“Junior Brother Xiao is truly a fine-looking talent.”
Lu Yang laughed as he patted Xiao Shiye's shoulder.
“I am Lu Yang. I should have joined the sect in the same batch as you, so I can't really be called a senior brother.”
“The same batch?”
Xiao Shiye looked surprised upon hearing this, and his expression soon turned to one of admiration.
“In that case, Brother Lu's talent must be exceptional, otherwise, it would be difficult to achieve such a cultivation level.”
“I don't deserve such praise.”
Lu Yang waved his hand. He knew his own limits; his talent was definitely not good. His usual cultivation relied entirely on consuming pills, and breaking through bottlenecks relied entirely on demonic arts.
If he had cultivated step-by-step, he estimated he would still be stuck at the third level of the Qi Refining Realm. After learning that Lu Yang was his contemporary, Xiao Shiye was no longer as reserved as he had been at first and quickly became familiar with him.
After chatting for a while, Lu Yang tentatively said, “I've just broken through and was planning to return to my cave residence to stabilize my cultivation level. Where does Brother Xiao plan to go next?”
“To be honest with Brother Lu, I plan to make a trip to the Merit Pool.”
Xiao Shiye smiled and said, “I've heard people say that the Merit Pool tests one's luck the most. Coincidentally, I've been feeling quite lucky recently, so I wanted to take the opportunity to try my luck.”
“The Merit Pool.”
Lu Yang's heart stirred, and on a sudden whim, he said, “Since that's the case, why don't we go together?” He had already tried the number that Xiao Shiye had won with in the previous life, so he was very curious about what Xiao Shiye would choose in this life, and whether there was truly some shady business involved.
Meanwhile, in a sea of clouds outside Myriad Treasures Peak. More than ten figures stood silently. The one in the lead was a handsome young man dressed in white, looking dashing and unrestrained, with clouds and mist swirling around his body.
Just then, one of them suddenly showed a joyful expression: “Senior Brother Liu, that person with the surname Xiao has come out.” Before his voice had even faded, the handsome young man seemed to awaken from his meditation. The clouds and mist dispersed, revealing a face that Lu Yang would never forget.
It was none other than Liu Xin! At this time, Liu Xin had also broken through to the late stage of the Qi Refining Realm. Moreover, as he majored in the Innate Dao Scripture, he had a bit more of a Daoist immortal's air about him compared to ordinary cultivators.
“He's finally out...”
Liu Xin had a smile on his lips. At first glance, he completely lacked the ferocity of a demonic path cultivator, instead giving off a friendly and refreshing aura, as if basking in a spring breeze. However, when he activated his True Qi and used the Qi Gazing Art to look in Xiao Shiye's direction, his smile suddenly froze.
“... Late-stage Qi Refining?”
Liu Xin's brows furrowed slightly. He clearly hadn't expected a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator to be accompanying Xiao Shiye. This was a variable significant enough to make him change his plans.
Just then, a soft gasp of surprise came from beside Liu Xin. Liu Xin turned his head at the sound and smiled gently.
“What is it, Qingchen? Could it be that you recognize that late-stage Qi Refining cultivator?”
As soon as he said this, the charming woman standing behind Liu Xin pursed her red lips.
“To be honest with Senior Brother Liu, this humble servant truly does recognize that late-stage Qi Refining cultivator.”
Then, the woman spoke with a jealous tone, “That person's name is Lu Yang. He is a disciple who joined the sect a few months ago. During the previous Death-Substituting Yin Puppet incident, he left the market early and made a huge profit, at least tens of thousands of contribution points!
I imagine he relied on this huge sum to break through to the late stage of the Qi Refining Realm...” The charming woman was none other than Fairy Qingchen, who had followed Zhao Xuhe in the previous life.
But unlike the previous life, in this life, Fairy Qingchen had fallen out with Zhao Xuhe early on and had now already become Liu Xin's paramour. The reason for their falling out was also very simple: Zhao Xuhe had pulled her into speculating on the Death-Substituting Yin Puppets with him.
Zhao Xuhe went bankrupt, and Fairy Qingchen was naturally no exception. Incidentally, Liu Xin had speculated on them as well. And because the impact of the Death-Substituting Yin Puppets was much greater in this life than in the last, their losses after the market crashed were also far greater than in the previous life.
Not only were they on the verge of bankruptcy, but they had also accumulated a large amount of external debt. Thanks to this, the two of them were forced to resort to robbing their fellow disciples, something they had not done in the previous life, in order to cover the losses from speculating on the Death-Substituting Yin Puppets.
Over time, they even formed a team. The members were all disciples who had some background and influence in the sect but had gone bankrupt due to speculating on the Death-Substituting Yin Puppets. As for their targets, they focused on those ordinary disciples who had made a huge profit because they had little capital and left the market early.
Xiao Shiye was the target they had recently set their sights on. And now, after hearing about Lu Yang's deeds from Fairy Qingchen, Liu Xin's gaze grew even brighter. He had clearly set his sights on Lu Yang as a target as well.
“There's no time to lose, let's move!”
Following Liu Xin's command, everyone present let out sinister laughs. Then, they each rode their escaping lights and flew towards Lu Yang and Xiao Shiye. Just after leaving Myriad Treasures Peak and flying through the sea of clouds for some distance, Lu Yang's brows suddenly furrowed.
The sword pellet between his eyebrows began to throb as if in warning. Looking in the direction of the sword pellet's warning, Lu Yang's brows furrowed even deeper. He saw that escaping lights were flying in from all directions with him and Xiao Shiye at the center, like a large net closing in on their position.
Before long, a voice came from behind.
“Fellow Daoist, please wait!”
Hearing this, Lu Yang's face instantly darkened. To even say such words, their intentions are not good! Lu Yang didn't even turn his head.
Ignoring the voice behind him, he frantically urged his magical power, wrapped Xiao Shiye in his sword light, and fled rapidly in the direction of the Merit Pool. However, the other party had clearly come prepared. Lu Yang had not fled far before he stopped in his tracks.
Looking around, he saw that the surrounding sea of clouds had unknowingly thinned out, replaced by a vast mirage, bizarre and motley, trapping him and Xiao Shiye firmly in the center!
“Such an unexpected disaster...”
Lu Yang's expression was ugly. He used his Qi Gazing Art to observe from a distance and immediately gritted his teeth.
“One at the late stage of Qi Refining, seven at the middle stage... the odds of winning are thirty percent at most...”
What should I do? Just as Lu Yang was pondering a countermeasure, Xiao Shiye, who was beside him, suddenly spoke up, “Brother Lu, if I'm not mistaken, these people should all be after me.” At this point, Xiao Shiye had a remorseful look on his face.
“It was my carelessness. These people must be after the magical artifacts and contribution points I have. I thought that after several months had passed, they would have given up. I never expected them to be so persistent... Since it has come to this, let's split up and escape.”
“Split up and escape?”
Lu Yang shook his head.
“The other party has already sealed off this entire area of the sea of clouds, likely using some powerful magical artifact. I'm afraid we can't escape anymore.”
“It's fine, I have a way to deal with this.”
Xiao Shiye said in a low voice, “I have two ‘Treasure-Breaking Cones’. As long as I use them, I can open up a path to survival. I am willing to give one of them to Brother Lu.”
“Brother Lu, you go first. I'll cover the rear.”
After speaking, he directly handed a treasure cone to Lu Yang. Lu Yang weighed it in his hand and channeled his magical power into it. He immediately understood that Xiao Shiye was not lying; this magical artifact indeed had a high chance of breaking through the surrounding mirage.
“... Are you sure you want me to go first?”
Lu Yang's expression was inscrutable.
“Brother Lu, the mountains are high and the road is long. We shall meet again someday.”
Xiao Shiye cupped his hands, a relieved smile on his face. Then, he actually turned around to face the approaching enemies, clearly prepared to die. Seeing this, Lu Yang fell into deep thought.
He had been in seclusion for three months and had never made any enemies. It was impossible that these people were targeting him. Besides, compared to him, Xiao Shiye was clearly the fatter sheep.
Therefore, what Xiao Shiye said was not wrong. As long as he abandoned him, he would most likely be able to escape. So, should he do it?
Above the sea of clouds, watching Xiao Shiye's figure go forward without hesitation, seemingly disregarding life and death, the sword pellet between Lu Yang's eyebrows warned him, and his expression flickered between light and dark.
(End of this chapter)