Chapter 237: Chapter 237: A Person Must Rely on Themselves

As a gentle breeze blew past, a figure naturally materialized beside Chongming, formed entirely from the spontaneous gathering of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi.

“Father…”

Seeing this, Chongming’s expression turned complex. Before he could even speak, however, his figure abruptly vanished from the spot.

“Hm?”

Lü Yang’s eyebrows shot up. Being equally proficient in this kind of teleportation Ability, he could tell that Chongming had just been sent out of the Blessed Land.

The next second, he saw Perfected Chong Guang looking at him with a faint, unreadable smile. “What, are you surprised?” he said softly. “Did you really think I was like that fool Chen Taihe, planning to use my own child as a substitute for my tribulation? A Stain Sect Perfected Person like that has only learned the superficial aspects. They can’t be considered a true heir of the Stain Sect.”

“You are truly righteous, Martial Uncle.”

Lü Yang, of course, wouldn’t argue. He cupped his hands and offered a few words of praise, though he didn’t believe a word of it. After all, the man had just screwed him over not long ago.

Seeing this, Perfected Chong Guang looked helpless as well. “Chongming really isn’t my backup plan… He’s Miaoyin’s.”

“Like that fool Chen Taihe, Miaoyin is stuck at Mid-stage Foundation Establishment Perfection. She wants to break through to the Late Stage but has no confidence in withstanding the Celestial Thunder Tribulation.”

“And so, Chongming came to be.”

“Unfortunately, Chongming’s talent is limited, and he’s rebellious. Miaoyin’s methods for raising a disciple are also inferior to Chen Taihe’s, so he has yet to meet her requirements.”

“This time, she brought Chongming to my Blessed Land, most likely hoping to persuade me to seize his body, preserve this Blessed Land, and if I was desperate enough to live at any cost, perhaps I could cling to life and maintain my Perfect Foundation Establishment Cultivation… At that point, she could use Chongming to perform her Substitution Technique.”

“To put it bluntly, she wanted me to be her substitute for the tribulation.”

Lü Yang’s face showed sudden understanding.

’Was there really no backup plan from Chong Guang involving Chongming? Not necessarily!’

’But because of Master Miaoyin, whether there was one before or not, there isn’t one now! After all, if he really seized Chongming’s body, he would just be doing all the work for Master Miaoyin’s benefit.’

’Since that was the case, he might as well say something that sounded better.’

’So this is what Dao Companions in the Stain Sect are like. In the Stain Sect, things like mother and son, husband and wife, sticking together through thick and thin… It’s all a lie. Love is a deception. If you believe in it, you’re a fool!’

“So, Yuan Tu, today I will teach you one last lesson,”

Perfected Chong Guang looked at Lü Yang and said in a heavy voice, “Using outsiders as materials is the way of the Stain Sect, but that is only a means, not the foundation of our sect.”

“Especially when it concerns your future on the Great Dao. Using outsiders as materials sounds fine, but in reality, it means placing the hope of your own pursuit of the Dao in the hands of others. The Great Dao offers no regrets. You might succeed once, or twice, but if you fail just one time, you lose everything.”

“Why is it that only at Foundation Establishment are you considered a ’Perfected Person’?”

“Because a Foundation-Stage Cultivator has the power to resist. If you use a Foundation-Stage Cultivator as material, you might succeed many times, but there is always a chance of failure.”

“And a true heir of the Stain Sect would never bet against that small possibility.”

“In the end, the only one we can trust is ourselves!”

As his voice fell, Perfected Chong Guang’s Qi trace surged violently. It was as if he had returned to the days when his heart was set on Seeking Gold, the fighting spirit in his eyes undiminished.

“A person must rely on themselves!”

The next second, Chong Guang took a step forward.

In an instant, Lü Yang felt as if the entire world were moving backward. He had no intention of following, yet he was forced to travel along with him.

’Martial Uncle… is he trying to drag me along with him?’

“You could also choose to leave.”

Chong Guang smiled faintly, seemingly unconcerned. “However, World Purger Fei Xue isn’t someone you can reason with. If you go out now, you might suffer a little.”

“…”

Lü Yang looked helpless at these words. In truth, given his personality, if not for the Perfected Lord’s prior command, he probably would have turned and fled long ago.

He had already made a huge profit by taking the Shade Dragon Water, and he wasn’t greedy. His style was to leave the Blessed Land early and wait until Perfected Chong Guang was well and truly dead before returning. Unfortunately, World Purger Fei Xue was watching from the outside and had issued a strict order to investigate. If he left rashly, he would surely be held accountable.

“So, Martial Uncle, what was the reason for your failure?”

Chong Guang glanced at Lü Yang and said flatly, “If it’s something even I could figure out, do you think those great figures in the heavens wouldn’t understand?”

“Do you think they really don’t know?”

“If they truly didn’t know, why would they have you all come in to ask me? Wouldn’t it be simpler to just snatch my Soul from the Blessed Land and perform a Soul Searching on the spot?”

At this, Chong Guang gave a cold smile.

“They figured it out long ago! They just don’t know who did it… Seeing that I still have some strength left, they’re waiting for me—waiting for me to risk my life one last time!”

’…They figured it out?’

Chong Guang’s words stunned Lü Yang for a moment before he realized. “Our entry into the Blessed Land to plunder… was also within your and the other Perfected Lords’ expectations?”

Chong Guang nodded and looked at the collapsing Blessed Land. “I’ve already failed once. I no longer have the power to maintain such a large Blessed Land, so I needed someone to help me make it a little smaller… You all taking away the Spirit Embryos formed from my four Innate Divine Techniques was actually more beneficial to me.”

Lü Yang still frowned. “But in that case, Martial Uncle, wouldn’t your path on the Dao be incomplete?”

Chong Guang laughed at his words. “Do you think Innate Divine Techniques are so easy to separate?”

“My Innate Ability and my two Legendary Techniques were all permanently established once proven. Their roots have long since fused with my Soul; what was manifested externally were merely the branches and leaves.”

“Otherwise, if you were to reincarnate, would you have to refine the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches all over again to seek out your Abilities?”

At this point, Chong Guang’s voice suddenly grew deep and low, his eyes revealing a hint of resentment. “That’s right… It can’t be changed. The Great Dao offers no regrets!”

This tone immediately brought a realization to Lü Yang.

’The Great Dao offers no regrets, it can’t be changed… Could it be that the reason for Chong Guang’s failure in Seeking Gold lay in his path on the Dao—in the four Innate Divine Techniques he used to complete his Innate Ability?’

’He then recalled Progenitor Tingyou’s earlier confusion.’

In an instant, a thought surfaced in Lü Yang’s mind. “…It was the Shade Dragon Water?”

At these words, Chong Guang turned his gaze and looked deeply at Lü Yang, then nodded. “Tingyou of the Wu Ghost Sect. His reputation for Enlightenment is well-deserved.”

“???”

Lü Yang was instantly displeased. ’Figuring that out was clearly thanks to my own world-shaking intellect! Progenitor Tingyou only provided a tiny bit of help!’

’But… what’s wrong with the Shade Dragon Water?’

’With Perfected Chong Guang’s level of Cultivation, and with World Purger Fei Xue protecting him, there shouldn’t have been any problems in his choice of Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches.’

’After all, that’s the foundation for Seeking Gold.’

’Yet he had made a mistake in this exact area, which was hard to believe.’

Lü Yang’s face was pensive. He quietly sent his Divine Sense into the Myriad-Soul Banner to look at Progenitor Tingyou. “Progenitor, what do you think is wrong with the Shade Dragon Water?”

“…There is only one possibility.”

However, as his voice fell, Lü Yang saw that Progenitor Tingyou—who usually remained unfazed even if Mount Tai were to collapse before him—was now showing an expression of shock and awe.

“The Abi Sword is forged from Geng Metal Qi, and Geng Metal is a Yang Metal.”

“And Yang Metal can only harmonize with Yang Earth!”

“The Shade Dragon Water is formed from the Earth Qi of Chen, which is the most yin and yielding earth in the world… It’s all wrong! The Shade Dragon Water should, in essence, be Yang Earth!”

Lü Yang was shocked. “The knowledge was wrong?”

“No!”

Progenitor Tingyou shook his head. “If it were just that the knowledge was wrong, how could a Golden Core Perfected Lord not know? With the ancient heritage of the Stain Sect, how could they be completely unaware?”

“It was truly changed!”

“The Celestial Corpse Fiend that my Wu Ghost Sect cultivated in the past was also formed from the Earth Qi of Chen. I am certain that, before, all the Earth Qi of Chen in the world was Yin Earth!”

The answer was self-evident.

The Earth of Chen was originally yang, but some Great Power had changed it, silently and without a trace!

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