Chapter 360: Mechanics and Numerics Coexist!

Lu Yang raced swiftly through the Southern Border, his qi aura manifesting as a magnificent sword light that directly locked onto the mountain gate of the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect, flying toward the direction of the Ten Thousand Gu Caves.

Behind him followed the two True Persons of the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect.

"This person truly seeks death!"

Long Gu True Person sneered coldly, "If he were not a disciple of the Yushu Jiange, but a lone cultivator instead, displaying such arrogance in our Southern Border, he would have already been refined into a human gu by me!"

Hui Gu True Person merely shook his head, saying, "A disciple of a great sect, having just reached Foundation Establishment, it is normal for him to be arrogant. In fact, the more arrogant he is, the more beneficial it is for us. I was originally worried about how to lure him deep into the Southern Border, but now that he has entered on his own, it saves us the trouble of devising plans."

"Senior brother speaks correctly."

Long Gu True Person let out a scoffing laugh and said, "Once we trap this person, we must make him taste some bitterness, so he understands the principle that there are always those beyond others!"

Before long, Lu Yang had penetrated ten thousand li into the Southern Border.

Looking back, the location of the Yushu Jiange had vanished from the horizon, leaving no trace; all that met his eyes were layers upon layers of forests, and a gloomy miasma began to drift across the sky above.

The next second, a sharp cry suddenly rang out.

"Screech!"

Where the sharp cry passed, a colossal form with a dragon's head and a centipede's body, its towering body stretching for several li, crawled violently out of the clouds, opening a pair of scarlet eyes to look at him.

Lu Yang calculated with his fingers, instantly deducing the origin of the creature: '【Dragon Centipede Gu】, requiring the blood of a true dragon to nourish and refine the gu seed, which is then implanted into one's own Dao foundation to be nurtured; once the gu insect breaks from its cocoon, it can transform into one's innate gu, functioning similarly to the innate divine arts of ordinary True Persons.'

"A demon of the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect?"

As his words fell, Lu Yang flicked his finger; in an instant, a rumbling sword cry echoed around him, like muffled thunder rolling through the sky, exploding with a boom across heaven and earth.

In that instant, the beasts in the forests below were terrified.

"Where is the Sect Master of the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect?"

Lu Yang maintained his hand seal, a wisp of sword light swirling around his fingertips, and said calmly:

"I have come at the command of my master, the True Person of Demons' Purge, to investigate the disappearance of commoners in Jiangnan; does the Sect Master of the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect not intend to come out and give me an explanation?"

Upon hearing this, even Long Gu True Person was so angered he laughed.

"Presumptuous!"

He, the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect, dominates the Southern Border; the Sect Master is a great True Person at the late stage of Foundation Establishment! To demand the Sect Master personally pay a visit, it would be more fitting for the True Person of Demons' Purge to come!

A mere junior?

Who do you think you are? A great sword cultivator at the late stage of Foundation Establishment?

With this thought, Long Gu True Person grew tired of wasting words, suddenly opened his blood-filled maw, and spat out a cloud of black qi that descended toward Lu Yang.

The True Persons of the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect devour Di Shi Tian and Cheng Tian Gang with their gu insects, refining them; thus, often a single divine art is a gu. The black qi spat out by Long Gu True Person was one such gu, named '【Soul-Overturning Gu】'; though it appeared as a cloud of black qi, it was actually composed of dense, tiny black gu insects.

Once enveloped by the black qi, the gu insects would immediately swarm in.

At that time, no matter how brightly your treasure light protects your body, or how indestructible like diamond you are, these gu insects could still drill into your body through various minute openings, devour your flesh and blood, and then carry your soul out.

This was already Long Gu True Person's strongest move.

It showed that although he spoke with disdain, he was by no means careless or overconfident; his strike was full power, aiming to directly destroy Lu Yang's physical body to subdue him.

However, seeing this, Lu Yang felt no fear at all; instead, he laughed loudly:

"Good, good, good."

"The Ten Thousand Poisons Sect, when faced with an inquiry from the Yushu Jiange, not only refuses to explain but dares to counterattack; clearly, their demonic nature is deep. This is no longer an ordinary demonic cultivator..."

A heavy fist must be struck!

Before his words finished, a sword cry was heard!

The sword light in Lu Yang's hand instantly split: one became a hundred, a hundred became a thousand, a thousand became ten thousand; in a mere instant, it transformed into countless thread-like, minute sword qi!

These sword qi were so minute that even spiritual sense could hardly detect them; they perfectly matched the black qi formed by the '【Soul-Overturning Gu】', instantly slaughtering the sky-full of gu insects clean, then slashing toward Long Gu True Person, causing him to shriek in terror, twist his body, and flee in a wisp of black smoke.

"Mid-stage Foundation Establishment!?"

With this strike of Lu Yang's, under the support of two sword divine arts, his realm could no longer be concealed; the two True Persons of the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect immediately saw through the truth.

"This is bad..."

Hui Gu True Person, who had been hiding in the shadows, immediately thought something was wrong; previously, they had been full of confidence because they believed Lu Yang was at most at the early stage of Foundation Establishment.

The two of them, both at mid-stage Foundation Establishment, were to deal with someone at the early stage.

Using strength against weakness, victory was naturally impossible to lose.

But now, both sides were clearly of the same realm; the situation was completely different. Among cultivators of the same realm, how could they possibly be opponents for a sword cultivator!

"The situation cannot be salvaged; retreat first..."

Hui Gu True Person approached Long Gu True Person while simultaneously lifting the gu insect in his palm.

This was his innate gu, named '【Hui Gu】'.

As the saying goes: The morning mushroom does not see the new moon or full moon; the cicada does not know spring and autumn.

As the name suggests, this gu insect can sever spiritual sense perception, making it difficult for others to detect changes in the outside world.

Now, as Hui Gu True Person summoned it, the heavens and earth instantly turned into a dim twilight; only he, as the master of the gu, could see normally, unaffected by the gu insects.

"Now is the time..."

Hui Gu True Person did not wish to prolong the fight; he intended to take Long Gu True Person and leave first to make further plans.

However, just at that moment.

"You wish to leave?"

A cold voice drifted softly over; Hui Gu True Person turned to look, only to see Lu Yang with his eyes tightly closed, a sword of rosy light and colorful radiance now appearing in his hand.

'【Bright Harmony, Constant World, Upright Holding, Golden Sword】!'

This sword was born from his Dao foundation; it was both his magic sword and his divine art!

'【Trapped Intent】!'

The next second, Hui Gu True Person discovered he was still standing beside Long Gu True Person.

The '【Hui Gu】' in his hand had not yet been summoned.

All that had just happened seemed like an illusion, as if it had never occurred at all.

'What is going on!?'

True Person Huigu froze on the spot, and his only response was a faint smile from Lu Yang.

This was the wonder of his innate divine ability, 【Trapping Intent】; True Person Huigu and True Person Long Wu had already been drawn into his divine ability the moment they appeared.

Everything that happened afterward would instantly turn into a void illusion if it was unfavorable to him, and only what was favorable to him could become true reality!

'True as that may be, I fear my magic power cannot sustain 【Trapping Intent】 too many times...'

To test his own combat strength, Lu Yang did not directly impersonate the Great True Person to crush the situation.

Thus, compared to True Person Long Wu and True Person Huigu, although he held every advantage, if they were determined to flee, it would still take him some effort to stop them.

Fortunately, he had other means.

'【Fortune-Inspecting Draw】!'

At Lu Yang's thought, vast fortune instantly materialized before his eyes as three fortune slips.

【Event: Beheading True Persons Long Wu and Huigu】

【Great Auspicious: Your strength holds an overwhelming advantage; you easily killed both.】

【Small Auspicious: Although the opponents are skilled at fleeing, you expended some effort and still beheaded them.】

【Minor Auspicious: The opponents had good luck and know how to flee; coincidentally, your condition was poor, the battle dragged on without resolution, you flew into a rage, and thus directly impersonated the Great True Person to slap them to death.】

'The gap in strength is too great; indeed, it is hard to draw a bad slip...'

At Lu Yang's thought, he took the 【Great Auspicious】 slip into his hand.

This result had already been secured by him beforehand!

Combined with 【Trapping Intent】, he could directly turn this certain-victory result into reality!

This sword strike, if not drawn, is nothing; if drawn, it must kill!

"Boom!"

In the next second, Lu Yang drew his sword from its sheath; the brilliant sword light, as if aided by gods, flashed past both him and True Person Long Wu beside him before True Person Huigu could even summon his poison insects.

Until this very moment, True Person Huigu and True Person Long Wu had not even come to their senses.

Only at the end did they reach out a hand to touch their cheeks.

'Is my head still there?'

But this touch resulted in empty hands.

The head was gone.

It was because the sword light was too fast; they had already died and their souls extinguished, yet their consciousness had not yet reacted.

Nevertheless, they were ultimately water without roots.

"Clang, clang!"

The sword blade returned to its sheath.

Then, only a loud boom was heard as the two headless magical bodies exploded with a crash, turning into a sky-filling tide of spiritual energy!

(End of this chapter)