Chapter 356: Which Holy Sect Cultivator Is This?
Chapter 356: Which Holy Sect Cultivator Is This?
Jiangbei, Skull Mountain Bazaar.
Lv Yang still traveled in his Dharma-form, but remained cautious. His aura was completely suppressed—any casual observer would mistake him for a destitute cultivator.
Better safe than sorry.
If I recall correctly, Skull Mountain is being watched by multiple Holy Sect True Immortals right now—not just Yinshan!
The Northern Borderlands’ Divine Martial Gate had a Foundation Building expert in their late stages. Without a Great True Sovereign guarding their sect, they couldn’t have dominated the Northern Borderlands or coveted the Wugui Secret Realm inside Skull Mountain.
But during the Battle of Skull Mountain, True Immortal Yinshan had lured out the Wugui Secret Realm—and inadvertently drawn out Divine Martial Gate’s True Immortals. In the chaos, Divine Martial Gate’s sect leader, their sole Great True Sovereign, was killed by a coalition of Holy Sect cultivators. Only a few Early Foundation Building disciples escaped in disgrace, sealing the gate’s fate.
In other words, there’s definitely a Great True Sovereign lurking here!
Strictly speaking, Lv Yang’s True Body wasn’t even as strong as an Avatar. Even Chifa (Lawkeeper) was only at Foundation Building Mid-Stage Perfection—no match for a Great True Sovereign.
So he remained grounded.
“Senior Brother Zhao.”
Entering the market town, Lv Yang swept his divine consciousness around and immediately spotted the familiar figure of Zhao Xuhe—the same Zhao Xuhe who still owed him a mountain of contribution points from past lives.
He’s still cultivating the Nine Metamorphosis Dragon Art, just as expected.
Lv Yang’s eyes flickered. Zhao Xuhe had reached Refining Qi Perfection. If nothing went wrong, he’d attempt Foundation Building in the next few years.
Does this mean Subduing Dragon Arhat will appear soon too?
Lv Yang smirked.
The next moment, he suddenly seemed to recall something. He directed his consciousness into the Ten-Thousand Spirit Banner, locating the Heaven-Mending Peak Master—who had been refined into a Banner Spirit.
“I have a question. You’ve already started preparing for your Breakthrough to Foundation Building Late-Stage, haven’t you?”
“Yes, Master,” came the reply.
At this, Lv Yang’s eyes lit up. He muttered, “Then you must’ve secretly obtained a Xin Metal essence already, right?”
He’d overlooked this before. In the previous timeline, Heaven-Mending Peak Master hadn’t attempted Foundation Building until a century later. But seeing Zhao Xuhe now, he realized the peak master likely had the means for the Breakthrough much earlier.
The only reason he hadn’t acted was probably fear of the Heavenly Tribulation.
Otherwise, why would he bother cultivating Zhao Xuhe? Finding a Celestial Vanguard and Terrestrial Sha should’ve been his priority. Without them, Foundation Building was impossible.
Of course, this was just a hypothesis.
He needed Heaven-Mending Peak Master’s confirmation.
“…”
After a moment, Lv Yang withdrew his consciousness, his expression darkening.
The good news: Heaven-Mending Peak Master indeed knew where a Xin Metal essence lay. The bad news: he didn’t have it in his possession.
Su Heng Palace?
Lv Yang furrowed his brow.
Located in Jiangbei, Su Heng Palace was a wonderland like Qing Kingdom, but instead of being carved by the Dao Court, it was connected to the Pure Land.
According to Heaven-Mending Peak Master, the Xin Metal essence was hidden there. Because of its ties to the Pure Land, he’d allied with Subduing Dragon Arhat. In the previous life, he’d succeeded through this alliance.
Clearly, capturing the Xin Metal essence required Subduing Dragon Arhat’s cooperation.
But… the Pure Land.
Lv Yang grimaced. Since his near-death encounter with the World-Honored One in the Overseas Dominion, his attitude toward Pure Land cultivators was simple:
They could be killed, insulted, but never toyed with.
Even with the Golden String Puppet, he’d never considered infiltrating the Pure Land this life. The risks were too high.
No one knew what would happen if his Avatar joined the Pure Land and became a Buddhist cultivator. While the Golden String Puppet could fool Golden Core experts, could it deceive a Dao Lord? If the World-Honored One discovered someone pulling strings behind his back…
Game over.
This was just a worry, but even a small chance of success wasn’t worth the gamble.
If I don’t gamble, I won’t lose.
After all, the Golden String Puppet is just a talent obtained through the Suo Huan Golden Nature. Hoping it can fool the World-Honored One at two stages above is too optimistic.
Subduing Dragon Arhat posed a similar problem.
How could he extract the Xin Metal information?
Killing him and refining him into the Ten-Thousand Spirit Banner? No. If the World-Honored One noticed and investigated…
If the World-Honored One possessed the Arhat’s body, he’d immediately detect the embryonic Fruit Position in the Banner. Then he’d be laughing all the way to victory.
Lv Yang had refined Buddhist cultivators into the Banner before, but they were only Qi Gathering experts—insignificant enough to avoid attention. Foundation Building cultivators were True Immortals now. With the True Monarchs in hiding, the World-Honored One might even focus on them.
As for having Heaven-Mending Peak Master and Chen Xin’an work father-and-son-style to Soul Scry the information? Risky too. What if they attracted the World-Honored One mid-divination?
“Ugh!”
Lv Yang slapped his head, cursing inwardly: The World-Honored One’s just too shameless, bullying Nascent Soul Formation Sovereigns in a fishing pond!
After weighing everything, he made a decision.
No matter what, capture him first!
Worst case, I’ll imprison him and slowly break him down. As long as I avoid techniques that’ll alert the World-Honored One, I’m sure that bald monk won’t resist forever!
Mind set, Lv Yang sprang into action.
First, he found Zhao Xuhe and delivered the Foundation Building treasures Heaven-Mending Peak Master had prepared for his children. Then, using the Golden String Puppet, he manipulated Zhao Xuhe to attempt Foundation Building.
“Boom! Boom!”
Instantly, half the Skull Mountain Bazaar trembled.
Lv Yang had perfected this trick in past lives. With his current strength, the execution was flawless.
Soon, a solemn chant echoed from Skull Mountain:
“Amitabha!”
A golden light split the sky as Subduing Dragon Arhat emerged, smiling compassionately. “Disciple, we are fated to meet.”
Almost simultaneously, several unseen gazes fell upon them.
As expected, numerous Holy Sect True Immortals were already gathered here, waiting for Divine Martial Gate’s Foundation Building experts to take the bait.
“A Pure Land monk?”
“Why is he here?”
One Holy Sect True Immortal calculated the situation and understood. "It’s the Nine Metamorphosis Dragon Art. The Heaven-Mending sect approved its entry into the Cloud Sea long ago."
“Stop him?”
“Forget it. If we act now, we might scare off Divine Martial Gate. Better to let this Refining Qi disciple proceed.”
But then—
“Whoosh!”
A blinding radiance erupted, striking Subduing Dragon Arhat. With no chance to resist, he cried out and was captured.
Silence fell.
The Holy Sect True Immortals, veterans of countless battles, reacted instantly: someone had set a trap, capturing the Arhat deliberately.
Judging from the strength of the attack, the assailant was at least Foundation Building Mid-Stage Perfection!
Using a Refining Qi disciple as bait, ambushing a Foundation Building expert—this was clearly a premeditated move, likely not the first time.
Understanding dawned.
Which Holy Sect cultivator is this?
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
