Chapter 295: What a Bunch of Sword Seeds!
A major celestial realm housing a Fruit Position!
Before the Yun Family Patriarch could finish speaking, Lü Yang already grasped the significance of Jiangnan's mass grave—after all, a major celestial realm equated to a new second-grade true scripture!
"True Person Dangmo is the Third Elder of our Sword Pavilion. He reached late-stage Foundation Establishment long ago, attaining the cultivation of a Grand True Person. He's already begun planning for his Fruit Position. However, among the major celestial realms under the Sword Pavilion's jurisdiction, most second-grade true scriptures fail to meet his requirements. Only this newly emerged one suits him perfectly."
"That's why True Person Dangmo is spearheading this operation."
"And unsurprisingly, the Demon Sect likely hasn't yet detected the anomaly within the mass grave. Thus, True Person Dangmo intends to strike first."
Through the Yun Family Patriarch's explanation, Lü Yang quickly learned the secrets of the mass grave.
To recount this matter, one must trace back to the grave's predecessor—the minor celestial realm that various True Lords had seized as a battlefield for Dao plundering.
The origins of that minor celestial realm were anything but simple.
Though it lacked even Foundation Establishment cultivators and was only fit to serve as a Dao-plundering battleground for Qi Refining disciples, it was actually a subsidiary of another major celestial realm.
Its name was the [Mystic Spirit Realm].
The predecessor of Jiangnan's mass grave was called the [Luo Fan Realm]. Typically, when cultivators of the [Luo Fan Realm] reached their peak, they would ascend to the [Mystic Spirit Realm].
However, after being seized and transformed into a Dao-plundering battlefield, the [Luo Fan Realm] lost all connection with the [Mystic Spirit Realm]. At first, this might not have seemed significant, but after ten or twenty years, cultivators in the [Mystic Spirit Realm] noticed something amiss and dispatched envoys to investigate.
And thus, they walked straight into a trap.
The cultivators from the [Mystic Spirit Realm] were no weaklings—their cultivation was at the Foundation Establishment level, though they referred to it as "Human Immortal" instead.
Unfortunately, that Human Immortal's luck wasn't great.
On that very day, True Person Dangmo of the Sword Pavilion happened to pass by. When the envoy attempted to seize and soul-search him, True Person Dangmo effortlessly subdued and captured him.
Thus, the [Mystic Spirit Realm] could no longer remain hidden.
"According to the captive's account, the [Mystic Spirit Realm] is a supreme celestial realm, a dwelling place for immortals and deities. Five ranks of immortals encircle the Heavenly Court, each fulfilling their respective duties."
"The five ranks of immortals are: Heavenly, Earthly, Human, Divine, and Ghost."
"When lower-realm cultivators ascend, their physical bodies shatter, and only their souls undergo purification—this is the [Ghost Immortal]. Bestowed with fiefdoms to govern regions, they become [Divine Immortals]."
"Only after accumulating sufficient merit and reconstructing their bodies through the power of incense offerings do they return to the human path—this is the [Human Immortal]."
"Traversing three mountains and five peaks, dwelling in the mortal world without governing it—this is the [Earth Immortal]."
"Those who achieve merit in the Dao and virtue on earth, receiving heavenly scriptures to enter the Heavenly Court and govern the world—this is the [Heavenly Immortal]."
As for what lay beyond the [Heavenly Immortal], the Human Immortal captive offered no further explanation. But even without his words, Lü Yang could roughly deduce the corresponding realm.
'Most likely, it's the True Lord realm!'
Lü Yang pondered inwardly. No wonder Jiangnan's mass grave had managed to alarm the True Lords of both the Sword Pavilion and the Saint Sect—the value of the [Mystic Spirit Realm] was self-evident.
After all, it was a major celestial realm housing a Fruit Position. For True Lords, this was nothing short of a sumptuous feast. Even the leftover scraps could satiate Foundation Establishment True Persons. The only pity was that at this point in time, his cultivation was too low—not only could he not participate, but even obtaining concrete information proved difficult.
At this thought, Lü Yang's mind began to stir with ambition.
"A major celestial realm! If I can ride this wave and plunder it extensively, it would significantly accelerate the nurturing of my Immortal Spirit Body!"
But how to enter?
His eyes flickered with calculation before an idea struck him:
'Currently, I can't operate openly within the Sword Pavilion, so entering through them is impossible. But if the Sword Pavilion's path is blocked... I can go through the Saint Sect!'
'As long as I leak the mass grave's secrets to the Saint Sect in advance—sending word to True Person Chongguang—once the Saint Sect's True Lords verify my information, I can establish contact with them. Then I'll claim... that I'm a reincarnated Saint Sect True Person who infiltrated the Sword Pavilion anonymously!'
Though I reside in the Sword Pavilion, my heart has always belonged to the Saint Sect!
More importantly, True Person Chongguang had already informed Lü Yang in his past life how to contact him. A specially crafted spirit missive would ensure direct delivery into his hands.
This alone should suffice to earn True Person Chongguang's trust.
'That settles it!'
With this resolution, Lü Yang immediately sprang into action. Only after igniting the prepared spirit missive with his magic power and watching it transform into a streak of light soaring into the heavens did he finally exhale in relief.
Simultaneously, Yun Miaozhen—who had been kneeling beneath the desk cultivating for some time—emerged, wiping her lips. Her late-stage Qi Refining cultivation showed clear signs of progress.
Then Lü Yang's expression turned solemn.
Since he intended to claim a share of the spoils from the mass grave incident, he could no longer afford to progress leisurely. He needed to find a way to accelerate his advancement.
'At the very least, I must restore my mid-stage Foundation Establishment before the operation begins!'
With this in mind, Lü Yang turned his gaze toward the Yun Family Patriarch, Yun Miaozhen, and True Person Xiuxin: "Is there any way to obtain more Geng Metal spiritual materials?"
The three exchanged glances.
Then True Person Xiuxin spoke softly: "Replying to Master, this isn't actually difficult... We need only locate a few more factions colluding with the Jiangbei Demon Sect."
"Can you find them?"
"I can arrange it."
The Yun Family Patriarch pondered before saying, "If this subordinate spreads word of a thorough investigation into demonic paths, the nearby sects and factions will surely tremble in fear."
"Under this pretext, we should be able to squeeze considerable spiritual materials from each."
Lü Yang: "..."
"Wouldn't that be too ostentatious?" Lü Yang hesitated—not out of compassion, but concern that such actions might draw the Sword Pavilion's attention.
After all, extorting subordinate sects like this didn't seem very orthodox.
Yet the next moment, the Yun Family Patriarch looked at him in astonishment: "Master, what's ostentatious about this? It's merely routine."
"Huh?"
Seeing Lü Yang's confusion, the Yun Family Patriarch explained: "In Jiangnan, our Sword Pavilion allowed these factions to develop unhindered—this alone means they owe us karma. Now is the time to settle it, which could even be considered doing them a favor. Why should this be cause for surprise?"
You call this "settling karma"?
Lü Yang was speechless. In Jiangbei, Saint Sect True Persons referred to such actions as outright robbery—or more elegantly, "harvesting the autumn winds." He never imagined it could be framed this way.
The orthodox path truly operated differently.
Through the Yun Family Patriarch's explanation, Lü Yang fully understood: in Jiangnan, most factions' growth relied heavily on connections to Jiangbei.
As everyone knew, open trade facilitated profit.
These factions might not collude directly with the Saint Sect, but they certainly needed to engage with Jiangbei—transporting goods—to accumulate the initial capital for their development.
Yet by the Sword Pavilion's standards, this constituted collusion with demonic paths.
Normally, the Sword Pavilion turned a blind eye. Only when necessary would they invoke this pretext to "settle karma."
This was the Sword Pavilion's age-old tactic: deliberately permitting local factions to develop, knowing growth required Jiangbei connections—which equaled demonic collusion. They ignored it until the factions grew fat, then moved in for the slaughter, all while maintaining their pristine orthodox image.
As for Sword Pavilion disciples, they needed only focus on honing their swords.
Pills, magical treasures, talismans, and other external aids—like the Hidden Sword Manor—were all delegated to subordinate sects for them to handle as they pleased.
While others hoarded grain, the Sword Pavilion hoarded blades—making everyone else their granary.
This was even more extreme than the Saint Sect's approach. While Saint Sect True Persons only robbed when short on funds, the Sword Pavilion directly siphoned Jiangnan's lifeblood.
Yet they executed it flawlessly.
Eradicating demons and upholding righteousness stood as unimpeachable causes. No one could find fault with their methods.
After fully comprehending the Sword Pavilion's governance mechanism over all of Jiangnan, Lü Yang couldn't help but sigh: "What a bunch of sword seeds..."
It seems I must thoroughly reform and rehabilitate the Sword Pavilion, guiding it back to the true orthodox path!