Chapter 754 - 749: The True Veil of the Trees
In that instant, it was as if time itself had stopped.
Lü Yang stood perfectly still. To his left was the Old Dragon Monarch, before him was True Monarch Gangxing, and behind him was Ang Xiao. He was beset by enemies on all sides.
At almost the same moment, countless Illusion Barriers shattered completely.
All the crucial details that had been hidden, that Lü Yang had subconsciously ignored—the glaringly obvious ones—now resurfaced, flooding his mind in a torrent of thought.
However, this realization could not have come at a worse time.
This was a matter of life and death. An epiphany now was not only too late, but it would also interfere with the split-second decisions he needed to make to survive.
And yet, Lü Yang couldn’t suppress it.
It was like a sudden flood from a broken dam. Once his thoughts were freed from the cover of the Illusion Barriers, they poured out in an irreversible torrent.
’This scheme... it’s brilliant!’
Even now, as the one being schemed against, Lü Yang couldn’t help but murmur his admiration. This was no hastily arranged trap.
From the very beginning, Ang Xiao had been setting this up!
’There was one question I never paid attention to, a thought that never even crossed my mind.’
The state of the Fruit of Lamp-Cover Fire!
Yes, he had indeed devoured the Fruit of Lamp-Cover Fire, but what happened after that? Was the Fruit itself destroyed, or had only its Fruit Position Profound Mysterious vanished?
’I never once considered this question.’
’Or rather, from the very start, I assumed the Fruit was destroyed, gone... That’s why I believed there was no fundamental conflict with Ang Xiao.’
’After all, if the Fruit was gone, what’s done is done. What could Ang Xiao possibly do about it?’
But was that really the case?
Now Lü Yang had the answer: ’The Fruit of Lamp-Cover Fire... it still exists! I only devoured its Profound Mysterious imagery; the Fruit itself never disappeared!’
In other words:
’If he kills me, or shoves me into the now-empty Fruit of Lamp-Cover Fire, there’s a good chance he can find a way to revive it!’
And if the Fruit of Lamp-Cover Fire were revived, what would happen then?
’The Fruit of Pewter Metal... Exorcist Zhenren of the Sword Pavilion failed at Seeking Gold, and Mu Changsheng turned around and attained No Heaven, so the Fruit of Long-Flow Water also remains unclaimed.’
’The two Fruits of the Pure Land also have no one to claim them.’
’Under these circumstances, once the Fruit of Lamp-Cover Fire is revived and my Fortune is gone, Ang Xiao can completely reverse the Earth of Chen and become a Great Perfected Lord again!’
This single gap in his knowledge had completely skewed Lü Yang’s judgment of Ang Xiao’s position. There was never any possibility of them joining forces; it was always a fight to the death! Their previous collaborations and fallings-out were nothing more than ploys to cloud his judgment!
’This damned Veil of the Trees again...’
Lü Yang sighed inwardly, recalling the doubt that had involuntarily surfaced when he saw even the Old Dragon Monarch being influenced by Ang Xiao’s Veil of the Trees:
’If I didn’t command the Profound Mysterious aspect of the Fruit of Lamp-Cover Fire, which is highly targeted against it, could Ang Xiao easily influence my judgment as well?’
As it turned out, he had been far too optimistic.
Even with the Profound Mysterious aspect of the Fruit of Lamp-Cover Fire, Ang Xiao could still influence his judgment! Perhaps not by much, but the influence was definitely there!
And Ang Xiao didn’t need to hide much.
A single sentence, a single thought, a simple piece of information—any of these could completely reverse a person’s entire judgment. It was the very definition of using a tiny lever to move a thousand pounds!
And that wasn’t all.
’Why would True Monarch Gangxing and the Old Dragon Monarch attack me too?’
’The reason... it must lie in the operation Ang Xiao proposed where he would impersonate Gangxing. No wonder I felt something was off at the time but didn’t think too deeply about it.’
A ceaseless flood of thoughts and realizations crowded Lü Yang’s mind.
’During that meeting, Ang Xiao deliberately let the Old Dragon Monarch discover a flaw in his act. But the flaw wasn’t in the Veil of the Trees, because I was there too.’
If there had been a flaw in the Veil of the Trees, there was no way I wouldn’t have noticed it.
’The real flaw wasn’t in the Profound Mysterious aspect, but in the simplest of words... Ang Xiao deliberately suggested that the Old Dragon Monarch target Fei Xue!’
’That was not a logical choice. World Purger Fei Xue? He’s at the Middle Stage of Golden Core and has Pocket World Falling. What’s the point of targeting him? As long as he can escape the Nourishing Life Master and be received by the Netherworld, Resurrection is just a thought away. Compared to him, I’m the much easier one to kill!’
’After all, I have an Ancient Golden Core.’
’I might be durable and hard to kill, but once I die, I’m truly dead. When they have an absolute advantage in power, killing me should have been the obvious choice!’
’For someone with True Monarch Gangxing’s level of Cultivation, knowing that I practice the Dao of Arcane Body, for him to even suggest that was a massive flaw in itself.’
’I realized something was wrong back then, too.’
’But in the end, Ang Xiao still managed to fool me... Damn it, how many layers of the Veil of the Trees did that old bastard put on me? I didn’t even notice!’
This also showed that Ang Xiao had been holding back ever since they first met. He had never pushed his Veil of the Trees to its limit, and he had hidden his killing intent just as well. It was only at the final moment that he used the pretense of ambushing True Monarch Gangxing to orchestrate this entire trap!
He never gave a damn about the Nourishing Life Master!
’Thinking about it now, it’s ridiculous that I didn’t notice... That’s right, the Nourishing Life Master is completely useless to Ang Xiao!’
A Void Certificate? Ang Xiao most likely has one.
The Supreme Fruit Position Book? He’s had his hands on the Fruit of Great-Forest Wood for tens of thousands of years; he’s molded it into his own shape inside and out. Why would he need something like that?
’And I didn’t even think of that.’
Why hadn’t he thought of it?
It was simple. From the very beginning, Ang Xiao had shown an interest in the Celestial Human Residual Consciousness. Their entire collaboration had been built on that foundation.
On that basis, all it took was a tiny bit of the Veil of the Trees to deceive him with twice the effect for half the effort.
He used the same method on the Old Dragon Monarch and True Monarch Gangxing.
’The Old Dragon Monarch... he’s a cunning one, too. He didn’t let on after discovering the flaw. Afterward, he probably went and contacted the real True Monarch Gangxing.’
’The Old Dragon Monarch contacting Gangxing on his own... I didn’t consider that possibility afterward, either.’
’And once the Old Dragon Monarch contacted the real True Monarch Gangxing, it was only natural that they would reformulate their plan and set their sights on me.’
A tiny lever to move a thousand pounds. They laid a trap to kill him right under his nose!
This was the true Veil of the Trees!
It wasn’t just the ultimate application of a Profound Mysterious aspect; it was a mastery over the hearts of men. The so-called Veil of the Trees was both a Fruit Position Profound Mysterious and Ang Xiao’s personal style!
Thinking of this gave Lü Yang a headache.
’I... I’ve been in contact with Ang Xiao for too long!’
This level of influence from the Veil of the Trees wasn’t something that could be achieved overnight. It was the cumulative effect of the two of them spending so much time together!
’No wonder that innately evil old fiend has no Daoist friends.’
’Anyone who was ever a Daoist friend to him in the past was probably seeded with a massive amount of the Veil of the Trees in secret. They were all just potential targets for him to betray!’
Lü Yang finally straightened out his thoughts.
It didn’t take long—not even an instant. But in that same instant, his situation had become several times more dangerous than it was at the start.
Before him, the Sword Light from True Monarch Gangxing was already touching the spot between his eyebrows.
To his left, the Old Dragon Monarch’s Magic had already latched onto his arm.
Behind him, Ang Xiao’s hand had already gouged into his skin, burrowing deep into the flesh. He was just an inch away from having another "heart-to-heart" with him.
This was clearly beyond the damage threshold of his Rebirth Appearance.
A dead end!
A hopeless situation!