Primordial Primordial-Breath Divine Talisman

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

After refining Liu Xin into a banner spirit, Lu Yang had him recount his life in detail, including how he had tricked Chen Xin'an to death and how he had evaded the deductions of a Foundation Establishment True Person.

"Primordial Primordial-Breath Divine Talisman?"

"That 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 Karma 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 upon seeing Lu Yang, then looked at Liu Xin, who had already become a banner spirit. His body immediately began to tremble.

"Ha. Hahaha! So you had 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 in reverse into a banner spirit?"

"How did you manage that?"

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

"As expected of a Sacred Sect Disciple." Chen Xin'an opened with praise, clapping his hands as he laughed. "Junior Brother, I do not ask you to release me so I may reincarnate. And since you killed Liu Xin, you have already avenged the great 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 through truth and falsehood."

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

"No need."

Lu Yang showed not the slightest interest at his words and shook his head coldly. "Senior Brother Chen, we are all Sacred Sect Disciples. Why put on an act?"

"...Junior Brother, you truly misunderstand me."

Chen Xin'an sighed faintly. "Though most Sacred Sect Disciples do not care for the bond between fellow disciples, we still repay kindness. We are by no means heartless, faithless villains."

"Stop gilding your own face." Lu Yang cut Chen Xin'an off without hesitation and sneered. "Where are there good people among Sacred Sect Disciples? Anyone who survives, every last one of them, is a bad person! Senior Brother Chen, do not waste your breath. I will not go to your hidden trove."

Lu Yang harbored deep wariness toward this true disciple senior brother.

If there really had been some hidden trove, why had Liu Xin, who had held the Ten Thousand Spirit Banner for so many years, not sought to claim it? Nine times out of ten, he had feared Chen Xin'an would turn guest into host!

This man had an unfathomable background and inscrutable methods, utterly unlike 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 want?"

"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 of a Foundation Establishment opportunity."

Boom!

The next second, Lu Yang did not hesitate in the slightest. Disregarding 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—!"

"Mending Heaven Peak's master targeted me so fiercely in his previous life. In this life, I'll beat his son to death first to vent my anger. After a few more lives, once I achieve Foundation Establishment, I'll go beat him to death too!"

Lu Yang's face was utterly calm.

With the Hundred Lives Book in hand, his Dao Heart was incomparably firm, unyielding despite a hundred setbacks. No matter how powerful his opponent, he was confident 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 spirit destroyed. Lu Yang then put away the Ten Thousand Spirit Banner, tidied the scene, and began waiting in silence.

Before long, Mending Heaven Peak shook violently!

That familiar oppressive feeling descended, as though Mount Tai had fallen upon him. Lu Yang immediately put on a terrified expression. He knew exactly what it was.

It was the gaze of a Foundation Establishment True Person.

Clearly, after he had completely slain Chen Xin'an, he had alerted the Peak Master of Heaven Mending. The other party had likely begun deducing the culprit through Karma.

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

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

"...It really worked!"

He could not calculate it!

Lu Yang kept his expression unchanged, 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 operations of 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 large quantities of spirit pills and entering secluded cultivation.

Ten years later.

In the blink of an eye, generations of disciples had risen and fallen. The various storms once stirred up had returned to calm, and the Sacred Sect's development still remained steadily favorable.

Only today seemed to carry a few more differences.

Heaven and earth resounded in harmony. Lu Yang's cave dwelling, where he cultivated in seclusion, seemed to have become a vortex as boundless Spiritual Qi surged in from every direction like floodwaters bursting through a broken dam.

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

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

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

Thus, within Mending Heaven Peak, when those disciples who ran about busily for their daily livelihood saw the heavenly phenomenon manifested by Lu Yang's breakthrough, they could not help but be astonished. Yet beneath that astonishment lurked even stronger envy, jealousy, and even furious resentment over 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 meditation 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 Qi Refining Sixth Layer, the peak of the middle stage, only to spend seven years stumbling at the bottleneck.

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

Otherwise, the time would likely have been even longer. One could imagine why so many cultivators were stuck at this step, unable to advance even an inch throughout their entire lives.

Having just broken through, Lu Yang did not rush to leave seclusion. Instead, he sat quietly for another Three Suns, only rising after he had fully grasped 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 Array Master

Talent: Dual Cultivation Prodigy (White), A Bit Capable (Purple)

Cultivation Method: Nine Transformations Dragon Art (Seventh Layer)

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

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

Hundred Lives Book Pages: 95

Both were at Qi Refining Late Stage, but 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 against another Qi Refining Late Stage cultivator, once he enveloped them with the formation, they would still be heading down a dead road unless they knew his abilities extremely well and had prepared means to counter the Heavenly Demon Blood-Dissolving Divine Light in advance.

"Still, it is not safe enough."

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

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

Expectation appeared on Lu Yang's face. With the Divine Talisman concealing Karma in this life, his identity was as clean as clear water. 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 made for a decent servant.

What was more, unlike two lives ago, he had not transformed into a blood shadow, nor had his immortal path been severed. No matter how one looked at it, he should possess some investment value.

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

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

A man's knees bore gold—today was precisely the time to cash it in!