Humph!
Re-entering the Yama Demon Hall, the Heaven Mending Peak Master's expression grew even uglier. His body of earth and stone continuously shed sand and rock, as if it would collapse in the next second.
"Forcing me to this point."
The Heaven Mending Peak Master took a deep breath, swallowing his many emotions. The Yin-Yang Great Dao Diagram that had manifested in the air by borrowing qi also fell back into the space between his brows. In the next moment, his lips parted and closed, his breath roaring like thunder.
"Geng Metal is the Great White of the heavens, imbued with killing intent and vigorous strength. When vigorousness meets water, the qi flows and becomes clear; when strength meets fire, the qi becomes pure and sharp. This is called Shangzhang!"
The heavenly sound was resonant, instantly shaking the universe. Lu Yang raised his head to look at the sky. All he could see was a vast golden light, blazing so brilliantly that he could not look directly at it.
Only by probing with his spiritual sense could he vaguely see a fierce tiger, entirely white and built like a mountain, sitting atop a ridge and staring straight at him.
Roar!
With a tiger's roar, a torrent of wind and sand descended from the sky. It was formless and intangible yet heavier than ten thousand catties, like billions of blades slashing down on the Yama Demon Hall in an instant! Outside Skull Mountain, Daoist Master Hongyun's eyebrows shot up at the sight.
"It's actually the Mountain-Sitting Lord. For the Heavenly Dipper position, he cultivated Shangzhang."
"That old freak Chen Taihe seems to have truly been pushed to his limit. After hiding it for so many years, refusing to reveal his Path of the Dao, he has finally and unexpectedly shown his hand!"
Only after a cultivator reached Foundation Establishment could they be considered to have truly entered the Dao. After that was the long path to attaining the Golden Core fruit. However, heaven and earth had their numbers, and so did the fruits.
Every Golden Core fruit was unique, and so was the 'Path of the Dao' leading to it. Once revealed, others could immediately guess it. Therefore, to a cultivator, their own Path of the Dao was an absolute secret.
Otherwise, if it became known, others could make targeted arrangements to obstruct your path. Even worse, if there was already a True Monarch occupying the fruit your path pointed to... The Witch Ghost Dao was a lesson from the past.
On the other hand, the 'Path of the Dao' itself was also a powerful weapon for a Foundation Establishment Daoist Master, precisely because it was achieved by gathering Heavenly Dippers and Earthly Fiends. Heaven is the stem, and Earth is the branch. Where the stems and branches intersect lies the righteous fruit of the Golden Core.
To form a 'Path of the Dao', one needed to gather ten Heavenly Dippers and twelve Earthly Fiends, taking one yin and one yang from each, for a total of four great medicines. Obtaining one of the four medicines meant reaching the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment. Obtaining three meant the late stage.
Having all four meant reaching Foundation Establishment Perfection, with the Great Dao already formed, allowing one to seek the Golden Core fruit.
"The Mountain-Sitting Lord belongs to Shangzhang among the ten Heavenly Dippers. And a Path of the Dao that begins with Shangzhang... It seems the Dao fruit Chen Taihe intends to attain is none other than one of these six: Roadside Earth, Hairpin and Bracelet Metal, Pine and Cypress Wood, Pomegranate Wood, White Wax Metal, or Wall Top Earth!"
Daoist Master Hongyun's eyes burned as he silently calculated in his heart. Just then, a wave of damp water vapor suddenly spread between heaven and earth, accompanied by the sound of surging waves, finally transforming into a crimson mermaid. It had a human face and a voice like a mandarin duck.
With a flick of its tail in the air, it turned the void into a sea wave that crashed violently against the Yama Demon Hall, causing the entire structure to shake violently, almost to the point of breaking apart. The yin soldiers and ghost generals guarding the Yama Demon Hall were scattered in large swathes.
"It's the Crimson Ru Scale!"
Daoist Master Hongyun immediately came to a conclusion upon seeing this.
"When the vigorous Shen Metal meets the moon branch, water and earth find long life in this palace. For the Earthly Fiend position, is he seeking Tuntan?"
"Shangzhang, Tuntan... his goal is the Pomegranate Wood position!"
Boom!
At that moment, with a loud bang, the Heaven Mending Peak Master finally broke through the Yama Demon Hall again. Riding the crimson merman transformed from the Crimson Ru Scale, he instantly vanished from his original spot. However, his expression was now ashen to the extreme.
"Damn it! Damn it!"
Although his goal was Pomegranate Wood, he had always hidden it well, not revealing any details, to prevent other Daoist Masters who had chosen the same path from knowing. But now, everything was exposed. From this day forward, all cultivators in the world who sought Pomegranate Wood would see him as a thorn in their side.
If they were a step ahead of him on the path, it would be one thing, but the worst case was if they were at the same mid-stage of Foundation Establishment as him. Then they would truly be mortal enemies. At this thought, the killing intent in the Heaven Mending Peak Master's heart surged.
At the same time, Lu Yang also appeared, letting out a helpless sigh.
"A borrowed Foundation Establishment is still a bit lacking compared to a true one."
Moreover, the gap between Foundation Establishment cultivators also gave Lu Yang a bit of a shock. One must know that he was fighting at his peak against the Heaven Mending Peak Master, whose strength was less than a tenth of its original due to the Golden Core sword qi. It was no exaggeration to call it beating a drowning dog.
And even then, he still hadn't managed to kill him. He had thought the situation was decided, but the sudden appearance of the Mountain-Sitting Lord and the Crimson Ru Scale that the Heaven Mending Peak Master displayed had truly opened Lu Yang's eyes.
"But I can't just let him escape like this."
With a thought, the shattered Yama Demon Hall expanded once more. Its gates opened and closed, about to recapture the Heaven Mending Peak Master who had just fled. This was the marvel of the Yama Demon Hall.
Within the eight hundred miles of Skull Mountain, no soul could escape its grasp. If the Heaven Mending Peak Master had a physical body, capturing him might have been much more troublesome. But with only a soul left?
He could be caught with perfect accuracy!
Boom!
The sound of the gates opening and closing was like a thunderclap, rolling through the air. The Heaven Mending Peak Master immediately turned back, a look of indescribable humiliation on his face. The next second, without any hesitation, he pointed two fingers and slashed.
Schwing!
A sharp, explosive sound erupted from the Heaven Mending Peak Master's soul. Then, amid sparks and lightning, the Heaven Mending Peak Master's soul actually split in two! Lu Yang was stunned.
"Is this... the Secret of the Heavenly Silkworm by Severing Thoughts to See the Self?"
But it made sense. The Secret of the Heavenly Silkworm by Severing Thoughts to See the Self was a Great Divine Ability mastered by Chen Xin'an. It was normal for his father, the Heaven Mending Peak Master, to also know it.
After the Heaven Mending Peak Master split in two, one half charged towards the Yama Demon Hall without a second thought, actually using its body as a shield to block Lu Yang's pursuit.
Meanwhile, his true body rode the great, human-faced fish transformed from the Crimson Ru Scale and, in a few flashes, escaped the domain of the eight-hundred-mile Skull Mountain.
"Shedding his tail to survive? So decisive, worthy of a Daoist Master from the Saint Sect."
Lu Yang's brow furrowed slightly, but his actions were not sloppy. He commanded the Yama Demon Hall to suppress the clone soul that had thrown itself into his net. Immediately after, he absorbed it into the Myriad Spirits Banner.
It was refined in an instant!
Pfft!
The next second, the Heaven Mending Peak Master, who had just escaped to safety and was about to cast a spell to recall his clone soul, suddenly spat out a mouthful of soul essence and looked back with venomous hatred. Lu Yang, however, was completely unfazed.
He then returned to the main seat of the Yama Demon Hall, formed a hand seal with one hand, and the spiritual vein of the eight-hundred-mile Skull Mountain immediately channeled torrents of yin qi, which poured down like nourishing rain. Wherever it passed, the damage to the Yama Demon Hall was healed.
It seemed that in a few months at most, it would be as good as new! This was another advantage of the Yama Demon Hall.
Because the borrowed Foundation Establishment was based on the spiritual vein of Skull Mountain, it could be nourished by the vein, allowing its injuries to heal much faster than an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator's. Compared to him, the Heaven Mending Peak Master was in a miserable state.
First, his physical body was destroyed, then he fought a great battle with Lu Yang, damaging his Dao foundation and splitting his soul. It would be impossible for him to recover without thirty or forty years.
"The Heaven Mending Peak Master is a Saint Sect Daoist Master, after all. If I really killed him, I wouldn't get away with it. Let's consider him severely injured for now, and that last finger strike as collecting some interest."
When I truly break through to Foundation Establishment, I'll come settle the final score with him! Thinking this, Lu Yang calmed down. Leaning back against the Yama Demon Hall, he looked with cold eyes at the Heaven Mending Peak Master and Daoist Master Hongyun outside Skull Mountain.
However, he soon noticed that Daoist Master Hongyun's expression was not quite right. His face was solemn as he looked up at the sky, completely devoid of the calm and composed demeanor Lu Yang had seen before. As his brows relaxed, a strong sense of hatred even emerged.
Someone is coming? The next second, Lu Yang saw a mass of rosy light rolling in from the horizon. Wherever it passed, it illuminated the colorful clouds, revealing a valiant man clad in armor and holding a weapon.
The man's features were not handsome, but he possessed a certain air. His brows were high and spirited. Though he had the face of a middle-aged man, he carried the sharp spirit of a youth.
A profound light shot up from the crown of his head, a manifestation of his 'Path of the Dao'. It was completely undisguised, and the four great medicines within the profound light were clearly visible.
"Chongguang...!!!"
Daoist Master Hongyun gritted his teeth. This man was his greatest rival in the Saint Sect, simply because the Overturning Lantern Flame that he sought to attain had once been his own fruit. The enmity for fighting over the Dao was irreconcilable!
What infuriated him even more, however, was that with the passage of time, he had long since fallen from his fruit, and in a real fight, he was actually no match for this junior before him. ...
Humph!
With a cold snort, Daoist Master Hongyun vanished on the spot, clearly unwilling to see the other man. The valiant man in the sky likewise paid him no heed. His gaze fell, first sweeping over the wretched Heaven Mending Peak Master, then finally landing on Lu Yang, revealing a satisfied smile.
The next second, a voice sounded in Lu Yang's ear: "May I ask, Daoist friend, which reincarnated Daoist Master of our Saint Sect has returned?" Lu Yang: ... Wait, why does everyone think I'm a disciple of the Saint Sect?
Do I not look like a good person?