"Hmph!"
Upon re-captured by the Yama Hall, the Master of Heaven nding Peak’s expression grew even uglier. His body of earth and stone constantly shed sand and gravel, looking as if it might collapse at any mont.
"To force my hand like this...!"
The Master of Heaven nding Peak took a deep breath, swallowing his many emotions. The Yin Yang Great Dao Map, which had manifested from his qi, receded from the air and back into the space between his brows.
The next mont, his lips parted, and his voice bood like thunder:
"Geng tal is the great white star of the heavens, imbued with killing intent, firm and robust. When it ets water, its qi flows clear; when it ets fire, its qi becos pure and sharp... This is known as Major tal!"
His celestial voice was sonorous, shaking Heaven and Earth in an instant. Lü Yang looked up, his vision filled with a vast, blazing golden light too brilliant to behold directly. Only by probing with his spiritual perception could he vaguely discern a majestic, powerfully built white tiger sitting astride a mountain ridge, staring intently at him.
"ROAR...!"
With the tiger’s roar, a billowing storm of wind and sand descended from the sky. It was formless and intangible, yet imnsely heavy, as if a billion blades were slashing down upon the Yama Hall all at once!
Outside the Skull Mountains, the Perfected Fortune’s eyebrows shot up at the sight.
"It’s actually the Mountain Monarch. For his Heavenly Stems, he pursued Major tal?"
"It seems that old fiend Chen Taihe has truly been pushed to his limit. After hiding his Dao path for so many years, he’s finally slipped up and shown his hand!"
Only after cultivators achieve Foundation Establishnt are they considered to have truly entered the Dao. What follows is the long road to attaining a Fruit Position to beco a Perfected Lord. Every Fruit Position is unique, as is the ’Dao path’ that leads to it. If a path is revealed, others can imdiately deduce a cultivator’s goal.
Thus, a Cultivator’s Dao path is their most guarded secret.
If it becos known, others can make specific arrangents to obstruct your path.
Worse, if a Perfected Lord already occupies the Fruit your path leads to...
the Wu Ghost Sect’s collapse would be the best cautionary tale.
On the other hand, the ’Dao path’ itself is also a potent weapon for a Foundation-Stage Cultivator, as it is achieved by a Perfected Person gathering the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches.
Where Stems and Branches intersect, there lies the Golden Core Fruit.
To form a ’Dao path,’ one must gather from the Ten Heavenly Stems and the Twelve Earth Fiends, taking one of yin and one of yang from each for a total of four.
Obtaining one of the four signifies reaching the Mid-phase of Foundation Establishnt. Obtaining three signifies the Late-phase. With all four, one achieves Foundation Establishnt Perfection, the Great Dao is complete, and one can seek the Fruit.
"The Mountain Monarch belongs to Major tal among the Ten Heavenly Stems. For a Dao path that begins with Major tal... it seems the Fruit Chen Taihe intends to attain must be one of these six: the Fruit of Roadside Earth, the Fruit of Hairpin-Brace tal, the Fruit of Pine-Cedar Wood, the Fruit of Pogranate Wood, the Fruit of Pewter tal, or the Fruit of Wall-Surface Earth!"
The Perfected Fortune’s gaze burned as he silently made his conclusion.
Just then, a damp vapor suddenly filled the air, accompanied by the sound of surging waves. It finally coalesced into a crimson, human-faced fish.
It had a cry like a mandarin duck. With a flick of its tail, it turned the void into a tidal wave that crashed down upon the Yama Hall. The entire structure shook violently, almost to the point of disintegration, and the Shadow Soldiers and Ghost Generals guarding it scattered in droves.
"It’s the Chiru Fish!"
The Perfected Fortune imdiately ca to a conclusion. "For his branches, is he seeking Shen tal?"
"Major tal, Shen tal... he’s aiming for the position of the Fruit of Pogranate Wood!"
BOOM!
Just then, with a trendous crash, the Master of Heaven nding Peak finally broke through the Yama Hall again. Riding the human-faced Chiru, he vanished in an instant.
But at that mont, his expression was utterly livid.
"Damn it! Damn it all!"
Although he was aiming for the Fruit of Pogranate Wood, he had always kept his intentions well hidden, lest other Perfected Persons on the sa Dao path discover his goal.
But now, everything was exposed. From this day forward, every Cultivator in the world seeking the Fruit of Pogranate Wood would see him as a thorn in their side. It wouldn’t be so bad if they were a step ahead of him on the path, but he most feared those who, like him, were in the Mid-phase of Foundation Establishnt. They would now be his mortal enemies, destined to fight to the death.
At this thought, killing intent surged within the Master of Heaven nding Peak.
anwhile, Lü Yang’s figure reappeared. He sighed helplessly. "A Fake Foundation Establishnt is still a notch below a real one."
Beyond that, the gap between different Foundation-Stage Cultivators also startled Lü Yang.
He was, after all, fighting at full strength against the Master of Heaven nding Peak, who had lost over ninety percent of his power to the Golden Core Sword Qi. It was no exaggeration to say he was kicking a man while he was down.
And yet, he still hadn’t managed to kill his opponent.
He had thought victory was assured, but the sudden reveal of the Master of Heaven nding Peak’s Mountain Monarch and Chiru Fish was a real eye-opener for him.
’Still, I can’t just let him escape like this.’
With a thought from Lü Yang, the shattered Yama Hall expanded once more. Its gates swung open, preparing to recapture the recently escaped Master of Heaven nding Peak.
This was the beauty of the Yama Hall.
Within the Vast Skull Mountains, no soul could escape its grasp. If the Master of Heaven nding Peak still had his physical body, capturing him would have been far more troubleso.
But with only his soul remaining?
Catching it was a sure thing!
BOOM!
The sound of the gates opening was like a thunderclap rolling through the air toward him. The Master of Heaven nding Peak imdiately looked back, an expression of indescribable humiliation on his face.
Without a mont’s hesitation, he ford a sword-finger and slashed.
SCHLICK—!
A sharp, explosive sound erupted from the Master of Heaven nding Peak’s soul. Then, in a flash of sparks, his soul split in two!
Lü Yang was stunned at the sight. "Is that... the Soul Splitting Technique?"
But on second thought, it made sense. The Soul Splitting Technique was a Legendary Technique mastered by Chen Xin’an; it was only natural that his father, the Master of Heaven nding Peak, knew it as well.
After splitting in two, one half of the Master of Heaven nding Peak charged resolutely toward the Yama Hall, acting as a shield to block Lü Yang’s pursuit. anwhile, his true self rode the great, human-faced fish ford from the Chiru and escaped the bounds of the Vast Skull Mountains in a few flickers.
’Cutting off the tail to survive? So decisive. He’s worthy of being a Perfected Person of the Stain Sect...’
Lü Yang’s brows furrowed, but he didn’t hesitate. He brought the Yama Hall down to suppress the incoming soul-fragnt, readily accepting the Split Self that the Master of Heaven nding Peak had thrown into his net.
He imdiately absorbed it into his Myriad-Soul Banner.
Refining it in an instant!
"Pfft!"
The next mont, the Master of Heaven nding Peak, who had just escaped and was about to recall his Split Self, suddenly spat out a mouthful of Soul Essence and shot a venomous glare back the way he ca.
Lü Yang, however, paid him no mind. He returned to the main seat in the Yama Hall and perford a hand seal. The Vast Skull Mountains Ley Line imdiately channeled billowing yin qi, which washed over the Yama Hall like a sweet rain. Wherever it passed, the damage vanished. At this rate, it would be fully repaired in a few months at most!
This was another of the Yama Hall’s advantages.
Because his Fake Foundation Establishnt was based on the Skull Mountains’ lay line, it was nourished by that sa source, allowing his injuries to heal much faster than those of an ordinary Foundation-Stage Cultivator.
The Master of Heaven nding Peak, by comparison, was in a miserable state.
First, his physical body was destroyed. Then, his great battle with Lü Yang damaged his Dao Foundation and forced him to split his soul. He wouldn’t be able to recover for at least thirty or forty years.
’The Master of Heaven nding Peak is a Saint Sect Zhenren, after all. Nothing good would co of actually killing him... I’ll just treat severely wounding him as collecting so interest for that finger attack of his.’
’Once I truly break through to Foundation Establishnt, I’ll co back and settle the final score!’
With that thought, Lü Yang cald down. Leaning back in his seat within the Yama Hall, he stared coldly at the Master of Heaven nding Peak and the Perfected Fortune, who were both outside the Skull Mountains.
Soon, however, he noticed that sothing was wrong with the Perfected Fortune’s expression.
His expression was solemn as he stared up at the sky, completely devoid of the calm composure Lü Yang had seen before. His features were twisted with an intense hatred.
’...Soone’s coming?’
The next mont, Lü Yang saw a mass of rosy light rolling in from the horizon. It illuminated the clouds as it passed, revealing a heroic man clad in armor and brandishing a weapon.
The man wasn’t handso, but he possessed a commanding presence. His brows were sharp, and though he had the face of a middle-aged man, he carried the keen vigor of a youth. A beam of profound light shot up from the crown of his head—the manifestation of his ’Dao path,’ completely unconcealed. The four stems and branches within the profound light were clearly visible.
"Chongguan...!!!"
The Perfected Fortune gritted his teeth. This man was his greatest rival in the Stain Sect, solely because the Fruit of Lamp-Cover Fire he sought to attain had once been the Perfected Fortune’s own Fruit.
The feud over a Dao path was one of irreconcilable hatred!
What infuriated him even more was that, with the passage of ti, he had long since fallen from his Fruit position. In a real fight, he was no longer a match for this junior.
"...Hmph!"
With a cold snort, the Perfected Fortune vanished on the spot, clearly unwilling to face the other man. The heroic figure in the sky, in turn, completely ignored him.
His gaze drifted downward, first sweeping over the wretched Master of Heaven nding Peak, then landing on Lü Yang. A satisfied smile touched his lips.
The next mont, a voice sounded in Lü Yang’s ears:
"May I ask, fellow Daoist, which Perfected Person from our Stain Sect has reincarnated and returned?"
Lü Yang: "..."
’Wait, why does everyone think I’m a Holy Sect Disciple?’
’Don’t I look like one of the good guys?’
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