Chapter 361 : The Great Investigation

Chapter 361: The Great Investigation

Jade Pivot Sword Pavilion, Extreme Heaven Cliff.

Lü Yang’s avatar exhaled a turbid breath, looked inward, and gazed toward the Foundation Establishment Realm. Within it, a flying sword shimmered brilliantly under the force of Bì Wind.

【Eternal Observation, Sword of Gold Enforcement Foundation】!

This sword foundation was no inferior to the 【Ten Thousand Chariots Dragon Riding Dao Foundation】, and the condensed innate divine ability was called 【Brilliant Union with the Eternal, Upright Enforcement of the Sword of Gold】.

Beneath it lay four arcane mysteries:

【Heaven Execution】, 【Truth Slaughter】,

【Mind Entrapment】, and 【Certain Death】!

"Something’s not right."

Sensing the divine name transmitted by the Dao Foundation, Lü Yang fell into deep thought—because the characters "Brilliant Union" had been part of the Daoist title bestowed upon him by the Daoist Dangmo.

Why would it appear in the name of his divine ability?

“...Unless this Dao Foundation, and even its divine abilities, have already been 【officially recorded】! The incense offering at the Hall of Reception probably wasn’t just a ceremonial gesture!”

Lü Yang felt a chill in his heart, but he couldn't help feeling a bit lucky. He had come at the right time. Had it been during the era when the True Sovereigns still held power in the world, he wouldn’t even have been able to play the game. Just the name of this divine ability would have kept him awake at night. Now, with the True Sovereigns in seclusion, there was at least some room to maneuver.

"The four arcane mysteries of this innate divine ability each have their own strengths."

Lü Yang carefully sensed them, sword glints flickering within his eyes.

"【Heaven Execution】 focuses on slaughter. One strike severs all—no matter what divine powers or transformations you possess, if you’re struck, you’re done."

"【Truth Slaughter】 is the art of splitting and combining sword light."

"When the sword light manifests, it splits into thousands, infiltrating every corner, penetrating the enemy’s body. Once inside, they recombine and can be slashed outward again—truly insidious and venomous."

"【Mind Entrapment】 is a technique to entangle the enemy."

"With just a sweep of divine power, it traps the enemy in a mysterious space, where a duel of techniques ensues."

"If one loses, it turns into illusion, merely a simulation without harm to oneself. But if one wins, illusion turns into reality, and the enemy dies instantly."

"Moreover, under this divine veil, the sword wielder can repeatedly test strategies, experimenting in countless ways until discovering the opponent’s trump card—then one strike takes their life. The only drawback is that each failure consumes a large amount of spiritual power, so only those with deep reserves should use it."

"The final one, 【Certain Death】, is a mutual destruction sword."

"As the name suggests, once this arcane mystery is activated, the user slays themselves before the enemy, cutting off their own fate. Though their body remains unharmed, their life ends instantly."

In Lü Yang’s hand, the sword light circled, divine radiance gleaming in four hues.

Aside from that, Lü Yang had also condensed two 【Sword Divine Abilities】 using his sword case, but those were purely enhancements for the innate divine ability’s mysteries.

Apart from increasing status, they had no special properties.

"Most likely because the 【Fruit of the Sword Path】 hasn’t truly been validated yet, so there's no mystical augmentation—only bricks added to the foundation."

Pushing open the door, Lü Yang strolled out of his cave dwelling, assessing his own combat strength:

‘No wonder the sword cultivators of the Jade Pivot Sword Pavilion are reputed to be peerless in magical combat. These four arcane mysteries alone are well-rounded both in numbers and mechanics—truly difficult to counter in battle.’

"Not to mention above this, there’s also 【Sword Intent】."

Lü Yang was still musing when—

Suddenly, a flying message talisman dropped from the sky, clearly intended for him. He took it, scanned it with his divine sense, and immediately showed a hint of surprise.

The next moment, he transformed into sword light and flew to the top of Extreme Heaven Cliff.

This place had previously been the secluded cultivation site of 【True Sovereign of Upholding Heaven and Virtuous Conduct】, but now that the sovereign had gone into seclusion, the one seated there was Daoist Dangmo.

“Greetings, Master!”

Without hesitation, Lü Yang offered a sword salute.

Daoist Dangmo glanced at him, then said calmly, “At this stage of cultivation, the roots of your past life are no longer much help.”

“Go and enter the world.”

“For us sword cultivators, shutting oneself away is not the way. To temper a sword heart, one must undergo many bloody battles, forging a path from life and death.”

Though Daoist Dangmo spoke vaguely, Lü Yang understood well—sword cultivators refined their sword divine abilities through slaughter and duels. The Sword Pavilion still maintained its usual refined wording—calling it ‘entering the world’—but it essentially meant finding a place for a massacre.

As he finished speaking, Daoist Dangmo pulled out a jade slip.

“Recently, major sects and clans in Jiangnan have reported that the Southern Border’s Myriad Venom Cult has been secretly abducting civilians there to use as materials for Gu refinement. Go and investigate.”

At this, a trace of killing intent surged in Daoist Dangmo’s expression:

“If this is true, report back to me immediately.”

Lü Yang respectfully received the jade slip. “Disciple obeys!”

After Lü Yang departed, a figure appeared at the cliff—none other than Ye Cheng, the Ye Family True Person who had met Lü Yang before. Watching Lü Yang’s silhouette fade away:

‘This one has some luck after all!’

This Ye family direct descendant mused: ‘Originally, I had the Myriad Venom Cult’s mole switch his Foundation Establishment spiritual item. With his accumulated karma and misfortunes, he was surely doomed to suffer a sudden disaster and fail in his foundation. But unexpectedly, his background is formidable enough to pull through.’

‘A pity... If not for my senior uncle’s stubbornness, I wouldn’t have had to act in secret.’

Looking back at the cliff top, Ye Cheng shook his head: ‘Though our Sword Pavilion is the leader of the righteous path, acting with proper justification, why waste time investigating mere commoners?’

Commoners were insignificant, easily replaced under the cycle of heaven and earth. Their sheer numbers made them tedious to investigate, costing energy and resources.

And what if something was truly discovered?

‘Wouldn’t it be simpler to let a Sword Seed die at the hands of the Myriad Venom Cult?’

‘That man killed Xingfeng in his past life, and yet my Ye Family bore no grudge, even accepting him as a disciple. Now it’s time for him to pay back that karma.’

That was why he had devised a scheme—waiting for Lü Yang to fail in Foundation Establishment, and then shift the blame to the Myriad Venom Cult, gaining just cause for retribution.

‘Righteous-Demonic War, a Sword Seed slain.’

‘Our Sword Pavilion avenges its disciple and purges evil—such a simple method, and yet Senior Uncle refused it.’

“Forget it, I must act myself to ease his burden.”

With that, Ye Cheng flicked his finger, sending out a flying message talisman.

Meanwhile, outside Extreme Heaven Cliff in the Sword Pavilion—

A disciple at the late stage of Qi Refining suddenly looked up, catching the talisman from the sky. He hurried to a quiet chamber and began reading.

‘The Sword Pavilion… is making a move against the Holy Cult?’

‘Not good!’

His expression shifted rapidly. Taking a deep breath, he plunged his consciousness into his dantian, where a small worm coiled.

This was the 【Thousand-Mile Heart-Linked Gu】.

The Myriad Venom Cult practiced Gu as its foundation. Every cultivator refined several kinds of Gu insects as substitutes for magical tools—each with unique powers.

As its name implied, the 【Thousand-Mile Heart-Linked Gu】 consisted of a parent and child Gu, allowing messages to be transmitted from the child to the parent.

After this operation, even before Lü Yang left the Sword Pavilion, the news of his journey to the Southern Border had already reached the Myriad Venom Cult.