Chapter 5

"Senior Brother Liu? He came looking for me!?"

Hearing the voice outside the cave, Lu Yang's pupils shrank sharply, his face darkening to its most venomous extreme; he made no reply, instead suppressing his qi.

"Brother?"

The voice came again, but Lu Yang still did not respond; though he had no proof, he was certain now that the content of his Primordial Dao Scripture was flawed.

"I've been burned by experience—I never suspected it before."

"The Joyful Palace and the Mending Peak are closely linked; its techniques should involve dual-cultivation, yet the Primordial Dao Scripture has nothing to do with it."

"I was deceived!"

"But why would he want to kill me? Though the Profound Heaven Sect is a demonic sect, it still has rules—private combat among formal disciples is strictly forbidden, and if discovered—"

At this thought, Lu Yang suddenly slapped his own head.

"How could I have believed the demonic sect's lies!"

"If discovered— if not discovered, then it's not private combat?"

The more Lu Yang thought, the darker his expression became; ultimately, it was habit—he had always fulfilled his duties as an introductory disciple.

Besides introducing him to the inner sect's conditions, he had also provided all the benefits due to inner sect disciples: talismans, pills, spirit beasts—everything, without holding back, leaving nothing out, especially at the Artifact Hall, where he even instructed the overseers to give him the very best.

Yet it was all an illusion!

Everything before was merely to lead up to the final step—handing him the Primordial Dao Scripture—to make him lower his guard and fully trust his kindness!

"Now I think about it, he may have planned to embezzle everything."

"After all, if I die, all the talismans, pills, and spirit beasts I acquired become his… no wonder he specifically insisted on the best ones!"

Monster!

Just then, the voice came again from outside the cave.

The next instant, a sharp "crack" echoed—the protective array around Lu Yang's cave exploded violently, its gate ripped apart by a blade of light!

The gate swung open; Liu Xin stepped in, robes fluttering.

Seeing Lu Yang, Liu Xin's face lit up with a harvest-like joy; he nodded in satisfaction: "Brother, you truly are a talent…"

Boom—

Before Liu Xin finished speaking, Lu Yang exploded.

Vast waves of Primordial True Qi, carrying the Bone Jade Sword, coalesced into a piercing blade of light, charging toward Liu Xin with unstoppable momentum.

Yet the next instant, the blade of light halted.

"Desperate struggle."

Liu Xin stood unmoving, merely forming a hand seal—Lu Yang's body instantly lost control, as if turned into a puppet.

"This Primordial Dao Scripture is a precious thing," Liu Xin laughed aloud at the sight: "A cultivator can transform flesh and soul into Primordial Qi—useful as medicine, useful for forging artifacts, even useful for boosting cultivation. With this wonder, I may finally reach the late Qi Refining stage!"

"You've died a worthy death, Brother, if you can help me break through."

As he spoke, Liu Xin changed his hand seal—Lu Yang immediately felt his consciousness fading, as if being forcibly erased.

In that moment, Lu Yang's mind lit up:

"This is the second half of the Primordial Dao Scripture!"

"The first half is a trap for cultivators; the second half is the true method—waiting for others to cultivate the first half, then using them as a vessel!"

It is less a cultivation scripture than a forging technique.

Not forging artifacts from objects, but from people—forcing the cultivator to forge himself, while the true master hides in the shadows, saving effort and time.

Called a Dao Scripture, but in truth, a demonic art!

"You're impressive—I'll let you have this lifetime."

Thinking this, Lu Yang ceased resisting entirely, allowing his consciousness to fade; after the shock and fury, he now felt calm, detached.

"One setback, one lesson—you fooled me once, but I have countless lifetimes left."

"I'll remember this grudge!"

The next instant, Lu Yang's consciousness plunged into darkness.

In the void, only the sound of turning pages remained, whispering softly.

【You were forged by Liu Xin, your consciousness erased, fully transformed into Primordial True Qi—you died.】

【Current remaining pages of the Hundred Lifetimes Book: 98】

【Reincarnating this lifetime, you may choose one of the following gains from your past life:】

One: Artifact.

Two: Cultivation.

Three: Lifespan.

Four: Forfeit all gains to randomly awaken a talent based on your past life's experiences.

"The person whose name is called, step forward."

The familiar voice came from the stage; Lu Yang clenched his teeth to suppress his emotions, refusing to look up, focusing instead on the panel before him.

Artifact. Cultivation. Lifespan.

If he could, Lu Yang would have chosen cultivation—but he feared being noticed, unable to explain where his sudden power came from.

As for lifespan—he dismissed it outright.

"So I can only choose an artifact, then…"

Lu Yang frowned; the only artifact he truly possessed was his Bone Jade Sword—but without cultivation, even a talisman was useless.

At that moment, Lu Yang's gaze suddenly froze.

For just now, the Hundred Lifetimes Book had given him a response.

"Could this… also count as an artifact?"

Lu Yang was first stunned, then wore a thoughtful expression, and finally gritted his teeth to make a decision: choose one, retain a treasure obtained in his past life.

The next second, an abnormality erupted!

Without alerting anyone, all the abnormalities were confined within Lu Yang's dantian; tracing their source, it was clearly a wisp of misty, steaming white Qi.

Innate True Qi!

The Innate True Qi that Lu Yang had refined in his past life after dissolving his five viscera and six bowels, skin, flesh, bones, and tendons, actually counted as a treasure, and now he had exchanged it!

"Unbelievable," Lu Yang lowered his eyelids, hiding the joy in his eyes.

It was because he discovered that he could not only manipulate this wisp of Innate True Qi as easily as moving his own limbs, but even cast spells from his past life through it!

"Under normal circumstances, this should be impossible."

"Because to manipulate Innate True Qi, one must use the secret method of the lower body. But I am different, because this wisp of Innate True Qi is myself!"

The two were originally one; for Lu Yang, it was equivalent to having a clone at the Qi Refining first layer.

"Moreover, before I died in my past life, I heard Liu Xin say that after this Innate True Qi is made into medicine, it can assist in breaking through the realm. This wisp of True Qi will be of great use in the future!"

After organizing his gains, Lu Yang began his actions for this life.

First, he was still assigned to the Harmony Hall.

Then, he would thoroughly kill Yu Suzhen.

However, this time, to avoid drawing attention, Lu Yang did not use Senior Sister Yu's primordial yin to break through the Qi Refining realm; instead, he fed it all to the Innate True Qi.

"In this life, I will play it safe and not be reckless!"

As expected, Liu Xin, who was guarding the door, saw that Lu Yang had not broken through after drawing from Yu Suzhen, and immediately lost interest in Lu Yang.

Immediately after, Lu Yang began to wait patiently.

Ten-plus days later, a disciple named "Qin Yu" in the Harmony Hall broke through; seeing Liu Xin rush over upon hearing the news, Lu Yang watched him happily take Qin Yu away.

A few more days passed, and Liu Xin announced he was entering seclusion; the senior brother responsible for guiding disciples was replaced by another.

But Lu Yang still did not show his face.

"Who knows what kind of person this new senior brother is; what if he is just like Liu Xin... Hmm, I'd better not be the one sticking my head out."

"To be safe, I'll wait another month."

Just like that, another half-month passed, until another outer sect disciple broke through from Qi Refining to advance to inner sect and remained safe and sound; only then did Lu Yang choose to break through.

With the support of the Innate True Qi, Lu Yang actually did not need dual cultivation to break through.

However, to avoid drawing attention, he still casually found a few outer sect disciples to draw from.

And this time, the formal disciple responsible for guiding him was much more perfunctory, showing none of Liu Xin's enthusiasm, and even displaying a hint of disdain in his expression.

"This is the Library Pavilion."

After collecting his benefits, the other person led him to a pavilion and casually said, "Take the token and go in; use your contribution points to exchange for whatever technique you want."

Having finished speaking, the other person immediately strode away.

However, seeing this, Lu Yang felt greatly relieved; small people have the benefits of being small people; the visitor not taking him seriously actually suited his intentions perfectly.

Thinking of this, Lu Yang turned his head again to look at the distant Sky-Mending Peak.

"Liu Xin... Hmph!"

A few days ago, Liu Xin emerged from seclusion, formally broke through to the late stage of Qi Refining, and even became a direct disciple of the Sky-Mending Peak master; he was currently riding high on success.

Lu Yang let out a cold snort, withdrew his gaze, and strode into the Library Pavilion.

Although he had the intention to take revenge, he was too weak now and lacked power, so the urgent task was still to cultivate hard; everything could be dealt with after becoming strong.

A gentleman's revenge is never too late, even after ten years.

A temporary measure; no need to rush in the moment!

(End of this chapter)