Chapter 263: This Time I Really Want to Be a Good Person!

The ideal is beautiful, but reality is harsh; cultivating the 【Qian Tian Zong She Wan Xiang Fa Shen】 is far more difficult than ordinary Dao arts.

"The key lies in gathering Qi."

"After all, only by perfecting the technique can one form the Dharma Body, and to push the technique to perfection, the amount of Heaven-World Qi required is probably unimaginable."

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

Because the higher your cultivation, the more hostile the Heaven-World becomes toward you, and the more Qi you need, making it easier for the Heaven-World to target and kill you.

Just as Lu Yang was pondering, he suddenly felt as if his heart had sensed something; he looked up toward the distance and saw an army of commoners approaching him. Over a dozen banners fluttered in the wind, and magnificent blood Qi from the soldiers rose as red light piercing the sky.

In an instant, the sky blazed bright!

Blood Qi churned the heavens, and every person had a corresponding Fate Star; now linked together, they had clearly formed a brilliant map of ten thousand stars and images!

"Oh?"

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

'This is... suppression of status!'

Originally, as a Foundation Establishment cultivator, unless it was a formation like the Dao Court that falsely held Foundation Establishment, an army would be meaningless before him.

However, things were different now; after the opposing army formed their formation and linked the stars in the sky, the effect was utterly different from the Dao Court's status elevation—it did not elevate but lowered, forcibly knocking down part of his status, even causing the escape light around him to be cut by nearly half.

'What a powerful technique!'

Lu Yang was amazed in his heart, unaware that the general of the opposing army, seeing Lu Yang face the 'thousand soldiers' yet still manifest magic power, was even more shocked.

"How is this possible!"

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

He was the 【Di Fu Star】.

It is rumored that there are one hundred and eight Demon Stars in the world, the pinnacle of Fate Stars; those blessed by a Demon Star must possess divine abilities far surpassing ordinary martial artists.

Wu Changkong was just such a case; as the 【Di Fu Star】, he was born with golden eyes, a leopard head and ringed eyes, possessed innate divine strength, and cultivated Wu Gong at a rate of a thousand li a day. At this moment, his blood Qi was the strongest in the army; combined with the blessing of his Fate Star, ordinary soldiers would even be injured just by looking directly at him.

Yet now, he wore an expression of terror.

The reason he had hurriedly gathered the army to kill over here was because he discovered the rift in the "Heavenly Dao Revelation" was within Tianzhu Mountain, under his jurisdiction.

If he could take the lead and kill the opponent, he could advance further!

Therefore, upon seeing Lu Yang, he almost without a second word urged the great army forward, thinking it would be an easy catch, but he never expected Lu Yang to be so powerful.

However, soon, he showed a look of confusion.

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

Even more absurd was the level of that Fate Star.

"【Villager】?"

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

The opponent's strength clearly reached the level of 'Sweeping the Thousand Armies'; one step further would be 'Ten Thousand Men Unstoppable,' and even among the Demon Stars, that would be a strong one!

Yet, the Fate Star was actually 【Villager】?

Despite this, Wu Changkong did not doubt Lu Yang's identity; after all, in his common sense, if one had a Fate Star, they certainly were not an Otherworldly Demon.

Thinking of this, Wu Changkong hurried forward, clasped his hands, and said, "Esteemed Immortal, this was a misunderstanding before. We came here to seek the Otherworldly Demon. Since the Immortal arrived first, you must have already seen the Otherworldly Demon? I wonder where it fled, so we may set out to pursue and exterminate it."

Hearing this, Lu Yang blinked, then showed a look of realization:

"I fought a great battle with that Otherworldly Demon, and she fled in that direction." Lu Yang pointed without hesitation toward the direction where the True Person Miao Yin had departed.

"Thank you, Esteemed Immortal!"

Wu Changkong clasped his hands again, then turned and gave orders. The army obeyed without question and swiftly pursued in the direction where the True Person Miao Yin had departed.

Lu Yang watched his back.

"Interesting..."

He had begun to understand the system of the 【Wan Wu Jie】; this Heaven-World actually had no so-called cultivators; strictly speaking, they were all commoners.

The only difference was the Fate Star.

"This Fate Star is like another form of status, blessing commoners, yet not increasing lifespan, and even its external manifestation falls far short of Foundation Establishment standards."

However, it possessed a very disgusting ability: suppression. When the number of Fate Stars was sufficient and linked into a formation, the stars shone brilliantly, capable of suppressing the radiance of other Fate Stars; its power was so strong that even a True Person of Foundation Establishment, originally high above, could be knocked down to the mortal dust because of it!

"Higher 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, thus forming a subtle balance."

Despite this, there were exceptions.

"To form suppression through a formation, the minimum requirement is 【Wu Zu】; if it is merely 【Villager】, they cannot even form a formation."

In other words, 【Villager】 is mere straw.

Their only value is farming every day to feed the 【Wu Zu】 and those with higher Fate Stars; they are the most lowly, yet simultaneously the most numerous.

A harsh pyramid structure.

However, Lu Yang saw places to exploit within it; after all, it was a Heaven-World with only one fruit seat; the rules were harsh but not yet mature.

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

"The greatest flaw is that the gap based on Fate Stars is not absolute; at least the gap between 【Villager】 and 【Wu Zu】 is not a difference between heaven and earth."

After pondering for a moment, Lu Yang swept with his divine sense and quickly saw a group of refugees fleeing in the distance; he then cast a spell, raised a streak of escape light, and flew away.

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

When people are starving, they do not speak.

They even lack the strength to complain, or rather, they have grown accustomed to it; compared to complaining, everyone cared more about how to survive the next few days.

After all, after leaving the village, everyone lost their fields and could not hunt in the mountains; even if they had a little leftover grain, they dared not eat it, only enduring, enduring for a day or two before cautiously eating a little, or simply eating some tree bark to fill their stomachs; anyway, this was the divine ability inherent to 【Villager】.

The big man and the youth were naturally among them; because the big man was a 【Wu Zu】, even after retiring, he was far more well-off than ordinary 【Villager】, so 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-gurgle"

His stomach let out a dull rumble; the boy's face turned red as he clutched his belly—he had just finished training and needed abundant nourishment.

But the big man had no extra food left.

"Bear with it," the big man whispered. "The affairs of Tianzhu Mountain are beyond our concern. The beast tide is coming; staying in the village means certain death."

"Once we reach the city, I'll think of a way."

"Master."

At that moment, a pale hand suddenly reached out, palm up, holding two white sugar beans, accompanied by a soft voice:

"Want to live?"

The big man and the boy stared in shock, looking up to see a handsome young Daoist Priest whose appearance instantly inspired goodwill.

But the big man quickly grew wary: "Who are you?"

"You don't need to know my name."

Lu Yang shook his head, then smiled: "You're hungry, aren't you? Eat these to fill your stomach—they'll make you stop feeling hungry."

Only then did the big man notice that everyone around had already received sugar beans from Lu Yang; after all, not everyone had extra food, and since the 【villagers】 would eat anything as long as it filled their bellies, they didn't care about taboos—they snatched the sugar beans and gobbled them down.

Then something strange happened.

"I can eat dirt now?"

"Grass is edible too!"

"It's so delicious!"

Everyone who had eaten the sugar beans began eating dirt, or grass, or tree bark—but none of them looked hungry anymore.

Previously, eating dirt, grass, or bark only filled the stomach; though it gave a sensation of fullness, it was merely an illusion. But now, the villagers' appearances showed they had become vigorous and strong—their bodies visibly grew more muscular right before their eyes!

The big man grew even more terrified: "W-what kind of demonic art is this?"

"This isn't demonic art," Lu Yang shook his head, revealing his destiny star—the large 【villager】 instantly drew astonished glances from all.

"We are all 【villagers】—there's no difference."

As he spoke, Lu Yang grinned: "Come with me. I'll take you to eat your fill, to build a world where no one ever goes hungry again."

This time, he truly meant to be a good man!

(End of Chapter)