Divine Martial Sect

At dusk, inside Blood Garment Pavilion.

The setting sun was like blood. As another circulation of his cultivation came to an end, Lu Yang slowly refined the spiritual qi of heaven and earth into his dantian, then transformed it into true qi that flowed through his limbs and hundred bones.

The qi coursed through his meridians like a dragon returning to the sea.

"Soon. As long as I cultivate the final Flying Fish Transformation and unite all nine transformations into one, I can completely forge the Third-Rank True Qi, 'True Dragon Sha,' of the Nine Transformations Dragon Art."

"By the time I cultivate True Dragon Sha, it should also be about time for the Righteous-Demonic War to begin. The timing will be perfect, allowing me to contend for Skull Mountain's Foundation Establishment opportunity in my strongest state. Only a Foundation Establishment opportunity is worth my risking my life for. Everything else is illusion."

Having finished his cultivation for the day, Lu Yang walked out of the quiet chamber.

Outside the chamber, a woman with a proud figure and sharp brows had been waiting for quite some time. Upon seeing Lu Yang, she immediately stepped forward and handed him a jade slip.

"Dao Brother, today's movements of the Corpse Tide have arrived."

Lu Yang accepted the jade slip and smiled faintly. "Many thanks, Daoist Yun."

This woman was none other than Yun Miaoqing.

She had originally been a disciple of the Jade Pivot Sword Pavilion. Although Lu Yang had long since learned the Divine Firmament Sword Control Art, he had still bought her due to the bond from his previous life.

To be fair, his original intention had simply been that the two of them had, after all, cultivated together in his previous life. So long as it did not interfere with his own affairs, he did not mind doing a good deed and lending Yun Miaoqing a hand. Following him was better than being bought by another Sacred Sect Disciple and used as a cauldron until she was plundered into a human wreck.

Yet he had not expected that decision to bring him an unexpected surprise.

Perhaps because they had not cultivated together in this life, and instead treated one another with respect while he focused solely on bitter cultivation, Yun Miaoqing's fondness for him had actually grown greatly.

"Dao Brother, you are a good person. Why remain in the Primordial Saint Demon Sect?"

Yun Miaoqing walked to Lu Yang's side and said softly, "The Corpse Tide is erupting right now. Why not feign your death and return to the righteous path with me at the Sword Pavilion?"

As she spoke, Yun Miaoqing looked at Lu Yang, affection hidden within her beautiful eyes.

When she had been at her most desperate and helpless, the person before her had rescued her from the Sea of Suffering. Not only had he left her utterly untouched, he had even given her a place to stay.

Though born in the Demonic Sect, he was a modest gentleman.

Not to mention that over the past ten years, she had watched him grow step by step into what he was today. His cultivation was high, his talent was formidable, and most importantly, he was handsome as well.

If he could enter the Sword Pavilion, perhaps he could be with her—

As she thought on, a flush abruptly rose on Yun Miaoqing's pretty face. No one knew what she had thought of.

Seeing her like this, Lu Yang could not help recalling how, in several of her previous lives, she had worn an unbending expression and shouted "demon" at him. He found it rather amusing.

Of course, he had no interest in the affairs between men and women.

What truly caught his attention was that Yun Miaoqing seemed to hold no lowly status within the Jade Pivot Sword Pavilion. She even claimed that, so long as she recommended him, the Sword Pavilion would certainly accept him.

"Cultivating in the Sacred Sect is like walking on thin ice. If possible, I would still like to go to a sect with better values."

Yun Miaoqing might be the stepping stone for his future defection to the righteous path.

"How are Senior Sister Feixia and the others?"

"Those demonic cultivators were still wreaking havoc through the Corpse Tide at Jueyin Ridge several days ago. A mysterious expert also intervened, but Senior Sister and the others repelled them, then pursued them."

Yun Miaoqing handed over another jade slip.

Lu Yang took the jade slip. With a sweep of his divine sense, all the scenes from the day of the incident immediately appeared in his mind.

"So that's how it is. It seems there really was a mastermind behind the Corpse Tide's premature eruption. Disciples of the Divine Martial Sect? And the strange treasure they used to catalyze the Corpse Tide—"

At this point, Lu Yang suddenly froze, then abruptly rose to his feet.

"The Mysterious Female Yin Jade!?"

Indeed, the intelligence clearly showed that the mastermind behind the Corpse Tide's eruption—the Divine Martial Sect disciples—possessed a thumb-sized Mysterious Female Yin Jade!

"If I can obtain this jade, I can immediately cultivate the Mysterious Yin Form-Capturing Great Art. Given time, even the True Method of Yin-Transformation Corpse-Dissolution would no longer be a dream. Considering how rare this jade is, this may be my only opportunity in this life. If I give it up, I may very well miss it forever."

"But if it cannot be done in this life, then I'll speak of it in the next. If I miss it, then I miss it!"

Lu Yang's expression darkened as he sat back down. Though he had unexpectedly discovered the Greater Yin jade he had long dreamed of, he did not feel the slightest joy.

He only felt bone-piercing cold, his heart filled with vigilance.

"Whatever I want gets delivered right to my door? How could there be such luck beneath Heaven? It's not as though I'm a Son of Destiny like Xiao Shiye."

Moreover, Xiao Shiye's luck had been bestowed upon him by someone else!

"Could it be that Daoist Hongyun again?"

The moment he considered that a Foundation Establishment True Person might once again be manipulating Karma and scheming against him in the shadows, Lu Yang immediately made up his mind.

"I'm not going out!"

The situation at Skull Mountain was now unfathomable. Staying within the Marketplace to preside over the formation was safest. So long as no Foundation Establishment True Person made a move, he would stand as steady as Mount Tai.

"Besides, not going out does not mean I have no chance of obtaining the jade."

Were Fairy Feixia and the others not still there?

After all, the intelligence said they had pursued them. So long as they could seize the jade and escape back to the Marketplace, would his opportunity not arrive?

At that thought, Lu Yang could not help cheering Fairy Feixia on from the bottom of his heart.

Time flew by.

Another day, inside Blood Garment Pavilion.

Lu Yang was sitting in meditation and refining qi when he suddenly sensed something. He immediately rode a streak of escaping light outside the building, gazing into the distance toward the outskirts of the Marketplace.

"Rumble!"

In the distant sky, thunderous explosions accompanied expanding clouds of blasts, rapidly spreading toward the Marketplace from the horizon. It was clearly a pursuit through the air, and at the very front was Fairy Feixia's highly distinctive rainbow-cloud escaping light.

"One less?"

Lu Yang raised a brow. Including himself, Skull Mountain Market had four Qi Refining Late Stage cultivators: Fairy Feixia, Lu Yuanchun, and one unnamed senior brother.

Yet at this moment, Lu Yang could see only Fairy Feixia and Lu Yuanchun.

"Raise the formation."

Unhurried, Lu Yang gave the order. The Sacred Sect disciples within the Marketplace immediately spread out, formation flags fluttering as a majestic formation rose in an instant.

The Hundred-Skeleton Return-to-Truth Formation!

This formation ranked at the seventh grade and was a top-tier formation at the Qi Refining level. With Lu Yang presiding over it, he could fight even a Qi Refining Great Perfection cultivator.

Yet in the next moment, an unexpected change erupted!

Lu Yuanchun suddenly took out a Token and activated it with a hand seal. He actually opened the formation, which had originally been sealed shut, creating a gap.

"Now!"

Almost at the same time, an ecstatic shout rang out from beyond the Marketplace. Several streaks of spiritual light then shot forth, transforming into formation flags that spread in every direction.

Immediately afterward, a miniature formation appeared over the gap Lu Yuanchun had opened, locking it in place so firmly that even Lu Yang could not close it!

"The Divine Martial Sect."

Lu Yang frowned slightly and immediately recognized the party that had acted. The Divine Martial Sect had clearly been lying in ambush outside the Marketplace for a long time, waiting for precisely such an opportunity.

Now that the formation had been forcibly pried open with a gap, the Divine Martial Sect could use it to slaughter their way into the Marketplace!

As for Lu Yuanchun, the chief culprit behind all this, he merely cast a cold glance at the Marketplace before rising on escaping light and leaving in the opposite direction!

He clearly understood what he had done, but he did not care. In fact, he had done it deliberately, treating the Marketplace as an abandoned pawn so that he could escape alive. After all, to the Divine Martial Sect, rather than continuing to pursue him, it was better to seize this excellent opportunity to wipe out Skull Mountain Market in one stroke.

As for his Sacred Sect fellow disciples within the Marketplace?

They could count themselves unlucky!