Chapter 370

Within the Seven Radiance Heaven, a swirl of illusory colors hung high in the sky, its auroras interweaving as thunderous roars erupted, continuously swallowing and exhaling the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

"What on earth is going on?"

Even now, Emperor Yan and the Ducheng City God had not yet recovered from Lu Yang's earlier sky-splitting sword strike, and they couldn't help exchanging a glance.

Yet as time passed, the swirling colors gradually collapsed, finally taking the shape of a tall, handsome young man who stood silently in midair, arms folded, a halo of Bai Yu radiance encircling his head as if elucidating the ultimate truths of heaven and earth, making him appear even more solemn and divine.

Lu Yang said nothing, only slightly closed his eyes.

Within him, surging magic power—power enough to shake the very fabric of the world—nearly intoxicated him, yet he could not help feeling an inexplicable sense of disbelief:

'It actually didn't fail!'

Too smoothly!

Honestly, even if he had just broken through to Foundation Establishment's peak and then been instantly seized and refined by a giant hand, he wouldn't have been surprised.

Yet the outcome was everything was fine.

Thinking of this, Lu Yang immediately shook his head: 'Clearly, all those previous setbacks were purely because that damn place was flawed—not me.'

Had he not chosen to flee decisively, how difficult would it have been to achieve Foundation Establishment's peak?

Not to mention, just the Four Heavenly Stems and Seven Earthly Spirits alone could have driven him to madness—he'd probably still be stuck in Foundation Establishment's mid-stage, let alone reach this level.

'But my success is likely impossible to replicate.'

Lu Yang knew well: if merely escaping that broken place and cultivating in the outer realms could lead to Foundation Establishment's peak, who would ever stay behind?

Ultimately, it was because he inherited Daoist Hong Yun's arrangements—whether the 【Seven Radiance World-Stabilizing True Array】 or the Seven Radiance Heaven itself—all were Daoist Hong Yun's hidden cards. Lu Yang's achievement came mostly because he had simply followed the escape route Daoist Hong Yun had prepared for him.

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

'The wisest decision I ever made in this life was probably overthrowing and beheading Daoist Hong Yun the moment he reincarnated—that was my first bucket of gold!'

Even the most pathetic True Person is still a True Person.

Even a casual arrangement by a True Person is enough to grant immense benefit to any cultivator beneath them—Lu Yang deeply understood this once again.

The next instant, Lu Yang lowered his head.

At the sight of him, Emperor Yan and the Ducheng City God snapped back to awareness—but a chill swept through their hearts. Was this what it meant—the outsider had won!?

For a moment, both incense deities' expressions turned grim.

Seeing this, Lu Yang shook his head.

Had a True Person from the Sacred Sect been here, they would already have prostrated themselves, crying, "Congratulations, Elder!"

'Still too proud. Of course—in the Seven Radiance Heaven, they're used to ruling with impunity, heads held high, unable to bow. No wonder they didn't react.'

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

'Enough. Since you two were also forced into this, I'll show mercy—I won't extract your souls or refine your spirits. I'll just let you dissipate into nothingness.'

As his words ended, the Bai Yu halo behind Lu Yang flared brightly.

【Cheng Tian Gang】!

As the name implies, this divine art is a youthful version of the Seven Radiance Heaven's throne prototype—when activated, its suppression of incense deity paths is nearly annihilating!

At Lu Yang's utterance, Emperor Yan and the Ducheng City God instantly turned pale with terror, then stared in horror as the incense energy they once commanded vanished utterly in an instant—followed by their bodies crumbling, their souls scattering without even a cry!

The Seven Radiance Heaven has no 【Underworld】.

Thus, there is no reincarnation—upon death, souls immediately shatter on the spot, merging into heaven and earth, then reforming anew from the cosmos.

Of course, Lu Yang, compassionate as he was, spared them this fate—he refined them into banner spirits instead.

'I am already invincible under heaven!'

Of course, only within the Seven Radiance Heaven.

Immediately after, Lu Yang turned his gaze to his side and saw Master Tingyou gently cradling a dimmed, lusterless jewel in his hands.

The unnamed throne prototype within the Ten Thousand Spirits Banner.

'It's severely damaged.'

Master Tingyou frowned and explained: 'There are signs of necrosis. Unless it receives a complete throne's essence, it's unlikely to recover.'

Lu Yang didn't mind.

Hard to recover? Then don't recover!

With a thought, Lu Yang immediately withdrew the throne prototype into the Ten Thousand Spirits Banner, then cast it into the 【Seven Radiance Heaven】, his expression expectant:

'Any chance?'

Could two throne prototypes merging into one become a complete throne? If so, he'd immediately kill himself and restart right now! 'The Ten Thousand Spirits Banner appears in every life!'

'If stacking numbers can grow a throne, I'll just restart a few hundred times—so long as I cultivate one of my own, it's a massive profit!'

Under Lu Yang's expectant gaze, the Ten Thousand Spirits Banner trembled—the throne prototype the Seven Radiance Heaven had never consumed was now ingested after Lu Yang refined it—but soon, Lu Yang frowned, for the Seven Radiance Heaven showed no significant change.

'Useless?'

No—not useless. Holding the Ten Thousand Spirits Banner, Lu Yang clearly sensed the Seven Radiance Heaven's throne prototype had become slightly more complete.

'It's useful—the problem is quantity.'

Lu Yang roughly calculated, then sighed helplessly: he realized that, according to his earlier plan, to cultivate the Seven Radiance Heaven…

He'd need to restart over three hundred times!

Upon reaching this conclusion, Lu Yang instantly abandoned all thoughts—he wasn't a Ten Thousand Lifetimes Book; where would he find three hundred Ten Thousand Spirits Banners?

Whatever. A little is better than nothing.

This harvest was already immense, so Lu Yang took it in stride.

Thinking of this, he turned his thoughts to another question: 'Just how strong am I now? What level would I be in the broken place?'

'Strictly speaking, I'm extremely unique—likely the only cultivator in history to have trained from zero to peak in a second-rank True Scripture.'

This was Lu Yang's self-assessment.

Peak second-rank True Scripture, successfully usurping the celestial essence of the Seven Radiance Heaven.

Placed in the Broken Realm, one usually begins cultivating a Grade-Two True Art only after becoming a True Person of Foundation Establishment; thus, a Grade-Two True Art is merely an embellishment, an auxiliary means to seek the Golden.

However, Lu Yang was different.

He had made the Grade-Two True Art his primary cultivation, achieving Perfection of Foundation Establishment through it.

'In other words, I am now a delicacy in the Broken Realm; using the Seven Luminaries Heaven as a stepping stone for advancement, attracting the gaze of the Fruit Seat is as easy as turning over one's hand!'

But there were flaws as well.

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

The Blessed Land was still solvable, after all, with the 【Heaven of Separation and Hatred】 at hand; the problem lay with the Golden Nature. Lu Yang had previously thought he could easily condense it after reaching Perfection of Foundation Establishment.

But now it seemed that was not the case.

'The key, I fear, is the Innate Divine Ability. Although I seized all the blessings of the Seven Luminaries Heaven, I thereby achieved Perfection through five Innate Divine Abilities.'

Reflecting now, all the Realm Heavens outside the Broken Realm, though they also had existences at the level of Perfection of Foundation Establishment, were clearly at a certain gap compared to the Broken Realm.

The Profound Spirit Realm was a typical example.

Lu Yang had seen with his own eyes that Minghua Celestial of the Profound Spirit Realm, equivalent in status to Perfection of Foundation Establishment, had never been heard of possessing any Golden Nature or Blessed Land.

'These two are likely unique to the Broken Realm!'

This was troublesome.

However, there were exceptional cases; for instance, Suo Huan condensed his Golden Nature using a Dao Court official position, showing that Dao Court official positions also held profound mysteries.

'The task is heavy and the road is long.'

Thinking this, Lu Yang's mind, which had been unsettled due to reaching Perfection of Foundation Establishment, regained its steadiness; Perfection was merely the first step on the slow path to seeking the Golden.

But having a good time should still be no problem.

Putting seeking the Golden aside for now, if he wanted to know how strong he was currently, he just needed to find a reference point for comparison.

The next second, Lu Yang directly erupted his spiritual pressure, looked at the Ancestral Master Ting You beside him, and revealed an inflated smile: "Ancestral Master, come and spar with me?"

He was challenging the Ancestral Master!

(End of this chapter)