"Let's do it, then." Eager to have a go, the Immortal Fairy was not one to shy away from Luo Hongxia's challenge.
From her debut through her sixteen years roaming the ancient era, she had won every battle she fought. Challenging opponents of higher realms was second nature to her, and she was the creator of the Invincible Core. When it came to combat, she feared no one!
Even Yun Zhi was no exception!
The others had no intention of stopping them. Finding the whole affair rather entertaining, they cleared some space to let Luo Hongxia and the Immortal Fairy display their skills.
Everyone wanted to see the extent of Lu Yang's true strength, and Qiu Jin'an was no exception.
Back when Lu Yang fought Huang Ming, Qiu Jin'an had sensed that Lu Yang hadn't gone all out and surely possessed other hidden cards.
Luo Hongxia opened a small round box. Refined from the single horn of a xiezhi, this supreme treasure was known as the Light-Confining Treasure Box.
Luo Hongxia chanted an ancestral incantation to activate the Light-Confining Treasure Box. Two beams of light shot out from the box—one landing upon herself, the other falling upon the Immortal Fairy.
Just as the Immortal Fairy was about to dispel the beam, Luo Hongxia spoke, "Do not resist. The treasure box can adjust our cultivation realms to the same level."
Hearing this, the Immortal Fairy gave Luo Hongxia face and ceased resisting.
With a whoosh, both of them were sucked inside the box.
Inside the treasure box lay a boundless expanse. Its environment could be altered at will according to the caster's intent—mountains, rivers, lakes, and seas could all be conjured, allowing it to be used for environmental warfare.
The moment she entered the box, Luo Hongxia's cultivation realm shifted, plummeting continuously—Body Integration stage, Void Refining stage, Soul Formation stage... all the way down to the mid Golden Core stage.
Her physical strength and mental power adjusted accordingly.
"Mid Golden Core stage... this realm truly brings back memories." Luo Hongxia smiled faintly. In her youth, she too had been an unrivaled prodigy with no equals across the realm; peers of the same rank lacked even the courage to fight her.
Now, returning to the mid Golden Core stage armed with the experience of a Body Integration cultivator, who could possibly match her?!
"Begin!"
Luo Hongxia tossed out a seed and cast the Tree Planting Art. The seed took root and sprouted, growing into an elegant, slender moon laurel tree. Its leaves rustled, radiating vibrant life force!
The moon laurel tree could provide her with an unending supply of power.
"A Bright Moon Hangs High!"
Luo Hongxia raised a hand, and a brilliant, pristine moon hung high in the sky. Moonlight poured down, condensing into cones of light that pelted down toward the Immortal Fairy.
Each light cone possessed formidable power; a single strike would grievously injure an ordinary Golden Core cultivator and strip them of the ability to fight.
The Immortal Fairy dodged nimbly with light, graceful steps like a kitten, sidestepping the moonlight attacks with mere twitches of her body.
This came from her battle with Immortal Kirin. Seeing Immortal Kirin's agile footwork as he leaped and bounded, managing to barely dodge a few of her strikes—a very rare feat indeed—whereas Immortal Ying Tian only knew how to take hits head-on and lagged behind in footwork...
...she had gained inspiration, carefully observed Immortal Kirin's movements, and deduced the Kirin Steps.
Seeing that she couldn't land a single hit on the Immortal Fairy, Luo Hongxia formed hand seals and shifted her gestures. Cones of light rained down like an unending downpour.
Facing an unavoidable barrage, the Immortal Fairy stomped her foot. The loess beneath her rippled like waves, surging and cresting layer upon layer into a tidal wave of earth that roared forth—threatening to swallow her first before the light cones could even descend.
She pointed a finger and lightly tapped the yellow earth. In an instant, the surging soil turned impossibly rigid, halting completely to block the torrential light cones.
"Pointing Earth into Steel?!" Luo Hongxia exclaimed, never expecting Lu Yang to use such a technique.
But she immediately gave a cold chuckle. So what if he knew an ancient spell?
"Moonfall Upon the Mortal Realm!" With a deafening boom, the moon crashed downward toward the Immortal Fairy, colliding with the steel-hard loess and kicking up immense clouds of dust!
As the dust settled and cleared, Luo Hongxia scanned for Lu Yang's figure, finding nothing.
No, he's underground! Luo Hongxia's combat experience was immense; in her youth, she had frequently been ambushed by Qiu Jin'an using this very move, so familiarity bred quick instincts, allowing her to react in the shortest possible time.
The Immortal Fairy had used a legitimate Earth Escaping Art, its effect virtually identical to Lu Yang's Shrinking the Earth.
Luo Hongxia leaped high into the air so that no matter which direction Lu Yang ambushed her from, she would have room to dodge.
"A Bright Moon Hangs High."
Once again, a bright moon hung in the sky. The moment Lu Yang dared to show his head, he would face another barrage of moonlight!
Bang.
The Immortal Fairy burrowed out from beneath the earth, but instead of attacking Luo Hongxia, she went after the moon laurel tree Luo Hongxia had planted at the start of the battle.
The mana required for Luo Hongxia's onslaught was not something a mid Golden Core cultivator could sustain; even Lu Yang would be hard-pressed. Thus, the answer was obvious: the moon laurel tree was providing Luo Hongxia with an unending supply of power.
This was actually a standard combat technique of the Moon Laurel Immortal Palace, something only Nascent Soul disciples could master proficiently. Even Lan Ting couldn't pull it off yet, but Luo Hongxia had relied on her vast experience to execute it at the Golden Core stage.
Luo Hongxia tensed for a moment, surprised that her opponent's combat awareness was sharp enough to deduce the weak point so quickly, but she soon calmed down.
The moon laurel tree possessed no offensive power; it had only two traits: providing spiritual energy to the caster, and an absolutely formidable defense!
Even if Lu Yang possessed several exceptionally powerful offensive spells, breaking the moon laurel tree's defense in short order was utterly impossible!
"Pretty sturdy." The Immortal Fairy casually punched the moon laurel tree. The tree merely swayed slightly, not losing a single leaf.
"Looks like I have to use some real tricks... Hundred Herb Withering Fist!"
In order to cultivate Fairy Boxing, she had studied tens of thousands of medicinal herb fist techniques. From them, she had derived an offshoot style specifically designed to counter plant-based life forms. When unleashed, all vegetation withered and not a single blade of grass survived—hence the name Hundred Herb Withering Fist.
Struck by that punch, the moon laurel tree's leaves turned yellow and withered, its branches desiccated, and in the blink of an eye, it died completely!
Pfft—
Luo Hongxia violently spat a mouthful of blood, her face turning deathly pale from the backlash of the moon laurel tree.
She had never imagined the opponent could kill the moon laurel tree with a single punch. What kind of fist technique was that?!
But so what? Even without the moon laurel tree, could she really lose to a junior?
Luo Hongxia dove down from high above, but the Immortal Fairy uprooted the moon laurel tree and slammed it right into Luo Hongxia, smacking her completely senseless.
...
In the Imperial Palace, a group of righteous mighty figures gathered around the treasure box, murmuring in discussion.
"Who do you think will win between the two of them?"
Those outside could not see what was happening inside the box and could only guess.
"Hongxia, most likely. Her combat experience is immense, far beyond what those Body Integration cultivators who dispersed their cultivation to start anew could match. Lu Yang is just a junior; how could he possibly fight her?" Yang Ding stroked his chin, speculating.
"I think so as well," Emperor Xia agreed.
"It's not entirely impossible for Lu Yang to win," Qiu Jin'an said, cautious not to make any absolute claims. After all, this was the junior brother trained by Yun Zhi; there was no telling what spells he might pull off.
"Look! The treasure box is glowing—the victor is about to be decided!"
Boom—
Luo Hongxia came flying backward out of the treasure box, stars spinning before her eyes, her mouth stuffed with tree leaves.
Chapter 470