Chapter 354: Do You Want to Truly Live?

"Boom—!"

Accompanied by a deafening roar that shook the earth and mountains, the vast Wraith Realm of the Ghosts emerged from the belly of Skeleton Mountain, surging forth with boundless Yin Sha energy.

What followed unfolded much as Lu Yang had anticipated.

True Person Yinshan acted, seizing the 【Heavenly Corpse Sha】 from the Wraith Ghost Dao, while simultaneously drawing out the True Persons of the Divine Martial Gate, only for the True Persons of the Holy Sect to launch a final encirclement attack.

"Beasts! You are all beasts!"

A furious roar from the Sect Master of the Divine Martial Gate echoed through heaven and earth, yet this Great True Person at the late Foundation Establishment stage was now shrouded beneath a night sky.

Even greater magic power obscured everything.

Magnificent, iridescent light hid the sun, moon, and stars; wherever it passed, all sounds ceased and heavenly secrets were concealed, revealing clearly a natural divine ability Lu Yang knew quite well.

'【Star-Hiding Radiance】!'

In his past life, Lu Yang had once deduced this divine ability, but he had always used it as an assassination tool; however, it now seemed that his Daoist cultivation back then had been too shallow, for using this divine ability for assassination was clearly a waste of great talent—it was plainly a technique of shrouding the heavens and earth, with magnificent momentum!

In an instant, the world turned dim and dark.

'【It is a Foundation Establishment at its peak】!'

Lu Yang's gaze shifted slightly; from Hong Ju's words, he learned that after the True Lords went into seclusion, besides himself, the Holy Sect still had one Foundation Establishment at its peak managing all affairs.

That person's name was 【Xiang Ye】.

He had remained hidden previously because his master, the 【True Lord of Containing Light Floating Truth】, had always been overshadowed by the 【True Lord of Clear Frost】, so he had chosen to keep a low profile.

However, now that the True Lords had gone into seclusion.

Master Chongguang had achieved True Lord status and ascended beyond the heavens; the Great True Person 【Jun Tong】 under the banner of the 【True Lord of Brocade and Silk】 was only at the late Foundation Establishment stage, so this person naturally emerged.

'【This is training troops.】'

Lu Yang watched from afar, opened his magical eyes, and quickly saw the changes in the situation.

That Great True Person at the peak of Foundation Establishment, Xiang Ye, did not exert his full strength; he merely unleashed a single divine ability, 【Heaven-Restraining Earth-Locking】, then let the other True Persons rush in.

No wonder the Sect Master of the Divine Martial Gate felt so stifled.

As a Great True Person, even if his lineage was humble, he should not have been besieged by a group at the mid Foundation Establishment stage; it was purely because a Foundation Establishment at its peak was suppressing him.

How the hell can one fight this?

'【No hope, death is certain.】'

Lu Yang withdrew his gaze; the destruction of the Divine Martial Gate was now inevitable, and this time was even more different from his past life: the Holy Sect was likely acting in earnest.

'【In the past life, with a True Lord holding the fort, the Holy Sect was as stable as Mount Taishan; moreover, with Junior Uncle Chongguang present, he deliberately gave me opportunities to earn merit, so he was willing to let a few at the early Foundation Establishment stage escape. But now the True Lords are in seclusion, and a single Great True Person from the Divine Martial Gate already poses a certain threat to the Holy Sect.】'

How can one allow others to sleep soundly beside one's own bed?

It seems that this time, not a single member of the Divine Martial Gate will escape.

However, Lu Yang naturally would not participate in such a great battle; he immediately concealed his spiritual aura, slipped quietly into Skeleton Mountain, and then summoned Su Nu.

'【Yanmo Hall】!'

Connecting with the earth veins and searching through Guan Qiankun, Lu Yang soon detected slight anomalies on the earth veins of the eight-hundred-li Skeleton Mountain and instantly flashed his form.

Almost simultaneously, inside Skeleton Mountain.

"Who!?"

The very moment Lu Yang arrived, a figure within the earth veins opened both eyes; amidst the fluctuation of spiritual aura, he was clearly in a false state of Foundation Establishment.

The next second, he sought to sever the connection.

However, the gap in cultivation between the two was far too great; Lu Yang, at the peak of mid Foundation Establishment, dealing with a false Foundation Establishment, was truly like Mount Taishan crushing an egg, granting not a single chance.

Yet that figure's reaction speed could not be called slow; seeing Lu Yang had arrived and was about to grab him, he immediately revealed a trace of ruthlessness, changed the hand seals in his palm, and the eight-hundred-li earth veins of Skeleton Mountain below erupted violently, appearing on the verge of exploding with a thunderous boom, taking Lu Yang down with him in mutual destruction.

"Freeze!"

Behind Lu Yang, the Ten Thousand Spirits Banner unfurled; the figure of Patriarch Ting You appeared, and he too formed hand seals, calming the just-erupted earth veins once more.

Seeing this, that figure was instantly stunned.

"How is this possible? You..."

Lu Yang gave the other no chance to speak, directly struck out with a palm, smashing that figure into dust, then sent him into the Ten Thousand Spirits Banner to be refined instantly.

After all, to him, this was merely a stranger.

The true 'Patriarch Ting You' was the one who had followed him through rebirth within the Ten Thousand Spirits Banner, blocked powerful enemies for him in his past life, and finally fell into a deep slumber from grievous injuries.

Inside the Ten Thousand Spirits Banner, Patriarch Ting You took a deep breath, swallowing all the Primordial Qi transformed from the other; his eyes, already shining with spiritual light, became even more brilliant and wise at this moment, as fine, dense runes seemed to expound the ultimate principles of the Great Dao, all gathering within those two eyes.

After a long while, he finally exhaled deeply.

"So it turns out a fragment of my soul had remained in the Wraith Ghost Realm; thanks to you, now that I have recovered it, I feel my state is even better."

Seeing this, Lu Yang was not surprised.

After all, the 【Hundred Lives Book】 corrected all bugs; Patriarch Ting You would automatically ignore all unreasonable aspects or fabricate answers for them.

'【This is an opportunity.】'

Lu Yang looked at the Patriarch Ting You before him; with the supplementation of his original body from this life, his state had improved significantly, no longer weak as at the very beginning.

How weak had he been at the very start?

A dignified Great True Person at the peak of Foundation Establishment, unable to defeat him, a mere Qi Refining at its peak; saying he was on the verge of having his soul scatter was no exaggeration.

In his past life, while overseas, he only dared to assume a false mid Foundation Establishment when casting 【Yanmo Hall】, not daring to assume the position of a Great True Person; this was not only because he had not yet gathered enough cultivators at the mid Foundation Establishment stage, but more importantly, because Patriarch Ting You's own soul could no longer support the status of a Great True Person.

However, this time was different.

'【If it is now, the Patriarch should have the foundation to assume the position of a Great True Person; after all, strictly speaking, his fifth life has only just begun.】'

This is precisely the time to strive!

After pondering for a moment, Lu Yang suddenly produced a Daoist scripture.

This was formed from his divine sense; its contents were the method for refining a clone, the 【Secret Record of the Immortal Fetus Dwelling in the World】, a secret technique of clones that could be described as profound and extensive.

A clone severed by this method could even transform into a completely new person.

Similarly, it has another clever use.

'If this method is used to forge a celestial embryo, and then the Ancestor takes possession of it, strictly speaking, it could allow the Ancestor to be resurrected!'

It is said the Ancestor of Tingyou has the conditions for resurrection.

Because, like Chen Xinan, he did not enter the banner after death, but willingly entered while still alive, retaining a thread of chance to return to life.

The question is whether Lu Yang, as the banner master, is willing.

'In my past life, I would never have agreed.'

After all, the Ancestor of Tingyou's talent was simply too high; once resurrected, he might easily slip from control, posing too great a risk that was uncontrollable.

In contrast, in this life, Lu Yang felt far more at ease with the Ancestor of Tingyou, since the Ancestor of Tingyou from the past life had already demonstrated his stance through action—of course, more importantly, the Ancestor of Tingyou in this life had been cleansed by the 【Book of a Hundred Lifetimes】 and could never betray him.

Lu Yang does not deny his own dark intentions; without such thoughts, he would have died a hundred times over.

But since he had made his decision, he would not be stingy.

'The Ancestor's talent, used solely on me, would be a terrible waste—converted into combat power, it will accumulate more leverage for my future quest for the Golden Core!'

With this thought, Lu Yang instantly cast aside all hesitation.

'Ancestor.'

Lu Yang turned his body, looked at the Ancestor of Tingyou, and handed him the 【Secret Record of the Celestial Embryo Dwelling in the World】: 'Do you wish to truly live?'

(End of Chapter)