Chapter 523 - 290: Frenzied Theft of the Technique (Part 2)

Lü Zhong responded to each of them.

To maintain his persona, he merely gave simple nods.

Soon, he passed through the corridor.

He arrived deep within the hall, before a wooden door shimmering with the light of a Prohibition.

Lü Zhong bowed respectfully toward the wooden door.

"Elder Mu, I must trouble you to open the door."

Before his voice had even faded, a withered face appeared on the wooden door. Its wooden eyes fell upon the Incarnation as it spoke mechanically, "The True Monarch is not here today. Come back later."

Lü Zhong had expected "Elder Mu" to say this. After all, it was just a Puppet refined by Guyao Zi. Though it was meant to be a defense, it was, in reality, a complete idiot.

So, he stated his prepared reason and handed over a written order.

"By order of my master, I, Li Yun, have come to retrieve a Token."

On any other day, he would never have dared to forge such an order. The Puppet would record his every word and action, and his lies would be exposed when Guyao Zi returned, or when his senior Direct Disciple, Chu Bingyun, performed a routine check. At that point, the Incarnation would certainly be identified as a spy, and death would be the only outcome.

As expected, the order successfully fooled the artificial idiot.

Letting out a silent sigh of relief, Lü Zhong entered the room with a calm expression.

It wasn’t large; he could see to the end with a single glance.

Normally, this was where Guyao Zi would receive his Registered Disciples. As for the grotto-abode where he lived, only his Direct Disciples were qualified to enter.

Under Elder Mu’s covert surveillance, Lü Zhong picked up a jade box and took out the Identity Token from within.

Step two of the plan: success!

’I didn’t expect it to go so smoothly. The more I look at it, the more it seems like a trap.’ Lü Zhong thought. ’But a trap is a trap. As long as I can get into the Third Layer of the Inheritance Hall, the methods I’ve prepared will be useful enough to make Changchun Valley suffer a silent loss.’

As Lü Zhong walked to the door and was about to step out...

...the unexpected happened. The sound of footsteps came from outside.

A moment later, a figure in white appeared before him. It was none other than Guyao Zi’s senior Direct Disciple, Chu Bingyun. She currently had a Late-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivation and was about to break through to the Fake Pill Realm.

Logically, she shouldn’t be here.

’How could this be? I’m ninety-nine percent sure I’ve been exposed...’ Lü Zhong’s heart sank, but he could only brace himself and pretend everything was normal, continuing down the corridor.

"Greetings, Senior Sister Chu!"

"Mm." Chu Bingyun nodded with a light smile. She was dressed in green today, her snow-white skin like fine jade, making her appear even more captivating than usual. She then asked, "Junior Brother, what are you doing here?"

Her words seemed perfectly ordinary.

But to Lü Zhong, it revealed a flaw in her mental cultivation. Usually, this senior sister, Chu Bingyun, would address Guyao Zi’s Registered Disciples by their full names, never treating them as fellow disciples.

’I really have been exposed!’ he thought.

’In that case, I’ll have to risk it all!’

’I hope the item I prepared will be useful.’

Just as the two drew near, Chu Bingyun suddenly attacked. A Magic Sword shot from her sleeve, and with a frosty expression, she ruthlessly slashed at the Incarnation. But Lü Zhong, though reacting second, struck first. Boosted by the Spirit Fusion Secret Technique, his cultivation, originally at the Early-stage Foundation Establishment, instantly soared to the Core Formation Stage.

"Ah, you—"

In a single exchange, Chu Bingyun was run through the chest with his sword.

But she wasn’t dead.

It wasn’t that Lü Zhong had shown mercy. Rather, her status was quite high, and her Life Token was kept in a prominent spot in Changchun Valley’s Soul Hall. If she were to die, it would be noticed immediately, which would directly alert the Punishment Hall Elders.

Therefore, Lü Zhong only wounded her to the brink of death with a single strike.

Then, he placed a Prohibition on her, sealed her Dantian, and left without a backward glance.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to be more cautious; time was simply of the essence.

’Even for a Foundation Establishment Stage Incarnation, the Spirit Fusion Secret Technique can only be sustained for a quarter of an hour. It takes half that time to get from the Medicine Transmission Hall to the Inheritance Hall. I hope there’s enough time!’

To save time, he simply used Rainbow Flight.

He flew brazenly, attracting countless gazes along the way.

No one had expected a spy from an Outer Sect to dare fly so openly within the valley. Only a few cultivators from the Law Enforcement Team realized something was wrong and hurriedly reported it to their superiors.

Unfortunately for them, Lü Zhong was exploiting the time lag.

He arrived smoothly at the Inheritance Hall, which was still peaceful.

Long before he landed, he had already used his Concealed Breath to revert his cultivation to the Foundation Establishment level.

Just then, Lü Zhong looked back toward the Medicine Transmission Hall.

Spiritual Fireworks, crimson as blood, rose into the air from that direction. They were the warning flares.

"Heh, they reacted that quickly?"

But they were still a little too late.

With Lü Zhong’s years of mastery in Concealed Breath, for an Elder in the Inheritance Hall to see through his Breath Concealing Skill while he was at a comparable Core Formation Stage cultivation, they would need to inspect him at point-blank range.

He presented the Disciple Token and entered the Inheritance Hall without issue.

He passed through the First Layer and Second Layer smoothly, as a Foundation Establishment Disciple had that level of access.

He reached the stairway to the Third Layer, where a Changchun Valley Elder stood guard.

Judging by the spots covering his face, he was clearly ancient. His remaining lifespan might not even be in the double digits. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been assigned to the Inheritance Hall as a public-facing guard.

"Disciple Li Yun greets Master Zhang! This is my Disciple Token, please inspect it, Master," Lü Zhong said, handing over the stolen Identity Token.

Unexpectedly, what he received in return was a heart-shattering palm strike.

Lü Zhong was hit squarely.

’Hmph, so it was a trap after all!’

"Of course it was. However, that you would fall for such a simple trap is quite surprising to this old man. Are all spies these days as brainless as you?" Elder Zhang slowly retracted his palm. With his lifespan on the verge of depletion, his strength was far from its peak, and even using his full power was now incredibly difficult.

Fortunately, his sneak attack had succeeded.

"I advise you to surrender obediently. You’ll suffer less that way!"

"You think you’ve won?" Lü Zhong, who had been sent flying and landed on the ground, suddenly revealed a mocking smile and produced a jade Token with a flip of his hand.

"Not good!" Elder Zhang recognized the Token’s origin at a glance and his face fell.

He didn’t know how Lü Zhong had obtained a Token worn by Wanmu True Monarch, but he knew the consequences. With that Token, one could truly move through Changchun Valley unimpeded.

This was Lü Zhong’s trump card!

One could only imagine the difficulty of replicating a True Monarch’s Identity Token.

It was only because he possessed the Gray Mist Space, allowing him to endlessly review past scenes, that he could forge a Token so realistic it could pass for the real thing.

Anyone else would never have had such an opportunity!

’However...’ Lü Zhong was also uneasy.

Although he had succeeded once before, he wasn’t truly confident that the forged Wanmu True Monarch Identity Token would actually work.

’I can only give it a try!’ Lü Zhong gritted his teeth.

To be honest, he hadn’t expected things to develop to this point. His plan was to steal a Secret Skill, but now it looked more like he was just being reckless.

’But since it’s not my own life on the line, being a little reckless doesn’t matter.’

With a flick of his finger, he cast a Technique Mantra, pressing the Token against the Prohibition on the stairway.

With a low BUZZ, the Prohibition vanished instantly.

It worked!

Joy flashed across Lü Zhong’s face. He condensed a Spirit Sword to intercept the Magical Treasure Elder Zhang had launched, then charged into the Third Layer. He released his Divine Sense without reservation and quickly located the Dao Transmission Bead.

But before he could take more than a few steps, a figure blocked the path to the Dao Transmission Bead.

It was another Changchun Valley Elder!

’As expected of a major Sect with a ten-thousand-year heritage,’ Lü Zhong thought to himself. ’The Inheritance Hall’s defenses seem lax from the outside, but they’re actually tight on the inside. You’d never know without breaking in that a Late-stage Core Formation expert was hidden in here.’

"How dare you act so presumptuously here!" the newly appeared man snorted, flicking his hand to release a Flying Sword.

The Flying Sword erupted with the radiance of Spiritual Qi, leaving trails of Sword Qi in its wake as it scraped across the floor. It shot toward Lü Zhong’s vital points, clearly intending to kill him in a single blow.

"Heh heh, you’ll never see this move coming!"

Lü Zhong sneered. He raised a hand and released three newly condensed Spirit Swords to block the Flying Sword Treasure, while a dazzling Spiritual Light began to radiate from his body. He was initiating self-destruction.

"You!" Lin Beilu was both shocked and enraged.

He hadn’t expected this spy to be so insane.

’Does he want to destroy the Inheritance Hall?’

’But what’s the point? No Sect has only one copy of its Cultivation Techniques. No power would pay such a huge price just to blow up the Inheritance Hall.’

Without time for further thought, Lin Beilu produced a Token and vanished in an instant.

He had used his authority to teleport himself out of the Third Layer.

’Just as I thought!’ Lü Zhong glanced at the body that was about to self-destruct. He temporarily severed some of its senses and forcibly dug out the "Golden Core," which would buy him a little more time.

There was no time to lose. He rushed to the Dao Transmission Bead.

He placed his hand on it and, as expected, obtained the Evergreen Immortal Skill Core Formation Chapter.

He only had time to send a portion of the memories back.

The next moment, his vision was consumed by white light!