Chapter 194.1: Slaying Dao Lord Shan Hai; Lu Changsheng Masters Six Principles! (I)

"Hah! Aren't you a cocky one!" Dao Lord Shan Hai let out a furious laugh. He found it preposterous that a mere Dao Foundation martial artist believed he could kill him.

But the moment Lu Changsheng's Mind Space appeared, an overwhelming pressure closed in on Shan Hai from every direction.

This Mind Space was built from four Principles, and each additional Principle made it stronger. Even without any divine techniques, it still grew increasingly powerful, and Dao Lord Shan Hai could sense it.

His expression changed. This Lu Changsheng is incredibly strong... even stronger than Lu Zhenkong and Wang Yun combined.

"Wang Yun, at least you haven't completely lost your mind. You actually found a supreme Dao Foundation expert." Dao Lord Shan Hai raised his hand, his voice cold with contempt. "But this little bit of power is still nowhere near enough to kill me!"

Buzz!

Dao Lord Shan Hai activated his enchanted treasure, Heavenly Mountain Seal. The treasure radiated brilliant light, and the moment it emerged, the surroundings seemed to distort. Even Lu Changsheng's Mind Space began to tremble, as if bearing an immense, unimaginable pressure.

So this is the Heavenly Mountain Seal... Lu Changsheng's gaze sharpened. No wonder Lu Zhenkong and Wang Yun lost against this guy. And Lu Zhenkong couldn't even withstand a single blow before being blasted to death.

The Heavenly Mountain Seal was arguably the most powerful enchanted treasure he had ever seen. Its mere presence gave off a bone-chilling aura.

"Shatter!" Dao Lord Shan Hai roared.

The Heavenly Mountain Seal blazed even brighter. Its light shot hundreds of zhang into the air and condensed into the silhouette of a colossal mountain. Then, it came crashing down on Lu Changsheng's Mind Space with devastating force.

Crack!

Lu Changsheng's Mind Space was torn apart in an instant, utterly incapable of withstanding the Heavenly Mountain Seal.

However, his expression did not shift. In response to Shan Hai's attack, he simply activated his Principles.

"Fire! Wind! Wood!"

Within his Mind Space, the Principles emerged one after another, each one strengthening his Mind Space further.

Then, he activated his fourth Principle.

"Mental Principle!"

The moment the Mental Principle manifested, Dao Lord Shan Hai felt a sudden sense of danger.

Buzz!

Lu Changsheng gave him no time to react. Using the Mental Principle as the foundation, he immediately unleashed the Mental Millstone.

A massive millstone appeared within the Mind Space. It was as large as a mountain, and it descended straight toward Dao Lord Shan Hai with unstoppable force.

Go! Dao Lord Shan Hai waved his hand, commanding the Heavenly Mountain Seal forward.

The Heavenly Mountain Seal smashed fiercely into the Mental Millstone—but this time, it failed. The seal passed right through the millstone, as if the millstone had no physical form at all.

A mental divine technique... Dao Lord Shan Hai narrowed his eyes. He had lived long enough and fought enough battles to realize what he was facing now. He quickly withdrew his mental strength and gathered it tightly, bracing himself for the attack aimed directly at his mind.

A thunderous rumble echoed through him.

As expected, the Mental Millstone plunged straight into Dao Lord Shan Hai and reached into his mind. Then, it began to grind down relentlessly, crushing his mental strength piece by piece.

"Ghaaah!" Dao Lord Shan Hai let out an agonized scream.

No matter how powerful he had once been, and no matter how many techniques he possessed, none of them mattered against an attack that targeted the mind. He had no choice but to endure the mental assault head-on.

However, he was still a powerful Dao Lord with formidable willpower. Even without a proper countermeasure, Lu Changsheng's Mental Millstone could not destroy his mental strength in an instant.

That was fine by Lu Changsheng. After all, he had never planned to rely on one specific attack in this battle.

Whoooshhh...

Wind swept through the Mind Space, and at the same time, blazing flames roared to life.

Lu Changsheng had activated a divine technique—Firestorm Purgatory. Under normal circumstances, the combined pressure of the Mental Millstone and Firestorm Purgatory would overwhelm any opponent, causing them to crumble. Dao Lord Shan Hai, however, still managed to wave his hand.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Four formation flags descended and planted themselves around Dao Lord Shan Hai. The flags trembled violently, forming a large formation. The power of the formation was so immense that even Lu Changsheng's Mind Space began to shake, showing signs of instability. At the same time, Firestorm Purgatory was suppressed almost immediately, and an even greater force began pressing down on Lu Changsheng himself.

What the...? Despite being ground down by the Mental Millstone, he still had the presence of mind to deploy those flags and set up a formation? Can that formation completely block the Mental Millstone? No, it doesn't matter. Just reducing its power would be enough for him to recover.

And at that moment, Lu Changsheng saw through Dao Lord Shan Hai's true strength. His trump was not the Heavenly Mountain Seal, but his formation.

Formations were among the most powerful tools of the Immortal Dao. They were no weaker than enchanted treasures, and at times, they could even surpass them. That was because they harnessed the power of heaven and earth.

However, cultivating formations to an extremely high level, to the point of deploying them effortlessly in the midst of battle, was extraordinarily difficult. Not many Dao Lords could achieve that—but Dao Lord Shan Hai had.

"Your Mental Principle and mental divine technique are powerful. If it weren't for my profound mastery of formations and the ample preparations I made early on, I might've been in deep trouble."

Dao Lord Shan Hai's voice was calm, but his eyes were filled with killing intent. "But as you can see, I have more than the Heavenly Mountain Seal. These formation flags form the Four-Way Annihilation Large Formation."

Dao Lord Shan Hai's murderous gaze locked onto Lu Changsheng. He had not expected to reveal this trump card this early, much less against a Dao Foundation martial artist, but the Mental Millstone had truly made him feel death closing in. So, with shock and fury surging through him, he had unleashed his most powerful weapon. And now, he had made up his mind to directly use the large formation to annihilate Lu Changsheng.

But then, Dao Lord Shan Hai seemed to suddenly recall something.

"Lu Changsheng... I remember now. You are the one who took first place on both Candidate List rankings while still in the Divine Treasury Realm."

His murderous aura grew even sharper.

"They called you the supreme genius who dominates an entire generation of both the Immortal Dao and Martial Dao. Genius or not, today you die by my hands!"

With that, Dao Lord Shan Hai activated the large formation. Sand and stones surged into the air. A thick fog engulfed the sky, blotting out the sun and filling the entire large formation with murderous intent. Trapped inside, Lu Changsheng lost all sense of direction. Even his Mind Space seemed to have been cut off.

However, Lu Changsheng merely sneered. This is just an illusion. What formation could possibly cut me off from my Mind Space?

He disregarded the large formation and launched his next attack. "Divine Technique, Flame Current!"

In an instant, the Wind, Fire, and Wood Principles blazed with dazzling light. A massive torrent of fire erupted from Lu Changsheng and swept outward in all directions. The Flame Current surged like molten lava, unstoppable and overwhelming. Wherever it passed, it crushed and reduced everything to ash.

Crack!

Almost instantly, a sharp, crisp sound reached both Lu Changsheng and Dao Lord Shan Hai.

One of the formation flags had shattered. The flag's material was exceptionally sturdy, no less resilient than an enchanted treasure, yet Lu Changsheng's divine technique had shattered it instantly.

Dao Lord Shan Hai's expression shifted. This divine technique... It's Flame Current, a supreme compound divine technique formed from three Principles. And it's... it's at Perfection!

Being a seasoned veteran, Dao Lord Shan Hai recognized the technique at once. A compound divine technique formed from three Principles was already terrifying, but if it had only been an ordinary Flame Current, he would not have been fazed. However, a Flame Current at Perfection was a different matter entirely.

Even though Dao Lord Shan Hai was not a Dao Foundation martial artist himself, he knew that individuals who had managed to bring Flame Current to Perfection could be counted on one hand.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

Three more cracks rang out as the remaining formation flags were destroyed one after another, crushed by Lu Changsheng's Flame Current. With all the flags now shattered into fine powder, Dao Lord Shan Hai's large formation collapsed in an instant.

With the formation gone, Lu Changsheng's figure reappeared together with his Mind Space.

In truth, the Mind Space had never disappeared. Dao Lord Shan Hai's formation had merely suppressed and overlapped with it, creating the illusion that Lu Changsheng had lost his connection to it. The Mind Space was intrinsically tied to the martial artist who had created it. As long as a Dao Foundation martial artist was still willing to control it, no one could truly sever that link.

Knowing that from the start, Lu Changsheng had not wasted time struggling against the illusion. Instead, he had simply unleashed Flame Current to incinerate the formation.

"My formation..." Dao Lord Shan Hai's expression changed dramatically.

But there was no time to dwell on this loss.

"Heavenly Mountain Seal!"

He immediately drove his enchanted treasure forward, sending it straight toward Lu Changsheng. The Mind Space could not possibly block such a strike; the Heavenly Mountain Seal would shatter it in an instant.

The seal transformed into a towering mountain and roared forward with overwhelming force. Just like this, Lu Zhenkong had been instantly crushed to death by the seal, unable to resist at all.

The Heavenly Mountain Seal had been refined from an entire divine mountain. Once unleashed, it truly felt like a massive divine mountain rolling forward, unstoppable and impossible to withstand. Few Dao Foundation martial artists could actually fight back against such might.

However, Lu Changsheng was no ordinary Dao Foundation martial artist.

"Flame Current." He pointed his finger forward.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The lava-like flames rapidly converged and surged toward the Heavenly Mountain Seal like a volcanic eruption.

Boom!

The two forces collided with a thunderous boom, sending powerful shockwaves sweeping outward. Lu Changsheng's Mind Space was blasted into fragments.

However, as long as the Mind Space was not completely destroyed, it could recover almost instantly. With a single thought from Lu Changsheng, the shattered Mind Space restored itself completely.

At the same time, the endless flames of Flame Current actually stopped the Heavenly Mountain Seal—and that was not all. The flames wrapped around the Heavenly Mountain Seal and began burning the enchanted treasure itself.

Hiss... Crackle... Crackle...

The Heavenly Mountain Seal hissed under the scorching heat of the Flame Current. Its spiritual light flickered again and again. For an enchanted treasure, a flickering spiritual light meant the treasure was under tremendous pressure. If this went on, Dao Lord Shan Hai's treasure would not last much longer.

Even the Heavenly Mountain Seal can't withstand it? So this is the power of a Flame Current that has reached Perfection?

Dao Lord Shan Hai's expression darkened. He knew better than anyone how powerful the Heavenly Mountain Seal was. Whenever he encountered an opponent he could not handle at first, he only had to crush them with the seal, and that would be the end of it. Countless experts had died beneath it.

Yet now, the terrifying Flame Current had not only stopped the Heavenly Mountain Seal in its tracks, it was also ceaselessly scorching it.

Realizing he was fighting a losing battle, Dao Lord Shan Hai finally decided to retreat. He immediately tried to activate a Teleportation Talisman, but a sharp, excruciating pain tore through his mind.

"Ghaaah!"

Lu Changsheng had unleashed the Mental Millstone once again, grinding down on Shan Hai's mind. The Dao Lord's willpower was strong, but being overwhelmed by the Flame Current while simultaneously crushed by the Mental Millstone made it nearly impossible to activate the Teleportation Talisman.

"Lu Changsheng, are you really determined to kill me?" Dao Lord Shan Hai asked, his voice filled with panic. "The Purple Sun Immortal Sect's encampment is barely a hundred li from here. I can send word to my allies, and they will arrive swiftly. Then, you'll be doomed! Are you really going to throw your life away for some scraps from Wang Yun?!"

For the first time, Dao Lord Shan Hai realized that coming here alone had been a mistake. He had been too confident, too arrogant. He knew Wang Yun would find a Dao Foundation expert to deal with him, yet he had still chosen to come alone. If he had brought three or five allies, he would not be trapped in this desperate situation—but regret often comes too late.

"Doomed?" Lu Changsheng merely shook his head. His answer was driving the Flame Current even harder into Dao Lord Shan Hai's mind. There was no mistake about it: he was determined to kill Dao Lord Shan Hai then and there.

Crack!

At last, the Flame Current burned through the Heavenly Mountain Seal's spirit light. Countless streams of fire surged over the once-mighty enchanted treasure, and a crack appeared on its surface.

Then, a second crack surfaced, then a third, and a fourth... Soon, the Heavenly Mountain Seal was covered in cracks, and a moment later, it shattered with a resounding boom.

"My Heavenly Mountain Seal..." Dao Lord Shan Hai's face flushed red, his expression twisted with anguish.

His formation flags had been destroyed, and now even the Heavenly Mountain Seal was gone. Without them, he had nothing left to fight against Lu Changsheng's Flame Current.

"Lu Changsheng..." Dao Lord Shan Hai tried to speak again, but the Mental Millstone kept grinding down his mind, leaving him no strength to continue.

In the end, with one final agonized scream, Dao Lord Shan Hai was completely consumed by the Flame Current.