Chapter 288: I Am Already Invincible Under Heaven!

Within the Seven Luminaries Heaven, a swirl of iridescent light hovered high in the sky; amidst interwoven rosy clouds, thunderclaps erupted, constantly inhaling and exhaling the spiritual energy between heaven and earth.

"What exactly is going on?"

Until this moment, neither Emperor Taizu Yan nor the Capital City God had recovered from Lu Yang's earlier sword strike that split the heavens open; now, they could not help but exchange a glance.

Yet as time passed, that iridescent mass gradually collapsed, finally taking human form: a tall, handsome young man, standing quietly in midair with hands clasped behind his back, a halo of white jade radiance circling the back of his head as if expounding the ultimate principles of heaven and earth, making him appear ever more solemn and sacred.

Lu Yang spoke not a word, merely closing his eyes slightly.

The surging, overwhelming magic power within his body, sufficient to shake the entire realm world, nearly intoxicated him, while at the same time an indescribable sense of incredulity arose in his heart:

'It actually didn't screw me over!'

Absurdly smooth!

To be honest, even if, right after he broke through to the Great Perfection of Foundation Establishment, a giant hand had grabbed him and refined him on the spot, he would not have found it strange.

Yet the result was that everything was fine.

Thinking of this, Lu Yang immediately shook his head: 'Indeed, all those previous setbacks were purely because that wretched place had problems, not because I had problems.'

If he had not decisively chosen to flee, how difficult would it have been to achieve the Great Perfection of Foundation Establishment?

Not to mention anything else; just the four Heavenly Gang and Earth Sha would have toyed with him until he was half-dead; he would likely still be spinning his wheels at the Mid Stage of Foundation Establishment, let alone achieving what he has now.

'However, my success is probably impossible to replicate.'

Lu Yang knew clearly in his heart: if simply fleeing that wretched place and cultivating beyond the heavens were enough to reach the Great Perfection of Foundation Establishment, who would still remain in that wretched place?

In the final analysis, it was because he inherited Hong Yun's arrangements; whether the 【Seven Luminaries World-Stabilizing Truth-Preserving Great Formation】 or the Seven Luminaries Heaven itself, all were trump cards left behind by Hong Yun; Lu Yang's achievement was largely because he was walking the very retreat path Hong Yun had originally arranged for himself.

'Hong Yun, Hong Yun, you truly are my good fortune!'

'The most correct decision I made in this life was probably back then, when I, a lower cultivator, overthrew my superior and reversed-slaughtered Hong Yun just after his reincarnation; that was my first pot of gold!'

No matter how trashy a True Person is, they are still a True Person.

Even a casual arrangement by a True Person is enough to benefit cultivators below the True Person realm immensely; Lu Yang profoundly realized this point once again.

The next second, Lu Yang lowered his head.

Where his gaze fell, Emperor Taizu Yan and the Capital City God suddenly came to their senses, yet felt only a chill sweeping over their hearts; could it be that the outsider had won!?

For a moment, the expressions of both incense deities turned extremely ugly.

Seeing this, Lu Yang merely shook his head.

If a True Person of the Holy Sect were here, they would already be prostrating themselves, shouting, "Congratulations, Senior!"

'Still too concerned with face... Well, having been accustomed to lording it over the Seven Luminaries Heaven, their heads are held too high to bow down, so it's normal they didn't react.'

Thinking of this, Lu Yang suddenly felt a wave of disenchantment.

"Never mind; since neither of you had any choice, I shall show mercy beyond the law and spare you the torment of soul-extraction and spirit-refining; I will simply scatter your souls and dissipate your spirits."

As his words fell, the white jade halo behind Lu Yang's head instantly brightened.

【Heaven-Sustaining Net】!

As the name implies, this divine ability is a youthful version of the nascent fruit position of the Seven Luminaries Heaven; once unleashed, its suppression of the Incense God Path is nearly catastrophic!

The moment Lu Yang spoke, Emperor Taizu Yan and the Capital City God immediately displayed looks of terror, then watched in horror as the incense power they had once commanded like their own arms and legs vanished entirely in an instant; immediately afterward, their bodies simultaneously disintegrated, their souls and spirits collapsing into nothingness before they could even scream!

The Seven Luminaries Heaven possesses no 【Nether Prefecture】.

Therefore, there is no reincarnation; after death, souls and spirits immediately collapse on the spot, merging into heaven and earth, whereupon heaven and earth condense brand new souls and spirits.

Of course, Lu Yang, bearing compassion in his heart, did not let them fall to such a fate; he acted personally to refine them into banner spirits.

'I am already invincible under heaven!'

Of course, limited to the Seven Luminaries Heaven.

Immediately after, Lu Yang shifted his gaze to his side, where he saw Patriarch Tingyou carefully holding a dimly glowing precious pearl in his hands.

The nascent form of an unnamed fruit position within the Myriad Souls Banner.

"It has suffered some severe damage."

Patriarch Tingyou explained with a frown: "There are signs of necrosis; unless it receives supplementation from a complete fruit position, it will be very difficult to restore."

Hearing this, Lu Yang felt no distress.

Difficult to restore? Then don't restore it!

With a thought, Lu Yang directly retracted this nascent fruit position into the Myriad Souls Banner, then cast it into the 【Seven Luminaries Heaven】, before revealing a look of anticipation:

'Is there hope?'

Could merging two nascent fruit positions into one give rise to a complete fruit position? If so, he would without hesitation immediately commit suicide and restart! 'The Myriad Souls Banner is something I have in every life!'

'If one can truly nurture a fruit position by stacking quantities, then so be it; I can restart several more times; as long as I can cultivate a fruit position of my own, it will be a huge profit!'

Under Lu Yang's expectant gaze, the Myriad Souls Banner trembled; the nascent fruit position that the Seven Luminaries Heaven had failed to consume in life was now, after being refined by Lu Yang, finally consumed; yet very soon, Lu Yang frowned, for the Seven Luminaries Heaven showed no significant change as a result.

'Could it be useless?'

No, it was not useless; holding the Myriad Souls Banner steady, Lu Yang could clearly feel that the nascent fruit position of the Seven Luminaries Heaven seemed to have become more complete at this moment.

'It is useful; the problem lies in the quantity...'

Lu Yang made a rough estimate, then could not help but reveal a helpless expression: for he discovered that if he followed his earlier plan to cultivate the Seven Luminaries Heaven,

he would need to restart over three hundred times!

Upon reaching this conclusion, Lu Yang instantly dispelled all such thoughts; after all, this was not the Book of Hundred Lives; where would he get over three hundred Myriad Souls Banners?

Forget it; a little bit is better than nothing.

The gains from this endeavor were already substantial, so Lu Yang took it in stride.

Thinking of this, he turned to ponder another question: 'How strong am I now? What level would I be considered in that wretched place?'

'Strictly speaking, I am now extremely unique; I am probably the only cultivator who has cultivated a Second Grade True Art from scratch and reached its Great Perfection.'

This was Lu Yang's assessment of himself.

Great Perfection of a Second Grade True Art, successfully usurping the heavenly and earthly quintessence of the Seven Luminaries Heaven.

In that wretched place, generally only Foundation Establishment True Persons would begin cultivating Second Grade True Arts; thus, Second Grade True Arts were merely embellishments, auxiliary means for seeking the Golden Nature.

However, Lu Yang was different.

He cultivated the Second Grade True Art as his main path, achieving the Great Perfection of Foundation Establishment through it.

'In other words, I am now a hot commodity in that wretched place; using the Seven Luminaries Heaven as a stepping stone for promotion, attracting the gaze of a fruit position will be as easy as turning one's hand!'

However, there were also flaws.

'The two most crucial steps for seeking the Golden Nature—the Golden Nature and the Blessed Land—I possess neither.'

The Blessed Land was easier to resolve, since he had the 【Heaven of Parting Sorrow】; the problem lay in the Golden Nature; Lu Yang had previously thought that after reaching the Great Perfection of Foundation Establishment, he could easily condense it.

But now it seemed that was not the case.

'The key... is probably the Innate Divine Ability; although I seized all the fortune of the Seven Luminaries Heaven, I thereby achieved Great Perfection through five Innate Divine Abilities.'

Looking back now, although realm worlds outside that wretched place also had existences at the Great Perfection of Foundation Establishment level, there was clearly a certain gap compared to that wretched place.

The Profound Spirit Realm was a typical example.

Lu Yang had witnessed with his own eyes that Minghua Celestial Immortal of the Profound Spirit Realm was equivalent in status to the Great Perfection of Foundation Establishment, yet he had never heard of anything like a Golden Nature or a Blessed Land.

'These two are probably unique to that wretched place!'

This was troublesome.

However, there were exceptions; for instance, Suo Huan, who condensed his Golden Nature using an official position in the Dao Court; from this, one could see that the official positions of the Dao Court also held mystery.

'The road ahead is long and arduous.'

Thinking of this, Lu Yang's previously agitated mind, stirred by his Great Perfection of Foundation Establishment, regained its steadiness; Great Perfection was merely the first step on the slow path to seeking the Golden Nature.

However, indulging in a moment of triumph should still be no problem.

Setting aside the quest for the Golden Nature for now, if he wished to know how strong he currently was, he only needed to find a reference point for comparison.

The next second, Lu Yang directly erupted with his qi presence, looked at Patriarch Tingyou beside him, and revealed an inflated smile: "Patriarch, come and spar with me?"

He wanted to challenge the Patriarch!

(End of Chapter)