A Scroll of Infinite Glory

Chapter 267 The Myriad Tricks of Destroying the Dharma in the Mortal World

Before he finished speaking, Lu Junyi swung his spear forward.

The enormous tassel of the spear resembled a dragon's mane in a rage, and the short sword-like blade, in the instant it unleashed this spear flower, created layers upon layers of afterimages, intertwined inside and out, truly like a thousand-petaled lotus flower growing out of thin air.

The fierce and sharp demonic energy, like thousands of flower petals suddenly exploding, shattered from Lu Junyi's spearhead, forming a massive rain of energy that pierced the air at a speed far exceeding the speed of sound, reaching Zhao Kuangyin.

Each wielding spear fragment, amplified by this extreme speed, possesses the power to almost pierce through a mountain cliff at an angle.

Buzz!

The coiled dragon staff began to spin in Zhao Kuangyin's hands. The two ends of the staff, because they contained too much weight and moved too fast, caused sparks to fly in the air the moment they began to spin, enveloping the staff head.

The staff transformed into a thick, round, golden shield with many intricate patterns. A fierce and unrestrained aura burned on the shield, shattering and deflecting all the spear shadows and energy that came towards him.

Zhao Kuangyin's gaze did not fall on the shadows of spears and energy, but rather seemed to pierce through his own staff and shield, clearly locking onto Lu Junyi's figure.

In his eyes, he could see two purplish-black demonic beads inside Lu Junyi's chest, swirling around each other and releasing an intense and boundless demonic aura, which continuously and powerfully supplemented Lu Junyi's power.

—The Demon Orb of Non-Action!

The demonic pearl contains a large amount of poison and demonic energy. For immortal masters who pursue purity, such a thing will only affect their performance and is worse than nothing. However, for unorthodox people like Fang La and Zhang Wanxian, it does not cause any problems.

However, among the strong in this world, those who are truly most suitable to use this kind of magic bead are those with strong physical bodies, fiery styles, and who have cultivated to the level of a divine demon or higher.

With two demonic orbs embedded in his body, Lu Junyi can make a desperate move at any time, unleashing power far exceeding his cultivation limit.

The burst of spear light, like a storm, flashed by in an instant. His entire figure, with a thrust of his spear forward, seemed to ride a dragon, soaring close to the ground, pressing a trench two zhang wide and three or four chi deep into the earth.

As the tip of his spear pierced the center of Zhao Kuangyin's staff with a clanging sound, behind him, a large amount of soil and grass fragments were collapsing and flying towards both sides of the long ditch.

At that moment, Lu Junyi's spear tip and Zhao Kuangyin's palm were separated by only the diameter of a stick.

If there were even the slightest deviation, Lu Junyi's spear blade would have slid across the coiled dragon staff and pierced Zhao Kuangyin's palm.

However, Zhao Kuangyin spread his five fingers flat and rubbed the staff a few inches away before gripping it again.

Everything changed so quickly that it seemed as if time itself had frozen or slowed down, only resuming its flow after Zhao Kuangyin had completed his actions.

Two flashes of golden light, faster than lightning, pierced the air.

Zhao Kuangyin first slammed the longer end of the stick in front of his thumb and forefinger onto Lu Junyi's spear. As the spear bent slightly, the shorter end of the stick bumped up from below.

After two strikes, the force of Lu Junyi's spear was almost completely dissipated, the spearhead bounced high upwards, and the entire spear formed a crescent-shaped arc, dangerous yet full.

Lu Junyi raised his eyebrows, his eyes blazing with admiration and fighting spirit.

This countermeasure is simply ingenious!

Zhao Kuangyin's actual speed was not much faster than Lu Junyi's, but because the movements he chose were all direct enough, the distance of his wrist and finger movements and the displacement of the two ends of the long stick were much shorter than Lu Junyi's process of swinging his arm while holding the spear.

Given similar speeds, the shorter the process, the less time is required to complete it, so it's as if a crushing victory has been achieved in terms of speed.

The fact that Zhao Kuangyin was able to perform such a skillful maneuver under the influence of Lu Junyi's spear is enough to prove that he is now vastly different from the Zhao Kuangyin who was just awakened and whose limbs were stiff.

The unparalleled strength of those who wielded spears and clubs two hundred years ago, capable of conquering the world, is finally beginning to be smoothly displayed in the human world two hundred years later.

Just as Lu Junyi's eyes were burning with fighting spirit, he stretched out his long arm as if it were a thick rope, taut and straight, pulling on his spear, and suddenly took a big step back.

The spear, which had been bent into a huge arc with its tip tilted upwards, was pulled back and pulled back until it was parallel to the ground.

His retreat seemed almost prescient, for at the very moment he retreated, Zhao Kuangyin took a large step forward.

The two moved in perfect sync, the scenery rushing past them as Lu Junyi retreated a hundred feet, and Zhao Kuangyin advanced a hundred feet in the same instant.

In reality, Lu Junyi started to retreat first, but Zhao Kuangyin pursued him so closely that, to any bystander, it was impossible to discern the order of their movements.

The intervals between them have been shortened by only a negligible amount.

"Good riddance!!!"

Zhao Kuangyin was also slightly surprised, not expecting the other party to respond so appropriately.

As he crashed through the air and retreated, Lu Junyi pressed down on the gun barrel with his hands, one in front of the other, his arms suddenly tightening from a relaxed state. He slightly raised the gun blade and aimed directly at the center of Zhao Kuangyin's collarbone.

Zhao Kuangyin was leaning forward in pursuit. If he could only parry and not stop his momentum, he would surely be pierced through the torso, with no way to avoid it.

In the blink of an eye, he grabbed the coiled dragon staff with both hands and thrust it upwards at an angle.

Lu Junyi's spear thrust upwards at an angle, but the Panlong Staff managed to land precisely on the shaft of the spear, pushing it even higher from the side.

The distance between the two men shortened, the tip of the stick rubbed against the shaft of the spear, and the spear blade grazed the side of Zhao Kuangyin's neck.

Lu Junyi's spear swayed and retracted, the long shaft seemingly disappearing completely from his tiger's mouth in that instant, leaving only a short sword-like spear blade in his hand.

With a swallow and then a spit, the gun barrel reappeared, the blade bursting out and stabbing straight into the enemy's chest.

Zhao Kuangyin swung his staff, piercing the spear tassel and pressing down on the spear shaft.

In the blink of an eye, Lu Junyi had changed his spear stance a thousand times. Wherever he went, almost no air could remain under the chaotic trajectory of his spear; it was all blasted into a vacuum.

The shockwave initially spread violently outwards, but after they disappeared, it rapidly pulled in surrounding debris and shrapnel, producing a sharp hissing sound.

Like the rise and fall of giant waves, the vacuum region was gradually closed with a series of booming sounds.

However, Lu Junyi's spear never actually hit Zhao Kuangyin. After each thrust, he could only retreat once to try and get more opportunities to strike.

Their clash with spears and clubs looked like two relentlessly biting, rapidly disappearing afterimages.

But these two afterimages were getting closer and closer to Guan Luoyang, or rather, Lu Junyi was being forced in that direction without realizing it.

The world is vast, and the wilderness stretches far and wide. Demonic masters can fly into the sky and dive into the earth. If they want to retreat, there are hundreds of angles and thousands of routes.

However, Zhao Kuangyin's staff skills, in their unpredictable movements, had already subtly filled up the escape routes in this vast expanse of land.

That long, gleaming, and exquisitely carved staff, in Zhao Kuangyin's hands, was like a thousand-headed dragon king, seemingly existing yet elusive, with its sharp-toothed dragon heads, waiting for blood, coiled along every path, making people afraid to step in, forcing Lu Junyi to take this path as his only option.

Lin Lingsu's expression was solemn, surrounded by milky white fairy energy, and fairy songs sang, which transformed into thunder, rain and mist.

The lightning moved slowly and leisurely, and as pure white rain and mist drifted by, thunderous war drums appeared in the air, and one after another, pure white divine generals stood floating in the air.

Lightning crackled and snaked across the ground, whereupon pure white altars, each about three feet tall, rose up, each wielding a whip, mace, hammer, chisel, pipa, fire wheel, banana leaf fan, and large command flag. One by one, spirit officials descended from these altars.

The "Great Thunder Book of the Divine Firmament" is said to be the highest of the nine heavens, the Divine Firmament, which can sense the gods and generals of the heavenly palaces and the spirit officials of the immortals, and use pure thunder and immortal energy to transform into divine forms to defeat all enemies.

This is the first time he has used this level of lightning magic since he was unearthed. In fact, even when he was revitalizing the Daoist official system, he only pushed his lightning magic to this level twice.

"Supreme Holy One of the Divine Firmament, all gods, heed my command!!!"

Lin Lingsu pointed forward, her eyes and lips were like mercury silver, she was not human, and she uttered a word softly, but there was a thunderous response.

"go!"

Out of the corner of his eye, Zhao Kuangyin suddenly caught sight of a pure white divine general on his right, who raised his equally pure white halberd and slashed it down at him. With a slight deviation of the halberd tip, the divine general was pierced through.

However, even with his chest pierced, the halberd still cleaved down, striking Zhao Kuangyin's forehead and creating a burst of fire and electricity.

Zhao Kuangyin's face darkened, and with a slight turn of his staff, he stirred the entire divine general into a vortex of lightning swirling around the coiled dragon staff. His profound demonic cultivation surged into it, completely dispelling and annihilating the lightning.

He swung his long staff horizontally and caught Lu Junyi's spear, only to find that at the point where the staff and spear collided, divine generals appeared on both sides, slashing down with a knife and a sword at the same time.

These divine generals and spirit officials were all transformed from pure white lightning, and could naturally transform into lightning at any time to move around.

In terms of pure movement speed, neither Lu Junyi nor Zhao Kuangyin could possibly catch up with lightning with their physical bodies.

Therefore, no matter how unpredictable their fighting moves were, these divine generals and spirit officials could always intervene at just the right time, ensuring that they would never accidentally collide with Lu Junyi.

Pure white lightning flashed and streaked, casting ever-changing light and shadow on Zhao Kuangyin and Lu Junyi's faces. Their battle remained intense, but the divine generals appeared densely around them like raindrops, constantly launching attacks on Zhao Kuangyin.

What's even more troublesome is that these divine generals and spirit officials are not like ordinary thunder magic, which only has one strike before running out of power.

If Zhao Kuangyin cannot completely disperse them, then even if their limbs are broken and their torsos are pierced, they will still be able to strike again like real warriors, each move as swift as lightning without any weight or delay.

The only living person standing in front of Zhao Kuangyin was Lu Junyi, but he gradually felt as if he were facing a hundred, a thousand, or even ten thousand enemies.

Every move he made was met with countless obstacles; every strike he made was met with a thousand stray bolts of lightning.

At Liu Hunkang's place, another altar, completely different from Lin Lingsu's, had already taken shape.

This altar had no ethereal or magical aura; it simply appeared ancient and weathered, even wild and desolate.

Even though it is actually just a bluestone that has been carved from the mud and soil, it still exudes a sense of time and the charm of layers of moss.

An octagonal altar was formed from piled bluestone, and sixty-four earthenware jars were arranged on it in an orderly fashion. The jars and bluestone were covered with bird-script and insect-script characters.

Liu Hunkang held a jade ruler in his hand, aimed at Zhao Kuangyin's figure in the distance, and tapped it from a distance.

Ding!

The sound of jade clashing together came from somewhere, and wisps of smoke rose from sixty-four earthenware pots, one after another, from the outer circle to the inner circle.

The wisps of smoke obscured Liu Hunkang's figure. Although he seemed to still be here, he also seemed to be in another world, with one foot in the underworld and the other in the celestial realm, with only a sliver of spiritual light watching over the mortal world.

The jade ruler tinkled softly with the sound of flowing spring water, accompanied by a hymn of praise that could be heard from either a wandering spirit or an ancient immortal.

"The Profound Yin Soul-Seizing Three-Severing Mantra, I, by the order of the Supreme Pure Great Dao Lord, command you swiftly!"

Liu Hunkang's voice also became ancient and hazy. He could be vaguely seen picking up the jade ruler and striking three times in succession: "The first strike severs the Heavenly Soul, the second strikes the Earthly Soul in the Netherworld, and the third strike annihilates the Human Soul."

The so-called three souls of Heaven, Earth, and Man refer to a person's learning, understanding, and connection with the outside world; the various perceptual abilities that a person gradually develops and perfects; and the basic thinking abilities that begin in infancy.

In the midst of a fierce battle, Zhao Kuangyin suddenly blinked and became confused.

"What is this? How dare you harm me..."

With his divine soul severed, his mind was filled with a thousand thoughts and his knowledge was in disarray. He was so incoherent that he couldn't utter a single complete sentence.

Suddenly, his foot slipped, and the grassy field felt like a bottomless quagmire beneath his feet.

As his soul sank, it was as if he was slowly sliding towards the Netherworld. His six senses were in chaos, and his sense of touch was no longer real. When he controlled the Panlong Staff to collide with Lu Junyi's spear, he actually felt a strong sweetness from his own staff, followed by an unbearable spiciness.

When Lei Guangshen was smashed to pieces by the staff, he felt as if he smelled an exquisite fragrance, so fragrant that it made his internal organs ache.

His celestial and terrestrial souls were both disturbed, yet he continued to strike with his staff. But then, for a moment, his eyes went vacant, as if he had ceased to exist.

In the vast expanse of heaven and earth, I knew nothing of what was there.

Lu Junyi seized the opportunity, roused his spirits, glared and shouted, and in an instant, the demonic energy surged with overwhelming force.

Dark clouds inexplicably gathered above the vast blue sky, surging and rushing about, causing the sky to change abruptly, the sunlight to dim, the surrounding scenery to become blurred, and the ground to tremble like waves.

"Thorough Order!!!"

The earth cracked open, spewing out lava and flames that coincided with the trajectory of Lu Junyi's spearhead as it rose from below. The immense force of the earth tilting and rising seemed to be concentrated in this one spear, striking Zhao Kuangyin's body and lifting him into the air.

Lightning bolts rained down all around, and countless divine generals and spirit officials, regardless of distance or weapon type, rushed towards Zhao Kuangyin, who had been lifted into the air.

The three masters of the Immortal Path and the Military Path have done everything in their power at this moment!

"It worked?"

Lin Lingsu was not at all relaxed, recalling what Guan Luoyang had told her back then.

"If the emperor and Zhao Kuangyin appear together, then there's no need to say more; if they go side by side, we'll go side by side too."

"If only one of them shows up, then after I deal with that one, you two will help me hold off the other one."

"If the latter is an emperor, it's fine. Although his foundation is deep, his fighting spirit is just so-so. But if it's Zhao Kuangyin... well, fortunately, he can't have the luck of an emperor. Just relying on his own foundation... you can do your best."

Lin Lingsu stared intently at the figure engulfed by lightning when suddenly he noticed something else amiss.

Lu Junyi's expression underwent a dramatic change. The veins on his forehead bulged, his mouth slowly opened, his lips tightened, and his teeth were gleaming white, revealing a few bright red roots. He seemed to be roaring, but no sound came out.

However, his upward thrust of the spear clearly unleashed a much greater force, and a faint sound of the spear shaft bearing the strain could be heard.

Suddenly, Lin Lingsu heard a muffled groan from beside her.

Liu Hunkang's hazy figure trembled, and he spat out a mouthful of blood. The smoke from the sixty-four earthenware pots burned violently, bursting, twisting, and dissipating.

All the writing on the altar and the earthenware pot gradually became unrecognizable, like ashes about to dissipate.

The next moment, the numerous bolts of lightning were also scattered, and a jade-colored radiance flew out, a pure white lightning bolt.

The broad, jade axe spun around Zhao Kuangyin, while the golden staff blocked the spear tip.

Zhao Kuangyin, who should have been completely disoriented, pressed the stick forward.

The gun in Lu Junyi's hand could no longer produce any other change; the neck of the gun broke off, the shaft shattered, and the tip flew back, piercing through his right shoulder.

Zhao Kuangyin descended from the sky. Lu Junyi remained silent as the Wuwei Demon Pearl landed in his palms. He clenched his fists and used them as a spear, unleashing the momentum of a thousand troops.

The lava on the ground burst forth with more cracks, and waves of fire surged dozens of feet high. Pieces of the shattered ground tilted and crooked, and with his fist and spear techniques, he seemed to be controlling these tilting forces, crashing into Zhao Kuangyin.

Zhao Kuangyin pressed forward with his long staff, getting close to the various changes in Lu Junyi's spear technique. It grazed Lu Junyi's fist at the edge and dissipated most of the force on his left arm.

The blow struck Lu Junyi's left shoulder, shattering his left shoulder and slamming him into the cracked ground.

Zhao Kuangyin stepped onto the ground and took a step forward.

The Profound Yin Soul-Seizing Three Slashes technique, which turns heaven, earth, and humanity into a swamp, stirred up hundreds of mysterious and subtle ripples around him, but they were reversed by his single step.

Liu Hunkang could sense that it was something far more complex and profound than his Heaven, Earth, and Man Three-Severing Spell. The desires of the mortal world and all kinds of poisonous miasma had, in turn, filled his spell, leaving him powerless to make any attempt to evade it.

Lin Lingsu let out a long roar, and pure white immortal energy helped Liu Hunkang suppress the altar. She spread her arms, her sleeves fluttering, and her whole person transformed into a crane riding divine thunder. Various phantoms of divine generals and spirit officials spread out rapidly, intertwined and surrounding her.

The jade axe was attached to one end of the coiled dragon staff.

The emperor swung his axe, shattering all the thunder and lightning with a single blow. All the images of the divine generals and spirit officials disintegrated into pure white lightning, forming a three-dimensional structure, hundreds of feet high, like a dense spider web.

Lightning floated between heaven and earth, freezing that one moment.

Lin Lingsu's figure flew backward like a kite with a broken string, feeling extremely uncomfortable all over.

He could feel that every inch of his lightning was being targeted. It wasn't a simple matter of breaking the spell with brute force, but rather that the weaknesses in his lightning technique had been found in the previous brief exchange.

If the Imperial Fortune Method can only be used for explosive bombardment, then what kind of extreme unorthodox path is it?

The emperor controls destiny and governs the mortal world. This is an invisible and intangible power, the most unpredictable power in the world. When it is used, it should not be felt by anyone.

Only in the moment of failure will one realize that one has been thoroughly tainted by worldly desires, and that one's weaknesses are everywhere.

"I have recovered. What are you worth mentioning?"

At this moment, no one could stop Zhao Kuangyin from swinging his axe at Guan Luoyang after his long chant.

The vast sky and earth, seemingly obscure and imperceptible, like the sea and the sky, accumulated boundless and chaotic energy, gathered into a seemingly tangible force, which, along with that axe, struck down towards Guan Luoyang's head.

(End of this chapter)