Chapter 179: What Are You Doing?

Until this very moment, Lu Yang had not given up.

Facing 【Senior Wu Cang】, who strode out of the rift and reached out to grab him, Lu Yang's thoughts instead became incomparably calm in an instant.

'Not a True Lord!'

'If a True Lord killed me, there would be no way for me to escape. But this is related to a True Lord, yet it is not Daoist Hong Yun. Is it the killing intent of Heaven and Earth that spawned to kill me?'

'What is its origin?'

While pondering, the Myriad Spirits Banner had already appeared before Lu Yang. Su Nu, Chen Xinan, and even numerous banner spirits all manifested at this moment.

"Explode!"

The next second, under Lu Yang's control, all the banner spirits, including the two at Foundation Establishment, exploded with a tremendous boom! The shockwaves of the shattered Dao Foundation even caused the Foundation Establishment realm to tremble, making 【Senior Wu Cang】's figure waver slightly and his movements come to an abrupt halt, buying Lu Yang a precious chance for survival.

Almost simultaneously, the light of the 【Qixia Robe】 on his body blazed forth.

This spiritual treasure, bestowed upon him by True Person Chongguang, now served as the final barrier, blocking the fingertips 【Senior Wu Cang】 had reached out with.

Riiip!

The next second, Lu Yang vanished from the spot for the third time, while in 【Senior Wu Cang】's hand was a 【Qixia Robe】 torn to shreds.

However, at this moment, 【Senior Wu Cang】's face was filled with surprise.

"It is actually the Myriad Spirits Banner?"

He saw him frown deeply, reach out to pluck the residual smoke left after a banner spirit's self-destruction, sense it carefully, and then reveal a look of confusion and puzzlement.

"It is indeed the Myriad Spirits Banner, but it seems not to be the innate one. It lacks the innate karmic connection... What is going on? Could it be that the Innate One passed down the method to refine the Myriad Spirits Banner? Impossible. That fellow always thought the Myriad Spirits Banner was too vicious; how could he allow it to spread?"

For a moment, 【Senior Wu Cang】's curiosity surged greatly.

"Slippery little junior, I want to see how many more times you can escape!"

Thinking thus, 【Senior Wu Cang】 immediately cast a spell again to pull on the karmic threads on Guang Ming, following the karmic affinity between him and Lu Yang to pursue.

At this moment, 【Senior Wu Cang】 focused all his attention on Lu Yang.

Therefore, he did not notice that Guang Ming in his hand had, at some unknown time, quietly opened his eyes, revealing a pair of eyes overflowing with Buddha-light and filled with compassion.

"Ancestral Master, what is that thing?"

After fleeing far away once more, Lu Yang activated the Myriad Spirits Banner and summoned the only banner spirit he had not exploded: the long-silent Ancestral Master Ting You.

Although Ancestral Master Ting You's strength was now less than one ten-thousandth, not even reaching Foundation Establishment, his former cultivation at the peak of Foundation Establishment still held great value, and his knowledge was far beyond what Lu Yang could match. He could not see through 【Senior Wu Cang】's current background, but Ancestral Master Ting You might not be unable to see it.

In fact, this was indeed the case.

"That is a Dao Sin."

Ancestral Master Ting You spoke directly without the slightest hesitation: "When a cultivator fails to seek Gold and cannot withstand the Dao's transformation, they turn into a body of Dao Sin after death."

Upon hearing this, Lu Yang immediately understood.

'Dao Sin... It is the Innate True Person!'

Lu Yang instantly recalled the jade tablet that Lin Lao, a Great Cultivator who had merged with the Dao, had given him previously.

【Die seeking Gold, die without regret; transform body into Dao Sin, leave legacy for descendants; hold my banner, enter my Gold-Seeking Land, refine it, and one can prove the True Qi of a First-Rank Mahayana!】

'In other words, the current 【Senior Wu Cang】 has been possessed by the Dao Sin formed from the Innate True Person's failure to seek Gold?'

'But why does it want to kill me?'

'Pity. The killing intent of Heaven and Earth has no cause or effect; I can deduce nothing. But this must be Daoist Hong Yun's doing. At worst, I will investigate in the next life...'

Yes, Lu Yang had already begun thinking about his next life.

There was no way. 【Senior Wu Cang】's strength had completely exceeded his capacity to deal with it; only a Great True Person at the peak of Foundation Establishment could fight it.

This gap could no longer be bridged by human effort.

So Lu Yang's thoughts at this moment had shifted from escaping with his life to probing 【Senior Wu Cang】's origins and motives as much as possible, preparing for the next life.

The next second, the void cracked open.

【Senior Wu Cang】 stepped out from it. This time, Lu Yang had no method of protection left; he could only watch helplessly as he came before him and extended a single finger.

'A hundred lives...'

Lu Yang murmured in his heart, about to self-destruct and start anew.

However, just then, in a flash of lightning, the gears of time seemed to suddenly fall into stagnation, and Heaven and Earth at this moment turned into a portrait.

All sounds fell silent.

Immediately, melodious chanting broke this silence. Grand and solemn Buddha-light flowed out from Guang Ming in 【Senior Wu Cang】's hand.

Within the Buddha-light, temples stood in rows, meditation forests emerged, finally outlining a vast, boundless, indescribable pure land. At the very front of this pure land stood the 【Arhat Fu Long Temple】, and before the temple stood a woman in white robes holding a jade vase.

"Benefactor Lu, it has been a long time."

Her clear and pleasant voice was like a spring from a mountain stream falling down, washing over his whole body, clearing Lu Yang's thoughts, yet his expression became even more grave.

"... So it is a Bodhisattva appearing in person."

Lu Yang bowed deeply, for the woman in white before him was none other than the True Lord of the Pure Land who had appeared in the Battle for the Dao: 【Bodhisattva Vase Water Moon】!

'Guang Ming indeed had a problem!'

While bowing, Lu Yang did not forget to curse inwardly.

First a Dao Sin, then a True Lord. A group of shameless old things ambushing a young man like me. Where are the True Lords of the Holy Sect? Where are my teammates? Come and save me!

"Benefactor misunderstands."

Before the 【Arhat Fu Long Temple】, the woman in white smiled slightly, her expression compassionate: "This body is merely a manifestation of the original body, temporarily appearing through Guang Ming's form."

"The reward body of the original body still resides within the Pure Land and has not moved. Otherwise, the True Lords of the Mo Sect would certainly have noticed. Therefore, I can only delay matters slightly for the benefactor, but I am powerless to truly save the benefactor. Under the current killing intent of Heaven and Earth, if the benefactor wishes to survive, there is only one way: to save oneself."

Hearing this, Lu Yang frowned: "Save myself?"

"Indeed." The woman in white's expression became even more sincere: "The Mo Sect has no Dao, but our Pure Land is willing to open wide the doors of convenience, giving the benefactor a path to seek life."

"The 【Arhat Fu Long Temple】 is right here."

"As long as the benefactor is willing to merge their own Dao Foundation into the Arhat Fu Long Temple, they can immediately replace Guang Ming. I am willing to personally shave the benefactor's head and bestow a Arhat's Dharma name."

Inviting me into the Pure Land!?

In an instant, Lu Yang finally understood the origin of his karmic connection with Guangming—it was a scheme by the Pure Land to draw him into their ranks!

No, it wasn't just that.

'If my guess is correct, this calamity found me so easily because the Pure Land helped—it was meant to force me into a certain death.'

'Only then could they compel me to join the Pure Land.'

This is an open stratagem!

Refuse to join the Pure Land, and you die!

At this moment, Lu Yang fell silent. If it had been the Dao Court or the Sword Pavilion inviting him, he might have accepted—just to probe the depths of these factions.

But the Pure Land was different.

Because the Pure Land's cultivation method was 'Brahma-Atman Unity,' transforming oneself into one 'self' of the Pure Land World Honored One—a change rooted in consciousness.

And Lu Yang did not know whether the 【Hundred Lifetimes Book】 could erase this kind of conscious transformation! If it couldn't, and this influence carried over to his next life, it would be truly over—even a one-in-ten-thousand risk was not worth taking, so Lu Yang had never once considered joining the Pure Land.

'Huh'

Thinking of this, Lu Yang immediately exhaled a foul breath, activating a minor divine art he hadn't used in ages; his lips parted slightly, and he uttered a single word: 'Kill.'

The Killing Spell!

Self-destruction!

The next instant, under the bewildered, confused gaze of the white-robed woman, Lu Yang's dharma body exploded into ruin, leaving only a single thought drifting in the void of stillness.

'【Hundred Lifetimes Book】!'

Instantly, the 【Hundred Lifetimes Book】 activated; all scenes blurred—the white clouds, the blue sky, the sea, even the figure of 【Senior Wu Cang】 faded away one by one.

Until this erasing force reached the white-robed woman.

But what happened next completely exceeded Lu Yang's expectations, sending his previously calm mind into a violent storm.

The white-robed woman, who had just begun to dim, suddenly lifted her head.

Her eyes glowed with Buddhist light, yet radiated thoughts utterly unlike the earlier compassion—this was a domineering, supreme arrogance: 'In heaven and earth, only I am supreme.'

'. Hm?'

A soft murmur echoed within what should have been the 【Hundred Lifetimes Book】's exclusive domain—faint, yet crystal-clear, drifting softly through the void.

Lu Yang froze in place.

Then he heard a fragmented, astonished voice:

'You… are… doing… what?'

Before the words had fully ended, the 【Hundred Lifetimes Book】 turned to a brand-new page.

The white-robed woman's voice cut off; her figure, and even those eyes brimming with Buddhist light—clearly belonging to another—were utterly erased from existence.

Heaven and earth fell silent.

Everything began anew.

(End of Chapter)