Chapter 491 : This Cursed Place, Truly a Land of Heroes and Spirits!
Chapter 491: This Cursed Place, Truly a Land of Heroes and Spirits!
‘This 【Ang Xiao】, I’ve tried so hard already, why won’t you just die!’
Lü Yang sighed, yet he couldn’t help but feel admiration.
In this world, no one is ever just an NPC. Everyone is the protagonist of their own story. Different environments and different experiences give rise to endless variations.
【Ang Xiao】 was no exception.
Even though he relied on ten lifetimes of accumulation, had almost hollowed out all of 【Ang Xiao】’s intelligence, and even set up a trap using that—【Ang Xiao】still didn’t just sit around waiting to die.
He was also trying to break the formation!
And it had to be admitted, he succeeded. 【Boundless Heaven】 had only just emerged and hadn’t yet spread. This timing couldn’t compel a True Lord to go into hiding.
‘If I had just one more year... no, just half a year. Half a year would be enough for 【Boundless Heaven】 to expand. By then, even if 【Ang Xiao】 had more trump cards, I could have forcibly pushed him into seclusion. All of his schemes would’ve been for nothing, and in the end, he would’ve obediently been caught by me using the False 【Overturning Lamp Fire】.’
Unfortunately, 【Ang Xiao】 hadn’t followed his plan.
‘This cursed place, truly is a land where heroes and spirits abound. No matter how many times I restart, it always surprises me... just like this time, what a spectacle.’
After a brief moment of regret, there was no trace of defeat on Lü Yang’s face—rather, he smiled:
‘Plans never keep up with changes. So be it! It’s nothing more than countering each move as it comes. Let me see what you’re trying to do, and to what extent you can really pull it off.’
With this thought, Lü Yang once again strained his eyes, peering into the distance.
Overseas, 【Ang Xiao】 stood with hands behind his back, floating in midair.
The Pure Land was just the beginning. As he no longer suppressed his aura, the second to arrive was True Lord Qingcheng Feixue. Her vast divine sense locked onto him in an instant.
“It really is you!”
The next second, a graceful figure strode forth with long legs, shattering the void with each step. Beneath the elegant smile of a classical noblewoman was a surge of intense anger.
【Ang Xiao】 wasn’t surprised by the sight. He had done quite a bit of private research on this True Lord, the next pillar of the Holy Sect after himself. He knew well her vengeful nature. But he also had his own pride.
Right now, he still didn’t regard Feixue as worthy of attention.
“That’s all there is to it.”
【Ang Xiao】 scanned his surroundings, looking toward the direction of the Four Seas Sect. He was waiting. If his guess wasn’t wrong, that mysterious Foundation Establishment cultivator should be connected to the Old Dragon Monarch.
Meanwhile, within the Four Seas Sect—
“What the hell! Why are you looking at me?”
Sensing 【Ang Xiao】’s gaze, the Old Dragon Monarch, with his long-honed survival instincts, immediately shrank back, showing no interest in the chaos outside.
After all, what business did a dragon have meddling in fights among human cultivators?
Ever since the great change, the only reason he and the True Dragon Clan had survived was because he never stuck his snout where it didn’t belong. Meddling would only get a dragon killed.
Such a reaction caught 【Ang Xiao】 off guard. “No way? I guessed wrong?”
For a moment, thoughts raced through 【Ang Xiao】’s mind, but he quickly regained calm: Since he had already gone all-in, then he would meet each attack as it came.
‘Forget it. I’ll walk my path.’
With that, 【Ang Xiao】 no longer hesitated. His true body in the Netherworld slowly raised a hand, drawing the lit-up fruit position of 【Sand Within the Earth】 toward the Netherworld!
However, the next second, True Lord Qingcheng Feixue acted first. Her red lips parted, uttering a Dao sound.
With a single shout, her voice thundered across the four realms:
“【Ang Xiao】!!!”
That name rang out, exposing his true identity. The 【Obstruction of Knowledge and View】 that had blanketed the world immediately wavered, and many Golden Core True Lords revealed stunned expressions.
“Ang Xiao... that’s right, Ang Xiao!”
“What did he do?”
‘That aura... Fruitional Rank late-stage Golden Core!?’
“The only one to confirm a Supreme Fruitional Rank after the Great Change of Great Forest Wood, and I actually didn’t remember him? The Obstruction of Knowledge and View... wait, there’s something strange with the Chen-Earth.”
True Lord Qingcheng Feixue’s Dao voice was astonishingly effective—it instantly laid 【Ang Xiao】 bare before the world’s True Lords. But at this point, 【Ang Xiao】 didn’t care anymore. Ever since he had faked his death and smuggled into the Netherworld, he had prepared for the day the world would be his enemy.
‘【Law-Transcending World-Reporting Body】!’
The next moment, 【Ang Xiao】’s true body in the Netherworld flung a puppet into the mortal world. As it appeared, it unleashed rolling purple qi.
That one burst of purple qi alone placed its divine might above most True Lords in the world!
“Hissss—”
In Jiangdong, Lü Yang gasped. ‘This purple qi... it’s the same one 【Ang Xiao】 used when Uncle-Master Chong Guang failed in Seeking Golden Fruition in the ninth life!’
Back then, he took on over ten Golden Cores by himself!
That group even included a powerhouse like True Lord Qingcheng Feixue—yet he still won. It showed just how terrifying 【Ang Xiao】’s true combat power really was.
At this moment, purple qi filled the skies. 【Ang Xiao】 operated on two fronts—one side using the 【Law-Transcending World-Reporting Body】 to intercept True Lord Qingcheng Feixue directly, while the other activated the 【Dragon-and-Snake Coiling Shadow Bodhisattva】 to begin drawing down the fruit position of 【Sand Within the Earth】.
“Amitabha!”
The Bodhisattvas of the Pure Land made their move.
In an instant, several Fruitional Stars lit up in the sky.
Lü Yang looked up and saw them—【Willow Wood】, 【Pine Cypress Wood】, and 【Hairpin Gold】—and was surprised. “Only three Bodhisattvas in the Pure Land?”
Well, if you included the 【Dragon-and-Snake Coiling Shadow Bodhisattva】, that made four.
‘But... two Wood, one Gold—that doesn’t make a tri-element cycle. In other words, the Pure Land doesn’t have any late-stage Golden Cores!’
That was a major discovery.
Lü Yang also understood why the Pure Land chose to go after 【Ang Xiao】: if they could obtain 【Sand Within the Earth】, they could complete a tri-elemental cycle!
This involved late-stage Golden Core cultivation—a matter of path competition.
How could they possibly let that go?
However, 【Ang Xiao】 had schemed for this for so long. He considered it his trump card to settle the match at the final hour—how could it be flawed?
Boom!
The next second, the incantations in 【Ang Xiao】’s hands changed. The 【Dragon-and-Snake Coiling Shadow Bodhisattva】 immediately offered up its external Fruitional Rank.
And under the temptation of this external path, 【Sand Within the Earth】 instantly shifted from resistance to cooperation.
In a flash, 【Ang Xiao】 held off the fierce assaults of Qingcheng Feixue and others with one hand, while his other hand grasped 【Sand Within the Earth】.
‘Got it!’
The next moment, 【Sand Within the Earth】 was pulled into the 【Netherworld】.
Just this one shift caused a qualitative leap in 【Ang Xiao】’s aura, like the final piece of a puzzle locking into place—he became more complete.
Witnessing this, True Lord auras surged across the world.
Especially within the Sword Pavilion, a long-silent aura reawakened. A pair of sword-like eyes seemed to open, sharp and blazing, staring directly at 【Ang Xiao】.
Yet 【Ang Xiao】 remained unfazed.
“Continue.！”
Meanwhile, seeing how 【Ang Xiao】 had seized 【Sand Within the Earth】 yet didn’t retreat, Lü Yang instantly understood his intention.
‘【Overturning Lamp Fire】 had Great Fortune, 【Long Flowing Water】 had Suohuan, 【Sand Within the Earth】 has the Pure Land Bodhisattvas—how could he possibly not leave a backdoor for 【White Wax Gold】?’
As if responding to Lü Yang—
The next second, 【Ang Xiao】’s consciousness descended into the palm of the 【Dragon-and-Snake Coiling Shadow Bodhisattva】. Beneath the layers of temple shadows lay a radiant, shimmering stone.
Within the stone, golden light shimmered, and a humanoid figure could vaguely be seen floating—an Immortal Spirit close to perfection!
The Fruitional Rank it pointed to—was none other than 【White Wax Gold】!
Beneath the World-Honored One’s seat, countless Arhats and Bodhisattvas chanted scriptures day and night. This entity had long escaped the control of the Heavenly Lord and was one of the Pure Land’s most prized treasures.
Yet now, it had been seized by 【Ang Xiao】, like a dove taking over a magpie’s nest.
This was why 【Ang Xiao】 insisted on sending a soul fragment into the Pure Land—not only for 【Sand Within the Earth】, but even more for 【White Wax Gold】!