Today, she stood as the solitary pillar supporting the Heavenly Maiden Sect.
"Supreme Elder, please descend the mountain to save Mister Dao!" Yun Haitang said without preamble.
"Dao Twelve..."
The Supreme Elder hesitated upon hearing the request. Facing Old Ancestor Youhai alone did not frighten her, but if the Three Chieftains were involved as well, matters would turn dire. Dao Twelve certainly shared a deep bond with Yun Haitang, but the Supreme Elder carried the fate of the entire Heavenly Maiden Sect on her shoulders; she could not afford to be reckless.
"Supreme Elder, Mister Dao... has already joined the Northern Region Heavenly Sect. He is now a Heavenly Sect disciple!" Yun Haitang gritted her teeth and revealed the truth.
"What? You say Dao Twelve is already a disciple of the Northern Region Heavenly Sect?"
A brilliant light flared in the Supreme Elder's eyes.
A disciple of the Northern Region Heavenly Sect...
"Come, down the mountain at once!"
All hesitation evaporated. Decisive and swift, the Supreme Elder set out immediately, racing toward the Ocean Commerce Guild.
***
Meanwhile, Lu Changsheng remained inside the Ocean Commerce Guild.
His voyage out to sea had yielded considerable gains, and he needed time to organize his thoughts and cultivation.
"Dao Twelve, roll out here!"
A roar laden with fury suddenly crashed into Lu Changsheng's ears.
"Hm?"
Lu Changsheng raised an eyebrow and looked toward the window. Anyone who knew the name "Dao Twelve" ought to know his reputation, yet this person dared shout with such brazen arrogance. Who was it?
Lu Changsheng promptly unfurled his Perception Domain.
*A Divine Gang Realm martial artist?*
He sensed a figure drenched in palpable killing intent—intent aimed squarely at him. Yet racking his memory, Lu Changsheng knew he had never crossed any Divine Gang Realm martial artists, aside from those inner disciples of the Northern Region Heavenly Sect. But Heavenly Sect disciples would never have pursued him all the way to Zhanhai City.
Lu Changsheng rose and pushed the door open.
A Divine Gang Realm expert was a hegemon in Zhanhai City. The Ocean Commerce Guild stood no chance of handling one.
"I am Dao Twelve," Lu Changsheng announced as he stepped outside the guild's grounds.
He laid eyes on the Divine Gang expert: an elderly man draped in crimson robes, whose sinister, razor-sharp gaze locked onto Lu Changsheng.
"You are Dao Twelve?" Old Ancestor Youhai asked coldly.
"I have never met you."
"Heh, indeed you haven't, but you have met four of my disciples."
Lu Changsheng's eyes narrowed slightly. He immediately recalled the four Divine Strength Realm cultivators he had cut down upon the sea.
"The Youhai Sect?"
"Precisely! I am Old Ancestor Youhai, Sect Master of the Youhai Sect! Since you slaughtered four of my disciples, it is only natural that I take your life in return!"
Old Ancestor Youhai wasted no more breath. "Die!"
His martial conception erupted. A vast, boundless ocean unfurled, threatening to swallow Lu Changsheng beneath crushing depths.
"Stop!"
"Youhai, you old scoundrel! Dao Twelve is the Dao Protector of our Heavenly Maiden Sect's current Heavenly Maiden! How dare you lay a hand on him?"
A furious shout rang out from the distance.
Lu Changsheng glanced over to see a white-haired crone rushing toward them. Since she claimed ties to the Heavenly Maiden Sect, she had to be their Supreme Elder.
"Crazy hag, you had better keep out of this."
"This is a feud between the Youhai Sect and Dao Twelve. It has nothing to do with the Heavenly Maiden Sect."
"If you interfere, don't blame us for what happens!"
Three Divine Gang Realm figures suddenly appeared before the Supreme Elder, blocking her path.
"Are you of the Three Dragons Association truly determined to walk this dark path to the bitter end alongside the Youhai Sect?" The Supreme Elder's expression darkened.
The Three Chieftains of the Three Dragons Association offered no reply. They merely eyed her with calm, smiling expressions, their stance unmistakable.
"You..."
The Supreme Elder's face fell. With the Three Chieftains intervening, matters had turned exceedingly troublesome. At the very least, she could never bypass these three Divine Gang Realm experts to stop Old Ancestor Youhai.
Seeing the Three Chieftains intercept the Supreme Elder, Old Ancestor Youhai sneered. "Heh, Dao Twelve, no one can save you today!"
Lu Changsheng cast a lingering glance at the three chieftains.
"The Three Dragons Association, the Youhai Sect..." he murmured under his breath.
*Buzz.*
Old Ancestor Youhai's consciousness swept outward like an overwhelming tide, pinning itself onto Lu Changsheng. In the same breath, Old Ancestor Youhai hurled a punch.
The strike carried force enough to shake mountains and rivers, surging with power far exceeding ten thousand tripods. While condensing ordinary Divine Gang granted a tenfold amplification to physical strength, bringing baseline physical force to roughly ten thousand tripods, that did not mean a Divine Gang Realm martial artist was limited to ten thousand tripods. Secret methods paired with martial techniques could unleash power far beyond that baseline.
As Old Ancestor Youhai thrust his fist, his power doubled entirely, reaching a staggering twenty thousand tripods!
Such terrifying might was more than enough to crush any Divine Strength Realm cultivator. Though Old Ancestor Youhai appeared crude and arrogant, he had not underestimated Dao Twelve in the slightest. Dao Twelve stood first on the Divine Strength Ranking, a titan who suppressed all peers across the realm. Even knowing his opponent was merely in the Divine Strength Realm, Old Ancestor Youhai held nothing back, unleashing twenty thousand tripods of force from the very first move.
If the contest were decided purely by brute force, Lu Changsheng would indeed fall short against a veteran Divine Gang expert. But battles between martial artists were never just about physical output. At the Divine Strength and Divine Gang levels, martial conception held paramount importance!
*Whoosh!*
Suddenly, an invisible ripple swept over Old Ancestor Youhai.
The vast ocean of Old Ancestor Youhai's conception suddenly roiled with monstrous waves. A hundred-zhang swell crashed outward, blotting out the sky as if to crush everything in its path. Under the pressure of this surging tide, Old Ancestor Youhai's ocean conception fractured and collapsed in an instant.
"What?"
"This is... a domain!"
Old Ancestor Youhai's eyes bulged in disbelief.
A domain! Dao Twelve had actually manifested a domain?
The moment the domain emerged, it shattered Old Ancestor Youhai's ocean conception into dust and enveloped him entirely. Though a domain could not directly alter physical reality, it could mercilessly suppress his spirit.
"*Lin!*"
A frigid syllable sounded.
Beneath the crushing weight of Lu Changsheng's Ocean Wave Domain, Old Ancestor Youhai's spirit was suppressed to its absolute limit. In that precise instant, the Nine-Word Mantra Secret Method violently jarred his consciousness. As his spirit convulsed in turmoil, Lu Changsheng's invisible Mind Sword struck.
"Aaargh!"
Old Ancestor Youhai screamed in agony.
Domain, Nine-Word Mantra Secret Method, and Mind Sword—three terrifying arts unleashed in tandem. Old Ancestor Youhai's spirit simply could not endure it. It mattered not that he was a Divine Gang Realm expert; on the spiritual plane, Lu Changsheng held absolute supremacy. A single stroke of the Mind Sword cleaved his spirit apart.
Consequently, the twenty-thousand-tripod punch Old Ancestor Youhai had unleashed dissolved into nothingness as his shattered spirit lost control of the strike.
Though described in stages, all of this transpired in the span of an instant.
*Clang!*
Lu Changsheng drew his blade.
Empowered by both the Starry Sky Waterfall Conception and the Ocean Wave Conception, the blood-red saber light moved with incomparable speed. It tore through the void in a flash, striking Old Ancestor Youhai with vicious precision from ten zhang away.
Reinforced by domain and conceptions alike, this single stroke surpassed ten thousand tripods of force.
Ten thousand tripods could break gang!
Old Ancestor Youhai possessed only ordinary Divine Gang, entirely incapable of withstanding the ten thousand tripods unleashed by Lu Changsheng.
*Crack!*
A crisp fracture echoed.
As Old Ancestor Youhai's scattered senses began to coalesce, horror warped his features.
His Divine Gang had shattered!
Broken clean through by a single slash from Dao Twelve.
*How is this possible?*
Old Ancestor Youhai was paralyzed by sheer shock. He was a dignified Divine Gang Realm martial artist who had condensed true Divine Gang. Even if his spirit was battered, his Divine Gang should have remained intact, solid and devoid of flaws. How could it fall to a single blow from Dao Twelve?
Yet no matter his disbelief, reality gave no quarter.
His Divine Gang was broken.
The terrifying blood-red saber light slipped through the fissure, slicing straight into his flesh from crown to pelvis, cleaving him clean in two!
*Splurt!*
Blood sprayed into the air, filling the street with a thick, suffocating stench of gore.
The surroundings plunged into dead silence.
Every gaze froze upon Lu Changsheng and Old Ancestor Youhai, their minds swimming as if lost in a dream.
Where was Old Ancestor Youhai?
The disciples of the Youhai Sect stared blankly.
Old Ancestor Youhai lay upon the ground, no longer a whole corpse, but two separate halves cleaved cleanly down the center.
The sheer brutality of the sight left everyone dumbfounded. Even the Supreme Elder and the Three Chieftains, who had been poised to clash, stood frozen in disbelief.
"Old Ancestor Youhai is dead? Slain in a single strike by Dao Twelve?"
"He was in the Divine Gang Realm! So long as one's Divine Gang remains unbroken, death is impossible! How could he die?"
"One slash! A single strike broke through his Divine Gang and took his life! That blow had to exceed ten thousand tripods of force!"
"Even so, how could Old Ancestor Youhai stand there like a living target and let Dao Twelve strike him?"
"A domain! Old Ancestor Youhai was suppressed by Dao Twelve's domain!"
"What? A Divine Strength cultivator manifested a domain?!"
In an instant, monstrous waves of shock crashed through the minds of every experienced martial artist present.
A domain!
Dao Twelve had actually formed a domain?
It was utterly inconceivable—far more astounding even than his slaying of Old Ancestor Youhai. Even the Three Chieftains and the Supreme Elder, all Divine Gang Realm martial artists, had merely grasped martial conceptions. They had no hope of evolving them into domains in this lifetime. They understood all too well what manifesting a domain signified.
Lu Changsheng sheathed his saber.
He cast a dismissive glance at Old Ancestor Youhai's corpse and shook his head slightly, lacking even the urge to search the remains.
Too weak.
What good was twenty thousand tripods of raw power when a domain could suppress it instantly? In truth, Lu Changsheng realized he had been overly cautious. Layering the Nine-Word Mantra Secret Method and the Mind Sword on top of the domain had been unnecessary. A single domain was more than enough to pin Old Ancestor Youhai down.
From what Lu Changsheng could sense, Old Ancestor Youhai had comprehended at most sixty percent of his martial conception. Condensing Divine Gang with an understanding that shallow must have required immense luck amidst endless peril. Against Lu Changsheng's domain, an inferior conception stood no chance; Old Ancestor Youhai had been rendered completely immobile before he could even release his strength.
Such was the terrifying supremacy of a domain. At the Divine Strength and Divine Gang realms, raw power mattered, but martial conceptions and domains mattered far more. Martial artists who had never manifested a domain were utterly defenseless before one.
However, Lu Changsheng had not forgotten the Three Chieftains of the Three Dragons Association.
Moments ago, they had stood in league with Old Ancestor Youhai. Though they had not struck at Lu Changsheng directly, blocking the Supreme Elder of the Heavenly Maiden Sect was a clear declaration of their allegiance.
*Swish.*
Lu Changsheng's gaze shifted onto the Three Chieftains.
The trio shuddered violently.
He was merely in the Divine Strength Realm! Yet that single glance weighed upon them with crushing pressure.
Such was his aura—not merely the prestige of the number one cultivator on the Divine Strength Ranking, but the terrifying momentum of having just cleaved Old Ancestor Youhai in two with a single blow!
"A misunderstanding! Mister Dao, it was all a misunderstanding!"
"Our Three Dragons Association never raised a hand against you! We were merely misled by Old Ancestor Youhai's slander!"
"We are willing to accept punishment!"
The Three Chieftains hastened to state their stance, casting aside every shred of pride. What a joke—even Old Ancestor Youhai had been butchered like cattle. What did face matter now?
"A misunderstanding?"
Lu Changsheng shook his head, his face expressionless as he spoke evenly, word by word: "Since it is a misunderstanding, you shall take your punishment."
"We will! We willingly accept punishment!" The Three Chieftains rejoiced.
"Withstand one strike of my blade, and the slate is wiped clean," Lu Changsheng declared, his tone cold and unyielding.
The smiles on the three chieftains' faces froze instantly.
One strike?
They were not fools. Agreeing to endure a blow from Dao Twelve meant looking at Old Ancestor Youhai's fate. Was Dao Twelve's blade something just anyone could take?
The Three Chieftains' faces darkened. Staring at Dao Twelve, one of them said in a heavy voice, "Mister Dao, is there truly no room for compromise? We are, after all, the Three Chieftains of the Three Dragons Association. We command thousands of members, with no small number of Divine Strength martial artists under our banner."
They had begun to brandish their faction's might. The Three Dragons Association was indeed formidable, standing as one of the three great gangs of Zhanhai City.
"Thousands of members?"
Lu Changsheng laughed.
He took a deliberate step toward them, speaking in a calm, measured cadence: "On the Northern Region Battlefield, the number of Divine Strength martial artists I slaughtered reached into the thousands! Does your Three Dragons Association have several thousand Divine Strength martial artists to spare?"
The Three Chieftains fell dead silent.
The Northern Region Battlefield!
Dao Twelve was the undisputed number one on the Divine Strength Ranking there, and tales of his deeds had spread throughout the Great Fish Dynasty. Slaying thousands of Divine Strength cultivators single-handedly was no exaggeration; it was documented fact. Strong as the Three Dragons Association was, could it boast thousands of Divine Strength experts? Impossible! Had they possessed numbers like that, they would have conquered all of Zhanhai City long ago.
Watching Dao Twelve close the distance step by step, showing no intention of relenting, the Three Chieftains made their choice with ruthless resolve.
"Kill!"
Decisive and merciless, they struck. Knowing there was no way out, they seized the initiative!
At this moment, Lu Changsheng stood less than ten zhang from the Three Chieftains—a mere seven or eight zhang. With the explosive burst of Divine Gang Realm experts, they could bridge several zhang in a single bound. All three acted simultaneously with complete abandon, putting everything on the line.
Terrifying qi and blood erupted.
Three distinct martial conceptions surged forth, blotting out the sky as they crashed toward Lu Changsheng. The three Divine Gang experts joined forces, betting their lives on a single, lethal strike!
The assault erupted like lightning, so fast that even the Supreme Elder of the Heavenly Maiden Sect could not react. Who could have foreseen that the Three Chieftains would be so vicious, staking their very lives without hesitation? Even if she wished to intervene, it was already too late.
"Three Divine Gang experts..."
Lu Changsheng's eyes turned frosty.
It was not as though he had never fought three Divine Gang Realm cultivators before. Back in the Tianlu Mountain Range, bound by the rules of the Northern Region Heavenly Sect, he had stayed his hand against the three inner disciples. But here, outside the sect, no rules constrained him.
In other words, Dao Twelve was free to do whatever he pleased!
Chapter 136