Invincible at the Golden Core Stage

Slash! The Yaoguang Sword swept across, slicing off one of Zhu Yunwu's wings. It tumbled to the ground, blood spurting freely! "Pant, pant, pant..." Zhu Yunwu's eyes turned bloodshot, his handsome face twisting slightly. After clashing for hundreds of rounds, he had thoroughly realized that by his own power alone, he stood no chance against his opponent. In that case, he had no choice but to use the essence blood bestowed by his master. Taking advantage of wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth, Zhu Yunwu swallowed a drop of essence blood. This was Zhu Tian's essence blood, unimaginably precious, capable of allowing Zhu Yunwu to exert the power of the Nascent Soul stage while still in the Golden Core stage! An inexhaustible wellspring of power surged from within his body. The wounds corroded by sword qi hissed with smoke and rapidly healed; even a brand-new wing sprouted forth. "Again!" Zhu Yunwu took the offensive, charging toward Lu Yang. "Sky-Treading Stride!" Lu Yang hadn't expected Zhu Yunwu's strike to be this swift and fierce. Raising the Yaoguang Sword horizontally across his chest, he parried the blow, retreating several paces to disperse the force. The two engaged in a furious tussle once more. Unlike before, Lu Yang could clearly sense that Zhu Yunwu was far stronger than earlier. Lu Yang found himself missing the finals held back in Great Xia. If the opponent committed a foul, one could report it to the referee and get them disqualified. That wasn't an option here—the referee was on their side, so reporting foul play was useless. Every strike from Zhu Yunwu was heavy and powerful. Lu Yang shifted from offense to defense, continuously neutralizing Zhu Yunwu's fierce onslaughts. The Defensive Formula. This was a sword move Lu Yang rarely utilized. He had always believed that the best defense was a good offense, but current circumstances were exceptional. Unless he cultivated both body and sword simultaneously, meeting the present Zhu Yunwu head-on would just be asking for trouble. Treading across the sky, Zhu Yunwu vaulted high into the air. His four rear hooves gathered power, and his front hooves slammed brutally down toward Lu Yang. Having anticipated this, Lu Yang dodged in advance, leaving Zhu Yunwu stamping on empty air. Twisting midair, Zhu Yunwu redirected his momentum and crashed into Lu Yang once more. Clang! The Yaoguang Sword was knocked flying, landing in the distance. "Without your sword, let's see how you fight!" Zhu Yunwu sneered, victory within his grasp. Zhu Tian breathed a sigh of relief. Though there had been a few twists and turns, winning was all that mattered. Qin Feng and the others cheered, witnessing Young Cult Master Lu's imminent downfall. "And here I thought this Lu fellow had real skill. Turns out he's nothing special." "I was actually worried for Big Brother Yunwu a moment ago. Shows how poor my judgment was." "Exactly, exactly! How could Big Brother Yunwu possibly lose?" Looking at the Yaoguang Sword lying far away, Lu Yang scratched his head in a bit of a bind. Picking it back up was out of the question; Zhu Yunwu wouldn't give him the chance. Should he pick another one from the other six swords and keep up the battle of attrition? Forget it, he'd follow the Invincible Core's lead. Lu Yang sighed, admitting that the Invincible Core's way was better after all. He produced a pill and swallowed it, a warm current gathering in his dantian. ... Below the stage, the Seventh Elder let out a soft exclamation. "That pill..." "Old Seven, you recognize it?" the Fifth Elder asked via voice transmission. "That's the Spring-Returning Yang-Restoring Pill I concocted for Lu Yang." "Sounds like a pill for replenishing spiritual energy." "It is indeed for replenishing spiritual energy. That kid has a technique that is absolutely invincible among his peers. Even if I suppressed my cultivation to the Golden Core stage, I wouldn't be able to withstand it. It just consumes too much spiritual energy, which is why he specifically asked me to refine that pill." "What technique?" The Seventh Elder chuckled knowingly and gave no answer. ... "Die!" Zhu Yunwu bellowed, his four wings flapping as he unleashed a soul-severing stride through the sky, cutting off all paths of retreat. Lu Yang took two steps back and flipped his right hand. Instantly, the weather shifted violently as dark clouds roiled. Space across the ninth tier of the Altar of Heaven seemed to freeze, causing Zhu Yunwu's speed to slow infinitely. Zhu Yunwu felt as though his surroundings were no longer air, but seawater—no, something far more viscous than seawater, severely hindering his movements. "Look, what is that?!" Qin Feng cried out in shock, staring blankly into the sky. A colossal hand reached through the dark clouds, crashing down. Its motion seemed slow, yet it was completely inescapable, leaving nowhere to hide. It felt as if this palm were not striking the Altar of Heaven, but slamming directly onto him, washing a wave of helplessness over his heart. "Universe in the Palm!" Zhu Tian recognized the move at a glance, staring in disbelief, his spiritual platform going blank for a fraction of a second. What kind of joke was this?! Even if it was scaled down countless times compared to the true Universe in the Palm, it remained a technique that only those in the Tribulation Transcendence stage could execute! How could someone in the Golden Core stage possibly unleash it?! Just how terrifying was his magical talent? Yet the truth lay right before his eyes; whether he believed it or not, he had to accept it. For a Golden Core stage cultivator to execute a technique theoretically impossible for his realm meant that no Golden Core stage cultivator could withstand it! The major factions could no longer remain seated; this move completely upended their understanding. They saw with utmost clarity that Young Cult Master Lu had consumed a pill to replenish spiritual energy, not one to temporarily boost his combat strength. In other words, this was his true capability. He was truly invincible at the Golden Core stage. This technique was genuinely a grand spatial divine ability capable of locking down the space beneath the palm, which was why Zhu Yunwu had been rendered immobile. Rumble—! With a hand blotting out the sky and locking down space, it slammed over the Altar of Heaven. Gulp. Watching this, Qin Feng and the others swallowed hard. The power demonstrated by this strike was simply too horrifying. If Zhu Yunwu was an idol for the prodigies of the Demon Clan Alliance to chase after, then this technique was an insurmountable peak that plunged them into despair, leaving them without even the will to pursue. It was utter despair. Watching the battle, Kong Hao had once been Young Cult Master Lu's opponent. After falling into a disadvantage, he had drawn on the old Taowu's power and been disqualified by the referee. "Mister Ji, could I withstand this strike?" "I advise you to learn the art of body seizure as early as possible, lest you drag me down to die with you." The five elders watching this scene whispered incessantly amongst themselves. "This is already on par with Junior Niece Yun's level when she was at the Golden Core stage, isn't it?" "About equal." The giant hand vanished, leaving dust and smoke swirling everywhere. The situation on the Altar of Heaven could not be seen, and because the altar was enveloped in formations, it could not be probed with divine sense. "Is Zhu Yunwu dead or alive?" "He's moving, he's still alive!" Originally, people had been guessing who would win the battle between the two. Yet ever since Universe in the Palm was unleashed, everyone only wanted to know whether Zhu Yunwu was dead or alive. Just being alive was already miraculous. "Didn't expect that, did you? I'm still alive." His wings fluttered, dispersing the dust and smoke. Zhu Yunwu actually appeared full of vigor, his injuries far lighter than anyone had imagined. "You broke through to the Nascent Soul stage?" Lu Yang possessed an exceptional grasp of the battlefield. He had noticed that after unleashing Village in the Palm, a distinct shockwave had erupted from Zhu Yunwu, neutralizing most of the attack. That was the breakthrough to the Nascent Soul stage. "You've got some eyes on you." Zhu Yunwu spoke harshly, but in truth, lingering fear gripped him. Had he not broken through in the nick of time amid a life-and-death crisis, he likely would have perished under that palm. Given his master's cold-blooded nature, Zhu Tian wouldn't have cared about his survival. "Well? Let's see how you fight now!" Zhu Yunwu regained the upper hand. That previous technique had drained his opponent's spiritual energy; the fellow was already an arrow at the end of its flight and posed no threat, and he certainly wouldn't give the other man another chance to take a pill. In contrast, he had broken through mid-battle and was brimming with spiritual energy. The dynamic had reversed. "Heh." Lu Yang couldn't help shaking his head with a chuckle. "What are you laughing at?" Zhu Yunwu frowned with displeasure. Lu Yang slowly raised his head, his eyes burning like torches as if capable of seeing right through a person's soul. Zhu Yunwu felt a pang of fluster under his gaze. "You don't actually think you're the only one who can break through to the Nascent Soul stage, do you?"