Chapter 74: Karma Burns Out, Eternal Life
The moment the bronze fragment was embedded into the Taiyi Pavilion's Sect-protecting treasure, the "Nine Heavens Haotian Mirror," a myriad of colorful light burst forth from its surface.
Lu Qingyang's sleeve was torn to shreds by the strong wind, revealing an old scar on his forearm, winding like a centipede—it was the mark left by the corrosive Yin Wind in Burial Dragon Abyss three years ago, when he was evading the pursuit of the Enforcement Elder.
"Ye Wuchen! You treacherous, despicable wretch who betrayed your master and annihilated your ancestors!" He rose into the air, stepping on a lotus platform formed by the qingmu spirit pearl, the "Myriad Ghosts Weep" bell he'd acquired from the black market jingling at his waist.
"Who exactly stole the qingmu spirit pearl back then? Dare to swear a Heart Demon Oath and say it again?"
A cold snort came from the clouds, and a Cultivator in a seven-petaled lotus-patterned robe, stepping on an ice crystal Phoenix, swooped down, with thirty-six Punish Evil swords forming a net behind him.
Su Li's bronze box suddenly opened on its own, and the charred finger bone within transformed into a hundred-zhang thunder Dragon, tearing a rift in the sword formation.
Lu Qingyang seized the opportunity to throw out three Thunderstorm Talismans; purple lightning wove a spiderweb among the clouds, illuminating the gradually cracking cinnabar mark on Ye Wuchen's brow.
"Junior, you court death!" The Enforcement Elder's sleeve sent out xuanming heavy water, each drop containing a thousand catties of force.
Lu Qingyang, however, revealed a cunning smile, suddenly throwing out a dusty clay pot from his embrace—it was the container the Old Drunkard used for his cheap Spirit Wine when he was alive.
The heavy water ignited upon contact with the pot; a quiet blue flame, following the water flow, backfired on its owner, burning the ice crystal Phoenix, which wailed and fell to the ground.
Su Li seized the opportunity to chant a Magic Treasure, and the second layer of the bronze box opened with a roar.
Countless green threads, like a spiderweb, entangled Ye Wuchen's limbs; each thread glowed with the aura of Taiyi Pavilion's unique Restriction, the "Spirit Locking Charm."
Lu Qingyang approached, stepping the Seven Star Steps, the qingmu spirit pearl condensing into a jade short dagger in his palm, but what flowed from its blade was not killing intent, but the thousand-year Rebirth Flower dew drawn from the Spirit Field Space.
"This strike is for the three hundred Loose Cultivator souls unjustly killed in Burial Dragon Abyss!"
The moment the short dagger pierced his Qi Sea acupoint, Ye Wuchen's Nascent Soul suddenly opened its eyes, only to be torn to shreds by the countless resentful spirits that emerged from the flower dew.
When Lu Qingyang took the storage Jade Slip from his waist, he didn't forget to spit: "You dare to show off with Low Grade Spirit Stones? How stingy!"
The mountain-protecting formation completely collapsed at this moment, and a deafening roar came from Taiyi Pavilion's main peak.
Twelve sky-supporting jade pillars collapsed one after another, revealing the truth of the blood pool surging deep within the earth's pulse—three thousand boys and girls' living souls were wailing in the pool, maintaining the operation of the so-called "Ascension Platform."
Lu Qingyang looked at the "Taiyi Longevity Cultivation Technique" inscribed by the pool and suddenly burst into laughter: "What a renowned righteous Sect! This Cultivation Technique must require the blood of ten thousand people to reach Major Achievement, right?"
Su Li's bronze box's third layer finally opened; what flew out of the box was not a Magic Treasure, but a bronze token engraved with the character "Ye."
The blood pool seemed to have met its nemesis, boiling and evaporating, revealing white bones pierced by iron chains at the bottom—it was precisely the previous Sect Leader of Taiyi Pavilion who had disappeared a hundred years ago.
Lu Qingyang caressed a similar token he had found on Ye Wuchen and suddenly raised an eyebrow at Su Li: "Young Miss Su, how long will you keep up this act? Your esteemed father's remains are still staring."
No one noticed during the chaotic battle that the qingmu spirit pearl was absorbing the foul Qi of the blood pool.
When the last trace of foul blood seeped into the rust patterns on the pearl's surface, the hourglass in the Spirit Field Space suddenly shattered.
Amidst the violent tremor of Lu Qingyang's Divine Sense, he vaguely saw the phantom of an old Daoist with a childlike face and crane-like hair, pressing half of a charred finger bone onto Su Li's brow.
"Daoist Lu, do you know about the Karma tribulation?" The old Daoist's voice was as if separated by ten thousand mountains and rivers, "Today you destroyed my Taiyi Pavilion's thousand-year foundation, and in the future, there will surely be..."
His words were cut short by the Treasure Seeking Rat, disguised as a Pang Daoshi.
This fellow, who knows where he got a flat peach, mumbled as he gnawed on it: "Why waste words with him! If we don't go grab the treasures in the storage hall soon, they'll all be melted by the earth fire!"
As Lu Qingyang rode his sword towards the treasury, he casually threw a handful of rotten bone flower seeds into the blood pool.
Su Li looked at the white flowers blooming in the filth and suddenly threw the bronze box into the pool.
The moment the box dissolved, three thousand living souls transformed into fireflies and ascended into the sky, illuminating the night sky as if it were daytime.
"Lu Qingyang!" She suddenly called out to the figure about to pry open the profound iron door, "If I say Ye Wuchen was the one who murdered his master and usurped the position, what would you do?"
"What does that have to do with me!" Someone, without turning his head, flung out an immortal binding rope, "Mr. Lu only recognizes this month's black market price; the Taiyi Pavilion's Purple Cloud Pattern Cauldron is worth at least five hundred High-Grade Spirit Stones!"
The sound of mechanisms turning came from deep within the treasury, and eighteen yellow-turbaned strongman Puppets broke through the wall.
Lu Qingyang calmly conjured the "Yin Soldier Tiger Talisman" he had obtained from the Ancient Tomb, biting his tongue and spraying essence blood onto it.
The corpse soldiers surging from the Tiger Talisman fought in a chaotic mass with the Puppets, and he took the opportunity to snatch the Nine Revolutions Soul Returning Pill from the shelf.
When the Treasure Seeking Rat shrieked, warning him that a Dragon Stone was falling from above, this fellow even had the leisure to stick a price tag on the pill bottle.
The moment they escaped, the entire mountain peak collapsed with a roar.
Lu Qingyang, stepping on the green Phoenix formed by the Spirit Pearl, overlooked the ruins, then suddenly pulled out an oil paper package from his embrace—inside was precisely the braised pork knuckle from Taiyi Pavilion's kitchen, stolen during the chaos.
As the greasy meat aroma mixed with the smell of gunpowder, Su Li finally couldn't bear it anymore and chanted a Clear Heart Incantation.
Three days later, news spread from the Eastern Desolate Loose Cultivator Alliance: someone was selling a large number of Taiyi Pavilion's secret treasures in the black market, at an incredibly high price, but with a bonus Jade Slip of "Sect Secret History."
However, when the remnants of the Enforcement Hall tracked them to a certain cave, they only found a pile of burnt out campfires and inscriptions on the stone wall written with the force of a Dragon and Phoenix—
"There are no good people on the path to eternal life; steal a moment of leisure from this fleeting life. Mr. Lu is leaving!"
Amidst the curling green smoke, a tender sprout pushed through the ashes and emerged from the earth.
If one looked closely, they would find that the pulse of each new leaf subtly conformed to Heavenly Dao runes, a sign that the qingmu spirit pearl had fully awakened.