Chapter 25: A Shocking Stroke of Luck

The exploding treasure light was like a colossal tidal wave, instantly tearing through the formation laid by Fairy Qingchen and subsequently drowning Lu Yang, Liu Xin, and Chen Xin'an.

Liu Xin was the first to scream. To deal with Lu Yang, he had summoned spirit banners one after another, and finally calling upon Chen Xin'an had consumed more than half of his true qi. At this moment, he was utterly powerless to resist the impact of the explosion; his body was instantly ignited and then reduced to ashes, the Myriad Spirit Banner falling helplessly through the air.

"As expected of a disciple of my Sacred Sect..."

With Liu Xin's death, although Chen Xin'an still had enough strength to sustain himself, he could no longer maintain his existence. He could only let out a long sigh before scattering with the wind.

As for Lu Yang, he was directly swallowed by the treasure light, vanishing into nothingness.

After a good while, the boiling treasure light gradually subsided, revealing the figure of Xiao Shiye, his face etched with intense ecstasy.

"I won!"

Xiao Shiye laughed wildly with excitement. After all, while self-detonating a spiritual treasure was his trump card, it came with many limitations and was very easy to dodge.

To use this move to kill an enemy, one first needed to restrict the battlefield to ensure a hit.

Secondly, the power of the explosion could not be concentrated; while the range was large, it was too dispersed, so the enemy had to be worn down to a certain extent to ensure a single-strike kill.

Finally, spiritual treasures possessed self-awareness and might refuse to self-detonate.

"Fortunately, luck is still on my side."

Xiao Shiye felt that ever since joining the Primordial Sacred Sect, his luck had been nothing short of miraculous; he got everything he wanted, and whatever he did seemed aided by the gods.

When trading Substitute Yin Puppets, his luck was so good that he sold at the peak, making hundreds of thousands of contribution points in pure profit.

A casual trip to the mortal realm allowed him to easily pick up treasures left behind by predecessors.

When being hunted, he just happened to encounter Lu Yang to serve as a shield.

No matter what kind of crisis he encountered, the result was always that he escaped unscathed, through a series of coincidences, ultimately gaining the most benefits without a scratch.

"What a fine Myriad Spirit Banner. From now on, it belongs to me..."

Just as Xiao Shiye was about to step forward to claim the treasure, a figure wreathed in blood light appeared beside him almost simultaneously, reaching out to grab the banner as well.

Seeing this, Xiao Shiye froze instantly, and then his entire body began to tremble.

"What, Brother Xiao wants this treasure too?"

The blood shadow fluctuated before slowly manifesting Lu Yang's face. He turned toward Xiao Shiye and grinned, causing the latter's massive frame to shudder violently.

Are you a man or a ghost?

Xiao Shiye's face turned deathly pale. Looking at the Blood-Transforming Divine Light swirling around Lu Yang, the various figures he had previously sucked dry like husks flashed through his mind.

In the next second, he hurriedly released his grip on the Myriad Spirit Banner and bowed respectfully.

"Congratulations, Senior Brother. This is the Myriad Spirit Banner that Junior Brother was keeping safe for you. Now, it is returned to its rightful owner!"

"You are thoughtful."

Lu Yang smiled as he took the "Primordial One Qi Myriad Spirit Banner." He examined it for a moment, injected his magic power, and then poured out two storage bags from within.

These were the storage bags of Liu Xin and Fairy Qingchen.

Opening the storage bags, a copy of the *Primordial Dao Book* was prominently displayed, along with a *Secret Explanation of Array Treasures*, clearly belonging to Fairy Qingchen.

"These are all good things..."

Lu Yang sighed with emotion, firmly memorizing the contents of the two Dao books, then looked toward Xiao Shiye, who was stepping backward one pace at a time, trying to put distance between them.

In all fairness, Xiao Shiye's killing move was indeed unexpected.

A spiritual treasure self-detonation could kill even someone at the Great Perfection of Qi Refinement; theoretically, it was a certain kill, yet Lu Yang was the exception to the exception.

This was because he had cultivated the Heaven Demon Blood-Transforming Divine Light.

Transformed into a blood shadow, he was currently merely a human shape; he had form but no substance, his true spirit being entirely anchored to his Sword Pill. As long as the Sword Pill remained intact, he would not die.

Facing Xiao Shiye's spiritual treasure self-detonation, the Sword Pill forged from Golden Essence and Jade Marrow was far more durable than mere flesh and blood. Although he wasn't entirely unscathed, he ultimately did not vanish into ash. Thus, once the explosion passed, Lu Yang was able to reform, reaping the greatest benefit.

Thinking of this, Lu Yang found Xiao Shiye quite pleasing to the eye.

He really hadn't misjudged the man; this Xiao Shiye was truly a talent! Without him, how could he have achieved such bountiful gains?

"I truly thank Junior Brother Xiao for this."

"To show my gratitude, Senior Brother shall send you on your way."

Lu Yang chuckled softly. With a wave of his hand, a streak of blood light fell upon Xiao Shiye. Before the man could even speak, he was sucked dry into a husk.

Leaving this person alive would be too great a risk.

With such high luck, what if he rose to power later and came back for revenge? It was better to end it here and pull the weeds out by the roots.

"But he actually died just like that?" Looking at Xiao Shiye's corpse, Lu Yang rubbed his chin with some surprise. "With luck like a Child of Destiny, shouldn't a benefactor have appeared at this moment to stop me? And here I was, prepared for a struggle. I didn't expect it to be so easy..."

At this thought, Lu Yang's heart stirred, and he once again used his Qi-Observing Technique on Xiao Shiye.

A bizarre scene unfolded.

When he had looked at Xiao Shiye before, his treasure light had soared to the heavens, a sign of supreme fortune. But looking now, all the treasure light had vanished into thin air.

Watching this, an inexplicable thought arose in Lu Yang's mind

This man's luck has been exhausted.

"Sigh..."

In the next second, a sigh suddenly rang out.

Lu Yang looked up toward the sky, his expression freezing at the very moment shock was about to surface; all his thoughts and ideas were frozen in that instant.

At some unknown point, a figure had appeared before Xiao Shiye's corpse.

The person wore a crane cloak, a smile playing on his lips, and lightly swayed a feather fan. He looked elegant and dashing, appearing at first glance to be merely a handsome scholar out for a spring stroll.

However, with his appearance, the entire world seemed to lose its color. Only the place where he stood became the center of all things, concentrating all the blessings, wealth, and even luck of heaven and earth. He was the darling of the heavens, making one feel an involuntary surge of jealousy and resentment.

"Is this all the harvest?"

The newcomer reached out a hand, and the *Primordial Dao Book* that Lu Yang had just collected, along with the Primordial One Qi Myriad Spirit Banner, flew out of the storage bag and landed in his hand.

Just then, a voice abruptly drifted over: "Hong Yun, you have emerged from seclusion?"

The Daoist named "Hong Yun" looked up upon hearing this, seemingly making eye contact with someone, and chuckled softly, "It couldn't be helped. Who told the person I chose to die so suddenly?"

The voice also sounded somewhat surprised: "Dead? Your person could actually die? What happened?"

"It is laughable, really. It was due to poor timing."

"I gave him so much fortune with the intention of having him fish that colorful fish from the Merit Pool, but there were too many variables, causing his luck to be exhausted prematurely."

"When luck is exhausted, death naturally comes knocking."

Having said that, the Daoist Hong Yun weighed the *Primordial Dao Book* in his hand, shook his head, and put it away. He then looked toward Lu Yang.

"This one, however, is quite interesting..."

Hong Yun performed a finger divination, and the smile on his lips grew wider. "This person is a massive variable. The recent turmoil regarding the Substitute Yin Puppets seems to be related to him."

"Hmm, his background is clean and beyond reproach, but why would a mortal have the cultivation of the fourth level of Qi Refinement right at the start? Deliberately hiding it... it seems he was a rogue cultivator who found a master. That's fine—wait, no, he learned the Divine Firmament Sword-Control True Formula before entering the sect? Could he be a spy from the Jade Pivot Sword Pavilion?"

The more Hong Yun deduced, the greater the interest in his eyes.

Aside from the Book of a Hundred Lifetimes, all of Lu Yang's secrets were deduced by Hong Yun through the calculation of karma, peeled away like layers of an onion. It wasn't until the end that he frowned

"...He cultivated the Heaven Demon Blood-Transforming Divine Light?"

In the next second, the interest in Hong Yun's eyes vanished rapidly, replaced by an expression of "bad luck."

Transforming the body into a blood shadow meant his path to immortality was severed. Such a cultivator was naturally not worth his further energy, nor was he worthy of the title "Child of Destiny."

"A pity about that colorful fish in the Merit Pool. Since I didn't catch it this time, it seems I'll have to wait for next time."

Hong Yun withdrew his gaze and took a step forward. Like an angler who had run out of bait and had to leave empty-handed, he quickly vanished without a trace.

Leaving Lu Yang standing there alone.

Sweat poured off him like rain.

(End of Chapter)