Free Web NovelChapter 584: Chapter 584: Why is This Sect Gate Emitting Black Qi?
Thanks to the Dao Court and the Pure Land, news of Lü Yang founding his own Sect spread throughout the Five Domains of the World in an instant, following that earth-shattering battle between Perfected Lords.
[Righteous Qi Dao]!
Overnight, this name became the talk of all Loose Cultivators. Not only were Foundation-Stage Cultivators discussing it, but even the mortal world had caught wind of it.
As for Lü Yang, he shot to the top echelon of the Five Domains of the World. Some gossips even considered him one of the top Perfected Lords of the current age. After all, Lower Cultivators had no understanding of things like the Early or Middle Stage of Golden Core. All they knew was that these people were all Perfected Lords, so naturally, whoever had the biggest name must be the most powerful.
For a time, emotions ran high.
Some were filled with longing, wanting to visit the sect and cultivate. Others were disdainful, believing it was merely a flash in the pan and that the Pure Land Buddhist Cultivators would soon make a comeback.
Most of these people were mediocre.
The truly clever ones had already taken action.
.......
「The West. The Righteous Qi Dao.」
As a radiant light descended, the Eternal Joy Garden opened. A figure was guided by it, landing directly outside the gates of the Righteous Qi Dao.
This was the recruitment mechanism Lü Yang had established. Any cultivator who wished to join the Righteous Qi Dao—be they mortal, Loose Cultivator, or even a disciple from another sect—need only silently think the wish in their heart to trigger a response from the Fruit of Celestial Fire. The Eternal Joy Garden would then be responsible for teleporting them.
A long while later, the figure slowly regained consciousness.
He was a young-looking cultivator whose cultivation was at the Final-phase of Qi Refining. He had a gloomy appearance, and the first thing he did upon waking was to warily scan his surroundings.
But soon, a realization dawned on him:
’The Righteous Qi Dao? It’s actually real! I just silently wished for a way out, and I was really transported, breaking through space to arrive in the West?’
The next moment, however, he looked dubiously at the Righteous Qi Dao’s gates before him, hesitating. It wasn’t doubt, exactly—he just felt something was a little strange.
’Is it my imagination?’
’Why are the sect gates emitting a dark aura?’
According to what he had heard, the Righteous Qi Dao was established by a Great Divine Power User. Because the Sect was newly founded, it had opened its doors wide to teach all without discrimination.
From the rumors, this Great Divine Power User was clearly a benevolent person.
As a Loose Cultivator, he was all too aware of how harsh their existence was. Obtaining abilities and cultivation techniques was entirely a matter of luck, and the slightest misstep could mean the end of one’s cultivation path.
Even if one struck heavenly luck and reached Foundation Establishment, they would be at the bottom rung of Foundation-Stage Cultivators. They wouldn’t understand karmic links, nor the proper pairing of Abilities with the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches. Possessing only brute force, if they stayed put and died contentedly in peace, that was one thing—they could even live carefreely for a few lifetimes. But the more ambitious they were, the faster they would die.
Thinking of this, the cultivator instantly cast aside all his worries.
Ever since it was discovered he possessed a Supreme Treasure, he had been hunted in the North until he had nowhere left to run. He was already at rock bottom; any way he went from here was up!
’I’ll risk it!’
The next second, the cultivator’s expression tightened. He stepped through the gate that was emitting a dark aura, and his clear consciousness instantly faded into a haze.
「Meanwhile, inside the Righteous Qi Dao.」
Lü Yang sat enthroned in the main hall, surveying the space within the Myriad-Soul Banner with satisfaction. In just a few short months, he had gained over ten thousand new Banner Spirits from cultivators who had flocked to him, drawn by his fame.
And they had all entered the banner voluntarily!
’As things stand, it’s time to reforge the Myriad-Soul Banner.’
Lü Yang mused to himself. Granted, the Myriad-Soul Banner refined by a Primal Daoist was a work of divine craftsmanship, capable of even concealing a Fruit. It could be called a top-grade item just shy of a True Treasure.
However, now that he had become a Perfected Lord, it was foreseeable that the Myriad-Soul Banner would become less and less useful. In fact, with Empress Xiao, Summon, and Progenitor Tingyou all becoming Perfected Lords, Lü Yang could clearly feel that the banner was operating under overload. It was already at its absolute limit.
’And that’s only because two of them are of the Outer Dao.’
Of the three Perfected Lord souls, only Summon was an Orthodox True Monarch, his soul having fused with the Gold Attribute and undergone a qualitative change. Progenitor Tingyou and Empress Xiao had only experienced a quantitative increase.
If not for that, the Myriad-Soul Banner would have exploded long ago.
Therefore, in Lü Yang’s opinion, reforging the Myriad-Soul Banner was an urgent matter. And it couldn’t be a simple reforging; if he was going to do it, he had to do it right and make it a permanent solution.
’A True Treasure!’
Lü Yang planned to refine the Myriad-Soul Banner into his first True Treasure. Conveniently, the banner’s nature of commanding Banner Spirits was a perfect match for the imagery of his own Fruit of Celestial Fire.
However, the ideal was grand.
The reality was that Lü Yang had tried three times in a row, but he couldn’t even complete the first step: severing the Fruit Position Imagery from the Fruit itself.
’My depth of cultivation is insufficient, my cultivation base too weak...’
Lü Yang’s brow furrowed, his fingers tapping lightly on the table. Suddenly, his thoughts were interrupted as another Banner Spirit tore through space and fell into the Myriad-Soul Banner.
"Another delivery."
A slight smile touched Lü Yang’s lips. He habitually performed a Soul Searching, and luckily, this was only a Qi Refiner, so there was no need for the Heaven Repairing father-son duo to take the field.
Very quickly, however, Lü Yang’s eyebrow arched.
"This person..."
Lü Yang focused his mind, sat up straight, and began to seriously examine the young cultivator before him. Through the Soul Searching, he learned that the cultivator’s name was Han Qingyun.
A Jiangbei Loose Cultivator.
Originally, he was just an ordinary member among thousands of Loose Cultivators. His cultivation had stalled in the Early-phase of Qi Refining, unable to even cross the bottleneck of the Third Layer of Qi Refining.
However, a fateful encounter changed his destiny. It was a round mirror; by reflecting an item in it, he could create a free copy and then take it out of the mirror. Qi Pills, Talismans, Cultivation Techniques, and weapons could all be copied. Thanks to this, he had risen meteorically in just three months.
Three months ago, he was still in the Early-phase of Qi Refining.
Three months later, he had already become a Great Cultivator at the Final-phase of Qi Refining. The speed of his progress was enough to surprise even Lü Yang; it wasn’t far off from his own back in the day.
"The Celestial Observation Mirror?"
With a thought from Lü Yang’s spiritual perception, an object like a hand mirror flew out from Han Qingyun’s robes and landed in his palm, showing not the slightest trace of any miraculous power.
Then, he glanced at the unconscious Han Qingyun.
"Too naive..."
Although he was from the North, he was ultimately just a Loose Cultivator who had never been tempered in the Stain Sect. He didn’t understand the fundamental karmic truth: every opportunity comes with a hidden trap.
But that was to be expected.
After all, to Han Qingyun, the Celestial Observation Mirror was the very foundation of his rise. Who would doubt their own foundation before they’d even risen? Rise first, ask questions later.
’It’s a good thing he fell into my hands and joined my Righteous Qi Dao. With me to vet things for him first, he’ll never have to worry about being tricked by someone with ulterior motives again...’
Thinking this, Lü Yang looked again at the Celestial Observation Mirror before him:
"Just which Perfected Lord’s handiwork is this?"
Lü Yang stroked his chin, intrigued. For even he in his current state to be unable to see through it, this treasure was clearly not made by a Foundation-Stage Cultivator.
It could only be a Perfected Lord.
As for its divine effect of copying and duplicating, it was a bit like a Water Fruit Position. But holding it in his hand, it didn’t quite feel like that. Instead, it felt more like an Outer Dao Fruit Position.
"Trying to hide from me?"
Lü Yang chuckled, then extended his palm. Overlapping images transformed into a wash of illusionary colors that blessed his hand, reflecting a brilliant golden light:
’[Deprive]!’
No matter what secrets this treasure held, as long as he Deprived it, it would become *his* treasure. And when that happened, what secrets could it possibly keep from him?
RUMBLE!
At that moment, the plain, unadorned Celestial Observation Mirror began to tremble violently. Then, on its previously smooth surface, a blurry human figure gradually appeared.
"Hm?"
The other party did not reveal their true face, but they projected a feeling of surprise. Then, without a second word, the entire surface of the mirror began to crack, about to shatter.
"Trying to run?"
Lü Yang flicked his sleeve, rose to his feet, and suddenly burst out laughing. "Interesting! Get back here!"
Intuition told Lü Yang that his little act of "mingling with the Lower Cultivators" and "sharing joy with the common folk" had inadvertently borne fruit. He figured he’d just hooked a very big fish!
