Chapter 80: Listening to the Silent

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

It was precisely because of this that he could perceive it.

"I wonder which senior is present?"

Lu Yang cupped his fists, staring straight at the statue before him; in his eyes, hidden within the red wax carving was clearly a wisp of a Foundation Establishment soul!

Yet the statue offered no response, merely continuing in its own way: "Violate the unity of my sect, and ten thousand deaths cannot redeem you!"

As the words fell, he saw it step forward and vanish in an instant; the distance between it and Lu Yang was traversed in a single stride, its five fingers closing as it raised a fist to smash down!

Seeing this, Lu Yang neither dodged nor avoided, but likewise punched out.

Witnessing this scene, the black-robed Daoist Priest's heart instantly filled with great joy.

This ancestral statue was no ordinary object, but a treasure for guarding one's body and protecting the Dao that only those holding high positions within the Listening to the Silent Sect, like himself, could obtain.

Normally, keeping it on one's person could greatly slow the speed at which one was devoured by witch-ghosts; in times of necessity, one could also summon the ancestral true spirit as now to suppress enemies—do not be fooled by its red wax form, for a single punch was enough to split mountains and crack stones, far beyond what any mortal flesh could withstand.

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

Boom!

The next second, a tremendous explosion rang out between Lu Yang and the statue, rolling shockwaves sweeping in all directions, after which Lu Yang's body directly shattered apart.

Whoosh—whoosh!

Clouds rose and fell, qi scattered and gathered, surging white smoke churning and boiling; after quickly creating distance from the statue, it soon re-condensed into Lu Yang's form once more.

"What kind of thing is this!?"

The black-robed Daoist Priest stared in dumbfounded shock, clearly stunned by Lu Yang's trick of gathering and scattering without constancy, and the look in his eyes as he gazed at Lu Yang grew ever more wary.

On the other side, Lu Yang wore a face full of admiration.

"What a magnificent statue."

Amid his admiration, he also concluded in his heart: this so-called Listening to the Silent Sect was most likely the handiwork left behind by some Foundation Establishment cultivator from the Witch-Ghost Path who had reincarnated!

"I knew it—a centipede dies but does not topple; since the Witch-Ghost Path was not completely eradicated, it must have retained some powerful contingency plans. Although judging by the outcome I saw in my previous life, this contingency plan mostly failed, it remains a colossal entity to me."

While Lu Yang was pondering, the statue charged again.

It struck out with a fist once more; Lu Yang likewise raised his fist in response, yet he was still beaten back step by step, forced to dissolve his body again and re-condense his form in the distance.

"Not a match..."

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

"... owever, if you can call for backup, can't I?"

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

Crack!

A fissure opened behind Lu Yang's head, from which surged magnificent golden light, eventually transforming into a massive hand heavier than mountains that reached out!

Outside the Secret Realm, Lu Yang's main body had made its move!

The golden light hand spread its five fingers; at the center of its palm was clearly an array densely covered in bloody light. It slapped downward, instantly engulfing the statue within the array.

"Blood-Washing Heavenly River Sword Array Diagram, activate!"

With a pinch of Lu Yang's technique seal, a mournful blood rain immediately began to fall within the array; every drop of blood rain seemed like a sharp sword light, slashing down toward the statue.

"Junior, how dare you!"

The statue stood aloof and majestic, ten thousand ghosts roaring around it, utterly fearless; the wisp of Foundation Establishment soul within it also regained clarity, then sent a voice transmission:

"A mere Seventh Grade array cannot do anything to this seat."

"Which sect and school do you belong to? If you can save this seat and get me out, this seat will surely reward you heavily; if you have the intention, come to the main altar of the Listening to the Silent Sect to meet me..."

"Senior seems to have misunderstood."

Outside the Secret Realm, Lu Yang's main body gave a cold smile: "The array was not meant to deal with you, senior, but merely to temporarily trap you to prevent your escape."

"... hat?"

The next second, outside the array, the 'Sage Aspect' employed by Lu Yang's main body suddenly moved; the golden light hand gripped the great array, the status of the Sage Thief was driven to its utmost, then it forcefully clapped its palms together, just like using an eraser to wipe away a line of text from a book, instantly erasing everything within its palm.

When the golden light hand opened again, the statue had already been crushed into powder.

Only a wisp of residual radiance remained, seized in the hand of Lu Yang's Primordial One Qi avatar; it was clearly the divine technique light of 【Xuan Ming Prefecture Lord's Position of Capturing the Nether】.

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

After all, this hand of his had already reached into the Secret Realm; with Golden Core sword qi present, it could not be withdrawn, so keeping it was a waste—it could simply grow back anyway.

Immediately after, Lu Yang manipulated his avatar to retrieve 【Xuan Ming Prefecture Lord's Position of Capturing the Nether】; after examining it carefully for a moment, he sighed with some regret: "Still incomplete—at most one percent. Well, that makes sense; this statue is clearly a mass-produced item, so it couldn't possibly bear too powerful a divine technique."

Just as Lu Yang sighed, the black-robed Daoist Priest beside him went mad.

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

"You dare destroy my sect's ancestral statue?"

Hearing this, Lu Yang raised an eyebrow: "So that one was the Listening to the Silent Ancestor... A Foundation Establishment cultivator can truly survive, reincarnating consecutively and dragging out a lingering existence for over a thousand years?"

The black-robed Daoist Priest paid no heed whatsoever to Lu Yang's words; the Listening to the Silent Sect was deeply rooted in the Secret Realm, revered by the multitude, and now that the ancestral statue was destroyed, it felt to him as though his faith had been desecrated, causing him to instantly lose all reason: "Destroying the ancestral statue, my sect will surely not let you off in the future!"

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

Seeing this, Lu Yang gave a cold smile: "At this point, it is I who will not let you off!"

With that, he flicked his wide sleeve, and his Primordial True Qi formed a massive hand that seized the black-robed Daoist Priest, then slapped him down onto the ground, crushing both man and ghost into dust.

However, Lu Yang did not leave immediately afterward, but waited patiently for a moment.

Soon, the yin qi in this place gathered once more, and a brand-new black-clad ghost manifested, clearly the witch-ghost 'Name-Drop-Fall' that he had just smashed!

Lu Yang observed the entire process of the witch-ghost's revival, clicking his tongue in wonder: "Just as I thought, this is the reason the Witch-Ghost Path has managed to drag out a lingering existence until now..."

Witch-ghosts cannot be killed!

The Witch-Ghost Secret Realm was deeply rooted, almost bound to the earth veins beneath Skeleton Mountain, internal and external merging into one, thereby forming a sealed cyclical system.

After a witch-ghost died, it turned into yin qi, merging into the earth veins; then the yin qi within the earth veins re-condensed into a witch-ghost, entering the Secret Realm, thus achieving a form of immortality and indestructibility in another sense. To break this, one would either have to uproot the Secret Realm along with the earth veins of Skeleton Mountain entirely, or cause the Secret Realm to emerge voluntarily.

The latter was Daoist Yinshan's method, simply because no one would ever do the former.

It was not that it could not be done, but that it would not be done, because uprooting the earth veins caused extreme damage to merit, which would directly affect one's future reincarnation and samsara.

One must know that Golden Core True Persons are not immortal either.

When their lifespan ended, they too had to reincarnate and cultivate anew; if one committed too many acts that depleted merit, one would inevitably encounter even more tribulations after reincarnating.

"So that is why this strand of Golden Core sword qi remained in the Secret Realm, choosing to boil the frog slowly rather than flipping the table directly."

"From this perspective, my act of containing ghostly entities is actually inadvisable, as it will gradually lead to the yin qi of the earth veins beneath Skeleton Mountain being drained dry..."

"... ut, so what?"

Lu Yang reached out and grabbed; the newly revived black-clad ghost was thrown by him into the Myriad Souls Banner, completely unconcerned about whether it would affect the earth veins of Skeleton Mountain.

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

Being lower in this life just leaves room for improvement in the next.

(End of Chapter)