Chapter 60

Time flies, years pass like a shuttle.

In the blink of an eye, another thirty years had passed.

When Lu Yang opened his eyes again, though his face showed no sign of aging, a strand of white frost had appeared amid his once-thick black hair.

"In the blink of an eye, I'm already eighty years old."

Though Qi Condensation cultivators live longer than ordinary mortals, their lifespan is only one hundred and fifty years—not much longer—and at eighty, one is already past middle age.

In another twenty years, Zhao Xuhe's Steal the Heavenly Mechanism will unlock.

"Though I have no hope of Foundation Establishment in this life, once I perfect the Saint's Theft, I can attempt Foundation Establishment outright, accumulating experience ahead of time."

The Dao lies before me, the Dao lies before me.

Even the Great Yin Transformation and Corpse Liberation True Method, after thirty years of seclusion and study, he had successfully devised a clever shortcut using the Mingdao Jade Slip.

"To truly cultivate the Great Yin Transformation and Corpse Liberation True Method, one must experience 'death, then transformation'—but if I die, the Hundred Lifetimes Book will reset; yet this 'death' isn't absolute—the Great Yin Transformation and Corpse Liberation True Method cannot truly kill its cultivator."

"The so-called 'death' is limited to the physical body."

"After the physical body dies, its form is refined underground; nails and hair continue to grow, the corpse remains lifelike, and over time, the Dao is achieved. But for others, once the body dies, it is truly dead."

"After all, the body is the raft for the soul; once the body dies, the soul gradually dissipates—death is merely a matter of time."

"Conversely, if I cause the body to die while keeping the soul conscious and unperishing, I will not trigger the Hundred Lifetimes Book."

"In this way, perhaps the opportunity for 'death, then transformation' may arise."

This was the solution offered by the Mingdao Jade Slip; Lu Yang judged its feasibility high, the only problem being the clever method he had devised for it.

"Although the Mingdao Jade Slip's calculations suggest this method can stabilize the soul after the body's death, I have never seen a soul that can truly exist apart from the body. If I could observe one, record it with the Mingdao Jade Slip, gather data, then the method would be complete."

More importantly, Lu Yang knew such beings existed in this world.

Foundation Establishment True Persons!

Foundation Establishment True Persons have a heavenly lifespan of three hundred years—but this is merely the lifespan of the physical body; their soul's lifespan far exceeds it, so they often choose reincarnation after death.

Though after reincarnation, a Foundation Establishment True Person must start over and their cultivation drops back to Foundation Establishment, they are free of the fetal amnesia—before age eight, they inevitably awaken memories of past lives, and thereafter their cultivation advances by leaps and bounds; once they reclaim Foundation Establishment, they regain their three-hundred-year heavenly lifespan.

Of course, this cannot continue indefinitely.

Each reincarnation erodes one's spiritual merit; if a Foundation Establishment True Person's Dao cultivation does not advance, they will grow weaker with each life.

The first reincarnation is inevitably a child of heaven.

The second reincarnation still makes one a dragon among men.

The third reincarnation turns one into an ordinary genius.

By the fourth or fifth life—if the Foundation Establishment True Person's cultivation has not improved—they will vanish entirely into mediocrity, no longer transcending the ordinary.

This is what is meant: the True Person's fruit is severed after five lives.

Moreover, reincarnation does not guarantee a return to Foundation Establishment; once a True Person reincarnates, if they cannot suppress their destiny, past karmic debts will come rushing in.

Accidentally dying prematurely is entirely normal.

Thus every True Person is extremely cautious when reincarnating, concealing heavenly mechanisms and rarely revealing their plans to outsiders, lest they invite karmic calamities.

Under these circumstances, how difficult is it to encounter the reincarnated soul of a Foundation Establishment True Person?

Thinking of this, Lu Yang's head throbbed again; he reluctantly set it aside and turned to calculating whether his Dharma Transmission project had made progress.

"Taiwei Treasure Scroll, decree: Heavenly Pardon."

Lu Yang pinched his fingers and chanted the incantation; the Taiwei Treasure Scroll divined heavenly mechanisms, and his spirit swiftly sank into the omnipresent web of cosmic karma, initiating keyword search.

Soon, relevant information surfaced in his mind:

"At the end of the Da Zhou Dynasty, the tyrant ruled unjustly, and living beings suffered; thus a heavenly book emerged, divided into four scrolls, scattered across the mortal realm, instantly stirring all hidden dragons to rise."

"When the chaos ended, the four scrolls found their owners: one held by the Haoran Academy, copied generation after generation by scholars; one acquired by the Suspended Temple, becoming the highest Buddhist scripture; one annotated by the Tian Shi Mansion, becoming the sacred relic of successive Tian Shis; only the final scroll vanished into the mortal world, its whereabouts unknown."

Dao, Buddhism, Confucianism—the three schools divided the world, the source of today's martial Dao!

"Excellent! Excellent!"

Lu Yang's face lit up with surprise; instantly, he activated the Saint's Theft, and the next moment, a vast tide of destiny surged toward him, instantly submerging his body.

In an instant, Lu Yang's body exploded violently.

Yet miraculously, the exploded body did not turn to blood and flesh—it became countless fine dust particles, and Lu Yang's consciousness resided at the very center of the dust.

He could feel that every speck of his physical dust was now being scorched and refined by destiny.

The smoke and fire of the mortal world refines the Saint's Golden Body!

Thus passed much time, until the vast tide of destiny was fully consumed, and the dust reassembled, reforming Lu Yang's physical form.

Yet this time, his body had undergone a radical transformation.

"Saint's Theft: Golden Body, Minor Completion!"

A flash of sharp light passed through Lu Yang's eyes; he lifted his foot and stomped—immediately, a terrifying ripple of force erupted, shaking the mountains!

Under the shockwave, the cliffside cave where Lu Yang had secluded himself seemed to shudder as if the earth dragon had turned; boulders tumbled down, as if an invisible storm raged; countless ferocious birds and beasts turned their gaze toward Lu Yang's cultivation peak, then fled in panic.

"... Feels good."

Lu Yang exhaled deeply; for the first time, he felt a sense of "solidity" in his body—he could now match a Qi Condensation late-stage cultivator purely through physical strength.

Yet the next instant, his expression turned grave.

"According to Brother Luo's experience, the Saint's Theft feeds on all mortals, severely depleting merit; minor completion can still be concealed, but full completion will inevitably summon calamity."

"Many who cultivate the Saint's Theft fail precisely because of this calamity—those lucky survive with their lives; those unlucky, like the true disciple killed by the secret realm's natives, die outright—but now I operate from behind the scenes; who in the secret realm could become my calamity?"

At this thought, Lu Yang fell into deep contemplation.

Jiangnan, Yu Shu Yushu Jiange.

Yun Zhiqiu stood atop a pavilion; compared to his vigorous vigor sixty years ago, he now looked like an old man on the verge of death.

At that moment, a flying letter pierced through the air.

Yun Zhiqiu caught the letter, glanced at it, and his face turned drastically pale; he immediately launched a teleportation light, and soon arrived at the Yun family ancestral home.

No sooner had he entered the gate than a youth with a pale, desolate expression came out; upon seeing Yun Zhiqiu, he burst into tears and cried, "Ancestor True Person is on his last breath! To see you once more, he has already lit the Seven-Star Lamp. When the lamp goes out, he will inevitably be reborn. There is little time left—please go in and see him at once!"

"How could this be!" Upon hearing this, Yun Zhiqiu's face immediately filled with sorrow.

Besides that, there was panic.

The Yun Family Ancestor, the only Foundation Establishment True Person in the Yun Family, the pillar of the Yun Family in the Yushu Jiange for hundreds of years, had actually reached the end of this life!

(End of this chapter)