CHAPTER 423

The gray-robed man was deeply shocked as he witnessed the dao technique that Lu Qing had unleashed.

The massive hand of spiritual power was all too familiar to him.

It was none other than his junior brother’s proud, most meticulously cultivated ultimate skill: the Ten Thousand Arts Palm!

His junior brother had painstakingly refined this technique over a century, reaching its peak. Yet now, a stranger at the Golden Core Realm had suddenly used it. How could this not terrify the gray-robed man?

But despite the overwhelming shock in his heart, the situation left no room for hesitation.

The Ten Thousand Arts Palm that Lu Qing wielded was astonishingly fast, appearing before the gray-robed man in the blink of an eye.

A powerful suppressive force bore down upon him, making him feel suffocated and immobilized.

“How can it be this strong?”

The gray-robed man was astounded by the sheer might of the Ten Thousand Arts Palm.

This strike was far superior to what his junior brother could achieve.

For someone who had just advanced in cultivation, it brought an almost insurmountable sense of oppression.

Instinct warned him—this palm strike was impossible to resist!

Acting on this intuition, the gray-robed man unleashed a flash of silver light from his body. The suppressive force pressing upon him instantly dissolved, and with the agility of a slippery fish, he narrowly evaded the strike at the last moment.

“Hmm?”

Lu Qing raised his eyebrows.

He noticed the gray-robed man’s Phantom Movement Technique was remarkably sophisticated, subtly pulling on the surrounding Rules of Heaven and Earth as he moved.

Even more intriguing was the layer of silver light on his opponent's body.

The suppressive force of the Ten Thousand Arts Palm, when applied to this silver light, felt strangely elusive, as if slipping off its surface.

It was precisely because of this that the gray-robed man managed to escape so effortlessly.

“As expected, hastily comprehended spells aren’t reliable.”

Although slightly surprised, Lu Qing was not disappointed. With a casual wave of his hand, he dispersed the Ten Thousand Arts Palm he had just summoned.

But the scene had already left everyone around completely stunned.

Especially Lin Zhirui and the others watching from below—they almost couldn’t believe their eyes.

It was clear to everyone that the massive palm Lu Qing had cast was identical to the one the white-robed youth had used not long ago!

More importantly, they had also witnessed the gray-robed man being forced into a pitiful retreat under Lu Qing’s attack!

“Could it be that Lu Xiaolangjun has made a major breakthrough in his cultivation recently?”

This thought involuntarily crossed the minds of everyone present.

“Who exactly are you? How do you know the Ten Thousand Arts Palm?”

The gray-robed man fixed his gaze on Lu Qing, unable to suppress the tremor in his voice.

His tone betrayed his utter disbelief.

His junior brother’s ultimate technique had been wielded by the very enemy who had killed him. Not only was this shocking, but it also stirred countless unsettling suspicions.

“Is there any point in asking such questions now?”

Lu Qing shook his head, unwilling to waste further words with the man.

A magical artifact-level blade appeared in his hand, the edge flickering with a biting cold radiance.

The earlier Ten Thousand Arts Palm had been nothing more than a casual test of his techniques after breaking through to the Golden Core Realm.

Now, knowing that his opponent had some skill, he decided to get serious.

“A blade? Isn’t this kid supposed to be a daoist cultivator?”

The gray-robed man froze for a moment upon seeing the weapon in Lu Qing’s hand.

But before he could recover, a sudden sense of foreboding overwhelmed him. A chilling killing intent pierced his mind, sending shivers down his spine.

Without a second thought, the gray-robed man instinctively dodged to the side.

Yet just as he moved, he felt a sharp pain—his arm had been severed, flying into the air.

“Oh? Your instincts aren’t bad. You actually managed to dodge that strike,” Lu Qing said, his figure now standing behind the gray-robed man.

“What?!”

The gray-robed man turned abruptly, clutching his severed right arm. His face was pale with shock as he stared at Lu Qing.

Lu Qing’s speed had been terrifying, so fast that even with his recently enhanced Golden Core Fourth-Turn divine soul, he hadn’t been able to react.

Moreover, the blade’s energy was incredibly powerful!

The layers of defensive dao techniques and protective silver light surrounding his body had been effortlessly shattered, unable to withstand the strike for even a moment.

“A dual cultivator of both body and soul? You’re actually a dual cultivator!

Who the hell are you?

There’s no way a native of this world could be this strong!

Are you, too, someone who has descended here from the outside world?”

The gray-robed man’s mind raced with possibilities as he stared at the enigmatic Lu Qing.

This small world had only recently begun to revive, making it impossible for someone as terrifying as Lu Qing to exist here naturally.

The only explanation was that Lu Qing, like himself, was an otherworldly expert who had arrived here.

“Strong?” Lu Qing said indifferently. “You’re just too weak.

Did you think reaching Golden Core Fourth-Turn would make you invincible in a small world?

Intruder, you were lucky to dodge that strike.

But for the next one, you won’t be so fortunate.

I will cleave both your body and your Golden Core into two.”

“Not good!”

The gray-robed man felt an overwhelming sense of dread as he listened to Lu Qing’s words.

Driven by fear, the silver light around him flared brilliantly, and he desperately retreated, his speed increasing severalfold in an instant.

Simultaneously, the gray-robed man’s mind surged in chaos as he unleashed countless techniques in a desperate attempt to bombard Lu Qing and block his path. Yet, rather than confront him head-on, he turned and fled, seeking to escape this perilous place.

“Do you think you can escape?”

Lu Qing’s expression remained calm, unsurprised by the gray-robed man’s retreat.

He raised the Magical Artifact-Level Blade in his hand and slashed downward.

Instantly, a powerful blade light burst forth, hurtling forward at an astonishing speed. Wherever the blade light passed, the Rules of Heaven and Earth rippled as if trembling before it, and everything in its path was cleaved apart.

The gray-robed man’s techniques, no matter how intricate, were shredded like fragile paper and disintegrated into raw energy that dissipated into the world.

After tearing through the onslaught of techniques, the blade light did not lose its momentum. It continued toward the gray-robed man, who had already fled several miles.

Just as it was about to slice him in two, a slightly battered Void Flying Boat suddenly appeared behind the gray-robed man.

Boom!

The blade light struck the Void Flying Boat, unleashing a terrifying burst of energy centered on the gray-robed man’s position.

Nearby mountains were instantly obliterated, and countless fragments of rocks, trees, and debris were flung into the air.

“Ugh!”

Although the Void Flying Boat was not severed by Lu Qing’s strike, it was violently knocked aside, tumbling uncontrollably through the air.

The residual force of the blade light penetrated its defenses, slicing through the gray-robed man’s Divine Sense and leaving it severely damaged. He couldn’t help but spit out a mouthful of blood.

“This is bad!”

Seeing the Void Flying Boat being flung away, the gray-robed man felt both fear and urgency.

The fear stemmed from the overwhelming power of Lu Qing’s blade. Without the Void Flying Boat’s protection, he might have been utterly destroyed by that single strike.

The urgency arose from the fact that the Void Flying Boat had been knocked away, preventing him from entering it immediately.

With no other choice, the gray-robed man frantically activated his Phantom Movement Technique, sprinting toward the flying boat with all his might. Simultaneously, he exerted his remaining Divine Sense to pull the Void Flying Boat closer to him.

At this moment, regret filled his heart.

For years, despite exhausting countless methods, he had never fully refined the Void Flying Boat to integrate it into his body. This left it as nothing more than an ordinary magical artifact in his hands.

If he had refined it completely, how could he have ended up in such a pitiful state today?

“Hm?”

Lu Qing’s gaze shifted slightly as he saw the gray-robed man desperately chasing after the Void Flying Boat.

A phantom of an ancient, majestic cauldron emerged behind him.

“Suppress!”

With a single utterance, a wave of suppressive force blanketed a radius of ten miles.

The gray-robed man, who had turned into a streak of light, felt his speed plummet drastically, almost to a crawl.

“A suppressive-type Spiritual Artifact?!”

Feeling the overwhelming suppressive force weighing down on him, the gray-robed man’s silver radiance flared as he tried to dissolve the effect.

However, the suppressive power of the Li Huo Cauldron was far superior to the force exerted by Lu Qing’s earlier Ten Thousand Arts Palm. No matter how hard he pushed the silver radiance, he could not shake off the suppression.

Fortunately, the Void Flying Boat’s surface emitted a flowing silver light that steadily neutralized the suppressive power. Although its speed was reduced, it could still move toward him.

The gray-robed man hastily used his Divine Sense to urge the Void Flying Boat closer to him.

As long as he could enter the Void Flying Boat, there was still hope for survival.

The gray-robed man had already resolved to leave this Small World immediately after escaping this calamity.

The young man chasing him was simply too terrifying.

The blade light from earlier was far more fearsome than the sword radiance wielded by Jian Yi, a top Golden Core disciple of the Heaven Dao Alliance.

He had no doubt that if he lingered here any longer, he would truly perish.

The thought of his prized Lotus of Tranquility and the mid-grade Perfect Golden Core he had only recently refined filled the gray-robed man with a powerful sense of survival.

His luck had just begun to turn, and the path to immortality lay ahead. No matter what, he could not afford to fall here!

Under the intense will to live, a transformation seemed to occur within his Divine Sense.

His mental state surged in strength, causing the Void Flying Boat, already near him, to accelerate once more. In an instant, it reached his side.

“My Divine Sense has broken through?”

The gray-robed man was overjoyed and prepared to step onto the Void Flying Boat.

However, just as his foot was about to touch the flying boat, an invisible wave descended upon him.

The gray-robed man’s body stiffened, and his vision was suddenly filled with endless illusions.

“This is… an Illusion Technique?!”

Before he could process the thought, his Divine Sense was completely ensnared, and he sank into an inescapable daze.