Chapter 154
Chapter 154
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 154
Chapter Title: Peak Master's Wife
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Luofeng Mountain, in the quiet chamber.
Lu Yang sat cross-legged, silently circulating a secret art to contact the banner spirit Chen Xin'an within Heaven Mending Peak. Soon, he saw the banner spirit Chen Xin'an's situation.
The banner spirit Chen Xin'an now was utterly different from his initial state. The Heaven Mending Peak Master had spent a fortune to condense a physical body for him, helped elevate his cultivation, and spared no heavenly materials or earthly treasures. After so many years, he had now achieved great success in his cultivation, reaching the peak of Qi Refining and ready to attempt Foundation Establishment.
"This is quite a stroke of fortune for you."
Lu Yang nodded. In truth, most banner spirits in the Ten Thousand Spirits Banner could not improve their strength, as banner spirits were, strictly speaking, already dead.
Yet the leading few banner spirits were different.
Su Nü, the Listening幽 Ancestor Master, the Heaven Mending Peak Master's soul fragment, Chen Xin'an, and the newly acquired soul of the Yun Family Old Ancestor—essentially, all were living souls drawn into the banner.
Such banner spirits had the potential for resurrection.
For them, the Ten Thousand Spirits Banner was more of a restraint, preventing them from acting against Lu Yang, without hindering their own cultivation progress.
Among these banner spirits, however, Chen Xin'an was the weakest, as the others all had a foundation in Foundation Establishment, while he did not. Without the Heaven Mending Peak Master investing heavily—pouring in untold spiritual resources and materials over time—he likely would not have reached his current level of cultivation.
"It's all thanks to Master's promotion."
Inside Heaven Mending Peak, the banner spirit Chen Xin'an wasted no time pulling out the golden body relic just bestowed by the Heaven Mending Peak Master.
"Master, this is my gain."
Lu Yang was pleased with the banner spirit Chen Xin'an's attitude.
Though he did not care for this mere golden body relic, it was a matter of stance. He could refuse it, but Chen Xin'an could not fail to offer it!
Seeing Chen Xin'an so perceptive eased Lu Yang's mind considerably.
"Keep it."
Lu Yang shook his head.
"Since you have this opportunity, seize it. If you can achieve Foundation Establishment this time, you'll be an asset to me in the future."
"I understand, Master!"
Hearing this, the banner spirit Chen Xin'an felt a surge of emotion at his good fortune. Back then, if Lu Yang had not personally selected him, he would probably still be an ordinary banner spirit in the Ten Thousand Spirits Banner. Being an ordinary banner spirit was not bad, but becoming a Foundation Establishment banner spirit opened up far greater horizons!
Seeing this, Lu Yang nodded as well.
The next moment, his lips parted, and words bloomed with divine radiance as his grand voice decreed:
"Ten Thousand Spirits Banner, Chen Xin'an—may you build the Great Dao Foundation!"
[Clarifying Right and Wrong]!
Lu Yang had previously used this divine ability to boost Zhao Xuhe's Foundation Establishment odds by ten percent. Now, he applied it to Chen Xin'an as well.
"This body of banner spirit Chen Xin'an was forged from Foundation Establishment treasures, giving it a ten percent success chance on its own. With rank-three Heaven Mending True Qi, great divine abilities, and the golden body relic, that's forty percent. Add my divine ability, and it's fifty percent—a high rate even among true inheriting disciples."
With this thought, Lu Yang's expression turned somewhat peculiar.
After all, he had merely spoken a divine incantation, while the Heaven Mending Peak Master had poured in money and effort, racking his brains to nurture a Foundation Establishment cultivator...
Was this not a bit too hurtful?
Just then, Lu Yang's brows lifted as an evening breeze carried a sudden waft of fragrance. A graceful woman approached on the scent.
The woman was a beauty of unparalleled allure, clad in a fiery red gown like a blooming rose, radiant yet composed in her demeanor—a noble lady long accustomed to high station.
She gave a slight curtsy, her vermilion lips parting.
"I am Ruo Xiang. Greetings, Fellow Daoist Yuantu."
Lu Yang's brows rose slightly. He pinched his fingers to divine, then revealed surprise.
"Heaven Mending Peak has a second Foundation Establishment Perfected Being?"
He had never heard of this before!
Ruo Xiang seemed to catch his astonishment and smiled lightly.
"I achieved the Dao long ago, but my cultivation is modest, so I've remained in seclusion for the past century."
"It's normal for Fellow Daoist Yuantu, newly ascended, not to know of me."
Even so, Ruo Xiang had likely concealed her origins deliberately. Now, she opened herself to Lu Yang, willingly revealing her karma.
"I see."
With Ruo Xiang's cooperation, Lu Yang quickly divined the ins and outs, remarking oddly,
"Fellow Daoist, sneaking to see me behind Senior Heaven Mending's back—isn't that improper?"
"What's improper about it?"
Ruo Xiang pursed her red lips.
"That old man is wholly focused on protecting someone's breakthrough. Where would he have time for me? Rest assured, he won't notice."
As her words fell, the Peak Master's wife first glanced around, then produced a red gauze and tossed it into the air. In an instant, the gauze enveloped the entire hall. Lu Yang, within it, clearly sensed this spiritual treasure's ability to obscure karma.
With the red gauze descended, inside and outside were cut off.
Unless one possessed a supreme divination treasure like the Heaven-Scrutinizing Instrument, no one outside could detect what transpired within.
Lu Yang's brows lifted again.
"Just what does Fellow Daoist intend?"
At his words, Ruo Xiang sighed softly.
"To be frank, I wish to kill Chen Taihe!"
Lu Yang froze for a moment, then quickly recovered.
"Fellow Daoist wants to kill Senior Heaven Mending—what does that have to do with me?"
"Because you harbor ill intent toward him too!"
Ruo Xiang smiled.
"I know of your deal with him. But as a Perfected Being of the Primal Saint Sect, would he so readily hand over that relic without some ulterior motive?"
Lu Yang: "..."
It was the aftermath of detonating the earth veins, after all.
Fortunately, from this Peak Master's wife's words and attitude, she seemed to stand on his side.
Even so, Lu Yang did not fully trust her yet.
"No need for suspicion, Fellow Daoist."
Ruo Xiang spoke gently.
"Though I formed a dao companion bond with Chen Taihe, it was merely for cultivation. Our son and daughter each serve their purposes...
"But now, Chen Taihe ignores my needs. Naturally, I must seek another path."
Her needs unmet?
"How so?" Lu Yang asked curiously.
Ruo Xiang sighed.
"My lifespan in this life is nearly spent—thirty years at most before reincarnation. And this is already my second reincarnation."
"With my limited cultivation, the third life will likely trap me in the fetal enigma."
Though Foundation Establishment Perfected Beings could theoretically reincarnate five times in theory, only the first reincarnation was assured, with ninety percent odds of reclaiming Foundation Establishment.
From the second onward, difficulty soared. Perfected Beings lacking sufficient dao attainment often remained trapped in the fetal enigma, lost to the masses.
Typically, mid-Foundation Establishment ensured a stable second return.
Late Foundation Establishment, four lives unscathed.
Only at peak Foundation Establishment could one truly live five lives, spanning a millennium—like the Listening幽 Ancestor Master, who had endured in a secret realm to this day.
From Lu Yang's view, Madam Ruo Xiang had not even refined a natal divine ability.
With such attainment, her second reincarnation was indeed perilous—small wonder her urgency.
But what did this have to do with the Heaven Mending Peak Master?
"Knowing my shallow cultivation and insufficient dao, reincarnation is perilous for me, so I specially requested a secret art from the Primal Saint Sect."
Madam Ruo Xiang's vermilion lips parted lightly as she explained softly.
"This art is called [Two Bodies Same Heart True Method], allowing my soul to merge with a blood descendant's."
"Once accomplished, I can share all insights and experiences with them."
"Thus, even after reincarnation, through the secret art's link, I can swiftly break the fetal enigma and awaken past-life memories."
At this, Lu Yang understood.
The Heaven Mending Peak Master wanted to use their children as tribulation substitutes, dooming them to death.
Madam Ruo Xiang wanted the children to awaken her reincarnated self, keeping them alive.
—This was a clash of dao!
No wonder, then, that upon entering, the Peak Master's wife had declared her intent to kill the Heaven Mending Peak Master—fail, and she would be the one to die.
(End of chapter)