Chapter 43: Blood Garment Tower Master
The invasion by the Divine Martial Sect ended abruptly.
With Ouyang Haoze's death, Wu Zhichong and Duanmu Yuan didn't dare to linger; they turned and fled without a word, as if a monstrous flood was behind them.
In stark contrast to the Divine Martial Sect's panicked retreat, the market was filled with joy and excitement.
After all, following this battle, the Skeleton Mountain market had become impregnable.
As long as a Foundation Establishment cultivator didn't intervene, the Divine Martial Sect would find it hard to shake this turtle shell.
As for the corpse tide, it was merely a minor ailment, not worth mentioning.
In short, it was safe!
A safe market would inevitably become a financial hub; it was foreseeable that future transactions here would be more frequent, and opportunities to make money would increase.
Good days were ahead!
However, the bustle belonged to others; Lü Yang only found them noisy.
At this moment, he was still immersed in the lingering fear from earlier, unable to recover for a long time.
For a long time, or rather since Xiao Shiye was lured away by Daoist Hong Yun, Foundation Establishment cultivators had become an inescapable shadow in Lü Yang's heart.
When he realized that another Foundation Establishment cultivator might be plotting against him, the joy of just killing Ouyang Haoze vanished instantly.
Instinctively, he grasped the "Innate Primordial True Divine Talisman" around his neck.
After ensuring it was still functioning, his anxious heart slightly calmed.
"The divine talisman is still operating, indicating that the other party can't calculate me."
That said, the Innate Primordial True Qi Divine Talisman's effect had its limits.
Strictly speaking, it didn't sever causality but obscured it, overlaying a layer of false causal lines on Lü Yang to achieve protection.
After all, completely severing causality would be too conspicuous.
Therefore, when a Foundation Establishment cultivator tried to deduce him, they wouldn't get no result but would derive a flawless yet entirely false outcome.
The advantage of this approach was greater concealment; the downside was the inability to completely block the influence from Foundation Establishment cultivators.
Thinking of this, Lü Yang had an answer in his heart: "So, the other party wasn't specifically targeting me but inadvertently involved me?"
In this way, the matter of the Mysterious Female Taiyin Treasure Jade could also be explained.
It wasn't that he had a stroke of luck, but someone deliberately delivered this item to him, aiming to use him to achieve some unspeakable purpose.
"What purpose?"
Lü Yang's gaze shifted to Ouyang Haoze's corpse.
He then waved the Myriad Spirits Banner, drawing the bisected corpse over.
Perhaps he could glean some clues from this person.
Moreover, as a true disciple of the Divine Martial Sect, Ouyang Haoze's collection must be substantial!
Soon, Ouyang Haoze's corpse was refined into the Myriad Spirits Banner.
Unfortunately, since the body was split in two, the extracted true spirit wasn't complete.
The Myriad Spirits Banner recorded banner spirits.
Whether it could maintain the banner spirit's combat power, memory, and consciousness from life generally depended on the body's completeness.
The better preserved the body, the closer the banner spirit would be to its state in life, like Liu Xin.
As for Ouyang Haoze, Lü Yang barely preserved seventy percent of his former state.
Even so, he still learned many secrets.
"So this was the Divine Martial Sect's true objective."
"Within Skeleton Mountain lies a secret realm left by the ancient Witch Ghost Path. The yin energy in the earth veins beneath Skeleton Mountain leaks from that secret realm."
"The Divine Martial Sect wanted to monopolize the secret realm, hence their plan to remove the Primordial Saint Sect's market here."
"This is indeed valuable information.
If reported back to the Primordial Saint Sect, it would surely earn considerable contribution points, and the sect would send reinforcements."
"Although monopolizing this information would yield greater benefits, why should I monopolize it?"
"After all, I don't intend to explore that Witch Ghost secret realm. It's better to hand it over to the sect, earn some contribution points steadily, and watch others fight to the death!"
With this thought, Lü Yang felt more at ease.
Knowing that Skeleton Mountain was now under the covert scheming of Foundation Establishment cultivators, he was more determined to stay hidden in the market and not venture out.
Next, Lü Yang began to handle Ouyang Haoze's belongings.
However, just as he picked up Ouyang Haoze's storage pouch, a round mirror trembled and floated over, affectionately rubbing against his hand.
It was the Taiwei Mirror.
This spiritual treasure behaved like a diligent little dog, circling Lü Yang and even hopping twice, its actions full of loyalty.
"Are you switching allegiance?"
Lü Yang was somewhat surprised.
To be honest, such a pure yang spiritual treasure actually choosing to follow a demonic cultivator like him indicated that Ouyang Haoze had truly hurt it deeply.
Seeing that Lü Yang's attention was finally on it, the Taiwei Mirror first reflected the storage pouch in Lü Yang's hand, then shook left and right.
Immediately, a voice sounded in Lü Yang's mind, carrying a childish tone, like a newborn who had just learned to speak:
"They are not acceptable!"
Then, the Taiwei Mirror emitted a strong light, shook up and down, and its voice changed, filled with innate pride and confidence:
"I am acceptable!"
It was recommending itself.
Lü Yang's eyes grew increasingly astonished.
Although he had long known that spiritual treasures possessed their own intelligence and were incredibly mysterious, this was his first time witnessing it.
"Very well, let's use you for now."
Lü Yang reached out, and the Taiwei Mirror immediately descended voluntarily.
With its cooperation, he quickly mastered every aspect of this spiritual treasure.
"Excellent! Truly a fine treasure!"
Lü Yang's face was full of joy; the reputation of spiritual treasures was well-deserved!
It was well-known that achieving the peak of Qi Refining involved nurturing the internal qi seed to its limit, thereby transforming into a "Perfect True Qi" cultivator.
Continuing translation despite the timeout error—here's the next part:
For example, his 『Nine Transformations Dragon Art』 would transform into a “True Dragon Fiend” upon reaching the peak of Qi Refining.
In other words, Perfect True Qi was the mark of Qi Refining completion, and also the most powerful means to suppress all those below the peak.
Yet this Taiwei Mirror, as a spiritual treasure, actually innately possessed a strand of Perfect True Qi, named “Taiwei Wind and Thunder Qi”!
In other words, as long as one wielded this treasure, even with only first-layer Qi Refining cultivation, one could match the might of a Qi Refining peak cultivator while using it.
“But this spiritual treasure still has quite a few restrictions inside…”
Lü Yang examined the Taiwei Mirror.
A treasure, to be truly usable, must not be limited—even among righteous sects, this was no exception.
Inside the Taiwei Mirror remained numerous restrictions that controlled its movement.
If it were used in front of Divine Martial Sect disciples, they might only need to make a hand seal for the mirror to fly back on its own.
This wasn’t about the mirror’s own will, but the hidden backdoor left by the one who refined it.
“A treasure like this, if I can’t use it, that’d be a real loss.”
Lü Yang pondered for a moment, then his eyes lit up.
Though his current formation skill wasn’t yet enough to break the mirror’s internal restrictions, there was a workaround.
In the next moment, he shook the Myriad Spirits Banner and summoned Ouyang Haoze once again.
Then he refined Ouyang Haoze into a strand of “Innate True Qi,” and injected it into the Taiwei Mirror.
He would use Ouyang Haoze to control the mirror from within, bypassing its internal restrictions.
Boom!
In an instant, the Taiwei Mirror in Lü Yang’s hand burst forth with dazzling radiance.
Within the light echoed the sound of wind and thunder—the power clearly reached the Qi Refining peak!
“…It really works!”
Lü Yang laughed heartily, then suspended the Taiwei Mirror behind his head.
In that moment, even the light it emitted turned crimson, stained with his own color.
“Not bad! Not bad!”
Lü Yang laughed again, then put the Taiwei Mirror away and opened Ouyang Haoze’s storage pouch.
Instantly, a surge of spiritual energy made him squint slightly.
Inside was a massive pile of spirit stones!
In addition, there were various precious pills, magical tools, and materials.
Lü Yang made a rough estimate—selling all this to the sect would fetch at least thirty thousand contribution points.
“Truly a massive haul… what a shame there won’t be another chance like this.”
After all, with Ouyang Haoze’s demise as precedent, no one below Foundation Establishment would dare charge into the formation again.
‘Once the news of the Witch Ghost Secret Realm spreads, Skeleton Mountain will be drenched in blood again… There must be Foundation Establishment cultivators scheming behind this.’
‘But as long as I don’t go out and get involved… unless they strike personally, what can they do to me?’
Lü Yang solidified his resolve.
He packed everything up, dispelled the formation, and flew back to the market, landing on the tower of the Blood Garment Tower.
From this day on, Skeleton Mountain fell into an eerie calm.
The Divine Martial Sect sent more reinforcements. The Primordial Saint Sect's support followed one after another.
But on the surface, nothing stirred—only undercurrents surged in the shadows.
Under such circumstances, Lü Yang’s story inexplicably spread far and wide.
Ten years ago, he joined the sect as a mortal. He earned big by flipping Substitute Death Yin Puppets, then broke through to late-stage Qi Refining in seclusion.
As an array master, he then killed a true disciple of the Divine Martial Sect.
Such an inspiring underdog tale of reaching the Qi Refining peak invigorated the common disciples of the sect like a shot of adrenaline.
Gradually, out of awe and reverence, people stopped calling him by name.
Instead, he came to be known by another title:
‘Blood Garment Tower Master’!