Chapter 54
Chapter 54
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 54
Chapter Title: When the Time Comes, Heaven and Earth Lend Their Strength
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Outside Skull Mountain, inside a temporarily carved-out cave abode.
Seven-colored rosy light steamed and swirled. Within the light, a woman of heavenly beauty was meditating and regulating her breath. With each breath she took, the rosy light gathered.
A moment later, all the rosy light finally converged into one.
Immediately after, the colors of the seven-hued rosy light gradually merged, finally transforming into a beam of divine light, utterly pure and clean without a trace of other colors, that shone down.
"I've succeeded!"
The pure white divine light solidified, and the woman within the rosy light immediately opened her eyes, a look of joy on her face.
"Seven-Colored Pure Light Qi, I've reached the peak of Qi Refining!"
The technique she cultivated was passed down by an elder of the Primal Saint Sect. The "Seven-Colored Pure Light Qi" she refined appeared pure white, but it was actually formed by the fusion of seven colors of rosy light: red, orange, yellow, green, azure, blue, and violet. Each color of light represented one purification, and after seven purifications, the grade of her true Qi reached the fourth rank!
"With this, I have a hope of reaching Foundation Establishment."
Fairy Feixia sighed. As for a fourth-rank true Qi being unable to form a Golden Core, it didn't affect her much. She had never dared to dream of the Great Dao of the Golden Core anyway.
"Finding a Rosy-light Gathering Stone this time was quite a fortunate encounter."
"It's a pity about Junior Brother Lu. Cultivation is a path that defies the heavens. If he had left the marketplace with me, perhaps he too would have had some hope of reaching the peak of Qi Refining."
With her breakthrough, Fairy Feixia's thoughts had changed.
Before, she had entrusted herself to Lu Yang because he guarded the marketplace and could rival someone at the peak of Qi Refining. But now that she had broken through, Lu Yang was no longer so important.
After all, "rivaling" was ultimately not the same as being.
Without the arrays, Lu Yang's strength seemed rather inadequate in her eyes.
Moreover, Fairy Feixia was dissatisfied with Lu Yang's overly cautious behavior before, feeling it was just an excuse for his lack of strength.
Boom!
Just then, the ground suddenly shook violently. A spiritual tide surged in the sky above, and roiling spiritual Qi swept over, nearly causing Fairy Feixia to stumble and fall.
"What's happening!?"
Fairy Feixia quickly rode her escape light into the sky, gazing from afar toward the center of the strange phenomenon where the spiritual tide was surging. Her pretty face changed abruptly.
"The marketplace?"
Rumble!
A second great roar, another wave of the spiritual tide, as if someone had detonated a spiritual Qi bomb. Fairy Feixia hurriedly protected herself with her Seven-Colored Pure Light Qi.
However, compared to the vast might of heaven and earth, her Seven-Colored Pure Light Qi was ultimately lacking that crucial final step. The fourth-rank true Qi struggled to hold firm. For a moment, she was like a small boat in a raging storm, tossed about ceaselessly. The divine light, originally pure white, was battered until it gradually revealed its seven colors.
"This is... the aftershock of a battle!?"
Fairy Feixia brought out her Rosy Cloud Perching Smoke Gauze Cover to stabilize herself, a look of horror on her face.
"To cause such a phenomenon... someone is fighting fiercely in the marketplace?"
Junior Brother Lu couldn't be dead, could he?
Fairy Feixia's heart went cold. She immediately flew toward the marketplace, only to see from a distance a figure at the center of the spiritual tide being besieged by several people.
There were three attackers. When Fairy Feixia recognized them, her expression became even more shocked.
"Yun Zhiqiu, the 'Supreme Unity Sword' of the Jade Pivot Sword Pavilion; Ouyang Feng, the 'Heaven-Toppling Strongman' of the Divine Might Gate; and the rogue cultivator 'Demon-Subduing Chan Master' Ming Chan... They're working together!?"
As her gaze fell upon the scene above the Skull Mountain marketplace, she saw a blood-colored sword array that blotted out the sky. Myriad streams of blood-red light transformed into a lifelike, eight-clawed true dragon with distinct scales and claws. It charged left and right, lashing its tail and ramming with its horns, before finally letting out a sudden dragon's roar. It was this very roar that stirred up the spiritual tide.
"Break!"
Each eruption of the spiritual tide would force Yun Zhiqiu, Ouyang Feng, and Ming Chan to retreat temporarily, but they would quickly regroup and press their attack again.
"Amitabha. I did not expect Benefactor Lu to have such a fortunate encounter... Third-rank true Qi!"
Ming Chan placed his palms together, a strange look appearing on his usually calm face. Third-rank true Qi... That was already at the level of a true disciple in the major sects!
At this thought, Ming Chan's expression grew even more compassionate.
"Benefactor, you truly have a karmic bond with this humble monk. After sending you into the cycle of reincarnation, I shall inquire about your third-rank true technique. When you are reborn in the future, I can return the technique to you, intact, and fulfill the master-disciple bond between us."
"Bald donkey, you're courting death!"
Lu Yang sneered. The great dragon formed from his true Qi roared once more. At the same time, the Blood Sun Sword Pellet emerged, and the sword array upon it expanded with a great boom.
"Good, good. We are carrying out justice on behalf of heaven. Why must you struggle in vain, Benefactor?"
Seeing this, Ming Chan did not meet the attack head-on. He shook the kasaya robe on his body, and the seven treasures upon it—such as the Ruyi Pearl, Mani Pearl, and Dust-Repelling Pearl—instantly burst forth with brilliant Buddhist light.
Relying on this protective Buddhist light, he retreated with ease, avoiding being drawn into Lu Yang's sword array.
In truth, the Blood Sun Sword Pellet had played an indispensable role in Lu Yang's ability to hold on until now.
After all, the grand array within the sword pellet ensured that the Heavenly Demon Blood Transformation Divine Light would always hit its mark. Its power was immense, and whenever he was on the verge of defeat, he could use it to turn the tables.
Of course, if he truly failed, there was also the Hundred Skeletons Return to True Grand Array to save his life, allowing him to make a comeback.
Beyond that, there was also the fact that none of the three were willing to go all out.
'They're afraid of my Profound Yin Form-Seizing Grand Art.'
Lu Yang knew this well. The more intense the battle, the more likely their auras would leak. Once Lu Yang seized such an opportunity, it would undoubtedly be a fatal blow.
Therefore, the plan of Yun Zhiqiu's group was simple: to wear Lu Yang down. They were, after all, three cultivators at the peak of Qi Refining, and their combat prowess was not to be underestimated. With the three of them joining forces against a single eighth-layer Qi Refining cultivator, their chances of victory were absolute, even if Lu Yang had two grand arrays to rely on.
"If I were only at the eighth layer of Qi Refining, that would indeed be the case..."
Lu Yang's eyes shifted slightly. He glanced up at the sky, and a sudden understanding dawned in his heart: Today, right now, was the time to break through!
The next second, Lu Yang let out a long cry to the heavens.
And at that same moment, his true Qi expanded violently. He was actually attempting to break through to the ninth layer of Qi Refining!
Seeing this, Yun Zhiqiu and the others were stunned for a moment, then they sneered.
"Ignorant fool! Breaking through during a battle? Have you been reading too many storybooks?"
Breaking through during a battle was no different from courting death!
Which cultivator didn't enter secluded meditation when breaking through?
This was because during a breakthrough, one's true Qi would erupt, requiring complete concentration. But if you were in a battle, distracted by enemies, how could you possibly focus your mind on breaking through?
However, at that very moment, high above Skull Mountain.
From a place "higher than high," a line of sight descended, looking down upon the people on Skull Mountain as if observing dolls on a sand table.
"Interesting. He has courage... and knows how to judge the situation. Not bad."
Perfected Being Yin Shan chuckled softly, then reached out his hand. With a light flick, as if plucking a zither string, the once-fatal situation abruptly changed!
This change was felt most profoundly by Lu Yang alone.
Just a moment ago, he had felt his true Qi in disarray. Forcing a breakthrough with insufficient preparation, he was on the verge of suffering a cultivation deviation. But suddenly, everything changed.
The 'disarray' of his true Qi was perfectly timed, as if by a stroke of great luck, it perfectly matched the requirements for a breakthrough. The bottleneck was also 'unexpectedly' not as difficult as he had imagined; he broke through it in a single rush. And his state of mind... it was as if blessed by inspiration, he 'instinctively' stabilized his cultivation after the breakthrough.
Coincidence, luck so incredible it was unbelievable!
Is this what it feels like to be a "Child of Destiny"? When the time comes, heaven and earth lend their strength. He didn't even need to do anything intentionally to achieve the result he wanted!
Boom!
The next second, under the stunned gazes of Yun Zhiqiu's group, Lu Yang brazenly broke through, mastering the final transformation of the "Nine Transformations of the Dragon Art"—the Flying Fish Transformation.
And the Flying Fish Transformation's primary function was to "break through barriers"!
Therefore, Lu Yang did not pause for a moment. The true Qi from his recent breakthrough swelled once again, and under the power of the Flying Fish Transformation, he charged toward the bottleneck of the tenth layer of Qi Refining!
And then, he broke through again, as if it were the most natural thing in the world!
Nine Transformations of the Dragon, peak of Qi Refining!
"Roar!"
In that instant, a clear and resonant dragon's roar echoed throughout Skull Mountain! The sound washed over Yun Zhiqiu and the others, revealing their stiff and astonished faces.
"This is impossible... No, wait! A Perfected Being is stirring the threads of karma?"
The next second, Yun Zhiqiu and the other two finally reacted, their faces filled with terror.
Lu Yang stood proudly in the air. He turned to look at the three of them and revealed a chilling smile.
"Do you understand now? This is what it means to carry out justice on behalf of heaven!"
With a single thought from a Foundation Establishment Perfected Being, heaven and earth are forever changed!
To a Qi Refining cultivator, a Foundation Establishment Perfected Being is heaven itself. Whoever has a Perfected Being as their backer is the true Child of Destiny, the one truly carrying out justice on behalf of heaven!
"Amitabha..."
The next second, without another word, Ming Chan shook his kasaya. Buddhist light flared, and his figure was the first to vanish.
(End of Chapter)