The blast of light was like a tidal wave of pure annihilation. In an instant, it shredded Fairy Qingchen's formation and swallowed Lü Yang, Liu Xin, and Chen Xin'an whole.
Liu Xin screamed first. To deal with Lü Yang, he had expended most of his true energy, summoning banner spirits and finally Chen Xin'an. He had nothing left to resist the explosion. His body ignited, then dissolved into ash. The Primordial Qi Myriad Spirit Banner tumbled helplessly from his grasp.
"As expected of a disciple from my Holy Sect."
With Liu Xin dead, Chen Xin'an, though he still had some strength, could no longer maintain his form. He sighed once, then dissipated with the wind.
As for Lü Yang, he was directly consumed by the light, vanishing without a trace.
After a while, the boiling radiance gradually faded, revealing Xiao Shiye's figure, his face alight with fierce joy.
"I won!"
Xiao Shiye laughed excitedly. Self-destructing a spirit treasure was his ultimate trump card, but it came with severe limitations—easy for enemies to evade, requiring area restriction to guarantee a hit.
Moreover, the explosive power was dispersed over a wide area, not concentrated. The enemy needed to be sufficiently weakened first to ensure a kill.
Finally, the spirit treasure had its own consciousness and might not cooperate with self-destruction.
"Luck is still on my side!"
Since joining the Primal Sacred Sect, Xiao Shiye felt his luck had been incredible—everything went his way, as if aided by divine providence.
He was lucky with the Substitute Puppet, selling it at its peak for hundreds of thousands of contribution points.
A casual trip to the mortal world yielded a spirit treasure left by an ancient expert.
Being chased, he stumbled upon Lü Yang as a shield.
No matter the crisis, he always escaped unscathed, and through a series of coincidences, emerged unharmed with the greatest benefits.
"What a magnificent Myriad Spirits Banner! From now on, it's mine!"
Xiao Shiye stepped forward to claim the treasure. At the same moment, a figure shrouded in blood-red light appeared beside him, also reaching for the banner.
Xiao Shiye froze. Then his entire body began to tremble.
"What, Junior Brother Xiao, you want this magic treasure too?"
The blood shadow rippled, slowly resolving into Lü Yang's face. He turned and grinned at Xiao Shiye, whose trembling intensified.
Are you human or a ghost?
Xiao Shiye's face turned deathly pale. He looked at the Blood-Transforming Divine Light enveloping Lü Yang, and images flashed through his mind of the group earlier drained into desiccated corpses.
The next second, he hurriedly released his grip on the banner and bowed deeply.
"Congratulations, Senior Brother! This Myriad Spirit Banner was merely kept safe by me for you. Now it returns to its rightful owner!"
"Thank you for your kindness."
Lü Yang smiled, accepted the Primordial Qi Myriad Spirit Banner, examined it briefly, then channeled magic power into it. Two storage bags tumbled out—Liu Xin's and Fairy Qingchen's.
Opening them, he immediately saw a copy of the Primordial Daoist Scripture and another book, Secret Explanations of Formations and Treasures, clearly belonging to Fairy Qingchen.
"These are good finds."
Lü Yang memorized the contents of both books, then glanced at Xiao Shiye, who was retreating step by step, trying to put distance between them.
To be fair, Xiao Shiye's killing move had been unexpected.
A self-destructing spirit treasure—even a Qi Refining Great Perfection cultivator might die to such an explosion. It was theoretically a certain kill.
But Lü Yang was an exception among exceptions.
Because he cultivated the Heavenly Demon Blood-Transforming Divine Light.
In his blood shadow form, he was an empty vessel—having form but no substance. His true spirit resided entirely within the sword pellet. As long as the sword pellet remained intact, he would not die.
Faced with Xiao Shiye's spirit treasure self-destruction, the sword pellet—forged from Golden Essence and Jade Marrow—was far sturdier than a mere physical body. It wasn't completely unscathed, but it didn't vanish entirely. So once the explosion subsided, Lü Yang was able to revert to his original form and seize the greatest advantage.
Thinking this, Lü Yang found Xiao Shiye incredibly pleasing to the eye.
He hadn't misjudged him. This Xiao Shiye was truly a talent! Without him, how could he have reaped such a bountiful harvest?
"I must sincerely thank Junior Brother Xiao this time."
"To express my gratitude, Senior Brother will now send you on your way."
Lü Yang chuckled, then waved his hand. A beam of blood-red light fell upon Xiao Shiye, draining his life force before he could utter a word.
This man was too dangerous to keep alive.
With luck this strong, what if he gained power later and came for revenge? Better to eliminate him completely, severing the root of future trouble.
"But he died just like that?" Lü Yang looked at Xiao Shiye's corpse, stroking his chin in surprise. "With the fortune of a chosen one, shouldn't a benefactor have appeared at this moment to stop me? I was even prepared for that. I didn't expect it to be so… simple."
A thought stirred in Lü Yang's mind. He used his Qi Observation technique to look at Xiao Shiye again.
A strange scene appeared.
Previously, when he looked at Xiao Shiye, the man radiated dazzling light, as if blessed by heaven itself. Now, all that light had vanished without a trace.
An inexplicable thought arose in Lü Yang's mind:
This man's luck has run out.
"Sigh…"
A sigh suddenly echoed the next second.
Lü Yang looked up at the sky. His expression froze in the instant before astonishment could surface—all his thoughts and ideas solidified in that moment.
A figure appeared before Xiao Shiye's corpse.
The man wore a cloak of crane feathers and gently fanned himself with a feather fan, appearing elegant and unrestrained—like a handsome scholar on a spring outing.
Yet with his arrival, the entire world seemed to lose its color. Only the space he occupied became the center of all things, concentrating the world's fortune, blessings, wealth, and even destiny itself. He was heaven's favored, inspiring envy and resentment in all who saw him.
"Is this all you've gained?"
The newcomer beckoned. The Primordial Daoist Scripture and the Primordial Qi Myriad Spirit Banner, which Lü Yang had just secured, flew out of his storage bag and into the man's hand.
Just then, a voice rang out: "Hongyun, you've emerged from seclusion?"
The Daoist named "Hongyun" looked up, seemingly meeting someone's gaze, and chuckled lightly. "What choice do I have? The person I chose died unexpectedly."
The voice sounded surprised. "Died? Your chosen one can die? What happened?"
"It's laughable, really. It was just… bad luck."
"I gave him so much fortune, intending for him to go to the Merit Pond to catch that multicolored koi. But too many variables appeared, exhausting his luck prematurely."
"When luck runs out, death is inevitable."
After speaking, Daoist Hongyun weighed the Primordial Daoist Scripture in his hand, shook his head, casually put it away, then glanced at Lü Yang beside him.
"This one is quite interesting."
Daoist Hongyun calculated with his fingers, his smile widening. "He's a major variable. The recent turmoil around the Substitute Yin Puppets seems connected to him."
"Hmm… His background is clean. But why would a mortal have fourth-level Qi Refining cultivation at the very start? Deliberately hiding it? A rogue cultivator with a master? That's fine. But wait—he learned the Divine Firmament Sword Control Art even before entering the sect? Could he be a spy from the Jade Pivot Sword Pavilion?"
The more Daoist Hongyun calculated, the more interested he became.
Aside from the Book of a Hundred Lifetimes, all of Lü Yang's secrets were deduced and laid bare by Daoist Hongyun' meticulous analysis. Finally, he frowned.
"…He cultivates the Heavenly Demon Blood-Transforming Divine Light?"
The next second, the interest in Daoist Hongyun's eyes vanished rapidly, replaced by a look of "disappointment."
His body has transformed into a blood shadow. His path to immortality is severed. Such a cultivator was naturally no longer worth his attention, and certainly not qualified to be the next "Chosen One."
"What a pity about that multicolored koi in the Merit Pond. I didn't catch it this time. Looks like I'll have to wait for the next opportunity."
Master Hongyun withdrew his gaze, took a step forward, and vanished—like an angler who had run out of bait, leaving empty-handed.
Only Lü Yang remained standing there, drenched in cold sweat.