There is no invincible power in this world; there never has been, nor ever will be, whether in the past, present, or future. There might be invincible people, but only for a certain period. As the saying goes, new talents emerge constantly, and the new generation replaces the old. Even the invincible will eventually fall when their invincible time passes, the only difference being the length of time—perhaps a few years, tens of thousands of years, or hundreds of millions of years. ()

Thus, nothing in this world is absolute!

Lin Luo's Strongest Spear and Strongest Shield are merely the names of techniques; they do not denote absolute strength. They have weaknesses, even if one could create or destroy the rules themselves. It's just that very few people can discover this weakness, or perhaps no one has yet been able to.

That Ju Tianzi, a Celestial being at the Earthly Tier Primary stage, had not reached the point where she could see through Lin Luo's weaknesses. But... her Sword of Scarlet Fantasy could!

The Sword of Scarlet Fantasy can materialize an opponent's essence into tangible mist, revealing the characteristic traits of that essence's weakness, thereby allowing for the most effective attack and defense targeting that weakness. Therefore, when Lin Luo's attack struck Tianzi, the Sword of Scarlet Fantasy had already transformed that power... severing the temperament while simultaneously altering the form of the power, turning it into energy that caused Tianzi no harm.

In other words, at that moment, Tianzi was invincible.

However, Tianzi was not eternally invincible. By unleashing the "Sword of Heavenly Right and Wrong," she merged herself with the Sword of Scarlet Fantasy. The characteristics of the Sword of Scarlet Fantasy manifested upon her, granting her the ability to be invincible. Consequently, when that move ended, her invincible state naturally dissolved.

Even if it was only for that brief instant, truth be told, Lin Luo felt a stirring of desire for that Sword of Scarlet Fantasy. If he possessed a similar sword, deploying it at a critical juncture could absolutely turn the tide... Unfortunately, the Sword of Scarlet Fantasy belonged to Tianzi, and he wasn't base enough to steal her weapon. Moreover, no one other than a Celestial being could wield the Sword of Scarlet Fantasy.

"Fifty percent power? Heh heh." Hearing Lin Luo's words, Tianzi laughed instead of getting angry, appearing somewhat pleased on her face. "Right, right, that's the spirit we need, the spirit belonging only to the strong. But, are you just boasting, or do you truly possess that strength? Let me see it now."

"Mm, I will show you, and then I will strike you down hard, as payment for the ill intentions you and others have harbored towards me," Lin Luo smiled faintly, and to Tianzi's surprise, he suddenly closed his eyes at that moment.

"What are you doing? This way you can't fight at all!... Huh?" Tianzi cried out in shock. She had never witnessed such an idiot closing their eyes mid-battle, but her expression quickly changed because she suddenly noticed the aura around Lin Luo beginning to change... No, it was vanishing!

"This... How can this be?" Tianzi was bewildered. Aura is the materialization of a person's essence. Under the power of the Sword of Scarlet Fantasy, anyone's essence would manifest concretely. So, what did it mean when this person's aura disappeared?

"The disappearance of essence? Impossible!" Tianzi grasped the crux of the issue, but she didn't understand why this was happening. Yet, a vague feeling told her she couldn't let this situation continue, so without hesitation, she slashed forward, "Sword of Non-Thought, Non-Non-Thought!"

This move could seal the opponent's aura. Once the aura was sealed, it meant the essence was fixed; if struck, Lin Luo's essence would not change, and thus, not disappear.

But Tianzi was too slow in her reaction. Just as the blade was swung out, Lin Luo’s aura vanished, and even his physical self disappeared. Silently, leaving Tianzi without the slightest indication that he still existed there.

At this point, Tianzi's expression grew noticeably solemn. She felt she might have underestimated her enemy. Erasing one's own aura was beyond her comprehension, and it was also beyond the reach of the Sword of Scarlet Fantasy's power.

The Sword of Scarlet Fantasy could only target and alter materialized auras; it could not create or obliterate them.

"I'm here." Suddenly, Lin Luo's voice appeared behind Tianzi. The girl startled and instinctively swung a sword behind her. With a swish, the figure behind her was cleaved in two.

"Ah!" Tianzi froze. She hadn't intended to kill; she thought the opponent was strong enough to evade the strike, but unexpectedly... Tianzi felt a pang of sadness, yet quickly realized something was wrong. The body split in two did not bleed or show any internal organs. A light breeze blew, and it simply vanished.

"An afterimage!"

"Not an afterimage, though you can think of it that way if you wish." The voice appeared behind Tianzi once more. This time, Tianzi didn't swing her sword but instantaneously shifted sideways, then looked back to where she had been, only to see Lin Luo standing in mid-air, his figure wavering like ripples on water, ethereal and illusory.

"You... are not here?" Tianzi asked in a low voice. Although he was right before her eyes, there was no aura emanating from him, nor could she sense any breath of life. More precisely, it felt like a projection transmitted from elsewhere.

"Mm, I am not here, because I have made myself disappear," Lin Luo nodded with a smile, his form constantly lengthening and shortening, appearing and disappearing, looking utterly bizarre.

"Make yourself disappear? What does that mean?" Tianzi was a little confused.

"It means exactly what it says," Lin Luo shrugged, speaking casually. "We exist because we are aware of our existence. But if even we ourselves are not aware of our existence, do we still exist?"

"What is that?!" Tianzi frowned deeply. Lin Luo’s perplexing, tongue-twisting statement gave her a splitting headache; she couldn't grasp what he meant at all, just like the meaningless words spoken by those old grandfathers in the Celestial Realm, which she was already sick of hearing.

"Making oneself disappear? How could one do such a thing? Besides, disappearing means death!"

"It can be done, as long as one masters the foundation of consciousness," Lin Luo found Tianzi’s slightly annoyed and furrowed expression amusing. He smiled and explained, "The foundation of consciousness is actually a manifestation of the 'I-awareness,' which focuses on the 'ego'... Hmm, you probably won't understand these either. Perhaps I should put it more simply. The body requires consciousness to control it. I used my consciousness to forcibly erase my own body, so what I am now is just a stream of non-existent consciousness. The Sword of Scarlet Fantasy needs a concrete form of existence to alter temperament, and one who does not exist naturally cannot be altered."

"Ah!" Tianzi exclaimed in great alarm, quickly asking, "Have you achieved Buddhahood now? Have you become a Celestial being?!"

"No, no, I am not some Celestial being," Lin Luo waved his hand with a wry smile. "Although my body is gone, I left a seed behind. As long as my consciousness affirms its own existence again, my body will reappear... Do you understand now, Tianzi-chan?"

"Understand your head! All that nonsensical jargon... I knew you were just speaking gibberish like those old men!" Tianzi pouted angrily, then suddenly swung her sword toward Lin Luo, "And I am definitely not Tianzi-chan!"

Lin Luo merely smiled, making no resistance, just standing in mid-air, letting her cleave him in two only for him to scatter and reappear.

"Then I'll just call you Tianzi, since that's your designated title anyway." As soon as that figure vanished, Lin Luo reappeared not far from Tianzi's side.

"This is too much! There has to be a limit to teasing me!" Tianzi grew furious and swung her sword again, but the result was the same. Every time she cut down a Lin Luo, a second one would immediately appear. No matter how many times she struck, she couldn't eliminate him.

"Seriously, this is cheating! Doesn't this make you invincible?" Tianzi stomped her foot in frustration in mid-air. Since the Keystone was beneath her feet, this action caused the earth to tremble violently.

"Yes, that's why I told you long ago that you couldn't beat me. You should just obediently become my pet. Rest assured, I will treat you very well, feeding you delicious food and dressing you in pretty clothes every day."

Lin Luo spread his hands and deliberately teased Tianzi. In reality, his ability wasn't truly invincible; at least Hoshiguma Yuugi and Komeiji Satori could counter this move. As Yuugi's sparring partner, Lin Luo had developed this move during combat, so she had some understanding of it. Satori's unconsciousness, on the other hand, was the direct nemesis of this technique. However, being able to counter didn't necessarily mean being able to defeat him.

For others to counter it, they would need one of two methods: either use a higher-level mystery to suppress his mystery, or understand the essence of his technique to find a loophole... Lin Luo himself knew which method could be used to break this move. If he told Tianzi that method, she could easily force him back into his original form with her strength, but he obviously wouldn't do that. And given Tianzi's somewhat simple mind, she probably couldn't figure it out even if she pondered for three days and three nights.

"I will never be your pet!" Tianzi declared hatefully, then her eyes darted, as if she had thought of something, and she laughed, "Since you said you left a seed of your body behind, then I will just attack that seed! I will find it with this Sword of Scarlet Fantasy and shatter it in one go. You just wait to become a Buddha!"

"...You really are quite something," Lin Luo said speechlessly.

At this moment, Tianzi stopped holding back. She held the Sword of Scarlet Fantasy with both hands, and instantly, countless scarlet mists gathered on the blade, condensing into a dense mass... This was not just her own aura, but the collective essence of everyone around her.

Guided by the aura, the sword trembled slightly and finally pointed in one direction.

"Found it! It's right there!" Tianzi shouted excitedly, then swung her sword fiercely, "The Scarlet Heaven of All Humanity!!"

l;!--END--g;RH