Chapter 77: First Glimpse of Cultivation Under Heaven

“To tell you the truth, this humble one is Chen Xin’an, a disciple of the Jade Pivot Sword Pavilion.”

On the Myriad Spirits Banner, Chen Xin’an wore a sincere expression and spoke with awe-inspiring righteousness: “I was harmed by that evil cultivator Liu Xin when I was alive, letting Fellow Daoist see a joke.”

“Oh.” Lu Yang narrowed his eyes slightly upon hearing this.

Young man, you are dishonest!

Compared to other Banner Spirits, Chen Xin’an’s state was clearly problematic. He seemed to have truly retained a part of his autonomy and could think normally.

He could even lie.

Looking at Chen Xin’an, Lu Yang grinned: “Fellow Daoist, stay calm and don’t be impatient. I will destroy this harmful evil treasure right now so that you all can return to reincarnation…”

“Wait, wait!”

Before Lu Yang could finish speaking, Chen Xin’an hurriedly spoke up to stop him. Seeing Lu Yang look over in confusion, he rolled his eyes, then sighed: “Fellow Daoist may not know, but this treasure refines our True Spirits. If you destroy it, not only will we be unable to reincarnate, but we will also be buried along with it.”

—This is a lie.

Lu Yang had bitterly cultivated for a hundred years in his previous life, practically polishing the Myriad Spirits Banner until it shone. His understanding of it surpassed even Liu Xin’s; he knew its mysteries intimately.

So he saw at a glance that Chen Xin’an was lying.

But why would he lie?

Lu Yang’s thoughts raced. Logically, the Banner Spirits on the Myriad Spirits Banner were no different from the dead. Being able to reincarnate was already a fortune invited from heaven; who could be spared?

Could this Chen Xin’an have another method to return to life?

“Interesting.”

Lu Yang smiled, then spoke directly without evasion: “Fellow Daoist is deliberately deceiving me. Is there some secret? I wonder if you could share it?”

Chen Xin’an was instantly stunned by these words.

In the spark of flint, he had already thought of an answer. However, before he could speak, he suddenly felt his vision go dark, and his consciousness became hazy.

“Want to Soul Search me?”

Chen Xin’an was calm at first. He quickly held fast to a divine ability to protect his mind and even prepared to forge a memory to fool Lu Yang.

However, the next second, his expression froze.

Because he shockingly saw a towering Golden Body, supporting heaven and standing on earth, crashing tyrannically into his Sea of Consciousness, instantly suppressing all his divine abilities!

“Stature!?”

How is this possible!

As a Saint Sect True Disciple, Chen Xin’an naturally knew his stuff. And Lu Yang using the stature of The Sage Steals to suppress him directly showed he didn’t intend to give him even half a chance.

“Let’s hear it. What are you plotting?”

Lu Yang chuckled lightly, effortlessly grasping Chen Xin’an’s Sea of Consciousness. Soon, he extracted streams of information he wanted from his memory.

The next second, Chen Xin’an’s lips moved, speaking uncontrollably: “I cultivated a Great Divine Ability called the Severing Thoughts to See Self Silkworm Secret. It can divide Divine Sense to perform possession. I planned to deceive you first, then find a way to possess you, so I could be reborn.”

“Interesting…”

Looking at the sweating Chen Xin’an, Lu Yang smiled and continued to ask: “For a Banner Spirit to devour its master is harder than ascending to heaven. How did you originally plan to possess me?”

“Simple. I would pass the Severing Thoughts to See Self Silkworm Secret to you.”

“This is a Great Divine Ability; you couldn’t possibly be unmoved.”

“However, this Great Divine Ability is extremely special. The cultivator needs to sever nine Divided Spirits from their own mind, then use a secret method to unify them…”

“But I wouldn’t teach you the secret method to unify the Divided Spirits.”

“Therefore, as long as you cultivated it, you would inevitably split into nine different consciousnesses. Everyone would want to be the master. The result would be the snipe and clam fighting, and I, the fisherman, would benefit.”

After listening to Chen Xin’an’s description, Lu Yang was somewhat moved.

Suddenly, his heart stirred, and he asked again: “Are you really Chen Xin’an?”

At these words, Chen Xin’an immediately fell into silence. A look of struggle appeared on his face, but in the end, it was hard to resist Lu Yang’s stature suppression.

“…Strictly speaking, no.”

“The real ‘Chen Xin’an’ is already dead. I am merely a Divided Spirit he severed in the past… But since he is dead, then I am Chen Xin’an!”

Lu Yang clicked his tongue in wonder after listening. He was quite moved by the Great Divine Ability he mentioned, the Severing Thoughts to See Self Silkworm Secret. Because according to Chen Xin’an’s description, once this Great Divine Ability was mastered, it could not only elevate stature but even condense the ‘Divine Sense’—which only Foundation Establishment Perfected Ones possess—in advance!

This point was especially critical.

Because breaking through to Foundation Establishment is essentially a process of transforming Spiritual Sense into Divine Sense. If you transform in advance, it helps immensely in building the Immortal Foundation.

“Senior Brother Chen, you died well.”

“Finding you in this life was indeed the right choice!”

It must be said, stature is simply a tool for crushing newbies. Otherwise, it would have been almost impossible for Lu Yang to dig out so much intelligence from Chen Xin’an’s mouth.

But now, with the blessing of stature, Chen Xin’an told everything he knew without reserve. Even the original text of the Severing Thoughts to See Self Silkworm Secret was dug out one by one… After doing all this, Lu Yang withdrew his divine ability and looked at Chen Xin’an, who looked wretched after regaining autonomy.

“…You are a Saint Sect disciple, aren’t you?”

After a long silence, Chen Xin’an finally spoke, his tone very firm: “Such conduct… only a disciple of my Saint Sect could do it.”

Thinking of this, Chen Xin’an glanced at Lu Yang again, his tone complex: “You killed Liu Xin but aren’t in the Heaven-Connecting Cloud Sea. Could it be you also plan to defect from the sect?”

Lu Yang raised his eyebrows slightly at these words: “…Also?”

Chen Xin’an tilted his head instead, looking puzzled: “What’s so strange about it? Given the sect style of the Saint Sect, disciples defecting is also a very normal thing.”

“But you should be the strongest one to date.”

“Simply inconceivable.”

Speaking of this, even Chen Xin’an found it hard to understand: “Disciples who are taught Great Divine Abilities are usually planted with restrictions to prevent them from defecting in the future.”

“I don’t have restrictions because my father is the Peak Master of Heaven-Mending Peak, but why you?”

Lu Yang didn’t answer.

What Chen Xin’an said wasn’t wrong. In his previous life, he relied on selling himself to the Three Rivers Society to obtain the inheritance of a Great Divine Ability. But that was all in the previous life.

What does it have to do with me in this life?

However, the fact that ‘I cheated’ certainly couldn’t be known by others. Thus, Lu Yang proactively changed the subject: “Does Fellow Daoist understand this world under heaven?”

Chen Xin’an was stunned: “The world?”

Lu Yang nodded: “To tell you the truth, this is my first time traveling. For a moment, I don’t know where to go, so I came to ask Fellow Daoist.”

“…Don’t go south.”

Chen Xin’an fell silent for a moment, then said honestly: “North of the Great Dragon River is the territory of my Saint Sect. Small and large sects all take my Saint Sect as the leader. Jiangnan (South of the River) is where the Jade Pivot Sword Pavilion holds the ear of the Orthodox Path. Besides that, the Northern Frontier and Southern Wilderness are remote and desolate places with no powerful forces.”

“If I had to say, only Jiangdong (East of the River), Jiangxi (West of the River), and Overseas are somewhat passable.”

“Oh?” Lu Yang looked curious: “Why do you say that?”

“Because the Dao is different.” Chen Xin’an explained: “Whether it’s the Saint Sect or the Sword Pavilion, Jiangnan or Jiangbei (North of the River), what we cultivate is actually the ‘Refining Form and Ascension Dao’.”

“However, Jiangdong, Jiangxi, and Overseas are different.”

“Jiangdong cultivates the ‘Acting on Behalf of Heaven Dao’, Jiangxi cultivates the ‘Deep Bliss Nirvana Dao’, and Overseas blooms with a hundred flowers (mix of various dao). Although none compare to our orthodoxy, they have their own clever ideas.”

As a True Disciple and the blood kin of the Peak Master of Heaven-Mending Peak, Chen Xin’an’s knowledge was much higher than Lu Yang’s. Narrating it now, he immediately lifted a corner of this world for Lu Yang. Especially the descriptions of Jiangdong, Jiangxi, and even Overseas made one yearn for them.

However, he quickly restrained his thoughts and returned to calm.

“…I know where to go.”

The urgent task was still to find a secret method to increase the probability of Foundation Establishment. The Severing Thoughts to See Self Silkworm Secret was an unexpected surprise, but it couldn’t disrupt his plan.

Places like Jiangdong, Jiangxi, and Overseas weren’t urgent.

He planned to visit Skull Mountain again.

“Shaman-Ghost Secret Realm… A place where the ancient Shaman-Ghost Dao left its inheritance. For such a great sect, the so-called inheritance couldn’t possibly stop at the Qi Refining realm, right?”

In his previous life, the secret realm was destroyed before he even entered it.

In this life, he wanted to enter it in advance to see if there were any opportunities related to Foundation Establishment.

Moreover, the Shaman-Ghost Secret Realm was extremely hidden and very suitable for hiding. In case Yu Suzhen’s matter was exposed, hiding inside the secret realm would provide more security.

Advance chapters at Nightjar Reads · nightjarreads.com