Chapter 100: Chapter 100: My Loyalty Has Never Wavered

[You were bound by wicked debts, your Merit and Fortune utterly wiped out. In the end, you committed suicide.]

[Available Leaves of Centome: 93]

[Reopening a life, you may choose one item from your previous life’s harvests:]

A: Artifacts.

B: Cultivation.

C: Lifespan.

D: Trade all your harvests for a random Talent Skill based on your past life experiences]

“Those whose names I call, come and stand before me.”

The familiar voice made Lü Yang feel as if a lifetime had passed. He quickly composed himself, however, and turned his attention to the Centome’s interface:

[Name: Lü Yang]

[Lifespan: 18]

[Cultivation: Tenth Layer of Qi Refining (Final-phase)]

[Talent Skill: Left-Handed Genius (White), Got a Pair (Purple)]

[Cultivation Technique: Ninefold Dragon Metamorphosis (Perfection)]

[Abilities: Supreme Heaven Sword Mastery (Perfection), Crash Course: Array-Artifacts (Perfection), Qi Concealing Technique (Perfection), Avadar Guardian Technique (Perfection), Bond of Devouring Fate (Perfection), Theft to Sainthood (Perfection), Lunar Shedding Technique (Minor Mastery), Soul Splitting Technique (Minor Mastery)]

[Artifacts: Blood Sun Sword Pill (Superior Magical Treasure), Primal Qi (Superior Marvel)]

[Available Leaves of Centome: 93]

After restarting, he carried over his initial state from the previous life. In terms of Position, he only had the boost from Theft to Sainthood; the other two Legendary Techniques had yet to be cultivated.

“I choose Artifacts.”

Lü Yang dared not delay and immediately selected his reward for this life. A moment later, the purplish-black Myriad-Soul Banner abruptly materialized in his Dantian.

Then, with a mere thought from Lü Yang, the Banner stirred. A graceful, elegant figure materialized from it, stepping down, followed by eight red-robed Fierce Ghosts. They instantly combined, recreating the Yama Hall, which completely concealed all the karmic links attached to Lü Yang.

However, compared to the last life, the current Yama Hall was much smaller.

’Is it because I don’t have the Skull Mountains…’

Lü Yang understood. In his previous life, the Yama Hall had been anchored to the Skull Mountains. In this life, it could only take up residence within the Myriad-Soul Banner.

Although the current Yama Hall still maintained a Position at the Foundation Establishment Level, it possessed form without substance. In this state, it likely couldn’t even defeat the Soul of the Master of Heaven Mending Peak from his past life.

It could only perform tasks that required its Position alone, such as obscuring karmic links.

This was a minor issue, however.

After all, the Skull Mountains were just sitting there; it wasn’t as if they could grow legs and run away. The worst-case scenario was that he would have to find another opportunity to go there and re-anchor it.

“…”

Lü Yang looked up at the sky and waited patiently for a moment. This time, the Master of Heaven Mending Peak failed to discover him. After a burst of rage of no consequence, he retracted his Divine Sense.

Only then did Lü Yang nod in satisfaction. He sensed for karmic links again, his expression calm. ’As expected, the Banner Spirit and the Myriad-Soul Banner are indeed a single entity—at least, that’s how the Centome judges it. After I chose it as my reward, all of its karmic links were erased.’

He could no longer sense the karmic links from the Sword Qi.

In Lü Yang’s eyes, the Myriad-Soul Banner and all the Banner Spirits within it had completely transformed into untraceable existences, devoid of any karmic links.

After clearing his thoughts, Lü Yang looked toward Liu Xin on the platform.

In this life, he would replicate his actions from two lives ago.

’The only reason Fulong successfully schemed against me in my last life was, in the end, because I never truly joined the Stain Sect. I didn’t have a powerful enough patron to back me up.’

The Stain Sect is, after all, a top-tier Sect. You can call it evil, but you can never call it weak.

’If I had been a Direct Disciple of the Stain Sect in my last life, I’m sure that even if the Arhat had ten times the nerve, he wouldn’t have dared to abduct me and take me to the West to cultivate Buddhism.’

So in this life, Lü Yang planned to secure the status of a Direct Disciple for himself.

From that perspective, the Sanhe Association was a good choice.

’At least Perfected Chong Guang and Perfected Yin Shan should be reasonable. In my last life, they didn’t just kill me outright to steal the Celestial Corpse Fiend…’

Lü Yang was sure they had the power.

They had the power, but they held back.

’People like that are rare in the Stain Sect. Besides, as one achieving Perfection in his stage, Perfected Chong Guang is a powerful patron in his own right.’

’Actually, my loyalty to the Stain Sect has never wavered.’

’Everyone in the Stain Sect is so talented; I absolutely love it here. Even though I didn’t join in my last life, I was basically one of the Stain Sect members already!’

Soon, the initiation ceremony was over.

The events that followed unfolded exactly as they had in his past few lives. Liu Xin still assigned Lü Yang to the Yin-Yang Unity Hall, and Yu Suzhen still took a liking to him and lured him into her Cave Mansion.

He had done this many times, but each time, Lü Yang steeled himself.

’The warm path lies ahead; how could I afford to be soft?’

Then he killed Yu Suzhen.

Staring at Yu Suzhen’s corpse, its eyes wide open in death, Lü Yang frowned. A thought suddenly struck him, and he took out the Myriad-Soul Banner to summon Su Nu.

“Greeting, Master.”

The moment Su Nu appeared, she bowed respectfully to Lü Yang. Her full chest swayed as she bent her slender, crescent-moon waist, and she paid no mind to the corpse beside her.

“Do you recognize her?”

Lü Yang pointed to Yu Suzhen’s corpse on the floor. Only then did Su Nu glance over. Lü Yang immediately focused, trying to sense her thoughts.

He saw Su Nu freeze for a moment. Staring at Yu Suzhen’s exquisite face, identical to her own, her elegant brows furrowed as if in a daze. But her expression quickly cleared. “Master, yes, I recognize her. That was this servant… when I was alive. Does Master wish for her soul resting in peace?”

Lü Yang’s face immediately hardened. “Don’t be ridiculous! I am a cultivator!”

He was simply curious about what would happen when two Yu Suzhens existed in the same world.

’Looks like the Centome helped me fix this BUG…’

After restarting, although the Banner Spirit subjectively remembered everything from the past, the erasure of her karmic links had forcibly altered her self-perception.

She knew she was Yu Suzhen, yet she didn’t see herself as Yu Suzhen. It was as if she were merely a shadow of her original self.

As Lü Yang was lost in thought, he saw Su Nu suddenly wave a hand toward Yu Suzhen’s corpse. A strange ripple of karmic links instantly spread out.

“…What are you doing?”

Lü Yang looked up to see Su Nu looking just as bewildered. After a moment’s hesitation, she placed her hand on Yu Suzhen’s corpse as if she were plucking something from it.

The next second—

“Huh!?”

Lü Yang’s pupils contracted. A new layer of karmic links had suddenly appeared on Su Nu, who should have been completely free of them after being “cleansed” by the Centome!

It was… Yu Suzhen’s karmic links!

’It can even do that!?’

Lü Yang’s eyes instantly lit up. ’A Banner Spirit whose original self still exists in the current world can borrow that self’s karmic links?’

At this thought, he immediately turned to Su Nu and asked, “How did you do that? What’s the extent of this ability? Are there any limitations?”

Su Nu blinked, stunned. She focused inward for a moment, then whispered, “There’s a distance requirement. It probably wouldn’t work if I’m too far away. There are no other requirements. I don’t need to touch the person. If they’re dead, I can borrow the karmic links permanently.”

’Interesting…’

Lü Yang’s expression grew pensive as he considered the other two Banner Spirits within his Myriad-Soul Banner: Chen Xin’an and the Split Self of the Master of Heaven Mending Peak. ’Can they do the same thing?’

’If used well, this ability could have huge benefits!’

’A Banner Spirit can take on its original self’s karmic links. This means that if the original dies, the Banner Spirit can immediately take their place, even replacing their very existence!’

’And even if I don’t kill the original, I could still borrow their karmic links to cause trouble, then let them take the fall.’

’…An unexpected, pleasant surprise.’

Then, he looked toward Liu Xin, who was already waiting outside the door.

Instantly, a plan formed in his mind.

’Chen Xin’an!’

’First, I’ll get rid of the original Chen Xin’an. Then, I’ll have the Banner Spirit Chen Xin’an take on his karmic links and go meet with the Master of Heaven Mending Peak in his stead for a touching father-son reunion.’

’Just like that, I’ll have a mole right by the Master of Heaven Mending Peak’s side.’

’On top of that, with Chen Xin’an’s identity as a Stain Sect’s Direct Disciple and an immortal scion—the son of a Perfected Person—many of the Stain Sect’s resources would become available to me.’

’If I break through to Foundation Establishment in the future, I could even have the Banner Spirit Chen Xin’an lure the Master of Heaven Mending Peak out of the Stain Sect. Then I could exploit their father-son bond to launch a surprise backstab, finish him off, and finally use the Banner Spirit Heaven Repairing Peak Master to take his place!’

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep