Chapter 80: Listening to the Dark

Gazing at the lifelike red wax statue, Lu Yang's interest grew even greater; in his past life, he had spent a full ten years researching the soul of a Foundation Establishment True Person.

Precisely because of this, he could tell.

"I wonder which senior elder is present?"

Lu Yang cupped his hands in salute, staring directly at the statue before him; in his eyes, a wisp of a Foundation Establishment soul was clearly hidden within the red wax-carved statue!

However, the statue did not respond, merely continuing as before: "Those who violate our sect's dominion deserve ten thousand deaths and cannot atone!"

As the words fell, he saw him take a step forward, vanishing in an instant; the distance between him and Lu Yang was actually crossed in that single step, his five fingers closing into a fist as he smashed down!

Seeing this, Lu Yang neither dodged nor avoided, striking out with a fist of his own.

Witnessing this scene, the black-robed Taoist immediately felt great joy in his heart.

This ancestral master statue was no ordinary object, but a treasure for guarding the body and protecting the Dao that only someone of his high status within the You Sect could obtain.

Carrying it on one's person during ordinary times could greatly slow the rate at which one was devoured by Witches and Ghosts; when necessary, one could also summon the ancestral master's true spirit as now to suppress enemies. Do not think it is merely a body of red wax; in reality, a single punch from it is enough to split mountains and crack stones, absolutely impossible for a mortal body to withstand.

Therefore, in his view, Lu Yang was seeking his own death.

Boom!

The next second, a loud explosion rang out between Lu Yang and the statue, rolling waves of qi sweeping in all directions; immediately after, Lu Yang's body directly disintegrated.

Whoosh—whoosh—!

Clouds rose and fell, qi scattered and gathered; rolling white smoke churned and boiled, quickly moving away from the statue before rapidly recondensing into Lu Yang's form.

"What is this thing!?"

The black-robed Taoist stood dumbfounded, clearly shocked by Lu Yang's ability to gather and scatter at will; his gaze toward Lu Yang became even more wary.

On the other side, Lu Yang was full of admiration.

"What a magnificent statue."

Amidst his admiration, he also concluded in his heart: this so-called You Sect was, with nine out of ten chances, a work left behind by a Foundation Establishment reincarnation of the Witch-Ghost Dao!

"I knew it; a centipede does not die easily even when dead. Since the Witch-Ghost Dao was not completely annihilated, it must have kept some powerful backhand. Although, judging by the results seen in the past life, this backhand was eighty percent likely to have failed, but for me, it is still a colossal force..."

While Lu Yang pondered, the statue had already attacked again.

Still striking with a fist, Lu Yang likewise raised his fist to respond, but was still beaten into a节节 retreat, forced to disintegrate once more and recondense his form in the distance.

"Not a match..."

Lu Yang sighed; this incarnation of Primordial One Qi specialized in martial arts, yet its physical body was inferior to the statue; with its greatest advantage gone, victory was naturally difficult to achieve.

"... However, if you can call for reinforcements, won't I?"

The next second, Lu Yang suddenly formed a hand seal.

Crack!

Lu Yang saw a fissure open behind his head, from which magnificent Jin Guang surged out; finally, it actually transformed into a massive hand weighing more than a mountain that reached out!

Outside the secret realm, Lu Yang's original body had acted!

The Jin Guang hand spread its five fingers; clearly visible in its palm was a formation covered in blood light, which slapped downward, instantly swallowing the statue into the formation.

"Blood-Washing Chen Tianhe Sword Array Diagram, rise!"

With Lu Yang forming the hand seal, a mournful blood rain immediately fell within the formation; every drop of blood rain seemed like a sharp sword light, slashing down toward the statue.

"Impudent junior!"

The statue stood solemnly, with ten thousand ghosts roaring around it, showing no fear; the wisp of Foundation Establishment soul within also regained clarity, immediately emitting a voice transmission:

"A mere seventh-grade formation cannot harm this seat."

"Which sect and school are you a disciple of? If you can save this seat from here, this seat will surely offer a heavy reward. If you have the heart, come to the You Sect's main headquarters and meet me..."

"Senior seems to have misunderstood."

Outside the secret realm, Lu Yang's original body smiled coldly: "The formation is not used to deal with the senior; it is merely to temporarily trap the senior to prevent you from escaping."

"... What?"

The next second, outside the formation, the 'Sage Form' cast by Lu Yang's original body moved with a boom; the Jin Guang hand gripped the great array, the status of the Sage Thief was driven to its extreme by him, then he forcefully clapped his palms together, just like using an eraser to wipe a line of text from a book, instantly erasing everything in his palm.

By the time the Jin Guang hand opened again, the statue had already been crushed into powder.

Only a remnant of light remained, caught in the hand of Lu Yang's Primordial One Qi incarnation; it was clearly the divine technique light of 【Xuan Ming Fu Jun Se You Wei】.

As for Lu Yang's original body, he simply severed his own arm.

After all, this hand had already reached into the secret realm; with Jin Dan sword qi present, it could not be withdrawn; keeping it was a waste, and besides, it could grow back anyway.

Immediately after, Lu Yang controlled the incarnation to retrieve 【Xuan Ming Fu Jun Se You Wei】; after examining it carefully for a moment, he sighed regretfully: "It is still incomplete; at most one percent. Yes, this statue looks like a mass-produced item; it is impossible for it to be attached with too powerful a divine technique."

While Lu Yang sighed, the black-robed Taoist beside him went mad.

He saw him staring blankly at the statue crushed by Lu Yang; only after a long while did he come to his senses, his eyes looking at Lu Yang instantly turning blood-red:

"You dare destroy our sect's ancestral master statue?"

Hearing this, Lu Yang raised an eyebrow: "So that one was the You Sect's Ancestral Master... Foundation Establishment can truly live on, undergoing consecutive reincarnations, barely surviving for over a thousand years?"

The black-robed Taoist completely ignored Lu Yang's words; the You Sect was deeply rooted in the secret realm, revered by the masses. Now that the ancestral master statue was destroyed, it was as if his faith had been blasphemed for him; he immediately lost his reason: "Destroying the ancestral master statue, our sect will certainly not let you off in the future!"

Before the words had even finished, he roared and lunged toward Lu Yang.

Seeing this, Lu Yang smiled coldly: "At this point, it is I who will not let you off!"

With these words, he waved his large sleeve; Primordial True Qi transformed into a massive hand that seized the black-robed Taoist, then slammed him onto the ground, crushing both man and ghost into powder.

However, Lu Yang did not leave immediately afterward; instead, he waited patiently for a moment.

Soon, he saw the yin qi in this place recondense; a brand new black-clothed ghost emerged, clearly the Witch-Ghost 'Hu Ming Luo' he had just smashed!

Lu Yang observed the entire process of the Witch-Ghost's revival, exclaiming in wonder: "As expected, this is the reason the Witch-Ghost Dao has been able to barely survive until now..."

Witch-Ghosts cannot be killed!

The Witch-Ghost secret realm is deeply rooted, almost bound to the earth veins beneath Skeleton Mountain, forming a seamless whole inside and out, thereby creating a sealed circulation system.

After a Witch-Ghost dies, it turns into yin qi and merges into the earth veins; then the yin qi within the earth veins recondenses into a Witch-Ghost, entering the secret realm, thus achieving a form of immortality in another sense. To break this, one must either uproot the secret realm along with the Skeleton Mountain earth veins, or force the secret realm to emerge voluntarily.

The latter is the method of the True Person of Yin Mountain, simply because no one would ever do the former.

It is not that it cannot be done, but that it will not be done, for uprooting the earth veins by the roots damages merit greatly and will directly affect future reincarnation.

One must know that a Jin Dan True Lord is not immortal either.

When their lifespan ends, they too must reincarnate and cultivate anew; if they have done too many things that deplete merit, they will inevitably encounter more tribulations after reincarnation.

"That is why this Jin Dan sword qi remained in the secret realm, choosing to boil the frog in warm water rather than flipping the table outright."

"From this perspective, my act of containing ghostly creatures is actually undesirable; it will gradually drain the yin qi of the earth veins beneath Skeleton Mountain."

"However, what does it matter?"

Lu Yang reached out and grabbed the just-revived black-clad ghost, casting it into the Ten Thousand Spirits Banner, paying no heed at all to whether it would affect the earth veins of Skeleton Mountain.

Merit? If there is none, then there is none.

If this life is lower, there will be room for improvement in the next life.

(End of this chapter)