Chapter 168
Chapter 168
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 0
Chapter Title: Betrayal and the False Nascent Soul
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Above the island, the two factions remained locked in confrontation.
The leader on the Divine Empyrean Sect's side was a graceful Daoist nun clad in Dao robes. Her powdered face now harbored a murderous glare as she stared intently ahead.
Facing her from the Azure Thunder Sect was an elder with an otherworldly air and flowing white brows. He cradled a deep blue ritual bead in his palm and sneered coldly.
"Lady Xiao, everyone around half the Turbulent Sea knows your master has perished. The Divine Empyrean Sect has only you left, doesn't it?"
"Today, no one can save you!"
"You should know that the Divine Empyrean Sect was founded long ago by a discarded disciple of our Azure Thunder Sect. You've enjoyed your freedom for far too many years. It's high time you returned to your roots!"
His words hung in the air, and the crowd behind him erupted in loud agreement.
Lady Xiao's delicate face flushed crimson with rage, her bosom heaving wildly.
"Shameless liars! Your Azure Thunder Sect is the one that split from our Divine Empyrean Sect!"
"It's only because our sect has fallen on hard times that you've managed to snatch a few scraps of advantage."
"You ungrateful wretches who betray your master and forsake your ancestors—now that you've gained a bit of power, you dare try to wipe out the Divine Empyrean Sect? Do you truly believe my Gui Water Divine Empyrean Grand Array is some flimsy toy molded from clay?"
With that, Lady Xiao swiftly formed hand seals.
In an instant, the roar of surging waves echoed from the vault of the heavens. Strands of array light swirled and intertwined, weaving into vast expanses of seawater that materialized in midair!
The waters flowed through the sky, indistinguishable from reality in their illusory splendor, churning with endless waves. Upon closer inspection, each stream revealed itself as a bolt of leaping thunderlight. The rumbling thunder merged seamlessly with the crashing of waves, filling the air below with dread that shook the mortals to their core, as if they faced the wrath of heaven itself.
"What a Gui Water Divine Empyrean Grand Array..."
The white-browed elder's eyes flashed with caution at the sight. Yet beneath that wariness burned an even fiercer greed. A cold smirk tugged at his lips.
"...Unfortunately, strike!"
The white-browed elder bellowed the command. The grand array, on the verge of full formation, ground to a sudden halt. The glow at one of its key nodes rapidly dimmed.
Lady Xiao's pupils contracted sharply.
She turned in disbelief toward one of the primary array guardians below.
"Junior Brother Liu, you've colluded with the Azure Thunder Sect and betrayed our sect!?"
The traitor was none other than her junior brother, Liu Chi.
When their master had taken him under her wing, she had praised him as the hope for the Divine Empyrean Sect's revival. She had poured her heart into mentoring him day after day.
Yet now, with the sect in dire peril...
He had chosen to dismantle the mountain-guarding grand array—the first to betray them!
"The Azure Thunder Sect is the true orthodox successor to the Divine Empyrean lineage. How can this seat's actions be called betrayal?"
A refined-looking man stepped forward, spouting utter nonsense. He even amplified his voice with qi, ensuring the lie—"the Azure Thunder Sect is the true orthodoxy"—resounded across the four directions.
This had been his deal with the Azure Thunder Sect all along.
He had joined the Divine Empyrean Sect initially for its ancient heritage and profound techniques. But as time wore on, dissatisfaction festered.
The sect was in decline.
Especially after Lady Xiao's master—that renowned Nascent Soul great cultivator—vanished without a trace. In his eyes, the Divine Empyrean Sect had become little more than a sinking ship.
With his aptitude—a mutant thunder spirit root—why waste away aboard a doomed vessel? A wise bird chooses its perch wisely; it was time for new horizons.
"Hahaha! Well done!"
At the same time, the white-browed elder burst into laughter.
"Liu Chi, rest easy. After today, you'll be an elder of our Azure Thunder Sect. Now, follow my lead..."
The word "kill" never left the white-browed elder's lips. His voice cut off abruptly.
A lithe, breathtakingly beautiful woman had appeared before him. Her eyes, like pools of autumn water, drifted over him with utter nonchalance.
A single glance—and the elder's expression froze in place. Cracks spiderwebbed across his body in an instant.
Boom!
An explosion rent the air. Spiritual energy scattered wildly. He perished on the spot, body and soul extinguished.
"A handful of late Qi Refining cultivators needn't waste breath here with idle chatter. Send out someone who can actually make decisions. Where is your sect's Perfected Being?"
Lu Yang, his divine sense possessing the maiden, spoke indifferently.
At the same time, he resolved in his heart: if more than three Foundation Establishment Perfected Beings appeared, he would detonate the maiden's body and flee at once. No need to court massive karma.
Yet the crowd's reactions soon struck him as off.
"Elder... Elder..."
"The elder was slain by that cultivator!"
"Who is he?"
Azure Thunder Sect disciples gaped in shock, plunged into stunned silence. They could scarcely believe what had unfolded before their eyes.
"You're finished!" One finally snapped to his senses, jabbing a finger at Lu Yang with a furious shout.
"Our elder was the favorite disciple of the Azure Thunder Ancestor himself—officially appointed as an outer alliance elder by the Immortal Alliance! You've killed him, so the Immortal Alliance and our Ancestor will hunt you down relentlessly!"
The killer was the maiden. What did it have to do with me?
Lu Yang remained utterly unflustered. Instead, he latched onto the man's other words.
"Azure Thunder Ancestor? You mean the Golden Core True Lord of the Azure Thunder Sect?"
In that moment, a voice thundered from afar:
"Who dares slay my beloved disciple!?"
The roar crashed like furious waves across hundreds of li. A figure forged entirely from true qi streaked toward them.
Even from a distance, the momentum made the entire island tremble faintly.
Lady Xiao's face twisted in despair. Against the white-browed elder alone, her Gui Water Divine Empyrean Grand Array gave her a fighting chance.
But even bolstered by the array, she stood no chance against a Nascent Soul cultivator like the Azure Thunder Ancestor!
Had heaven truly decreed the end of the Divine Empyrean Sect?
The next instant, the figure arrived. Its gaze locked onto Lu Yang. Without a word, it unleashed a vast, ocean-like torrent of radiant water light.
Lu Yang took one look and grinned.
"Peak Qi Refining? I'll give you points for guts!"
As his words fell, Lu Yang seized the figure outright—like hoisting a dead dog—and turned back to the Azure Thunder Sect crowd.
"No more sending these small-timers. Where are your Foundation Establishment Perfected Beings?"
He was met with a sea of dumbfounded stares.
"The Azure Thunder Ancestor... impossible!"
"He subdued the Ancestor with one hand!?"
In an instant, several Azure Thunder Sect disciples dropped to their knees midair, faces contorted in a mix of tears and manic laughter, utterly unable to accept reality.
Witnessing this, Lu Yang finally pieced it together.
He glanced at the peak Qi Refining cultivator dangling in his grip. The man wore a mask of sheer terror. Before Lu Yang could speak, he blurted desperately:
"Mercy, exalted senior! This lowly one, Azure Thunder, pays respects to senior!"
Lu Yang opened his mouth, then intoned gravely:
"...You're Azure Thunder? The Azure Thunder Sect's Ancestor?"
"Yes, yes! Might this exalted senior have some issue with that?"
The problem was enormous!
Lu Yang wore an expression of utter bafflement.
"Isn't the Azure Thunder Sect supposed to be a Golden Core sect?"
The Azure Thunder Ancestor shook his head vigorously.
"Senior misunderstands."
A misunderstanding, eh? That explained it.
The next moment, the Azure Thunder Ancestor declared with evident pride:
"This lowly one succeeded in condensing my infant just days ago. The Azure Thunder Sect is now a Nascent Soul sect!"
"...Nascent Soul? You?"
Lu Yang recalled then that the figure before him lacked any true fleshly body. It was composed wholly of true qi, with a luminous spirit root at its core, gleaming like an infant's form.
You call this a Nascent Soul?
Though he had never laid eyes on the Dao Lord himself, Lu Yang had heard Chongguang Perfected mention it in passing during their exchanges—a description that lingered vividly.
The Nascent Soul is the ultimate truth of boundlessness, the quintessence of two and five. It gathers the primal essence of the father, merges with the qi of the earth palace, entrusts thought to heaven and earth in profound fusion, comprehends the wondrous law of the Dao, and nurtures it to fruition. The quintessence of two and five becomes the human nature; the ultimate truth of boundlessness, the human life. Their wondrous union gives birth to the Nascent Soul.
And this thing in his hand? To put it bluntly, it was just a high-quality strand of true qi shaped like an infant!
This was a Nascent Soul?
"Almost had me fooled!"
Lu Yang's expression shifted as he scrutinized the Azure Thunder Ancestor closely. Suddenly, his brows lifted—he recognized the state all too well.
It possessed awareness, yet at its core, it was merely a strand of true qi.
"...Innate Primal Qi!?"
In a flash, Lu Yang's face filled with shock and uncertainty.
Innate Primal Qi—that was the signature technique of the Wanling Banner's original master, the Primal True Man who had authored the *Innate Dao Scripture*!