The Divine Martial Sect's invasion ended just as abruptly as it began. Once Ouyang Haoze died, Wu Zhichong and Duanmu Yuan didn't even dare to linger. Without a second word, they turned and fled as if some great flood or ferocious beast was behind them.
In contrast to the Divine Martial Sect's hasty retreat, the market was a scene of jubilation. After all, following this battle, the Skull Mountain Market was now as solid as a fortress. As long as a Foundation Establishment Daoist Master didn't act, the Divine Martial Sect would find it difficult to shake this turtle shell.
As for the corpse tide, that was a mere trivial affliction, not even worth mentioning. In short, it was safe! A safe market would inevitably become a center for money.
One could imagine that transactions here would become more frequent in the future, with more opportunities to earn. The good days were still ahead. However, the excitement belonged to others; Lu Yang only found them noisy.
At this moment, he was still immersed in the palpitations he had just felt, unable to come back to his senses for a long time. For a long time, or rather, ever since Xiao Shiye was fished away by that Daoist Hongyun, Foundation Establishment Daoist Masters had become a lingering shadow in Lu Yang's heart.
And when he realized that another Foundation Establishment Daoist Master might be plotting against him, the joy from slaying Ouyang Haoze was instantly swept away. He subconsciously gripped the "Innate Primordial-Unity Qi Divine Talisman" around his neck, and only after ensuring it was still operating did his anxious heart calm down a little.
"The divine talisman is still working, which means the other party still can't divine my location."
That being said, the effectiveness of the Innate Primordial-Unity Qi Divine Talisman also had its limits. Because strictly speaking, it didn't sever karma, but rather obscured it, placing a layer of false karmic threads around Lu Yang to achieve protection. After all, completely severing karma would be too conspicuous.
So, when a Foundation Establishment Daoist Master tried to divine him, it wouldn't be fruitless. Instead, they would get a result that was flawless, yet completely false. The advantage of this was that it was more covert, but the disadvantage was that it couldn't completely block the influence from a Foundation Establishment Daoist Master.
Thinking of this, Lu Yang already had an answer in his heart: "In that case, the other party isn't specifically targeting me, but has accidentally swept me into this." This way, the matter of the Profound Feminine Supreme Yin Treasured Jade could also be explained.
It wasn't that his luck was soaring, but that someone had deliberately delivered this item into his hands, in order to use him to achieve some ulterior motive.
"What motive?"
Lu Yang shifted his gaze to Ouyang Haoze's corpse. Immediately, with a wave of the Myriad Spirits Banner in his hand, he pulled the corpse, which had been split in two, over to him. Perhaps he could get some clues from this person.
Besides, as a True Disciple of the Divine Martial Sect, Ouyang Haoze's collection was surely very rich! Soon, Ouyang Haoze's body was refined into the Myriad Spirits Banner. Unfortunately, since the body was split in half, the extracted true spirit was incomplete.
When the Myriad Spirits Banner took in a banner spirit, whether it could maintain the banner spirit's combat power, memories, and consciousness from its life depended on the integrity of the corpse. The better preserved the corpse, the closer the banner spirit was to its state in life, like Liu Xin for example.
As for Ouyang Haoze, Lu Yang could only barely preserve seventy percent of his living state. But even so, he still learned many secrets.
"So this was the Divine Martial Sect's goal."
"There's a secret realm within Skull Mountain, left behind by the Ancient Witch Ghost Sect. The yin qi in the spiritual vein beneath Skull Mountain leaked out from that secret realm."
"The Divine Martial Sect wants to monopolize the secret realm, which is why they planned to eliminate the Saint Sect's market here."
"This is rather good news. If I report it back to the Saint Sect, I'll definitely receive a lot of contribution points as a reward, and the Saint Sect will also send people to support us."
"Although the benefits of monopolizing this information would be greater... why should I monopolize it?"
"I'm not planning to venture into that Witch Ghost Secret Realm anyway. I might as well hand it over to the Saint Sect, earn a steady sum of contribution points, and watch others fight to the death!"
Thinking of this, Lu Yang's mind was put at ease. Now that he knew a Foundation Establishment Daoist Master was plotting in the shadows of Skull Mountain, he became even more resolute in his decision to hide in the market and never step out. Next, Lu Yang began to sort through Ouyang Haoze's belongings.
But just as he picked up Ouyang Haoze's storage pouch, a round mirror trembled and floated over, affectionately rubbing against his hand as it got closer. It was, impressively, the Supreme Firmament Mirror.
This Spiritual Treasure was like an eager little puppy, circling around Lu Yang and even hopping a couple of times, its movements filled with the intention of pledging allegiance.
"Are you trying to abandon the light for the darkness?"
Lu Yang was a bit surprised. To be honest, for a pure yang Spiritual Treasure like this to defect to a demonic path cultivator like himself, it seemed Ouyang Haoze had truly hurt it deeply.
Seeing that Lu Yang's attention had finally fallen upon it, the Supreme Firmament Mirror first shone on the storage pouch in Lu Yang's hand, then swayed from side to side. A voice then sounded in Lu Yang's mind, tinged with a milky tone, like a newborn child who had just learned to speak: "They, no good!"
Then, the Supreme Firmament Mirror itself burst forth with a brilliant light, bobbed up and down, and its voice changed, carrying an innate pride and arrogance: "I, am good!" It was recommending itself. Lu Yang's expression grew increasingly astonished.
Although he had long known that Spiritual Treasures possessed their own spiritual wisdom and were incredibly wondrous, this was the first time he had witnessed it.
"Very well, I'll use you for now then."
Lu Yang beckoned with his hand, and the Supreme Firmament Mirror immediately descended on its own accord. With its cooperation, he quickly and completely mastered this Spiritual Treasure, inside and out.
"Good! It truly is a good treasure!"
Lu Yang's face was filled with pleasant surprise. Spiritual Treasures truly lived up to their reputation! As everyone knew, the so-called Qi Refining Perfection was when a cultivator nurtured the Qi seed within their body to its limit, thereby transforming it into a strand of "Perfection True Qi".
For example, his "Nine Transformations Dragon Transformation Art," upon reaching Qi Refining Perfection, would transform into a strand of "True Dragon Killing Qi." In other words, Perfection True Qi was the hallmark of Qi Refining Perfection, and also the strongest means by which such a cultivator could suppress all Qi Refining cultivators below Perfection.
However, the Supreme Firmament Mirror, this Spiritual Treasure, was actually born with a strand of Perfection True Qi, named "Supreme Firmament Wind-Thunder Qi"!
In other words, as long as one wielded this Spiritual Treasure, even if one's cultivation level was only at the first level of Qi Refining, one could rival a Qi Refining Perfection cultivator while activating the Spiritual Treasure!
"But it seems there are still quite a few restrictions within this Spiritual Treasure..."
Lu Yang studied the Supreme Firmament Mirror. Treasures were made to be used by people, and this was no exception even in the righteous path. The Supreme Firmament Mirror clearly contained a large number of restrictions to limit its actions.
Therefore, if he were to use this Spiritual Treasure in front of a Divine Martial Sect disciple, it was possible that the other person could just form a hand seal and the Supreme Firmament Mirror would fly back on its own.
This had nothing to do with the Supreme Firmament Mirror's will; it was entirely a backup measure left by the person who refined the treasure.
"Such a Spiritual Treasure, it would be too much of a loss if I couldn't use it."
Lu Yang pondered for a moment, then his eyes suddenly lit up. Although his level in formations was not yet high enough to break the restrictions in the mirror, there was a workaround. The next second, Lu Yang shook the Myriad Spirits Banner, summoning Ouyang Haoze once more.
He then refined him into a strand of "Innate Primordial Qi" and drove it into the Supreme Firmament Mirror. He would control Ouyang Haoze, and Ouyang Haoze would in turn control the Supreme Firmament Mirror, thereby bypassing the restrictions within it.
Boom!
In an instant, the Supreme Firmament Mirror in Lu Yang's hand erupted with a dazzling treasured light. Within the light, the faint sound of wind and thunder could be heard, its power impressively reaching the level of Qi Refining Perfection!
"... It really works!"
Lu Yang let out a hearty laugh and immediately hung the Supreme Firmament Mirror behind his head. For a moment, even the treasured light it emitted turned crimson, stained with his color.
"Not bad! Not bad!"
Lu Yang laughed heartily again before putting away the Supreme Firmament Mirror and turning to open Ouyang Haoze's storage pouch. Instantly, the gushing spiritual energy made him narrow his eyes. A huge pile of spirit stones was stacked inside!
Besides that, there were also various precious medicinal pills, magical artifacts, and materials. Lu Yang did a rough calculation; selling them to the Saint Sect would be worth at least thirty thousand contribution points.
"This really is a huge haul. A pity, I'm afraid there won't be another chance like this in the future."
After all, with Ouyang Haoze's precedent, no one below Foundation Establishment would likely dare to challenge the formation again. 'Once news of the Witch Ghost Secret Realm spreads, Skull Mountain will see another bloodbath. There must be a Foundation Establishment Daoist Master plotting behind the scenes.'
'But as long as I don't go out and don't get involved in this mess... unless he acts personally, what can he do to me?' Lu Yang made up his mind. He then put everything away, parted the formation, and rode a streak of escaping light back to the market, landing on the balcony of the Blood-Robed Pavilion.
From this day on, Skull Mountain fell into an eerie calm. The Divine Martial Sect continued to send more people, and reinforcements from the Primordial Saint Sect also arrived one after another, but on the surface, there wasn't the slightest ripple, only a hidden undercurrent surging behind the scenes.
Under these circumstances, Lu Yang's deeds somehow spread and became widely known.
Ten years ago, he joined the Saint Sect as a mortal, made a fortune speculating on Death-Substituting Yin Puppets, entered seclusion for ten years to break through to the late-stage Qi Refining Realm, and after becoming a formation master, he slew a True Disciple of the Divine Martial Sect, a cultivator at Qi Refining Perfection, from within his formation.
Such an inspirational story of a commoner's comeback was like a shot of adrenaline for all the ordinary disciples of the Saint Sect. Gradually, out of reverence, many people stopped mentioning Lu Yang's name. In its place was another respectful title: 'Blood-Robed Pavilion Master'!
(End of this chapter)