Zhao Xuhe's words made Lu Yang feel as if he had plunged into an ice cavern in an instant. To think, in this life, he had not even been to Coiling Dragon Island. The cultivation technique was one he had memorized from his past two lives, yet Coiling Dragon Island had actually vanished on its own?
Because of so-called karma? Because he had cultivated the Nine Transformations Dragon Transformation Art ahead of time, intercepting the karma between it and Zhao Xuhe, Coiling Dragon Island had disappeared along with it? The karma of a cultivation technique, an opportunity long since fated.
So this was Zhao Xuhe's fated opportunity, one he could neither snatch nor practice, otherwise someone would immediately deduce the karma and follow the trail right to his door? After figuring this out, Lu Yang was so furious he began to laugh. This world is so damn disgusting!
Great Daoist Masters could calculate opportunities in advance to benefit their own disciples. If something unexpected happened, they could even figure out who was responsible and force the deviated karma back onto the right track. Under such circumstances, how could an ordinary person ever have a chance to rise?
They could only bow their heads and serve as beasts of burden! Just like now. On the surface, only Zhao Xuhe had appeared, but in reality, the one who had truly acted was likely that so-called "Master" behind Zhao Xuhe!
Lu Yang was one hundred percent certain that this person was definitely a Foundation Establishment Daoist Master! Lifting his head, Lu Yang once again thought of Daoist Hongyun from his previous life, as if seeing a pair of eyes looking down from the boundless dome of the sky above.
"... Why must you force my hand?"
At this thought, rage ignited in Lu Yang's heart, and malice grew in his gut. He then looked at Zhao Xuhe, the corner of his lips curling into a mocking arc. At almost the same moment, a person beside Zhao Xuhe suddenly stepped forward.
"Junior Brother, be careful!"
Swish!
A sword light flashed. Zhao Xuhe's vision blurred, and by the time he could see clearly again, the rage that filled his chest was instantly extinguished by a wave of coldness. The person who had just stepped forward was a disciple who, like him, had entered their "Master's" tutelage.
He had joined three years earlier than him, had cultivated the Dragon-Tiger Union Yin-Yang Great Pleasure Ode to the sixth level of the Qi Refining Realm, the peak of the mid-stage, and his True Qi had been polished to the limit of the fifth grade. In terms of strength, he was much stronger than Zhao Xuhe.
Yet now, that Senior Brother was gone. His flesh, bones, and blood had been completely devoured by a crimson divine light. In the blink of an eye, all that remained in his place was an empty human skin slowly drifting down.
The next second, a spiritual light flew out from the human skin.
"Thank you, fellow Daoist, for freeing me."
Within the spiritual light, a faint figure appeared. It showed no anger at being slain by Lu Yang's sword, but instead carried a hint of joyful release. Then, he turned to look at Zhao Xuhe.
"Junior Brother, before we came, Master commented that my foundation was not deep and my merit was shallow. Reaching Perfection in Qi Refining would be difficult in this lifetime, and Foundation Establishment was completely hopeless."
"I begged Master for guidance, and so he ordered me to come with you and save your life at the critical moment. You have accumulated three lifetimes of merit and have a thirty percent chance of achieving Foundation Establishment in the future. Now that I have saved your life, the karma is set. If you achieve Foundation Establishment in the future, you must help my reincarnated self to cultivate and attain the Dao."
As his voice fell, the spiritual light leaped and flew into the vast sky. Below, Lu Yang's gaze grew colder as he watched this.
"... Using my hand to set karma for his own disciple, to reincarnate and start over? Is he so sure that I can't make any waves, and wants to squeeze out my last bit of value?"
Lu Yang's gaze shifted, only to see Saint Sect disciples stepping out from beside Zhao Xuhe one by one. All of them were at the sixth level of Qi Refining, the peak of the mid-stage. At the same time, Zhao Xuhe finally reacted.
A look of excitement on his face, he shouted, "Senior Brothers, as long as you can help me capture this fiend today and take back my opportunity, if I achieve Foundation Establishment in the future, I will do my utmost to repay you and help you all reincarnate and return, to achieve the fruit of Perfection in Qi Refining!"
Hearing this, the crowd all nodded.
"Junior Brother, rest assured."
"Opportunities belong to those fated to have them. This fiend stole your opportunity for no reason; his crime is unforgivable. With Master watching over us, we will certainly help you capture this fiend!"
Lu Yang laughed loudly upon hearing this.
"After all is said and done, isn't it still just robbery by force?"
"Stubborn and unrepentant."
The leading Saint Sect disciple shook his head and sneered, "My name is Lu Yuanchun. Since you are unwilling to be captured without a fight, then don't blame me for being merciless." As his voice fell, the man named Lu Yuanchun formed a hand seal.
His aura surged to the seventh level of Qi Refining, the late-stage of cultivation. Then, he summoned a golden, treasured mirror that hung high in the air, replacing the sun. In an instant, it cast down thousands of golden rays, sharper than any blade, engulfing Lu Yang like a torrential downpour.
Lu Yang's brow furrowed at the sight, and his figure vanished in an instant. Immediately after, a sword light soared into the sky, splitting into thousands of copies. It darted left and right but was unable to escape the area covered by the golden rays, and could only endure them head-on.
"Master had long since calculated that this fiend is skilled in sword arts. How could he not bestow a countermeasure?"
Lu Yuanchun smiled smugly at this, then looked towards Zhao Xuhe.
"Junior Brother Zhao, I have already trapped this fiend, making it difficult for him to use the wonders of his sword arts for void evasion."
"Please, Junior Brother, activate your treasured seal and capture this fiend's flying sword. Then victory will be assured!"
"Thank you, Senior Brother!"
Zhao Xuhe cupped his hands, and then, not daring to delay, immediately took out a brightly glowing treasured seal and summoned it into the air, sending it falling towards Lu Yang's sword light.
"This thing again..."
Lu Yang's eyes flickered. He recognized this as the Primordial Magnet Gold Seal that Zhao Xuhe had used in his second life, a magical artifact that specialized in restraining flying swords. Having learned his lesson from his previous life, Lu Yang would naturally not allow Zhao Xuhe to use it freely.
With a thought, his Blood Sun Sword Pellet moved as he willed it, not making contact with the Primordial Magnet Gold Seal, but evading it instead. Then, with a turn of the sword light, it transformed into a sky full of blood-transforming divine light, sweeping down towards Zhao Xuhe.
Zhao Xuhe was greatly alarmed at the sight and retreated in a panic, crying out, "Senior Brother!"
"Do not panic. It is merely the struggle of a cornered beast."
On the other side, Lu Yuanchun remained composed and said in a clear voice, "Junior Brothers, please make your move." As soon as his voice fell, several more Saint Sect disciples stepped forward. With strange smiles on their faces, they all actively committed suicide before the divine light could even descend.
In an instant, streams of blood light burst forth from their corpses. These streams of blood light were like chains, actually managing to temporarily trap Lu Yang's blood-transforming divine light within them. He found it difficult to retract, and the circulation of his thoughts felt sluggish.
Zhao Xuhe and Lu Yuanchun had clearly come prepared. Especially Lu Yuanchun, who had received secret instructions from his Master before coming and had learned many of Lu Yang's secrets. Thus, he had prepared many countermeasures.
Therefore, he had set a strategy before the fight: first, restrict Lu Yang's speed to ensure he could not escape; then, have Zhao Xuhe suppress the sword pellet; and finally, have the Junior Brothers who came along jointly suppress the blood-transforming divine light.
No matter how great Lu Yang's divine abilities were, he would be like a lamb waiting for slaughter.
"You've reached the end of your rope! The outcome is decided!"
Lu Yuanchun sneered, feeling his chances of victory had greatly increased. He immediately shook the golden, treasured mirror, and thousands of golden rays followed one after another, about to refine Lu Yang to death. Seeing this, Lu Yang could only sigh.
"So this is the advantage of having a powerful background..."
With his current strength, even if he fought many at once, the likes of Lu Yuanchun and Zhao Xuhe were not his match. However, his opponents' preparations were simply too thorough. Every move struck at his weak spots.
And all of this was because of Zhao Xuhe's mysterious "Master," who had deduced the karma and calculated his fate, resulting in such a targeted arrangement. Generally speaking, at this point, he truly would have no power to turn the tide.
"Fortunately... I have a cheat!"
The Blood Sun Sword Pellet was brought by the Book of a Hundred Lives from his past life. It did not enter the web of karma, so naturally, it feared no divination.
Even if Zhao Xuhe's mysterious "Master" could calculate that he was proficient in sword arts and divine light, there was absolutely no way he could calculate the details of the Blood Sun Sword Pellet! The next second, with a thought, Lu Yang pushed his True Qi once more.
Clang clang—!
The Blood Sun Sword Pellet let out a long cry in response. Then, the formation patterns on the sword pellet suddenly burst open, locking down heaven and earth, sealing the universe, and instantly enveloping everyone within!
In the space of a blink, Lu Yang had already laid out the grand formation he had spent twenty years of his previous life researching and perfecting!
(End of this chapter)