Chapter 85: Possession

The heaven-reaching statue in the City of Unjust Deaths was definitely not just for show.

This statue was the foundation upon which the Nether Whisper Sect was established. Built right at the central hub of the secret realm, implicitly aligned with the earth veins of Skull Mountain, it could be said that this was the cornerstone of the Shaman-Ghost Secret Realm.

Construction of the statue began when Patriarch Nether Whisper was still alive, using cultivators as craftsmen and mortals as materials. It was barely completed after Patriarch Nether Whisper ruled for three hundred years and died at the end of his lifespan. It possessed countless miraculous powers and even involved a trump card of the Nether Whisper Sect, not to be used unless absolutely necessary.

However, at this moment, everything changed.

Lu Yang sat atop the statue’s head without making any major moves, yet in an instant, he reversed the Feng Shui, replacing the statue and becoming the central hub of heaven and earth in this secret realm!

This wasn’t his deliberate doing, but the natural influence of the difference in stature.

Just as mortals only pay attention to the highest peak under heaven while mostly ignoring the second highest, heaven and earth also tend to focus only on the person with higher stature.

“I have come as invited. Where is Senior?”

Before Lu Yang’s voice fell, a magnificent Sage Aspect rose from the ground behind him, similarly opening and closing its lips to emit a thunderous roar.

Instantly, Lu Yang’s voice echoed inside and outside the secret realm.

The countless mortals in the City of Unjust Deaths were better off, merely covering their ears involuntarily, feeling the voice was like thunder emerging from the mountains, bewildered and at a loss.

Only the eight Elders of the Nether Whisper Sect felt that Lu Yang’s voice seemed to possess ‘weight.’ With a boom, it poured down and suppressed them, shaking their escape lights into disarray and nearly causing them to fall from the sky. Looking up at the Sage Aspect manifested by Lu Yang, they all revealed expressions of horror.

“The thief is arrogant and manic… he is blaspheming the Patriarch!”

“Just a single voice made us… is he an existence like the Patriarch?”

“Impossible!”

For a time, the faces of the eight Elders changed color, flushing red. Their previous discussion on how to subdue Lu Yang instantly turned into a joke!

However, the next second, they suddenly revealed looks of joy.

The heaven-reaching statue trembled slightly under Lu Yang’s voice. A soul hidden within was also awakened, emitting a long, drawn-out sigh: “The disciple of the Primordial Saint Sect… has finally arrived.”

As the voice fell, the originally cold and hard statue suddenly relaxed its brows. The eyes, originally cast from refined iron, instantly flashed with the color of spiritual intelligence.

The Foundation Establishment Soul had awakened!

A true Foundation Establishment Soul, similar to the Yun Family Ancestor in the previous life, and perhaps even superior, as this one’s Dao conduct seemed even higher!

Immediately after, Lu Yang saw a streak of spiritual light fly out from the heaven-reaching statue. Then, borrowing Qi to manifest an image, it transformed into a handsome Daoist with crane-white hair and a youthful face, possessing the air of an immortal, landing in front of him. The Daoist then chuckled: “Interesting. Where is Little Friend’s physical body? You actually remain only as a soul?”

Lu Yang smiled slightly, looking directly at Patriarch Nether Whisper: “Senior doesn’t seem much better off. This should already be Senior’s fifth life, right?”

He could be certain this person was a remnant of the Shaman-Ghost Dao.

However, since the Shaman-Ghost Dao existed a thousand years ago, for a Foundation Establishment Perfected One to live until today, they must have reincarnated at least four times. Even with sky-high Dao conduct, there was nothing to fear.

“I wonder how Senior knew I am a Saint Sect disciple?”

Patriarch Nether Whisper shook his head: “Little Friend, you killed almost all my congregants as soon as you acted. With such a style, who else could it be but a lunatic from the Primordial Saint Sect?”

Lu Yang frowned upon hearing this, then immediately said with awe-inspiring righteousness: “Senior’s Dao tradition herds the people with ghosts, harming all living beings. Junior’s act is removing harm for the people!”

Patriarch Nether Whisper instantly laughed: “Sure enough, a Saint Sect disciple!”

Lu Yang: “…”

After a moment of silence, Lu Yang proactively changed the subject: “Senior invited me here; what is your intention?”

“I wish to break free and re-establish my Shaman-Ghost Dao tradition.” Patriarch Nether Whisper chuckled lightly: “Therefore, I need to borrow something from Little Friend. I ask Little Friend not to refuse.”

“Oh?” Lu Yang’s gaze burned: “What does Senior wish to borrow?”

As the voice fell, Patriarch Nether Whisper looked weird, a bit creepy in his gaze, staring straight at Lu Yang like looking at prey.

Lu Yang showed no fear, meeting his gaze calmly.

“Little Friend actually understands too, don’t you? I intend to borrow the hand of the Primordial Saint Sect to break that Golden Core Sword Qi, so naturally, I need a Primordial Saint Sect identity.”

Patriarch Nether Whisper grinned, his teeth snow-white, flashing with a chilling cold light: “My Shaman-Ghost Dao specializes in the soul. We have some experience in reincarnation and possession. I have already reincarnated four times. Logically, by the fifth life, I should be completely dusted over and never transcend again, but it’s not like there aren’t tricky methods.”

“As long as Little Friend is willing to lend me your body.”

“I will replace you, and in the fifth life, I can be revitalized. I see Little Friend has extraordinary potential; perhaps you can even help me ascend to the Foundation Establishment rank again.”

His tone was indifferent, but the facts he stated made one’s heart hair stand on end.

“Senior wants to possess me?” Lu Yang raised an eyebrow.

“This isn’t the first time. Why do you think that on the day the Golden Core Sword Qi descended, so many Foundation Establishment cultivators died, yet only I survived?”

Patriarch Nether Whisper had rich experience; he had done similar things once before. Relying on the art of possession, he seized a mortal’s body as a vessel, borrowing their fate to mask himself, thereby avoiding the sweep of the Golden Core Sword Qi. In the Shaman-Ghost Dao of that year, only he mastered such means.

“So Senior found me this time?”

“I should thank you.” Patriarch Nether Whisper smiled: “My days are numbered. If you hadn’t appeared, I probably wouldn’t have lived much longer.”

Lu Yang sneered: “You think you can possess me?”

“Life is but a gamble; one must take a chance. The Shaman-Ghost Dao cannot perish in my hands. For this, I am willing to pay any price; life and death are nothing.”

Although he said that, Patriarch Nether Whisper’s attitude appeared very confident. Perhaps he was certain Lu Yang couldn’t be his opponent, or perhaps after dragging out a feeble existence for a thousand years, he had long taken many things lightly. Regardless, at this moment, he brought Lu Yang an intense sense of crisis.

However, Lu Yang still had a question in his heart.

If it was merely possession, why would the Golden Core Sword Qi slaughter the entire secret realm? There should be a more important reason he didn’t know.

Of course, Lu Yang didn’t expect Patriarch Nether Whisper to tell him.

Even what he said now, Lu Yang only believed thirty percent, not fully trusting it. After all, heaven knows if this was deliberately said to confuse his vision.

“It seems I’d better capture Senior first, then interrogate you in detail!”

Lu Yang’s eyes flashed explosively. His figure suddenly disappeared, but the Sage Aspect behind him instantly manifested clearly. Two golden light hands closed from left and right towards the middle.

Boom!

Instantly, brilliant golden light drowned Patriarch Nether Whisper’s vision. It seemed he was captured in the palm of Lu Yang’s Sage Aspect, intending to be refined instantly.

However, the next second, an even more intense spiritual light exploded from the hand of the Sage Aspect, directly blowing open Lu Yang’s palm. Then, rolling dark clouds overlapped with the spiritual might, finally revealing a majestic mansion towering into the clouds. With jade steps and cinnabar courtyards, solemn and majestic, the plaque bore three large characters:

[Hall of Yama]!

The gates of the mansion opened wide. On the jade steps and cinnabar courtyard, Patriarch Nether Whisper occupied the head seat. Behind him, a law body also appeared, holding a human head banner in the left hand and a book in the right, standing tall.

This was the—Aspect of the Mysterious Nether Lord!

“To achieve Foundation Establishment, stature is merely the admission ticket, nothing worth boasting about.” Before Patriarch Nether Whisper’s voice fell, his aura also soared synchronously.

Boom!

The next second, his stature reached a level equal to Lu Yang’s. Both sides stood on the same starting line, not yielding an inch, crashing directly into each other with a boom!

Instantly, before the remaining eight Elders of the Nether Whisper Sect had time to assist.

The collision of the two whipped up visible monstrous airwaves. Wave after wave surged and raged like a tsunami, knocking them back violently, vomiting blood endlessly.

Under such a collision, the spiritual light between Patriarch Nether Whisper’s brows became increasingly bright.

“Anyway, I can’t hide it anymore… Succeed or die!” Patriarch Nether Whisper’s tone was eerie, but his actions became increasingly decisive, seemingly having made up his mind.

This mysterious Foundation Establishment relied on the art of possession to obscure heavenly secrets back then, thus escaping the reckoning of the Golden Core Sword Qi.

However, at this moment, he gave up hiding and no longer concealed the heavenly secrets. Consequently, his true identity of the past and the corresponding karma became increasingly clear.

Clang Clang—!

Inside the secret realm, that Golden Core Sword Qi hanging high in the sky seemed to sense something too, emitting bursts of soft sounds, like a divine sword rumbling within its sheath.

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