Chapter 94: Reconciliation

"Apologies, Senior. I am not a disciple of the Holy Sect."

Facing Master Master Chongguang's inquiry, Lu Yang shook his head and said, "I am merely a rogue cultivator with decent luck who obtained an ancient inheritance from the Witch-Ghost Path."

"Oh?"

Upon hearing this, Master Master Chongguang immediately furrowed his brows, his originally amiable expression gradually shifting.

However, the next second, Lu Yang changed his tune:

"Nevertheless, I am quite willing to join the Holy Sect; I can also leave a copy of the Witch-Ghost Path inheritance for the Sect as my greeting gift."

At these words, Master Master Chongguang immediately relaxed his brow:

"Hahaha, why must Fellow Daoist be so polite?"

It seems this True Person made many enemies in the Holy Sect in his previous life, to the point that after reincarnating, he wished to cut ties with his past self and avoid bearing the karmic consequences of that life.

Thinking thus, Master Master Chongguang immediately calmed down; after all, there were quite a few True Persons in the Holy Sect who cut ties with their past lives and pretended to be novices, so it was nothing rare. He laughed heartily and said, "If Fellow Daoist is willing to join our Sect, we naturally welcome you. What are your intentions?"

"I wish to guard the Northern Frontier."

Lu Yang said without hesitation, "As I have just joined the Holy Sect, I wish to guard Skull Mountain, resisting the Shenwu Sect from the north, and only return to the Holy Sect to report once the matter is settled."

"Good!"

Master Master Chongguang nodded in satisfaction, his gaze upon Lu Yang growing even more appreciative: "In that case, we shall follow Fellow Daoist's wishes."

To be honest, he did not care at all about Lu Yang's true identity.

Although he was convinced in his heart that there was over a ninety percent chance Lu Yang was a True Person from the Holy Sect, it did not matter even if he was not; the key point was the value Lu Yang demonstrated.

Whether he was useful to the Holy Sect.

As long as he was useful, everyone was willing to turn a blind eye to many things.

By voluntarily proposing to "guard the Northern Frontier," Lu Yang was undoubtedly demonstrating his value; this attitude was precisely what satisfied Master Master Chongguang.

'There's no doubt about it; he must be a True Person from our Holy Sect reincarnated.'

At the same time, seeing Master Master Chongguang agree so readily, Lu Yang also breathed a sigh of relief; after all, with his current cultivation base, he truly did not dare to return to the Holy Sect.

Although both Master Master Chongguang and Senior Senior Butian were convinced he was a reincarnated True Person, Lu Yang knew very well that his so-called reincarnated identity would not withstand scrutiny; if he alarmed the Golden Core True Monarchs within the Holy Sect and one swept their gaze over him, he would definitely be exposed, and then he would have no choice but to start over.

Therefore, this outcome was good for everyone.

Just then, the void beside Master Master Chongguang split open, and a man in black robes walked out; it was none other than Daoist Yinshan, whom Lu Yang knew well.

"Yinshan?" Master Master Chongguang asked in surprise, "What brings you here?"

"Let me make a fool of myself before my senior brother."

Daoist Yinshan first glanced at Lu Yang, then cupped his fists and said, "Fellow Daoist, I am Yinshan. I have come with an immodest request."

"These eight hundred li of Skull Mountain were once refined by the Witch-Ghost Path; its earth veins are extremely special, connecting to the Witch-Ghost Secret Realm. Nourished by thousands of witches and ghosts for a thousand years, it should have produced a 【Heavenly Corpse Fiend】. This object resides in the Earth Fiend position, belonging to 【Zhi Xu】. It concerns my cultivation, so I beg Fellow Daoist to part with it out of kindness."

At these words, Master Master Chongguang's expression immediately changed slightly.

Lu Yang was stunned for a moment, then quickly realized this was the thing Daoist Yinshan had plotted endlessly to obtain from the Secret Realm in his previous life.

Does it concern the cultivation of a Foundation Establishment True Person?

Upon hearing this, Lu Yang sensed the earth veins of Skull Mountain and indeed saw a stream of Yellow Spring Qi at the depths of the veins, extremely yin and soft, turbid and unfathomable.

Is this the 【Heavenly Corpse Fiend】?

Regarding the cultivation of Foundation Establishment True Persons, the Witch-Ghost Path inheritance also contained an overview, but since the inheritance was too vast, Lu Yang had not yet had time to study it in detail.

Thinking thus, Lu Yang mentally noted the item while smiling, "This matter is simple; I can decide to give it to Fellow Daoist. However, this object lies deep within the earth veins and cannot be moved lightly; it must be slowly extracted... roughly, it will take about thirty years to refine one strand."

"It does not matter." Daoist Yinshan immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

A mere thirty years was but the snap of a finger; as long as he could rely on the 【Heavenly Corpse Fiend】 to break through to the Mid Stage of Foundation Establishment, this amount of time meant nothing to him.

"Good!"

Seeing this, Master Master Chongguang was also overjoyed and transmitted his voice privately, "Thank you, Fellow Daoist, for assisting Yinshan. After this matter, you need not worry about Senior Butian anymore."

The implication was that he would mediate peace for Lu Yang.

Although in Lu Yang's view, he did not need to worry about the threat from Senior Senior Butian for the next thirty to fifty years; by the time Senior Senior Butian recovered from his injuries, he would have long since reached Foundation Establishment.

However, since Master Master Chongguang had offered this favor, he naturally could not refuse to accept it, so he immediately cupped his fists in thanks.

For a moment, host and guest were all delighted.

Afterwards, the three chatted freely for a long time before Master Master Chongguang took Senior Senior Butian and left, while Lu Yang returned to his loyal Skull Mountain Market.

"A familiar place..."

Lu Yang transformed into a streak of light, directly selecting the Blood Robe Tower from his previous life as his place for closed-door cultivation; his vast spiritual sense swept across the entire market in an instant.

Feeling his spiritual sense, the entire market immediately became fervent.

"Greetings, True Person!"

Countless people bowed respectfully one after another, their voices carrying both reverence and fanaticism; Lu Yang even spotted a woman of peerless beauty among them.

'She has come too? So early?'

Lu Yang's expression turned strange, for the woman standing out like a crane among chickens in the crowd was none other than Immortal Feixia, who had shared a deep connection with him in his previous life.

Her expression was cold as ice and frost, seeming to offer no kindness to anyone.

However, Lu Yang knew that once one peeled away that cold exterior and entered her heart, one could fully experience the warmth beneath her chill.

"..."

Withdrawing his gaze, Lu Yang had no thought of rekindling an old romance; rather, in his previous life, it had been a relationship of mutual benefit, and they had parted on good terms.

In this life, he had more important matters to attend to.

Thinking thus, Lu Yang immediately waved his hand to dismiss the crowd, then selected a quiet chamber, shook the Myriad Souls Banner, and summoned his Dharma Protector Goddess, Su Nu.

"Your servant greets Master."

"Kneel."

At Lu Yang's command, Su Nu immediately lowered her plump figure, prostrating herself fully; her tight outer garment outlined a graceful curve upon her body.

However, Lu Yang paid no attention to the magnificent scenery of rolling peaks before him; instead, he focused wholeheartedly on studying Su Nu's Dharma Body, for after refining this Dharma Protector, he had immediately thrown her into battle, leaving him no time to comprehend many of her profound mysteries, which required deep study.

"A Dharma Protector can bear karmic consequences on one's behalf."

With a thought, Lu Yang packaged all the remaining thoughts left by Patriarch Tingyou and the entire Witch-Ghost Path inheritance, then directly tossed them to Su Nu.

The next second, Lu Yang looked up at the sky.

Originally, by accepting the inheritance, he had formed karmic ties with the Witch-Ghost Path, and even with that Golden Core True Monarch far away at the edge of the sky; however, now the karma had transferred.

It had landed upon Su Nu.

"Come to think of it, the karma of the Witch-Ghost Path is not as terrifying as I imagined; otherwise, that True Monarch from the Sword Pavilion would have long since slapped me to death with a single palm."

Lu Yang pondered in his heart, "It stands to reason; the Witch-Ghost Path is merely a Foundation Establishment lineage. What truly made that True Monarch hesitant was only Patriarch Tingyou himself. Now that Patriarch Tingyou is dead, I am but a small figure, and my Dharma Protector Su Nu has her path severed; how could I attract the True Monarch's attention?"

At most, it would only attract karmic targeting from that strand of sword qi.

However, in this life, the sword qi has already scattered; even if carrying the karma of the Witch-Ghost Path might attract targeting from the sword qi, that would be a matter for the next life.

Moreover, even so, he had a method to deal with it.

"Once I use the Book of Hundred Lives to start over and choose something, my cultivation base, talent, and even treasures will not be traced back to any karma!"

Lu Yang had personally tested this point long ago; cultivation base obtained through the Book of Hundred Lives, no matter who tried to deduce it or how, all karmic ties would end on the first day he started over—no cause, no effect, and impossible to trace; all karmic ties from previous lives would be cleansed by the Book of Hundred Lives after restarting.

Of course, this applied only to the parts chosen via the Book of Hundred Lives.

Cultivation base, treasures, talent.

For example, the 【Nine Transformations Dragon Art】; although after choosing cultivation base, no one could calculate where his cultivation came from, this technique itself would not be concealed.

The result was that he had nearly been locked onto by Senior Senior Butian immediately after restarting.

"If I can break through to Foundation Establishment in this life, then so be it; if not... in the next life, I will choose treasures!"

Thinking thus, Lu Yang looked at the Myriad Souls Banner in his hand; he planned to send the Dharma Protector, and even the thousands of witches and ghosts of the Witch-Ghost Path, into the Myriad Souls Banner.

Since it was named the Myriad Souls Banner, the true spirits on the banner should logically also be part of the magic treasure.

If so, perhaps he could use the power of the Book of Hundred Lives to cut ties with the Witch-Ghost Path while still keeping benefits like the 【Yanmo Hall】 for himself.

"Let's try first to see if it works."

"If it doesn't work, at worst, after restarting I will just hide within the Holy Sect and never go out; I refuse to believe that strand of sword qi could slash its way into the Holy Sect's Clouds Reaching the Sky!"

(End of Chapter)