Hongyun's Startling Fright

The exploding Precious Light was like towering, sky-swallowing waves, instantly tearing apart the formation Fairy Qingchen had laid down before engulfing Lu Yang, Liu Xin, and Chen Xin'an.

Liu Xin was the first to scream. To deal with Lu Yang, he had successively summoned the Banner Spirit, and finally invited Chen Xin'an out, consuming more than half his true qi. At this moment, he had no strength left to withstand the blast. His body ignited in an instant, then turned to ashes, while the Ten Thousand Spirit Banner in his hand fell helplessly through the air.

"Worthy of being a Sacred Sect Disciple."

With Liu Xin dead, although Chen Xin'an still had some strength left to hold on, he could no longer maintain his own existence. He could only let out a long sigh before scattering away with the wind.

As for Lu Yang, he was swallowed directly by the Precious Light and vanished into nothingness.

Only after quite some time did the boiling Precious Light gradually subside, revealing Xiao Shiye's figure, his face brimming with wild delight.

"I won!"

Xiao Shiye laughed excitedly. Self-detonating a Spiritual Treasure was indeed his trump card, but it came with many limitations and was very easily avoided.

To kill an enemy with this move, he first needed to restrict the battlefield and ensure the strike landed.

Second, the explosion's power could not be concentrated. Its range was vast, but it was too scattered, so the enemy had to be worn down to a certain extent before one strike could guarantee victory.

Lastly, Spiritual Treasures possessed self-awareness and might refuse to cooperate with a self-detonation.

"Thank goodness, luck is still on my side!"

Xiao Shiye felt that ever since joining the First Saint Sect, it was as though his fortunes had turned. Whatever he wanted, he got; whatever he did, divine aid seemed to guide him.

When trading Death Substitute Puppets, his luck had been so good that he sold at the very peak, making a bloody profit of hundreds of thousands of Contribution Points.

On a casual trip to the mortal world, he had effortlessly stumbled upon magical treasures left behind by predecessors.

When being hunted down, he had happened to run into Lu Yang, the perfect shield.

No matter what crisis he encountered, he always emerged unharmed. Through a string of coincidences, he would ultimately claim the greatest benefits without a scratch.

"What a fine Ten Thousand Spirit Banner. From now on, it's mine."

Xiao Shiye was just about to step forward and claim the treasure when, almost at the same moment, a figure wreathed in Blood Light appeared beside him and reached out to seize the banner as well.

At the sight, Xiao Shiye froze. Then his entire body began to tremble.

"What, Brother Xiao? You want this magical treasure too?"

The blood shadow rippled, slowly revealing Lu Yang's face. He turned toward Xiao Shiye with a wide grin, frightening him into a violent shudder.

Are you human or ghost?

Xiao Shiye's face went deathly pale. As he looked at the Blood-Transforming Divine Light swirling around Lu Yang, the figures Lu Yang had previously sucked dry flashed rapidly through his mind.

The next second, he hurriedly released the Ten Thousand Spirit Banner and bowed respectfully.

"Congratulations, Senior Brother. This Ten Thousand Spirit Banner was only being kept safe by your junior brother. Now it returns to its rightful owner!"

"You have my thanks."

Smiling pleasantly, Lu Yang accepted the "Primordial Breath Ten Thousand Spirit Banner." After examining it for a moment, he poured Dharma Power into it and shook out two Storage Pouches.

They belonged to Liu Xin and Fairy Qingchen.

Upon opening the Storage Pouches, a "Primordial Dao Scripture" immediately came into view. Besides that, there was also a "Secret Explanation of Array Treasures," clearly belonging to Fairy Qingchen.

"They're both fine things."

Lu Yang sighed with feeling, firmly committing the contents of both Dao Books to memory. He then looked toward Xiao Shiye, who was slowly backing away, trying to widen the distance between them.

To be fair, Xiao Shiye's killing move truly had been unexpected.

A Spiritual Treasure self-detonating could potentially blow even someone at Qi Refining Great Perfection to death. In theory, it was an absolute kill. Yet Lu Yang was the exception among exceptions.

Because he cultivated the Heavenly Demon Blood-Dissolving Divine Light.

Having transformed into a blood shadow, he now merely possessed a human shape. He had form but no substance, while his true spirit was entirely entrusted to the Sword Pellet. So long as the Sword Pellet remained intact, he would not die.

And against Xiao Shiye's Spiritual Treasure self-detonation, the Sword Pellet forged from Gold Essence and Jade Marrow was far sturdier than a mere fleshly body. Though it had not emerged entirely unscathed, it had ultimately not been reduced to ashes. Thus, after the explosion passed, Lu Yang re-formed his body and reaped the greatest benefit.

At that thought, Lu Yang found Xiao Shiye exceedingly pleasing to the eye.

He truly had not misjudged him before. This Xiao Shiye really was a talent! Without him, how could Lu Yang possibly have gained such abundant rewards?

"I truly have to thank Junior Brother Xiao this time."

"To show my gratitude, Senior Brother will send you on your way now."

Lu Yang gave a soft laugh, then swept out his hand. A streak of Blood Light fell upon Xiao Shiye, and before he could say a word, it sucked him into a dried corpse.

Leaving this man alive would be too great a future danger.

With such outrageous luck, what if he rose to power later and returned to take revenge? It was more convenient to cut the grass and dig out the roots, ending everything once and for all.

"But he actually died just like that?" Lu Yang looked at Xiao Shiye's corpse, stroking his chin in surprise. "With luck like that of a Son of Destiny, shouldn't some benefactor have appeared right now to stop me? I even made preparations to deal with it. I didn't expect it to be so easy."

At that thought, Lu Yang's heart stirred. He used the Qi Observation Technique again and looked toward Xiao Shiye.

A strange scene appeared.

When he had looked at Xiao Shiye before, Precious Light had shot into the heavens. It had practically been Hongyun standing over his head. But now, when Lu Yang looked again, all that Precious Light had vanished into thin air.

Looking at this scene, an inexplicable thought arose in Lu Yang's heart:

This man's fortune had run out.

"Ah."

The next second, a sigh suddenly rang out.

Lu Yang raised his head and looked into the sky. His expression froze at the instant before shock could surface, and every thought in his mind was frozen in that moment.

At some unknown time, a figure had appeared before Xiao Shiye's corpse.

He wore a Crane Cloak, a smile playing about his lips as he lightly waved a Feather Fan. He was elegant and unrestrained, looking at first glance like nothing more than a handsome scholar out enjoying the spring.

Yet with his arrival, the entire world seemed to lose its color. Only the place where he stood became the center of all things, gathering all the blessings, wealth, and fortune between Heaven and earth. He was Heaven's favored child, making others unable to stop jealousy and resentment from welling up within them.

"Only this little harvest?"

The newcomer beckoned with one hand. The "Primordial Dao Scripture" Lu Yang had just put away, along with the Primordial Breath Ten Thousand Spirit Banner, flew out of the Storage Pouch and landed in his hand.

Just then, a voice abruptly sounded. "Hongyun, you've emerged from seclusion?"

The Daoist named "Hongyun" raised his head at the words, seeming to meet someone's gaze. He chuckled. "No helping it. The person I chose suddenly died."

The voice sounded somewhat surprised as well. "Died? Even your person could die? What happened?"

"It's laughable, really. His time and fortune were unfavorable."

"I gave him so much fortune because I intended for him to fish up that Colorful Fish from the Merit Pool. But there were too many Variables, causing his fortune to be exhausted ahead of time."

"With his fortune exhausted, death naturally came knocking."

After saying that, Daoist Hongyun weighed the "Primordial Dao Scripture" in his hand, shook his head, and casually put it away. He then looked toward Lu Yang nearby.

"This one, on the other hand, is rather interesting."

Daoist Hongyun pinched his fingers and calculated. The smile at his lips grew wider and wider. "What a great Variable this man is. The recent turmoil over Death Substitute Puppets seems to be connected to him."

"Mm, his background is clean beyond doubt. But why would a mortal possess Qi Refining Fourth Layer cultivation at the very beginning of his entry? He deliberately concealed it. It seems he was a Rogue Cultivator who studied under a master, which is no great matter. Wait, that's not right. He had already learned the Divine Firmament Sword Control Art before entering the sect? Could he be a spy from the Jade Pivot Sword Pavilion?"

The more Daoist Hongyun calculated, the greater the interest in his eyes became.

Other than the Hundred Lives Book, every one of Lu Yang's secrets was calculated through Karma by Daoist Hongyun and laid bare like silk being drawn from a cocoon, until at last his brow furrowed:

".Cultivated the Heavenly Demon Blood-Dissolving Divine Light?"

The next second, the interest in Daoist Hongyun's eyes rapidly faded, replaced by an expression of pure bad luck.

With his body transformed into a blood shadow, his Immortal path was already severed. Such a cultivator was naturally not worth expending further effort on, much less worthy of becoming the next "Son of Destiny."

"What a pity about that Colorful Fish in the Merit Pool. I failed to catch it this time. It seems I can only wait for next time."

Daoist Hongyun withdrew his gaze, then took a single step forward. Like an angler whose bait had run out and who could only leave empty-handed, he soon vanished without a trace.

Only Lu Yang remained standing where he was.

Sweat poured down like rain.