Chapter 186: Chapter 186: You’re the Real Beast

“Bastard!”

Seeing that he had been teleported tens of thousands of miles away in an instant, the killing intent in Ye Xingfeng’s eyes surged, practically overflowing.

It wasn’t just because he had been teleported away as if Lü Yang were toying with him; more importantly, it was Lü Yang’s Cultivation.

’Mid-phase of Foundation Establishment…?’

As far as he knew, it had been no more than a century since Lü Yang’s Foundation Establishment. In just a hundred short years, he had comprehended his Innate Ability, accumulated enough Merit and Fortune, and found the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches…

His talent was extraordinary!

’But he’s no match for me…’

As a Sword Cultivator, Ye Xingfeng’s assessment of both his own strength and his enemy’s was incredibly precise. He had long since seen that Lü Yang had no real way to deal with his Flying Sword.

Although he didn’t know what method Lü Yang had used to seal one of his Flying Sword’s Divine Effects, it seemed sealing one was his limit. It affected his Sword Qi, but not by much. At most, Lü Yang could teleport him away, but he couldn’t truly injure him, let alone defeat him.

At this thought, Ye Xingfeng’s killing intent solidified.

’This man must not be allowed to live!’

The next second, he once again merged with his Sword Pill and flew off in Lü Yang’s direction. With his Sword Escape Technique, a distance of tens of thousands of miles wouldn’t take him long at all.

「Meanwhile, over the Star Sea.」

Progenitor Tingyou gave Lü Yang a strange look. “Didn’t you say you weren’t going to temporarily avoid the brunt of his attack?”

“Don’t misunderstand, Progenitor.”

Lü Yang shook his head, his thick-skinned face perfectly calm. “I was just sparing his life for the time being. It’s not the right time to take him down.”

Before his voice had even faded, Lü Yang first used the Prophetic Orrery to clear the karmic lock on him. Then he used the Embracing Mountain to rapidly conceal his qi trace. Only then did he follow the indistinct karmic links, activate Separation, and pierce through the void, vanishing so quickly there wasn’t even time to blink.

A dozen or so breaths later, a streak of Sword Light arrived.

’…He ran?’

Ye Xingfeng’s expression was grim. He immediately performed a divination, trying to use karmic links to calculate Lü Yang’s whereabouts, but this time, he came up with nothing but a blank.

……..

Within a soaring, radiant cloud of Divine Power Radiance.

Lü Yang’s figure materialized, with Progenitor Tingyou standing behind him. The Progenitor sighed in admiration, “You brat, that escape technique of yours is truly astonishing.”

“I wasn’t running. I was competing with him in escape speed.”

“And as it turns out, he’s far inferior to me!”

Lü Yang’s tone was extremely serious, without the slightest hint of nonsense. Seeing his solemn expression, Progenitor Tingyou almost believed him for a moment.

“Speaking of which, where did you escape to?”

Lü Yang shook his head. “I directly burned my remaining Merit and Fortune to lock onto the karmic location of the Abi Sword and then teleported here.”

After speaking, Lü Yang performed a quick divination. With the Prophetic Orrery’s assistance, and because he already had deep karmic links with the Abi Sword, he had come here precisely to resolve them. Thus, he understood the whole story with no effort at all. At the same time, the Separation technique ceased to operate.

“SHIMMER…”

The Divine Power Radiance quietly dispersed. Lü Yang looked around and found himself on an island, surrounded by a hazy, faint red glow.

Beyond the island was an eternally-blowing, soul-extinguishing wind.

“This is… the Foundation Establishment Realm!”

A flicker of surprise crossed Lü Yang’s eyes. This was the first time he had seen anything besides a Dao Foundation within the Foundation Establishment Realm. Someone had actually built an island here?

“This place is called Blood Demon Island…”

Lü Yang rubbed his fingers together, continuing to divine for information.

“Every hundred years, Blood Demon Island falls from the Foundation Establishment Realm into the Current World, devouring the living creatures around it to sustain the Array on the island.”

“And the person who built this island is the original owner of the Abi Sword, a former Late-stage Foundation Establishment Grand Zhenren of the Saint Sect, Daoist name Blood Demon… His Soul is inside the island, currently in a deep sleep, and what I have to do is help him reincarnate… re… I’m so fucking screwed!”

Suddenly, Lü Yang froze.

Because just now, he had finally calculated what was truly required to fulfill the karmic link he’d accepted—the method to help that Blood Demon Zhenren of the Saint Sect reincarnate.

“This Blood Demon Zhenren had an overwhelming killing intent in his past life.”

“So much so that during his travels, he actually killed a naturally-born Immortal Spirit. As a result, he incurred Celestial Punishment and was condemned to be reincarnated as a pig and a dog for three lifetimes to atone for it.”

However, having reached the Late Stage of Foundation Establishment, Blood Demon Zhenren was already in the twilight years of his third life. A Foundation-Stage Cultivator has five lives at most. If he really spent three of them as a pig and a dog, he would be just like Arhat Fulong, with no chance of Transcendence in this lifetime. Even the cultivation of his previous lives would be lost in an instant.

So, he came up with a plan.

He sent the Abi Sword and the Soul-Devouring Gourd back to the Saint Sect, then used Blood Demon Island to hide within the Foundation Establishment Realm, isolating himself from the influence of reincarnation.

To put it bluntly, he was forcefully refusing to reincarnate.

Of course, this was only a delaying tactic. Not only was it no different from being in a vegetative state—a fate worse than death—but over time, he still wouldn’t be able to escape reincarnation.

So, the key was the karmic link of the Abi Sword.

Blood Demon Zhenren couldn’t reincarnate because of the Celestial Punishment, and whoever took the Abi Sword had to help him. So, how exactly were they supposed to help?

“By fucking making me the scapegoat!”

Every person who accepted the karmic link of the Abi Sword and entered Blood Demon Island would have a portion of the Power of Celestial Punishment transferred to them by him, using that very link and a Secret Technique.

Over time, all the Celestial Punishment would be transferred away.

Then, Blood Demon Zhenren could regain his freedom, re-enter the cycle of reincarnation with a clean slate, start over, and quickly return to the Late Stage of Foundation Establishment.

This was why the successive Sword Masters of the Abi Sword all died violently for one reason or another. After all, they had taken on a share of Blood Demon Zhenren’s Celestial Punishment and couldn’t escape having their minds clouded by Tribulation Qi. One after another, they fell. Over time, the Saint Sect Zhenren naturally no longer dared to have anything to do with it.

“What a monster!”

Lü Yang was so angry his hands were shaking. He felt he had still overestimated the depths to which a Saint Sect Zhenren could sink. To think they could come up with such a shameless and despicable idea!

And it was specifically designed to screw over other Saint Sect Zhenren!

These people… their hearts were too black!

Compared to these monsters from the Saint Sect, a kind and honest person like himself was practically a white lotus, emerging from the mud unstained, cleansed by pure water yet untainted…

However, Lü Yang soon realized something was off.

“The Deceit Heaven Technique?”

That Blood Demon Zhenren had actually left behind the Secret Technique he used to transfer the Celestial Punishment via karmic links. Anyone who accepted his karmic link could divine it!

Looking at the contents of the Secret Technique he had just divined, Lü Yang fell into deep thought, his expression growing increasingly odd. “He left this Secret Technique behind on purpose… Goddammit, could he be deliberately egging on the Saint Sect Zhenren who got screwed over to use the same method to screw over others?”

’It’s a pyramid scheme!’

At this thought, a gleam appeared in Lü Yang’s eyes. ’Speaking of which, I’m currently afflicted by Heaven and Earth’s Killing Intent, and all the people who have karmic links with me are waiting for me outside…’

He suddenly had a bold idea.

The principle of the Deceit Heaven Technique was simply to use the karmic links created by giving away Artifacts to make the other party suffer the Celestial Punishment in one’s stead. It was like investing one part capital to reap ten times the profit.

’Since that’s the case, why don’t I learn from the ’advanced experience’ of the Saint Sect Zhenren? Blood Demon Zhenren made a Blood Demon Island, so I’ll make one too… Yes, I’ll create a newly-emerged Secret Realm, filled with Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures. I’ll stock it with my Artifacts, and anyone who enters can take whatever they want…’

’Take them, and you’ll owe me a karmic debt!’

“Then, I’ll use the Deceit Heaven Technique to transfer all the Celestial Punishment to those who owe me a karmic debt, letting Tribulation Qi cloud their minds and drive them to kill each other over the treasures in the Secret Realm.”

“Once most of them are dead, and the survivors are heavily injured, I’ll come out to clean up the mess, trap and kill everyone in one fell swoop, and then conveniently take back all the Artifacts I gave away… This is a completely risk-free, high-reward venture. That Blood Demon Zhenren was far too conservative!”

“…”

Damn!

Progenitor Tingyou stood beside Lü Yang, a look of resignation on his face. ’Compared to a “pillar of the Saint Sect” like you, what does Blood Demon Zhenren even count for? You’re the real monster!’

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