Chapter 24: Self-Detonation!

The former Liu Xin was merely an ordinary disciple commonly seen throughout the Chusheng Sect, living a beast-of-burden life of completing missions, cultivating, and repaying loans every day.

Until a chance encounter completely changed his fate.

It started with a bounty mission issued by a true disciple; he wished to explore an ancient cave dwelling and happened to need a few cannon fodder scouts among his subordinates.

Unaware of the background, Liu Xin was lured by the mission's rewards and joined the exploration team; by the time he realized he was actually cannon fodder, it was too late, and he was forced by the true disciple to enter the cave dwelling, yet he discovered that all the restrictions inside were inexplicably ineffective against him.

He proceeded smoothly without obstruction to claim the fortune.

It was a golden box containing the "Primordial Dao Book" and the Primordial One Qi Myriad Souls Banner, alongside a letter left behind by the former master of the cave dwelling.

In the letter, the cave dwelling's master called himself the "Primordial Scattered Person."

The Dao book and magic treasure in the box were left for a fated person; he had calculated that this fated individual was a true disciple of the Holy Sect with the character "Xin" in their name.

However, he refused to accept this.

The Primordial Scattered Person cursed the shamelessness of the Chusheng Sect in the letter, claiming fate where there was none and forcibly binding his inheritance's karma to a Holy Sect true disciple.

Thus, he deliberately confused the karma and bestowed the inheritance upon Liu Xin instead.

Furthermore, the letter stated that Liu Xin would face a life-and-death tribulation after obtaining the magic treasure, so he also left behind a means to break the situation within the cave dwelling.

In the original karma, the false "Xin" was not the true "Xin," which was why Liu Xin was destined to serve as another's cannon fodder, acting as a gift-delivering boy; however, under the deliberate arrangement of the Primordial Scattered Person, the result was that Liu Xin obtained the fortune, even usurping the position and killing that true disciple in return.

It was a heart-stopping night.

By sunrise, only Liu Xin walked out of the Primordial Scattered Person's cave dwelling, transformed completely, while that Holy Sect true disciple vanished without a trace.

However, Liu Xin had not completely killed the other party.

Instead, with the help of the backup plan left by the Primordial Scattered Person, he refined that Holy Sect true disciple while he was still alive, turning him into the strongest banner spirit in his possession.

Seeing the banner flag fluttering, a figure in black robes emerged with garments billowing, yet he did not look at Lu Yang immediately, but instead gazed around with a look of nostalgia.

"The weak are prey to the strong, disciples slaughtering each other; the Holy Sect is indeed still the familiar Holy Sect."

"Senior Brother, I hope you have been well?" Liu Xin cupped his hands in greeting.

"A useless fellow encountering another difficult enemy to deal with?" The figure in black robes sneered disdainfully: "Giving you the Primordial Dao Book was truly a waste."

"I cannot compare to Senior Brother."

Liu Xin did not get angry, remaining respectful and polite: "This person is a sword cultivator who has also cultivated the Heavenly Demon Blood-Transforming Divine Light; Junior Brother is indeed no match for him."

"Heavenly Demon Blood-Transforming Divine Light?" Upon hearing this, the figure in black robes paused in surprise, his expression becoming slightly more solemn, before shaking his head: "To be able to cultivate that divine ability shows he is quite a character, pity he directed his efforts in the wrong direction, performing futile labor in vain. According to our agreement, this is already the third time I have intervened."

"Senior Brother sees clearly."

Liu Xin nodded: "After this matter is settled, I will release Senior Brother to reincarnate; with your merit and foundation, I believe you will surely re-enter the path of cultivation in your next life."

"Good."

Only then did the figure in black robes turn around to face Lu Yang.

Witnessing this scene, Lu Yang and Xiao Shiye showed no reaction, but Fairy Qingchen widened her eyes, staring fixedly at the figure in black robes.

She was by no means a newly entered disciple.

At first, she only felt the figure in black robes looked somewhat familiar, but when he truly unleashed his qi mechanism, she suddenly woke up and recognized him.

"It's Chen Chen Xinan, Senior Brother Chen!?"

The son of the Peak Master of Senior Butian Peak, one of the four inner sect peaks! The missing true disciple!

When Chen Chen Xinan went missing years ago, the Senior Butian Peak Master flew into a rage, personally attempting to deduce the karma but finding nothing, causing quite a huge uproar.

Who would have thought he was actually in Senior Brother Liu's hands?

For a moment, Fairy Qingchen's expression changed slightly as if she thought of something, then subconsciously stepped back several paces, intending to distance herself from Liu Xin.

Puchi!

The blade entered and exited; Fairy Qingchen's pretty face was blank, her gaze dull as she watched the hand buried in her lower abdomen, before her head tilted to the side and she lost all breath.

She was dead again.

"Pity, since you saw it, I cannot leave you alive."

With Fairy Qingchen's death, the surrounding array immediately shook, but as Liu Xin activated the Myriad Souls Banner, her corpse instantly fell into the banner flag.

In less than a moment, an intact Fairy Qingchen walked out from the banner, having unexpectedly become a banner spirit.

Although becoming a banner spirit imposed many more restrictions than in life, she could still host the array, and she quickly stabilized the shaking formation.

At the same time, the true disciple in black robes, Chen Chen Xinan, arrived before Lu Yang.

"Hmm?"

Looking at Chen Chen Xinan, Lu Yang's gaze immediately condensed; the other's cultivation base was not high, only at the Seventh Layer of Qi Condensation like himself, yet the feeling he gave off was different.

Chen Chen Xinan also glanced at Lu Yang and shook his head: "The Yin-Yang Great Joy Assignment is a dual cultivation technique that emphasizes controlling three thousand women, yet your true qi is impure and messy; clearly, it was not obtained through dual cultivation. Originally, the Fifth Grade Yin-Yang Dragon Tiger Qi would have been reduced to at most Sixth Grade in your hands."

This critique made the alarm bells ring loudly in Lu Yang's heart.

"May I ask who you are?"

"My name is Chen Chen Xinan; I am acting against my will in this matter, but if you can escape and bring news of me back to Senior Butian Peak, my father will surely reward you heavily at that time."

Before his voice had even faded, Chen Chen Xinan struck!

He raised his hand and pressed down; his qi mechanism instantly merged with heaven and earth, surging true qi howled forth, actually mobilizing the surrounding heaven and earth spiritual energy to respond in kind!

At this moment, Lu Yang's pupils contracted sharply.

It was not because of the strength Chen Chen Xinan displayed, but because as Chen Chen Xinan made his move, Lu Yang clearly felt the incompleteness and flaws in his own true qi.

In an instant, Lu Yang understood.

"My Dragon-Tiger Copulation Yin-Yang Great Joy Assignment is not the limit; Senior Butian Peak possesses a superior technique! This person must be a true disciple of Senior Butian Peak!"

Lu Yang's guess was very correct.

As the son of the Senior Butian Peak Master, the technique Chen Chen Xinan cultivated was named the "Senior Butian True Scripture," an upgraded version of the Dragon-Tiger Copulation Yin-Yang Great Joy Assignment.

Ordinary dual cultivation involves cultivating with a person, emphasizing the union of yin and yang.

However, the dual cultivation of the "Senior Butian True Scripture" involves cultivating with heaven and earth, emphasizing copulation with the universe, and the Senior Butian true qi refined through this is ranked Third Grade.

Therefore, when Chen Chen Xinan slapped down, even without using any divine abilities, the profound foundation of his Third Grade true qi was sufficient to make it difficult for Lu Yang to cope.

Seeing this, Liu Xin immediately revealed a confident smile.

After all, no one knew Chen Chen Xinan's strength better than he did; in his view, even if Lu Yang were ten times more powerful, he could not possibly be a match for Chen Chen Xinan.

"We will win!"

Liu Xin decisively made his judgment, failing to notice that Xiao Shiye in the distance was currently measuring him with a gloomy expression, as if pondering something.

With Xiao Shiye's intelligence, he could naturally see that the situation was unfavorable for him.

"Originally I did not want to use this, but you forced me..."

Xiao Shiye knew clearly that his own strength was the weakest, relying entirely on his collection of magic treasures to maintain appearances, but now it seemed that relying solely on magic treasures would not suffice.

Thinking thus, Xiao Shiye immediately took a deep breath, then opened his storage bag; instantly, surging spiritual energy and treasure light erupted from the bag's opening, drawing Liu Xin's attention, while even Chen Chen Xinan and Lu Yang, who were still engaged in fierce combat, stopped their actions and cast their gazes over.

Immediately after, a small pagoda flew out from Xiao Shiye's storage bag.

The small pagoda appeared to be cast from gold, divided into nine layers, with a trace of spiritual light manifesting at its peak in a shape resembling a human figure, its brows and eyes full of vitality.

"This is... a spirit treasure!?"

The instant they saw this scene, before the inexperienced Lu Yang could speak, both Liu Xin and Chen Chen Xinan cried out in shock, their faces revealing looks of horror.

When cultivators refine vessels and the vessel generates treasure light, it is a magic treasure; when treasure generates spiritual wisdom, only then is it a spirit treasure!

Magic treasures are divided into lower, middle, and upper grades, possessing endless wonderful uses, yet no matter how powerful a magic treasure is, it requires an owner to drive it to unleash its power.

But spirit treasures are different.

A spirit treasure possesses its own consciousness; even without a master, it can unleash power, and more importantly, a spirit treasure can cultivate on its own, constantly growing stronger!

The next second, Xiao Shiye formed a hand seal with a pinch of his fingers, and the spirit treasure small pagoda immediately began to expand.

"Bastard!"

Chen Chen Xinan was the first to curse loudly, having completely lost his earlier composure, because he realized that Xiao Shiye actually intended to make that spirit treasure self-detonate!

On the other side, Liu Xin nearly spat blood.

Such a treasure that seizes the creation of heaven and earth is generally only possessed by Foundation Establishment True Persons; that you, Xiao Shiye, have one is one thing, but to actually take it out and self-detonate it?

It is simply squandering heavenly treasures!

What was even more outrageous was that the spirit treasure small pagoda showed absolutely no intention of resisting, instead actively cooperating, its speed so fast that he simply had no time to stop it.

"Boom!"

The next second, exploding firelight engulfed everything.

(End of Chapter)