Just a Useful Pawn in the Stain Sect

Chapter 87: Chapter 87: Heaven-Crashing Technique

The moment the Sword Qi appeared, Progenitor Tingyou raised his head to look at it. This was the Sword Qi that had suppressed him for a thousand years, the very thing that had cast him down from the heavens.

The next second, his face twisted in a sudden grimace.

”Perfected Lord... a thousand years! It’s been a whole thousand years!”

”How much longer are you going to keep me trapped?”

”Do you truly intend to exterminate the Wu Ghost Sect!?”

As his voice fell, the Sword Qi in the sky paid him no mind. It was silently assessing something, seeming as though it could come crashing down to strike at any moment.

Progenitor Tingyou knew this was the result of the karmic links he had obscured when he seized a body a thousand years ago.

But now that his Qi trace was completely exposed, it wouldn’t be long before the Golden Core Sword Qi fully identified him and flew down to take his life with a single strike.

”I will not submit!”

At this thought, Progenitor Tingyou spun around to face Lü Yang. ”Today, I will borrow your life! I will defy the heavens and continue my Wu Ghost sect!”

As his voice fell, Progenitor Tingyou manipulated Yama Hall, sending it crashing down upon Lü Yang!

Lü Yang activated the Array Talisman, once again drawing on the power of the Array to bolster his defense. This time, however, no amount of wind, lightning, water, or fire could harm Progenitor Tingyou in the slightest.

It was because a gap in their Position had appeared.

With the eight Elders returned to their places and Yama Hall complete, Progenitor Tingyou’s Position had already surpassed Lü Yang’s. It was even rapidly approaching the level of Foundation Establishment!

”It’s useless. Now that you’ve forced me to reveal myself and reassemble Yama Hall, all your tricks are worthless. This Supreme Divine Technique was jointly deduced by all of us Foundation-Stage Cultivators back in the day. If we had nine cultivators at Foundation Establishment Perfection presiding over it, we might even have been able to attain a Perfected Lord’s Position and fight a Golden-core cultivator!”

Progenitor Tingyou’s tone was filled with pride.

Of all the Sects in the world, which one doesn’t wish to endure for eternity? Which one doesn’t wish to ascend to a higher level? The Wu Ghost Sect was one of them, and it had been on the verge of success!

If it weren’t for the Sect Leader of the Celestial Sword Pavilion from that generation...

That Perfected Lord...

That Sword Qi...

”...Kill!!!”

Progenitor Tingyou roared, and the Position of Yama Hall continued to climb. It entered the state of Ascension that only appears when breaking through to Foundation Establishment!

”Junior, I’ll let you witness the true Peak of Qi Refining.”

Perched high atop Yama Hall, Progenitor Tingyou’s aura became lofty and indistinct. In an instant, he broke through the Ninefold Heaven and Earth Pass and stood within the Foundation Establishment Realm!

The next second, Lü Yang’s pupils shrank!

Having broken through himself, he knew that the breakthrough to Foundation Establishment was a two-step process. The first step was the Ascension into the Foundation Establishment Realm; the second was to construct the Immortal Foundation.

At this very moment, Progenitor Tingyou had already completed the first step, ascending into the Foundation Establishment Realm.

Yet, he did not choose to construct an Immortal Foundation.

Instead, he began to—

Fall!

Progenitor Tingyou, standing in the Foundation Establishment Realm, pointed a finger and began to plummet. Instantly, a shadow enveloped Lü Yang’s entire soul.

He understood almost immediately what Progenitor Tingyou was doing. He was using a ”failed breakthrough” as the price to launch an attack from the level of the Foundation Establishment Stage! In terms of power alone, this strike was barely weaker than one from a true Foundation-Stage Cultivator!

This was—

”The Heaven-Crashing Technique.”

The next instant, the shadow descended.

Lü Yang’s figure was instantly swallowed by it. The ground for a hundred miles around collapsed, and all the Arrays and Talismans shattered in unison. The billowing dust was like an earth dragon ascending to the heavens.

The impact of the blow was like the sky collapsing, like a tidal wave emptying the air!

For a moment, one could only see roiling waves of qi and interwoven Splendid Light. This lasted for a long time before gradually dissipating, finally revealing the wretched figure of Progenitor Tingyou.

One must understand that the ’Heaven-Crashing Technique’ was no ordinary technique.

Strictly speaking, it wasn’t a technique at all, but a specific skill.

Of the two steps to breaking through to Foundation Establishment, failing the second meant certain death. Failing the first, however, depended entirely on the Cultivator’s personal reserves; a strong foundation meant survival.

The ’Heaven-Crashing Technique’ was a self-destructive maneuver created on this very principle. It purely used one’s Qi reserves to overwhelm an opponent, leveraging the momentum of a failed Ascension to attack. Although the user would inevitably suffer grievous injuries from the failed Ascension, exchanging that for a single strike at the Foundation Establishment level was considered worth it.

’To win quickly, this is the only way...’

Progenitor Tingyou’s expression was calm. After the eight Elders had returned, he could reliably suppress Lü Yang with Yama Hall, but suppression did not guarantee a quick victory.

And with the Golden Core Sword Qi looming above, he could not afford to waste any time.

That was why he had chosen such a brutally extreme method—to gravely injure Lü Yang and bring him to the brink of death in one fell swoop. Only then could he carry out the final step of his plan.

”...Ten Thousand Souls Devouring Technique.”

As Progenitor Tingyou formed a Daoist Hand Seal, a strange, secretive ripple instantly spread out—not towards Lü Yang, but towards the City of the Wronged Dead below.

The next second, the City of the Wronged Dead was overturned!

In the blink of an eye, all the Living Creatures within the City of the Wronged Dead were slaughtered by Progenitor Tingyou! And it wasn’t just the city; at this moment, bloody light erupted all across the Secret Realm!

Immediately after, streams of the Light of the Soul, visible to the naked eye, surged towards Progenitor Tingyou. They swarmed around his Soul, transforming it into a streak of light as fast as lightning, and pounced towards Lü Yang’s location with the speed of a thunderclap.

A savage, triumphant grin was plastered on his face.

”A thousand years of nourishing spirits, all for this very moment!”

The next second, however, his smile suddenly froze.

The dust scattered to reveal Lü Yang strolling out. He was not gravely injured and on the brink of death as Tingyou had imagined. His robes were merely stained with blood; he appeared to be largely unharmed!

”So that’s how it is. It wasn’t the Golden Core Sword Qi that caused the massacre. It was you...”

Lü Yang sighed, understanding the cause and effect of it all.

Why were there so many extra people in the Wu Ghost Secret Realm? It was because one of Progenitor Tingyou’s Secret Techniques required them. They were all human resources, raised like livestock!

In his previous life, the Secret Realm had likely turned into a dead land because Progenitor Tingyou had killed everyone to perform his Secret Technique. In the end, however, he failed to deceive the Golden Core Sword Qi, and his own soul was scattered... Thinking of this, Lü Yang couldn’t help but sigh, looking at Progenitor Tingyou with a hint of pity.

Pitying him for having clung to life for a thousand years, only for it all to be for naught.

”This is impossible!”

Progenitor Tingyou’s face was contorted with savagery as he stared at Lü Yang in disbelief. ”You clearly took a direct hit from my ’Heaven-Crashing Technique’! How could you be unharmed?”

Lü Yang gave a faint smile. ”To tell you the truth, I Got a Pair...”

[Purple Talent: Got a Pair]

[Skillful: No matter how terrifying the attack you encounter, as long as it is within the limits of your abilities, you can handle it with ease twice.]

At his current level of Cultivation, anything within the Qi Refining Stage was within the limits of his abilities.

Even the ”Heaven-Crashing Technique” was no exception!

In an instant, a look of despair appeared on Progenitor Tingyou’s face. Lü Yang’s strength was not to be underestimated. If he had been gravely injured and on the brink of death, Tingyou’s possession attempt would have had a one hundred percent chance of success.

But if Lü Yang had only suffered minor injuries, the situation was completely different.

His one-hundred-percent chance of success plummeted to fifty percent, or perhaps even lower!

But at this point, Progenitor Tingyou had no path of retreat. He could only rouse his entire power and, surrounded by the Ten Thousand Souls, charge into Lü Yang’s Spiritual Space!

He had to stake everything on this one attack!

He would destroy Lü Yang’s Spiritual Space in a single blow, then seize his body and replace him!

The next second, Progenitor Tingyou saw inside Lü Yang’s Spiritual Space.

Lü Yang’s Soul calmly rose. With a few casual, divinely-guided moves, he effortlessly and gracefully threw Tingyou right out of his Spiritual Space!

Progenitor Tingyou: ”???”

Lü Yang’s actions had been so relaxed and fluid that Progenitor Tingyou didn’t even realize what had happened until after he’d been thrown out of the Spiritual Space.

”I told you I got a pair.”

One to handle the ”Heaven-Crashing Technique,” and the other to handle the possession.

”No—!!!”

His possession attempt a failure, Progenitor Tingyou only had time to let out a wretched scream.

CLANG!

The next second, a magnificent Sword Qi descended from the heavens and, without any ceremony, directly shattered his Soul. Countless fragments exploded outwards, shining like a cluster of brilliant stars.

Seeing this, Lü Yang didn’t hesitate. With a sweep of his large sleeve, he immediately gathered up all of them. These were fragments of Divine Sense formed from the shattering of a Foundation Establishment Soul. They contained most of the memories of Progenitor Tingyou, the last Sect Leader of the Wu Ghost Sect. To put it bluntly, they were a priceless treasure!