Chapter 25: Hong Yun's Shock

The exploding treasure light was like a towering wave, instantly tearing apart the array set up by Immortal Qingchen, then submerging Lu Yang, Liu Xin, and Chen Chen Xinan.

Liu Xin was the first to scream in agony; to deal with Lu Yang, he had successively summoned the banner spirit, and finally summoning Chen Chen Xinan had consumed more than half of his true qi, leaving him utterly powerless to resist the blast's impact; his body ignited in an instant, then turned to ash, while the Myriad Souls Banner in his hand fell limply through the air.

"Truly worthy of being a disciple of our Holy Sect."

With Liu Xin dead, although Chen Chen Xinan still had some strength left to sustain himself, he could no longer maintain his existence; he could only let out a long sigh before scattering with the wind.

As for Lu Yang, he was directly swallowed by the treasure light, vanishing without a trace.

Only after quite some time did the boiling treasure light gradually subside, revealing Xiao Shiye's figure, his face brimming with intense ecstasy.

"I have won!"

Xiao Shiye laughed excitedly; after all, although self-detonating a magic treasure was his trump card, using it came with many restrictions and made it very easy for opponents to dodge.

To use this move to kill an enemy, one first needed to restrict the battlefield to ensure a hit.

Secondly, the explosion's power could not be concentrated; its range was vast but too dispersed, so the enemy had to be worn down to a certain extent to guarantee a single strike would finish them.

Finally, the magic treasure possessed its own consciousness and might refuse to cooperate with the self-detonation.

"Fortunately, luck is still on my side!"

Xiao Shiye felt that ever since joining the Chusheng Sect, he seemed to have turned his fortune around; whatever he wanted, he got, and everything he did seemed aided by the gods.

When speculating on Substitute Death Yin Puppets, his luck was so good that he sold at the peak, earning hundreds of thousands of contribution points in pure profit.

A casual trip to the mortal realm resulted in him easily picking up a magic treasure left behind by predecessors.

When pursued, he happened to encounter Lu Yang, who served as a perfect shield.

No matter what kind of crisis he encountered, the result was always a narrow escape; through a series of coincidences, he would ultimately emerge unscathed while reaping the greatest benefits.

"What a fine Myriad Souls Banner; from now on, it belongs to me."

Just as Xiao Shiye was about to step forward to claim the treasure, almost simultaneously, a figure wreathed in blood light appeared beside him, likewise reaching out to grab the banner.

Seeing this scene, Xiao Shiye instantly froze, then began to tremble all over.

"What, does Brother Xiao also want this magic treasure?"

The blood shadow rippled, then slowly manifested Lu Yang's face; turning around, he grinned at Xiao Shiye, startling him so badly that his tiger-like body shook violently.

Are you human or ghost?

Xiao Shiye's face turned deathly pale; looking at the Transforming Blood Divine Light swirling around Lu Yang, the figures of those previously sucked dry by him flashed rapidly through his mind.

The next second, he hurriedly released his grip on the Myriad Souls Banner and bowed respectfully.

"Congratulations, Senior Brother; this is the Myriad Souls Banner your junior brother was keeping for you; now the object returns to its owner!"

"You are thoughtful."

Lu Yang smiled as he accepted the "Primordial One Qi Myriad Souls Banner," examined it for a moment, then injected magic power into it, pouring out two storage bags from within.

These were the storage bags of Liu Xin and Immortal Qingchen.

Opening the storage bags, a copy of the "Primordial Dao Book" came into view; besides that, there was also a copy of the "Secret Explanation of Array Treasures," evidently belonging to Immortal Qingchen.

"All good treasures..."

Lu Yang sighed with emotion, firmly committing the contents of the two Dao books to memory, then looked at Xiao Shiye, who was stepping backward step by step, trying to create distance between them.

Fairly speaking, Xiao Shiye's killing move was indeed unexpected.

A magic treasure self-detonation could potentially kill even someone at the Great Perfection of Qi Condensation; theoretically, this was an inescapable kill, yet Lu Yang happened to be the exception among exceptions.

This was because he cultivated the Heavenly Demon Transforming Blood Divine Light.

Transformed into a blood shadow, he now possessed only an empty human form; he had shape but no substance, his true spirit completely anchored in the sword pill; as long as the sword pill remained undestroyed, he would not die.

Faced with Xiao Shiye's magic treasure self-detonation, the sword pill forged from Golden Essence and Jade Marrow was far more sturdy than a mere flesh-and-blood body; although not completely unscathed, he ultimately did not vanish into ash, so once the explosion passed, Lu Yang reformed his shape, reaping the greatest benefit.

Thinking of this, Lu Yang found Xiao Shiye exceedingly pleasing to the eye.

He had indeed not misjudged people before; this Xiao Shiye was truly a talent! Without him, how could Lu Yang have obtained such abundant gains?

"This time, I truly must thank Junior Brother Xiao."

"To express my gratitude, this senior brother will now send you on your way."

Lu Yang chuckled softly, then waved his large hand; a streak of blood light fell upon Xiao Shiye, and before he could utter a word, he was sucked dry into a human husk.

Keeping this person alive posed too great a risk.

With such high luck, what if he gained momentum later and returned to take revenge? It was better to end it all at once; cutting the weeds and digging up the roots was more convenient.

"But did he really die just like that?" Lu Yang looked at Xiao Shiye's corpse, touching his chin with some surprise: "With luck like that of a Son of Heaven, shouldn't a benefactor have appeared at this moment to stop me? I even made preparations for such a scenario, yet it was this easy..."

Thinking of this, Lu Yang's heart suddenly stirred, and he cast the Gazing at Qi Technique at Xiao Shiye once more.

A bizarre scene unfolded.

Previously, when he looked at Xiao Shiye, the man's treasure light had soared to the heavens, truly blessed with great fortune; but now, looking again, he saw all the treasure light had vanished into thin air.

Witnessing this scene, a thought arose in Lu Yang's mind for no apparent reason:

This person's fortune has been exhausted.

"Sigh..."

The next second, a sigh suddenly rang out.

Lu Yang raised his head, gazing at the sky, his expression freezing at the very instant shock was about to surface; all his thoughts and notions were frozen in that刹那.

At some unknown point, a human figure had appeared before Xiao Shiye's corpse.

That person wore a crane-feather cloak, a smile playing on his lips, gently waving a feather fan; he looked dashing and romantic, appearing at first glance to be merely a handsome scholar out for a spring outing.

Yet with his appearance, the entire world seemed to lose its color; only the place where he stood became the center of all things, gathering all the blessings, wealth, and even luck between heaven and earth; he was the favorite of the Lord of Heaven, making people involuntarily feel jealousy and resentment.

"Only this much gain?"

The newcomer reached out with a beckoning gesture; the "Primordial Dao Book" and the Primordial One Qi Myriad Souls Banner, which Lu Yang had just stored away, flew out of the storage bag and landed in his hand.

Just then, a voice abruptly transmitted: "Hong Yun, you have exited seclusion?"

The Daoist named "Hong Yun" raised his head upon hearing this, seemingly making eye contact with someone, and smiled lightly: "There was no choice; who asked the person I chose to suddenly die?"

The voice sounded somewhat surprised upon hearing this: "Died? Your person can actually die? What happened?"

"It is laughable to say, but it was due to ill fortune."

"I gave him so much fortune, intending for him to fish for that colored fish in the Merit Pool, but there were too many variables, causing his fortune to be exhausted prematurely."

"Once fortune is exhausted, death naturally arrives at one's doorstep."

Having said this, Daoist Hong Yun weighed the "Primordial Dao Book" in his hand, shook his head, casually stored it away, and then looked at Lu Yang standing nearby.

"However, this person is somewhat interesting..."

Daoist Hong Yun calculated with his fingers, the smile on his lips growing wider: "This person carries such great variables; the recent turmoil regarding the Substitute Death Yin Puppets seems to be related to him."

"Hmm, his background is clean and无误; but why would a mortal possess a cultivation base at the Fourth Layer of Qi Condensation upon entering the sect? Deliberately hiding it, it seems he is a rogue cultivator who learned arts from a master; that is fine... wait, no, he learned the Divine Thunder Controlling Sword True Art before entering the sect? Could he be a spy from the Yushu Sword Pavilion?"

The more Daoist Hong Yun calculated, the greater his interest became.

Except for the Book of Hundred Lives, all of Lu Yang's secrets were deduced by Daoist Hong Yun through karmic ties, revealed strand by strand like peeling a cocoon, until finally, he frowned slightly:

"... ultivated the Heavenly Demon Transforming Blood Divine Light?"

The next second, the interest in Daoist Hong Yun's eyes rapidly dissipated, replaced by an expression of "bad luck."

Transforming one's body into a blood shadow meant the path of immortality was cut off; such a cultivator was naturally not worth his further effort, nor did he qualify to be the next "Son of Heaven."

"What a pity about that colored fish in the Merit Pool; since it wasn't caught this time, it seems we can only wait for the next opportunity."

Daoist Hong Yun withdrew his gaze, then took a step forward; like an angler who had used up his bait and had to leave empty-handed, he soon vanished without a trace.

Only Lu Yang remained standing in place.

Sweat poured down like rain.

(End of Chapter)