Chapter 79
Chapter 79
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 79
Chapter Title: Lord of the Profound Underworld Seizes the Nether Throne
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Time waits for no one.
Just as Lu Yang was pondering, the darkness surrounding the yellow-robed old man in the distance had already spread to his side, carrying a potent corrosive force.
Lu Yang raised his head, sizing up the other party with great interest.
“So this is a Sorcerer Ghost?”
The Sorcerer Ghost Sect was a major sect of the ancient demonic path. Back then, every disciple of the Sorcerer Ghost Sect would refine a life-bound Sorcerer Ghost to serve as the foundation for their future cultivation.
However, with the appearance of the Golden Core sword qi, the Sorcerer Ghost Sect was utterly annihilated. Without the control of cultivators, these Sorcerer Ghosts began to roam the secret realm. Based on the strength of their former masters, the Sorcerer Ghosts were divided into levels: White-robed, Yellow-robed, Black-robed, and the most ferocious, Red-robed Ghosts.
As for the living people within the secret realm, their origins were quite complex.
Some of their ancestors were servants raised by the Sorcerer Ghost Sect in the past, while others were disciples who had decisively crippled their own cultivation when the sect faced its calamity.
This was because cultivation was forbidden within the secret realm.
The Golden Core sword qi aimed to extinguish the legacy of the Sorcerer Ghost Sect, so anyone who stepped onto the path of cultivation, even someone at the first level of the Qi Refining Realm, would be slain by the sword qi.
This was why Lu Yang, as an outsider and a target for the sword qi to ‘lure in,’ was not slain the moment he entered the secret realm. However, it wasn't much different. After all, as long as the sword qi did not disperse, this incarnation of his could not leave the secret realm, which was no different from being dead.
The fate of the Sorcerer Ghost Sect was incredibly ironic.
Since only mortals survived and were unable to cultivate, they instead became the prey of the out-of-control Sorcerer Ghosts, constantly hunted and devoured.
Those who command ghosts are ultimately devoured by them.
“That said, people always find a way out of adversity.”
Although they could not step onto the path of cultivation, over a thousand years, generations of mortals in the secret realm risked their lives and finally found a way to fight back against the Sorcerer Ghosts.
That was to ‘control ghosts in service to Yama’.
To put it simply, it was using a secret technique to offer oneself to a Sorcerer Ghost. While being devoured by the ghost, one could also borrow its power.
“The cultivator who created this system called himself the ‘Nether-Listening Ancestor.’ The Nether-Listening Cult he founded has now become the sole religion within the secret realm, deeply rooted and influential. It has even developed a systematic method of ghost control, with different titles determined by the grade of the ghost one controls.”
Those who control White-robed Ghosts are called ‘Ghost Emissaries’.
Those who control Yellow-robed Ghosts are called ‘Rakshas’.
Those who control Black-robed Ghosts are called ‘Impermanents’.
As for the most ferocious Red-robed Ghosts, anyone who can control one can immediately become an elder of the Nether-Listening Cult. Within the secret realm, they are known as a ‘Yama’s Walker’.
“.Quite a variety of tricks.”
Although almost all cultivators who follow this path of ghost control do not live for more than a year or so, as long as they are alive, their strength is undeniable.
At their peak, they can rival a cultivator at the Great Perfection of the Qi Refining Realm.
And this Yellow-robed Ghost before him was at the level of the mid-stage Qi Refining Realm.
But what truly interested Lu Yang was that he sensed a trace of a mysterious aura related to ‘rank’ from this Yellow-robed Ghost.
“A bit like… a Divine Ability fragment?”
This feeling was like the superior divine abilities that constitute a grand divine ability, only weakened countless times over, making it incredibly faint.
Lu Yang reached out, instantly capturing the Yellow-robed Ghost in his hand and refining it in a moment.
“It is indeed related to rank, but it hasn't reached the level of Foundation Establishment.”
“These Sorcerer Ghosts roaming the secret realm must all be related to a certain grand divine ability, and these ghosts are all fragments of that grand divine ability…”
After a moment of thought, Lu Yang took out the Myriad Spirits Banner.
Immediately after, he sent the Yellow-robed Ghost directly into the banner, transforming it into a banner spirit. Gradually, a strange expression appeared on Lu Yang’s face.
“This is truly… an unexpected delight!”
The Sorcerer Ghosts in the secret realm concealed a trace of rank-related aura, suspected to be connected to a grand divine ability, and his own Myriad Spirits Banner could convert these ghosts for his use.
Lu Yang was overjoyed, his thoughts racing. It was clear that he could use the Myriad Spirits Banner to subdue and refine all the Sorcerer Ghosts in the secret realm one by one, thereby reassembling these rank fragments. Perhaps he could even condense another grand divine ability that could help him break through to the Foundation Establishment realm!
At this thought, Lu Yang’s heart burned with fervor.
“The people here have long suffered at the hands of these Sorcerer Ghosts. I am a kind and compassionate person, so I shall reluctantly take in these ghosts and restore peace to this land…”
Following that, Lu Yang looked at the unconscious youth.
With his cultivation, soul-searching a mortal would naturally not leave any side effects. He even left behind a martial arts cultivation method as compensation.
“I truly am a great philanthropist…”
Just then, a sound suddenly came from the distant horizon.
Lu Yang looked up and saw a patch of dark clouds. Within the clouds was a black-robed Daoist, followed by two young attendants and more than ten beautiful maids.
A single glance revealed the attendants holding treasures, guarding his left and right. The maids were either holding fans and incense or playing flutes and pipes. Behind them followed a long procession, dressed in black and white, holding suonas and gongs, playing music and dancing as they moved. The entire scene was a bustling crowd, an ostentatious display of grandeur.
“Hm? Where is the Sorcerer Ghost of this place?”
The black-robed Daoist in the clouds fixed his gaze on Lu Yang and frowned.
“Are you the commoner who sent the message? And where is the Ghost Emissary of this place?”
Lu Yang glanced at him and said flatly, “Dead.”
According to the memories obtained from the soul search, that Ghost Emissary had been killed by the Yellow-robed Ghost long ago, which was why the youth had been hiding in the ruins to evade the ghost's search.
Hearing this, the black-robed Daoist’s frown deepened. He then made a sudden gesture, and one of the attendants beside him took out a round mirror, shining it down on Lu Yang. Lu Yang’s eyebrow twitched slightly. A sweep of his spiritual sense revealed the mirror's function, but he did not dodge or evade, allowing the light to fall upon him.
The next moment, the black-robed Daoist sneered:
“I was wondering who it could be. So it’s just some unorthodox charlatan from the outside world. You must be the one who killed the Ghost Emissary and stole the Sorcerer Ghost. It seems I cannot spare you today!”
“.Unorthodox charlatan?”
Lu Yang found this utterly absurd. A practitioner of some heterodox sect from within a secret realm was actually calling him an unorthodox charlatan? The audacity was simply astounding!
On the other side, however, the black-robed Daoist saw nothing wrong with it.
Although the Sorcerer Ghost Secret Realm was hidden from the world, it was not completely isolated. Over the years, rogue cultivators would occasionally stumble into the secret realm by chance.
The black-robed Daoist had seen quite a few.
However, these rogue cultivators were weak and alone, their cultivation at most in the early stage of Qi Refining, or the mid-stage if they were slightly better. Before the Nether-Listening Cult, they were far too feeble.
Over time, the black-robed Daoist naturally came to look down on these so-called outside cultivators.
Thus, facing Lu Yang now, he was full of confidence and paid him no mind, only thinking of capturing him quickly to report back and complete his mission.
The next moment, the black-robed Daoist focused his spirit and circulated his qi.
His originally ruddy complexion instantly turned deathly pale, while his lips, in contrast, became full and rosy, growing more vibrant and exuding a strange Daoist charm.
He controlled a Black-robed Ghost named ‘Call-Name Fall.’ As the name suggested, once this Sorcerer Ghost locked onto a target, it could divine their name. The black-robed Daoist would then call it out, and the person whose name was called would have their soul instantly snatched away by the ghost, dying within the hour.
Relying on this Sorcerer Ghost, he had always been invincible in his battles.
This time was no different. He directly urged the Sorcerer Ghost to begin divining the name of the unorthodox charlatan before him. Almost simultaneously, Lu Yang sensed it.
“Divining my name?”
Lu Yang’s eyebrows rose slightly.
“Interesting. As fragments of a grand divine ability, these Sorcerer Ghosts are tinged with a trace of rank-related aura and can actually touch upon the threads of karma…”
As he spoke, he formed a hand seal and obscured his own karma.
Although he was confident that with his own rank, it wouldn't matter what the other party divined, a wise man does not stand under a crumbling wall. There was no need to take the risk.
“How can this be!?”
Seeing that ‘Call-Name Fall’ had achieved nothing, the black-robed Daoist panicked, unable to understand why his invincible Sorcerer Ghost would encounter such a problem.
Lu Yang shook his head.
“Truly no challenge at all. A far cry from a Foundation Establishment cultivator.”
“But this is fine too. Defeating a superior was never my style anyway. I’m much better at this kind of downwardly compatible, cross-realm killing…”
Meanwhile, the black-robed Daoist seemed to have thought of something. He reached into his robes and took out a statue carved from red wax. It had a majestic and solemn appearance, with three long incense sticks standing on its crown. Without a word, the black-robed Daoist lit them.
The next second, a green flame ignited behind the statue’s head.
“I beseech the Ancestor to appear!”
The black-robed Daoist bowed low. In an instant, billowing auspicious clouds drifted from the three incense sticks on the statue’s head, and the statue’s own brow seemed to relax.
Immediately after, celestial music filled the air, sweet dew fell from the heavens, and golden lotuses sprouted from the earth. Countless phenomena surrounded the statue, making it appear even more sacred and majestic. Even its facial features became vivid. Though it was merely a body of red wax, it seemed as if it were alive, and it looked at Lu Yang, its voice booming:
“What insignificant miscreant dares to offend my sacred teachings?”
“...”
Lu Yang did not answer, silently observing the statue with a strange look on his face. This was because, in the eyes of those with and without a rank, the statue’s appearance was vastly different.
A common person looking at the statue would only see it as lifelike, as if it were a living person.
In Lu Yang’s eyes, however, the statue was still just a statue. What truly made it move was a beam of divine ability light that had appeared at its feet.
The light was profound and mysterious. Within it, seven seal characters floated, continuously erupting with magnificent spiritual power.
Lu Yang instantly understood. This was the grand divine ability he had speculated about earlier, one that could only be condensed after gathering all the thousands of Sorcerer Ghosts in the secret realm!
Its name was:
【Lord of the Profound Underworld Seizes the Nether Throne】