Huang Ming was a Body Integration stage mighty figure who had dispersed his cultivation to cultivate anew. In over two thousand years of roaming the cultivation world, this was the first time he had ever seen someone at the Golden Core stage capable of casting an avatar technique.
And an avatar technique performed in such a manner, no less.
Before Huang Ming could wrap his head around it, the Qingfeng and Dark Moon swords shrieked toward him like two flood dragons swimming the East Sea, sweeping in with a tempest of blood and wind.
Lu Yang wasn't sure if the living corpse would be able to reconstruct itself if cut apart once more. Rather than gamble on an uncertainty, he might as well strike directly at Huang Ming.
He refused to believe Huang Ming could regenerate just like the corpse.
Huang Ming hurriedly directed the living corpse to attack. Lu Yang had his avatar hold the Dark Moon Sword to fend off the corpse while he engaged Huang Ming himself.
The two sides fell into a stalemate once more, but Huang Ming soon realized his disadvantage.
Lu Yang's mental power was even stronger than his own, giving him far greater precision when controlling the avatar. In the clash between the living corpse and the avatar, the corpse was steadily driven back.
Once the avatar secured victory, Huang Ming would be forced into the dilemma of fighting one against two.
Lu Yang's quiet chuckle drifted into Huang Ming's ear, startling him into a cold sweat.
"Don't you even understand the principle that you shouldn't get distracted in combat? Break!"
Lu Yang unleashed the Break Formula. Sword qi surged toward the heavens, erupting in dazzling sword light that wove together like a shimmering curtain.
A crimson curtain of light rose before Huang Ming—his strongest defensive move. Yet before the Break Formula unleashed at full strength, the crimson screen held for barely half a breath before shattering.
*Squelch—*
Huang Ming tried to execute Corpse Shifting once more, but he was ultimately a beat too late. His right shoulder was pierced through.
Huang Ming's vitality took a heavy blow; he would need to rest quietly for at least half a month to recover.
He had swallowed a Qi-Replenishing Pill midway through the fight, yet as the battle drew to a close, he still faced a shortage of spiritual energy.
Lu Yang, on the other hand, had not taken a single pill to replenish his spiritual energy from beginning to end. This was thanks both to the power of his Invincible Core and to having eaten tofu every single day when he first began cultivating.
Consuming tofu over a long period harmonized a cultivator's balance of the five elements, making their endurance in battle even more lasting.
"I surrender!" Huang Ming ground out through clenched teeth, forced to admit his defeat, and popped an elixir to treat his wounds.
Lu Yang sheathed his sword. As though he weren't the one who had just injured Huang Ming, he greeted him with a smile.
"What made you decide to disperse your cultivation to cultivate anew?"
Huang Ming sighed. "I was in too much of a rush in my youth and didn't lay a solid foundation. I got stuck at the mid Body Integration stage and couldn't break through no matter what. It just so happened this was a good opportunity to disperse my cultivation and cultivate anew, so I reincarnated."
Lu Yang found it strange. "Then why didn't you join one of the Five Great Immortal Sects? The immortal sects have abundant resources, which should be better than the Corpse Driving Sect, right?"
"The immortal sects aren't easy to get into. There are too many experts; who knows if someone might see right through our identities? You, on the other hand, have quite the nerve. Not only did you sneak into an immortal sect, but you're also keeping such a high profile."
Recalling Lu Yang's formidable mental power, Huang Ming had assumed that he was also a reincarnated cultivator.
He continued, "Your avatar technique is so unique. I've never heard of it, and there's no record of it in history. Most likely, there was no successor and it was lost to time. Are you a cultivator from the Daqian Era?"
"No, I never dispersed my cultivation to cultivate anew."
"Quit bragging. If you hadn't dispersed your cultivation to cultivate anew, how could you have beaten me? Tell you what, I'll lay my cards on the table. I am Venerable Huang Cen of the Great Yu Dynasty. What's your name? Perhaps I've even heard of your title."
Lu Yang didn't answer, silently staring at Huang Ming.
Huang Ming seemed to understand something as well.
Huang Ming: "..."
Lu Yang: "..."
"You're a cultivator of the Great Yu Dynasty?!"
"You really are a disciple of the Dao Seeking Sect?!"
The two cried out in unison.
Lu Yang had assumed Huang Ming was some senior from the Corpse Driving Sect who had dispersed his cultivation to cultivate anew, which was why he had spoken so casually. He had never imagined Huang Ming was actually a cultivator from the Great Yu Dynasty.
Huang Ming was even more shocked than Lu Yang. The combat prowess Lu Yang displayed had genuinely been cultivated step by step, without ever dispersing his cultivation to restart. Even the Imperial Preceptor couldn't have accomplished such a feat at this realm!
Were the geniuses of the Golden Age truly this terrifying?!
Meng Jingzhou realized the gravity of the situation. Huang Ming was actually a Great Yu cultivator.
This was the first time Man Gu and Zhao Po had ever encountered an ancient cultivator, so their reactions were not as intense as Lu Yang's and Meng Jingzhou's.
Huang Ming quickly reacted, his tone turning sinister as a gloomy haze settled over his eyes, devoid of any warmth. "Good, good, good! Truly worthy of a genius born of this Golden Age, to actually push me into such a wretched state!
"In that case, you cannot be allowed to live!
"Originally, I planned to finish talking with you and then slaughter everyone who overheard our conversation. But now it seems even you must die!"
Huang Ming no longer concealed his murderous intent. He invoked a secret method to summon his companion.
"Fellow Daoist Meng, kill them all!"
"Lu Yang, watch out! A Body Integration stage cultivator is rushing here!"
The Immortal Fairy's warning had just fallen when a pressure as imposing as a towering mountain crashed down upon the area.
A middle-aged man whose hair was more than half gray appeared in the sky. Ignoring Lu Yang and the others entirely, he looked down at Huang Ming with a mocking smirk.
"Fellow Daoist Huang, why are you in such a sorry state?"
"If it were you, you'd be in the same boat!" Huang Ming snapped furiously. This Lu Yang's talent was frighteningly high—even he, a Body Integration cultivator who had dispersed his cultivation to cultivate anew, couldn't beat him.
If this brat were allowed to grow, what then?
He had to be eliminated immediately!
"Easily done, easily done," the ancient cultivator addressed as Fellow Daoist Meng laughed. A mere few Golden Cores could be wiped out with a flick of his fingers.
"H-He's the one!" Sensing the familiar aura, the drowned ghost shrieked instinctively.
"He's the one who knocked me unconscious and brought me here from the East Sea!"
Fellow Daoist Meng glanced down, saw that it was that drowned ghost, and chuckled softly.
"So it's that drowned ghost from the East Sea."
Lu Yang was startled. This meant that the ghost calamity plaguing Hanshui City had been orchestrated by this Fellow Daoist Meng, capturing ghosts from various places and tossing them into Hanshui City. What they were trying to accomplish, however, was still a mystery!
Fellow Daoist Meng didn't spare the drowned ghost another glance; a Nascent Soul stage ghost was not worth his attention. "I'll kill these people for you and fabricate the crime scene, claiming you perished together with this drowned ghost. That way, you can continue staying in the Corpse Driving Sect. In return, you must tell me the location of one of your treasure troves."
Huang Ming gritted his teeth, furious but not daring to speak up. This was blatant extortion, but he had no choice.
"Fine!"
"Haha, then I'll thank you in advance for your generosity, Fellow Daoist Huang!"
Having obtained what he wanted, Fellow Daoist Meng held back no longer, looking at Lu Yang and the others as if looking at dead men.
"Little brats, this seat is kindhearted and will let you choose how you die. Shall your tendons be pulled and your skin flayed, or will you be refined into human pills, or perhaps die with a hundred ghosts tearing through your bodies?"
Cold sweat broke out across Lu Yang and the others, drenching their backs. Zhao Po, especially—when had he ever witnessed such a scene?
"Then what manner of death would you like to choose?"
An unexpected voice shattered the deathly quiet.
"Who's there?!" Fellow Daoist Meng cried out in shock. He hadn't even noticed when the newcomer arrived!
*BOOM—*
Struck by a Five-Colored Light Wheel, Fellow Daoist Meng plummeted from the sky, coughing up blood, a flicker of panic flashing through his eyes.
From this single strike alone, he could feel the gulf in strength between them.
The newcomer wore teal robes, hands clasped behind his back, his tone aloof. The Five-Colored Light Wheel hovered behind his head, making him look like a sacred divinity.
"Sect Master of the Five Elements Sect, Qiu Jin'an."
Chapter 429