Chapter 20: Xiao Shiye

Nearly three months later, in the Earthfire Furnace Room.

Lü Yang’s body trembled as he slowly stood up.

Or rather, it would be more accurate to say he floated up—because at this moment, he no longer had flesh, skin, or bones, but had become a crimson blood shadow!

“I’ve succeeded!”

The blood shadow had no face, only light swirling around as a slightly distorted voice vibrated out, “Eighty-one days—it’s finally complete!”

In the next second, the blood shadow gradually withdrew its radiance, and the peeled skin on the ground suddenly flew up of its own accord and was “worn” by the blood shadow.

The pale skin gradually filled with a flush of blood, the withered flesh slowly plumped, and before long, Lü Yang appeared in the furnace room, intact and unharmed.

At first glance, he looked no different from an ordinary person.

Compared to three months ago, his aura now was even grander; his vigorous true Qi vaguely condensed into a Qi seed.

Qi Refining Stage, Seventh Layer—late stage!

Perhaps the process of cultivating the divine ability was too excruciating, an unimaginable tempering of essence, Qi, and spirit, which unexpectedly pushed him through his bottleneck.

Even more fortunate, this breakthrough had occurred before he officially completed the divine ability.

Had it been after, even breaking through would’ve been useless—for instance, right now, his cultivation was permanently fixed at the seventh layer of Qi Refining.

“But this will suffice.”

Lü Yang muttered to himself in a low voice.

Possessing the 【Book of a Hundred Lifetimes】, he had never fixated on the achievements of a single life.

How to live better in the next life was his true goal.

“Let’s test its power!”

With a single thought, a magnificent sword pill appeared at the center of Lü Yang’s brows, and in the next instant, his figure transformed into a stream of blood light, merging with the sword pill.

“Boom!”

Outside the Myriad Treasures Peak, the ground suddenly shook violently, and the previously bustling crowd swayed—several people directly toppled to the ground.

“What’s going on?”

“An Earth Dragon turning over? Impossible—with the True Persons suppressing the Earth Veins, how could an Earth Dragon possibly stir?”

The disciples all looked at one another in confusion.

Among them, a few with higher cultivation levels suddenly sensed something and instinctively turned toward a certain direction, astonishment gradually surfacing in their eyes.

“Look!”

“That’s—”

Everyone’s gaze turned as one.

Then they all saw a radiant streak shoot out from one of the furnace rooms like a rainbow piercing the sun, soaring into the firmament in the blink of an eye, stirring waves through the sea of clouds it passed.

Clang clang!

Clear sword cries echoed across the Nine Heavens.

A brilliant red light dyed the entire Myriad Treasures Peak in blood hue, mobilizing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth into a surging tidal wave!

Within such a storm of spiritual Qi, most disciples couldn’t even breathe, nearly suffocating!

“With such momentum—is that someone at the late stage of Qi Refining?”

One disciple revealed a look of envy: “That must be someone who’s already formed their Qi seed—only the final step of nurturing remains, and Foundation Establishment is in sight.”

“Who broke through just now?”

“I’ve seen senior brothers at the late stage of Qi Refining before, but none with such oppressive aura. That sword-light like a rainbow must also be an extraordinary magical tool!”

Meanwhile, above the sea of clouds.

Lü Yang, now a blood shadow, merged with the sword-light, his spiritual sense spreading in all directions.

Within a radius of ten li, he could see everything with utter clarity—like observing lines on his palm.

“Late stage of Qi Refining—true Qi settles in the dantian, forming a Qi seed, triggering the metamorphosis of essence, Qi, and spirit. If I still had a physical body, it would’ve gone through a qualitative leap—impervious to blades and spears would be the norm, and true Qi should have increased severalfold. Pity I’m now nothing but spiritual awareness…”

While Lü Yang was musing, his brows suddenly arched.

“Who’s there?”

Before his words finished, his sword responded to his will—scarlet light like a rainbow tore apart the sea of clouds, revealing the silhouette of a young and handsome man.

“Senior Brother, please don’t attack! Please don’t attack!”

The man shouted loudly, but Lü Yang paid him no mind.

The sword-light rushed forth—seeing this, the man hurriedly drew a small flag and planted it midair.

In the next instant, the flag fluttered and transformed into a pair of portal-like flag gates.

The man ducked into one flag gate, and once Lü Yang’s sword-light chased in, he emerged from the other gate and reached out with a wave.

The flag gates vanished, transforming back into a single small flag.

Lü Yang raised a brow, noticing that his split sword-light had been trapped in some unknown space and avoided by the other party.

“Interesting.”

Lü Yang grinned.

The sword pill at his brow trembled violently, like muffled thunder rolling across the sky.

In the blink of an eye, it split into dozens—hundreds—of sword-lights fanning out like a peacock spreading its tail.

Seeing this, the young man who had previously seemed smug now turned pale with alarm.

He hurriedly took out the small flag once more to protect himself and loudly said, “Senior Brother! I am Xiao Shiye—I came here just to make your acquaintance, I mean no harm! Please, Senior Brother, withdraw your divine ability!”

“Xiao Shiye?”

Lü Yang was briefly stunned when he heard the name.

Then the sword-lights that were about to erupt suddenly halted midair, reflecting a face drenched in cold sweat.

That predetermined dog-favored brat?

In the next moment, Lü Yang recalled the sword-light and reverted to human form, landing before Xiao Shiye and laughing heartily, “Junior Brother, don’t misunderstand—I was merely jesting just now!”

Xiao Shiye wiped the sweat from his forehead, secretly cursing.

He was sure Lü Yang had been about to go full-force.

Still, he put on a brilliant smile and offered politely, “Senior Brother, your divine powers are vast and boundless—Xiao here is truly in awe.

A small token, please don’t decline.”

With that, he casually handed the small flag over.

“How could I accept this…”

Lü Yang shook his head while smoothly accepting the flag.

Only then did he see the characters embroidered on its surface—“Void Escape,” stitched in gold thread.

“This treasure is called the Void Escape Flag.”

Xiao Shiye took the initiative to explain: “I picked it up from a mortal antique store before I joined the sect. At first, it seemed mundane—but after joining, I discovered it was a miraculous treasure.”

“The flag has two sides. When activated, it forms two flag gates—life and death.”

“Within the same realm, as long as you enter through the death gate and exit the life gate, no matter how grave the danger, you’ll always find a way out. Disasters won’t touch you.”

Lü Yang couldn’t help but twitch at the corners of his mouth after hearing this.

Such a miraculous treasure—Xiao Shiye had actually picked it up randomly at a mundane antique shop before even entering the sect?

Thinking of this, Lü Yang’s mind stirred, gathering his spiritual sense into his eyes.

With the increase in spiritual sense from reaching the late stage of Qi Refining, many wondrous uses became available.

The one Lü Yang used now was a mystical technique called “Qi Viewing Art.”

What he saw nearly made his eyes bulge.

In his vision, Xiao Shiye’s entire body—crane cloak, boots, robe, headpiece, even the belt around his waist—radiated with treasure light!

In terms of quality, they might not be inferior to his sword pill!

Even with Lü Yang’s current composure, he couldn’t help but feel a little off-balance.

After all, he had spent months and a fortune forging his magical tool.

Meanwhile, Xiao Shiye seemed to have priceless treasures as common as cabbage—who wouldn’t be jealous?

“This man’s fortune is astonishing.”

If before Lü Yang thought Xiao Shiye’s big win in the Merit Pool had been rigged, now he was beginning to reconsider.

Could it be that he was actually just lucky?

As this thought took root, Lü Yang’s expression turned increasingly strange.

With fortune this strong, tagging along with him would practically guarantee all sorts of opportunities.

And his cultivation wasn’t high—making it easy to take advantage of him.

This Xiao Shiye… might actually be quite the talent!