Chapter 167
Chapter 167
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 42
Chapter Title: Shenxiao Sect's Extermination Crisis
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Chen Xinghai finally had no choice but to accept reality.
In his eyes, he had simply been unlucky this time around—the mishap he encountered fell outside the Immortal Alliance's insurance coverage.
Yet for Lu Yang, a veteran of countless battles within the Primal Saint Sect, the Immortal Alliance's petty schemes were transparent at a glance. Nothing unusual about them at all.
"This Immortal Alliance natural disaster policy only covers maritime calamities, not ghost clouds. And with the protective talismans on board, ordinary disasters couldn't touch the ship anyway."
It formed a perfect paradox.
You ran into a ghost cloud? Why would a seafarer like you plunge into one? Did the ghost cloud board your ship on its own? Got proof? No? Insurance fraud.
You faced a maritime calamity? How did it breach the ship's talisman wards? Clearly suspicious. Fraud again.
Don't ask—just expect denial.
Of course, the Immortal Alliance wouldn't make it that overt. Lu Yang figured they paid out select claims each year, trumpeting them far and wide.
He knew this playbook all too well. Folks like Chen Xinghai were the crops the Immortal Alliance sowed among millions of seafarers, reaped at intervals.
The moment Lu Yang grasped the system, an idea sparked—he could scale it up grandly.
For now, the Immortal Alliance's disaster policies cost a fortune.
Only skippers like Chen Xinghai, owners of sizable vessels, could afford them. Crewmen skipped insurance—a glaring waste of potential.
In Lu Yang's mind, personal policies for safe passage were the obvious next step.
Few would bite, though. Seafarers treated the sea as a gamble with death; one slip and you fed the fish.
Even insured, the dead collected nothing.
To boost uptake, leak that coverage might not save you—but skipping it could land you on hazardous Immortal Alliance routes.
Sales would skyrocket.
Not even his invention; a Primal Saint Sect Perfected Being had run this on the orthodox-demonic frontlines, profiting handsomely after.
Lu Yang pulled back his wandering thoughts and eyed the middle-aged man.
Patience came easy. He waited until the man finished with Chen Xinghai and flew off on an escaping beam of light before tailing discreetly. Only once clear of eyes within a thousand li did he strike.
A single grab. Soul-search complete.
Chen Xinghai, mere bottom-rung seafarer, knew scraps. The middle-aged man, an Immortal Alliance sea patrol envoy, held richer intel.
His soul yielded troves.
"This is Chaosflow Sea's northwest fringe. The linked Immortal Alliance harbor falls under 'Divine Empyrean Sect' control, with a Core Formation elder in residence."
Lu Yang drew a sharp breath!
This Divine Empyrean Sect rivaled Jiangbei's premier sects below Primal Saint Sect ranks—a Golden Core True Lord held court!
Memories blurred on details, dubbing him "Core Formation elder," but a core was a core. Overseas terms diverged from inland norms; nothing odd. Shame he lacked the full "Divine Empyrean Sect" legacy—his technique covered only Qi Refining stages.
"Name: Situ Zheng. Cultivation: Qi Refining... Hmm?"
Mid-search, Lu Yang froze. Situ Zheng's "Qi Refining" spanned a full twelve layers!
"Two extra layers?"
Frown deepening, Lu Yang yanked the full technique from the man's mindsea—no seals or traps to bar him.
A manual crystallized before his eyes.
Sea-Treading Art
"To master this art, one requires a water spirit root. Breathe seawater through the root to forge true qi, cycle it twelve times for Foundation Establishment."
Lu Yang's brow furrowed tighter with each line.
Per the text, only innate spirit root bearers could pursue immortality—a stark clash with his century-honed truths.
The real grind lay along the path; entry was child's play for anyone. Spirit root divides? Absurd. And this Sea-Treading Art? Intake seawater via root? What of the body? Refining qi or the root itself?
Doubts snowballed.
Fresh off the Immortal Alliance's sleight-of-hand, suspicion bloomed: this "Biyang Cultivation World"...
A Primal Saint Sect overseas talent mill?
Lu Yang cloaked himself anew, wiped his encounter from Situ Zheng's mind, then drew the Myriad Spirits Banner and summoned Su Nu.
"This servant greets Master."
Su Nu materialized in a graceful bow, gaze half-reproachful toward Lu Yang—as if chiding his long neglect in airing her out.
He brushed off the look, jabbed a finger at Situ Zheng.
"Trail him."
Divine Empyrean Sect's depths unknown—a true Golden Core True Lord spelled peril. Better play safe.
Su Nu scouts first!
"This servant complies."
No questions, no fuss—habituated to tool status—she dissolved into a breeze shadowing Situ Zheng.
Oblivious, Situ Zheng streaked onward.
Clouds parted. Mists cleared.
A colossal island sprawled into Lu Yang's sight, spiritual auras rampant, figures darting ceaselessly.
Situ Zheng plunged inward, alighting soon at a pavilion.
Passing cultivators hailed him—all Qi Refining nobodies, blind to the breeze at his elbow.
Su Nu stuck close as he roamed the isle.
Lu Yang's frown grew.
"All Qi Refining?"
Her eyes revealed the island's pulse—no Foundation Establishment cultivator in sight.
Where had they gone?
Abruptly, the isle quaked. Lights lanced skyward, weaving a grand array.
Silhouettes massed offshore.
"Hahaha! Today marks Divine Empyrean Sect's doom!"
Their leader's aura surged, roiling ambient qi—late Qi Refining, Lu Yang gauged at once.
Madness?
Shenxiao Sect boasted a Golden Core True Lord. A late Qi Refiner shouting "extermination" at the gates?
Memories of Shenwu Sect surfaced. Its late Foundation Establishment master lured out by Perfected Being Yin Shan, ambushed and slain—surviving elders decimated, ripe for Lu Yang's coup. Same here?
It fit the Foundation Establishment absence!
From the isle's heart—a jade tower—a light erupted, late Qi Refining might booming forth:
"Azure Thunder Sect's base treachery—defying Immortal Alliance edicts?"
Dozens, hundreds of lights answered from the isle.
Lu Yang tallied: mid Qi Refining across the board. Impressive show, feeble substance.
"My chance!"
Shenxiao Sect reeled in crisis; most Foundation Establishment likely slain. Not all, though—Shenwu had stragglers.
Wounded, lurking perhaps.
"Aiding them now hooks their True Lords. Invaluable for my Tiangang hunt."
He'd stay hands-off, naturally.
Foes bold enough for a Golden Core-backed sect? Azure Thunder Sect hid its own True Lord. True body exposure? Suicide.
Better: Su Nu. Banner spirit—causeless, traceless, self-destruct ready.
Decision locked.
Time to grind Su Nu. She shoulders the karma.