Chapter 229: This Time I Truly Intend to Be a Good Person!

Ideals may be beautiful, but reality is stark; the cultivation difficulty of the 【Heavenly Qian Totalizing Myriad Phenomena Dharma Body】 is far greater than that of ordinary Daoist methods.

"The key lies in Qi Absorption."

"After all, only when the cultivation method reaches great completion can one form the Dharma Body, and to push the method to such completion, the amount of Realm-Heaven Qi required is likely unimaginably vast."

Generally, the higher one's cultivation base, the harder it is to absorb Qi.

Because the higher your cultivation base, the more severe the Realm-Heaven's malice toward you becomes; moreover, the more Qi you need, the easier it is for the Realm-Heaven to target and kill you.

Just as Lu Yang was pondering, he suddenly felt a sensation in his heart, looked up toward the distance, and saw a mortal-looking army marching toward him; over a dozen banners fluttered in the wind, while magnificent blood and qi from the soldiers transformed into red light that pierced the sky.

In an instant, the dome of heaven brightened!

Blood and qi filled the sky, stirring celestial phenomena; every person has a corresponding Fate Star, and now, linked together, they remarkably formed a brilliant map of myriad stars and phenomena!

"Oh?"

Seeing this scene, Lu Yang immediately narrowed his eyes, for the moment the opposing side formed their formation, he instantly felt a powerful suppression.

'This is... suppression of status!'

Originally, as a Foundation Establishment cultivator, unless facing something like the Dao Court using formations to falsely mimic Foundation Establishment, an army would be utterly meaningless before him.

However, things were different now; after that opposing army formed their formation and linked with the myriad stars above, the effect was completely different from the Dao Court's status enhancement—it was not an increase but a decrease, forcibly knocking down part of his status, even causing the escape light surrounding his body to diminish by nearly half out of thin air.

'What a formidable method!'

Lu Yang was astonished in his heart, unaware that the general of the opposing army, seeing Lu Yang still manifesting magic power while facing 'a thousand troops,' was even more shocked.

"How is this possible!"

The army's general was named Wu Changkong, the city lord of Kaihuang City, the only city nearby, and also the person with the most prosperous Fate Star within hundreds of li.

He was the 【Earth Subduing Star】.

Rumor had it that there were altogether one hundred and eight Demonic Stars in the world, the pinnacle among Fate Stars; those blessed by Demonic Stars inevitably possessed supernatural abilities, far surpassing ordinary martial artists.

Wu Changkong was exactly such a person; as the 【Earth Subduing Star】, he was born with golden pupils, a leopard-like head and ringed eyes, possessing divine strength by nature, and his cultivation of martial arts progressed by leaps and bounds; at this moment, his blood and qi were the most vigorous in the army, and combined with the blessing of his Fate Star, ordinary soldiers would be injured merely by looking directly at him.

Yet at this moment, his face was filled with terror.

The reason he had hastily gathered his army to rush over was that he discovered the rift mentioned in the "Heavenly Dao Revelation" lay within Tianzhu Mountain in his jurisdiction.

As long as he seized the initiative and killed the other party, he could advance further!

Therefore, upon seeing Lu Yang, he almost without a second word urged his great army forward, expecting an easy capture, but never anticipated Lu Yang would be so powerful.

However, very soon, a look of confusion appeared on his face again.

Wu Changkong stared straight at Lu Yang; he had originally thought the other party was a Heavenly Demon recorded in ancient texts, but now he actually sensed a Fate Star emanating from him.

Even more absurd was the tier of that Fate Star.

"【Villager】?"

For a moment, Wu Changkong felt it was utterly preposterous.

The other party's strength had clearly reached the level of 'Sweeping Away a Thousand Armies,' and one more step would be 'Unstoppable by Ten Thousand Men'; even among Demonic Stars, he would be considered a strong expert!

With such power, his Fate Star was actually 【Villager】?

Despite this, Wu Changkong did not doubt Lu Yang's identity, after all, in his common knowledge, if one possessed a Fate Star, they certainly could not be an Extra-Realm Heavenly Demon.

Thinking thus, Wu Changkong hurried forward, cupped his fists, and said, "This Immortal Elder, earlier was a misunderstanding; we came here to search for an Extra-Realm Heavenly Demon. Since Immortal Elder arrived first, you must have already seen the Extra-Realm Heavenly Demon? I wonder where it fled, so we may devise a plan to pursue and exterminate it."

Hearing this, Lu Yang blinked, then showed an expression of sudden realization:

"I fought a battle with that Extra-Realm Heavenly Demon; she fled in that direction." Without hesitation, Lu Yang pointed his finger toward the direction True Person Miaoyin had departed.

"Thank you, Immortal Elder!"

Wu Changkong cupped his fists once more, then turned and issued orders; the army moved with strict discipline, swiftly chasing and killing in the direction True Person Miaoyin had left.

Lu Yang, meanwhile, watched his retreating figure.

"Interesting..."

He was beginning to understand the system of the 【Ten Thousand Martial Arts Realm】; this Realm-Heaven actually had no so-called cultivators; strictly speaking, everyone was a mortal.

The only difference lay in the Fate Stars.

"This Fate Star is like another form of status, blessing mortals yet not increasing their lifespan, and externally, their manifestation falls far short of Foundation Establishment standards."

However, it possessed a very annoying ability: suppression; when the number of Fate Stars was sufficient and linked into a formation, the myriad stars would shine brilliantly, capable of suppressing the radiance of other Fate Stars, with such formidable power that even a Foundation Establishment True Person, originally high above, could potentially fall to the mortal realm because of it!

"Higher-tier Fate Stars suppress those of lower status."

"However, when a sufficient number of lower-status Fate Stars gather together, they can also obscure the radiance of higher-status Fate Stars, thereby forming a subtle balance."

That said, there were exceptions.

"To form suppression through arraying, the minimum requirement is 【Martial Soldier】; if they are merely 【Villagers】, forming an array is impossible."

In other words, 【Villagers】 were like grass and mustard seeds.

Their sole value was farming daily to feed 【Martial Soldiers】 and those with higher-tier Fate Stars; they were the most lowly, yet simultaneously the most numerous.

It could be described as an extremely strict pyramid structure.

However, Lu Yang saw opportunities for exploitation within it; after all, this was a Realm-Heaven with only one Fruit Position, so although the rules were strict, they were not yet mature.

At least in his view, there were loopholes to exploit.

"The biggest flaw is that the gap based on Fate Stars is not absolute; at least the difference between 【Villager】 and 【Martial Soldier】 is not as vast as heaven and earth."

After pondering for a moment, Lu Yang swept out his spiritual sense, quickly spotted a group of refugees in the distance, then cast a spell, mounted an escape light, and sped away.

Those currently fleeing were naturally the villagers of Luo Family Village; the long line of people made not a sound, everyone walking in silence.

When people are desperate with hunger, they do not speak.

They lacked even the strength to complain, or perhaps they had grown accustomed to it; rather than complaining, everyone cared more about how to survive the next few days.

After all, after leaving the village, everyone had lost their fields and could no longer hunt in the mountains; even if they had a little leftover grain, they dared not eat it, so they could only endure, waiting one or two days before cautiously eating a little, or simply eating tree bark to fill their stomachs; anyway, this was a supernatural trait inherent to 【Villagers】.

The burly man and the youth were naturally among them; because the burly man was a 【Martial Soldier】, even after retiring from service, he was much better off than ordinary 【Villagers】, thus he could still spare a few pieces of dried food for the youth beside him; the youth was also sensible; although still hungry, he dared not finish it in one bite.

"Gurgle..."

His stomach emitted a somewhat muffled sound; the youth's face immediately turned red as he clutched his belly; after all, he had just finished practicing martial arts and urgently needed substantial nutritional supplementation.

Alas, the burly man had no leftover food either.

"Endure it," the burly man whispered. "The matter of Tianzhu Mountain is not something we can interfere with; with the beast tide approaching, staying in the village is a path to death."

"Once we enter the city, I will think of another way."

"Master..."

Just then, a fair hand suddenly reached out, two white sugar beans resting in its palm, accompanied by a soft call:

"Do you want to live?"

The burly man and the youth looked up in astonishment, seeing a young Daoist Priest of handsome appearance, one glance at whom inevitably aroused feelings of goodwill.

However, the burly man quickly became vigilant: "Who are you?"

"You do not need to know my name."

Lu Yang shook his head, then smiled and said, "Are you not hungry? Use these to fill your stomachs; after eating them, you will no longer feel hungry."

Only then did the burly man realize that everyone around had already been given "sugar beans" by Lu Yang; after all, not everyone had leftover food, and since 【Villagers】 could eat anything, as long as it filled the stomach, no one bothered with taboos, grabbing the sugar beans and devouring them ravenously.

Then, something miraculous happened.

"I can eat dirt?"

"Grass is edible too!"

"So fragrant!"

Those who had eaten the sugar beans began eating dirt, grass, or tree bark, yet none retained their previous starving appearance.

Originally, eating tree bark, grass, or dirt merely filled the stomach; although it gave the sensation of being full, it was actually an illusion; however, looking at the villagers' condition now, after eating, each one became spirited and vigorous, their bodies visibly growing sturdy at a speed visible to the naked eye!

The burly man grew increasingly terrified: "Th-this, what kind of demonic art is this?"

"This is not a demonic art." Lu Yang shook his head, revealing his own Fate Star; the large characters 【Villager】 immediately drew surprised gazes from the crowd.

"We are all 【Villagers】; there is no difference."

As his voice fell, Lu Yang grinned: "Come with me; I will take you to eat your fill, to create a world where no one ever has to go hungry again."

This time, he truly intended to be a good person!

(End of Chapter)