The Witch Ghost Secret Realm was empty. Everyone had been killed clean by the Listening Nether Patriarch during his Possession, and then, as the Golden Core sword qi fell, the Listening Nether Patriarch himself was shattered to pieces by the sword qi. At this moment, Lu Yang was the only person left in the Witch Ghost Secret Realm.
However, the Golden Core sword qi did not strike him. Instead, it returned to the sky above the secret realm to continue its dormant watch, breathing in the primal energy of heaven and earth as if it would never dissipate. Yet, Lu Yang's expression showed not the slightest hint of relaxation.
On the contrary, it was grave to the extreme, for he could clearly feel that a karmic line connected to him had been locked onto by the sword qi. In other words, if the sword qi were to erupt, it could chop off his head with a single slash, even from ten thousand li away!
"It's because I took the inheritance of the Witch Ghost Dao."
Lu Yang glanced at the soul thoughts of the Listening Nether Patriarch that he had gathered. If he were to abandon these thoughts, he might be able to escape the karma of the sword qi.
"But... I refuse."
The soul of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, and a former magnate of the demonic path, the master of an entire sect at that—this was not something that the soul of the Yun family's Old Ancestor from his previous life could compare to. After all, the soul of the Yun family's Old Ancestor had been cleansed by Daoist Master Yinshan.
But the soul of the Listening Nether Patriarch contained a full thousand years of his experience, including divine abilities, cultivation techniques, and even various secrets concerning Foundation Establishment!
"This karma, I'll take it!"
With a thought, Lu Yang immediately flew away on a stream of escaping light. He then casually set up a cave residence nearby and went directly into seclusion. Several days later.
Inside the cave residence, Lu Yang opened his eyes. Before him lay the thoughts of the Listening Nether Patriarch, but now, he had refined all of them. In this process, he had also gained a deeper understanding of the Listening Nether Patriarch.
"This man truly was a prodigy of heaven-defying talent."
Lu Yang sighed, then picked up one of the thoughts. Unlike the others, this one shimmered with a brilliant light and possessed more spiritual wisdom than the rest. This was because this thought did not record the Listening Nether Patriarch's memories, but rather his last testament.
As the saying goes, a cunning rabbit has three burrows. Although the Listening Nether Patriarch was confident that his Possession would not fail, he had also made contingency plans and preparations for the one-in-ten-thousand chance that it might. This final testament was his contingency.
In it, he clearly stated that he would preserve the Witch Ghost Dao lineage he held in the most complete form within his memory thoughts. If he died and Lu Yang survived, this inheritance would be gifted to Lu Yang, which would also serve to continue the Witch Ghost Dao lineage. Of course, there were conditions.
To obtain this inheritance, Lu Yang would have to accept the karma of the Witch Ghost Dao, rebuild the Witch Ghost Dao's mountain gate in the future, and train a Foundation Establishment cultivator for the Witch Ghost Dao. Without doing so, the soul thoughts would simply self-destruct.
Just as the Listening Nether Patriarch had said before, his life's pursuit was to continue the Witch Ghost Dao. He absolutely could not let the Witch Ghost Dao perish at the hands of its Sect Master. Therefore, he had considered all possibilities, whether in life or death.
He even stated explicitly in the thought that as long as Lu Yang accepted the inheritance, he had a way to allow Lu Yang to quickly possess the combat power of the Foundation Establishment Realm in a short period of time! How could Lu Yang refuse this?
"I'll take the benefits first. In any case, no matter how heavy the karma of the Witch Ghost Dao is, it's a matter for this life. What does it have to do with the me of the next life?"
Listening Nether Patriarch, the last Sect Master of the Witch Ghost Dao. He was also the most talented person in the history of the Witch Ghost Dao.
He successfully established his foundation at a young age, and then, in just over two hundred years, he used "Shangzhang," "Kundun," "Chongguang," and "Chifenruo" to align with the Heavenly Dipper and Earthly Fiend, and the count of yin and yang, achieving Foundation Establishment Perfection and seeking the position of "Wall Top Earth." Unfortunately, heaven is jealous of brilliant talents.
Just at that moment, a Daoist Master from the Jade Pivot Sword Pavilion had taken a step ahead and attained the Dao fruit of "Wall Top Earth," instantly severing the Listening Nether Patriarch's Path of the Dao. How could the Listening Nether Patriarch, how could the Witch Ghost Dao, be reconciled to this?
However, the Listening Nether Patriarch truly lived up to his heaven-defying talent. He managed to forcefully research another path, creating the Art of the "Yama Demon Hall."
With eight Foundation Establishment Perfection cultivators transforming into Black and White Impermanence, the Civil and Martial Judges, Ox-Head and Horse-Face, and the Day and Night Patrol Gods, all presided over by him, he could temporarily hold a golden status and manifest a Golden Core fruit.
This was something that sounded like a fantasy tale, but with the help of a third-party power, the Listening Nether Patriarch succeeded. But it was this very achievement that brought a world-ending disaster upon the Witch Ghost Dao.
That Golden Core True Monarch who had attained "Wall Top Earth" sat in the Jade Pivot Sword Pavilion and unleashed a single sword strike from tens of thousands of li away, proclaiming the utter annihilation of the entire Witch Ghost Dao.
"..."
The more Lu Yang read, the more shocked he became. Finally, he abruptly shut off the memory thought, not daring to look further, not even daring to think deeper, decisively choosing to stop there.
Because he could clearly feel that the more he understood the ins and outs of the Witch Ghost Dao's destruction a thousand years ago, the clearer a karmic line on his body became.
One end of this karmic line was connected to him, while the other end plunged into the great net of karma, like an abyss so deep its bottom could not be seen. Damn it, that Daoist Master from a thousand years ago is still alive!
Lu Yang was one hundred percent certain that the other end of the karmic line was that very Daoist Master! The moment he learned the details of the matter, that Daoist Master would also know of him!
"This is too damn absurd. What kind of broken place is this, this broken place..."
A long time later, Lu Yang slowly calmed his mind, not daring to pursue the troublesome affairs of a thousand years ago any longer. He turned instead to study the inheritance left by the Listening Nether Patriarch.
Among them, apart from divine abilities like the "Secret Demonic Yin Thunder of the Nine Heavens Capital Register," the most crucial was the "Mysterious Underworld Palace Lord Seizing the Nether Position" that the Listening Nether Patriarch had used.
The foundation of the Witch Ghost Dao was not as profound as the Primordial Saint Sect's; the entire sect possessed only this one great divine ability. However, the Listening Nether Patriarch had deduced it to its absolute limit. After reading it, Lu Yang's expression became even more amazed.
"No wonder he said in his last testament that he could help me obtain Foundation Establishment combat power."
With the Mysterious Underworld Palace Lord Seizing the Nether Position, if nine Foundation Establishment Perfection cultivators practiced this divine ability together and formed the "Yama Demon Hall," they could, with their Foundation Establishment bodies, temporarily hold a golden status. Of course, finding nine Foundation Establishment Perfection cultivators was impossible now.
But if one were to settle for the next best thing, having nine Qi Refining Perfection cultivators practice this divine ability together, supplemented by a massive infusion of fortune, they could actually temporarily hold a Foundation Establishment status! The eight great elders of the Listening Nether Cult were an example of this.
The Listening Nether Patriarch passed down this Dao lineage precisely to have people cultivate it with him, and the entire value of the eight red-robed Witch Ghosts was to form the "Yama Demon Hall" with him. The Listening Nether Patriarch had intended to immediately use this art to achieve Foundation Establishment after escaping. Unfortunately, Heaven did not grant his wish.
Of course, although this divine ability was world-shaking, it was not without its drawbacks, simply because the foundation of this divine ability was built upon the Witch Ghost Secret Realm.
"The so-called temporary Foundation Establishment is not actually a true breakthrough to Foundation Establishment."
"Instead, it's about transforming a region into an existence with the same status as the 'Foundation Establishment Realm,' and then taking command of that region to display the might of Foundation Establishment."
This was not the Path of Body-Refining and Ascension.
"This is actually the philosophy of the 'Path of Patrolling Heaven on its Behalf'..."
Lu Yang quickly recalled that when the Listening Nether Patriarch was perfecting this divine ability back then, he had received help from a third-party power and borrowed from their Dao lineage. Its name was—the Heavenly Wu Daoist Court. Located East of the River!
"Chen Xin'an told me that the Dao lineage East of the River is completely different. Cultivators of the 'Path of Patrolling Heaven on its Behalf' do not ascend; instead, they transform the existing environment."
"In the lands East of the River, the Dao Court governs the world. It is called Heavenly Wu, commands a hundred clans, and establishes twelve positions, each with its own duties, to shepherd the people in all four directions. Therefore, under the Dao Court, one does not cultivate magical power or learn divine abilities.
Those who are appointed to official positions all have their magical power form on its own and their divine abilities bestowed by heaven. To hold a position is to be equivalent to a Daoist Master, and to ascend the great throne is to be comparable to a Daoist Master..."
Thinking of this, Lu Yang's brows furrowed deeper and deeper. Different Daos do not travel the same path. He was already a cultivator on the Path of Body-Refining and Ascension.
Even if he wanted to switch to the Path of Patrolling Heaven on its Behalf, it would be impossible.
"So if I use this divine ability for Foundation Establishment, my future path will be severed."
Within the lands East of the River, there was still room for advancement beyond Foundation Establishment, but the "Yama Demon Hall" was merely an imitation created by the Listening Nether Patriarch. Naturally, there was no path forward from it. And this was only one of the side effects.
Another side effect was that since Foundation Establishment relied on a specific region, one would be trapped within it. Once the spiritual vein was damaged, one's realm would fall.
"This method is not for me... but it's not like there isn't a clever workaround."
The Listening Nether Patriarch had been very considerate, having anticipated that Lu Yang would be unwilling to sever his own Path of the Dao, so he had specially prepared an alternative plan for him.
"Great All-Gathering Clone Divine Art!"
Lu Yang's eyes burned. The effect of this secret art was simple: it refined a living person into one of his own guardian gods. This would allow him to borrow that living person's merit and fortune, and even preserve their thoughts while turning them into his puppet, yet without creating any karma with them.
"A clone refined with this secret art is perfect for cultivating the 'Mysterious Underworld Palace Lord Seizing the Nether Position'!"
"And I can dump the karma of the Witch Ghost Dao inheritance onto him as well."
"Even the nine Qi Refining Perfection cultivators needed for cultivation have been arranged by the Listening Nether Patriarch. The eight red-robed ghosts plus myself, it's like everything is ready..."
The only thing missing was the final step: a massive infusion of fortune. Thinking of this, a bold idea suddenly arose in Lu Yang's mind.
"... Yu Suzhen!"
If she could brainwash Xiao Shiye and seize the fortune of that Rainbow Merit Fish for him, it might be enough to satisfy the requirements for constructing the "Yama Demon Hall." Even she herself could be used and refined into a guardian god