Chapter 307
Chapter 307
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 307
Chapter Title: One Move Ahead in Chess
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For [Angxiao], Lu Yang had always shown the utmost hostility without restraint.
Whatever [Angxiao] wanted to do, he would sabotage it. Whatever [Angxiao] didn't want, he would make happen. It was all about pure targeting.
That was why he took such an interest in Yu Suzhen's experiences.
Reaching Qi Refining Great Perfection in three years meant she had undoubtedly gained significant opportunities under [Angxiao]'s machinations. How much of it had he tampered with?
With Pure Clarity Flying Snow True Lord watching from above, it was the perfect chance to investigate!
Unable to perform a soul search, and with String-Controlled Puppet unusable, Lu Yang saw no point in questioning her. Far better to let Yu Suzhen's own body reveal everything once and for all.
With that thought, Lu Yang immediately activated superhuman mode. His expression intent, he cast the secret art with practiced ease and plunged into Yu Suzhen's sea of consciousness.
She immediately let out a miserable scream, as if an iron rod had brutally pierced through her body. Her past memories surged forth like flowing water.
*These three years' experiences!*
Soon enough, Lu Yang had full command of Yu Suzhen's memories. Layer upon layer of dim scenes emerged, until one particular image reflected clearly before his eyes.
In the beginning, Yu Suzhen's experiences matched his speculations precisely.
After endless trials and tribulations, she finally reached Qi Refining and joined Heaven Mending Peak. Targeted by Liu Xin, she miraculously counter-killed him and thereby obtained the Innate True Person inheritance.
But that was exactly where things went wrong.
Yu Suzhen had seen an unfamiliar existence inside Liu Xin's Myriad Spirits Banner. Her current level of cultivation was entirely due to that entity's guidance!
*What is... this place?*
In the memory, Lu Yang's eyes widened. But wherever he looked, he saw only a turbid river, its churning waves revealing crystalline white bones.
The river surged endlessly, stretching beyond sight.
At its very center stood a massive boulder, vast as a mountain, firmly anchored in place and dividing the flow into distinct regions.
*Something's not right.*
Lu Yang's brows furrowed tightly. This was the scene Yu Suzhen had witnessed inside the Myriad Spirits Banner. Yet his own understanding of the banner far surpassed hers, and he had never discovered such a place within it!
This was undoubtedly [Angxiao]'s handiwork. He had tampered with the banner?
Suddenly, Lu Yang remembered.
*I've seen this place.*
It was a memory that did not belong to him. Yet now, every detail came back to him with perfect clarity. In that memory, he was right there in this very spot.
But the memory also featured one other person.
That person stood atop the boulder at the river's center, staring straight at him.
*Hiss!*
In an instant, Lu Yang drew a sharp breath. He instinctively glanced toward the direction from the memory—and there, a figure had truly appeared!
*No... he's an outsider!*
*Trap!?*
At this moment, Lu Yang was in the midst of a "soul search." All the scenes before him were illusory by nature.
But that figure was different. He was undeniably real!
He had stepped out of the memory!
An unspeakable realm.
Layer upon layer of shadows, shrouded in dim void. A handsome Daoist sat cross-legged in midair, head raised, eyes flowing with starlight like rivers.
The next second, he smiled.
"Fellow Daoist, you are truly extraordinary. I placed my piece in the Primal Saint Sect and severed the causal links, yet you divined it anyway. You even brought such a grand array to lie in wait for me here..."
[Angxiao]'s tone carried a long-absent thrill. In his eyes, everything that had transpired so far was merely a contest between him and that behind-the-scenes fellow Daoist. He had used Yu Suzhen as his pawn, while the other had summoned Hong Ju, Pure Clarity Flying Snow True Lord, and the rest to intercept it.
This was no ordinary feat!
*To pinpoint my true objective so precisely... the [Chentu] affair must be exposed. And there's even a True Lord watching.*
Lu Yang's guess was spot on.
At this very moment, Pure Clarity Flying Snow True Lord was squatting nearby in the outer seas. Her dharma body had merged seamlessly with heaven and earth—no True Lord could have spotted her.
*Fellow Daoist never once acted in person from start to finish.*
*Masterful at borrowing knives to kill, skulking in the shadows. But if you truly have the skill—with cultivation matching mine—why skulk?*
The smile at [Angxiao]'s lips widened.
*Fellow Daoist's cultivation isn't all that high, is it?*
*Golden Core mid-stage? Early Golden Core? Probably borrowing some positional authority. Surely not Foundation Establishment? Let me see just how many tricks you have.*
At this juncture, [Angxiao] was utterly confident of victory. True, he did want to use Yu Suzhen to hook the Innate Dao Calamity and refine it into a clone. But he never put all his eggs in one basket. Thus, Yu Suzhen was both his pawn and the poisoned bait he had laid!
In his view, the fellow Daoist lurking behind the scenes had overlooked just one thing.
*You never imagined I could already wield the power of the [Netherworld Mansion] in even a crude fashion, did you? This [Ghost Constable] may not be my clone, but it's better than one.*
*Ignore it, and it will help me drag the Innate Dao Calamity back to the Netherworld Mansion. My scheme succeeds all the same.*
*Try to interfere and slay it? Then you'll suffer backlash from the entire Netherworld Mansion!*
Netherworld Mansion backlash was nothing like karma.
Karma was a vast net riddled with holes and countless leaks. But reincarnation bound all; the Netherworld Mansion's reach was truly inescapable!
*The backlash strikes straight at the true spirit. Even borrowing another's body, you can't dodge it!*
Then, from within the Netherworld Mansion, he could trace that link directly to the fellow Daoist's true body and uncover its origins.
*Whichever path you choose, fellow Daoist, I'm assured of victory. In the end, this game proves my superior play!*
With that thought, [Angxiao] threw his head back in laughter. For one of his stature, the thrill of besting a "fellow Daoist" was a rare indulgence.
*Well? Will you hand over the Innate Dao Calamity—or show me your true face?*
[Angxiao] gazed expectantly toward the mortal realm.
Meanwhile, Lu Yang had also reacted, realizing he had fallen into [Angxiao]'s scheme. But he felt no real panic.
*My true body is far away in the heavens. Any suffering is just the clone's to bear.*
Through the String-Controlled Puppet, Lu Yang sized up the figure that had abruptly appeared. It had stepped from the memory straight into the clone's sea of consciousness.
Looking closely now, he saw it was half black, half white—grotesquely formed. Tall and gaunt, it clutched a mourning staff in one hand and dragged a soul-hooking chain in the other. It threw its head back in laughter, baring a mouth full of sharp teeth. Its squinted eyes gleamed with icy points of light.
Spotting Lu Yang, it wasted no time.
"Ya! What demon are you?!"
Lu Yang burst out laughing at once.
"Demon? You're the one who looks like a demon. Barging into someone else's sea of consciousness isn't the way of the righteous."
"Insolent!"
The figure sneered coldly.
"Do you take me for some mortal with fleshly eyes? You have spirit but no soul, consciousness but no essence—what else could you be but a demon?"
*This tone... not [Angxiao] in person?*
Lu Yang heard it clearly. Speculation stirred in his mind.
*What the hell is this thing? The 'demon' it's talking about... does it mean the Dao Calamity?*
In this regard, [Angxiao]'s methods mirrored Lu Yang's own. Lu Yang had crafted a [Second Clone]; [Angxiao] had forged a [Ghost Constable]. Neither knew its true origins—only the task assigned by its hidden manipulator.
Thus, the next second, the monster shook its head.
"Never mind. Too lazy to quibble."
"Anyway, soulless wretch—you're bound for reincarnation. Demon or not, today I'll haul you and that outside demon away together!"
(End of chapter)