Chapter 772 - 767: Mu Changsheng Is Enlightened
For Progenitor Tingyou and Demon-Vanquishing Perfected, condensing a Gold Attribute wasn’t actually that difficult—especially one at the mere Foundation Establishment Level.
Though one now had a Void Certificate and the other followed an Outer Dao, those were the end results. Before that, they had both been Perfected Persons at Foundation Establishment Perfection who had once condensed their own Gold Attributes. It was just that recultivating it was incredibly troublesome, so Lü Yang had never specifically asked for it. He never imagined he would receive such a pleasant surprise.
A monumental surprise!
Taking a deep breath, Lü Yang didn’t offer any more eloquent words of gratitude. Instead, he exchanged a solemn glance with Progenitor Tingyou and Demon-Vanquishing Perfected.
Everything was understood without words.
The next second, he clasped the Gold Attributes they offered in his hand, then immediately activated the [Centome] and began by swallowing Progenitor Tingyou’s Gold Attribute.
[Calculating experience for ’Tingyou’...]
[You were a child of destiny who perished midway, your world-shaking talent cut short before it could truly shine. This was a vile waste of the Great Dao’s potential...]
Soon, words materialized:
[You have obtained the Golden Talent: Supreme Dao Transformation!]
[Supreme Dao Transformation: Upon activation, you will enter a once-in-a-lifetime Dao Transformation state. In this state, your Enlightenment of the Great Dao will reach its critical point.]
In an instant, Lü Yang spun around and stared intently at Progenitor Tingyou.
"What’s wrong?"
Being stared at with such a fiery gaze, Progenitor Tingyou waved his hand, a little uncomfortable. "What did the calculation give you? It shouldn’t be too bad, right?"
Lü Yang shook his head. "Progenitor... you’re far too humble."
’It was unbelievably good!’
’To put it in a nutshell, this talent was a Progenitor Tingyou trial card!’
When he first read the talent’s description, he’d almost jumped up on the spot, dumbfounded, barely able to believe what he was seeing.
’From now on, I’m a genius too!’
For a moment, Lü Yang was tempted to activate the talent right then and there to experience what Progenitor Tingyou’s everyday Enlightenment felt like, but he ultimately held back.
’Not yet. Wait... I have to hold on.’
’I can only use it when I need it most.’
Lü Yang let out a long breath, finally calming his turbulent thoughts. He turned his attention to the other Gold Attribute in his hand, and the [Centome] activated once more.
[Calculating experience for ’Demon-Vanquishing’...]
[You are the Sword Spirit of a Dao Sword, born for the Sword Dao. Though an Artifact Spirit, you possess a human heart. To you, killing is to protect life; to slash karma is not to slash people...]
Soon, new words leaped onto the page.
[You have obtained the Golden Talent: All Evil Beheaded!]
[All Evil Beheaded: During combat, when your attack hits an enemy’s Dharma Body, you can forcibly apply a Slaying Mark to them.]
[Each Slaying Mark will leave a sword scar on the opponent’s Dharma Body, causing a slight decrease in their Mana and injury recovery speed. The effect can be stacked up to a maximum of ten marks. Once ten marks are stacked, you can decide whether to detonate the Slaying Marks.]
[Detonating the Slaying Marks will trigger an instant-death check.]
[The result of the check is determined by the difference between you and your opponent across five domains: Mana, Magic, Realm, Cultivation, and Fruit.]
[If you are superior in all five domains, the opponent dies instantly.]
[If you are superior in four domains, the opponent will be on the verge of death.]
[If you are superior in three domains, the opponent will suffer grievous, hard-to-heal injuries.]
[If you are superior in two domains, the opponent will suffer minor injuries.]
[If you are superior in only one domain, the opponent will be weakened.]
"....Holy shit!"
Lü Yang was amazed all over again. This was the first time he had ever seen a Golden Talent that was so offensively powerful and so precise in its numbers and mechanics!
It was also the talent with the most obvious external manifestation.
Other talents, like [Got a Pair] or [Puppet], were mostly subtle and went unnoticed.
But [All Evil Beheaded] was different. It had a very clear external effect; it was less like a talent and more like some kind of powerful Magic or Ability. Especially the so-called "Slaying Mark"—he didn’t know how it would manifest, whether it could be dispelled, and its actual effectiveness in combat remained to be seen.
But no matter what—
’Just the instant-death check alone is already insane! Even without the instant death, the other effects are enough to make this one of my ultimate trump cards!’
’This really is a major upgrade!’
With a sigh of admiration, Lü Yang looked again at the smiling Progenitor Tingyou and Demon-Vanquishing Perfected. He gave them a solemn bow. "Thank you, Progenitor, and thank you, Master."
Progenitor Tingyou nodded. "Do you have a plan?"
"I do," Lü Yang said in a low voice. "I now command the Dao of Arcane Body and have also swallowed the [Fruit of Spring Water]. I’m becoming more and more conspicuous, which isn’t good."
"The Dao of Arcane Body... was ultimately swept into the dustbin of history."
"So this is an opportunity. An opportunity for me to abandon the light for the darkness, rejoin the warm family of the Saint Sect, and gain the old... the Ancestral Master’s approval."
Lü Yang stated his plan:
"I intend to take back control of the Fruit of Celestial Fire!"
......
「The Sea of Suffering.」
Celestial Python and Mu Changsheng fled at top speed. At the same time, Mu Changsheng was circulating [No Heaven], working to nullify the injuries on Celestial Python.
There was no other choice. With Celestial Python and Mu Changsheng’s betrayal, the Old Dragon Monarch would naturally no longer use his profound power to influence the [Fruit of Celestial Fire]. As a result, the [Fruit of Celestial Fire], which had birthed countless consciousnesses, was now gradually withering away. The newly born consciousnesses seemed to be reaching the end of their lifespan.
Under these circumstances, the Fruit of Celestial Fire’s resistance had naturally resurfaced.
This was only because [Ang Xiao] had made arrangements, preventing the Old Dragon Monarch from withdrawing his profound power directly. Otherwise, Celestial Python and Mu Changsheng might not have lasted this long.
"You’ve worked hard, Daoist."
As another injury was turned from real to false and vanished without a trace, Celestial Python couldn’t help but glance at Mu Changsheng and say sincerely, "Thank goodness you’re here this time, Daoist."
At this, Celestial Python’s face was full of sincerity.
"Push on a little harder, Daoist. There’s not much use in the Lord just snatching the [Fruit of Celestial Fire]. It’s more important that someone claims it and finds a way to control it."
"You’ve contributed a great deal this time, Daoist. In the future, perhaps the person chosen to control the [Fruit of Celestial Fire] will be you!"
"Is that true?"
Mu Changsheng’s face lit up with excitement. He then nodded emphatically. "Don’t worry, Daoist... As long as I’m here, I won’t let any harm come to you!"
After speaking, he cursed inwardly:
’He’s his father’s son, all right. This talent for making empty promises runs in the family... I don’t believe a word of it. Hasn’t that Nameless True Monarch from the Saint Sect arrived yet?’
Just then, Mu Changsheng felt a sudden stir in his heart.
’It’s... the Heavenly God!’
A sudden premonition from the void represented an inquiry from the Heavenly God: Why are you helping a Saint Sect True Monarch? You should be standing with the Old Dragon Monarch...
’Bullshit!’
Mu Changsheng immediately dismissed the thought and justified himself in his mind: ’There’s nothing to be done, Heavenly God. The situation is out of my hands. I’m doing this for our future, sacrificing myself to serve the enemy, all to secure as many benefits for us as possible.’
Benefits... Can’t the Old Dragon Monarch provide them?
’Of course he can’t, Heavenly God. You need to understand, a True Dragon being the nobility of Heaven and Earth is a thing of the past. Why would it care about you now?’
’You only have me now.’
’I’m the only one who truly has your best interests at heart... All right, stop being unreasonable. Just give me some more Fortune, so I can continue to help you in the future.’
Mu Changsheng said this with complete self-assurance.
Back when he was at Foundation Establishment, he used to think that the Golden Core Perfected Lords were inhuman, each and every one of them exploiting the Heavenly God. They called themselves Cultivators, but in reality, they were thieves of Heaven and Earth.
But now, he was a Perfected Lord too.
Especially after his ’in-depth exchange’ with Lü Yang, his strength had grown, and his horizons had broadened. And the Heavenly God? It was still the same old fool.
’I’m progressing. And you?’
Thinking of this, Mu Changsheng suddenly felt that for the greater good of Heaven and Earth, it was quite necessary for the Heavenly God to make a small, insignificant sacrifice.