Chapter 447: The Great Battle Concludes

Wu Youdao and his two companions finally understood completely that the figure before them was an opponent they could never hope to conquer. To say nothing of victory, from the very commencement of the battle until now, they had not even been able to inflict a single scratch upon her.

The Supreme Great Heavenly Venerate of the Heavenly Court Sect was terrifying to the absolute extreme.

"Flee!"

The trio had recognized the stark reality. Since victory was impossible, they would flee and bide their time for a future resurgence!

The speed of physical movement was far inferior to that of the soul. As seasoned veterans of battle, they made the most correct decision at the very first instant—their souls detached from their flesh, scattering to flee in separate directions!

"Fortunately, she is merely a wisp of an immortal's thought and cannot pursue the three of us simultaneously. Moreover, the power of the state destiny is difficult to move. If she wishes to hunt us down, she must abandon it. Yet, if she relinquishes the state destiny, her strength will diminish, and even if she catches up, she will be unable to defeat us!"

The three rejoiced in their hearts as they transformed into streaks of light and fled.

The Immortal Fairy watched them depart with indifference, then withdrew her gaze.

When the Governor of Lyu Province saw that the battle had concluded and rushed to the scene, only three corpses and the masterless power of the state destiny remained upon the ground.

Beholding this, he hurriedly used the Great Seal of Huang Province to reclaim the state destiny.

Qiu Jin'an turned his head and cupped his fists. "My thanks to you, fellow Daoist, for your timely assistance just now. I have not yet had the chance to ask of your origins?"

The space beside Qiu Jin'an was empty; the man in the white paper hat had already fled long ago.

"Quite an excellent escape technique. Did he leave, or did he flee?" Qiu Jin'an narrowed his eyes and muttered to himself. The techniques the man in the white paper hat had displayed during the battle gave rise to certain suspicions within him.

However, since the man had after all lent a helping hand, it would be improper to turn against him on the spot.

Elder Gai and the others had also rushed back to the Corpse Refining Sect. Upon seeing the remains of their Sect Master, they wailed bitterly, their tears falling like rain.

"Sect Master, your death was so wretched!"

"We will surely avenge this bitter grievance for you!"

The disciples' eyes were also red as they wept together, and for a time, the entire Corpse Refining Sect was enveloped in an atmosphere of profound grief.

Lu Yang and his companions also hurried to the Corpse Refining Sect. Seeing the three tribulation-transcendence stage corpses laid out upon the ground, and seeing the people of the Corpse Refining Sect weeping beyond recognition, he clenched his fists, the veins bulging upon his skin.

As the Grand Elder, Elder Gai had to assume the responsibilities of the Sect Master in his absence. He turned around to comfort the grieving crowd. "Old Lu was an optimistic and cheerful soul during his life. If his spirit resides in heaven, he would not wish to see you all like this. Come, let us all smile, and consider it our final send-off for him."

"Rest easy, Old Lu. We will surely inherit your unfulfilled legacy and expand the Corpse Refining Sect!"

Elder Gai laughed softly in a low voice, mourning Lu Baqian.

"Gai, you old scoundrel! I am already dead, yet you still make them smile!"

Sect Master Lu's upper body bolted straight up as he glared furiously at Elder Gai.

This sudden turn of events caught everyone present utterly unprepared. The Governor of Lyu Province grew alert, suspecting that Sect Master Lu had turned into a living corpse, and prepared once more to deploy the power of the state destiny.

"Dead, my foot! Do not think I did not know you were still alive!" Elder Gai laughed and chided.

"What exactly is going on here?" The Governor of Lyu Province could not make sense of the situation. Judging by Elder Gai's reaction, he did not seem at all surprised by Sect Master Lu's resurrection.

Sect Master Lu explained, "This must be the newly appointed Governor, correct? This counts as our first formal meeting. I am Lu Baqian, the Master of the Corpse Refining Sect."

The Governor of Lyu Province returned the courtesy with politeness, though he remained thoroughly bewildered by the circumstances.

"Governor Lyu may not be aware, but our Corpse Refining Sect and the Dao Seeking Sect have historically enjoyed a friendly relationship. Though Daoist Buyu remains an exception, generally speaking, the bond between our two sects is excellent."

"The Corpse Refining Sect possesses a tradition. To demonstrate our friendly relations, the higher-echelons of the Corpse Refining Sect fashion two copies of their soul lamps. One remains with the Corpse Refining Sect, while the other is deposited with the Dao Seeking Sect, precisely to guard against an occurrence like today's."

Qiu Jin'an nodded secretly. He had also heard of this matter, which was why he had never suspected that anything was amiss with the high-ranking members of the Corpse Refining Sect.

Sects with friendly relations often shared such customs; their Five Elements Sect also held the soul lamps of high-ranking members from other sects.

Lu Baqian continued, "It was simply unexpected that these ancient cultivators possessed methods we have yet to master, capable of seizing my body without destroying my soul."

"After that fellow named Wuji possessed me, he feared detection by the Dao Seeking Sect and did not dare extinguish my soul. Instead, he completely severed the connection between my soul and body, sealing my soul away. Thus, I managed to survive until now by a stroke of luck."

"At the same time, he could not obtain my memories. Frequent interactions with Old Gai and the others would have exposed him, so after seizing my body, he constantly claimed to be in secluded cultivation. He only showed his face once, when crafting the Soul-Dispersing Talisman."

Sect Master Lu felt a lingering dread; had Venerable Wuji not feared the Dao Seeking Sect, he would truly be dead by now.

"Then are you now a cultivator of the tribulation-transcendence stage?" The Governor of Lyu Province recalled another matter.

"A blessing in disguise, perhaps, though not entirely. My physical body is of the tribulation-transcendence stage, but it was Wuji who underwent the tribulation on my behalf. My soul remains at its original realm. For now, I count as half a tribulation-transcendence cultivator. Only when the realm of my soul rises in the future will I be complete."

"But regardless, I am the first among our generation to break through to the tribulation-transcendence stage, am I not?" Sect Master Lu caught sight of Qiu Jin'an and remembered that his current realm was now the highest among their peers.

"Have you no shame?" Qiu Jin'an looked upon Sect Master Lu with disdain. No wonder he could get along so well with the Dao Seeking Sect.

"Never mind the shame, just tell me whether I have crossed the boundary of life and death, survived a fatal peril, and become a tribulation-transcendence cultivator." Sect Master Lu spoke with righteous conviction, devoid of any embarrassment.

Qiu Jin'an was left speechless; what Lu Baqian said did indeed seem to possess some truth.

Just as Lu Yang was watching the bickering between the body-integration and tribulation-transcendence stage cultivators with great interest from the side, the Immortal Fairy returned to the spiritual space.

"Whew, this immortal is exhausted to death! Well, was this immortal magnificent just now?" The Immortal Fairy extended a thumb, her lips curling upward into a brilliant smile.

"Exceedingly magnificent, Fairy is truly dependable... However, I would like to ask, what is the situation with those three behind you?" Lu Yang cast his gaze behind the Immortal Fairy.

Standing there were three soul bodies, all of whom looked exceedingly familiar, having just been encountered outside: Wu Youdao, Venerable Canglei, and Venerable Wuji.

The three great tribulation-transcendence stage cultivators looked as pale as ash. They had never imagined that the entity controlling the state destiny was not a mere wisp of an immortal's divine thought, but a complete immortal soul.

Before an immortal soul, they possessed absolutely no means of escape!

Had they not agreed it was merely a single wisp of thought?

"These three are all spoils of war. As a guest elder of the Dao Seeking Sect, it is only natural and right for this immortal to capture a few individuals for the sect in exchange for contribution points, is it not?" The Immortal Fairy counted on her fingers, her small calculations clicking away in her mind.

Last time, she had captured an ancient body-integration cultivator and exchanged him for a three-day Sect Master Trial Voucher. This time, having caught three tribulation-transcendence cultivators, how many grand treasures should they be exchanged for?

Lu Yang's face darkened as a rather unpleasant memory was stirred.

Hearing the conversation between the two, the three tribulation-transcendence cultivators were struck with terror. For so powerful an immortal to be merely a guest elder of the Dao Seeking Sect—just how deep were the waters of this Dao Seeking Sect?

The State Preceptor had gravely underestimated the martial might of the Dao Seeking Sect!

Furthermore, why did this Supreme Great Heavenly Venerate behave so completely differently now compared to her demeanor during the battle?

Lu Yang was also mystified and asked the very question the three tribulation-transcendence cultivators wished to pose.

The Immortal Fairy once more disclosed a secret from antiquity.

"Yingtian Xian said that maintaining an aura of grandeur before the world is a skill every immortal must master."