Chapter 266: The Deal with Master Chongguang

Inside a pavilion at Cangjian Mountain Villa.

Lu Yang sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion, his body radiating brilliant light that ultimately reflected onto him, transforming into streaks of magnificent golden patterns branded into his flesh and skin.

Innate Divine Ability, 【Stubborn Metal Duke】!

This ability was not obtained by him refining the Heavenly Gang and Earth Sha, but rather a divine ability borrowed in advance through the Dharma-holding power of 【Li Jie Bo】, deducing the path ahead.

"【Shen Metal】 is stubborn and blunt metal; it requires fire refinement to become swords and halberds. This qi resides in the Earth Sha position and, like 【Geng Metal】, belongs to the Yang attribute of metal. Its light is extremely sharp and difficult to break. Once used to bolster the Dharma body, it cannot be damaged by knives, axes, or lightning strikes; hence it is called 【Stubborn Metal Duke】."

Boom!

The next second, as the innate divine ability took effect, Lu Yang's qi mechanism surged violently, forcibly breaking the shackles of the Early Stage of Foundation Establishment and plunging straight into the Mid Stage of Foundation Establishment!

"Finally, some achievement."

Lu Yang opened his eyes and nodded with satisfaction. After three years, his Immortal Spirit Origin Body had finally reached full completion in the early stage, and his Dharma-holding capability could now rival the Mid Stage of Foundation Establishment.

Looking back, these past three years were truly inhuman.

'After emerging from Gantang Dao, I immediately self-destructed my clone, buried all the Geng Metal spiritual items I had scavenged, and didn't even dare to take them, fearing they would implicate my origin body...'

Lu Yang was always decisive; he directly abandoned all gains from the Ganhai Li family, instead spending three years re-collecting Geng Metal spiritual items. Only recently did he complete the final step of nurturing his Immortal Spirit Origin Body in the Early Stage of Foundation Establishment, while also confirming something that greatly relieved him:

'That 【Ang Xiao】 is likely not free either.'

If his deduction was correct, there was an eighty percent chance he could not leave the Nether Prefecture!

'In the previous life, the reason he could run around like a ghost was mostly because he had refined the karmic sin formed after Senior Master Chongguang failed in his quest for gold.'

Just like Lu Yang now, having a clone meant one could naturally act as a proxy to travel the world.

However, at this point in time, he clearly did not yet possess such methods, so his perception of the present world was limited; at the very least, he was absolutely not omniscient or omnipotent.

Otherwise, why would True Person Qingcheng Qingcheng Feixue from the previous life dare to wrestle with him?

Besides True Person Qingcheng Qingcheng Feixue being truly audacious and possessing extraordinary strength, another factor was that 【Ang Xiao】 was severely restricted within the Nether Prefecture.

Beyond that, there was another matter that exceeded Lu Yang's expectations.

That was the Jiangnan Ten Thousand People Pit.

'When I was in the Holy Sect, less than a month after my restart, the Sword Pavilion had already attacked and occupied the Jiangnan Ten Thousand People Pit, causing the price of Substitute Death Yin Puppets to skyrocket.'

'However, in this life, perhaps due to the letter I sent earlier to remind Senior Master Chongguang, the Holy Sect strengthened its defenses at the Jiangnan Ten Thousand People Pit. Consequently, the Sword Pavilion delayed taking action for a long time, and seemingly had other considerations as well; as a result, a full three years dragged on, and surprisingly, no fighting broke out at all.'

This was also a good thing.

After all, if the fighting had started too early, it would have been difficult for him to get a share of the spoils. Now that he had recovered to the Mid Stage of Foundation Establishment, he arguably possessed some qualification to participate.

Thinking of this, Lu Yang finally took out a Flying Message Spirit Book.

This was a pair with the Flying Message Spirit Book he had sent to the Holy Sect; the two sensed each other, allowing direct communication by writing upon them.

'Over the past three years, Senior Master Chongguang has attempted to contact me more than once.'

'It seems he is very curious about me.'

Lu Yang did not reply immediately; instead, he waited three years. On one hand, it was naturally because his cultivation was not yet complete, but on the other, it was actually a deliberate attempt to keep the other party in suspense.

What is easily obtained will not be cherished.

Only by playing hard to get can one seize the initiative.

That said, Lu Yang did not immediately activate the Spirit Book in his hand. Instead, with a thought, he locked his spiritual sense onto a mortal city thousands of li away.

Then, within the city, he casually found a Qi Refining rogue cultivator.

Immediately after, he delivered the Spirit Book into the rogue cultivator's hands and activated 【Marionette】 to directly control him, thereby creating a layer of karmic firewall.

'Although Senior Master Chongguang is considered to have a relatively high moral standard within the Holy Sect, that is only relative. Moreover, he has a True Person backing him! Who knows if he was just waiting for me; once I made contact, True Person Qingcheng Feixue would immediately tear through the sky, grab me, and refine me on the spot...'

In this regard, Lu Yang had to admit that 【Marionette】 was truly useful.

However, it was not because of its 【Hypnosis】 effect, as this effect was essentially just bullying the weak, only usable by higher realms against lower realms.

The key lay in severing karmic ties.

No one could trace the karmic ties of 【Marionette】 back to Lu Yang, the puppeteer; this was the reason he could successfully hide behind the scenes.

Otherwise, when he saw 【Ang Xiao】 three years ago, he would have been forced to restart.

'It really pays to have a cheat!'

Lu Yang sighed with emotion, then, through the firewall of 【Marionette】, manipulated that Qi Refining rogue cultivator to activate the Flying Message Spirit Book in his hand.

Almost simultaneously.

Jietian Cloud Sea, Shenghuo Cliff.

Master Chongguang, who had been regulating his breath, suddenly opened his eyes, looking at the Flying Message that had been silent for a full three years, a hint of interest appearing in his gaze.

Finally unable to hold back?

The next second, he swept his sleeve, accepting the communication request from Lu Yang, and immediately began calculating karmic ties along the connection between the Spirit Books!

The result was naturally fruitless.

Immediately after, a message appeared before his eyes via the Spirit Book:

【I know a secret that concerns not only the cultivation of "Fu Deng Huo" but also relates to that "True Person Tianyun Mingguang." I wonder if you are interested?】

Seeing this, Master Chongguang's eyebrows rose slightly.

From just these words, he knew the other party was no ordinary person; after all, not just anyone could know the honorific title of 【True Person Tianyun Mingguang】.

After pondering for a moment, he waved his hand and wrote four characters:

【What secret?】

Soon, a reply arrived:

【I want a high-grade magic treasure!】

Master Chongguang's expression instantly became strange; rubbing his chin with great interest, he thought, 'Seeking benefits before anything else; could it be that this person is truly a True Person of our Holy Sect?'

【I naturally have a high-grade magic treasure, but how am I to give it to you?】

【That is a problem you need to solve. However, my secret involves a fragment of a grotto-heaven left behind after the demise of that "True Person Tianyun Mingguang"...】

"..."

Master Chongguang's expression grew increasingly profound. The next second, a graceful figure appeared within the main hall, reaching out to summon the Spirit Book, which landed in her hand.

"Troubling you, True Person."

Only then did Master Chongguang reveal a smile, for the one holding the Spirit Book at this moment was none other than True Person Qingcheng Qingcheng Feixue, who had exited closed-door cultivation immediately upon receiving Master Chongguang's message!

True Person Qingcheng Qingcheng Feixue did not bother calculating karmic ties; instead, she violently traced the connection between the two Spirit Books. In an instant, she locked onto a certain location in Jiangnan, then reached out and grabbed... In that instant! The void shattered, and a figure was actually dragged over from across the void by her!

However, upon seeing that person, both of them let out a soft "Eh?"

Their gazes fell, revealing that the figure dragged over was none other than the Qi Refining rogue cultivator Lu Yang had randomly selected and manipulated using 【Marionette】.

'Sure enough, they played dirty... Bastards!'

Far away in Jiangnan, Lu Yang's origin body shook his head helplessly, his heart completely unmoved. He knew that caution kept one safe for ten thousand years; these bastards from the Holy Sect played foul!

Especially Master Chongguang; it was simply outrageous!

Wasn't this just negotiating a deal? Yet he directly invited True Person Qingcheng Qingcheng Feixue to act. Had Lu Yang not been vigilant beforehand, he would have been forced to restart right now!

"It seems... Fellow Daoist prefers face-to-face communication?"

Lu Yang, through 【Marionette】, smiled faintly at Master Chongguang, but the next second, he felt an overwhelming mighty force descend upon the rogue cultivator.

Without a second word, they directly searched his soul!

However, Lu Yang remained perfectly calm; after all, the memories of a Qi Refining rogue cultivator contained nothing related to him, so no matter how they searched, there would be no results.

A long while later, that mighty force finally dispersed.

True Person Qingcheng Qingcheng Feixue's beautiful eyes burned intensely; clearly, she had developed immense curiosity toward Lu Yang, looking as if she couldn't wait to dissect him directly.

Seeing this, Lu Yang spread his hands: "Can we talk now?"

As his voice fell, True Person Master Chongguang finally laughed, then looked deeply at Lu Yang: "Interesting... It seems Fellow Daoist is indeed a True Person of our Holy Sect."

And judging by this style, he was likely no ordinary True Person of the Holy Sect!

(End of Chapter)