Chapter 154: Calamity

After seeing off the Peak Master of Senior Butian, the smile on Lu Yang's face gradually faded, and then a trace of heartfelt confusion appeared in his eyes.

"Something isn't right."

He actually believed it?

To be honest, Lu Yang hadn't actually expected the Peak Master of Senior Butian to trust him in the first place; after all, such a senior old demon should not easily trust outsiders.

However, the situation was quite different from what he imagined; the Peak Master of Senior Butian seemed to harbor no suspicion of him from start to finish, very satisfiedly accepted Luo Han Fu Long's Golden Body Relic, and then immediately returned without stopping, seemingly in a rush to hand it over to Chen Xinan to help him break through to Foundation Establishment.

This clearly did not fit the conduct of a True Person of a Holy Sect.

"Greed blinds the mind."

Lu Yang calculated with his fingers, feeling somewhat surprised; the current strange state of the Peak Master of Senior Butian was indeed bizarre, but could actually be explained in a single sentence.

— Merit greatly depleted, calamity qi entangling the body.

Under the Heavenly Punishment of Skull Mountain, Zhao Xuhe died on the spot, Luo Han Fu Long Luo Han degenerated into ten lifetimes of pigs and dogs, and the two True Persons of Shenwu Gate became sacrifices for the Abyss Sword.

Only the Peak Master of Senior Butian survived.

However, surviving did not mean Heaven and Earth had let him off; after more than half of his fortune and merit were stripped away, the current Peak Master of Senior Butian was already blinded by calamity.

"Blinded by calamity, the spiritual platform dusted, things that would normally be understood with a single thought are no longer deeply examined, abnormalities that are normally too obvious to miss are hard to detect, acting rashly, irritable and quick to anger; unless aided by a high expert, even if one can shine for a time, the end will inevitably be tragic."

With this thought, Lu Yang was suddenly startled.

"This eight-hundred-li earth vein is practically a merit nuclear bomb; besides the direct power of the explosion, it also has aftereffects; it seems a bit too fierce."

The key is that these aftereffects cannot be detected by others.

So much so that the Peak Master of Senior Butian, who should have been sinister and cunning, was turned into this; thinking of this, a thought painfully emerged from Lu Yang's heart:

'... What about me?'

The next second, Lu Yang suddenly manipulated the spell, and a bright light bloomed from his Dao Foundation, like a clear spring washing his whole body, sweeping away the filth upon him.

【Do Not Differentiate】!

As the divine ability continued to operate, Lu Yang's eyes gradually cleared, and he suddenly recalled an obvious problem he had previously overlooked:

"Did I just give the thing away too easily?"

According to the style of the Holy Sect, his best choice would actually have been to squeeze the Peak Master of Senior Butian hard; only then would it be less likely for the latter to suspect him.

But what was the result?

He made no attempt to bargain and simply gave away Luo Han Fu Long's Golden Body Relic; if he were the Peak Master of Senior Butian, he would have suspected him long ago!

"【Do Not Differentiate】 failed to completely sever the cause and effect!?"

"No... it's just that my cultivation is insufficient; the lotus root is broken but the silk remains, so some influence lingers."

Lu Yang immediately drew in a sharp breath, his face turning snow-white, cold sweat streaming down; only after a long while did he slowly regain his senses, his heart heavy.

"Looking at the bright side, as the mastermind behind the destruction of the eight-hundred-li Skull Mountain earth vein, the influence I suffered is actually not as great as that of the Peak Master of Senior Butian; this is already thanks to 【Do Not Differentiate】, and combined with my consumption of Shenwu Gate's merit and fortune, I still have a chance to remain somewhat clear-headed."

Those truly sinking like the Peak Master of Senior Butian probably won't wake up at all.

The power of Heaven and Earth has reached such a point!?

In an instant, Lu Yang, who had been slightly swollen with pride from previously playing with cause and effect and outliving Luo Han Fu Long Luo Han, suddenly shrank his body, feeling bone-chilling cold.

The cause and effect of Heaven and Earth are not so easily fooled.

Although his innate divine ability has a unique advantage in this regard, a good swimmer drowns, a good rider falls; playing with fire will inevitably lead to self-immolation one day!

"What a broken place."

All along, Lu Yang had been immensely respectful of Jin Dan True Lords; after all, the image of seizing the sun and moon and plucking stars during the Battle for the Dao still remained vivid in his memory.

However, at this moment, he changed his mind.

Jin Dan True Lords are indeed terrifying, but even True Lords, when they annihilated the entire Wugui Dao sect in the past, did not choose to directly destroy the earth vein of Skull Mountain!

From this, it can be seen that even for Jin Dan True Lords, the influence of cause and effect and merit fortune probably imposes certain constraints on them; although it might not be much, it certainly exists; comparing this with the earth-shaking power of Jin Dan True Lords, one can see just how deep the waters of this world truly are.

"Fortunately, the Peak Master of Senior Butian I face is even worse off than me."

This is also the wonder of fortune.

If it had been another True Person of a Holy Sect, the flaw Lu Yang revealed would have been fatal; but it just so happened to be the Peak Master of Senior Butian, which made him suddenly wake up.

At first glance, this seems like mere coincidence.

However, if inferred from the perspective of fortune, it is because he consumed Shenwu Gate's merit and fortune, meaning his fate was not to die, while the Peak Master of Senior Butian's fortune had already run out.

"... With calamity qi entangling his body, his retribution is probably still to come."

Cloud Sea reaching the heavens, Senior Butian Peak.

The moment the Peak Master of Senior Butian returned, he felt the world spinning; he was sent into a hall, where a servant girl in splendid robes approached respectfully:

"Master, the Lady wishes to see you."

"... She wants to see me?"

Hearing this, the Peak Master of Senior Butian frowned; he wanted to refuse, but seeing the other party's attitude in directly teleporting him here, it was clearly not something that could be refused.

Thinking of this, he followed the servant girl all the way into the hall.

Before long, a quiet chamber came into view; inside, eighteen beautiful servant girls waited on both sides, each with a different posture, motionless like statues.

Surrounded by them in the center was a graceful back.

Three thousand strands of black hair were coiled at the back of her head, pierced by a snake-head hairpin; the dangling hairpin on the pin swayed slightly; she wore a red long skirt, through which snow-white skin was faintly visible.

Beneath the hem of the long skirt, a breeze blew, revealing Bai Xi thighs; a pair of bare feet, wearing neither shoes nor socks, gently stepped upon the clouds and mist, warm and smooth like jade, white with a hint of red; at the ankles above hung a pair of bright silver anklets, making a tinkling sound with each step, captivating the heart.

In an instant, the fragrance of sandalwood rushed to the nose.

However, seeing this, the Peak Master of Senior Butian felt no stir in his heart at all; instead, he showed an impatient expression: "Is it still that matter? If so, there is no need to say more."

A moment later, that graceful silhouette slowly turned around.

Accompanied by the tinkling of the silver anklets on her feet, a face of flower-like beauty and moon-like grace, yet with dignified bearing, was revealed; solemn yet secretly hiding seduction.

"... Do you insist on letting Chen Shuqian take the calamity?"

Her words seemed to beg, seemed to whisper, making one involuntarily feel pity, become infatuated, and then grant all her requests.

Yet the Master of the Heaven-Mending Peak paid it no heed.

"Do not use this trick on me. Moreover, I am using Shuqian as a hostage; are you not also hoping Shuqian will help you break the mystery within the womb after reincarnation?"

"Hmph!"

The next second, like spring wind melting ice and snow, the woman's voice suddenly turned chilling: "Chen Taihe, since you know this, why still ruin my reincarnation?"

"Worrying about nothing."

The Master of the Heaven-Mending Peak said indifferently, "If I break through to the late stage of Foundation Establishment and attain the position of Great True Person, naturally I can calculate your reincarnated body and go to retrieve it."

"But what if you fail?"

The woman said in a heavy voice, "If you fail, and Shuqian dies again, I have little time left and cannot raise a second one; how then can I break the mystery within the womb?"

Speaking to this point, the woman stared straight at the Master of the Heaven-Mending Peak, hoping he would give an answer that satisfied both sides.

Yet in the end, she heard only an answer that brooked no argument:

"I will not fail!"

Upon hearing these words, the woman's beautiful eyes suddenly showed disappointment, yet instantly returned to calm, and she said coldly, "Chen Taihe, you will regret this."

To this, the Master of the Heaven-Mending Peak was seen to sneer:

"Lady Ruoxiang, do not forget, I am the Master of the Heaven-Mending Peak of this generation!"

(End of this chapter)