Chapter 1104: Mutual Progress, Common Breakthrough

"One Sword, Ten Thousand Blades!"

Lu Yang transformed his body into a sword, shaking into thousands of azure blades. It was impossible to distinguish the real from the fake as they formed a sword cage, trapping Meng Jingzhou within.

"A mere mortal dares to touch me? Die!" Meng Jingzhou responded with overwhelming power, his black hair swirling. He exuded an extraordinary aura that transcended his current realm, and with a single punch, he sent a large swathe of azure blades flying.

The azure blades were relentless and endless. No matter how many Meng Jingzhou shattered, new ones would immediately replace them, launching fresh attacks.

Unbeknownst to Meng Jingzhou, the azure blade that was Lu Yang subtly blended into the surrounding blades very close to him. Instead of attacking, it began to circle him.

"Drawing a prison!" Meng Jingzhou inwardly cursed, realizing he had fallen for that brat Lu Yang's trick. His body instantly sank, trapped in an underground cage where it was pitch black, making it impossible to discern up, down, left, or right.

"A mere earthen cage dares to imprison me? The Peerless Supremacy Fist!"

Boom, boom, boom—

Countless fist marks appeared inside the seemingly unbreakable earth prison, then burst open, and Meng Jingzhou erupted from the ground!

But what greeted Meng Jingzhou was not light, but Lu Yang's sword descending right overhead!

Lu Yang swung the sword directly at him. Meng Jingzhou clasped his hands together, abruptly clamping down on the sword's tip, which was effectively clamping down on Lu Yang's head.

Lu Yang rotated his body. If Meng Jingzhou didn't let go, his hands would be cut by the sharp blade!

Meng Jingzhou reacted instantly. Instead of releasing his grip, he chose to rotate in sync with Lu Yang. The man and the sword spun rapidly in the air, completing countless rotations before finally landing and coming to a halt.

Ultimately, due to the nascent state of his Immortal Sword Art, Lu Yang was one step short and narrowly lost to Meng Jingzhou.

"Haha, how about that, Old Lu? I won, didn't I?" Having finally beaten that old rascal Lu Yang, Meng Jingzhou was in high spirits. If he were in Imperial City, he would surely throw a three-day banquet to celebrate and invite guests from all directions.

"Just you wait! I'll find you again once I've developed the second form!" Lu Yang threw down these words and went back into seclusion to focus intently.

"Sever!"

Upon comprehending the second form of his Immortal Sword Art, Lu Yang immediately sought out Meng Jingzhou for a rematch. After a fierce battle, Lu Yang's final sword strike shattered Meng Jingzhou's defensive barrier, causing Meng Jingzhou to lose his technique and fall in defeat.

"Oh, Old Meng, how did you lose after just a few rounds? Your fist art isn't very good." Having reclaimed his victory, Lu Yang felt refreshed. If he were in the Buddhist Nation, he would surely treat Old Meng to meals for three consecutive days.

"Bah! Just you wait! I'll immediately cultivate my fist art to the Eight Desolations realm!"

Meng Jingzhou immediately returned to seclusion.

"The Peerless Supremacy Fist!""Old Lu, I'm not trying to be mean, but your sword art is no good; it can't even withstand my fists.""You just wait! Next time, you're definitely going to lose. I've already found the flaws in your sword art. Just wait until I unleash my twelve-form sword technique; it'll scare you to death!""You just wait! You only won this one time. I already know how to fix the flaws in my fist art. Next time, the Peerless Supremacy Fist will beat you so badly you won't know which way is which!""Old Meng, just you wait!""Old Lu, don't celebrate too soon!""Old Meng, don't get cocky!"

The two became intensely competitive, determined to outdo each other in their self-created techniques and prove who was stronger. Their initially crude moves rapidly improved during their battles, correcting flaws and filling gaps, becoming increasingly refined.

"In the end, I still won, didn't I?" Recalling the recent battle, Meng Jingzhou was so delighted he couldn't settle down to cultivate in seclusion.

"I must push forward and continue to refine my fist art in one go, so Old Lu won't win next time either!"

Meng Jingzhou happily went into seclusion. After taking the Oblivion Pill, he entered a state of enlightenment. Fist techniques flashed rapidly through his mind. What seemed to others as flawless fist art appeared glaringly imperfect during the recent battles.

"Hmm, the force application for this move needs to be changed, otherwise, that kid Lu Yang could easily interrupt it.""My footwork also needs to change; it's too rigid and not flexible enough."

Time was irrelevant in cultivation. Meng Jingzhou didn't know how long he had been immersed in his fist art. As his fist art advanced by leaps and bounds, his cultivation realm also quietly reached the Great Perfection of the Soul Transformation stage, just a single thought away from breaking through.

He was now like a bottle filled to the brim with water; a slight shake would cause it to overflow, signaling his breakthrough to Great Perfection.

"It's done!" Meng Jingzhou had gained a great deal from this seclusion. When he stood up, he found his body slightly unsteady.

"Is this a sign of breaking through to the Void Refinement stage?" Meng Jingzhou was delighted. It truly was a double blessing; not only had his fist art advanced, but his cultivation realm had also made a breakthrough.

"Time to emerge and face the tribulation!" He could now recite the "Records of Immortals" backward, and with Immortal Ying Tian as his backing, transcending this tribulation would surely be effortless.

"Looks like you're a step behind, Old Lu; I'm about to reach the Void Refinement stage first!"

Meng Jingzhou pushed open the stone door and found even the gloomy sky exceptionally beautiful.

He stretched lazily, preparing to welcome the heavenly tribulation, when he saw his defeated opponent Lu Yang excitedly running towards him. Lu Yang held a new type of steamed bun developed by Yun Mengmeng, where the filling was baked on the outside of the bun.

"Old Meng, let me show you the new sword form I've comprehended."

Meng Jingzhou smiled profoundly. "Old Lu," he said, "you and I are no longer cultivators of the same realm."

Lu Yang, who had been delighted about comprehending a new sword form, found his smile freeze on his face. "You're breaking through?"

"Indeed." Meng Jingzhou then pointed to the rapidly gathering dark clouds above his head.

Lu Yang's expression changed abruptly, and he immediately took off running. He was currently in a state where he could break through at any moment, but he had been suppressing his realm out of fear of the tribulation, hoping to delay it for a couple more days. He never expected that brat Old Meng to directly trigger the lightning tribulation.

"Oh no, my spiritual energy is unstable; it's about to overflow!"

Under the gradually gathering heavenly tribulation, the power of the tribulation pulled at Lu Yang, helping him to shatter his realm bottleneck!

"Oh, Old Lu, you're also breaking through?" Meng Jingzhou noticed Lu Yang's anomaly; his state was similar to his own.

The already dark clouds grew even denser, and new clouds joined them, brewing in the sky.

"Then it's perfect! Let's face the tribulation together!"

Thunder rumbled, flashing behind the dark clouds, just as excited as Meng Jingzhou.

"I think it's better if we face the tribulation separately." Lu Yang subtly distanced himself from Meng Jingzhou. Facing the tribulation together was definitely not a good idea.

"Let's do this together!" How could Meng Jingzhou let Lu Yang go? With Lu Yang involved, the difficulty of the tribulation would surely decrease.

Rumble! The lightning tribulation descended, swift and sudden, enveloping both of them.

In the Laurel Immortal Palace, within the ancient black ring, Venerable Ying Long, soaring through the sky, transformed into human form, a smile on his face impossible to hide.

His disciple Jing Hong was quite puzzled by this. In his memory, his master had always been a composed and dignified person. "Master," he asked, "is there something good happening?"

Immortal Ying Tian smiled and gently patted his disciple's head. "Yes," he replied, "something good is indeed happening. I'll be leaving for a moment."

Immortal Ying Tian departed from the ancient black ring. No one in the Immortal Palace detected his presence.

He activated his Tribulation Dao Fruit, connecting his consciousness to the heavenly tribulation gathering above Wen Dao Sect.

"Oh, look, both of them are here! Perfect. Let's start by warming you two up with the Qian Tian Divine Thunder, ranked first among Soul Transformation stage tribulations."