Not Even a Little Is Up to Man

"It seemed the Foundation Establishment True Person behind the scenes had finally given up!"

Lu Yang raised his head to the sky. Only because he possessed the Primordial Primordial-Breath Divine Talisman, along with the experience of several lifetimes, could he vaguely sense the changes in Destiny.

This feeling of a lucid Dao Heart and skies broad as the sea was something he had not experienced in a very long time.

"Good, good!"

Discovering that the Foundation Establishment True Person was no longer plotting against him, Lu Yang immediately felt much more at ease. What pleased him even more was that another one of his projects had made great progress as well.

Lu Yang took out the Primordial Breath Ten Thousand Spirit Banner, then summoned his Primordial Breath Avatar.

The Ten Thousand Spirit Banner was very special. Though it contained a Mustard-Seed Space, only things related to the Primordial Dao Scripture, such as the Primordial Breath Avatar, could enter it.

As the Avatar entered, Lu Yang's vision suddenly blurred.

The next moment, a vast and boundless scroll slowly unfurled before Lu Yang's eyes. It resembled a picture-book series, with a Banner Spirit in every painting.

Each painting had its own merits. Some depicted mountain villages and riverside homes, some lonely overseas islands, some imperial palaces and forbidden cities, and some Heavenly Court immortal halls. Within every image, a Banner Spirit filled with unrestrained spiritual radiance moved about—eating, drinking, making merry, or sitting in meditation to cultivate—looking just like a living person.

Though he had seen this many times already, every sight of it still made Lu Yang sigh.

"These paintings are probably formed from the Banner Spirits' memories from when they were alive. Letting the Banner Spirits live inside the paintings to keep their consciousness and memories from dispersing... what an incredible Dharma treasure!"

With a thought from Lu Yang, the scenes in the paintings immediately changed.

All the Banner Spirits gathered in one place. The former scenes of mountain villages and the like turned into a gigantic factory and an assembly line.

At first, the Banner Spirits were still somewhat dazed.

However, Liu Xin, the strongest among the Banner Spirits, quickly regained his senses. He strode up to Lu Yang and respectfully said, "This subordinate greets Master."

"How is the work going?"

"Reporting to Master, we have produced one hundred and thirty-two Golden Light Talismans, one hundred and fifty-three Five Thunder Talismans, and two hundred and ten Sword Qi Talismans. Please inspect them, Master."

As soon as he finished speaking, Liu Xin lifted a thick stack of talismans and presented them to him.

"Well done, but..."

Lu Yang swept them with his spiritual sense and put the talismans away with satisfaction. Yet in the next instant, his face fell into a grim scowl. "...Who allowed you to let them go back and rest?"

Ever since he had exchanged talisman arts with Fairy Feixia, he had handed the production of these three low-grade talismans to the Banner Spirits inside the Ten Thousand Spirit Banner. The Banner Spirits should have been drawing talismans for him day and night, all year without rest. Yet when he came in to inspect the work just now, he found everyone resting.

How could this be allowed? They were defying Heaven!

As Banner Spirits, if they dared to rest today, what would they dare do tomorrow? He simply did not dare imagine it! This crooked trend had to be strangled in the cradle!

With that thought, Lu Yang narrowed his eyes and said in a low voice,

"Senior Brother Liu, I am very pleased that you managed to organize the Banner Spirits and produce so many talismans. But I very much dislike that you let all the Banner Spirits go rest."

"Reporting to Master, this subordinate had no choice."

Liu Xin hurriedly explained, "The art of drawing talismans requires a living person to use Dharma Power as the brush and spiritual wisdom as the ink. Yet Banner Spirits are people who seem alive but are truly dead."

"They may possess Dharma Power, but their spiritual wisdom diminishes with every use."

"If they draw talismans for too long without being allowed to sleep and recuperate, one day they will exhaust all their spiritual wisdom and vanish for no reason at all."

"So what?"

Lu Yang's reply left Liu Xin stunned.

"The Ten Thousand Spirit Banner lacks Banner Spirits least of all. If they work themselves until they vanish for no reason, all the better. I will simply get a new one back, and the efficiency will be higher."

"Oh, right. Dispersed Banner Spirits can also be used to feed other Banner Spirits."

"Since Banner Spirits can endure hardship, they can endure even more hardship."

"You Banner Spirits were born to work for me. Banner Spirits that cannot work for me have no value in existing, so let them disperse on their own."

Lu Yang spoke calmly, but Liu Xin listened with trembling fear.

Beast. What a beast!

Watching Lu Yang's use of the Ten Thousand Spirit Banner, Liu Xin felt that he himself was practically a great saint. In the past, he had actually only summoned the Banner Spirits during magical battles.

Lu Yang keenly sensed his emotions and smiled gently. "Senior Brother Liu, I trust you understand how fierce the competition among Banner Spirits is now. Frankly, if you and I did not share some fellowship as fellow disciples, I would never have let you take full charge of this matter. You ought to learn gratitude."

"Otherwise, think about it. Using this Banner Spirit is using one, and using that Banner Spirit is also using one. Why should I use you?"

"Is it not because you and I are fellow disciples? I owe what I have today to you as well. Rest assured, as long as you work earnestly, I certainly will not treat you unfairly."

Liu Xin: "..."

While Lu Yang was inspecting the work inside the Ten Thousand Spirit Banner, Yun Miaoqing was caught in a fierce inner struggle within another secret chamber of the Blood Garment Pavilion.

"How could this be..."

Her expression was impossible to read, neither joy nor shock. Around her neck, the token symbolizing her identity as a Jade Pivot Sword Pavilion disciple was emitting light.

This was Communication Spirit-Light!

As long as one circulated Dharma Power and touched it, one could communicate with the person on the other end of the spirit-light. Yet she had never imagined that her token possessed such a function!

But why had no one contacted her before?

The next moment, Yun Miaoqing heard a familiar voice ring by her ear. "Miaoqing? Good. You are not dead. It seems you still possess some Destiny."

"You are... Sister!?"

Yun Miaoqing's beautiful eyes widened in astonishment.

The reason she had extended an olive branch to Lu Yang earlier was, on one hand, because she trusted his character, and on the other, because she had ample confidence in her own background.

So long as Lu Yang was willing to turn from evil and return to righteousness, she could have the Sword Pavilion accept him.

This was because the Cloud Clan she belonged to had once produced a Sword Pavilion Sect Master, a Golden Core True Lord. Though the clan had declined now, it was still a great immortal lineage within the Sword Pavilion.

Yet she herself was not valued by the clan. The one truly valued was her elder sister—Yun Miaozhen, a Sword Pavilion true disciple who cultivated the Taiyi Golden Brilliance Dao Scripture. She devoted herself wholeheartedly to cultivation, even refusing medicinal pills that would force growth like pulling seedlings to help them grow. She was also one of the very few true disciples to cultivate a great divine ability while still at Qi Refining Late Stage.

Calling her a "favored daughter of Heaven" would not be an exaggeration in the slightest.

Yun Miaoqing and Yun Miaozhen—their names differed by only one character, and they were even biological sisters, yet their gifts and talents were as far apart as cloud and mud.

"Where are you now?"

The spirit-light gleamed as a cold voice emerged from it. "You were born with insufficient Destiny, which was why you suffered the calamity of falling into the Demon Sect. Now that it is complete, you should emerge from the Tribulation."

She could return to the Sword Pavilion?

Yun Miaoqing froze briefly, then boundless joy surged within her. She hurriedly said, "I am in the Blood Garment Pavilion at Skull Mountain Market. Sister, are you coming to pick me up?"

"The Blood Garment Pavilion?"

Yun Miaozhen paused slightly before saying, "Have you been plundered by that Blood Garment Pavilion Master? So be it. I will slay him for you, and it can count as your Merit reaching completion."

The moment she said this, Yun Miaoqing was stunned. She hastily replied, "Sister, you misunderstand. Though Dao Brother Lu comes from the Demonic Sect, he is not an evil man. On the contrary, his heart leans toward the righteous path, and his talent is exceptional. Rather than killing him, I think it would be better to persuade him to turn from evil and return to righteousness. He could also lend strength to the righteous path."

Before Yun Miaoqing could finish, a sharp rebuke directly interrupted her.

"Absurd!"

The next moment, outside Skull Mountain Market, a tall woman in a White Robe Crane Cloak suddenly crushed the jade talisman in her hand. Sword Light lay hidden within her beautiful eyes, and her heroic bearing was as valiant as it was graceful.

Beside the woman, a middle-aged man frowned. "What is it?"

"Miaoqing is already beyond saving!"

Yun Miaozhen shook her head and sighed. "She is pleading for that devil. I fear she has already sunk into the Tribulation and cannot pull herself free. She no longer has any hope of escaping the Tribulation."

"Then what does Junior Sister intend to do?"

"...Go to the Demon Sect Marketplace!"

As soon as she spoke, an inexplicable rage suddenly rose in Yun Miaozhen's heart.

Yun Miaoqing was her biological younger sister, and their appearances were seventy percent alike. Yet now she had been plundered by some devil. Would that scene not be as though she herself had also been...

At that thought, Yun Miaozhen felt discomfort all over her body and unconsciously drew her legs together.

Immediately afterward, killing intent flashed across her exquisite face. "That devil has beguiled my younger sister. Unless I personally slay him, my thoughts will never flow freely!"