https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-199-Grotto-Heaven-Collapses-Fruit-Position-Vacant-/13506205/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-201-Reincarnation-for-Enlightenment/13506207/
Chapter 200: Bewildered Hong Ju
Chapter 200: Bewildered Hong Ju
Sky-Connecting Sea of Clouds, Holy Flame Cliff.
Even now, few within the Holy Sect knew the truth. Most assumed their True Monarch had simply gone mad and picked a fight with the Sword Pavilion’s. Only the Foundation Building Perfection True Men understood. Among them was Hong Ju.
“Hmph!” Hong Ju lurched forward in his meditation chamber, spitting a stream of blood. He felt a divine essence rooted in his very bloodline dissipating at an alarming rate.
“Impossible!” he gasped, staring at the crimson pooling on the floor. His blood should have shimmered faint gold—a mark of his immortal lineage. Now, it was a vivid, ominous red.
“The True Monarch… is dead?” A dazed look crossed his face. As a Fortune Immortal, his existence had been forged from the blood of the [Fate-Illuminating Radiance True Monarch], granting him a golden essence. But now, that golden thread was unraveling.
There was only one explanation: the [Fate-Illuminating Radiance True Monarch] had perished utterly, shattering the immortal bond.
But how? True Monarchs were nearly unkillable. Their souls, shielded by golden essence, could endure even if their physical forms fell. Reincarnation was always an escape unless their foe shared their cultivation realm.
Yet the Holy Sect’s Golden Core Sovereigns—both mid and late-stage—had no known grudges with their True Monarch. Even if the Chongguang True Man had competed for the Fruit Position, the sect’s elders had stayed neutral. After all, among cultivators, alliances mattered.
“Xue Feihong!?” Hong Ju barely stopped himself from speaking the name aloud. This was Holy Flame Cliff—uttering it might alert True Monarch Qingcheng Feixue. But he was certain. Only she fit: that bitch who’d risen from junior to True Monarch after her last reincarnation, then surged ahead in mere centuries to breakthrough the Golden Core mid-stage.
Unbelievable. Golden Core mid-stage meant an immortal cave-heaven eternally stable, a soul bound to the heavens themselves. Reincarnation became effortless, favor from the Fruit Position absolute. Yet how many True Monarchs spent millennia—entire ages—stuck below mid-stage, their cave-heavens crumbling?
“That harlot must’ve used some underhanded trick—”
The thought barely formed before his sealed chamber began to weep moisture. A chill seeped in—his rage had stirred the heavens.
“Ugh!” A violent cough sent more blood spilling, this time icy and clean, as if summoned from nowhere. His organs churned like they’d been wrenched apart.
“Cough! Cough!” Hong Ju scrambled to suppress the damage, severing karmic threads before they could root in his body. Grabbing the [Fate-Linked Destiny Codex], he scribbled:
“I’ve never harbored disrespect!”
The ink glowed faintly as karmic fortune flowed into the page, halting his bleeding and stabilizing his fraying form.
“No hatred. Only smiles…” He muttered bitterly. Mid-stage Golden Core cultivators were different. Their bond to the heavens was absolute—human thoughts, even secret ones, echoed back like thunder.
A hollow laugh escaped him. Not for the fallen True Monarch—no, his despair was personal. As a Fortune Immortal, his entire path depended on that bond. Without it, his body would decay in years. Worse, he had no soul to reincarnate.
“No soul… I can’t even die properly.”
Fury surged. He clawed at the air, divining furiously. His fingers nearly scorched from the effort. He had to find the killer.
Moments later—
“…” Hong Ju froze. His angular face slackened, his hands raw from divining. The answer stared back, undeniable.
“Wait… no, that’s not right—!”
Every calculation pointed to one truth: he’d caused the True Monarch’s death. Impossible! It had to be Chongguang and Yuan Tu (Slaughter), meddling with Heaven’s Mechanism to blind him.
“Damn them… but I’m not strong enough to fight back.”
As if in answer, a glowing talisman materialized, bearing a single line: “Assist my ascension, and I grant you eternal glory.”
“Chongguang?” Hong Ju straightened. If Chongguang seized the [Lampfire of Restoration], maybe he could survive.
---
In another grand hall, Chongguang True Man sat enthroned, his disciple Yinshan at his side. A ripple of energy signaled his request had been answered. A satisfied smirk tugged at his lips.
Fortune’s death had removed his greatest obstacle. Now, Chongguang’s path to the Fruit Position was clear.
When a shimmer of divine light announced Lv Yang’s arrival, Chongguang rose to greet him.
“Hard work, Slaughter,” Chongguang said, clapping Lv Yang’s shoulder. “You’ve earned it.”
“For my senior, no effort is wasted,” Lv Yang replied. “You mentioned a critical task?”
“Straight to the point—that’s why I trust you.” Chongguang chuckled. “Tell me, have you heard how to ascend and pursue the Golden Core?”
Lv Yang tensed. He knew scraps—Yanluo Patriarch had hinted at methods in the Ten-Thousand Spirit Banner—but those were unorthodox. The major sects—Holy Sect, Sword Pavilion, and the rest—had systematic paths. Chongguang, as a disciple of the true lineage (dizhuan), held knowledge Lv Yang lacked.
“Enlighten me,” Lv Yang said, bowing deeply.
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
