Chapter 240: Restoration of Light (Fourth Update!)

"Jiangxi and Jiangdong, they are too oppressive!"

Amidst a myriad of splendors, Zhong Ming cursed in anger while holding a green jade token in his hand, furiously circulating his magic power to raise a dazzling, radiant light.

This treasure is named "Life-Extending Jade"; holding it close to the heart year-round can prolong life and ward off the Bi wind, and when used in magical combat, it can neutralize lethal divine arts, having been specially bestowed by Master Chongguang to protect him and preserve his life; now suspended in the air, it actually managed to withstand the siege of three Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Even so, Zhong Ming's expression remained grim.

After all, he had been locked in a struggle with his pursuers for nearly half a double-hour; although he was not injured, escape was difficult, and prolonged fighting would likely lead to an uncertain fate.

On the other side, his pursuers were not in a hurry.

"Daoist Zhong Ming, why resist stubbornly?"

The three were each wearing official robes, carrying swords and axes, with a beam of splendor atop their heads, within which countless talismans were drawn to form the titles of their divine arts.

【Dutian Bureau Commander of a Thousand】!

The three were clearly cultivators of the Dao Court; the Dutian Bureau is directly under the Son of Heaven, and a Commander of a Thousand holds the fifth rank, which in the outside world equates to a True Person of the early Foundation Establishment stage.

And at this moment, with their positions equal and divine arts enhancing them to form a Three Talents Array, they summoned boundless brilliance, their vast magic power locking down the spiritual energy of heaven and earth like a towering Great Mountain pressing down on Zhong Ming; had it not been for the several superior spiritual treasures on his person, he would have been beheaded long ago.

However, the more Zhong Ming resisted, the more excited the three pursuers became.

"Daoist Zhong Ming, we do not wish to make things difficult for you; if you throw out the many treasures on your person, we might be willing to spare your life."

"Nonsense!"

Hearing this, Zhong Ming immediately sneered; sacrificing wealth to save one's life? At this moment, to sacrifice wealth would truly mean losing one's life, so he turned a deaf ear to these words.

"Hahaha, do you think anyone is coming to save you?"

The leading Dao Court Commander of a Thousand laughed loudly upon seeing this: "I am not afraid to tell you that right now, in the Holy Sect, there are likely some who wish for your death!"

"Do you really take us for fools?"

"Descendants of True Persons of the Holy Sect, nine out of ten have problems! As the son of Master Chongguang, you likely have a contingency left behind by Master Chongguang on your person!"

"If you were allowed to pass, it might truly allow True Person Chongguang to recover his strength, so our sole objective upon entering this Blessed Land is you! As for the Holy Sect... if Master Chongguang dies and the position becomes vacant, those waiting to take his place may not want to see you rescue Master Chongguang!"

"Like that someone? Duanmu Yuan Tu? Hahaha!"

"You!"

Zhong Ming had not cared about the earlier words of surrender, but this analysis made him grit his teeth, for it indeed struck at his inner hidden worry.

Would father really do such a thing?

In his memory, his father, who was proud and ambitious, determined to become the first True Lord since the Great Calamity, was absolutely not the type to possess a child's body.

When the Master of the Heaven-Mending Peak used his children as materials and was ultimately outmaneuvered by Lu Yang, struck dead by heavenly thunder, True Person Chongguang had once disdainfully mocked him; therefore, Zhong Ming found it hard to believe he would now do the same thing, but it was undeniable that this indeed caused a shadow to rise in his heart.

"There is a flaw!"

Seeing Zhong Ming's mind waver, one of the Commanders of a Thousand's eyes brightened slightly, and then a bronze gong appeared in his hand; channeling his magic power, he struck it heavily.

"Dang—!"

In an instant, deafening sound waves exploded, crashing directly into Zhong Ming's mind, shaking his soul and scattering eight-tenths of his treasure light.

'It's over!'

In his dazed state, Zhong Ming felt a chill in his heart and quickly bit down on a pill, preparing to withstand the opponent's next fierce attack, but when he came to his senses, he found that the three Dao Court Commanders of a Thousand surrounding him had not only not advanced but had stopped their actions with stiff expressions.

'What is happening?'

Zhong Ming stood there in a daze, following the gaze of the three Dao Court Commanders of a Thousand to look behind him, and in an instant, he was almost terrified out of his wits.

Behind him, someone had appeared without him knowing when.

The newcomer wore a black cloak, a sword hung at his waist, a gentle smile was on his face, and in his hand he held a huge head with residual splendor of divine arts.

"Hmm?"

Looking at the head in Lu Yang's hand, the remaining two Dao Court Commanders of a Thousand only then belatedly realized that the Commander who had just spoken arrogantly had already become a corpse.

When? How was it done!

Several True Persons of the early Foundation Establishment stage naturally could not understand the mystery of 【Star-Hiding Radiance】; at this moment, a hundred li around had already been firmly covered by Lu Yang's divine art.

【Star-Hiding Radiance】 can obscure karma and hide form and appearance; under the coverage of the divine art, what they could see and what they could not see were all under Lu Yang's control, so even though he had just beheaded a Dao Court Commander of a Thousand in front of everyone, the other two knew nothing about it.

"... True Person!"

Only then did Zhong Ming react, nearly weeping with joy, so much so that he instinctively shouted out the title he had used on the Battlefield of Seizing the Dao in the past.

The next second, the splendor collapsed and scattered.

The two Dao Court Commanders of a Thousand did not hesitate for a moment, turning to flee, after all, who did not know Lu Yang's prowess now? He had even slaughtered his way through the 【State of Qing】!

And if one truly discussed official positions within the Dao Court system, these Commanders of a Thousand were not even as high as the Prince of Qing; Lu Yang had killed the Prince of Qing with a single sword strike, so killing them would be even less of a burden; even if there were only two of them left, or even twenty, fighting them would likely be finished with a single sword strike!

In an instant, two beams of escape light were seen scattering and fleeing.

Then they were grabbed back by Lu Yang's 【Determine Closeness and Distance】, and with two swishes of an invisible sword, two more heads that refused to close their eyes fell to the ground.

"True Person..."

Looking at the three heads, then seeing Lu Yang turn around, pressing his A-Bi Sword, and smiling at him, Zhong Ming's expression gradually stiffened.

"Call me Senior Brother."

Lu Yang grinned and said softly, "What True Person or not, Senior Uncle Chongguang's grace to me is as heavy as a Great Mountain, and you are the only son of Senior Uncle Chongguang; calling me True Person makes us feel distant, and Senior Uncle Chongguang was quite good to you, leaving you so many treasures after all?"

As Lu Yang spoke, he began to scrutinize Zhong Ming.

He saw him wearing a magical robe, with a talisman seal and jade pendant tied at his waist, a string of magical beads hanging around his neck, and a treasure bracelet on his hand; the brilliance of his entire body was worth a divine art!

"Replying to the True Person, you misunderstood..."

Zhong Ming said cautiously, "These were discovered by me within the Blessed Land; they seem to be the storage vaults of my father in the Blessed Land, and as a result, they all benefited me."

After speaking, he quickly added, "If the True Person desires anything, I am willing to offer it."

"Senior Uncle Chongguang's vault?"

Hearing this, Lu Yang raised his eyebrows slightly, then calculated with his fingers and smiled: "I see now, Junior Brother, you are mistaken; those were left by me in the Blessed Land, and I simply forgot to retrieve them earlier."

"How can Junior Brother offer my treasures to me?"

"Huh?"

Lü Yang's utterly shameless remark left Chongming frozen on the spot, and once he came back to his senses, his handsome face turned the color of pork liver.

But before he could reply, Lü Yang had already cast 【Distinguishing Kin from Stranger】 on him. In the next instant, the treasured light and spirit artifacts that had cloaked his whole body were stripped clean by Lü Yang, leaving only a single set of inner garment treasure — its grade too low for Lü Yang to bother with, so he deliberately left it on him.

"Rustle, rustle."

At this moment, though he had long since been of Foundation Establishment, standing aloof from worldly things, a gust of wind now blew through and made Chongming feel, for the first time in ages, a touch of chill.

'Beast, you beast!!!'

Lü Yang had actually stripped him bare!

But in the next instant, his figure stiffened in place, because after stripping him bare, Lü Yang had not only failed to stop — he was staring at him with a fixed gaze.

A hint of killing intent surfaced in his eyes!

'Whether or not this man is a contingency left behind by Master Chongguang, since he's fallen into my hands, I'll just cut him down and spare myself trouble later!'

"Clang, clang—!"

The Invisible Sword was drawn in a flash.

But at that very instant, a breeze suddenly blew over, and along with it, a deep sigh that had merged into the wind drifted faintly into Lü Yang's ear:

"Yuan Tu. Why must you do this?"

The voice came from every direction, as if the very heavens and earth were speaking to him.

In a flash, Lü Yang's gaze sharpened slightly, and at the same time, without a flicker of expression, he withdrew the Invisible Sword that had been resting against Chongming's neck — one step short of beheading him:

"Uncle-Master has misunderstood. I was merely joking with Junior Brother Chongming just now."

A familiar voice, a familiar tone.

It was unmistakably Master Chongguang!

(End of chapter)