Chapter 243
Chapter 243
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: [Unknown]
Chapter Title: Guarding the Stump, Awaiting the Rabbit
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Lu Yang didn't rush off to find Ye Guyue.
After all, Ye Guyue's strength wasn't weak at all. He'd managed to injure and repel her before mainly because of Sui Ying's restraint, allowing him to land a successful sneak attack amid the chaos.
Now, with no Sui Ying to hold her back and his [Star Concealing Brilliance] Divine Ability exposed to Ye Guyue, she was sure to be on her guard. Repeating that success would be difficult. Rather than hunt her down, Lu Yang shifted his focus to this blessed land fragment instead, opting to guard the stump and await the rabbit.
And sure enough, things played out exactly as he'd anticipated.
"This blessed land fragment is actually collapsing bit by bit too. Perfected Chongguang used immense magical power to bind it together, making it far more stable than the others."
Its nature was the same as the previous blessed lands.
As time passed, it would begin crumbling from the edges, gradually collapsing inward toward the center and forcing everyone to converge there.
"The exit is in the center too."
That simplified matters greatly.
Lu Yang summoned [Mountain-Embracing] right away and planted it firmly over the blessed land fragment's exit. Then he started laying down arrays around the area.
Now, if Ye Guyue wanted to leave the fragment, she had only two options. Either force her way out—which would trigger the fragment's backlash and cost more than it gained. Or fight Lu Yang head-on, slay him, and depart safely via the exit.
Lu Yang actually preferred the first choice.
Because if she forced her way out, she'd end up gravely wounded afterward. He could pursue and had every confidence of capturing her alive.
But Ye Guyue had seen through that too.
"Forcibly breaking out isn't viable. The priority now is shattering this array!"
Ye Guyue's beautiful eyes gleamed coldly as she stared fixedly at Lu Yang atop the mountain. Her sword heart and sword intent blared warnings, sending faint tremors through her delicate frame.
Against anyone else, she might have unleashed her sword already. But facing Lu Yang, she kept her cool. Arrays borrowed heaven and earth's power to let the weak overcome the strong, after all. With Lu Yang's cultivation roughly equal to hers, charging in blindly was far too risky.
With that realization, Ye Guyue turned her gaze at once.
"Fellow Daoist Many Treasures, I'll need to trouble you for a trip."
Many Treasures Child froze at her words, then shook his head frantically.
"With my paltry cultivation, entering that array would be suicide!"
"That's precisely your karmic tie."
Ye Guyue nodded as if it were obvious.
"Dying to break the array for us would be merit beyond measure. After your reincarnation, I promise you a true disciple position."
"..."
Many Treasures Child seethed with rage.
*What the hell do I want your true disciple spot for? My path is set—I can't even use Sword Pavilion methods for foundation building!*
To truly join Sword Pavilion as a direct disciple and build his foundation that way, he'd have to wait until after his fifth reincarnation, when reincarnation's power had scoured his soul and true spirit clean. By then, he wouldn't be *him* anymore—just a new consciousness. What meaning would that hold?
With that in mind, Many Treasures Child spoke up.
"I'll go break the array if you return the [Undying Catalpa]. With that spiritual material shielding me, I've got some shot at self-preservation inside."
"Ridiculous!"
Yun Zhiqiu bristled immediately and cut in.
"The spiritual material is one thing—this is another. How can you lump them together, Fellow Daoist?"
"You're one of the righteous path now. Naturally, you must bear the heavy duty of slaying demons and guarding the dao!"
Many Treasures Child shot back.
"Then why aren't *you* going, Fellow Daoist?"
*What a joke—how could I?*
Yun Zhiqiu knew better than anyone that Lu Yang's name rang like thunder in his ears. His own family ancestor had died by Lu Yang's hand!
Back in the day, the ancestor had made a desperate last stand, only to fall to Lu Yang. Then the Yun family's prodigy Yun Miaozhen perished on the Dao-Seizing Battlefield. The Yun clan teetered on collapse. If Yun Zhiqiu hadn't stumbled into heavenly fortune and seized a massive opportunity to break through to Foundation Establishment by sheer luck, the Yun family would've scattered to the winds long ago.
Given that history, how could he dare clash with Lu Yang?
"My cultivation is still too low!"
Yun Zhiqiu said solemnly.
"If I go in, even my death wouldn't probe the array's power. But if *you* go, Fellow Daoist, it's a different story."
Many Treasures Child went utterly silent.
He turned to Ye Guyue.
"Fellow Daoist, you're really sending me in empty-handed to break it?"
Ye Guyue considered briefly before shaking her head.
"If I lend you the [Undying Catalpa] and you die, won't the spiritual material be lost?"
"That would mean failing to break the array—and arming the enemy instead."
Decision made, Ye Guyue continued.
"Go in empty-handed, Fellow Daoist. If you die, no harm done. One day, I'll ferry your return."
"...Fine."
Many Treasures Child wasted no more words. He turned, summoned an escaping light, and flew straight into [Mountain-Embracing]. Finding the array gate, he charged right through without a second thought.
Lu Yang grinned at the sight.
"Well, if it isn't Fellow Daoist Many Treasures. Long time no see."
"Yuantu..."
Many Treasures Child's expression was complicated too.
As his words trailed off, the Myriad Spirits Banner appeared in his grasp. He shook it hard, stirring spiritual lights from every direction. Countless banner spirits poured out, coiling around the array eyes.
"[Blood Sea Covering the Heavens Grand Array]!"
In the next instant, blood lights wove across the heavens, forming waves. Layer after layer surged endlessly, blanketing sky and earth in a colossal blood sea!
Once unfurled, the array held no esoteric transformations. It simply overwhelmed with sheer volume, using endless blood waves to grind down the intruder's magic power. If Lu Yang powered it personally, there might be limits. But he'd tapped into a portion of the blessed land fragment's power through the array.
Thus, the array ran on the fragment's mana supply.
His own mana stayed untouched, while the intruder battled the towering blood sea—a lopsided exchange where could they possibly compete?
And that was without [Mountain-Embracing]'s reinforcement.
Every wave looked paper-thin but weighed heavier than mountains and rivers, suppressing spiritual energy. Without burning mana, escape was impossible.
Not that he lacked further tricks.
Lu Yang unhooked the [Three-Nines Soul-Melting Gourd] from his waist, infused it with mana in his palm, and tossed it into the array's heart.
Rolling smoke billowed from the gourd next.
[Soul-Melting Spirit-Dispersing God-Seizing Smoke]!
Bolstered by the smoke, the blood waves now shook the soul as well—pouring salt in the intruder's wounds.
Seeing this, Many Treasures Child didn't hesitate a beat.
He dropped to his knees at once, hands raised high, mana withdrawn, and bellowed.
"This lowly one Many Treasures surrenders to the Primal Saint Sect!"
"Please, milord—spare this lowly one's life!"
What was Many Treasures Child? He'd nursed a grudge for half his life after a Primal Saint Sect Perfected Being robbed him once. He despised robbers above all.
Now Sword Pavilion had robbed *him*, fueling bottomless fury. His merit and fortune had been stripped clean by Chongguang earlier, with no time to rebuild. Dying now meant three to five lifetimes before he could start over.
Why fight? He was throwing in with the Primal Saint Sect!
Lu Yang hadn't expected such swift capitulation, but he welcomed it heartily, laughing.
"Fellow Daoist submitting? Nothing could be finer!"
Outside the array, Ye Guyue's lovely face darkened at the sight.
She couldn't fathom why Many Treasures Child had turned traitor. She'd offered him Sword Pavilion karmic bonds—a boon countless craved.
In the end, all she could do was snort coldly.
"Ultimately, a Jiangbei demon—evil nature dies hard!"