Chapter 169
Chapter 169
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 0
Chapter Title: Hard to Be a Good Person
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At this moment, the entire island plunged into silence.
Lu Yang hovered in mid-air, lost in thought and utterly silent. The others didn't even dare breathe, and some had fainted outright from sheer terror.
After all, just moments ago, Ancestor Qingting—who was renowned across the nearby islands—had been dangling limply in the hand of this peerless fiend before them like a dead dog. That was a Nascent Soul great cultivator, someone who counted as mid-tier even in the Immortal Alliance, yet he wasn't even a match.
What was his realm?
Soul Refining? Void Return? Dao Union? No one knew. But everyone understood that the Lu Yang before them could decide their fates with a single thought.
". . . Sigh."
It was a long while before Lu Yang let out a deep sigh. The thoughts and schemes of the mortals below naturally couldn't escape him; he saw it all clearly.
"Being a good person is so damn hard."
"I clearly wanted to play the good guy this time, but because of one tiny mishap, I'm back to being the kind of demon lord who wipes out entire families on a whim."
With that in mind, Lu Yang glanced at Ancestor Qingting in his grip.
"It's all your fault!"
He had planned it all out perfectly: casually kill a few Qi Training cultivators to show off his power, then chat amiably with the Foundation Establishment real person, giving each other face.
That way, he could build a reputation as the "Timely Rain," the charitable benefactor of the overseas isles, while sparing the "Golden Core sect." There would surely be handsome rewards afterward, and he could even pull off a self-injury ploy to rack up favors from the "Golden Core sect" for future schemes.
As for the dead Qi Training cultivators? Lu Yang had never given them a second thought.
Did Qi Training even count as people?
But who could have foreseen that a misleading realm name would shatter everything? In the blink of an eye, he was a demon lord again!
'Maybe just kill them all.'
Lu Yang eyed the crowd, then shuddered violently. How could such a horrifying thought cross his mind? As if slaughtering them would hide the news?
It was utterly pointless!
'It must be the Saint Sect's fault. Near ink turns black—I've stayed in the Saint Sect too long.'
Lu Yang reflected deeply, then snapped back to reality and turned to Lady Xiao, who trembled behind him.
"From this day forward, the Divine Empyrean Sect is under my command."
"Do you have any objections?"
How could Lady Xiao voice any dissent? She prostrated herself at once, her delicate frame quivering and sending ripples across her form.
"The Divine Empyrean Sect obeys your orders, Senior."
Lu Yang fixed her with a profound gaze. His dharma eyes blazed like fire, igniting from her core and surging through her limbs, flushing her exquisite face with twin crimson clouds. She felt utterly exposed before him, without a shred of secrecy.
"Such divine might, Senior!"
In that instant, a figure burst forth and knelt before Lu Yang without a word. It was none other than Liu Chi, the one who had just betrayed the Divine Empyrean Sect.
"This junior possesses a variant Thunder Spirit Root of superior-grade aptitude. Today, I beg to take you as my master. I will serve as your vanguard and rearguard, facing death without hesitation!"
With those words, Liu Chi kowtowed three resounding times in utmost respect.
Lady Xiao's head snapped up at the sight, her face twisting with bone-deep hatred.
"You traitor who betrayed your master and ancestors... Do you think you have a path to survival?"
Liu Chi said nothing, only kowtowed relentlessly.
Lu Yang watched him with keen interest. He had to admit, Liu Chi had some brains—he had sized up the situation in an instant.
With Lu Yang's power, escape was impossible, so begging for mercy was the only option. But with his meager cultivation, he had no real bargaining chips. After racking his brains, all he could offer was his spirit root talent and loyalty. Lady Xiao's attitude was irrelevant.
It was the best choice he could make.
"Not bad. You've got potential."
Lu Yang smiled faintly. At those words, wild joy erupted in Liu Chi's eyes—only for him to dissolve into a puddle of blood amid his ecstasy.
A root tendril crackling with thunderous light shot from the gore and landed in Lu Yang's hand.
Liu Chi's judgment had been spot-on. The so-called "variant Thunder Spirit Root" was indeed useful to him.
Just... only the spirit root itself.
"You, come with me."
With that command to Lady Xiao, Lu Yang transformed into a streak of escaping light and flew into the Divine Empyrean Sect. She hurried after him without delay.
Fortunately, Lu Yang was acting through Su Nv's body this time, appearing as a peerless beauty.
Otherwise, Lady Xiao might have grown suspicious, wondering if he fancied her body.
Of course, Lu Yang did fancy Lady Xiao's body—or more precisely, the superior-grade Water Spirit Root within her.
Perfect for in-depth study.
After all, so-called "spirit roots" were unique to the Biyang Cultivation World. To uncover the truths of this place, he had to start with spirit roots.
A day later.
As the shaken cultivators departed one by one, word of Lu Yang spread like wildfire, sending nearby island sects into a panic.
"He grabbed Ancestor Qingting casually, leaving him unable to resist?"
"Definitely a Soul Refining cultivator!"
"But shouldn't all Soul Refining cultivators be in the Immortal Alliance? Why here? Could it be a secret Immortal Alliance mission? Did Qingting cross a line?"
Rumors flew in every direction.
But Lu Yang, ensconced in the Divine Empyrean Sect, paid them no mind. He simply ordered Lady Xiao to fetch all the sect's scriptures and classics.
Most were trash.
Only one dao scripture caught his eye—the sect's signature technique, the Ren-Gui Combined Transformation Divine Empyrean True Art.
"I see..."
Lu Yang frowned deeply. After finishing the scripture, he summoned Lady Xiao to his seclusion chamber and soul-searched her brutally for verification. As an old sect ancestor, she gave him a complete picture of the Biyang Cultivation World.
"In this cultivation world, only those with spirit roots can cultivate immortality!"
"Spirit roots aren't innate from birth, though. They're bestowed from the heavens after infancy, based on one's fate and fortune, merging into the baby's body."
"That's why conspiracy theories abound, claiming spirit roots are the Immortal Alliance's tool to control cultivator numbers."
"And for these true but irresponsible rumors, the Immortal Alliance issues official denials while cracking down harshly."
With a spirit root, one could embark on cultivation.
The path thereafter involved the spirit root ceaselessly absorbing heaven-and-earth spiritual energy to refine and purify one's true qi, divided roughly into seven realms.
"Ancestor Qingting claimed Nascent Soul, but that's just informal slang, not officially recognized by the Immortal Alliance. By their standards, the seven realms are: Qi Training, Base Casting, Core Formation, Infant Condensation, Soul Refining, Void Return, Dao Union."
That made far more sense.
He had thought Qi Training, Base Casting, and Core Formation were local overseas terms. Now it seemed they were euphemisms to avoid offending superiors.
After all, Golden Core True Lords could survey all heaven and earth.
What if one scanned the Biyang Cultivation World and found Qi Training cultivators calling themselves Golden Cores? Offended, they might slaughter the whole realm!
What level are you, daring to share my 'Golden Core' title?
The deeper Lu Yang delved into the Biyang Cultivation World system, the more off it felt.
"Why does the cultivation here never elevate one's tier at all?"
Above Infant Condensation was Soul Refining.
With Infant Condensation equivalent to peak Qi Training perfection, Lu Yang had assumed Soul Refining matched Foundation Establishment, even feeling a twinge of wariness.
Yet the Divine Empyrean Sect had produced Soul Refining great cultivators before, and the Ren-Gui Combined Transformation Divine Empyrean True Art described Soul Refining and even Void Return cultivators. Upon review, Lu Yang found that whether Soul Refining or Void Return, it was all just further purifying true qi—no tier elevation.
In other words, no qualitative change.
In the Biyang Cultivation World, even the mightiest Dao Union great cultivators were still merely at Qi Training perfection! Their tier too low—Lu Yang could wipe them out with a puff of breath!