Chapter 176: Who Wants to Kill Me!?

Xian Alliance Headquarters.

As a power that has dominated the Biyang Cultivation World for three thousand years, with a system and rule deeply ingrained in people's hearts, the scale of the Xian Alliance's headquarters is nothing short of spectacular.

Jade towers and crystal palaces, pavilions and terraces.

And here, Nascent Soul, Spirit Refining, and even Void Return cultivators, rarely seen in the outside world, were everywhere, yet now they had gathered together without prior arrangement.

At this moment, these great cultivators who were usually aloof and above others wore expressions of fear, staring straight ahead at the main hall where the Harmony Dao great cultivators had been in seclusion, or rather, at the figure standing in the center of the hall, hands clasped behind his back, eyes filled with interest as he surveyed the crowd.

Just then, Guangming stepped forward voluntarily.

"Pay respects to the Alliance Leader!"

The loud voice echoed in all directions; though no one knew Guangming, once someone took the lead, others responded, and the scattered cries quickly grew loud:

"Pay respects to the Alliance Leader!"

Seeing this, Lu Yang immediately swept with his divine sense; how many were merely pretending, and how many were sincere, all were now clearly visible to him.

However, Lu Yang did not care what opinion the people of the Xian Alliance held of him; in fact, the Holy Sect never managed its subordinate sects by caring about their opinions, since the Holy Sect's style was known to every household, and to make others accept it wholeheartedly was not hopeless, but at the very least impossible.

Moreover, having ruled the world for so long, the Xian Alliance naturally would not lack die-hard loyalists.

Therefore, long before gathering everyone, he had already carried out a great purge; after all, if you made me unhappy, then do not blame me for giving you a quick end.

Those who could stand before him now were those who had given up resistance.

This was the first step of the Holy Sect's control over subordinate powers: resort to force, first use absolute strength to confirm one's status and eliminate the heart of resistance.

Next came the second step: state one's attitude.

"This time the Xian Alliance has encountered a great change; the great cultivators have entrusted this seat to temporarily manage the Xian Alliance, but I have no actual experience, so I must ask everyone to cooperate greatly."

With one sentence, the tone was set.

Rest assured, I will not touch your power or status, nor will I meddle recklessly; the relevant interests that are yours today will still be yours tomorrow!

Upon hearing these words, the expressions of several Void Return cultivators immediately relaxed considerably.

Then the third step could be taken.

Any power inevitably contains factions; where there are factions, there are entangled interests; where there are no entangled interests, create entangled interests, then manufacture contradictions.

What Lu Yang had to do was, based on the interest demands of different factions, draw a big pie for each, then make the two pies conflict with each other; this way, to fight for interests, they would fight among themselves, and Lu Yang could act as the referee to mediate, naturally becoming the one in charge.

So after comforting everyone, Lu Yang successively received several Void Return cultivators.

He had many chips, since the Xian Alliance's resources in the past were mostly concentrated in the hands of the Harmony Dao great cultivators, but now they all belonged to him.

Just right to be used to draw pies.

As a result, in just three months, the cultivators who were already not united enough began to fight internally, competing to show themselves, wanting to gain Lu Yang's favor.

On this basis, it would be very difficult for them to refuse Lu Yang's requests.

Thus, in the third month after taking over the Xian Alliance, Lu Yang opened up the cultivation techniques.

He had already thought of the slogan:

"Equality for all, freedom to cultivate!"

Cultivation techniques in the Biyang Cultivation World required one to possess a spiritual root to practice, yet the techniques Lu Yang provided could be easily entered by anyone.

From now on, cultivators with spiritual roots and those without would become natural hostile factions, beginning to fight each other within the power; whether good or bad, whatever the opposing side proposed would be firmly opposed, and in all matters they would no longer look at pros and cons, but only at their own stance.

And to overpower the opposing side, they could only more firmly unite around Lu Yang.

This was the fourth step, and the final step.

Through the system, expand the conflicts of the upper levels to the entire power, causing it to fall completely into chaos, unable to achieve even the slightest development and progress.

Lu Yang called this the Four Steps of the First Saint.

Any power that the Holy Sect has tampered with using this set of methods cannot rise again; it will only become a complete subordinate of the Holy Sect.

Xian Alliance Headquarters, inside a quiet room.

Lu Yang concentrated and held his breath; as the Xian Alliance's rule over the Turbulent Sea was overturned and rebuilt, he finally extracted a hazy wisp of smoke from the Foundation Establishment realm.

"It's done!"

Although the smoke was hazy, it carried an unprecedented sense of heaviness, as if bearing the thoughts and emotions of hundreds of millions of people and the myriad beings.

This was Earth of the Fifth Element, the Lord of Life for All Things, the 【Zhi Wei】 of Cheng Tian Gang!

As Lu Yang overthrew the old system of the Xian Alliance, this invisible "Great Mountain" finally manifested as qi and obediently settled on his palm.

"Unbelievably smooth."

Lu Yang felt somewhat emotional; he had not been this smooth for a long time. With the Earth of the Fifth Element qi in hand, if he wished, he could now attempt to break through to the mid-stage!

However, the 【Yin Fire】 faced when breaking through to the mid-stage could not be underestimated.

Breaking through rashly carried too much risk.

For safety's sake, it was better to return to the Holy Sect first to ask True Person Chongguang, see if there were any methods to avoid the tribulation, and break through only after full preparation was safer.

"In that case, you are no longer useful."

Lu Yang took out the 【Three-Nine Soul-Dissolving Gourd】, shook it gently, and the twelve Harmony Dao great cultivators of the Xian Alliance were immediately shaken out, falling clumsily to the ground.

Then, before they could wake, Lu Yang directly summoned the 【A Bi Sword】.

Whoosh—whoosh—!

Sword light flashed, instantly beheading the twelve Harmony Dao great cultivators; although their true spirits had not scattered and, given time, they might perhaps emerge from the 【Imperial Mansion Golden Seal Doulu True Decree】, their flesh and true qi of the fake Foundation Establishment were completely drained by the 【A Bi Sword】.

The next second, Lu Yang revealed an expression of delight.

Twelve fake Foundation Establishments, though not comparable to true Foundation Establishment, had the same effect when used to refine the sword, causing the 【A Bi Sword】 to gain yet another wonder!

This brand-new wonder was named 【Treading Danger】.

However, what surprised Lu Yang was that this was not a wonder of slaughter, but a supportive wonder that allowed the sword-bearer to sense their own life-and-death crisis in advance.

"This overlaps with the Qiu Tian Yi."

Lu Yang frowned slightly; with the Qiu Tian Yi protecting him, whenever karma touched him, he would inevitably sense it, so the ability of 【Treading Danger】 was not needed.

As he pondered, Lu Yang casually activated the 【A Bi Sword】.

Yet the next second—

As the sword light of the 【A Bi Sword】 illuminated his entire body, the divine power of 【Treading Danger】 activated; Lu Yang felt his own spirit suddenly begin to elevate at that very moment.

Then he saw the top of his own head.

【Peril】!

A huge crimson character floated above his head, untouched by cause and effect, yet suspended high, making him feel an unprecedented sense of massive crisis.

"What is this!?"

Lu Yang had thought there was no dangerous cause and effect upon himself, yet the scene he now saw, borrowing the power of 【Treading Danger】, made his expression change drastically.

That's right; there was no fatal cause and effect upon him.

Because the crisis originated from Heaven and Earth!

The so-called cause and effect is merely the product of intertwined destinies between people. Only when humans unleash their killing intent does cause and effect arise; when Heaven unleashes its killing intent, how could it be perceived by people?

This was entirely different from the Heavenly Punishment that appeared when the Self-Destructing Skeleton Mountain's earth veins exploded.

Heavenly Punishment emphasizes retribution; it is Heaven and Earth declaring to all beings what actions are forbidden, thus its magnitude is immense, known to all, and predictable.

Yet the Heavenly Killing appearing at this moment did not have so many strange phenomena.

Heaven and Earth are unkind, treating the myriad creatures as straw dogs.

Just as a creature is eliminated from the food chain and becomes extinct forever, so too is Heaven and Earth's killing intent; it moistens things silently, and everything flows naturally to its conclusion.

Suddenly, Lu Yang felt something in his heart and looked up at the sky.

In a trance, he seemed to see a lamp light: golden cups emitting radiance, jade platforms spouting brilliance, illuminating the sun and moon yet not illuminating them, brightening Heaven and Earth yet not yet bright, suspended high above the dome.

【Overturning the Lamp Light】

"Daoist Hong Yun!?"

In an instant, Lu Yang finally attained enlightenment.

Surveying the current age, the only person capable of mobilizing 【Overturning the Lamp Light】 is Daoist Hong Yun, the reincarnation of a Jin Dan True Lord who once held this fruit position!

"At least it is a treasure of the fruit position... and it involves cause, effect, and destiny; otherwise, it would be impossible to catalyze such a Heaven and Earth killing intent specifically targeting me!"

Daoist Hong Yun wants to kill me!?

(End of this chapter)