"Senior Brother Liu? He's here looking for me!?"
Hearing the sound coming from outside the cave mansion, Lü Yang's pupils suddenly contracted, and his face instantly turned extremely gloomy. He not only did not respond, but instead concealed his presence.
"...Junior Brother?"
The voice came again, and Lü Yang still did not respond. Although there was no evidence, he was already certain that there was a problem with the Manual of Primal Qi he was cultivating!
"I am too young, too simple. I didn't even suspect it."
"Heaven Mending Peak has a close relationship with Yin-Yang Unity Hall, so the Peak's core cultivation technique should be related to the harmony of Yin and Yang, yet the Manual of Primal Qi has nothing to do with it."
"I was deceived by him!"
"But why would he harm me? Although the Stain Sect is demonic, there are still sect rules, which strictly prohibit private fights between official disciples. And once discovered..."
Thinking of this, Lü Yang suddenly slapped his forehead.
"How could I have fallen into the verbal trap?"
"Once discovered, once discovered... If not discovered, does it not count as a private fight?"
As Lü Yang thought about it, his expression grew darker. He had fallen for the false image Liu had set up. Liu had fulfilled his duties as Lü Yang's guiding disciple. He seemed diligent and sincere, never holding anything back from him. Especially in the Treasure Refining Hall — he even instructed the steward there to provide Lü Yang with the very best.
However, All his previous kindness had merely been a setup to make Lü Yang lower his guard and take the Manual.
Thinking back now, he might've even planned to keep everything for himself. After all, once I was dead, all rewards I'd earned would naturally fall into his hands… No wonder he insisted on getting me the best ones.
Bastard!
Just then, the sound came again from outside the mansion.
The next second, a "click" sound was heard. The ward of the mansion suddenly exploded, and the door was forcibly torn apart by a beam of sword light!
The next moment, Liu Xin strolled in with his robes fluttering.
A faint smile of fulfillment crossed his face as he saw Lü. He nodded in satisfaction: "Junior Brother is indeed talented...."
BOOM!
Before Liu Xin could finish his words, Lü Yang exploded into a flood of Qi and wrapped around the Bone Sword, slashing towards Liu Xin with unstoppable momentum in a sharp sword light.
However, in the next second, the sword light abruptly halted.
"...A futile struggle."
Liu Xin didn't dodge nor escape, but simply made a Daoist hand seal; and Lü instantly lost control of his own body, as if becoming someone else's puppet!
"This Manual of Primal Qi is truly a good thing", seeing this scene, Liu Xin couldn't help but laugh, "The cultivated Primal Qi can be used as medicine, integrated into artifacts, or even used to increase cultivation. With it, I'm hopeful to reach the Late-phase of Qi Refining!"
"To assist me in breaking through, Junior Brother, your death is not in vain."
Once those words fell, Liu Xin immediately began to change his Daoist hand seal, and Lü Yang suddenly felt his consciousness gradually dissipating, seemingly being forcibly erased!
At this moment, enlightenment dawned on Lü Yang:
"This is the effect of the second half of the Manual of Primal Qi!"
"The first half is a trap. It is not a cultivation method, but an artifact-forging art — one in which the cultivator serves as both material and maker, forging themselves into the final artifact. The second half, however, grants its user control over those who practice the first. In the end, anyone who cultivates the first part is, in fact, cultivating for the one who holds the latter."
"You win this time."
Upon thinking this, Lü Yang simply stopped resisting, letting his consciousness dissipate, and even his initial shock and anger were replaced by a sense of calmness.
"You can trick me once, but not forever."
"I will remember this!"
The next second, Lü Yang's consciousness fell into darkness.
In the void, only the rustling sound of flipping pages could be heard.
.....
[Your Primal Qi has been refined by Liu Xin, and your soul erased.]
[Available Leaves of Centome: 98]
[Reopening a life, you may choose one item from your previous life's harvests:]
A: Artifacts.
B: Cultivation.
C: Lifespan.
D: Trade all your harvests for a random Talent Skill based on your past life experiences]
"Those whose names I call, come and stand before me."
A familiar voice came from the stage, and Lü Yang clenched his teeth to control his emotions. He didn't raise his head, but focused his thoughts on the panel in front of him.
Artifacts, cultivation, lifespan.
If he could, Lü Yang certainly wanted to choose cultivation, but he was worried people would notice and he wouldn't be able to explain where his cultivation came from.
As for lifespan, it wasn't even an option.
"Can only choose artifacts...?"
Lü Yang furrowed. As for artifacts, the only good one he had was the Bone Sword, but without cultivation, he wasn't able to use it.
Just then, Lü Yang suddenly paused his gaze.
For just now, Centome suddenly gave him a piece of information.
"This... can be considered an artifact?"
Lü Yang was initially astonished, then showed a thoughtful expression, finally gritting his teeth to make a decision: Choose A: an artifact obtained in the past life.
The next second, a sudden change occurred!
Without drawing anyone's attention, a misty and steaming strand of White Qi appeared in Lü Yang's Dantian.
Primal Qi!
It was actually classified as an artifact and redeemed from the system by him!
"Incredible..." Lü Yang lowered his eyes, hiding the joy in them.
Because he discovered that he could not only control this strand of Primal Qi with ease, but also use it to cast skills from his past life!
"This should be impossible."
"Because to control Primal Qi, one needs the secret technique from the second half. But I don't need it because this Primal Qi... is me myself!"
For Lü Yang, it was equivalent to having an avatar with cultivation of First Layer of Qi Refining.
"And before I died in the past life, I also heard Liu Xin say that this Primal Qi, after being used as medicine, can assist in breaking through... It will be greatly useful in the future!"
After inventorying his gains, Lü Yang embarked on his new path.
First, he was again assigned to Yin-Yang Unity Hall.
Then, he turned the tables on Yu Suzhen and killed her instead.
However, this time, to keep a low profile, Lü didn't use Yu's Qi energy to break through the Qi Refining Stage, instead feeding all of it to the Primal Qi.
"In this life, I will lie low"
As expected, Liu Xin, who was waiting outside, lost interest when he saw that Lü Yang hadn't broken through after plundering Yu Suzhen's cultivation.
Then, Lü patiently waited.
Several days later, a disciple named "Qin Yu" from the Hall broke through, and Lü Yang saw Liu Xin eagerly bring him away after hearing the news.
A few days later, Liu Xin announced his seclusion, and another disciple took over the duty of guiding the newly registered ones.
But Lü Yang still didn't show himself.
"Who knows what kind of person this new Senior Brother is, what if he's just like Liu Xin... Hmm, I better not stand out."
"To be safe, wait another month."
Thus, another half month passed, until another Outer Disciple broke through into the Qi Refining and safely entered the Inner Sect, only then did Lü Yang choose to break through.
With the blessing of Primal Qi, Lü Yang didn't actually need to cultivate with others to break through.
However, to keep a low profile, he randomly found several Outer Disciples to cultivate with.
And this time, the official disciple responsible for guiding him was much more off, completely lacking Liu Xin's enthusiasm, even showing a hint of disdain in his demeanor.
"This is the Library Pavilion."
After receiving the rewards, the counterpart led him to a pavilion and said casually, "Take the token and go inside. If you need any cultivation techniques, trade for them with contribution points."
Then, the disciple immediately left without care.
However, seeing this, Lü Yang felt greatly relieved. This was exactly the benefit of lying low--no unwanted attentions.
Thinking this, Lü Yang turned to look at the distant Heaven Mending Peak.
Several days ago, Liu Xin had emerged from seclusion, officially breaking through to the Late-phase of Qi Refining, and even becoming a core disciple of the Peak Master. His momentum was unstoppable.
"Liu Xin... hmph!"
Lü Yang coldly snorted, retracted his gaze, and strode into the Library Pavilion.
Although he was eager for revenge, he was too weak now, so what he needed to do was focus on cultivating, and waited until he became stronger.
Revenge is a dish best served cold.