The Liu Xin of the past was just an ordinary disciple, the kind you could find anywhere in the Primordial Saint Sect. Every day, he lived the life of a beast of burden, doing missions, cultivating, and paying off loans. Until a fortuitous encounter completely changed his fate.
It began with a bounty mission posted by a True Disciple. He wanted to explore a predecessor's cave residence and happened to be short a few cannon fodder to scout the path. Liu Xin, unaware of the full story, was drawn in by the mission's rewards and joined the exploration team.
By the time he discovered he was actually cannon fodder, it was too late. He could only be forced into the cave residence by the True Disciple. However, he found that all the restrictions inside were surprisingly ineffective against him.
He obtained the opportunity unimpeded. It was a golden casket containing the Innate Dao Scripture and the Innate Primordial Qi Myriad Spirits Banner. Beside it was a note left behind by the cave residence's master before his death.
In the note, the master of the cave residence called himself the "Innate Rogue Cultivator." The Dao Scripture and magical artifact in the casket were left for a fated person. He had divined that this fated person was a True Disciple of the Saint Sect, with the character for "Xin" in his name.
However, he was not resigned to this. In the note, the Innate Rogue Cultivator cursed the shamelessness of the Primordial Saint Sect for forcing a connection where there was none, forcibly binding his inheritance's karma to a True Disciple of the Saint Sect. Thus, he deliberately muddled the karma and gave the inheritance to Liu Xin instead.
Furthermore, the note also made it clear that Liu Xin would face a life-or-death calamity after obtaining the magical artifact, so he had also left behind a means to resolve the crisis within the cave residence.
In the original karma, the false "Xin" was not the true "Xin," so Liu Xin was meant to act as someone else's cannon fodder, a mere delivery boy for the treasure. Yet, under the Innate Rogue Cultivator's deliberate arrangement, the result was that Liu Xin obtained the opportunity instead.
He even occupied the nest, turning the tables and killing that True Disciple. It was a heart-pounding night. When the sun rose, only Liu Xin walked out of the Innate Rogue Cultivator's cave residence, reborn.
As for that True Disciple of the Saint Sect, he had vanished. However, Liu Xin had not completely killed him. Instead, with the help of the measures left behind by the Innate Rogue Cultivator, he had refined that True Disciple alive, turning him into the strongest banner spirit in his hand.
As the flag banner unfurled, a figure in a fluttering black robe walked out. He did not look at Lu Yang at first, but instead glanced around with a nostalgic expression.
"The strong prey on the weak, and disciples kill each other. The Saint Sect is indeed still the familiar Saint Sect."
"Senior Brother, I trust you have been well?"
Liu Xin cupped his hands.
"You incompetent fool, have you run into a formidable enemy you can't handle again?"
The black-robed figure sneered with disdain.
"Giving you the Innate Dao Scripture was truly a waste."
"I cannot compare to Senior Brother."
Liu Xin did not get angry, remaining respectful and polite.
"This person is a sword cultivator and has also cultivated the Heavenly Demon Transforming Blood Divine Light. Your junior brother is indeed no match for him."
"Heavenly Demon Transforming Blood Divine Light?"
The black-robed figure was taken aback upon hearing this, his expression turning a bit more serious. He then shook his head.
"To be able to master that divine ability, he must be quite a character. A pity his efforts were in the wrong direction, all useless work. According to our agreement, this is the third time I have acted."
"Senior Brother is wise."
Liu Xin nodded.
"After this matter is concluded, I will release Senior Brother to be reincarnated. With Senior Brother's merit and foundation, I believe you will surely be able to enter the Path of the Dao again after you are reborn."
"Good."
Only then did the black-robed figure turn to look at Lu Yang. Seeing this scene, Lu Yang and Xiao Shiye had little reaction, but Fairy Qingchen's eyes widened, staring intently at the black-robed figure. She was no new disciple.
At first, she only found the black-robed figure somewhat familiar. However, when he truly unleashed his aura, she was suddenly jolted awake and recognized him.
"It's Chen Xin'an, Senior Brother Chen!?"
The son of the Heaven Mending Peak Master, one of the four inner sect peaks! The missing True Disciple! Back when Chen Xin'an went missing, the Heaven Mending Peak Master had been furious.
He personally took action to divine the karma but found nothing, which stirred up quite a storm. To think he was actually in Senior Brother Liu's hands? For a moment, Fairy Qingchen's expression changed slightly, as if she had thought of something.
She then subconsciously took a few steps back, intending to put some distance between herself and Liu Xin.
Puchi!
The blade went in and came out. Fairy Qingchen's pretty face was blank, her eyes staring dazedly at the hand that had penetrated her lower abdomen. Then, her head tilted, and she lost all breath.
She had died again.
"A pity. Since you saw, I cannot let you live."
With Fairy Qingchen's death, the surrounding formation immediately trembled. However, as Liu Xin activated the Myriad Spirits Banner, her body was instantly drawn into the flag banner. In a few short moments, a perfectly intact Fairy Qingchen walked out of the banner, having become a banner spirit.
Although becoming a banner spirit came with many more restrictions than when she was alive, she could still maintain the formation. She quickly stabilized the trembling formation. At the same time, the black-robed True Disciple Chen Xin'an had also arrived before Lu Yang.
"Hmm?"
Looking at Chen Xin'an, Lu Yang's gaze immediately narrowed. His opponent's cultivation level was not high, only at the seventh level of Qi Refining, the same as his own, but he gave off a different feeling. Chen Xin'an also glanced at Lu Yang and shook his head.
"The Yin-Yang Great Pleasure Ode is a dual cultivation technique that emphasizes pleasuring three thousand women. But your True Qi is impure and messy; a single look tells me it wasn't obtained through dual cultivation. The originally fifth-grade Yin-Yang Dragon-Tiger Qi, in your hands, is at most sixth-grade."
This critique set off alarm bells in Lu Yang's heart.
"Might I ask who you are?"
"My name is Chen Xin'an. My hands are tied in this matter, but if you can escape and bring news of me back to Heaven Mending Peak, my father will surely reward you handsomely."
Before his words had even faded, Chen Xin'an struck! He raised his hand and pressed forward. His aura instantly merged with heaven and earth, and a vast amount of True Qi roared out, actually causing the surrounding spiritual energy of heaven and earth to respond in concert!
At that moment, Lu Yang's pupils shrank abruptly. It was not because of the strength Chen Xin'an displayed, but because as Chen Xin'an made his move, he could clearly feel the flaws and deficiencies in his own True Qi. In an instant, Lu Yang understood.
"My Dragon-Tiger Union Yin-Yang Great Pleasure Ode is not the ultimate version. Heaven Mending Peak has an even superior cultivation technique! This person must be a True Disciple of Heaven Mending Peak!"
Lu Yang's guess was correct. As the son of the Heaven Mending Peak Master, the cultivation technique Chen Xin'an practiced was called the Heaven-Mending True Scripture, an upgraded version of the Dragon-Tiger Union Yin-Yang Great Pleasure Ode. Ordinary dual cultivation was done with people, emphasizing the union of yin and yang.
However, the dual cultivation of the Heaven-Mending True Scripture was with heaven and earth itself, emphasizing union with the cosmos. The Heaven Mending True Qi refined through this method was ranked as third-grade.
Therefore, when Chen Xin'an struck with his palm, even without using any divine abilities, the profound foundation of his third-grade True Qi alone was enough to make it difficult for Lu Yang to defend. Seeing this, a confident smile appeared on Liu Xin's face. After all, no one knew Chen Xin'an's strength better than he did.
In his eyes, even if Lu Yang were ten times stronger, he would be no match for Chen Xin'an.
"He will win!"
Liu Xin made a decisive judgment, but he failed to notice that in the distance, Xiao Shiye was currently sizing him up with a grim expression, seemingly pondering something. With Xiao Shiye's intelligence, he could naturally see that the situation was not in his favor.
"I didn't want to use this originally. You all forced my hand."
Xiao Shiye was well aware that his own strength was the weakest, relying entirely on his body full of magical artifacts to hold his ground. But now it seemed that just relying on magical artifacts was not enough. With this thought, Xiao Shiye immediately took a deep breath, then opened his storage pouch.
Instantly, a vast spiritual energy and treasured light erupted from the mouth of the pouch, drawing Liu Xin's attention. Even Chen Xin'an and Lu Yang, who were in the middle of a fierce battle, stopped their movements and cast their gazes over. Immediately after, a small pagoda flew out of Xiao Shiye's storage pouch.
The small pagoda seemed to be cast from gold. It had nine layers, and at the top, a spiritual light manifested, its appearance closely resembling a person, its features filled with spiritedness.
"This is... a Spiritual Treasure!?"
The moment they saw this, before the inexperienced Lu Yang could even speak, both Liu Xin and Chen Xin'an cried out in alarm, their faces revealing expressions of horror. When a cultivator refines an artifact, and the artifact gives birth to treasured light, it is a magical artifact.
When the treasure gives birth to spiritual wisdom, it becomes a Spiritual Treasure! Magical artifacts were divided into lower, middle, and upper grades and had endless wondrous uses. However, no matter how powerful a magical artifact was, it needed a master to wield it to unleash its power.
But Spiritual Treasures were different. A Spiritual Treasure possessed its own consciousness. It could display its power even without a master, and more importantly, a Spiritual Treasure could cultivate on its own and continuously grow stronger!
In the next second, Xiao Shiye was seen forming a hand seal, and the Spiritual Treasure pagoda instantly began to expand.
"Bastard!"
Chen Xin'an was the first to curse loudly, completely losing his earlier composure, because he could see that Xiao Shiye actually intended to make the Spiritual Treasure self-detonate! On the other side, Liu Xin nearly coughed up blood.
This kind of treasure that seized the fortune of heaven and earth was something that generally only Foundation Establishment Daoist Masters could possess. It was one thing for you, Xiao Shiye, to have one, but to actually take it out to self-detonate? This was simply a blasphemous waste of a heavenly treasure!
What was even more absurd was that the Spiritual Treasure pagoda showed no signs of resistance at all. Instead, it actively cooperated, its speed so fast that he had no time to stop it.
"Boom!"
The next second, an explosive flash of fire consumed everything.
(End of this chapter)