The landscape was picturesque, the setting sun like blood.
Lu Yang stood upon the sea of clouds. Only after a long while did he finally exhale in relief—no giant palm had descended from the heavens to obliterate him.
Was that… a Foundation Establishment True Person?
He didn't dare to murmur, only to think it in his heart, his expression extremely grave. The gap between them was simply too vast.
Not just his body, but even his mind had frozen solid. He only recovered after Daoist Hongyun had left. The feeling was like a mouse held in a cat's paw—it wasn't a difference in strength, but a difference in level. It instantly extinguished all the arrogance in Lu Yang's heart.
I'm still too weak. Too powerless.
Having just defeated Liu Xin and the others against overwhelming odds, Lu Yang had felt the gloom of his past life swept away, leaving only soaring spirits. Now, his mind was once again calm.
The path of immortality was long. He still needed to advance with caution.
Lu Yang sighed, then recalled Xiao Shiye's story. Fear returned to his eyes.
Luck… was actually bestowed by someone else?
Now he remembered.
Before heading to the Merit Pool, Xiao Shiye had said, "I've had a bit of good luck lately, so I wanted to take this chance to try my hand."
"A bit of good luck lately."
At the time, Lu Yang thought it was just the modesty of a chosen one. Now it seemed that might be the truth—he really had recently become lucky.
Because of that Lucky Daoist!
"The colorful fish in the Merit Pool must be the Colored Merit Fish. Lucky Daoist wanted to use Xiao Shiye to fish it out?"
"If so, then he succeeded in the previous life. But now that I think about it, after fishing out the Colored Merit Fish in his past life, Xiao Shiye announced he was going into seclusion… and then vanished without a trace."
Lu Yang shuddered.
Fishing… Once the fish is caught, is the bait useless?
With this thought, Lu Yang suddenly looked up.
The Primal Sacred Sect, reaching into the heavens above the sea of clouds.
To those elusive high-ranking figures of the Sacred Sect, were these so-called disciples nothing more than a pond of fish?
As expected of the Holy Sect.
Lu Yang took a deep breath, somewhat understanding why no one had killed him.
Even if a fish was thrashing a bit too much, or had some unspeakable secret… so what? They might even consider you talented!
"At least the secret of the [Book of a Hundred Lifetimes] wasn't exposed." Lu Yang was relieved. Moreover, the karma related to the Book seemed to have been concealed from True Person Hongyun to the point where the latter didn't even suspect why he had fourth-layer Qi Refining cultivation before even entering the sect.
"Let's not delay. Time to go back and eat."
Fortunately, although the Innate Dao Book was taken by Daoist Hongyun, Lu Yang had memorized the entire cultivation method beforehand.
This was a good habit Lu Yang had developed because of the [Book of a Hundred Lifetimes].
Whenever he encountered a good cultivation method or supernatural power, he would memorize it immediately so he could use it in his next life without spending contribution points to exchange for it.
Moreover, while Daoist Hongyun took the Innate Dao Book, he didn't take Fairy Qingchen's Secret Explanations of Formations and Treasures.
"Admittedly, the two aren't comparable. Fairy Qingchen's things are clearly beneath his notice, but they're extremely useful to me."
Actually, Lu Yang didn't value the Innate Dao Book much. His focus was already on Zhao Xuhe's third-grade true cultivation art. The Innate Dao Book was dispensable. What interested him most was the Secret Explanations, a cultivation method involving formations and treasure refinement.
As for the Primordial Qi Myriad Spirit Banner… There will be opportunities in the next life.
Returning to his cave dwelling, Lu Yang focused patiently on cultivation, studying the Secret Explanations while slowly repairing the damage to his sword pellet.
Half a month later, he emerged from seclusion.
This time, he sought out Zhao Xuhe.
But when he arrived at Zhao Xuhe's cave, he saw Zhao Xuhe arguing with a stern-faced young man in the robes of the Enforcement Hall.
"Senior Brother, trust me. Don't you know my reputation, Zhao Xuhe's reputation? It's been spotless for over a decade. It's just 1,000 contribution points—I'll definitely pay it back. What? Interest!? You… Fine, no problem, Senior Brother. Give me a few more days. I'll definitely repay the principal and interest."
After a brief back-and-forth, the Enforcement Hall disciple left with a cold sneer.
Zhao Xuhe stood there with a gloomy expression, his aura unstable. Seizing the moment, Lu Yang stepped forward.
"Senior Brother Zhao, long time no see."
Zhao Xuhe looked up and immediately noticed Lu Yang's unconcealed aura. His pupils contracted. "Junior Brother Lu… you've broken through to late-stage Qi Refining!?"
"Just lucky, just lucky."
Lu Yang smiled slightly. "My talent is dull. I've been in seclusion for several months, spent a lot of contribution points, and barely managed to break through. It's laughable."
Hearing this, Zhao Xuhe's expression stiffened further, even twisting slightly. After all, they were both involved in trading substitute Yin puppets, but he had lost everything, even his lover had run off with someone else. Meanwhile, Lu Yang had made a fortune and even broken through to late-stage Qi Refining with the contribution points he earned.
What was even more infuriating was that he might not even be a match for Lu Yang now!
"Although I obtained the opportunity from True Person Panlong, due to insufficient luck and merit, I only got half of that third-grade true art."
He had even specifically asked his master about this.
His master deduced the cause and effect, concluding it was because he had used a substitute puppet, prematurely exhausting the merit accumulated over three lifetimes, leading to his failure.
Thinking of this, Zhao Xuhe almost ground his teeth to dust.
He only possessed half of a third-grade true art manual—the Nine Transformations Dragon Art for the Qi Refining Realm, lacking any Foundation Establishment techniques. It was utterly useless to him!
Not to mention, he was currently in debt and didn't even dare to disperse his cultivation to switch paths, afraid that debt collectors would come knocking while he was powerless after dispersing his cultivation. They might simply turn into bandits, rob him clean, then kill him to silence him—that would be truly suffering in vain.
"Junior Brother, do you need something?"
"It's a long story." Lu Yang sighed. "To be honest, Senior Brother, I've come to seek your guidance. I've recently encountered some trouble."
"Trouble?" Zhao Xuhe's eyes lit up.
Lu Yang sighed. "I was single-mindedly focused on cultivation until I broke through to late-stage Qi Refining. Only then did I learn about the issue of true qi grades. I deeply regret it."
Hearing Lu Yang's words, Zhao Xuhe suddenly felt much better.
"So it's the true qi grade."
Zhao Xuhe offered a few words of perfunctory comfort. "Most disciples of the Sacred Sect don't even know about this. It's normal you didn't know, Junior Brother."
"Alas, fate is unpredictable." Lu Yang shook his head helplessly. "That's why I came to see you, Senior Brother. I wanted to ask if there's any way to improve my true qi grade. If you have a superior cultivation art, even better. Don't worry about the price, Senior Brother—I can afford one or two thousand contribution points."
"Oh?"
Hearing Lu Yang's words, Zhao Xuhe's mind began working immediately. One or two thousand contribution points—he was in desperate need of that money right now.
In a flash, Zhao Xuhe's thoughts raced. He suddenly said,
"Junior Brother Lu, since you put it that way… I actually have a cultivation art suitable for you. If you cultivate it, you can definitely improve your true qi grade."
"Really?" Lu Yang's face brightened with anticipation. "What kind of cultivation art is it?"
Zhao Xuhe hesitated, feeling a strange sensation for some reason. But then he thought, this cultivation art was only half-complete anyway—it was already useless.
Rather than keeping it, he might as well make use of it to pay off his debts.
With that thought, Zhao Xuhe gritted his teeth and took out the Nine Transformations Dragon Art he had obtained from Panlong Island, handing it to Lu Yang.