"Senior Brother Liu? He's here!?"
Hearing the voice from outside his cave dwelling, Lu Yang's pupils contracted sharply. His face instantly turned as dark as a thundercloud. Not only did he not respond, he completely withdrew his energy aura.
"...Junior Brother?"
The voice came again. Lu Yang still did not reply. Although he had no evidence, he was now certain: the contents of the Primordial Dao Scripture he had cultivated were problematic!
"I suffered from a lack of experience; I actually didn't suspect it before."
"The Joyful Union Hall and Heaven-Mending Peak have a close relationship; their cultivation techniques should also be related to dual cultivation. Yet the Primordial Dao Scripture has nothing to do with dual cultivation."
"I was deceived by him!"
"But why would he want to harm me? Although the First Saint Sect is a demonic path, it still has sect rules. Private combat between formal disciples is strictly forbidden. Once discovered..."
Thinking of this, Lu Yang suddenly smacked his own forehead.
"How could I believe the nonsense of a demonic sect!"
"'Once discovered,' 'once discovered'... if it's not discovered, then it doesn't count as private combat?"
The more Lu Yang thought about it, the worse his expression became. In the end, it was all due to ingrained habit. Liu Xin's every word and action before had fulfilled the duties of a receptionist disciple.
Aside from introducing the situation of the inner sect, he was also diligent and without reservation regarding the benefits that inner sect disciples should have—magical artifacts, pills, spirit beasts, and so on. He didn't withhold anything from Lu Yang. Especially at the Treasure Refining Hall, he even instructed the steward there to give him the best.
It was all an illusion!
Everything beforehand was for that final step of handing him the "Primordial Dao Scripture," to make him let down his guard and completely believe in his goodwill!
"Thinking about it now, he probably also had thoughts of embezzlement."
"After all, if he gets rid of me, the magical artifacts, pills, and spirit beast I obtained would naturally all belong to him... No wonder he specifically said to get the best!"
What a beast!
Right at this moment, a voice came from outside the cave dwelling again.
The next second, with a crack sound, the protective formation of Lu Yang's cave dwelling exploded violently. The door was torn apart by a sword light.
With the door wide open, Liu Xin, his sleeves fluttering, strode inside.
Seeing Lu Yang, a look of harvest-like joy appeared on Liu Xin's face. He nodded with satisfaction. "Junior Brother really is a talented person—"
Boom!
Before Liu Xin could finish speaking, Lu Yang directly exploded!
A mighty surge of Primordial True Qi, carrying the Bone Jade Sword magical artifact, finally transformed into a sharp sword light that slashed towards Liu Xin with an unstoppable momentum.
Yet the very next moment, the sword light came to an abrupt halt.
"...A deathbed struggle."
Liu Xin neither dodged nor avoided it. He merely pinched a hand seal, and Lu Yang's body instantly lost control, as if he had become someone else's puppet.
"This Primordial Dao Scripture is truly a good thing." Seeing this, Liu Xin couldn't help but laugh loudly. "The cultivator transforms their physical body and soul into a stream of Primordial Qi. It can be used as medicine, refined into treasures, and even used to increase cultivation. Having obtained this rare treasure, reaching the later stages of Qi Refinement should be within hope!"
"Helping me achieve a breakthrough, Junior Brother, you can be considered to have died a worthy death."
As soon as the words fell, Liu Xin immediately began to change his hand seals. Lu Yang suddenly found his consciousness beginning to gradually dissipate, as if it was being forcibly erased!
At this moment, a flash of insight struck Lu Yang:
"This is the second half of the Primordial Dao Scripture!"
"The first half is a trap for others to cultivate. The second half is the true method, waiting for others to cultivate the first half and then reap the benefits for oneself!"
Rather than calling this a cultivation technique, it was more like an artifact refining method.
However, it didn't use materials to refine artifacts, but used people to refine artifacts—and made people refine themselves. The true cultivator hid in the shadows, saving both trouble and effort.
Named a Dao Scripture, but in reality a demonic technique!
"Fine, you win. I'll give you this lifetime."
With this thought, Lu Yang simply stopped resisting, allowing his consciousness to dissipate. After the initial shock and anger, he actually regained a calm composure.
"A fall into the pit, a gain in your wit. You can deceive me once, but I have countless chances."
"This grudge, I have written down!"
The next second, Lu Yang's consciousness fell into darkness.
In the void, only the sound of rustling book pages remained.
[You were refined by Liu Xin, your consciousness completely erased, transformed into a stream of Primordial Qi. You died.]
[Current remaining pages of the Hundred Lifetimes Book: 98]
[Starting a new lifetime. You can choose one reward from your previous life's gains:]
[1: Treasure.]
[2: Cultivation Level.]
[3: Lifespan.]
[4: Abandon all gains. Randomly awaken a talent based on previous life experiences.]
"Those whose names are called, come to the front."
The familiar voice came from the platform. Lu Yang clenched his teeth to restrain his emotions, not looking up, but instead focusing his thoughts on the panel before him.
Treasure. Cultivation Level. Lifespan.
If possible, Lu Yang would naturally want to choose cultivation level. But he was worried about being noticed, unable to explain where his cultivation came from.
As for lifespan, skip it.
"Can I only choose treasure then..."
Lu Yang frowned tightly. In terms of treasures, he only had the Bone Jade Sword that was barely presentable. But without cultivation level, even having a magical artifact would be useless as he couldn't activate it.
Just then, Lu Yang's gaze suddenly paused.
Because just a moment ago, the Hundred Lifetimes Book had given him a piece of feedback.
"This... can also count as a treasure?"
Lu Yang was first astonished, then showed a contemplative expression, before finally gritting his teeth and making a decision: Choose one, retain a treasure obtained in the previous life.
The next second, an anomaly suddenly occurred!
Without disturbing anyone, all changes were confined within Lu Yang's dantian. Tracing the source, it was actually a swirling, steaming white Qi.
Primordial True Qi!
The Primordial True Qi that Lu Yang had refined in his previous life by dissolving his internal organs, skin, flesh, tendons, and bones, actually counted as a treasure, and now he had exchanged it out!
"Incredible..." Lu Yang lowered his eyelids, covering the surprise in his eyes.
Only because he discovered that he could not only manipulate this mass of Primordial True Qi as effortlessly as moving his own arm, but could even use it to perform the spells from his previous life!
"Under normal circumstances, this should be impossible."
"Because to manipulate Primordial True Qi, one must use the secret method from the second half of the scripture. But I am different, because this stream of Primordial True Qi is myself!"
The two were originally one. For Lu Yang, it was equivalent to having an extra Qi Refinement first layer分身.
"And before I died in my previous life, I heard Liu Xin say that this Primordial True Qi could assist in breaking through realms if used as medicine... This stream of True Qi will be of great use in the future!"
After sorting out his gains, Lu Yang began his actions for this lifetime.
First, he was once again assigned to the Joyful Union Hall.
Then, he worked Senior Sister Yu Suzhen to death.
This time, however, to avoid attracting attention, Lu Yang did not use Senior Sister Yu's Primordial Yin to break through to the Qi Refinement realm. Instead, he fed it all to the Primordial True Qi.
"This lifetime, I will lay low and not act recklessly!"
Sure enough, Liu Xin, who was guarding outside the door, saw that Lu Yang had not broken through after draining Yu Suzhen and immediately lost interest in him.
Immediately after, Lu Yang waited patiently.
Over ten days later, a disciple from the Joyful Union Hall named "Qin Yu" made a breakthrough. Lu Yang saw Liu Xin rush over upon hearing the news and happily took him away.
A few more days passed, and Liu Xin announced he was going into closed-door cultivation. The senior brother responsible for receiving new disciples was also replaced.
But Lu Yang still did not show himself.
"Who knows what kind of person this new senior brother is? What if he's also like Liu Xin... Well, I'd better not stick my neck out."
"To be safe, wait another month."
Just like that, another half month passed. Only after another outer sect disciple broke through to Qi Refinement and entered the inner sect, remaining safe and sound, did Lu Yang choose to break through.
With the support of Primordial True Qi, Lu Yang actually didn't need dual cultivation to break through.
But to avoid drawing attention, he casually drained a few outer sect disciples.
This time, the formal disciple responsible for receiving him was much more perfunctory, completely lacking the enthusiasm Liu Xin had shown. There was even a hint of disdain in his expression.
"This is the Archive Pavilion."
After collecting the benefits, the other party brought him to a pavilion building and said offhandedly, "Take your token and go in. Use contribution points to exchange for whatever technique you want."
After speaking, the other party directly turned and left.
However, seeing this, Lu Yang felt greatly at ease. Being a small figure had its advantages. The other party looking down on him actually suited his intentions perfectly.
Thinking of this, Lu Yang turned to look at the distant Heaven-Mending Peak.
"Liu Xin... Hmph!"
A few days ago, Liu Xin emerged from seclusion, having officially broken through to the late stage of Qi Refinement. He had even become a personal disciple of the Heaven-Mending Peak Master and was currently riding high on success.
Lu Yang snorted coldly, withdrew his gaze, and strode into the Archive Pavilion.
Although he wanted revenge, he was currently too weak, lacking power. Therefore, the urgent task was to cultivate diligently. Everything could be discussed after becoming stronger.
A gentleman's revenge can wait ten years.
A temporary expedient is no cause for haste!