Chapter 472
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Translator: Ace
Chapter:
Chapter Title: Three Paths of Retreat
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In Lu Yang's view, Hongyun had prepared three paths of retreat for himself.
The first was naturally 【Seven Luminaries Heaven】, the ultimate fallback, one he would only take if he felt returning to his position was utterly hopeless.
The second was the cave-heaven fragment.
Beneath the waters of the Gantang Dao in the Jiangnan Sea-Hastening Li Clan, there lay a fragment of Hongyun's former 【Long Yao Treasure Light Cave-Heaven】. Hongyun had long since pinpointed its location.
But in truth, it was a trap laid by 【Soaring Empyrean】.
Going there meant death.
The final one was Hongyun's current hiding spot, shielded by layer upon layer of formations that severed cause and effect, concealing him from heavenly secrets—even 【Clear and Pure Flying Snow True Lord】 could not find him.
Three paths of retreat, layers of insurance. Unfortunately, 【Soaring Empyrean】 was far too insidious, exploiting Hongyun's reluctance to give up by setting an ambush with the cave-heaven fragment. The moment Hongyun chose the second path and refined it, death would not be far off. This was something Lu Yang did not wish to see.
After all, Hongyun was the target of his ambitions in this life!
That was why he sent the letter of denunciation to Chongguang—the sole purpose being to have Chongguang destroy the cave-heaven fragment in Jiangnan on his behalf, utterly extinguishing Hongyun's hopes.
‘This life is different from the last.’
‘In the previous life, shortly after Chongguang Uncle-Master received my report, 【Heaven of Non-existence】 emerged, and then I revealed 【Soaring Empyrean】's identity.’
‘The result was that Uncle-Master Chongguang had no spare capacity to destroy the cave-heaven fragment. Midway through, even 【Clear and Pure Flying Snow True Lord】 withdrew support. In the end, he even had to collaborate with 【Soaring Empyrean】. But this life is different. This time, I haven't leaked a single piece of information ahead of schedule.’
Thus, in this life, Chongguang's choice would differ as well.
‘In Uncle-Master Chongguang's eyes now, his greatest enemy is Hongyun, so destroying Hongyun's cave-heaven fragment is an urgent matter that brooks no delay.’
That was enough.
In Jiangbei, Lu Yang stood with hands clasped behind his back, gazing far into the direction of the Heaven-Connecting Cloud Sea. He had precisely grasped Chongguang's mindset:
“Leave the cave-heaven fragment to Uncle-Master.”
He would handle the other path of retreat himself.
Only this way could he force Hongyun onto the 【Seven Luminaries Heaven】 path, leaving him no chance for reincarnation and delivering him straight into his trap.
With this thought, Lu Yang suddenly turned to his side.
“Fellow Daoist, you've been silent this whole trip out with me.”
At Lu Yang's side stood a man with downcast eyes and a servile demeanor. Though his qi surged powerfully and his status was extraordinarily high, he inexplicably seemed diminutive. Hearing this, he gave a wry smile:
“You've caught me out, milord.”
“No need for 'milord.'” Lu Yang's expression turned solemn.
“You and I are both scraping by in this world—we should be fellow Daoists. No distinctions of superior or inferior.”
As his words fell, Suo Huan hurriedly nodded in agreement, showing no sign of changing his address. After all, he was now a banner spirit, while Lu Yang was the master of the Ten Thousand Spirits Banner. Lu Yang could humbly decline the title, but he could not fail to use it. Suo Huan understood this matter of attitude perfectly well.
Lu Yang paused at his response, then spoke plainly:
“In this life, I intend to help you seek the golden core, just as last time. I'll give you two paths again—choose freely, and I won't interfere with your decision.”
“The first: wait for me to advance further.”
Lu Yang did not elaborate, but if he attained 【Heavenly Fire Above】 in this life, he would inevitably command the world. At that point, granting Suo Huan a golden position would be entirely feasible.
But that was too vague, not even set in stone yet.
Thus, he quickly offered the second path:
“Your 【Spirit Ruins Blessed Land】 is severely damaged but free of hidden dangers now. I can help you restore it.”
“I have here a body of Dao-insight knowledge regarding 【Springwater Amidst Springs】, reaching straight to peak Foundation Establishment. It includes the corresponding cultivation method and rites, enough to draw the attention of 【Springwater Amidst Springs】. After that, I can secure for you a first-grade official position at peak Foundation Establishment, allowing you to refine your golden nature.”
“Then, you can seek the golden core.”
Lu Yang spoke gravely. The knowledge of 【Springwater Amidst Springs】 naturally came from Sage Sect's Xiang Ye, sufficient to make up for Suo Huan's deficiencies in Dao-insight as an outsider from beyond the heavens.
He always took his promises seriously.
His principles might be flexible, often bending, but with the Book of a Hundred Lives in hand, anything he promised—as long as he had the power to fulfill it—he would absolutely honor.
For a moment, Suo Huan was stunned.
He's really helping me seek the golden core?
I thought you'd forgotten! Were you just stringing me along before!
This great true person, accustomed to keeping his head bowed, suddenly felt a surge of emotion but had no words for it. He could only bow deeply to Lu Yang.
“My thanks... Fellow Daoist.”
Lu Yang waved it off with a smile:
“You and I will spend much more time together in the days ahead. We ought to work as one, or how else to face the formidable foes yet to come?”
“Well said!” Suo Huan nodded.
Seeing this, Lu Yang smiled even as he inwardly sighed.
‘I am a bit hypocritical, after all.’
No matter how nicely put, it couldn't change one fact: as banner lord, he held the power of life and death over banner spirits cleansed by the 【Book of a Hundred Lives】.
If he wished, he could effortlessly control either Ancestor Tingyou or Suo Huan.
Yet compared to that, Lu Yang preferred exchanging sincerity for sincerity—just as he had never forced Ancestor Tingyou to do anything for him.
But this was ultimately different, and Lu Yang knew it well. He dared exchange sincerity because he controlled their lives, with ample confidence. If it were a complete stranger, how could he entrust his trust? Not even entering the Ten Thousand Spirits Banner—why should I treat you like a brother?
‘Never mind.’
Hypocritical it was, then. In his current state, lacking the capacity for true sincerity in this wretched place, this level of “hypocrisy” was the limit of what he could manage.
As they spoke, the two arrived at a remote mountain forest.
This was Hongyun's lair. It appeared ordinary, yet was enveloped in layers of formations severing cause and effect—such that even true lords struggled to divine it.
Hongyun's long survival owed much to this lair.
‘Pity for him—I have cheats!’
No need for divination of cause and effect. Having settled Hongyun's memories, Lu Yang locked onto the location directly. The forest's myriad formations crumbled before him like paper.
Almost simultaneously, deep within the forest.
“Hiss!”
Hongyun, in the midst of secluded meditation, jolted awake. He instinctively looked up, eyes sharp as torches fixed on the space above his head.
“A curse of ill fortune overhead?”
To bear the name “Hongyun,” he naturally had a few ultimate trump cards, including a secret art for observing fortune and sensing fortune or misfortune.
This was no mere divination of cause and effect, but a supremely exalted sensory secret method, allowing him to sense and evade peril. With his true lord reincarnated body, it had let him operate right under 【Clear and Pure Flying Snow True Lord】's nose. Ordinarily, few could track him.
And now, he had sensed crisis.
‘Crisis... not severe. Not Xue Feihong coming for me, but not minor either. Compared to my current cultivation, could it be a late-Foundation Establishment great cultivator?’
No panic showed on Hongyun's face.
Merely late Foundation Establishment. Though he was only at mid-stage peak, with the surrounding formations, handling one great cultivator was no trouble.
A touch of greed even stirred in Hongyun's heart. A late Foundation Establishment great cultivator—surely a being of radiant fortune. If he could strip their fortune, no need to waste time snatching opportunities from Qi Refining disciples or plotting against Sage Sect's merit pool.
“Let's see the situation first.”
Ever cautious, Hongyun invoked the secret art several more times, calculating cause and effect to confirm he could handle this crisis before abandoning any thought of flight.
The next second.
“Boom!”
As formation after formation was forcibly broken, Hongyun soon spotted the two intruders. But in the next instant, his expression stiffened slightly.
His gaze locked straight onto Lu Yang.
‘Strange... this man seems very familiar with the place?’
This was his turf, yet the other moved as if prescient, effortlessly dismantling every trap he had laid in the formations.
Before Hongyun could think it through, he jolted in shock. Lu Yang, who had been scanning elsewhere, suddenly tilted his head—aiming unerringly right at his hiding spot:
“Found you...”