Chapter 352
Chapter 352
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 1
Chapter Title: The Broken Engagement
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Northern Frontier, Flame City, Yan Family.
"Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west—don't bully a poor young man!"
In the spacious hall, an eight-year-old boy stood tall, his words ringing out with determination. His face was etched with defiance, his eyes blazing like those of a caged lion.
But his words were met only with scornful laughter.
The Yan Family members dared not show the slightest dissatisfaction, for the visitors' background was far too imposing—they were the sole overlords of the Northern Frontier.
The Divine Martial Sect!
"Cut the useless talk. Yan Xiao, your parents are both gone now, and our young miss is about to join the Divine Martial Sect, with a brilliant future ahead."
"Do you really want to hold her back?"
"Our young miss is grateful for the resources you've provided these past years, but you're from different worlds now. It's best to part ways amicably!"
"Hurry and annul the engagement!"
At these words, the boy turned his gaze to the pretty girl beside the speaker—the same girl who once looked at him with affection, now staring back coldly.
Once, others saw them as a perfect match, golden boy and jade girl. But ever since she caught the Divine Martial Sect's eye, everything changed. An orphan boy with mediocre talent at best was like an ant on the ground compared to her, a star in the sky.
He could only look up to her.
With that thought, the girl averted her eyes, refusing to meet his gaze. Beside her, the middle-aged man grew impatient.
"Enough. Sign it already."
He pulled a contract from his robes and tossed it at the boy.
"Our young miss is waiting to cultivate at the Divine Martial Sect. We have no time to waste!"
". . ."
Though the boy longed to hurl the contract back in the man's face, he swallowed his bitterness in the end. With trembling hands, he picked it up.
Might made right.
'I'll repay this humiliation a hundredfold!'
Vowing silently in his heart, the boy signed his name. Tears welled in his eyes as he glared at them fiercely, clinging to his last shred of dignity.
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Bang!
At that moment, the Yan Family gates burst open. A figure strolled in, aura calm and unassuming, indistinguishable from an ordinary mortal at first glance.
"Who goes there!"
The crowd erupted in fury. Only the middle-aged man who had forced the signing paled in terror.
He had been scanning the entire Yan Family with his divine sense. At peak Qi Refining, who could slip in undetected? Without hesitation, he dropped to one knee.
"This lowly cultivator greets the Perfected Being!"
But Perfected Being Demon-Quelling ignored him.
He pinched his fingers in calculation, then turned his gaze to the teary-eyed, defiant boy in the center. His expression softened into a smile.
"Friend Lu, it's been a while."
The boy blinked in confusion.
"You are . . . ?"
"I am Ye Guangji."
With that, Perfected Being Demon-Quelling reached into his robes and produced a token.
"You and my previous incarnation shared a karmic bond, so in this life, I have come to guide you."
He pressed the token into the boy's hand.
"From this day forward, you are my sole disciple, the true inheritor of the Jade Pivot Sword Pavilion, leader of the orthodox path. Come—return with me to Jiangnan to helm the righteous sects."
Silence fell like a thunderclap, shattered by an explosion of clamor.
"The Jade Pivot Sword Pavilion!?"
"A force rivaling the Demon Sects—impossible! What makes this waste worthy?"
"Could he be the reincarnation of a Foundation Establishment Perfected Being!?"
The middle-aged man's face froze. No ignorant fool, he whipped around to stare at the boy—and saw his mouth twitching uncontrollably.
One second ago, the boy had been east of the river for thirty years.
The next, he was west—like that.
"Pffft."
Life's ups and downs came too fast, happiness too sudden. The boy's tears hadn't even dried before his grin broke free.
At the same moment, as if some shackle had snapped—
Boom!
A surge of destiny visible only to Perfected Being Demon-Quelling erupted from the boy's frail form. He nodded faintly.
'Friend Lu truly has masterful methods.'
"It actually worked!"
Watching through [String Puppet], Lu Yang nodded in satisfaction.
"This [Fallen Genius] fate has reached perfection!"
It had all been his design.
Precisely, eight years ago, he had divined a fate for his clone: "Fallen genius, accumulating in secret for a breakthrough."
To sustain it, he had to [Abstain from Luxury]—in other words, endure poverty, humiliation, constant setbacks and denials. Only an external force shattering the deadlock would allow the chrysalis to break, the accumulation to erupt, repaying past sufferings a thousandfold.
"Eight years as a waste, destiny dormant for eight years."
"Now awakened, it soars to the heavens—perfect for [Luck Appraisal Lottery]. No matter what, the odds of drawing [Great Fortune] are sky-high!"
Lu Yang felt quite pleased.
This fate was his meticulously woven masterpiece. Sure, it meant long suffering, but clones existed to suffer for the original body!
If it didn't suffer, how could he enjoy the benefits?
Look—the clone's苦尽, and now sweetness came to him.
"Though these tricks aren't top-tier. Perfected Being Demon-Quelling probably saw through them . . . but he thinks they're my reincarnation's contingency."
"Either way, this perfected fate's destiny surge, plus the clone's past life's credentials, should earn the Sword Pavilion's regard."
Without hesitation, the clone followed Perfected Being Demon-Quelling away.
As they left, however, the Perfected Being sighed and imprinted a incantation into the clone's sea of consciousness. Lu Yang's eyes narrowed.
"A secret art to erase the past life . . ."
Not surprising. The clone was an outsider, not Pavilion blood. Keeping his past life intact would bar true inheritance.
Only thus could he earn their trust.
". . . Fine. With [String Puppet], no matter how they erase the past, the clone remains under my control—unaffected."
Lu Yang quickly calmed.
Through [String Puppet], he watched Perfected Being Demon-Quelling merge with sword light, ferrying the clone through the void. Soon, they reached Jiangnan territory.
Then Lu Yang beheld the [Sword Pavilion].
Though in Jiangnan for so long, he had never approached the Jade Pivot Sword Pavilion's gates, wary of exposure.
This was his first time.
What met his eyes was a towering peak piercing the clouds, a natural sword thrust from the earth, tip aimed at the heavens beyond sight.
Forget whether the Pavilion was all sword cultivators.
From the mountain gate alone, it screamed sword cultivator.
Perfected Being Demon-Quelling rode sword light straight in, ascending on clouds until a hall perched on a sheer cliff came into view. There he descended.
"Greetings, Perfected Being Demon-Quelling!"
Two young disciples at the hall's entrance bowed hastily. He nodded and led Lu Yang inside.
"This is the Welcoming Hall."
Perfected Being Demon-Quelling explained,
"Every new disciple is tested here for their roots. Only those with deep roots receive our sect's true inheritance."
He gave Lu Yang a gentle push.
The Welcoming Hall held a narrow corridor like a ancestral shrine, with a altar at the far end bearing a sword and incense burner.
Perfected Being Demon-Quelling handed him three lit incense sticks, voice grave.
"Go, pay respects to the ancestors."
"From now on, you are a true disciple of our Sword Pavilion."