Chapter 83: A Pleasant Cooperation

Inside the cave dwelling, as Lü Yang’s voice fell, the Mending Heaven Peak Master seemed to finally take this audacious junior seriously and suddenly let out a light chuckle.

“You’re quite good. Are you interested in becoming my son-in-law?”

Lü Yang raised his eyebrows upon hearing this. “I recall, Senior already has a son-in-law.”

“Xu He’s Panlong inheritance was taken by you, and I want the successor of Panlong to be my son-in-law. As for who the successor is, I don’t care.”

The Mending Heaven Peak Master didn’t mind at all and said with a smile, “Your proposal is interesting, but it also exposed your strength. Seems like there’s no Foundation Establishment True Person backing you. How about this? As long as you become my son-in-law, you and I will be family from now on. At that time, I might as well lend you a hand.”

Before his words even finished, the Mending Heaven Peak Master waved his large hand.

In an instant, the world spun, and Lü Yang found that his surroundings had suddenly changed.

Overhead was the bright moon and starry sky. He had actually arrived at the peak of Mending Heaven Peak!

“Qian’er, come out.”

As the Peak Master’s voice fell, Lü Yang saw a flash of divine light.

From within the light stepped out a graceful woman with stunning beauty and a cinnabar mark on her forehead.

“Father, another one?”

The woman was originally somewhat lazy, but upon seeing Yu Suzhen, she froze. “Father, I don’t mind, but if it’s a girl, it’s a bit…”

“You… I told you to cultivate properly in daily life. If you had already mastered the divine ability I taught you, wouldn’t you be able to see through the secrets of this girl?”

The Mending Heaven Peak Master gave the woman a helpless look.

Then, with a shift of his divine sense, he directly projected the full context of events into the woman’s sea of consciousness.

Only then did he turn to look at Lü Yang again.

“This is my daughter, Chen Shuqian. She cultivates the 『Six Paths Nirvana Phoenix Art』. You cultivate the 『Nine Transformations Dragon Art』. The two of you are a match made by the heavens.”

“If the two of you dual cultivate, the fusion of six and nine would be equivalent to a Foundation Establishment spiritual treasure!”

Upon hearing this, Lü Yang did not respond immediately but instead fell into deep thought.

Objectively speaking, the condition proposed by the Mending Heaven Peak Master was quite tempting.

At first glance, if he agreed, it could indeed be a fortuitous encounter for both of them.

However, this was the Saint Sect.

How could there be anything truly without strings attached in the Saint Sect?

But in the end, he still nodded happily. “Mutual benefit. This junior can agree to this matter, but it must wait until I’m attempting Foundation Establishment.”

“Naturally.” The Mending Heaven Peak Master laughed heartily. “After all, the higher your cultivation, the better the dual cultivation effect with my daughter.

As for Hong Yun’s scheme, I can help you once. Don’t worry—so long as I shield your heavenly fate, I guarantee he won’t catch anything with this bait of his!”

“Then many thanks to the Senior.”

Lü Yang cupped his hands. “Pleasure doing business?”

The Mending Heaven Peak Master grinned. “Pleasure doing business.”

As his voice fell, Lü Yang promptly withdrew his consciousness.

After he left, the Mending Heaven Peak Master waved his hand and returned Yu Suzhen to her cave dwelling.

As for everything that had just happened, she naturally had no knowledge of it.

All relevant memories had been casually wiped by the Mending Heaven Peak Master.

Only then did the Peak Master’s daughter, Chen Shuqian, open her eyes and speak softly. “Father, this man is ambitious like a wolf. Are you really going to cooperate with him?”

At this moment, the Mending Heaven Peak Master also retracted his smile and sneered coldly. “Ambitious like a wolf? That’s perfect! Which disciple of the Saint Sect isn’t like that? As for cooperation... I just said that to stabilize him, to keep him from turning into a frightened bird and fleeing beyond my reach.”

Chen Shuqian asked curiously, “So Father isn’t going to help him?”

“No, I intend to help him.”

The Mending Heaven Peak Master shook his head. “Hong Yun’s current state is far from ideal, otherwise he wouldn’t have to fish for fate in the Saint Sect every once in a while.”

“If not for that, that fellow Chong Guang wouldn’t have dared to covet the ‘Overturning Lamp Flame’ either.”

“Under these circumstances, if I make a move and cause Hong Yun to fail in his attempt, weakening his fortune, I can sell Chong Guang a favor.”

“Why not?”

“What’s more, if this person truly intends to use the technique of Stealing Heaven’s Secrets to pull off a Heaven-swapping deception, I can use the connection in fate to locate his true body.”

“This person was able to briefly block me on the Net of Karma earlier. He must be someone of a high level. His potential is far better than Zhao Xuhe. Once I locate his true body and capture him, you can use the 『Mending Heaven True Classic』 to squeeze him dry. That would increase your chance of Foundation Establishment by at least thirty percent!”

In his words, Lü Yang was already treated as meat on the chopping block.

But Chen Shuqian still seemed somewhat worried. “But my brother is still in his hands...”

“Don’t worry.” The Mending Heaven Peak Master said indifferently, “As long as Xin’an appears within my field of vision, nothing will go wrong. Even if he’s scattered in soul and spirit, I can still reassemble him!”

“That old bastard clearly has bad intentions!”

Outside the Witch Ghost Secret Realm, Lü Yang opened his eyes, his gaze cold and sharp.

“He definitely harbors malicious intent, trying to uncover my true body and turn me into a cauldron for his daughter.”

“As for Chen Xin’an, he’s not reliable either.”

“After all, that’s one of the Peak Masters of the Saint Sect. Even among Foundation Establishment True Persons, he’s a top figure. Can someone like that really care about familial ties?”

Thinking of this, Lü Yang couldn’t help scratching his head.

This was just too hard.

Compared to him, how did others even manage to reach Foundation Establishment?

Could it be they just casually gathered a divine ability, a Foundation Establishment spiritual item, a Foundation Establishment secret art, and then gambled their lives on a thirty percent chance?

“Unfortunately… At this point, I have no choice but to gamble too.”

Lü Yang’s gaze shifted toward the Witch Ghost Secret Realm before him.

Although he was hiding quite well now, it was obvious he couldn’t hide forever.

“Moreover, the technique of Stealing Heaven’s Secrets was originally created by the Mending Heaven Peak Master. If I activate it to drain Yu Suzhen, it’s very likely he’ll follow the trail and find me. At that time, only the Witch Ghost Secret Realm might offer a sliver of hope. Maybe I could even strike him hard with the Gold Core Sword Qi...”

With the Gold Core Sword Qi, the Witch Ghost Secret Realm was Lü Yang’s natural haven.

As long as he hid inside, even if discovered, neither the Mending Heaven Peak Master nor Daoist Hong Yun might dare enter.

Then, he could calmly cultivate inside the secret realm, gather the 【Underworld Lord Xuanming's Ghost-Controlling Position】, complete the 『Thought-Severing Heaven-Seeing Silkworm Secret』, and achieve Corpse Dissolution Immortal.

At worst, he could still charge at Foundation Establishment with sixty percent success probability!

As for the rule that the Witch Ghost Secret Realm allowed entry but not exit, it didn’t matter to him.

So long as he could reach Foundation Establishment, at worst, he could just commit suicide and start over.

If there was one thing that concerned him, it was the instability of the Gold Core Sword Qi ticking like a time bomb.

After all, based on his experience in his past life, this Gold Core Sword Qi would eventually slaughter the entire Witch Ghost Secret Realm.

Lü Yang didn’t know the reason behind it.

“The answer to this question might lie with the Tingyou Sect.”

Lü Yang recalled the ancestral statue of the Tingyou Sect he had once seen and pondered.

“That Tingyou Ancestor was likely a Foundation Establishment survivor from the Witch Ghost Path.”

“Could it be he did something that triggered the Gold Core Sword Qi to purge the secret realm?”

The more Lü Yang thought, the more solemn his expression became.

“Looks like if I want to develop safely inside the secret realm, I have to first resolve the issue of the Tingyou Sect. Otherwise, I’ll end up dead by the Gold Core Sword Qi sooner or later.”

At this point, Lü Yang finally made up his mind.

Enter the secret realm with his true body!

Take the gamble!