```

According to common sense, such an unscrupulous move would indeed seem like something Daoist Buyu would teach, but Meng Jingzhou always felt that Lu Yang wasn’t telling the whole truth.

"Did the Sect Leader really say that?" Meng Jingzhou looked at Lu Yang with suspicion.

Lu Yang was quite dissatisfied with Meng Jingzhou’s doubts, as he had clearly spoken the truth, "If I were to deceive you, may I be struck a few more times by lightning when I pass the Heavenly Tribulation."

Lu Yang felt that since he had already passed the first Qian Heavenly Tribulation of the Spirit Transformation Level as a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator, his own trials during the Divinity Transformation Stage would surely be a breeze, with no difficulty at all.

Meng Jingzhou rolled his eyes and was just about to say something when he saw Lu Yang suddenly disappear from in front of him without any warning, which gave him quite a fright.

"Where did he go? Did he really suffer retribution?"

…

In a desolate mountain range within Great Xia, three figures were moving and battling intensely, shifting mountains, turning the sky and earth upside down.

Boom—

The two weaker figures were blown away, piercing through mountains and plastering against the cliff walls of the mountain behind them.

"Senior Sister Lan Ting, are you alright?" Man Gu climbed out of the cliff face with a grimace, concernedly asking, since his thick skin and flesh meant he was not much harmed, but it may not be the same case for Senior Sister Lan Ting.

Lan Ting, wrapped in her sash, climbed out from another cliff, her sash having absorbed most of the attack, which meant her injuries weren’t too severe.

"You two juniors, do you really think that just because you’ve reached the Initial Stage of Spirit Transformation, you can challenge this one who is in the Early Integration Stage?" The opponent looked at the two indifferently, emitting an aura of the Early Integration Stage.

Man Gu and Lan Ting were officially taking on an Integration Period Cultivator for the first time. With their combat strengths, they were indeed qualified to challenge someone in the Early Integration Stage, but that was under the assumption that the opponent did not employ [Rules].

At first, the two held the upper hand when working together, but once their opponent employed [Rules], the tide of the battle was turned, leaving them both in dire straits.

"It looks like we can’t beat him, what should we do?"

After advancing to the Spirit Transformation Level, Man Gu went to the Task Hall to take on his first mission, which involved clues about the Ruthless Sect. Upon reaching the mission location, he happened to bump into Lan Ting who was also there to investigate.

By joining forces, they were actually able to follow the trail and find clues of the Ruthless Sect, leading them to the Ruthless Sect Elder they were now facing.

The only problem was that it appeared they were unable to defeat the Elder.

The Ruthless Sect Elder was right before their eyes. If they fled now, it would be difficult to find this Elder again in the future.

"Fight!" Lan Ting gritted her teeth.

Man Gu was resolute, if it was a fight they wanted, then a fight they would have. He sent a message to Lan Ting, "I need you to distract the Ruthless Sect Elder for a moment, Senior Sister Lan Ting. I have a method that might allow the power of the strongest ancestor of the Barbarian tribe to descend upon my primordial spirit and potentially change the situation."

"Alright!" Lan Ting chose to trust Man Gu and charged forward.

"Foolish juniors who know not of death." In the hand of the Ruthless Sect Elder was a Bone Knife with a handle composed of many small skulls, which emitted mournful wails when swung, an especially frightening specter.

Lan Ting didn’t dare to face off against the Ruthless Sect Elder directly, her blue sash fluttering as she employed softness to overcome strength, wrapping around the Elder’s arm and redirecting the trajectory of the blade!

With her movements light and graceful, Lan Ting resembled a fairy dancing in the Moon Palace, rendering the Ruthless Sect Elder’s strength ineffective.

"I hereby establish the [Rule: The Bone Knife cuts through all]!"

An odd power coated the surface of the Bone Knife, swiftly reducing Lan Ting’s troublesome sash to shreds, and without its interference, the Ruthless Sect Elder made a beeline cut for Lan Ting!

Man Gu brought out his primordial spirit, rubbed his hands vigorously and chanted, and with his ascension to the Spirit Transformation Level, he had solved the uncertainty that came with summoning the power of his ancestors during the Nascent Soul Stage.

"Blessings of the Immortals, I, Man Gu, respectfully welcome the strongest combat force of my Barbarian ancestors!"

The primordial spirit of Man Gu transformed, a dazzling milky white light flashed by, and a powerful force descended from the heavens, infusing into Man Gu’s primordial spirit!

The ancestor of the Barbarian tribe looked up sharply, instantly moving in front of the Ruthless Sect Elder.

𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

Clang—

The Barbarian ancestor, with sword in hand, blocked the Bone Knife that was supposed to cut through anything!

```

Lan Ting couldn’t believe her eyes as she stared blankly at the barbarian ancestor who had saved her, "Elder Brother Lu Yang, when did you become a barbarian ancestor?"

Man Gu was also filled with shock, how had his primordial spirit suddenly become Elder Brother Lu Yang?

"Ah?" Lu Yang himself was confused, as dumbfounded as a monk who had reached an impasse. He was busy duping Meng Jingzhou, how had he arrived here in the blink of an eye?

As soon as he arrived, he saw Lan Ting in a crisis, so he had no choice but to fight first and ask questions later.

"Let’s not worry about that for now, who is this on the opposite side?" Lu Yang asked, sensing that the murderous intent opposite him was not for a friendly spar.

"An elder of the Ruthless Sect!"

"Then let’s deal with him first before discussing anything else!"

The Bone Knife, augmented by the [Rule], was exceptionally sharp, and could cut through anything.

But not the Green Peak Sword.

The Green Peak Sword, being an Immortal Sword, was not something that could be damaged by a mere Integration Period Cultivator using a rule.

"Kill!"

Lu Yang’s eyes also revealed a killing intent. There was no need to hold back against the Ruthless Sect—it was fine as long as a single soul remained.

"Take my sword strike!"

The elder of the Ruthless Sect looked at Lu Yang’s sword strike with disdain, mundane and unremarkable. Just with this kind of swordplay, you think you can harm me?

Crack—Pu Chi—

The Bone Knife was actually cut in two by this single strike, which, without much reduction in power, hit the Ruthless Sect elder!

A sword mark stretched from the Ruthless Sect elder’s left shoulder to his right waist, blood pouring profusely!

Lu Yang was also surprised; the power of this sword strike exceeded his expectations.

Ever since he arrived here, he had felt an additional power that was not his own, making him several times stronger than even at his peak!

The elder of the Ruthless Sect was caught completely off guard by this turn of events. He wanted to pull back and use the [Rule] to heal, but Lu Yang, who had witnessed countless battles of high-level cultivators and even that of immortals, knew exactly what the Ruthless Sect elder was planning to do.

How could he possibly give him the chance!

Lu Yang quickly closed the gap with the Ruthless Sect elder, slashing with the same sword strike once more, shocking the elder who had no time to use his rule, and hurriedly mobilized his power to resist.

But this sword strike was unexpectedly ordinary.

Just when he thought it was all over, Lu Yang spat out the Three Flavored True Fire, directly onto his face!

"Ah!" The Three Flavored True Fire relentlessly burned his face, the pain making him scream and forcing him to divert power to suppress the True Fire.

Lu Yang continued to strike with his sword, with simple sword skills that hid the Ten Thousand Swords Returning to Origin, catching the Ruthless Sect elder completely off guard.

"Bloody Heaven Grudge!" the Ruthless Sect elder shouted in a low voice, as a boundless sea of blood appeared behind him, filled with numerous ghosts and beings writhing, pleading in the blood, countless arms stretching out, attempting to drag Lu Yang into the sea of blood!

Lu Yang pointed his sword at the Ruthless Sect elder and barked harshly, "Kneel!"

Inexplicably, the Ruthless Sect elder was unable to resist. He knelt down with a thud, breaking off his technique, and the towering sea of blood behind him vanished as well!

Swish—

A sword light, fast to the extreme, passed by, and an extremely fine line of blood appeared on the Ruthless Sect elder’s neck.

Blood spurted out, the head flew off, and rolled to the ground, tumbling to a stop at Lu Yang’s feet.

Lu Yang sheathed his sword, looking at Man Gu and Lan Ting.

"So, can someone explain what exactly happened?"