Chapter 105: Third Visit to the Witch-Ghost Realm

Although he had decided to go to the beginner village to show off, Lu Yang still intended to make the best possible preparations beforehand; before departing, he needed to accomplish at least three small goals.

"First is the status of a Holy Sect true disciple; this is the simplest."

"As long as I replicate the actions of my life before last, proceed step by step, reveal a cultivation base at the Great Perfection of Qi Condensation, and simultaneously cultivate a great divine ability, that should be sufficient."

"Second is the earth pulse of Skeleton Mountain."

"Although after I restarted with the Myriad Souls Banner and successfully inherited the 【Yanmo Hall】 as well, I lost the blessing of Skeleton Mountain's earth pulse."

"I must think of a way to resolve this."

"Otherwise, without the blessing of Skeleton Mountain's earth pulse, given Su Nü's current state, the power of the 【Yanmo Hall】 is not even half of what it was during its peak in my previous life."

"Finally... there is the Patriarch of the Yun family."

"That heavenly mechanism treasure in his hands would be of immense use to me; perhaps it could help me calculate karma in advance and eliminate variables to the greatest extent possible."

These three small goals: the first provides identity and status, the second guarantees personal combat power, and the third prevents unexpected situations; adding Zhao Xuhe as a scapegoat makes four layers of insurance, and he did not believe he could not deal with Arhat Fu Long.

Indeed, Lu Yang's intentions went even further than this.

After all, Arhat Fu Long was at the Mid Stage of Foundation Establishment; even if Lu Yang broke through, having such a powerful expert constantly targeting him would undoubtedly be a tremendous hidden danger.

If possible, he would not mind luring Arhat Fu Long over and then directly trapping and killing him!

Only then would it be a permanent solution!

Lu Yang silently set his goals in his heart; the world was vast and filled with crises everywhere, and only by achieving the position of a True Person would one have the qualification to survey the universe and the four seas.

With a goal in place, the remaining matters were already familiar territory for Lu Yang; he simply needed to replicate the actions of his life before last, without needing to do anything extra.

Manipulate a substitute yin puppet, earn tens of thousands of contribution points handsomely, then announce a closed-door cultivation to the outside world.

Lu Yang was very patient and not at all rushed.

In the blink of an eye, ten years passed.

Within these ten years, Lu Yang gradually recovered the great divine abilities of his previous life, perfected his true qi, and once again reached the peak state where he could break through to Foundation Establishment at any moment.

Ten years later, Lu Yang emerged from seclusion and successfully "broke through" to the Late Stage of Qi Condensation.

Soon, everything proceeded logically; Fairy Feixia, representing the Sanhe Society, came to recruit him, Lu Yang agreed without hesitation, and conveniently obtained another great divine ability for free.

This time, the great divine ability Lu Yang chose was named the "Twelve Celestial Gods' Fiery Calamity Secret Demon Tribulation Light."

As the name suggests, this great divine ability was completely different from the Corpse Liberation True Art and the Heavenly Silkworm Secret Art; rather than increasing the chance of Foundation Establishment, its function leaned more toward combat.

"To cultivate this divine ability, one must refine a treasure, fly it up to the dome of heaven, enter the thirty-six layers of罡clouds, use the magic treasure to gather the boundless fiendish qi from beyond the heavens, accumulate it day by day and month by month, and finally condense it into a single beam of tribulation light; when needed, draw it down from the dome of heaven, and wherever the tribulation light passes, humans and beasts alike will perish!"

"Moreover, the longer the accumulation time, the greater the power!"

"However, merely flying a magic treasure up to the thirty-six layers of罡clouds is nearly impossible for a Qi Condensation cultivator; the difficulty is absurdly high."

Of course, for Lu Yang, this was merely a minor issue.

"Let Su Nü suffer a bit more."

Lu Yang summoned Su Nü, then handed the Blood Sun Sword Pill into her hands, instructing her to fly into the thirty-six layers of罡clouds to cultivate this great divine ability on his behalf.

"With this great divine ability, I will have another trump card for future battles."

"Afterward, if preparations are complete, my chances of breaking through to Foundation Establishment could even rise to ninety percent; I can then use the war between the orthodox and demonic paths to complete the final ten percent."

Perfect Foundation Establishment!

Although Lu Yang had not initially intended to deliberately pursue this achievement, in this life, if he wanted to be absolutely certain of success, he feared he would still have to take this step.

With Perfect Foundation Establishment, upon breaking through, he would immediately reach the peak of the Early Stage of Foundation Establishment!

Perhaps only then could he be considered to truly possess some ability to protect himself.

One month later, Lu Yang proceeded step by step; accepting Fairy Feixia's invitation, he, along with her, Zhao Xuhe, and Lu Yuanchun, departed to take up station at the Skeleton Mountain market.

However, compared to his life before last, this life had the variable of Zhao Xuhe.

In his life before last, Zhao Xuhe, having lost the Coiled Dragon opportunity, had fallen into destitution and could only bring a technique for stealing heavenly mechanisms to the Skeleton Mountain market for one final gamble.

Yet in this life, Zhao Xuhe was high-spirited; as the reincarnation of "True Person Panlong," his cultivation progress could only be described as godlike, and with Lu Yang's secret financial support, he had reached the Great Perfection of Qi Condensation within ten years, likewise arriving at the threshold of breaking through to Foundation Establishment.

However, this aligned perfectly with Lu Yang's intentions.

After all, Daoist Yinshan needed a Holy Sect disciple to open the Secret Realm, and Lu Yang certainly would not cooperate; it was perfect to let Zhao Xuhe take the fall instead.

Northern Frontier, Skeleton Mountain.

"I have returned."

Silently slipping away from the crowd, Lu Yang soon returned to the entrance of the Witch-Ghost Secret Realm, preparing to allow the 【Yanmo Hall】 to once again attach itself to the earth pulse of Skeleton Mountain.

However, the next second, he froze.

"The earth pulse of Skeleton Mountain already has an owner!?"

As he urged the 【Yanmo Hall】, intending to connect with the earth pulse, he discovered that a towering hall was already standing in the center of the earth pulse!

It was unmistakably also the Yanmo Hall!

"Could this be... Patriarch Tingyou?" Lu Yang frowned tightly; experiences from several previous lives flashed through his mind, and then a look of realization appeared on his face.

In his life before last, news of the Witch-Ghost Secret Realm had first spread from the Shenwu Sect, and it was disciples of the Shenwu Sect who discovered it; at that time, he had not yet noticed.

However, thinking about it now, if he had not appeared, when several Shenwu Sect disciples entered the Secret Realm, how could the nearly dying Patriarch Tingyou fail to notice? How could he sit idly by and do nothing? Moreover, the price of employing his soul-seizing secret art was to kill everyone within the entire Witch-Ghost Secret Realm.

And in his life before last, the Witch-Ghost Secret Realm had been empty!

In a flash of insight, Lu Yang reached a conclusion: "At this point in time, Patriarch Tingyou has likely already possessed a Shenwu Sect disciple and lived out his fifth life!"

In that case, Patriarch Tingyou had actually won in his life before last.

Because in the end of that previous life, True Person Yinshan resolved the Golden Core sword qi and reopened the Witch-Ghost Secret Realm, yet the result was merely taking away a 【Heavenly Corpse Fiend】.

The earth pulse remained!

True Person Yinshan, seeking the path of cultivation, lured away the Heavenly Corpse Fiend, unaware that he himself had become bait for Patriarch Tingyou, and was manipulated into luring away that Golden Core sword qi!

"... emarkable!"

If Patriarch Tingyou was truly still alive, then his schemes had all succeeded! On the contrary, it was Lu Yang's appearance in the previous life that caused him to fail at the last moment.

After figuring everything out, even Lu Yang could not help but exclaim in admiration.

Because without him as a variable, Patriarch Tingyou would have been a miracle who, through a thousand years of time, escaped from a Golden Core True Lord while only at the Foundation Establishment realm!

Just then, a consciousness suddenly emanated from the center of the earth pulse:

"Who are you!?"

The voice was full of surprise, confusion, and even a hint of bewilderment; it was unmistakably Patriarch Tingyou. Seeing this, Lu Yang's eyes darted, and he immediately reacted.

It was because he was using the 【Yanmo Hall】 to connect with the earth pulse!

And the 【Yanmo Hall】 was the supreme divine ability created by Patriarch Tingyou, a secret not passed down to others; in his view, logically, only he alone should be able to wield it.

How could there be a second person?

Thinking of this, Lu Yang's expression rapidly changed to one of ecstatic joy and shock, his voice even carrying a trace of sobbing: "Patriarch Tingyou, is that really Patriarch Tingyou?"

"You are truly still alive!"

"Heaven above, the heavens have not destroyed our Witch-Ghost Path!"

Having spoken, Lu Yang without another word bowed deeply, performing a great salute, and said: "Disciple of the three-hundred-and-seventy-sixth generation of the Witch-Ghost Path, Lu Yang, pays respects to the Patriarch!"

Patriarch Tingyou: "...?"

(End of Chapter)