Chapter 781 - 776: Lü Yang’s Dirty Tricks
[Sea of Suffering].
Waters of infinite concepts churned, reflecting a chaotic palette of colors. Ang Xiao stood upon them, his gaze immediately falling upon a sky-climbing pillar of light in the distance.
"Is this... forging a Dao?"
A hint of astonishment surfaced in Ang Xiao’s eyes. "Isn’t this an Ascension Ceremony? No... forging a Dao *is* his Ascension Ceremony?"
His expression quickly turned grave.
An Ascension Ceremony, on the surface, sounded like a Gold-Seeking Device—something that could be made to succeed as long as one had good aptitude, a strong background, and made careful preparations.
But in reality, that couldn’t be further from the truth.
The difficulty of the two wasn’t even in the same league. The most important metric for success was to achieve something "Unprecedented" to gain recognition.
In other words:
"The Great Dao this person is forging, or his method of forging it, has never been done before. Furthermore, it must perfectly align with the concept of the Fruit in his possession."
This made Ang Xiao a little curious.
But soon, that sliver of curiosity morphed into killing intent and indifference. If it were any other Cultivator, he wouldn’t have minded forming a friendly connection.
After all, so many years had passed that nearly all his old Daoist friends were dead.
It would be a good time to make a new one.
However, the moment he thought that this person was likely in league with that nameless bastard, intense killing intent flared in Ang Xiao’s heart.
’I can’t let him succeed!’
’Otherwise, if he successfully forges his Dao and completes this critical transformation before becoming a Great Perfected Lord, it will be nearly impossible for me to kill that nameless bastard!’
Thinking of this, Ang Xiao glanced around again.
’Where is he?’
He had clearly seen the guy when he was divining the karmic links earlier, but now he was nowhere to be found. ’Did he run away? Or perhaps—’
SQUELCH!
Before Ang Xiao could react, a slender hand reached out from a seam in logic and into the Current World, nonchalantly piercing through his chest.
Lü Yang had made his move!
His tactic was simple: just like before, he slipped into a crack in logic so Ang Xiao couldn’t see him, then launched a surprise attack.
The effect was remarkable.
Ang Xiao, who had previously been so "heartfelt" with him, was now literally having his heart torn out. This made Lü Yang feel the two of them had grown much closer.
RUMBLE!
In an instant, billowing black qi erupted from the hand Lü Yang had plunged into Ang Xiao’s chest, coalescing into a Profound Ring that sliced through space.
Wherever the Profound Ring passed, the smoke surrounding Ang Xiao was tainted black. The originally hazy, ethereal, colorless, and odorless smoke suddenly became acrid and putrid. As the Profound Ring spun, a piercing wail seemed to ring out, one that shook a person’s spiritual perception and caused their Soul to spiral out of control.
[Great Mighty Spirit Qi]!
At this point, Lü Yang certainly wasn’t going to waste time talking nonsense with Ang Xiao. When he struck, he struck to kill. ’We can talk after I’ve killed you!’
In the next moment, however, Lü Yang felt his mind go heavy.
’What... was I just doing?’
He blinked, and all memory of his sneak attack on Ang Xiao was erased. The events that had just transpired were forcibly rendered null and void.
Ang Xiao was completely unharmed.
"Interesting..."
The voice echoed faintly. Ang Xiao was clearly about to say something cutting, but before he could finish, the smoke on his chest suddenly exploded.
BOOM!
A foul, reddish light flashed within the dissipating smoke—it was Ang Xiao’s blood. Although he erased the injuries a second later using the Veil of the Trees, there was no denying that Lü Yang’s shameless sneak attack had worked. It wasn’t fatal, but it had forced him to expend more Mana than he’d anticipated.
A cold glint appeared in those long, narrow eyes.
"...You didn’t forget?"
With his level of Cultivation, Ang Xiao instantly deduced the reason for his injury: the Veil of the Trees hadn’t completely erased Lü Yang’s memory of the attack.
’Why wasn’t it erased?’
He had absolute confidence in his Veil of the Trees. The only way to be immune to it was to possess a higher Position than his, and Lü Yang was clearly not in that category.
’If that’s the case—’
"Did I not use the Veil of the Trees on you? No, that’s not it. It wasn’t that I didn’t use it, but that it only had a partial effect. Is this like your previous technique? The Fruit of Celestial Fire?"
Lü Yang didn’t answer.
But Ang Xiao had guessed the truth. The reason he could evade Ang Xiao’s Veil of the Trees lay in the rule he had just inscribed for himself.
It was another logical paradox.
Original logic: I forget something = I have no memory of it.
New logic: I forget something = I have a memory of it.
This kind of rule, which targeted himself, was not only easier to inscribe than rules targeting the outside world, but it also exhibited greater power when it took effect.
Thanks to this, Lü Yang was able to quickly break free from the Veil of the Trees’ influence and preserve the results of his sneak attack on Ang Xiao. This was different from the Fruit of Lamp-Cover Fire. Against the Veil of the Trees, the Fruit of Lamp-Cover Fire was merely a temporary fix. What Lü Yang was doing now was treating the root cause—a method that could truly contend with it!
’Ultimately, affecting others and affecting oneself are on completely different levels of difficulty.’
’Although a gap still exists between me and Ang Xiao, I am affecting myself while he has to affect me. With one side’s advantage canceling out the other’s, you could call it a draw...’
Lü Yang’s mind raced, but his actions didn’t slow in the slightest.
In the next second, the Qi trace around him changed. He formed a Daoist Hand Seal, pinched a thread of golden light, and behind him, the Righteous Banner emerged.
"This is..."
Ang Xiao was stunned at the sight.
BOOM!
In an instant, a thunderous crack echoed through the Sea of Suffering. The golden light blossomed, taking on the form of a streaking golden serpent and the charge of cloud-driven iron cavalry, generating an endless, majestic power.
This was—the Fruit of Thunderbolt Fire!
As the fiery light flared and the thunder cracked, all the Nine Heavens it passed through heeded its command. Its fundamental Profound Mystery was called [General’s Order], a Profound Mystery used to bolster subordinates.
Its specific effect was very simple.
In short, subordinates bolstered by this Profound Mystery could share the Position of the Fruit of Thunderbolt Fire. Moreover, this buff was not limited by the recipient’s Cultivation.
Even if you were a mere mortal, with the buff from [General’s Order], you could obtain a terrifying Position sufficient to participate in a battle between Perfected Lords. Perhaps to a Golden Core Perfected Lord you are just an ant, but with the aid of [General’s Order], you have a chance to be one of the many ants that can kill an elephant.
More importantly, this Position could be stacked.
In other words, the more "Soldiers and Generals" were bolstered by the Fruit of Thunderbolt Fire, the greater their accumulated Position could become—potentially even surpassing that of the Fruit of Thunderbolt Fire itself!
The more Soldiers and Generals under its command, the stronger it became!
’This is a Fruit for "Commanding Soldiers." If the Fruit of Celestial Fire is the Emperor, the ruler, then the Fruit of Thunderbolt Fire is the great commanding general.’
Of course, the reason Lü Yang was using it wasn’t because of how strong it was.
It was mainly because he had an idea.
The next second, the Banner Spirits within the Righteous Banner swarmed out, blanketing the sky and earth. A single glance revealed they had occupied every inch of space around Ang Xiao.
The light of the Fruit of Thunderbolt Fire crept onto these Banner Spirits.
Under this change, although each individual Banner Spirit was still insignificant to Ang Xiao, they were no longer specks of dust that could be completely ignored.
"Attack!" Lü Yang waved his hand.
RUMBLE!
At his command, all the Banner Spirits attacked at once. They formed Daoist Hand Seals, and all sorts of Magic and Abilities, bolstered by the Fruit of Thunderbolt Fire, poured forth.
Ang Xiao was instantly submerged.
Beneath his feet, a deep crater was blasted into the vast Sea of Suffering, and the surrounding waters of concept were whipped into a tidal wave.
Yet even so, Ang Xiao remained completely unmoved.
"It only looks impressive."
He even frowned, not understanding the point of Lü Yang’s actions. ’Even if he wanted to counter my Veil of the Trees, he should have used a more targeted Fruit. Setting aside the Fruit of Thunderbolt Fire itself, you’ve only borrowed its Profound Mystery, after all. Its power can’t compare to the original owner. And even if it were the original owner, the Profound Turtle Great Saint is like mud compared to the clouds next to me. What’s the use of this?’
The very next second, as Ang Xiao was thinking this... a sudden, intense, and indescribable feeling of weakness swept over his entire body.
’What’s happening!?’
This change was completely beyond Ang Xiao’s expectations, and it finally brought a look of utter shock to the eyes of this former number one Perfected Lord in the world.
Only Lü Yang knew the reason.
[Golden Talent: All Evil Beheaded]!
[You have stacked Slaying Mark ten times and detonated it.]
[Judgment: You have surpassed the target only in the domain of Magic. The target has entered a weakened state for the time it takes an incense stick to burn.]
Looking at the information that appeared on the Centome, Lü Yang broke into a grin.
’Just as I thought, my idea was correct!’
’The Banner Spirits bolstered by the Fruit of Thunderbolt Fire are essentially one with me. In the Talent’s judgment, their attacks are actually my attacks.’
’So I can have them act in my place, using their vast numbers to quickly stack the Slaying Mark to ten layers and then detonate it. I don’t need to take any risks myself. I just have to watch the Banner Spirits throw their lives away for me!’