Jiangbei, Connecting-Heaven Cloud Sea.
A youth, seemingly favored by heaven and earth and the focal point of all fortune, sat upright on a meditation cushion. Boundless light and color rotated with his every breath.
A moment later, he opened his eyes.
"Sigh, too slow!"
Hong Yun exhaled a deep breath. His aura unfurled, and the light of two innate Divine Abilities surfaced around him. He had impressively restored his cultivation to the peak of the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment.
However, the barrier between the mid-stage and the late stage of Foundation Establishment stood stubbornly before him like an insurmountable chasm, preventing him from breaking through in one vigorous effort. To restore his cultivation base to the late stage of Foundation Establishment would require at least three years. And for him, every passing second of this process felt like a hundred claws scratching at his heart.
Just then, a streak of light tore through the sky towards him.
"Mm. A message from Chen Taihe?"
Hong Yun's eyes flickered, a look of anticipation suddenly surfacing in their depths. He immediately plucked the streak of light from the air and swept it with his divine sense, hoping to see the good news he desired.
However, a moment later, he flew into a towering rage.
"Send more reinforcements? Chen Taihe actually has the gall to say something like that?"
"A peak mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, the Master of an Inner Sect Peak, armed with countless spiritual treasures and knowledgeable in numerous Dao arts, yet he can't even take down a single rogue cultivator clan?"
Before his voice even faded, he violently hurled the flying message to the ground.
"Motherfucker, Heaven-Mending is useless..."
After cursing like this for quite a while, Hong Yun finally caught his breath and recovered from his anger. Soon, having calmed down, he noticed something was wrong.
'My emotional fluctuations were far too extreme. This isn't right.'
At this thought, Hong Yun picked up the flying message from the ground again, his brow furrowed deeply. "This was sent by Tuan Xu. He is Hong Ju's personal disciple."
He should be trustworthy.
Aside from its spiritual light being slightly dark, the flying message didn't seem to have any problems.
But the anomaly in his heart couldn't be ignored. Realizing this, Hong Yun immediately formed a hand seal, intending to first verify exactly what was wrong.
This was exactly the method he had relied on to survive for five thousand years. He could use a Dao art to directly sense fortune and misfortune, bypassing karma and not being deceived by superficial appearances. In the past, before every action, he would use this method to calculate the fortune and misfortune. If it showed an omen of great disaster, he would change his plans or simply stay far away.
Although the cost was quite high, Hong Yun felt it was perfectly appropriate to use it now.
However, right at that moment, another flying message in the form of a streak of light tore through the sky, "coincidentally" interrupting Hong Yun's action, causing him to reach out and catch the light instead.
"This is..."
Hong Yun retrieved the flying message, focused his eyes on it, and his expression instantly changed. "Perfected One Subduing-Spirit? The one from the Sword Pavilion who cultivates the [Sword Edge Gold]... is the Sword Pavilion getting serious?"
Could this be the source of the anomaly?
At this thought, Hong Yun immediately stood up, intending to go see Feixue. As for calculating fortune and misfortune, having been interrupted, he lost the mood for it.
'The toll of this art is immense. The fact that I'm still at the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment and struggling to recover to the late stage is partly due to this. Going to see Xue Feihong now, if I calculate fortune and misfortune first and she sees my cultivation base severely depleted, she'll likely be displeased... She can calculate it anyway, so there's no need for me to waste the effort.'
A perfectly reasonable and logical thought.
Soon, Hong Yun rode his flying light all the way to Feixue's bedchambers. He saw Perfected Lord Qingcheng Feixue standing by the window with her hands behind her back, gazing in the direction of the Mystic Spirit World Realm.
"Greetings, Fellow Daoist." Hong Yun was the first to bow.
"Rise."
Perfected Lord Qingcheng Feixue didn't even turn her head, simply saying faintly, "It seems the situation in Gantang Channel isn't too good. Otherwise, you wouldn't have come specifically to find me."
"...Fellow Daoist's perception is as clear as a mirror."
Hong Yun sighed, then laid everything bare—the Master of Heaven-Mending Peak's failure and request for reinforcements, the Sword Pavilion dispatching Perfected One Subduing-Spirit, and his own unease.
Before he finished speaking, Perfected Lord Qingcheng Feixue turned around with a peculiar expression on her face.
"Are you saying that you feel something is wrong, but you don't know exactly what is wrong? So you specifically came to consult me and have me make the decision for you?"
Hearing this, Hong Yun shook his head and offered a compliment. "Fellow Daoist is a Perfected Lord, after all, and I am no longer what I once was. Naturally, I must defer to you when it comes to pursuing fortune and avoiding disaster. Besides, whether I can reclaim my position now is tied to whether Fellow Daoist can break through to the late stage of Golden Core. I naturally trust that Fellow Daoist will not harm me in this matter."
Hong Yun felt he had spoken with a perfect mix of softness and firmness.
On one hand, he expressed his trust in Perfected Lord Qingcheng Feixue; on the other, he emphasized his own usefulness. No matter how you looked at it, it was a flawless answer.
However, Perfected Lord Qingcheng Feixue was even more speechless.
'Hong Yun... no wonder it took him five thousand years and he still couldn't reclaim his position. [Sky-shrouding] probably didn't even have to put much effort into dealing with him. It's purely because there's something wrong with this guy's head!'
If you already feel something is wrong, why are you still coming to me?
Looking at him, it's clear he feels something is wrong but is still holding onto a fluke. But as a Perfected Lord of the Saint Sect, shooting the arrow first and then drawing the bullseye is the normal way to do things.
Thinking of this, Perfected Lord Qingcheng Feixue performed a calculation for a moment.
The karma was entirely normal.
Following that, she slightly lowered her gaze, looking down at Jiangnan, calmly sweeping over every inch of Gantang Channel's land... Similarly, there were absolutely no problems.
And then, she smiled.
'Interesting... who is plotting against Hong Yun?'
Although she hadn't discovered any problems either, the fact that Hong Yun, the person directly involved, felt something was wrong while she found nothing—that in itself was the biggest problem!
Of course, it was also possible that Hong Yun was just overly anxious about personal gains and losses, making a mountain out of a molehill over something that was perfectly fine to begin with. But to reiterate the point: regardless of whether there was a problem or not, Perfected Lord Qingcheng Feixue would treat it as if there were! And since there was a problem, yet she hadn't discovered it, it meant the problem was massive!
At this thought, Perfected Lord Qingcheng Feixue cast another glance at Hong Yun.
'Wait, that's not right.'
The next second, a look of realization surfaced in her eyes. 'He's not necessarily completely off guard; otherwise, he wouldn't have made a special trip here to see me.'
'Is he trying to transfer the risk?'
'He says he feels something is wrong on the surface, but in reality, he just doesn't want to dispatch his own people. He wants me to send more reinforcements instead. That way, even if there is a trap, it'll be very hard for it to catch him...'
Perfected Lord Qingcheng Feixue frowned slightly.
Following that, she sighed inwardly. 'Chong Guang is still the more reliable one.'
'When Chong Guang managed sect affairs before, he never gave me any cause for concern. And he certainly wouldn't be like Hong Yun, actually trying to scheme against me!'
It was just a pity that their Dao paths ultimately differed.
The look of lament in Perfected Lord Qingcheng Feixue's eyes vanished in the blink of an eye. The next second, she reverted to her aloof, icy demeanor that seemed to scream, "Strangers keep away."
The next second, she spoke directly, setting the tone:
"I will not intervene to help you."
"Regarding Gantang Channel, if you're unwilling to give up, send Hong Ju over. I won't interfere further. But there is one thing... you are not to leave the Sacred Fire Cliff."
With that, she cast another deep look at Hong Yun:
"You must understand, in the end, a person can only rely on themselves."
Upon hearing this, Hong Yun was instantly filled with immense disappointment.
After all, the best outcome would undoubtedly have been for Perfected Lord Qingcheng Feixue to intervene. That way, he wouldn't have to worry about a single thing. Even if there truly was danger, Perfected Lord Qingcheng Feixue could handle it.
'Rely on myself? She really is still that crazy woman.'
'It took me a hell of a lot of effort to finally find a backer. But before the transaction, I have to rely on myself, and after the transaction, I still have to rely on myself? Then what use is a backer to me!'
Of course, he didn't dare show this emotion on his face.
Following that, Hong Yun nodded and said, "Fellow Daoist's words are profoundly true. Since that is the case, I will have Hong Ju make the trip on my behalf. It's probably just me overthinking things."
The [Sea of Bitterness].
Lu Yang stood tall and straight, the [Divine Firmament Thunder] pulsing in his palm. Dense, radiant light descended as the [Master of Great Tribulations] operated, permeating through the [Sea of Bitterness].
A moment later, he abruptly opened his eyes and clapped his hands, laughing:
"She truly is a Perfected Lord of the Saint Sect, to actually manage to protect Hong Yun for him!"
At this moment, within the perception of the [Master of Great Tribulations], the minor tribulation event he had initiated had completely lost any trace of Hong Yun.
"What a pity!"
"It's still because my stature isn't high enough, making it impossible for me to alter the grand momentum on a higher level. If I were a Great Perfected Lord, let alone Hong Yun, even Feixue would be dragged into my tribulation!"
Lu Yang shook his head. This aspect also highlighted the limitations of the [Master of Great Tribulations]. That is, once the profound wonder was expanded to the scale of an event, it became very difficult to forcefully manipulate the thoughts of cultivators at the same realm. Even giving things a gentle push was extremely challenging. The so-called tribulation could only bully lower-tier cultivators.
'But this is only temporary.'
'In the end, it's because the stature of the [Divine Firmament Thunder] isn't high enough. If it ascends to a Supreme Dao Fruit one day, it should naturally have a massive impact on cultivators of the same realm as well.'
'Of course, this is also because I spread the profound wonder across the entire event. The concept is quite broad, so there's a lot of resistance when manipulating it. If I focus on smaller matters, or directly modify the concept of an object instead, concentrating the profound wonder, the effect will also improve.'
Lu Yang's expression was calm as he analyzed his gains and losses.
After all, this was his very first time officially setting up a layout from behind the scenes. Regardless of success or failure, it was valuable experience, preparing him for the big moves to come in the future.
"Forget it, I'll leave Hong Yun alone for now."
The next second, Lu Yang shifted his gaze to the other side of this minor tribulation, chuckling lightly. "The Sword Pavilion won't be quite so lucky."