https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-137-Su-Nu-Bears-Hardships-Let-Her-Bear-More/13506005/
Chapter 138: A Trap for the Subduing Dragon
Chapter 138: A Trap for the Subduing Dragon
Su Nu and the Spirit Devouring Insect King ultimately agreed to send a swarm of Aetherophagous Beetles into the valley first. With their overwhelming numbers, casualties weren’t a concern.
But both human and insect froze moments later.
As the beetles flooded the valley, a wisp of smoke suddenly descended, engulfing them in its haze. It swept through their ranks—
Nothing happened.
Even the smoke seemed momentarily confused. It lashed out again, yet still no effect.
“It’s targeting souls,” Lü Yang realized from outside Gourd Island. “The beetles have no souls, only primal instincts. Their collective consciousness resides within the Spirit Devouring Insect King. This smoke must be soul-based—harmless to flesh, but dangerous to spiritual essence.”
Suddenly, a voice rang out, sharp yet childishly melodious:
“You shameless True Man!”
A thunderclap followed. The valley’s crimson light split apart, revealing a Soulbinding Altar. Upon it lay a blood-red fragment of a sword, its blade reflecting the ambient Solar-Lunar Essence into waves of murderous aura. Even dormant, it radiated boundless killing intent, its surface etched with haunting landscapes.
Red light condensed into a human-shaped wisp.
A girl of seven or eight, wearing a scarlet padded jacket and twin topknots, sprang from the sword onto the altar. She pointed accusingly at Lü Yang:
“Naughty True Man! You came all this way—didn’t you know the rules?”
“Why interfere if you had no intention to claim it?”
Lü Yang’s eyes gleamed as the girl’s appearance clarified the island’s mysteries. “So there are rules.”
The girl, the scarlet sword, and even Gourd Island itself were Spirit Treasures left behind by a deceased Grand True Man of the Primordial Sacred Sect. The island was literally a gourd-shaped vessel containing a Soul-Shattering Karmic Smoke capable of disintegrating even True Men’s souls. The sword, once the Grand True Man’s personal weapon, had been tempered for centuries into a Spirit Treasure through Lifebound Divine Arts.
“Two Spirit Treasures,” Lü Yang mused, “not Ultimate Heaven Instruments with Divine Essence, but still tremendous boons for Foundation Building cultivators.”
Yet if so valuable, why abandoned?
He sensed danger immediately. Sacred Sect treasures always hid traps.
The answer came swiftly: The Grand True Man, mortally wounded and nearing Reincarnation, had bound his karmic debt to the island. Whoever claimed it would inherit his karmic burden—the responsibility to reunite his reincarnated soul. Such debts were perilously heavy, even fellow Grand True Men avoided them.
“Perfect!”
Lü Yang’s eyes blazed. Yanluo Patriarch himself had been a Grand True Man—karmic debts didn’t scare him. “The more, the merrier,” he thought. “Debt doesn’t collapse the dead.”
“I’ve come to request your assistance,” he called to the girl.
“Really?” Her anger melted into childlike hope. “You’re not lying? You’ll take my karmic burden?”
“Naturally.”
A mountainous karmic weight crashed onto him, yet he smiled. Deadbeats never feel the weight of debt.
The girl cheered. The sword screeched heavenward—
Gourd Island collapsed inward, ejecting Su Nu and the Spirit Devouring Insect King before transforming into two Spirit Treasures:
The Avici Sword
The Three-Heaven Soul-Severing Gourd
Lü Yang claimed them casually, then greeted two newcomers approaching from afar: Yinshan of the Yin Mountains and the Heaven-Mending Peak Master.
“Yuan Tu (‘Slaughter’), you’re too formal!” the latter grinned. “Back in my sect days, you trained under my Heaven-Mending Peak. Come visit my daughter Shu Qian’s Samsara Demon Dance—relaxation aids cultivation, after all!”
“Pervert!” Lü Yang fumed inwardly. “Of course, of course!”
When others arrived, cultivators whispered:
“That Gourd Island karmic debt? Yuan Tu took it.”
“Brave—or foolish. Last claimant’s still reincarnating. I bet a Foundation-Building Marvel—100 years till he dies!”
“Fifty!”
But Lü Yang remained calm. “They’d steal these treasures if not for the debt,” he suspected.
Yinshan warned, “This burden will slow your cultivation.”
Lü Yang shook his head: “My Pure Land Dao requires Golden Core cultivation. I’ll assist Elder Uncle Chongguang first—loyalty before speed.”
He bowed toward Holy Flame Cliff. Chongguang Zhenren’s voice echoed:
“Yuan Tu, eliminate the Divine Martial Gate. Request any resources.”
Lü Yang’s plan crystallized: Use Zhao Xuhe as bait to draw out Subduing Dragon Arhat, then crush him with Sacred Sect forces.
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
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