Chapter 117: Captive

When it came to preserving his own life, Guang Ming did have some experience.

As early as when Guang Hui met Lu Yang, and Lu Yang neither dodged nor avoided but instead met the attack head-on, he had keenly sensed that something was amiss.

Alas, the "Heart-Linking Life Talisman" could only be used once in a short period.

Moreover, with Guang Hui, a fellow disciple who knew him inside out, present, there was no chance for him to cast the "Heart-Linking Life Talisman" to escape in the heat of battle.

So when Guang Hui summoned all the Buddhist cultivators and manifested the "Dragon-Elephant Great Power Vajra," he did not choose to participate; instead, using the cover of the Buddha-light, he decisively burrowed underground and fled, treating Guang Hui and the others as human shields just as before. Undeniably, this tactic worked very well.

He had almost escaped alive once again.

However, this time, his attempt to flee was keenly detected by someone who had been observing the battle all along but could not find an opportunity to intervene and show himself.

Qin Tianhe!

As a true disciple of the Holy Sect, Qin Tianhe also cultivated great divine arts; combined with the strange treasure "Void-Piercing Sky-Soaring Shuttle," his strength was actually not weak.

After all, previously, surrounded and blocked by more than a dozen Buddhist cultivators like Guang Ming, he had barely managed to carve out a path to survival; it was only because he was being compared to Lu Yang that he appeared weak. Qin Tianhe understood this himself, so he was very proactive, determined to demonstrate his value in order to cling tightly to a big thigh.

Therefore, Guang Ming had not even gone very far when he was caught and dragged back by him.

And at this point, Guang Ming had no choice; to beg for his life, he shouted loudly, "Don't kill me! I can also contribute to the Demon Holy Sect!"

"You want to surrender?"

Lu Yang raised an eyebrow, showing a hint of surprise: "With a True Lord supervising the battle, you actually dare to surrender?"

This Battle for the Dao was personally supervised by three True Lords; although they would not interfere, how could the events that occurred be hidden from the True Lords?

Under such circumstances, who would dare to surrender?

In the Holy Sect, if you dared to surrender and survived afterwards, your physical body would be taken by the True Lord to light a Sky Lamp; if you died, your soul would be taken to light a Soul Lamp.

Don't even think about reincarnation!

"Upper cultivators may not know, but our Pure Land has its own rules here; one cannot generalize."

Guang Ming lowered his voice and said cautiously, "For us, surrender is not a major matter; as long as we survive, there will be no blame."

"Oh?"

Lu Yang raised an eyebrow slightly, then said with a half-smile, "Then if I asked you to return as a spy and deal with the remaining Buddhist cultivators of the Pure Land for me, would you still be willing?"

"Uh, this..."

Upon hearing this, Guang Ming's expression froze; then he opened his mouth and spoke even more quietly: "... The Pure Land's words are really hard to explain. How about switching to the Dao Court instead?"

Lu Yang was even more surprised and laughed loudly, "That works too!"

With these words spoken, Guang Ming immediately relaxed and hurriedly said, "Actually, this humble monk has long been dissatisfied with those people of the Dao Court and is willing to contribute to the Upper Cultivator!"

At the same time, outside the battlefield realm.

The three True Lords exchanged glances, and Qingcheng Feixue True Lord, who had remained silent until now, finally spoke, breaking into a sound of laughter as pleasant as silver bells.

"The Pure Land Buddhist Sect truly lives up to its reputation!"

"... Demon, do not try to sow discord!"

Feeling the predatory gaze of the Dao Court True Lord beside him, the Pure Land True Lord could only stiffen his expression and secretly transmit his voice: "Friend, do not overthink this."

"It is merely feigning cooperation for the sake of expediency!"

"Moreover, that Guang Ming is merely a pawn; the one truly in command is Guang Hai. He is a disciple of Arhat Fu Long and will consider the overall situation; he would not act recklessly."

"Hmph, hard to say!"

Facing the Pure Land True Lord's explanation, the Dao Court True Lord wore an expression of noncommittal indifference, clearly not very convinced by the Pure Land True Lord's words in his heart.

Because the origins of the Pure Land were not clean.

It was said that the Supreme World Honored One who founded the Pure Land was, back then, a shameless fellow who only managed to ascend to the position of Dao Lord by playing both sides.

And the conduct and style of that World Honored One were no different at all from the current Holy Sect!

Even the name was not something like Deep Joy Pure Land, but rather the Pure Land Evil Sect!

It was just that after founding the Deep Joy Nirvana Dao, that World Honored One chose to whitewash his image and became prosperous; out of respect for the honorable, no one dared to say much.

Thinking of this, a shadow immediately fell over the Dao Court True Lord's heart, but at the same time, he felt immense curiosity about Lu Yang, who had suddenly appeared.

What exactly is this person's origin?

He was inclined to calculate it, but with Qingcheng Feixue True Lord right there, doing so would only be blocked by the other party, making it meaningless, so he had to give up.

In the end, Lu Yang still spared Guang Ming's life.

Because from him and the group of Buddhist cultivators absorbed by the Ten Thousand Spirits Banner, Lu Yang learned of an unfavorable situation: they had been surrounded.

The Eight Tribes of Buddha of the Pure Land, plus a contingent of the Dao Court's Army of Dao Defense, totaling over a thousand Qi Refining cultivators, had assembled in advance to form a cordon, setting up formations and defenses along the way; all the Holy Sect disciples participating in the battle had fallen into this cordon and were having their living space continuously squeezed.

"Formations..."

As a seventh-rank Formation Master, Lu Yang knew the power of formations better than anyone; he was not afraid of numbers, but having many formations was somewhat troublesome.

Especially since the Dao Court and the Pure Land obviously also had cultivators possessing status.

Although they could not be higher than him, as the saying goes, many ants can kill an elephant; with the support of a large number of formations, it would still be somewhat thorny for him.

Moreover, these two sides likely had even stronger trump cards hidden.

So in the end, he accepted Guang Ming's voluntary surrender, planted a surveillance restriction in his sea of consciousness, and then let him go.

Of course, Lu Yang had also considered using the Ten Thousand Spirits Banner to directly transform him into a Banner Spirit; however, unless it was someone like Chen Xinan or Su Nu, whose physical bodies still existed in the present world and whose karma could be applied, the spiritual energy of other ordinary Banner Spirits mostly differed greatly from that of cultivators, making it difficult to hide from the scrutiny of those who were paying attention.

"... Still need to be cautious."

At this moment, Lu Yang had reined in his inflated thoughts; even if he was bullying the weak in the beginner village, he had to ensure absolute safety to avoid capsizing in a gutter.

"If we were inside Skull Mountain, with the support of the earth veins, however many came would die; but once outside Skull Mountain, relying solely on Su Nu is a bit difficult. Although if I go all out, combined with Ancestor Ting You, victory would still be assured, but that would inevitably result in casualties."

The problem lay right there.

Lu Yang wanted to kill ten thousand enemies but did not want to lose eight thousand of his own, especially after discovering that Ancestor Ting You, as a technical talent, was incredibly useful.

He would feel heartache even if just one died.

Thinking of this, Lu Yang silently turned his head to look at Qin Tianhe beside him.

Although the common saying goes that war is always accompanied by sacrifice, since he does not wish to sacrifice himself, he can only find a way to sacrifice others instead.

"Tianhe, how many people did the Holy Sect send this time?"

Looking at Lu Yang's kind smile, Qin Tianhe felt not a shred of warmth; instead, he suddenly shivered, feeling his whole body turn ice cold.

Something is wrong!

Yet under Lu Yang's gaze, Qin Tianhe thought again: So what if something is wrong? As long as it doesn't harm Tianhe, what does it matter to him whether others live or die?

"Including me, there are seven True Disciples participating in the battle. Besides them, eleven disciples who have not yet cultivated great divine arts but have reached the Great Perfection of Qi Refining have come. The remaining hundred-plus are all in the Late Stage of Qi Refining, and they each possess one or two formidable divine arts; we just don't know how many remain now."

Qin Tianhe recounted the details as if reciting his family's treasures.

"The War for the Dao has been underway for some time now. I guess they must have gathered and are moving deeper into the encirclement; we will definitely be able to find them."

"I see."

Upon hearing this, Lu Yang nodded, his smile becoming even brighter.

Over a hundred in the Late Stage of Qi Refining, eleven at Great Perfection of Qi Refining, and seven True Disciples; this number is actually no worse than that of the Dao Court and the Pure Land, and even surpasses them.

Thus, although the Holy Sect has fewer disciples than the Dao Court and the Pure Land, the quality of the disciples who stand out within the Holy Sect is beyond question.

These are all talents.

After this, Lu Yang followed Qin Tianhe's suggestion, having him pilot the "Void-Piercing Sky-Soaring Shuttle" to travel everywhere. Before long, a formation came into view.

Just as Qin Tianhe said.

Although the Holy Sect disciples are wicked, they are certainly not incompetent. Even when caught off guard by the joint annihilation of the Dao Court and the Pure Land, they still organized themselves.

(End of this chapter)