Chapter 251

Above the sky, within the nearly collapsed 【Dongyang Fudi】, Master Chongguang stood with his hands behind his back, gazing unwillingly and reluctantly at the star in the heavens.

【Fu Fu Deng Huo】.

Even now, this position still shone for him, yet he was powerless to unite with it, forced to watch helplessly as it gradually dimmed.

Lowering his head, Master Chongguang looked at his four innate spiritual abilities, only to see that the previously reversed Yang Earth 【Yinlongshui】 now once again emitted faint threads of Yin energy—irremovable—and it was this final trace of Yin that caused his second attempt to fail at the last moment.

"A single step apart, a thousand miles' difference—no wonder he is a True Lord of the Sacred Sect!"

That True Lord who reversed 【Chen Earth】 had long since completed every step; his planning ran deep, spanning at least several millennia, his foundations unimaginable.

"Compared to him, I merely acted on a sudden impulse."

Thinking of this, Master Chongguang's eyes once again flickered with resentment—yes, merely a sudden impulse. If he had prepared in advance, the outcome might not have been this way!

"I have now reversed the majority of the world's 【Chen Earth】 elemental affinities. To achieve this proves the mysterious True Lord's foundation is still unstable—he may have begun reversing 【Chen Earth】 thousands of years ago, but truly completing the reversal, transforming Yang Earth into Yin Earth, took no more than a hundred years!"

If only he could return a hundred years ago, the situation would surely be vastly different!

After all, even this hasty, impromptu act had brought him perilously close to success.

Using the relic of the position to pry open 【Fu Fu Deng Huo】, reversing all 【Chen Earth】 back to Yang affinity, he had nearly succeeded—except for one thing.

The original 【Chen Yin Earth】.

The mysterious True Lord's initial reversal of Yin-Yang in 【Chen Earth】 was the foundation for reversing all 【Chen Earth】 in the world, yet Master Chongguang could not locate his position.

And so he lost because of this.

At the final moment, that mysterious True Lord used the 【Chen Yin Earth】 to influence Master Chongguang's 【Yinlongshui】, causing him to fail at the very brink.

With this thought, Master Chongguang glanced again at the world below: "Where have you hidden the last 【Chen Earth】, the original 【Chen Yin Earth】?"

At this moment, he viewed the world from the perspective of a True Lord—nothing in the mortal realm or Foundation Establishment should escape his sight, yet he simply could not find the other's presence; every 【Chen Earth】 he saw had turned Yang, not a trace of Yin remained.

"Could it be…"

Instantly, Master Chongguang's gaze shifted slightly—he seemed to have realized something, his eyes brightening for an instant, then dimming again: "Useless. It is still a dead end."

But soon, Master Chongguang rallied his spirit once more.

He performed a quick calculation, turned his head, and saw that the layered spiritual fortune and merit, once hanging behind his head as a symbol of his innate immortal lineage, had vanished.

"Still not quite used to it."

Master Chongguang smiled, calculated the result: "At this rate, after death I'll likely spend one hundred and forty-seven lifetimes as pigs and dogs before I can be reborn as a human again."

Yet despite this, there was no trace of bitterness on Master Chongguang's face—his lips even carried a faint self-mocking smile: "An innate immortal reduced to reincarnating as pigs and dogs—I'm probably the only one in history. The good news is pigs and dogs die quickly; one hundred and forty-seven lifetimes… isn't actually that long."

In other words, this was his end.

Even as a Foundation Establishment peak, he had long since refined his Metal essence—yet now it was useless.

Because Jin Dan True Lords and Foundation Establishment peaks are different: the True Lord's Metal essence has already sunk deep into the soul, indistinguishable from self, which is why they suffer no womb's mystery.

But the Metal essence of a Foundation Establishment peak remains external; during reincarnation, it is stripped away, so even a Foundation Establishment peak is limited to five lifetimes.

Moreover, his Metal essence had already been entirely consumed during the promotion of the Fudi.

To survive, he would need a True Lord willing to protect his reincarnation with their Metal essence—but his Dao was already sealed, and to a True Lord, he now held no value.

After all, 【Fu Fu Deng Huo】 had been severed; no one could bear witness.

Under these circumstances, even Qingcheng Feixue True Person, who had always supported him, would not care for him—this is the Sacred Sect. The Sacred Sect never speaks of sentiment.

". Very well."

Master Chongguang quickly composed himself: "Reincarnation will cleanse my soul; when I am reborn as a human again, the traces of my Dao should be washed clean enough."

Then, he could seek another path.

"Thinking of it this way, it's not entirely a bad thing."

Even then, the consciousness of "Master Chongguang" would likely vanish, replaced by an entirely new life, a new awareness.

But so what?

Master Chongguang smiled calmly: "If I attain true fruition, my original self and my reincarnated selves are ultimately still me. If I fail to attain true fruition, my original self and my reincarnated selves are ultimately no different."

"Enough… I'll go now, and return soon."

As his words faded, Master Chongguang's figure dissolved beneath the final glimmer of 【Fu Fu Deng Huo】, like a dream, a bubble, shattering into a thousand hues of rainbow mist.

Yet just before his dissolution, driven by a desire for revenge against the mysterious True Lord who had blocked his path, Master Chongguang managed to project a fragment of his divine awareness.

Watching the fading 【Fu Fu Deng Huo】 in the air, and the collapsing, disintegrating 【Dongyang Fudi】 merging into the heavens, Lu Yang could not help but sigh.

Recalling all Master Chongguang had endured along his path, he couldn't help but curse inwardly:

". Son of a bitch!"

What kind of hellish place is this? Proving Jin Dan is impossibly hard—every step is a trap, one misstep and you end up like Master Chongguang, doomed beyond redemption.

Thinking of this, Lu Yang's heart filled with sorrow—if he himself had reached Foundation Establishment peak, spent countless years gathering the required Cheng Cheng Tian Gang and Earth Sha, refining his innate spiritual abilities, only to believe he could ascend to Jin Dan and claim his position, only to discover the Cheng Cheng Tian Gang and Earth Sha were flawed, and his Dao could not be altered—

'…Oh right, I can restart?'

Then it's fine!

With this thought, Lu Yang quickly calmed himself, regaining his composure: Dao is irreversible? Not in my case! As long as I want to walk it, the path lies beneath my feet!

Yet just then, Lu Yang suddenly froze.

The next moment, he pulled out 【Wuxing Jian】, the superior spiritual sword whose raw material was precisely the immortal body of Master Chongguang—a thread of Xin Metal energy.

And now, that thread of Xin Metal energy glowed faintly.

'Is this… Master Chongguang's final message?'

Lu Yang blinked, about to probe it with his divine awareness, when a faintly hoarse, cold voice suddenly sounded beside his ear: "What did Master Chongguang tell you?"

Lu Yang's expression stiffened—he only then turned around, belatedly realizing.

Behind him stood a palace-draped woman, her body drenched in blood, her robes torn—yet her posture and movements remained exquisitely dignified, utterly devoid of madness, as if she were about to attend a banquet.

—Qingcheng Feixue True Person!

"Disciple pays homage to True Person!"

Immediately after, he handed over the 【Formless Sword】.

"Disciple has not yet had time to check Senior Uncle Chongguang's message; I beg Your True Lord to examine it clearly."

"Chongguang... what a pity."

Hearing this, True Lord Feixue shook his head, glanced casually at the 【Formless Sword】, and sighed, "The information is of no use; it no longer concerns the grand situation."

"Had it been a hundred years earlier, there might still have been room for reversal."

Oh?

Hearing this, Lu Yang's heart stirred slightly; a hundred years ago, was that not exactly his first anchor point, when he had just entered the Holy Sect as a talent not long ago?

While recording this key piece of information, Lu Yang glanced at the 【Formless Sword】.

Perhaps because time was short, the message Chongguang left through the 【Formless Sword】 was very simple, consisting of only four characters, truly concise and to the point:

"It is in the 【Netherworld】."

(End of this chapter)