Chapter 144: Senior Brother Zhao, This is the Last Time

“Noisy.”

Before Lu Yang’s voice fell, Guang Ming, who was wailing just now, abruptly stopped his voice. Kneeling on the ground, he dared not raise his head, only feeling as if he had fallen into an ice cave.

Lu Yang, however, had an amiable attitude and personally reached out to help him up:

“How have you been in the Pure Land?”

“Sorry to trouble the Perfected One with concern.”

Sweating like rain, Guang Ming swallowed his saliva and said tremblingly, “Thanks to the Perfected One’s mercy in sparing this humble monk’s life, this humble monk has been doing quite well in the Pure Land…”

“Oh?” Lu Yang raised an eyebrow. “Did you get any benefits?”

“No! No.”

Guang Ming shook his head frantically and hurriedly said, “Just got promoted by Master to the position of Eldest Disciple of [Fu Long Temple]. Aside from that, there is nothing else.”

“Is that so.” Lu Yang nodded with satisfaction. “Very good, very good.”

Subsequently, he finally entered the main topic: “To be honest, this humble one has a small matter that needs help. Is Fellow Daoist Guang Ming willing to lend me a hand?”

Of course not!

Guang Ming felt cold in his heart but revealed an eager expression on his face: “Being able to go through fire and water for the Perfected One is a blessing this humble monk cultivated for eight lifetimes!”

Hearing this, Lu Yang smiled even more intimately and said pleasantly, “Relax, it’s just a small matter. I now have an excellent talent under my command named Zhao Xuhe. Like me, he cultivates the Nine Transformations Dragon Art and reached Qi Refining Perfection long ago. Recently, he is planning to charge at Foundation Establishment.”

“When the time comes, I will personally take action to cover for him.”

Lu Yang said casually, but Guang Ming listened with fear and trepidation, hurriedly patting his chest: “Please rest assured, senior; this humble monk will definitely keep his mouth shut about this matter!”

“Keep your mouth shut?”

Lu Yang shook his head and laughed: “Do I need you to keep your mouth shut? Wouldn’t it be more convenient to just kill you directly? I want you to tell Fu Long about this matter!”

“Huh?”

Guang Ming opened his mouth wide, even more confused.

Lu Yang didn’t mind and continued, “This doesn’t count as making you betray him either. Rather, it can help you establish merit, so you don’t need to be too taboo.”

Having said that, Guang Ming reacted.

Wrong!

This is probably a trap! Deliberately using a cultivator cultivating the Nine Transformations Dragon Art breaking through to Foundation Establishment to bait my Master… Is this demon head trying to harm my Master?

For a time, Guang Ming couldn’t help but swallow his saliva.

He was now the Eldest Disciple of [Fu Long Temple]. With Arhat Fu Long above him, he couldn’t advance further. But if Arhat Fu Long died, that would be different…

Thinking of this, Guang Ming instantly lowered his voice and rasped out a sentence:

“That… that is my Master!”

“The Master who guided me into the Dao, whom I regard as a father…”

Facing Guang Ming’s wailing, Lu Yang nodded understandingly: “Rest assured, I know what I’m doing with this matter. I guarantee this time he will die without an intact corpse.”

“…It’s a deal!”

Guang Ming agreed decisively. Only then did Lu Yang leave gracefully.

After Lu Yang left, Guang Ming slumped on the ground. while sweating like rain, he took out a stick of awakening Incense from his bosom with trembling hands.

Snap!

The awakening Incense was lit. Under the curling incense smoke, Guang Ming’s expression gradually returned to stability. Just like this, after an unknown amount of time, he suddenly opened his eyes.

Only this time opening his eyes was vastly different.

“…Hehe.”

Although Guang Ming’s appearance hadn’t changed, his brows were relaxed, his eyes sharp, and the temperament he gave off had undergone an earth-shaking change.

“Ultimately an ignorant junior, not understanding the wondrous methods of my Pure Land.”

“In all directions under heaven, the ones least afraid of being instigated to defect are probably the Buddhist Cultivators of my Pure Land. After all, having cultivated oneself into ‘Me’, how could ‘Me’ betray myself?”

He specially brought Guang Ming here this time to serve as bait!

“Does he want to use Zhao Xuhe to fish me out and then set an ambush to besiege and kill me? Since that is the case, I might as well beat him at his own game, letting him try to steal the chicken only to lose the rice!”

Thinking of this, Arhat Fu Long touched Guang Ming’s body again, a flash of coldness passing through his eyes: “Although a bit clever, he is greedy for life and afraid of death, actually really thinking of betraying me… Never mind, keep him for now to confuse that Lu Yang, lest he notice something wrong. I will get rid of him after the matter is done.”

In the next second, Arhat Fu Long withdrew his consciousness.

After another moment, Guang Ming opened his eyes with a look of ignorance. However, ignoring everything else, he looked immediately at the awakening Incense placed beside him.

In an instant, Guang Ming could hardly control his teeth from chattering.

He came!

This stick of awakening Incense was specially made by him, hiding mysteries. The incense fire interacted with his spiritual sense and would leave obvious traces in his heart.

These traces were very fragile. Once there was interference from external spiritual sense, they would be smoothed out immediately.

However, now, the traces were gone!

No mistake, it must be Master who came. Only I don’t remember, don’t know, and couldn’t detect… He already knows Lu Yang looked for me!

Guang Ming exhaled deeply, only recovering his calm after a long time.

Knowing… is also good!

At least this way I am still useful to Master; he won’t kill me in the short term. And I am also useful to Lu Yang’s side; presumably, he won’t kill me either…

Thinking of this, Guang Ming suddenly felt a deep sense of powerlessness.

At the moment Lu Yang found him, the reason Guang Ming wailed was because he discovered he had become a pawn at the mercy of two Perfected Ones.

Defect to Lu Yang, Master would kill him.

Don’t defect, Lu Yang would also kill him.

Things have come to this; on the surface, I defected to Lu Yang, but secretly I am Master’s puppet. But my conversation just now actually hinted to Lu Yang as well…

He said— That is his Master!

As a Master, how could he not have means to control his disciple? As long as Lu Yang could hear the implication beyond his words, he would understand his true attitude.

Only in this way could he avoid offending both sides, perhaps finding a way to live.

At this time, Lu Yang had already thrown Guang Ming to the back of his mind.

Because whatever thoughts Guang Ming had were unimportant and meaningless to him. All he wanted was to inform about Zhao Xuhe through Guang Ming’s mouth.

Immediately afterward, he concealed his figure and arrived inside a quiet room in the Skull Mountain Market.

Pushing open the door, he paced in.

Inside the quiet room, Zhao Xuhe was in seclusion cultivating, completely unaware of Lu Yang’s arrival. Seeing this, Lu Yang extended a finger and tapped the center of his eyebrows.

“Apologies, Senior Brother Zhao, this is the last time…”

As his voice fell, a stream of yellow flowing light merged into Zhao Xuhe’s body. Zhao Xuhe instantly felt his spirit comfortable and mind smooth, as if interacting with the entire Skull Mountain.

Lu Yang smiled with satisfaction upon seeing this.

Just now, he personally transferred the most important inheritance of the Shaman Ghost Dao, the control rights of the eight hundred li Skull Mountain earth vein, to Zhao Xuhe without reservation!

In the next second, a gleam of brilliance appeared on Lu Yang’s fingertip.

[Resolve Suspicion]!

The great web of karma was plucked. An invisible thought fell into Zhao Xuhe’s sea of consciousness. The content was simple— whoever obstructs his Foundation Establishment, he will fight desperately with them.

Not hesitating to burn jade and stone together!

Under the influence of [Resolve Suspicion], once Zhao Xuhe was obstructed in Foundation Establishment with no way to retreat, he would decisively use the most powerful method in his hand.

—Self-destruct the earth vein!

In an instant, Lu Yang felt a strong sense of crisis… This was heaven and earth generating a reaction, issuing a warning to him from the unseen world.

If Zhao Xuhe truly self-destructed the earth vein, he would inevitably be implicated by karma.

Thinking of this, the brilliance on Lu Yang’s fingertip turned abruptly.

[Distinguish Same and Different]!

Life-Bound Divine Ability operated. Lu Yang made a divine cut from the Skull Mountain earth vein on the spot. From then on, he would no longer be tainted by a single bit of its karma; all karma belonged entirely to Zhao Xuhe.

What Zhao Xuhe does, what does it have to do with me?

The colorful Divine Ability light enveloped Lu Yang like armor, washing away the karma. Soon, that feeling of “being targeted specifically by heaven and earth” disappeared.

Only then did Lu Yang smile with satisfaction, retract his finger, and look at Zhao Xuhe, who was still cultivating with closed eyes.

Senior Brother Zhao, just go with peace of mind.

In the next life, I will definitely treat you well!

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