Chapter 119: Charge Back With Me

Inside the gathering place of the Holy Sect disciples.

After exchanging glances with a group of True Inheritors, Lu Yang naturally did not hold back, and got straight to the point, laying out the intelligence he had obtained from Guangming.

Chongming's expression grew solemn after hearing it: "We've actually been surrounded."

On the other side, Xu Xin, however, was not the least bit surprised, and instead revealed an expression that said this was only to be expected: "I knew the Pure Land pigs and the Dao Court dogs had joined forces again."

Chongming was still puzzled: "But how could Father fail to foresee something like this?"

"Perhaps he never imagined that something so obvious would be something the young master couldn't see."

"You—!"

Xu Xin and Chongming glared at each other once more. The two were clearly the epitome of the two major factions among the Holy Sect's True Inheritors, each looking down on the other.

"The answer is simple — Master Chongguang simply doesn't care. After all, from the very beginning, the key to victory in this Battle for the Dao has never rested on us." Saying this, Xu Xin finally turned his gaze back to Lu Yang and said respectfully: "The True Lord's fruit-position treasure must be in the True Person's hands as well, I presume?"

"It is indeed in my hands."

Lu Yang nodded, then said solemnly: "But there is one point I must emphasize. I am indeed not at Foundation Establishment. Although I am very close, I still am not."

Even with the Pure Lady's aid, there was still a gap between Lu Yang and a true Foundation Establishment cultivator.

After all, this place was not Skull Mountain. The Pure Lady could not receive the blessing of the earth's veins, and her strength was not at its full state. This hairsbreadth of difference often became a mistake of a thousand miles.

If a true Foundation Establishment True Person were here, why would there be any need for words? Simply find the enemy's position, then charge in and basic-attack — no matter how many people they had, no matter how many formations they had laid down, it would all be futile. A single slap could smash them all dead. Yet Lu Yang was different.

If the Dao Court and the Pure Land truly threw their lives into it, with over a thousand Qi Refining cultivators laying down formations to trap him, his odds of victory in this battle would immediately plummet.

Probably dropping from ten-tenths to nine-and-a-half tenths.

In other words, there was a half-tenth chance of capsizing. Although this risk was not particularly high, Lu Yang would not take even this much risk.

Therefore, at this moment, the Holy Sect's outstanding talents needed to step in.

Thinking of this, Lu Yang did not waste words, and said crisply: "I need you to take the initiative to launch a breakout, to help me draw away the enemy's attention."

There were two conditions for victory in the Battle for the Dao.

The first was to destroy the fruit-position treasure in the hands of the opposing side, which was generally held by the strongest.

The second was to slay the Child of Destiny among the natives within the Boundary Heaven, seize its Heaven's Favor, and merge it into the fruit-position treasure — thus winning without fighting.

Lu Yang's plan was simple: the other Holy Sect disciples would go draw fire, while he would lurk in the shadows, waiting for the chance to directly take out one side's strongest, destroy the fruit-position treasure in their hands, incidentally break out of the encirclement, then rest for a period, and finally turn around to deal with the other side.

The plan was perfect.

The only problem was how to convince these outstanding talents of the Holy Sect to go die — no, to break out, and buy him the chance for a decapitation strike.

Yet what Lu Yang had not expected was—

After hearing his plan, not only did the True Inheritors of the Holy Sect present not resist, they actually nodded and revealed rather approving expressions.

"The True Person's insight is admirable — this is indeed the plan with the greatest odds of victory."

"Far better than if we did it ourselves."

"Then let's do it this way!"

No need to waste any more breath — the plan was decided on the spot.

Only then did Lu Yang realize that Holy Sect disciples had long been accustomed to being used as talents. As long as the final outcome benefited them, they did not mind.

It was more accurate to say that this was precisely the survival doctrine of Holy Sect disciples.

From being a talent as the lowest-level Qi Refining disciple, to being a good talent, to then transforming from a talent into a real talent, and finally becoming a true person.

With the plan set, a target for the decapitation strike still needed to be chosen.

On this point, the others had no disagreements either, unanimously choosing the Pure Land — after all, the 【Dragon Assembly】 among the Eight Divisions of Buddhist Followers had already been wiped out by Lu Yang.

The odds of victory against them were higher, and as talents it was also easier to survive.

At the same time, inside the Pure Land's gathering place.

"What did you say? Guanghui is dead?"

Looking at the thoroughly disheveled Guangming, Guanghai's expression was darker than ever before. The prayer beads in his hand let out creaking, cracking sounds, nearly crushed to pieces by his grip.

"Guanghui… That was my closest friend, my most relied-upon junior brother!"

"Besides that, the 【Dragon Assembly】 was something I personally selected and painstakingly assembled over time — which one of them was not an outstanding disciple of my 【Crouching Dragon Temple】?"

Saying this, he finally turned his gaze softly toward Guangming:

"Since they are all dead, why are you still alive?"

Facing Guanghai's interrogation, Guangming showed not a shred of shame on his face. He even puffed out his chest, raised his head, and declared loudly with full justification: "Because I ran away!"

At these words, even Guanghai was stunned by Guangming's shamelessness.

Whether in the Holy Sect or the Dao Court, anyone who dared to utter such words would undoubtedly be sentenced to death, and would absolutely be made an example of and executed on the spot.

Thinking of this, Guanghai immediately lowered his eyelids and said in a low voice:

"You deserted in the face of battle — did you not consider your fellow disciples?"

Guangming caught the killing intent in Guanghai's words and hurriedly said: "Senior brother, please do not misunderstand. I clung to life not for myself, but for all of us!"

"…Us?"

Guanghai's eyebrows suddenly shot up. Guangming's words were spoken with great skill, because "for all of us" and "for the Pure Land" were actually not the same thing.

"For the Pure Land" included all Buddhist cultivators, but "for all of us" was limited only to the disciples under their Master — these fellow brothers who hailed from 【Crouching Dragon Temple】. Thinking of this, the boiling killing intent in Guanghai's heart instantly dissipated, and his originally stern tone eased considerably:

"What is going on? Speak in detail."

"Among those who killed Senior Brother Guanghui and all the 【Dragon Assembly】, there was one person — that person has cultivated the Nine-Transformation Dragon Art that Master left behind before entering Nirvana!"

"…What!?"

At these words, Guanghai immediately stood up. The expression on his face shifted unpredictably between dark and light, and then revealed a look of wild joy: "To think there was such a thing—"

As the disciple most relied upon by the Crouching Dragon Luo Han, Guanghai was no stranger to the "Nine-Transformation Dragon Art." He was well aware that this was a cultivation method left behind when the Crouching Dragon Luo Han was still the Coiling Dragon True Person. It shared karmic ties with the Pure Land, and was meant to be used in the future to lure a Guardian Jin Gang to 【Crouching Dragon Temple】 through this very art.

"If I could subdue him and send him into 【Crouching Dragon Temple】…"

Guanghai's eyes grew brighter and brighter. For a monk like him who had entered the Luo Han Temple, to advance, he had to obtain a higher position of authority within the temple.

And yet he himself had procured a Dharma Protector Jin Gang for the Subduing Dragon Luo Han—what a tremendous merit that would be!

Once it was done, he would surely become the disciple the Subduing Dragon Luo Han relied upon most, firmly seated as the second-in-command of the Subduing Dragon Temple, his strength greatly increased.

If one day the Subduing Dragon Luo Han were to meet with some mishap again—

When that time came, perhaps it would be his chance to be promoted to Luo Han!

Thinking of this, Guanghai's heart instantly blazed with fire, and the look he gave Guangming grew much friendlier: "Junior brother's clever—this time you've done well."

Only then did Guangming let out a breath of relief: "Many thanks for Senior brother's magnanimity!"

It was only now that he wiped the fine sweat from his forehead, knowing he had survived once more, and immediately looked toward the restriction Lü Yang had set within his Sea of Consciousness.

With this restriction in place, he did not dare leak any intelligence on Lü Yang's strength. But quite obviously, cultivation techniques were not within the scope of this restriction's limits.

That demon lord could scheme and calculate all he wanted, but he never would have calculated that I would recognize the Nine Transformations Dragon Art, would he?

"Calculating the timing, Guangming should have already told his senior brother about the cultivation technique, right?"

Opening his eyes, Lü Yang counted on his fingers, then broke into a smile: "This way, when I charge back over, the other side should fight me to the death."

Immediately after, he stood up, turned his head, and looked toward the Holy Sect talents behind him.

Of the seven True Transmission disciples, two were dead; of the eleven Qi Refining Perfection cultivators, four were dead; of the over a hundred late-stage Qi Refining cultivators, only seventy or eighty remained, and every single one was wounded.

"Everyone, being hunted down earlier didn't feel good, did it?"

He wasn't very good at boosting morale. Besides, this time he needed them to draw fire for him—saying anything too grand and noble would only breed a rebellious streak.

So in the end, Lü Yang simply waved his hand briskly:

"Follow me and kill our way back."

(End of chapter)