Chapter 268

Another half-hour passed.

True Person Miaoyin finally exhausted all her magic power, still trying to fight with her physical form, until she was overwhelmed by a group of large men and lost all capacity to resist.

"I"

Puch! Puch! Puch!

With no mercy, long blades pierced her beautiful body one after another, draining her blood, sapping her strength until she could no longer struggle.

Immediately after, several large men stepped forward, pulled out ropes, and bound her tightly—folded in half, the rope looped around her neck, threaded through the ravine, collarbones, then tied her hands and feet behind her, wrapped beneath her hips, forming a thick tortoise-shell-like restraint ensuring she could not move an inch.

"Mm—" True Person Miaoyin let out a pained groan.

After completing this, the remaining soldiers hoisted True Person Miaoyin up and brought her to the cliff where Lu Yang stood, then threw her roughly to the ground.

"Immortal Master, the outsider demon has been captured!"

These 【Displaced Civilians】, who had consumed the eggs of the Qi-Eating Worms and reversed their fates, all wore sincere expressions, staring fixedly at Lu Yang before them.

Lu Yang stepped out of the tea pavilion and looked at True Person Miaoyin.

"Duanmu Yuan Tu—is there some misunderstanding here?"

True Person Miaoyin forced a faint smile, but under her disheveled hair and blood-splattered body, even her most beautiful smile revealed only grotesquery:

"No misunderstanding."

Lu Yang's expression remained calm as he walked to True Person Miaoyin's side: "Since you wished to kill me, my returning the favor is only natural, isn't it?"

"When did I ever intend to kill you?"

True Person Miaoyin naturally could not admit it; she immediately shook her head: "There must be a misunderstanding—you can take my essence if you don't believe me; I know you can."

"Take my essence, and you'll know the truth."

True Person Miaoyin's voice was soft and weak; she did not mind being drained, only begged for her life—and she possessed a secret technique allowing her to turn the tables during essence extraction.

Upon hearing this, Lu Yang stood up.

Yet just as True Person Miaoyin thought he would come to drain her, Lu Yang drew his sword in one swift motion and severed her beautiful head.

"You really thought seduction by a woman could fool me?"

From the start, Lu Yang never intended to drain True Person Miaoyin; otherwise, given his aversion to waste, he would have already lined up others outside to queue for her.

Though he could have drained her, it was unnecessary.

After all, True Person Miaoyin possessed nothing he coveted, and he had no lust for women—it was better to kill her early and avoid prolonged complications.

'Indeed, deep down I'm still a good person.'

Lu Yang sighed, then raised his gaze to the sky, a hint of disappointment in his eyes—his own 【Villager】 Destiny Star had shown no change.

'Of course it's not that simple. Even the most foolish couldn't hand me the Supreme Throne of the Sun and Moon Son of Heaven just because I killed Miaoyin. So am I being played? Heaven won't pay up? If so, don't blame me for turning hostile.'

As Lu Yang pondered this:

"Boom!"

Instantly, his side, Commanding General Chen Anmin, froze, then his body erupted with a radiance like a solar corona.

The next moment, his Destiny Star began to change shape.

Above the heavens, Chen Anmin's Destiny Star transformed into a fiery sphere, rapidly expanding until it became a blazing, blinding sun!

【Tomorrow's Son of Heaven】

Destiny Star as the Sun—the Supreme Throne of this age!

At this moment, Lu Yang, standing so close, felt it most acutely—his Foundation Establishment mid-stage cultivation vanished instantly before the other's presence.

Like True Person Miaoyin before him, all his status and rank were suppressed nearly to nothing, leaving only a rootless, watery magic power—this was the suppression of the 【Tomorrow's Son of Heaven】; only a Foundation Establishment late-stage True Person might retain partial power before it.

"Immortal… Immortal Master?"

Chen Anmin stared at Lu Yang in shock, realizing the once unfathomable Immortal Master now appeared no different from an ordinary mortal.

He didn't seem that powerful after all?

As Chen Anmin remained stunned, Lu Yang narrowed his eyes and thought: 'Clever—siphoning power from me and giving it to my own subordinate?'

'Is this a declaration of war?'

Thinking this, Lu Yang's lips curled slightly into a cold smile.

Yet at that moment, Chen Anmin suddenly snapped back to awareness, then whirled his head toward the sky and roared: "Who's there! Show yourself!"

Though the shout came from a mortal, amplified by the 【Tomorrow's Son of Heaven】, it became a thunderous roar like a tiger's howl and a dragon's bellow—soldiers nearby knelt instantly, and an invisible wave of magic power was peeled back like a curtain, revealing the hidden figure behind it.

"Remarkable, friend—your reputation is well-deserved."

Lu Yang looked up and narrowed his eyes—the newcomer was a refined-looking young man, his face always wearing a slightly artificial smile of benevolence.

But more importantly—his cultivation.

For a moment, Lu Yang felt his heart tremble.

'Foundation Establishment late-stage!?'

To still possess flight capability under the 【Tomorrow's Son of Heaven】's suppression, Lu Yang's prior estimation held—he must be at least Foundation Establishment late-stage.

'Good thing I was cautious—I prepared for the worst, summoning every capable unit. Otherwise, a late-stage True Person would've been impossible to defeat without a hundred-thousand-man formation linking Destiny Stars to suppress him—he might even have turned the tables and killed me on the spot!'

"I greet you, Duanmu Yuan Tu."

Su Huan stood calmly, bowing to Lu Yang: "Your avatar is a marvel of craftsmanship, self-contained in destiny—no wonder you dared act so boldly."

Bribing the 【Wan Wu Jie】 with earth veins' energy.

Defecting to the 【Wan Wu Jie】, mobilizing troops to besiege True Person Miaoyin.

Could anyone not think of such a maneuver? Of course not—the Holy Sect has known of the 【Wan Wu Jie】 for so long; surely someone must have considered it.

Then why has no one done it yet?

Because the cost outweighs the gain. Though Lu Yang seems unharmed now, returning to the 【Wan Wu Jie】 would inevitably bring heavenly punishment.

After all, two people leave carrying earth-sha energy, yet only one returns—Heaven deems this a loss. Who else would it punish? To avoid punishment, one must bring back a greater quantity of realm-energy, so Heaven judges it a profit—or at least a break-even—and only then can one escape retribution.

Heaven and earth do not care about the process, only the result.

Because no one wishes to suffer heavenly punishment for no reason, most cultivators traveling to the Boundary Heaven choose to aid one another, even within the Sacred Sect.

But Lu Yang was different.

Leaving aside that his Immortal Embryo avatar possesses its own fate, making it difficult for heavenly punishment to reach his true body, even if it did, he was confident he could resolve the issue.

"As long as I reclaim more Boundary Heaven Qi, all problems cease to be problems."

Thinking of this, Lu Yang glanced at Chen Anmin beside him, his eyes narrowing as he stared at the brilliant 【Son of Heaven】 on the other's person.

(End of Chapter)