Borrowed, Never Returned

With an order from the Immortal Fairy, the Invincible Nascent Soul dared not disobey. The Invincible Nascent Soul whipped up a hundred-zhang arc of sword qi that swept across the gathered youths, stirring a gale of sword wind that set the leaves rustling incessantly, rattling everyone's nerves. "A Nascent Soul can unleash such terrifying sword qi?!" Seeing this blast of sword qi, the crowd was shocked by Lu Yang's cultivation in the Sword Dao and hurriedly took control of their own Nascent Souls. Everyone chose in unison to have their Nascent Souls evade the attack. Unlike the Invincible Nascent Soul, ordinary Nascent Souls could not fight autonomously; cultivators had to divert a portion of their mental focus to control them in battle. This gave the Immortal Fairy her chance. Taking advantage of the moment everyone was occupied controlling their Nascent Souls, the Immortal Fairy struck boldly. If she was a ravenous wolf, these noble scions and sons of high officials were a flock of little lambs—a wolf leaping into a fold, striking anyone in sight. "Watch my fist!" Her Fairy Boxing looked soft and gentle, but in truth it was ever-shifting and immensely powerful. "So that really is how the Invincible Nascent Soul is supposed to be used. This Immortal guessed right back then," the Immortal Fairy muttered under her breath. "What did you say, Fairy?" Lu Yang hadn't caught her words clearly. "Ah, nothing! I'm just telling you to step up your cultivation and defeat your Invincible Nascent Soul as soon as possible." "...Doesn't this count as me defeating it already?" Lu Yang remembered the Immortal Fairy saying that she was his second Nascent Soul. Since the second Nascent Soul had defeated the first, didn't that mean he had defeated it too? "It doesn't work that way." For once, the Immortal Fairy exhibited clear logic as she explained the reasoning to Lu Yang. "Look, this Immortal helped you beat the Invincible Nascent Soul, so it obeys my commands, not yours. And you have to obey this Immortal's commands, which puts you and the Invincible Nascent Soul on equal footing. Neither of you commands the other." Lu Yang understood. If he wanted to control the Invincible Nascent Soul, he had two choices: either get the Immortal Fairy to obey him, or defeat the Invincible Nascent Soul himself. By comparison, the second option had a distinctly higher probability of success. In reality, the crowd had their hands full. The Invincible Nascent Soul's attacks were far too fierce; if they wanted to keep their Nascent Souls unharmed, they had to concentrate fully on controlling them. Yet the moment they concentrated on dealing with the Invincible Nascent Soul, no one was left to handle the Immortal Fairy. "Half of us deal with Lu Yang's Nascent Soul, and the other half deal with Lu Yang!" someone shouted. If they wanted to break this deadlock, they had to unite and follow commands. His name was Lin Zhongren, son of the Minister of the Court of Judicature and Revision. Though not quite on par with Zhong Yi and the others, he was still considered quite outstanding among his peers in the Imperial City. Now that Zhong Yi, Luo Wushuang, and Sun Chuanxian had fallen one after another, and An Nan'er remained seated beside Meng Jingyu with no intention of joining the fray, someone had to step up and take charge. With Lin Zhongren stepping forward to direct everyone, the crowd begrudgingly complied. "Wait, where did Lu Yang's Nascent Soul go?!" To their astonishment, the crowd realized the Invincible Nascent Soul had vanished right before their eyes. Suddenly, Lin Zhongren was struck as if hit by something heavy, flying backward through the air and ending up dangling from an ancient tree. "It's Lu Yang's Nascent Soul! Lu Yang's Nascent Soul turned invisible!" Someone reacted quickly, deducing what it had done. The Invincible Nascent Soul could use the vast majority of Lu Yang's techniques. Back during the Foundation Establishment stage, Lu Yang had experimented with learning a technique called the Invisibility Incantation. Its effect was to conceal only the body, not one's clothes. Because it was so utterly useless, Lu Yang rarely ever touched it. But the Invincible Nascent Soul was different—it wore no clothes, so it could use the technique without any qualms. With Lin Zhongren, who had just stepped up to take charge, knocked flying by the Invincible Nascent Soul, the crowd fell into chaos once again. Some tried to fight the Immortal Fairy, while others searched for the Invincible Nascent Soul. A few others attempted to step up and direct the group in the meantime, only to be struck down by the Invincible Nascent Soul as well. Inside the spiritual space, Lu Yang pondered the sight thoughtfully. *To capture bandits, capture their leader first.* It seemed that although the Invincible Nascent Soul lacked higher intelligence, it could rely on instinct to make the most optimal choices. While slinging techniques as if they cost nothing, the Invincible Nascent Soul used Heaven-Swallowing to devour the spiritual energy of Luotian Forest. The others couldn't hold a candle to its absorption speed. Soon, the spiritual energy of Luotian Forest was drained dry. Every bit of spiritual energy the crowd spent was a bit they could no longer replenish. Whenever anyone took out spirit stones to absorb energy, the Invincible Nascent Soul snatched them away too. Watching the battle from afar, Meng Jingzhou slapped his thigh in awe. "Old Lu's Nascent Soul is truly cast from the exact same mold as Old Lu!" Examining his own conscience, Meng Jingzhou knew he could never bring himself to do something so lacking in virtue. The Invincible Nascent Soul and the Immortal Fairy exerted dual pressure, both mental and physical. Even if someone ignored the Invincible Nascent Soul to focus entirely on challenging the Immortal Fairy, it was futile—she was simply too good at fighting. Prowling like a tiger and striding like a dragon, looking down upon the world, the Immortal Fairy toppled one person with every punch. "This seat told you all long ago: you're not up to par. "A great tribulation looms over heaven and earth, and this seat was born in response to it, the one favored by Heavenly Destiny. How could mortal rabble like you ever be a match for this seat? "However, seeing as you possess a modest amount of talent, you are barely qualified to become subjects of the Great Bean Dynasty." Whether already lying on the ground or preparing to collapse onto it, everyone froze upon hearing that last sentence. What in the world was the Great Bean Dynasty? They had never heard of it before! "The Great Bean Dynasty is the dynasty this seat prepares to establish, the true orthodox rule under heaven. You may address this seat as Emperor Bean." This was the very first time anyone had seen someone brazenly announce they were going to found a new dynasty. This was treating Great Xia with complete and utter disregard! Lu Yang's gall was simply outrageous—his lawlessness exceeded even Daoist Buyu's! Lu Yang gazed helplessly up at the ceiling of the spiritual space, feeling his reputation being thoroughly dragged through the mud. "No one is willing to join this seat's dynasty?" The Immortal Fairy was somewhat disappointed. It seemed only the Second-in-Command was willing to join the Great Bean Dynasty. What a loyal minister. With no will left to fight, the youths were beaten until they cast aside their armor and fled in crushing defeat. The Immortal Fairy recalled the Invincible Nascent Soul, planted her hands on her hips, and smugly watched the scions of the prominent clans scatter in disarray, pointing and scoffing, "Hmph, trying to fight this Immortal? You're all far too green!" Inside the spiritual space, Lu Yang wore a fawning expression as he negotiated with the high-and-mighty Immortal Fairy. "Your Majesty, look, the fighting is over now. This subject's body..." To his surprise, the Immortal Fairy wore an expression that showed she hadn't had nearly enough fun. "This Imperial City looks pretty fun. Xiao Yangzi, let's discuss this—lend me this body to play with a bit longer, will you?" "Ah? That... might not be so great." Lu Yang hesitated. If he let the Immortal Fairy keep running around in his body, just how low would his reputation sink? Seeing that Lu Yang was reluctant to lend his body, the Immortal Fairy switched tactics. "Girl Yun also promised that this Immortal could serve as Acting Sect Master for a year. This Immortal has decided to use that opportunity right now. In my capacity as Acting Sect Master, I command you: surrender your body!" After returning from the East Sea, Yun Zhi had deemed the Immortal Fairy's contributions immense and granted her the privilege of serving as Acting Sect Master for a year. Back then, the Immortal Fairy had said she would save it for later. Lu Yang: "..." *Fairy, you saved the Acting Sect Master title just to order me around later, didn't you?!* "This subject obeys the decree."