Chapter 176: Playing Mind Games with My Holy Sect?

"You actually didn't run?"

Looking at Lu Yang standing with his hands behind his back, the Many Treasures Boy dispelled his escape light, his face turning iron-green as he subconsciously released his spiritual sense to scan the surroundings.

"Wrong... there's no ambush."

The Many Treasures Boy looked utterly confused.

To be fair, seeing that Lu Yang had no intention of fleeing whatsoever, he had thought he was being lured into a trap, only to find that was not the case.

On the other side, Lu Yang also frowned: "Why is it just you?"

Wasn't there also an Old Man Fishing for Dragons?

Did he not come together with you? Are you not allies?

Or could it be...

The next second, Lu Yang's brows relaxed; if the other party truly had connections with the Dao Court, they likely went south to the State of Qing to fetch reinforcements.

So, there are even bigger fish?

Thinking of this, Lu Yang's expression grew even calmer: "Truly a wild rogue cultivator, devoid of any morality; finishing a trade one moment, then coming to rob and kill the next."

These words instantly struck the Many Treasures Boy's heart-demon, making his expression exceedingly ugly: "You, a True Person of a Demonic Sect, dare to preach morality to me? Trading on the surface while robbing and killing from behind, taking countless rare treasures without paying a single coin—isn't that exactly what you Demonic Sect True Persons do?"

"You can still recognize me?"

Lu Yang deliberately frowned, then his expression turned solemn: "You certainly have guts; knowing clearly that I hail from the Holy Sect, you still dare to pursue and kill me?"

"It is precisely the Demonic Sect that I kill!"

Upon hearing this, the Many Treasures Boy suddenly let out a fierce shout, whereupon a round mirror materialized behind his head; its mirror light fell, revealing a streak of flying-message spiritual light.

"Hahaha!"

The next second, the Many Treasures Boy waved his hand, intercepting that flying-message spiritual light; a sweep of his spiritual sense followed, and he immediately burst into laughter: "So it was just a bluff!"

This flying message clearly contained a distress signal; in the Many Treasures Boy's view, this Demon Sect True Person was obviously feigning calmness to buy time while secretly calling for aid, never expecting his own superior techniques would intercept the distress message!

Thinking thus, all of the Many Treasures Boy's suspicions vanished.

"Don't even think about leaving today!"

As his voice fell, brilliant treasure light instantly ignited behind the Many Treasures Boy, gathering into a tide that surged like waves, transforming in an instant into a long river.

River of Myriad Treasures!

This river was formed entirely of converging treasure light, within which countless objects floated and sank: blades, spears, swords, halberds, pagodas, bells, tripods, and furnaces, seemingly endless.

Then, this long river swept downward; Lu Yang immediately felt an overwhelming force descend, and for a moment he could not control his form, stumbling as he fell into the river, whereupon the objects within the river flew at him one by one, striking his body.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The bombardment of numerous magic treasures struck Lu Yang, yet only produced a burst of brilliant sparks; Lu Yang remained motionless, like a reef beneath crashing waves.

"What a fine River of Myriad Treasures..."

Lu Yang's gaze was peculiar as he examined the hundreds of magic treasures within the river; these treasures were not chosen at random, each one meticulously crafted.

Taken individually, these magic treasures were nothing extraordinary.

However, they complemented one another, and when combined and activated with secret techniques, they could actually borrow the energy of the Heavenly Gangs and Earthly Fiends, manifesting supreme wonder!

Pity that this small workshop is still too conservative.

"River of Myriad Treasures; named for myriad treasures, it naturally requires ten thousand magic treasures to qualify as a river; a mere five hundred treasures can only be called a creek."

Of course, this was unavoidable.

After all, the Many Treasures Boy was merely the sect master of a small sect in Jiangbei; having five hundred magic treasures was already difficult, so asking for ten thousand was simply too much for him.

However, the Holy Sect was different!

The Holy Sect possessed a dedicated artifact-refining department brimming with talent, refining artifacts twenty-four hours a day without cease, fully capable of easily meeting the demands of a River of Myriad Treasures!

"Moreover, with only a few hundred pieces, the flaws are far too great."

Lu Yang shook his head, then took out his centipede-bee bag, pulling open its mouth; instantly, a black, dense swarm of Qi-Devouring Worms poured out from the bag.

Having always kept in mind the legends of the Qi-Devouring Worms mentioned by Patriarch Ting You, Lu Yang had never ceased cultivating them; now, released all at once by Lu Yang, over a hundred million Qi-Devouring Worms rushed forward like starving tigers, disregarding casualties as they threw themselves forward to gnaw at the treasure light emanating from the River of Myriad Treasures.

Witnessing this scene, the Many Treasures Boy's expression changed instantly.

"What kind of demonic worms are these?"

Although his River of Myriad Treasures could refine numerous magic treasures into a single superior spiritual treasure, its essence remained a combination of hundreds of individual magic treasures.

Therefore, flaws still existed between the treasures.

The Qi-Devouring Worms, penetrating everywhere, targeted these very flaws, burrowing in to gnaw at its treasure light; although the damage caused by a single worm was negligible...

Yet there were simply too many of them!

Thinking thus, the Many Treasures Boy quickly formed hand seals and chanted a spell, causing the River of Myriad Treasures to tremble violently; countless magical instruments clashed, their ringing sounds immediately triggering a wondrous effect.

Sound of the Treasure Chime!

Once this wonder activated, continuous chime sounds resonated throughout heaven and earth, clearly generated by the collision of the hundreds of magic treasures within the River of Myriad Treasures; carrying a strange resonant force, wherever it passed, the Qi-Devouring Worms could not control their own bodies and exploded from the inside out.

"Interesting..."

Seeing this, Lu Yang's face showed curiosity; under the感应 of his spiritual sense, he knew that besides the treasure's wonder, the opponent must have also employed an innate divine ability.

However, exactly what divine ability it was had been deliberately concealed by the Many Treasures Boy.

'Pity that this matter concerns the success or failure of True Person Master Chongguang seeking gold; True Person Qingcheng Qingcheng Feixue personally intervened to obscure the heavenly secrets, rendering even Foundation Establishment True Persons unable to calculate the karma...'

While pondering this in his heart, Lu Yang's actions did not slow in the least; he flicked his wide sleeve, and a purple-golden official seal hovered in midair—none other than the Imperial Purple Star Supreme Golden Seal, a magic treasure previously given to him by Ying Tongshou while overseas, which possessed miraculous effects in suppressing metal and iron objects.

"Stabilize!"

Lu Yang formed a seal and pointed; the Imperial Purple Star Supreme Golden Seal crashed down with a roar, pressing directly onto the surging River of Myriad Treasures like Mount Taishan falling from the sky.

The next second, the River of Myriad Treasures suddenly froze stiff.

Since most magic treasures are refined from metal and iron, they were suppressed miserably by the Imperial Purple Star Supreme Golden Seal; the moment the seal fell, their wondrous effects vanished!

Witnessing this scene, the Many Treasures Boy narrowed his eyes slightly: "Demonic Sect..."

There was greed in his eyes, and also hatred, but soon he revealed a look of joy; looking up at the sky, he burst into laughter: "Hahaha! Your time of death has arrived!"

As his voice fell, several more streaks of escape light tore through the sky!

When the escape lights landed, Old Man Fishing for Dragons, True Person Wuxing, and others stepped out; there were fully six Foundation Establishment True Persons, among whom two were at the Mid Stage of Foundation Establishment!

Adding the Many Treasures Boy, that made three at the Mid Stage of Foundation Establishment!

In an instant, vast qi mechanisms locked the void, pinning Lu Yang firmly in place to ensure he had nowhere to escape, unable even to flee into the Foundation Establishment realm.

"Fellow Daoist Many Treasures, you have indeed achieved great merit in this endeavor."

True Person Wuxing laughed heartily, and the Many Treasures Boy also looked completely relaxed; even the most cautious among the other True Persons, Old Man Fishing for Dragons, could not help but breathe a sigh of relief.

After all, no matter how one looked at it, victory was already assured.

Seven Foundation Establishment True Persons, three at mid-stage and four at early-stage, constituted nearly half of the Foundation Establishment combat power of the State of Qing, surrounding and killing a single True Person of the Holy Sect.

Even though True Persons of the Holy Sect were famously powerful in combat.

The combat ratio was seven to one; the advantage was ours!

However, just when everyone felt the situation was settled, Lu Yang suddenly smiled: "Indeed, Fellow Daoist Many Treasures, you have truly achieved great merit!"

Hearing this, the Many Treasures Boy was instantly stunned: "What?"

Before his voice had even faded, a far vaster qi mechanism suddenly erupted from outside the encirclement formed by the seven Foundation Establishment True Persons, turning the tables and surrounding them instead!

"Ah!"

The next second, among the four early-stage True Persons, the ancestral elder of the Zhaoxia clan, Xia Weiming, suddenly let out a miserable scream as a giant hand ruthlessly pierced through his chest!

Xia Weiming's reaction could not be said to be slow; his dharma-body instantly disintegrated into a sky full of flowing light that rapidly reassembled beside True Person Wuxing, yet even so, his expression remained terrified to the extreme, for that single strike had not only pierced his dharma-body but also shattered his Dao Foundation!

This had nearly crippled ninety percent of his combat power; indeed, he had almost died!

"... uite good at running."

In the crowd, True Person Yinshan's expression was gloomy, his tone revealing not the slightest emotional fluctuation as he merely shook his hand: "Never mind, injuring one severely is enough."

On the other side, Lu Yang laughed loudly: "Why did Senior Brother arrive so late?"

Only then did True Person Yinshan tug at the corner of his mouth, revealing a smile: "It took a little time to gather people, but this time we have truly hooked a school of big fish."

As his voice fell, figures stepped out from the perimeter surrounding the seven Foundation Establishment True Persons of the State of Qing; their qi mechanisms erupted, revealing themselves to be the Foundation Establishment True Persons who had just departed after the trading assembly, including not only Hanxiang at the Mid Stage of Foundation Establishment but also a valiant woman clad in armor and wielding weapons.

From the very beginning, Lu Yang and True Person Yinshan had realized there was a problem.

Or rather, they merely suspected there was a problem; however, acting in the characteristic style of Holy Sect True Persons, they naturally shot the arrow first and drew the target afterward, taking precautions before any trouble arose.

Thus, while Lu Yang served as bait, True Person Yinshan secretly gathered the various cultivators of Jiangbei to lie in ambush, waiting for the fish to take the hook!

"A bunch of rodents from Jiangdong, daring to play mind games with my Holy Sect?"

"Overestimating your own strength!"

Witnessing this scene, True Person Wuxing's face instantly turned deathly pale; recalling Lu Yang's earlier words, he suddenly spun around and glared viciously at the Many Treasures Boy:

"You betrayed me!?"

(End of Chapter)