Just a Useful Pawn in the Stain Sect

Chapter 80: Chapter 80: Tingyou

Lü Yang looked at the lifelike red wax statue with growing interest. In his previous life, he had spent a full ten years studying the souls of Foundation-Stage Cultivators.

And it was precisely because of this that he could see the truth.

”Might I ask which senior is before me?”

Lü Yang clasped his hands in a salute and looked directly at the statue. In his eyes, a wisp of a Foundation Establishment Soul was hidden within the red wax figure!

However, the statue did not respond, simply continuing its own course and declaring, ”To offend my sect is a crime a thousand deaths cannot atone for!”

The moment its voice fell, it stepped forward and vanished, crossing the distance to Lü Yang in a single stride. Clenching its hand into a fist, it threw a crushing punch!

Seeing this, Lü Yang neither dodged nor retreated but threw a punch of his own.

The black-robed Daoist was overjoyed at the sight.

This ancestral statue was no ordinary object. It was a protective treasure that only high-ranking members of the Tingyou Sect, like himself, were worthy of possessing.

Carrying it with him could drastically slow the rate at which he was consumed by a Wu Ghost. In times of need, it could even summon the Ancestor’s Spirit to suppress enemies, just as it was doing now. And though it was merely a body of red wax, a single punch from it was enough to shatter mountains and split stone—far beyond what any mortal flesh could withstand.

Therefore, in his eyes, Lü Yang was simply courting death.

BOOM!

In the next second, a massive explosion erupted between Lü Yang and the statue. A turbulent shockwave swept out in all directions, and then Lü Yang’s body simply disintegrated.

WHOOSH—!

Like clouds rising and falling, a torrent of white smoke roiled and churned. It rapidly pulled away from the statue before quickly coalescing back into Lü Yang’s figure.

”What kind of ability is that!?”

The black-robed Daoist was dumbfounded, clearly shaken by Lü Yang’s ability to disperse and reform at will. His gaze toward Lü Yang grew ever more fearful.

Lü Yang, on the other hand, was full of admiration.

”What a fine statue.”

Amidst his admiration, he came to a conclusion in his heart: ’This so-called Tingyou Sect is highly likely to be set by a reincarnated Foundation Establishment cultivator from the Wu Ghost Sect!’

’I knew it. Since the Wu Ghost Sect wasn’t completely wiped out, they must have left some powerful measures behind... Although, based on what I saw in my previous life, this particular measure most likely failed. But for me now, it’s still a behemoth...’

While Lü Yang was lost in thought, the statue attacked again.

It was the same punch as before. Lü Yang countered with a punch of his own but was still beaten back, forced to disintegrate once more and reform in the distance.

’I’m no match for it...’

Lü Yang sighed. This Primal Qi Avatar of his specialized in Martial Arts, but its physical body was inferior to the statue’s. With its greatest advantage gone, victory was naturally difficult to achieve.

’...However, you think you’re the only one who can call for backup?’

In the next instant, Lü Yang abruptly performed a hand seal.

CRACK!

A fissure opened behind Lü Yang’s head. Magnificent golden light poured out from it, finally coalescing into a massive hand, heavier than a mountain, that reached out!

Outside the Secret Realm, Lü Yang had made a move!

The golden hand spread its five fingers, revealing an array suffused with bloody light in its palm. With a downward slap, it instantly swallowed the statue into the array.

”Blood River Sword Formation, activate!”

Lü Yang performed another hand seal, and a wretched rain of blood began to fall within the array. Each drop of blood was like a sharp sword light, slashing down toward the statue.

”Insolent junior!”

The statue stood tall and imposing, ten thousand ghosts roaring around it, showing no fear. The wisp of the Foundation Establishment Soul within it had regained its clarity and immediately voiced a message:

”A mere Seventh-Grade Array is not enough to stop me.”

”Which sect are you a disciple of? If you can get me out of here, I will reward you handsomely. If you are willing, come meet me at the Tingyou Sect headquarters...”

”I believe you’ve misunderstood, senior.”

Outside the Secret Realm, Lü Yang’s true self gave a cold smile. ”The array wasn’t meant to deal with you, senior. It was merely to trap you for a moment and prevent your escape.”

”...What?”

In the next second, outside the array, the ’Saint Appearance’ manifested by Lü Yang’s true self roared into motion. The great golden hand gripped the Grand Ward as Lü Yang pushed the Position of Theft to Sainthood to its limit. He then slammed his palms together. Like an eraser wiping a line of text from a book, everything in his hand was instantly obliterated.

When the golden hand opened again, the statue had been crushed to dust.

Only a faint, residual glow remained, which was caught by Lü Yang’s Primal Qi Avatar. It was none other than a fragment of the Nether Lord’s Position.

Lü Yang then severed his own arm.

After all, that hand had already reached into the Secret Realm. With the Golden Core Sword Qi present, he couldn’t pull it back out. It would be useless for him if trapped inside, and besides, it could grow back anyway.

Next, Lü Yang had his avatar put away the Nether Lord’s Position. After examining it for a moment, he sighed with some regret. ’It’s still incomplete... one percent at most. But that makes sense. This statue is obviously a mass-produced item. It’s impossible for it to be imbued with much power.’

While Lü Yang was sighing, the black-robed Daoist at his side was going mad.

He stared blankly at the pulverized remains of the statue for a long time before snapping back to his senses. His eyes, when they turned to Lü Yang, were instantly bloodshot.

”You dare destroy our sect’s ancestral statue?”

Hearing this, Lü Yang raised an eyebrow. ’So that was Ancestor Tingyou... A Foundation Establishment cultivator can really live that long? Has he been reincarnating continuously, barely clinging to life for over a thousand years?’

The black-robed Daoist, however, paid no heed to Lü Yang’s words. The Tingyou Sect was deeply rooted in the Secret Realm and revered by all. To him, the destruction of the ancestral statue was like the desecration of his faith, and he instantly lost all reason. ”You destroyed the statue! Our sect will never let this matter rest!”

Before his voice had even faded, he let out a furious roar and lunged at Lü Yang.

Seeing this, Lü Yang gave a cold smile. ”At this point, it’s me who won’t be letting you rest!”

With that said, he flicked his wide sleeve. Primal Qi formed a massive hand that seized the black-robed Daoist, then slammed him into the ground, smashing both man and ghost to dust.

However, Lü Yang did not leave immediately, instead waiting patiently for a moment.

Soon, the yin energy in the area re-gathered, and a brand new Black-clothed Ghost emerged. It was none other than the Wu Ghost he had just smashed to pieces, ’Call Name Fall’!

Lü Yang observed the entire process of the Wu Ghost’s revival and clicked his tongue in amazement. ’Just as I thought. So this is how the Wu Ghost Sect has managed to cling to life until now...’

The Wu Ghosts are unkillable!

The Wu Ghost Secret Realm was deeply entrenched, almost bound to the Lay Line beneath the Skull Mountains. The inside and outside were a seamless whole, forming a sealed, cyclical system.

When a Wu Ghost dies, it dissolves into Yin energy and merges with the Lay Line. This yin energy then re-condenses into a new Wu Ghost within the Secret Realm, thus achieving a form of immortality. To break this cycle, one would have to either uproot the Secret Realm along with the Skull Mountains’ Lay Line, or force the Secret Realm to manifest itself in the outer world.

The latter was Perfected Yin Shan’s method, because no one would ever do the former.

It wasn’t that it couldn’t be done, but that no one was willing to do it. Uprooting a Lay Line was an act that severely damaged one’s Merit and would directly affect their future reincarnations.

One must understand that even Golden-Core Perfected Lords were not truly immortal.

When their lifespan was exhausted, they too had to reincarnate and cultivate anew. And if they had done too many things that consumed their Merit, they would inevitably face greater tribulations after reincarnation.

’So that’s why this strand of Golden Core Sword Qi was left in the Secret Realm. It chose to take it slowly rather than kill all at once...’

’From this perspective, my actions of collecting these ghosts are actually inadvisable. It will gradually cause the yin energy in the Lay Line under the Skull Mountains to be drained...’

’...But so what?’

Lü Yang reached out and grabbed. The newly revived Black-clothed Ghost was tossed into his Myriad-Soul Banner, without a care for whether it would affect the Skull Mountains’ Lay Line.

’Merit? If I don’t have any, so be it.’

’Starting from a low point in one life just means more room for improvement in the next, after all.’