Primordial Primordial-Breath Divine Talisman

After a long while, Lu Yang held a yellowed talisman paper between his fingers, studying it with great interest.

After refining Liu Xin into a Banner Spirit, Lu Yang had him recount his entire life in detail, including how he had schemed Chen Xin'an to death and how he had avoided the deductions of a Foundation Establishment True Person.

"Primordial Primordial-Breath Divine Talisman?"

"It is precisely this talisman." Liu Xin prostrated himself and kowtowed. "This talisman was left behind by the Primordial Daoist. As long as one carries it, one can evade karmic deductions."

Lu Yang nodded in satisfaction, then lightly shook the Ten Thousand Spirit Banner again. This time, a handsome young man in black robes descended from the banner. The newcomer froze when he saw Lu Yang, then looked at Liu Xin, who had already become a Banner Spirit. His body immediately began to tremble.

"Ha. Hahaha! So you have this day too!"

Chen Xin'an threw back his head and laughed, then looked at Liu Xin. "I thought you were already utterly useless. I never expected your uselessness to surpass even my imagination."

"Refined by someone else into a Banner Spirit?"

"How did you manage that?"

"..." Faced with Chen Xin'an's mockery, Liu Xin merely lowered his head, with no intention of answering at all. Only then did Chen Xin'an turn to Lu Yang.

"As expected of a disciple of our Sacred Sect." Chen Xin'an opened with praise, clapping his hands and laughing. "Junior Brother, I do not ask that you release me for reincarnation. Since you killed Liu Xin, you have already avenged the hatred in my heart. How about this? I will give you a hidden treasure trove as repayment."

"I am now a Banner Spirit as well. You can naturally see whether I speak truth or lies."

"That hidden treasure trove lies on an island deep within the Cloud Sea, called Gourd Island. Your cultivation is still too low; it would be best for you to go after reaching Qi Refining Great Perfection—"

"No need."

Lu Yang showed not the slightest hint of interest. He shook his head indifferently. "Senior Brother Chen, we are all Sacred Sect disciples. Why put on such an act?"

"...Junior Brother, you have truly misunderstood me."

Chen Xin'an let out a faint sigh. "Although most Sacred Sect disciples do not care for the bonds between fellow disciples, we always repay kindness and are absolutely not heartless, unrighteous villains."

"Quit gilding your own face." Lu Yang cut Chen Xin'an off without hesitation, sneering. "Where are there any good people among Sacred Sect disciples? Of those who survive, every last one of them is a bad person! Senior Brother Chen, do not waste your breath. I will not go to your hidden treasure trove."

Lu Yang was deeply wary of this True Disciple senior brother.

If there truly was some hidden treasure trove, why had Liu Xin, who had held the Ten Thousand Spirit Banner for so many years, not gone after it? Nine times out of ten, he had also feared Chen Xin'an turning the tables and becoming the master.

This man had too deep a background and unfathomable methods. He was completely different from the likes of Liu Xin. Even as a Banner Spirit, he could not be trusted completely.

Chen Xin'an's expression changed slightly. "Then why did you summon me? What exactly do you intend?"

"Just conducting an experiment."

Lu Yang's tone was calm, but Chen Xin'an heard danger within it and hurriedly said, "Wait, wait. I also know where there is a Foundation Establishment opportunity."

Boom!

The next second, Lu Yang did not hesitate in the slightest. Ignoring the so-called Foundation Establishment opportunity, he directly scattered Chen Xin'an's true spirit that had been refined into the Ten Thousand Spirit Banner.

"No—!"

"The Peak Master of Heaven Mending targeted me so much in my previous life. In this life, I will beat his son to death first to vent my anger. After a few more lives, once I achieve Foundation Establishment, I will go beat him to death too!"

Lu Yang's face was calm.

With the Hundred Lives Book in his possession, his Dao Heart was incomparably steadfast, unyielding despite a hundred twists and turns. No matter how powerful his opponent was, he had the confidence that he would ultimately defeat them.

As for a Foundation Establishment opportunity, what a coincidence—he knew of one too!

Chen Xin'an's aura completely dissipated, his soul scattered and vanished. Lu Yang then put away the Ten Thousand Spirit Banner, tidied up the scene, and began waiting in silence.

Before long, Mending Heaven Peak shook violently!

A familiar pressure descended, as though Mount Tai had fallen upon him. Lu Yang immediately put on a terrified expression. He knew very well what it was.

It was the gaze of a Foundation Establishment True Person.

Clearly, after he had completely killed Chen Xin'an, he had alerted the Peak Master of Heaven Mending. The other party had probably already begun using karma to deduce the murderer.

Under normal circumstances, he should have been discovered the very next second.

Lu Yang waited in his cave dwelling for half an hour, yet even after the oppressive feeling vanished, the Peak Master of Heaven Mending still did not appear before him.

"...It really works!"

He could not calculate it!

Lu Yang kept his expression composed, but inwardly he laughed. With this verification, he could finally cultivate the Nine Transformations Dragon Art without worry in this life.

Afterward, Lu Yang repeated the methods from his previous lives.

First, he speculated on Death Substitute Puppets to earn Contribution Points, then he speculated on Yun Miaoqing to conceal his Sword Art and Sword Pellet, before purchasing a large quantity of spirit pills and entering seclusion to cultivate.

Ten years later.

In the blink of an eye, generation after generation of disciples rose and fell. The storms stirred up in the past had returned to calm, and the Sacred Sect's development continued steadily upward.

Only today seemed to carry a few more differences.

Heaven and earth resonated together. Lu Yang's cave dwelling, where he cultivated in seclusion, seemed to become a vortex as boundless Spiritual Qi surged in from all directions like floodwaters bursting through a broken dam.

"This is... a heavenly phenomenon!?"

"A senior brother has condensed a Qi Seed and broken through to the Qi Refining Late Stage!"

Even in the First Saint Sect, those at the Qi Refining Late Stage counted as high-ranking beasts of burden. They would no longer be casually treated as mere manpower and could be said to possess a certain degree of autonomy.

Thus, within Mending Heaven Peak, when those disciples who busied themselves daily for their livelihoods saw the heavenly phenomenon manifested by Lu Yang's breakthrough, though they could not help but marvel, hidden beneath it was even stronger envy, jealousy, and even resentful hatred of why it was not them.

At the same time, Lu Yang opened his eyes within the cave dwelling.

In an instant, it was as though a streak of white lightning flashed through the dim quiet chamber, brilliant and piercing!

"The term bottleneck truly lived up to its name."

Lu Yang's cultivation speed in this life was the same as in his previous life. In merely three years, he had reached the Qi Refining Sixth Layer, the peak of the middle stage, only to waste seven years at the bottleneck.

That was because he had broken through to the Qi Refining Late Stage once before and had experience.

Otherwise, the time would likely have stretched even longer. It was easy to imagine why so many cultivators were stuck at this step, unable to advance even a single inch for their entire lives.

Having just broken through, Lu Yang did not rush to leave seclusion. Instead, he sat quietly for another three days, only rising after he had completely mastered the changes in his true qi, physique, and Spiritual Sense.

He opened the Hundred Lives Book's panel:

Name: Lu Yang

Age: 28

Cultivation: Qi Refining Seventh Layer (Late Stage), Ninth Grade Formation Master

Talent: Dual Cultivation Prodigy (White), Has Some Skills (Purple)

Cultivation method: Nine Transformations Dragon Art (Seventh Layer)

Divine Abilities: Divine Firmament Sword Control Art (Minor Mastery), Secret Explanation of Array Treasures (Mastered), Life-Killing Curse (Mastered,) Heavenly Demon Blood-Dissolving Divine Light (Mastered), Breath Concealment Art (Mastered)

Treasures: Blood Sun Sword Pellet (Superior Dharma Treasure), Primordial Breath Ten Thousand Spirit Banner (Superior Dharma Treasure)

Hundred Lives Book Pages: 95

Though both were at the Qi Refining Late Stage, Lu Yang in this life was far stronger than he had been two lives ago. Their true qi was not even on the same level. If they truly fought, it would be a ten-to-zero slaughter.

Especially after mastering the Heavenly Demon Blood-Dissolving Divine Light and pairing it with the Blood-Washing Heavenly River Sword Formation Map, even if his opponents were likewise at the Qi Refining Late Stage, once they were enveloped by his formation, unless they knew his information extremely well and had prepared methods beforehand to counter the Heavenly Demon Blood-Dissolving Divine Light, they would still be walking a dead-end road.

"Still, it is not safe enough."

The Heavenly Demon Blood-Dissolving Divine Light was indeed powerful, but it was only a divine ability that ordinary disciples could find. Who knew what formidable divine abilities those True Disciples possessed?

"True Disciples... I wonder whether I will have a chance?"

Anticipation appeared on Lu Yang's face. With the Divine Talisman concealing karma in this life, his identity was utterly clean. Generally speaking, he would be an easy target for recruitment.

After all, even to a Foundation Establishment True Person, a Qi Refining Late Stage cultivator was a decent servant.

Moreover, unlike two lives ago, he had not transformed into a blood shadow, and his immortal path had not been severed. No matter how one looked at it, he should have some investment value.

Thus, Lu Yang had long since made up his mind.

If any Foundation Establishment master extended an olive branch, even if it were the Peak Master of Heaven Mending, he would not refuse. He would take the benefits first; grudges could wait until the next life.

There was gold beneath a man's knees—today was precisely the day to cash it in!