Combine!

In order to create his own cultivation art, Lu Yang had studied on the first floor of the Scripture Pavilion for months. Setting aside the Complete Collection of Crosstalk, the first floor held many techniques and spells that broadened his horizons. For example, there was an art that allowed the other party to track one's location once cultivated. According to the records, it had been devised by a cultivator couple for the purpose of keeping tabs on each other's movements. In the end, the husband found that his wife frequently visited brothels, and the wife found that her husband frequently visited brothels. Aside from this art, Lu Yang had also seen a technique for sleeping with one's eyes open, which was immensely useful during lectures. There was another art that made the user extraordinarily ugly, though Lu Yang couldn't fathom what practical use that served. There was even a hibernation art created by imitating animals, where one ate a single meal and slept for an entire season—Lu Yang still couldn't imagine what that was good for. Later, he finally realized: his senior martial brothers and sisters were just slacking off to farm contribution points. Submitting techniques that the sect did not have on file to the Mission Hall earned contribution points. Eldest Senior Sister had once solo-farmed this quest, ultimately forcing the Mission Hall to create a dedicated column just for her. She no longer had to turn in techniques one after another; once written, she could simply deposit them in the Scripture Pavilion, and she could spend contribution points however she pleased. The other senior disciples lacked Eldest Senior Sister's ability, yet still coveted contribution points, which led to the Scripture Pavilion being filled with countless techniques that looked formidable on paper, but were utterly useless in practice. Lu Yang suspected that if he wrote this kind of technique, Eldest Senior Sister would hang him up and beat him. Oh, Eldest Senior Sister probably wouldn't even need to act herself; her puppets could do the honors. "The Six Harmonies and Eight Desolations Immortal Art?" Hearing this name Lu Yang had pulled out of thin air, the Immortal Fairy seemed to recall something. "This name sounds a lot like Immortal Jiuchong's art!" "Immortal Jiuchong?" Lu Yang repeated. The Immortal Fairy rarely spoke of Immortal Jiuchong. He knew from her that Immortal Jiuchong possessed an Immortal Physique and was the very first among the Five Ancient Celestials to attain immortality. "What was his cultivation art called?" Lu Yang asked, puzzled. Eldest Senior Sister also showed a rare hint of curiosity, setting down her book to listen to the Immortal Fairy's reply. "Immortal Jiuchong's art was created by himself as well. He named it the Immortal Art of Primal Chaos, Single Breath, Dual Poles, Four Symbols, Six Harmonies, Eight Desolations, Nine Earths, Ten Heavens, and Sole Supremacy." "I usually called it the Immortal Number Art. Sometimes people called it the Immortal Four-Six Art, the Immortal Eight-Ten Art, or whatever rolled off the tongue. In any case, even Immortal Jiuchong couldn't recite the whole name himself." Lu Yang: "..." Did Immortal Jiuchong have some kind of obsession with numbers? Eldest Senior Sister was rather speechless as well. She had originally hoped to deduce his specialties and weaknesses from the name of his technique. Now, it appeared she had been far too optimistic. While listening to ancient anecdotes in his spiritual space, Lu Yang joined Meng Jingzhou and Man Gu in cutting down targets across the grounds. Right then, they heard Yan Fei's shout. "Lu Yang, Meng Jingzhou, and Man Gu are in cahoots!" Yan Fei had done this on purpose. The pressure the trio put on him was simply too overwhelming; no matter how strong he was, he was no match for three bastards who were not only powerful but also outrageously underhanded. He had to muster everyone's strength to eliminate them. Only then would he have a chance of winning the championship! "Exposed this early?" Meng Jingzhou thought their secret would last a bit longer; he hadn't had his fill of fun yet. The three opened their palms to check their numerical marks. Even Man Gu, who had the lowest, had 350. Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou went without saying—they were full-fledged peerless archfiends who had slaughtered like mowing grass. "What now? Fight or run?" Man Gu asked. "Run, of course! With our scores, the top three spots are definitely ours. We can just obediently wait until the end," Meng Jingzhou said. Devoid of any sense of pride befitting a direct scion of the Meng Family, he uttered the word "run" without the slightest burden on his conscience. It was all drilled into him from his mischievous childhood, when his father used to chase him like herding ducks. "They're here!" Someone emerged from a cave dwelling and spotted the three gathered together. These three really were in league with each other! To think they had put on an act from the very beginning of the tournament until now! If Yan Fei hadn't grown suspicious, nobody would have realized. What an absolute disgrace! As demonic cultivators, they had always been the ones deceiving others. When had it ever been someone else's turn to fool them? And they had been led around by the nose, no less! If they didn't slaughter these three to vent their rage, their future cultivation would never flow smoothly! "Run for it~!" Meng Jingzhou cheered gleefully, leading the retreat with Lu Yang and Man Gu right behind him. "Catch them!" "They're over here!" "Kill them!" Demonic cultivators fought individually and rarely cooperated. As for an operation that mobilized Foundation Establishment stage cultivators on such a massive scale, it was entirely unprecedented. United as one, they were determined to capture the trio no matter what! Watching this unfold, the Immortal Cult's upper echelon clicked their tongues in awe. Even they didn't command such rallying power. The Cult Master nodded inwardly. These three were naturals for working undercover in the Dao Seeking Sect. Yet he also felt regret: the incompetence of the two Vice Cult Masters, Liu and Gao, had allowed three such crucial pawns to slip away from the Dao Seeking Sect. "If they really catch up, you be the bait," Lu Yang told Meng Jingzhou. "Why me? All these layers of schemes were your idea, so you go!" "I came up with the idea, but you added the details. You're more important than me, so you should go!" "The idea is more important than the details. You go!" The two courteously deferred to each other, trying to push the bait duty onto the other, while Man Gu trailed along beside them, unable to get a single word in. He was merely an actor. "I've caught up to them!" A cultivator proficient in tracking executed brilliant footwork, his fingers about to brush the corner of Lu Yang's robe. Right at that moment, an invisible strike slammed into him. Unable to dodge in time, the man was blasted backward, a large depression caving into his chest. Before losing consciousness, he saw that the spot had been completely empty, save for a talisman drifting in midair. "What is that?" The talisman drifted about as though possessed of conscious will, knocking away every contestant who dared approach the three. At last, someone recognized what it was. "It's an Invisibility Talisman! These three have an accomplice!" This Invisibility Talisman had been drawn by Lu Yang, and its effects were exceptionally potent. Despite the keen senses of many present, none could detect anyone hiding under invisibility. The person who shouted soon realized something was wrong: whose Invisibility Talisman only conceals the person while leaving the talisman itself exposed? Lu Yang shouted toward the talisman, "Yan Fei, hurry up and kill them!" "Yan Fei is with them too?!" The crowd was stunned. Could it be that Yan Fei exposing their plot had just been an act, and that it was actually part of the trap? Watching the tigers fight from a safe distance, Yan Fei's face twisted with fury. He was eighty zhang away; the person wearing that Invisibility Talisman couldn't possibly be him! "I know! The one with the Invisibility Talisman is your clone!" Yan Fei remembered that Lu Yang had a wood clone technique. Someone quick of eye and swift of hand snatched the Invisibility Talisman away, exposing the true face of the figure in hiding. A bald Lu Yang—the Bodhi tree clone! Lu Yang's Invisibility Talisman could only conceal the body, not clothing. The wood clone used tree leaves for modesty, which counted as part of the wood clone itself. In other words, the wood clone wasn't wearing any clothes. It was the perfect match for Lu Yang's Invisibility Talisman! Clad in leaves like a savage, the Bodhi tree clone exploded under Lu Yang's command, releasing poisonous gas. Yan Fei had long anticipated this and summoned a gust of north wind, dispersing the poison. "Kill!" Lu Yang and his companions were surrounded on all sides. Countless hidden weapons and armaments were hurled toward them, intent on turning the trio into porcupines, while others struck out directly to end their lives. The assault covered every angle, impossible to block! Lu Yang sighed. "At this point, our only choice is to combine." The three exchanged glances, steeling their resolve to combine in battle! "Combine?" Even though Yan Fei didn't know how they planned to combine, an ominous premonition struck him. "Don't let your guard down! They can combine!" he bellowed, warning the crowd. Even the higher-ups of the Immortal Cult were thoroughly baffled. They had never heard of cultivators being able to combine! With a fierce roar, Man Gu's muscles swelled. His left hand clamped onto Meng Jingzhou's ankle, and his right grabbed Lu Yang's ankle. Meng Jingzhou activated his technique, his body glowing with a pale golden radiance, incomparably tough. Lu Yang brought his hands together and raised them above his head, sword qi enveloping his entire body. The three combined! Yan Fei: "...?"