Chapter 180
Chapter 180
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 180
Chapter Title: Mountain-Embracing
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At the peak of Heaven Mending Peak, Lu Yang stood with his hands behind his back.
Behind him, Lady Ruo Xiang's graceful figure quietly materialized. Gazing at him, her beautiful eyes held shock and envy before she leaned in close and softly said,
"Congratulations on reaching mid-Foundation Establishment, Yuantu. Immortality is now within sight!"
She couldn't help but feel envious.
After all, though they were both at Foundation Establishment, she hadn't even comprehended her innate divine ability, let alone her natal divine ability. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been so fixated on plotting her reincarnation.
Yet compared to her, Lu Yang—who had only achieved the Dao less than a century ago, impossibly young—had already shattered countless barriers to reach mid-Foundation Establishment in one leap. How could Lady Ruo Xiang not feel envious?
But she was clever and didn't let that envy affect her mindset.
"You're too kind, Lady."
Lu Yang smiled faintly at her congratulations, then turned his gaze inward, silently sensing the changes brought by this new innate divine ability.
【Mountain-Embracing】
At this moment, a majestic mountain shadow emerged within his Dao foundation. It balanced his primal qi, suppressing heaven and earth, locking all his merit and fortune firmly within his body.
"So this is an innate divine ability."
Lu Yang murmured to himself inwardly. The world before his eyes felt utterly transformed, granting him fresh insights into karma, fate, and even the fabric of a single world.
No wonder the gap between early and mid-Foundation Establishment hinged on acquiring an innate divine ability. It wasn't merely an extra powerful technique—it was a completion of his very being. The boost to his Dao foundation and the transformation of his natal divine ability were immediate and profound.
"Holding to the one, guarding the center, distinguishing sameness from difference."
As its name implied, 【Mountain-Embracing】 not only possessed its own wondrous might but also enhanced the subtleties of 【Distinguishing Sameness from Difference】 within Lu Yang's natal divine ability.
Now, as Lu Yang activated 【Distinguishing Sameness from Difference】 once more,
countless threads of karma appeared in his vision—some bright, some dim, some thick, some thin, densely interwoven.
These were his karmic ties.
The most prominent was a strand of black smoke, tainting over half the threads on his body and eroding his merit and fortune.
"Heavenly Punishment Tribulation Qi?"
In his previous life, he hadn't been able to see this tribulation qi, which caused him to reveal a flaw before the Heaven Mending Peak Master and nearly ruin everything.
But now, he could not only see the tribulation qi but also, as he circulated 【Distinguishing Sameness from Difference】, the majestic mountain shadow in his Dao foundation resonated in response. Under the radiant wash of the divine ability, the layers of tribulation qi were truly dispelled, restoring the brilliance to his karmic threads.
This was merely its enhancement to his natal divine ability. Beyond that, 【Mountain-Embracing】 possessed its own dual marvels of formless and manifest, extraordinarily divine.
In formless state, it suppressed hearts and minds, stabilizing divine abilities.
In manifest state, it equalized primal qi and balanced heaven and earth.
This was what Lu Yang valued most: it was brutally effective against weaklings.
In formless state, without visible form, 【Mountain-Embracing】 became a crushing mountain upon the heart. With a mere thought from Lu Yang, he could press it upon others.
From now on, any cultivator suppressed by 【Mountain-Embracing】 would find further progress in cultivation impossible. Each step forward would demand hundreds or thousands of times the usual effort. And if Lu Yang willed it, he could even shatter their cultivation outright, crushing a Qi Refining perfection cultivator back to the first layer!
This effect even worked on Foundation Establishment true persons.
Before a fight, slam down a 【Mountain-Embracing】 first. No matter how brilliant they were, he could unconditionally nullify one subtlety of their innate divine ability!
Three subtleties reduced to two, two to one.
One directly erased!
"If I'd had 【Mountain-Embracing】 during that fight with Perfected Being Huanwu of the Divine Martial Sect back then, he wouldn't have even been able to use his natal divine ability."
How domineering!
Even more outrageous, this suppression could target any chosen subtlety arbitrarily. As long as he willed it, he could erase any specific one, making it a hard counter to true persons whose combat style revolved around a single key subtlety in their natal divine ability.
Take Wu Cang, for example. His strongest move, 【Heavenly Furnace Parting Fire】, combined the "fire in wood" subtlety of his natal divine ability with his innate divine ability 【Not Fleeing South】.
It had given Lu Yang considerable trouble at the time.
But now, one 【Mountain-Embracing】 smash would suppress "fire in wood," instantly dismantling Wu Cang's ace!
Of course, this nullification had limits.
First, once a subtlety was targeted, it couldn't be changed for a short time. Second, no other subtleties of 【Mountain-Embracing】 could be used.
In manifest state, 【Mountain-Embracing】 equalized primal qi and balanced heaven and earth. As its name suggested, it truly manifested a mountain shadow, suppressing all spiritual energy, karma, and fortune in an area. No matter your myriad transformations, escape was nearly impossible—a supremely powerful trapping technique.
"Damn, it has both mechanics and stats."
Opening his eyes, Lu Yang fully understood why the 【City Wall Earth】 fruition was so coveted. Related divine abilities were either pure mechanics or raw stats.
Unfortunately, the karma was too heavy.
"Though I'll have to discard it eventually, it still has plenty of uses now. Time to settle new and old grudges together—solve one major worry today."
With that thought, Lu Yang looked up. "Come out. No need to skulk in the shadows."
As his words fell, under the moonless, windy night sky, a black-robed figure silently emerged. A familiar face, but without the overwhelming might from his previous life.
"I am Wu Cang. Greetings, Fellow Daoist Yuantu."
At those words, Lu Yang laughed. He knew the 【Wu Cang】 he'd last seen in his previous life wasn't the real one, but a Dao remnant possessing him.
But he couldn't beat the Dao remnant now.
That pent-up rage from being hunted to self-detonation still needed an outlet, so he'd just pin the account on Wu Cang for now!
"Yuantu, this man's intentions are hostile."
Lady Ruo Xiang beside him showed worry. Lu Yang waved her back, then said, "I understand your purpose, Fellow Daoist."
"Unfortunately, a true lord's handwritten letter is far too precious to share lightly."
As Lu Yang spoke, the feigned smile on Wu Cang's face faded, turning icy. "So, Fellow Daoist wants to suffer a bit?"
Lu Yang didn't reply.
After breaking through to mid-stage, he'd seen through a few things. This Wu Cang was a rogue cultivator by origin, joining the Primal Saint Sect after reincarnation, so he retained rogue habits.
In short, his divine abilities focused on killing and combat, with no grasp of karma.
Such a person was easily swayed.
So his coming to cause trouble might not even be sincere.
Connecting it to the heavenly killing intent on him in his previous life, Lu Yang now suspected it was almost certainly some Primal Saint Sect bigshot pulling strings.
But such meddling came at a cost.
Foundation Establishment true persons transcended the mundane, their karma unique. Manipulating it required payment—no different from casually commanding Qi Refining cultivators.
In other words—
"If an unexpected variable arises during the karmic manipulation, that method of puppeteering a Foundation Establishment's karma has a ninety-nine percent chance of backlashing the instigator immediately!"
What variable?
The answer was obvious. The foe was using Wu Cang against him. If he suddenly struck and slew Wu Cang, that would be the ultimate variable!
At the thought, a crimson glint flashed in Lu Yang's eyes.
No matter who was scheming against him—whether Hongyun or another Primal Saint Sect true person—they absolutely couldn't have predicted his breakthrough to mid-Foundation Establishment!
After all, 【Mountain-Embracing】 inherently suppressed merit and fortune. From the moment of breakthrough, Lu Yang had locked his changed fortune tightly within, masking it further with the Heaven-Scrutinizing Instrument, showing no trace—for precisely this moment, to deliver a vicious blow to the puppet master!
(End of chapter)