Chapter 304
Chapter 304
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 304
Chapter Title: Playing Both Sides
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Compared to contacting Heavy Light, reaching out to Hongyun took Lu Yang quite a bit of effort.
Of course, making contact wasn't actually difficult. All he had to do was stir up some of Hongyun's core interests, and Hongyun would come knocking without Lu Yang even showing his face.
Lu Yang's approach was straightforward. He used [Puppet on Strings] to manipulate a local Qi Refining loose cultivator from Jiangbei, then remotely influenced Xiao Shiye's karma. With this setup, Hongyun Daoist—treating Xiao Shiye as bait—would naturally be alerted and come straight to him.
Lu Yang's thinking aligned perfectly with Heavy Light's guess.
How could he sell such vital intelligence about the cavern heaven fragment to just one buyer? After all, the greatest advantage of information was that it could be sold multiple times!
The next moment, the void cracked open.
Lu Yang's eyes lit up at the sight. "Fellow Daoist..."
Boom!
Before he could finish, Hongyun Daoist unleashed his magic power, smashing the Qi Refining loose cultivator into pulp with a single palm. But soon, two more figures appeared:
"Fellow Daoist, don't you want to know..."
The first figure was shattered by Hongyun Daoist mid-sentence. Fortunately, the second figure continued, "...about your own cavern heaven?"
As the words landed, Hongyun Daoist—who had rushed over sensing Xiao Shiye's karma being tampered with, only to casually slap the Qi Refining cultivator to death upon arrival—froze. He focused his gaze and noticed the strangely eerie expressions on these "Qi Refining loose cultivators."
"...Who are you?"
Hongyun Daoist glanced at the sky, then flicked his sleeve, vanishing from the spot with Lu Yang in tow. Moments later, a strand of divine sense swept through the air.
Whoosh!
The vast divine sense swept over the scene like a gale scattering fallen leaves, but found nothing. It slowly coalesced into a frost-cold, graceful silhouette.
[Perfected Being Clear and Pure Flying Snow]!
"Pity... he got away fast."
Hongyun Daoist had once been a Primal Saint Sect Perfected Being, after all. Unless they met face-to-face, if he was determined to hide, even she couldn't easily track him.
At that thought, a charming smile bloomed on Perfected Being Clear and Pure Flying Snow's face, her beautiful eyes glinting with interest. "From the looks of it, could that person really be double-dealing, now trading with Hongyun too? That's fine by me. If I wait here like a mantis stalking a cicada, I might just catch him instead."
Jiangbei, a remote mountain forest.
This location nestled amid towering peaks and ridges, shrouded by layers of formations—each a superior array concealing heavenly secrets, severing all karma completely.
The next moment, the void cracked open.
Hongyun Daoist brought the Qi Refining loose cultivator under Lu Yang's control directly into the formation. Just like with Heavy Light, he started with a soul search.
As expected of an old Primal Saint.
Lu Yang remained calm, long accustomed to it.
Only after the soul search yielded nothing did Hongyun Daoist finally regard Lu Yang differently. He looked at him and said, "Do you know the name of my cavern heaven?"
This was his final probe.
Lu Yang didn't hesitate. " [Cavern Heaven of Eternal Radiant Treasure Light] !"
With those words, Hongyun Daoist exhaled deeply. Anyone who could name it was either an old Primal Saint or had truly seen his cavern heaven.
"What do you want?"
Clearly, Hongyun Daoist understood there was no such thing as free love or hate in this world. Since Lu Yang had sought him out, he wanted something in return.
Unlike Heavy Light, who now held the momentum as the Primal Saint Sect's acting Sect Master and had room to maneuver on many matters, Hongyun Daoist had languished for five thousand years. He was already backed into a corner.
His attitude was thus refreshingly direct.
Seeing Hongyun Daoist's decisiveness, Lu Yang cut straight to the point. "I want the semi-true treasure you left in the Biyang Cultivation World, and that Innate Dao Fiend!"
"...Who exactly are you?"
At those words, Hongyun Daoist's expression grew even graver, his brows furrowing tightly. No one should know about his arrangements in the Biyang Cultivation World.
How had it leaked?
The semi-true treasure he'd left there, [Imperial Mansion Golden Seal Tushita True Edict], was actually a dead end. He'd planned to use it to falsely claim a metal position.
But falsely claiming a metal position proved far too difficult. Even after sacrificing the entire population of the Biyang Cultivation World to refine it, [Imperial Mansion Golden Seal Tushita True Edict] remained merely semi-true, unable to fully become a true treasure. Its wonders were limited to divination arts—hardly crucial to him.
One could even say it was utterly useless.
So, when Lu Yang now demanded this semi-true treasure, Hongyun Daoist felt surprise at the leak but no real reluctance to part with it.
"But... how can I trust you?"
Hongyun Daoist sneered coldly. "As for that cavern heaven fragment you mentioned, you think I don't know? It's the one under the Gan Tang Dao in江南, right!"
Lu Yang's brows rose slightly.
But he quickly understood. In his previous life, since Hongyun Daoist had returned to peak Foundation Establishment and refined a blessed land, he must have found the cavern heaven fragment.
Evidently, he'd long spotted the clues.
Yet why hadn't he gone for it immediately?
With that realization, Lu Yang regained his composure and chuckled lightly. "It seems Fellow Daoist has his doubts too—suspecting there's something wrong with that cavern heaven fragment?"
That was only natural!
No matter what, Hongyun was a Primal Saint Sect Perfected Being. How could he not grasp that fortune always hid peril? The problem was, he had no choice!
"..."
Though Hongyun Daoist wanted to retort after Lu Yang spoke, he had nothing to say. It was indeed his greatest worry lately.
Heavy Light's pressure was simply too immense. As the former master of [Covered Lamp Fire], he could even faintly sense [Covered Lamp Fire]'s attention on him waning, gradually stripped away by Heavy Light bit by bit. If this continued, he'd truly lose his position!
He had few options left.
Just recently, he'd resolved to head to江南 and claim the cavern heaven fragment—even if it was poisoned bait, he'd swallow it!
But Lu Yang's arrival changed his plans.
"What else do you know?"
Under Hongyun Daoist's gaze, Lu Yang imprinted a copy of the [True Explanation of Cavernous Void Internal Contemplation of Heaven and Earth] he'd obtained from the cavern heaven using divine sense.
Though [Soaring Empyrean Sun-Obscuring True Lord] had erased Perfected Being Xiaohai's memories of it entirely,
Lu Yang had borrowed Perfected Being Xiaohai's body at the time to memorize the contents. Perfected Being Xiaohai might have forgotten, but what did that have to do with Lu Yang?
"This is...!?"
The instant he saw [True Explanation of Cavernous Void Internal Contemplation of Heaven and Earth], excitement flashed in Hongyun Daoist's eyes. The method felt strangely familiar.
"I have another related technique."
Lu Yang said calmly, "That one is even more important—a secret art for connecting to [Covered Lamp Fire]. I suspect you'd find it even more intriguing?"
Hongyun Daoist closed his eyes.
Lu Yang smiled, knowing that unlike his deal with Heavy Light, this transaction with Hongyun Daoist was entirely under his control.
"Fellow Daoist, you'll come with me to the outer seas."
In a tone brooking no argument, Lu Yang continued directly, "Besides the [Imperial Mansion Golden Seal Tushita True Edict], you'll also help me subdue that Innate Dao Fiend."
After all, he couldn't handle the Dao Fiend alone.
"...Fine." Hongyun Daoist, aware he'd lost the initiative, didn't haggle and nodded crisply in agreement.
The deal concluded successfully, both parties well satisfied.
After exchanging messenger talismans for future contact, Hongyun Daoist watched Lu Yang depart while muttering inwardly:
'Which Primal Saint Sect Perfected Being is this?'
'Could he be bait from Heavy Light to hook me? Even if not, with the sect's style, double-selling info is standard, and burning bridges after crossing is everyday fare.'
'He won't turn around and contact Heavy Light now, will he?'
"Hey, hey, hey?"
Heaven-Connecting Cloud Sea, Sacred Fire Cliff.
Heavy Light stared oddly at the messenger talisman in his hand, watching Lu Yang's words appear rapidly:
[Acting Sect Master, I have a golden opportunity here to pit and kill Hongyun.]
[Interested?]
(End of chapter)