Chapter 984: One Slash, Face to Face

Dissolving a weapon instantly — reducing it to nothing, a Platinum-rank weapon at that — the Water Palace Master’s ability was genuinely troublesome.

It wasn’t that Yue Yang lacked better weapons. He simply wasn’t willing to risk them.

Even if they couldn’t be dissolved — if they got damaged in the process, he’d regret it for the rest of his life.

“Old Hao, you useless friend,” Yue Yang said, redirecting his frustration sideways since there was nowhere else to put it. “This old ghoul has an ability like that and you didn’t think to mention it?”

“I didn’t know either.” Ming Rihao’s reply was almost too weak to carry. “The intelligence was wrong.” He felt like he was nearly done with the world, and had no energy to argue.

“Fine. Can’t cut you with a blade, let’s try a good old-fashioned energy ball.” Yue Yang was obviously not going to throw a simple energy ball, but condensing energy into a sphere was trivially easy. The sphere, however, was only the starting point — under the guidance of his small personal Law-force, the condensed mass shifted and stretched in an instant, taking the shape of an enormous blade identical to the Platinum-rank horse-cutter he’d just lost.

If the Water Palace Master’s talent was the decomposition of metal, then a blade made entirely of energy and will would be a different matter entirely.

Yue Yang’s expression went cold. He came down again.

The Second Slash — Heaven and Earth Shatter.

As the energy blade descended toward the Water Palace Master’s head, Yue Yang’s other hand was already sweeping backward, condensing a second blade at extreme speed. This one was larger. Faster. It came together faster than the first and immediately overtook it — trailing a long edge of light, releasing a technique Yue Yang almost never used:

The Third Slash — The Land Changes Hands.

This kind of attack — the speed of formation, the layered feints, the intimate command of his own Law — the Solar King watched all of it and said nothing outwardly. Inwardly, something moved. Even Ji Wuri, acknowledged across the Divine Hall as the highest natural talent of his generation, had not been capable of this at this age. Who would believe it — a human warrior barely past twenty, fighting the Water Palace Master of the Central Divine Hall on equal terms, having already pushed the Solar King himself into genuine crisis?

Human beings grew fast. Everyone knew that. But not this fast.

At twenty, what was a human warrior usually doing? The Solar King had read the Jester’s reports. Before Yue Yang appeared, a twenty-something human who reached the clan-patriarch standard by Sky Tower’s measure was considered a once-in-a-century genius. Reaching the Perfect Innate Sovereign tier at twenty was closer to once in a millennium.

And yet while others that age were still struggling in the early Innate tiers — roughly equivalent to the Ground-rank by celestial standards — this Yue Yang had already left the Sky-rank behind, surpassed the Perfect Innate Sovereign, and was pressing at the threshold of the divine.

A twenty-something infant had appeared at his heels.

Beyond aberrant — the Solar King genuinely could not find another word for it.

What he remained most curious about was this: who had produced him? What force had cultivated someone to this point? That it had happened naturally, without some supreme being standing watch behind the scenes — that the Solar King simply could not accept. The question was whether that supreme being was nearby. And if not nearby, where? And how strong?

The Solar King’s thoughts moved like a storm — a hundred calculations in the space of an eyeblink. On the surface, not a ripple.

The Water Palace Master had been deceived by Yue Yang’s attack.

That was fair, because outside of Yue Yang — who concocted battle plans that violated every conventional principle and consistently refused to follow any established form — no one else would have done it this way. The Water Palace Master raised his hand to intercept the first energy blade, the obvious target —

And the second blade, already formed, curved impossibly around his upraised right arm.

It slipped through his mental defenses with surgical precision and caught him full across the side of the neck.

A direct hit.

In terms of years, Yue Yang’s entire family tree multiplied together could not match the Water Palace Master’s age. But in terms of battlefield imagination, every warrior in the Water Palace combined probably couldn’t keep up with Yue Yang’s mind.

Strike east, hit west. The first attack as pure feint, the second arriving before the response to the first had finished — it left the Water Palace Master watching the energy blade coming for his neck with absolutely no time to react.

The Solar King was a fraction of a second away from using time reversal on the old man’s behalf.

But he looked at the Water Palace Master’s face — startled, yes, but still wearing that expression of comprehensive contempt for all things — and held back.

Two energy blades, one after the other, struck the Water Palace Master’s neck and hand.

Both composed entirely of Yue Yang’s will and energy, not metal at all.

Both dissolved instantly.

Gone without a trace.

The Water Palace Master’s beard: not one hair shorter. The skin at his neck: completely undamaged, showing no sign that it had just received a Third Slash — The Land Changes Hands.

Yue Yang stared.

He looked like a person who had seen something that should not exist.

What. This was formed from his own will. His own sovereign intent. That dissolves too? Corroding metal could be explained as decomposition. Dissolving raw energy forged from sovereign will — what manner of ability was that?

“What kind of — what kind of garbage game design is this?” Yue Yang was close to genuine despair. “I want to file a complaint. The sub-boss of a solo dungeon should not be allowed to have an ability this broken. I have zero party members. How is a single player supposed to clear this? And this thing isn’t even the final boss — there’s still a final boss waiting who hasn’t moved yet. How is anyone supposed to survive this?”

The Solar King heard all of this without understanding a single reference, but he understood the emotional content: the young lord Titan was getting genuinely frustrated. That was usually the sign of someone approaching their limit.

Though in truth — even the Solar King didn’t know the Water Palace Master had an ability like this.

And he still didn’t understand how it worked. The Water Palace Master’s talent wasn’t supposed to be this. Why could he dissolve Yue Yang’s energy blades? More puzzlingly still — the Divine Codex space suppressed the use of talents. The Solar King himself couldn’t use his own freely. So why could the old man use his here?

There was a secret in this, somewhere. Something not yet visible.

“The Solar King need not wait here any longer,” the Water Palace Master said, his tone satisfied beneath its veneer of wisdom and warmth — the manner of a renowned sage who had guided countless students to greatness. “The Divine Codex is yours. This young man is sufficient for an old man like me to handle. Time is short, and the night is full of complications. I suggest the Solar King proceed into the golden palace and seal the covenant with the Divine Codex as soon as possible.”

The Solar King understood perfectly.

The old man wanted to claim sole credit for killing the young lord Titan. He had correctly calculated that the Solar King cared more about the Divine Codex than about the glory of finishing Yue Yang, and was banking on that to get the kill for himself.

The Sea Abyss Dragon, the Solar King thought. The celestial realm’s consensus pick for the most devious mind in the entire Divine Hall. That reputation, it appeared, was not exaggerated.

He had even run this calculation on the Solar King.

The Solar King felt a cold beat of something pass through him, then let it settle.

“My gratitude to Master Cang for your assistance,” he said, his voice warm. A flicker of cold passed through his eyes, deep enough that only someone watching very carefully might have caught it. “The young lord Titan is exceptional. Are you certain you don’t need me to hold position?”

“Sealing the covenant with the Divine Codex is the most urgent matter — the Solar King shouldn’t waste any more time here. This old body can put in a little extra effort on the outside.” The Water Palace Master smiled back. He had the Solar King’s psychology precisely mapped: the Divine Codex came first. The glory of killing Yue Yang wasn’t worth enough to the Solar King to risk a confrontation with the old man over it. And without an ability like his, killing Yue Yang would take the Solar King a long time — a period during which the old man could act opportunistically. The Solar King wouldn’t take that gamble.

“Then this seat proceeds.” The Solar King gave a small, measured nod. A beam of gold light — and he passed through the golden shell as though it weren’t there, came to rest on the steps where Ming Rihao sat, and then vanished entirely.

The Water Palace Master allowed himself one private cold laugh.

Without the Elder Council’s backing, where would you be today, Solar King?

Once you had been nothing but a servant with middling talent — a servant Ji Wuri had thrown out the door. And now you set your eyes on the Divine Codex? Even Ji Wuri — the Supreme’s most beloved disciple, born to an excellent bloodline, acknowledged as the highest talent in the Hall — didn’t dare claim he could seal a covenant with the Divine Codex. What made a third-rate servant think he was entitled to reach for it? The Elder Council had invested enormous effort creating a Solar King — a name with considerable resonance — but could it really hold against the three Grand Hall Masters? Could it keep pace with Ji Wuri over the long term, once the Solar King’s potential was exhausted and Ji Wuri’s continued to deepen?

Did you think Tianhua Domain would be enough to earn my loyalty?

How naive.

No one’s allegiance would be given except to the Divine Hall Supreme. The Elder Council’s scheming meant nothing. Solar King — your effort here is entirely wasted. And you don’t even know what conditions the Divine Codex actually requires.

A thin, cold smile moved across the Water Palace Master’s lips. He knew the answer. He had no intention of sharing it. Watching someone walk into a wall at full speed — wasn’t that one of life’s more satisfying experiences?

“You have two talents.” Yue Yang said it lightly, as a probe.

“Mm?” The Water Palace Master was genuinely uncertain. How had this young man guessed?

According to records of this space, the Divine Codex would suppress any talent belonging to someone who entered. To function freely here — to be truly integrated into this space — one needed to possess something of extreme rarity: an original dual talent. A warrior born with two innate talents. That was the stuff of legend.

However, there was a path beyond birth: through a specific kind of breakthrough, or through receiving a Law-reward from an ancient deity, a tiny number of warriors had developed a second talent through cultivation. Within the entire Divine Hall, warriors possessing two talents numbered fewer than five. Across the entire celestial realm, including all four great heavenly clans and every distinguished sect, fewer than ten.

And then there was the third path.

The Supreme himself, using his own Law-force, could open what was called a quasi-talent in a chosen person. A quasi-talent was effectively indistinguishable from a second talent, and the Water Palace Master Cang Long — the old Sea Abyss Dragon — was one of the rare few whose loyalty and internal conditions had made him eligible for that gift.

No one on the outside could see it. No one knew. But in the right environment, that quasi-talent rendered him nearly invincible.

Like now.

His only question was: how had Yue Yang worked it out? Something the Solar King hadn’t penetrated — and this young man had diagnosed it in a few exchanges?

How was this boy’s mind constructed?

“I guessed correctly.” Yue Yang looked at the shifting expressions crossing the Water Palace Master’s face and laughed. “Despicable is my nickname and shameless is my true name — didn’t you say that yourself? Good. Let me show you what the real thing looks like.” He glanced around, checking the Solar King was gone. “With him watching, I was worried about showing my hand. But he’s not here anymore.” His tone sharpened. “Old man. Try this one.”

From his storage ring, Yue Yang produced the Crescent Blade.

He drove it straight at the Water Palace Master’s face.

The Water Palace Master stood his ground. Raised one hand with the same ease as before, the same posture as before, extending his palm to meet it —

The result was entirely different.

The blade came down. Blood sprayed. Yue Yang drew it back slowly.

A severed hand dropped to the ground with a flat, wet sound.