Chapter 343: A Person's Persistence
Heaven-Connecting Cloud Sea, Sacred Fire Cliff.
Golden light surged from the ground, accompanied by brilliant lamp flames. The light illuminated dense, profound patterns that crowded toward the center, converging on a single figure.
He wore a crane cloak, a smile on his lips, and waved a feather fan, looking suave and unrestrained.
Just by standing there, it seemed as if he had seized all the fortune, wealth, and even luck in heaven and earth, making people involuntarily feel resentment.
Daoist Hong Yun!
This reincarnated Perfected Lord finally revealed a bit of his former elegance at this moment. Looking up at the sky, a look of nostalgia appeared in his eyes.
“How long has it been.”
—Five thousand years.
For a full five thousand years, he hadn’t seen the Overturned Lamp Flame. Even though he was a reincarnated Perfected Lord, it felt as if the Dao Fruit had abandoned him. He had been in an utterly wretched state.
Thinking of this, he couldn’t help but grit his teeth again. Sky-Shrouding…!
At this moment, Hong Yun’s resentment toward Sky-Shrouding was so vast that even a torrential river couldn’t wash it away.
After all, since retrieving the True Interpretation of Hollow Void Inner Observation of Heaven and Earth and the Upper Bright Golden Lamp Jade Light, he had recalled the memories that had been stripped away in the past.
Both techniques were problem-free because Hong Yun himself had left backdoors in them, ensuring only he could use them and no outsider could tamper with them. Were it not for this, he wouldn’t have been bold enough to attempt Seeking Golden Core directly relying on just these two techniques.
I still can’t be careless.
Hong Yun remained vigilant internally. He knew very well how much impact his Seeking Golden Core would have on Sky-Shrouding. It was easy to imagine that Sky-Shrouding would inevitably pay any price to stop him.
And just then.
Rumble!
Inside the Grotto-Heaven fragment in Jiangnan’s Gantang Channel, as Chong Guang activated the ritual on his body, Hong Yun suddenly felt the gaze of the Overturned Lamp Flame shift.
“Hm? It’s Chong Guang…”
Daoist Hong Yun frowned immediately upon seeing this. Although it wasn’t enough to cause failure, Chong Guang’s interference instantly introduced variables.
Thinking of this, he immediately looked to a spot not far beside him.
There, dressed in scholarly attire, the dignified and elegant Perfected Lord Qingcheng Feixue stood with her hands clasped behind her back. She didn’t waver in the slightest due to Chong Guang’s appearance.
“Fellow Daoist… why is this happening?”
Hong Yun couldn’t help but ask. After all, she had clearly abandoned Chong Guang and placed her bet on him. Why would she allow Chong Guang to make these petty moves?
However, what Hong Yun didn’t expect was that Perfected Lord Qingcheng Feixue had no intention of explaining. Instead, she glanced at him with disdain before speaking calmly, “Instead of asking me, you should think about how to reclaim the attention of the Dao Fruit as soon as possible. In the end, a person still has to rely on themselves!”
“I want a Fellow Daoist who is capable.”
“Not an incompetent fool!”
The implication was clear— she was indulging Chong Guang!
Admittedly, Chong Guang had been treated as a discarded pawn by Perfected Lord Qingcheng Feixue, but she didn’t stop him from finding another path. She even chose to tacitly approve of it!
At this moment, Daoist Hong Yun could only take a deep breath and swallow his thoughts.
This concerns my Dao Path. Whether I can reach the Golden Core Late Stage depends on this. One wrong step means losing everything. On such an important matter… she’s actually still clinging to her meaningless persistence!
This… madwoman!
Why was Perfected Lord Qingcheng Feixue called the madwoman by the world’s Perfected Lords?
Was it just because she loved combat? Was she somewhat neurotic? Stop joking. The Saint Sect produced countless capable people; that level of eccentricity wouldn’t even rank in the Saint Sect.
The real reason was— she had her own principles!
She firmly believed that “a person must rely on themselves,” and she had practiced this philosophy from Qi Refining, to Foundation Establishment, and all the way to the Golden Core without wavering from beginning to end.
What kind of world was this?
It was a world where you either ate others or were eaten by them. Of those who could achieve the stature of Perfected Lord, who didn’t treat their bottom line as having no principles, and their principles as having no bottom line?
But Perfected Lord Qingcheng Feixue was different.
She actually had principles!
For the sake of this principle, for the persistence in her heart, she could even put her Dao Path aside. To Hong Yun, how unreasonable was this?
If this isn’t madness, what is?
Fine…
Hong Yun took a deep breath and quickly regained his composure. This place has long been watched by the Perfected Lords. It’s not a big problem; the advantage is still mine!
However, just then.
Crack!
Accompanied by a crisp explosion, boundless purple qi appeared out of thin air in the vast sky of Jiangbei. It blotted out the sun and sky, surging toward Hong Yun!
…
Netherworld, an indescribable place.
This was a palace located within the cycle of reincarnation. The palace itself was constructed very strangely; the material was called Kun Mountain Jade, a spiritual material of the metal element.
It belonged to White Wax Gold.
The palace built from this material intersected with the light of the sun and moon, condensing the qi of yin and yang. Bright in form and clean in body, it possessed the pure color of metal and the wonder of hosting and nurturing forms.
Inside the palace flowed a long river, with no beginning and no end, boundless and limitless.
This was Eternal Flowing Water.
Looking out, the long river surged. Under the blocking waves, it forcefully carved out a hidden land of coiled dragons and snakes, using this to support the entire palace.
This was Silted Sand Earth.
Walking into the palace, one could see a golden lamp. The flame burned quietly, illuminating the hall and revealing a figure entirely hidden within the mist.
Overturned Lamp Flame!
A full four types of Dao Fruit power intertwined in this location. Fire begets Earth, Earth begets Metal, Metal begets Water, Water begets Wood… Finally, they collectively supported an unimaginable curtain, forcefully deceiving the operation of the entire Netherworld and carving out this moderately sized territory from the land of reincarnation.
Great Forest Wood!
“A pity…”
Inside the palace, Sky-Shrouding stood with his hands behind his back. The mist on his body never dispersed. In his hand, he fondled a lifelike wooden puppet.
“I kept this World-Retribution Incarnation back then just in case, never expecting there would be a day I’d actually use it. It shows just how many heroes there are in the world… Looking back now, I was still too hasty back then. I didn’t prepare enough trump cards.”
Undeniably, he was currently trapped in the Netherworld.
However, this was because he wanted to ascend to Dao Lord, so he had spun a cocoon around himself. It didn’t mean he was completely unable to leave or had absolutely no means.
“With this, it’s enough to make a trip for me.”
His main body couldn’t leave.
But under his enhancement, the incarnation could unleash combat power far surpassing the Golden Core Middle Stage. It was more than enough to stop a Hong Yun.
“That being said, it ultimately isn’t my main body acting. With the world’s Perfected Lords intercepting, I also need time to slowly suppress them and find an opportunity to stop Hong Yun. If Chong Guang hadn’t bought me time, it really might have been possible for Hong Yun to escape by luck…”
Unfortunately, the World-Retribution Incarnation could only be used once.
Going to the present world and fighting a great battle, its aura couldn’t be hidden even by the Knowledge-Perception Barrier. Upon returning to the Netherworld, it would inevitably be crushed into slag by reincarnation.
“…Fine, let’s take a trip!”
Rumble!
Purple qi filled the sky, finally transforming into an eye that shrouded the heavens and covered the sun. From top to bottom, it overlooked heaven and earth, finally fixing its gaze directly on Hong Yun.
Although Sky-Shrouding’s gaze was focused on Hong Yun, even the aftershocks made the cultivators of the world feel a heavy pressure.
Even Lu Yang, who was inside the Southern Heavenly Gate, was no exception.
“As expected…!”
Lu Yang looked up at the sky, not surprised by Sky-Shrouding’s move. Rather, this was the reason he had anticipated Hong Yun would have difficulty succeeding in Seeking Golden Core.
Although he didn’t know of the existence of the World-Retribution Incarnation, he knew that in his past life, Sky-Shrouding had made a move because of Chong Guang’s attempt at Seeking Golden Core. With his own strength, he contended against multiple Perfected Lords, fighting to a draw. Since he could act in the previous life, there was no reason he couldn’t act in this one.
My chance… has arrived!
In the next second, light flashed in Lu Yang’s eyes. Without a doubt, the attention of the world’s Perfected Lords would only be on Hong Yun’s Seeking Golden Core at this moment.
No one would pay attention to him anymore.
Seize this opportunity to reincarnate and send the Shen Metal to my main body!
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