125 Betrayal of the Sect 126 Waking from the Dream

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Having made up his mind to assassinate Kinnara, Yang Tang made thorough preparations. At the far end of a forest he often frequented, he found a small peak from which he could overlook the entire woodland.

Yang Tang placed five heavy bows on the summit in advance, each equipped with twenty arrows. Once October arrived, he would squat on the peak every day, waiting until the sun had completely set before engaging in a nightly battle with wild beasts and heading back to Xiaoyao Valley.

Around the fourth of October, Yang Tang had been on duty at the peak until well past noon when his constantly active Eagle Eye revealed a dozen or so members of the Tianlong Cult entering the forest. Every one of them appeared shimmering with golden light in Yang Tang's eyes.

"Lock onto Kinnara!" Yang Tang muttered to himself.

Instantly, a dozen golden glows vanished, leaving only one in the forest.

"So you really came. Although there is no enmity between us, I must kill you if I want to escape this dream!" As he spoke, Yang Tang drew his bow and nocked an arrow. A dark bolt equipped with the "Tier 3 Enhanced Armor-Piercing Mode" flew out like a streak, heading straight for that golden glow.

At the same time, Yang Tang changed his Eagle Eye target to "Lock onto the Eight Legions of Devas." Immediately, three more golden glows appeared alongside the one representing Kinnara.

Yang Tang knew that if his memory of the strategy guide was correct, these three glows should be Mahoraga, Yasha, and Xiang'er (Gandharva). He immediately grabbed another heavy bow, first firing three arrows in rapid succession using the "Tier 1 Enhanced Absolute Hit Mode" at the three of them, then followed up by firing nine arrows at once using the "Tier 2 Enhanced Multi-Tracking Mode," holding them between his four fingers.

Inside the forest, Mahoraga and Yasha, along with a few Tianlong cultist underlings, had run into Xiang'er and Kinnara. The two sides exchanged greetings before descending into sarcasm. Mahoraga, in particular, had a tongue as venomous as a viper: "Oh, isn't this Kinnara? What's the matter? Did you switch to men's clothing today? Kinnara's gender has always been a mystery, hasn't it?"

Kinnara glanced at Mahoraga without responding, but Xiang'er retorted, "Mahoraga, we do not interfere with your willingness to follow the Dragon King's orders, but it would be best if we kept to our own paths."

The coquettish and beautiful Yasha immediately perked up upon hearing this. "Oh, oh, oh, you're talking about paths? Given how you've been hiding in the Yichun Brothel for years, that well of yours can't be very clean!"

Xiang'er fell silent, unable to retort, and Kinnara lost his patience. "Yasha, what kind of dog crap are you—" Before he could finish, an arrow from out of the blue pierced his heart. Kinnara clutched the wound, swayed twice, and collapsed to the ground, blood spilling from the corners of his mouth.

"Armor-breaking arrow?!"

Mahoraga, Yasha, and Xiang'er were all shocked. The three of them knew very well that Kinnara's internal energy cultivation was not inferior to anyone present, yet he had been heavily wounded by a single arrow. Moreover, the archer was hidden in the shadows—this was clearly a death sentence for them.

The group recovered from their panic within moments. Mahoraga, in particular, craned his neck, looking left and right, trying to find the assailant. But just then, the sound of arrows piercing the air became incessant.

"Damn it!"

Mahoraga cursed wildly, leaping with Yasha toward the dense canopy of the trees. At the same time, the protective Qi that had been limited to their skin surged outward, blowing the incoming arrows off course.

It was then that another of what they called an "Armor-breaking arrow" struck Kinnara squarely between the eyebrows. Already collapsed on the ground, Kinnara fell backward, twitching before finally falling silent.

Seeing this, Xiang'er threw herself onto Kinnara's corpse and wailed in grief.

Mahoraga and Yasha felt a surge of terror. They exchanged glances, planning to flee, but as the thought crossed their minds, the tips of "Armor-breaking arrows" emerged from their necks.

With the occasional arrow still falling to finish off the remaining cultists, Xiang'er, in her grief, finally pulled herself together, intending to retreat and seek revenge later. Unfortunately, Yang Tang was a man who believed in finishing what he started; since all the cultists present were already dead, Xiang'er was no exception. He fired one more "Armor-piercing arrow," effectively cutting off any future trouble.

When Yang Tang arrived at the scene, all the Tianlong cultists were dead. He first carefully excised Kinnara's vocal cords, placing them into the fourth empty storage slot of his ring as the system prompted, using merit to dissolve the malevolence and converting the sin into mission progress.

Since he hadn't dug burial pits in advance, Yang Tang collected his arrows and then stripped all the cultists—including the two female corpses, Yasha and Xiang'er—of their clothing, leaving them only in their undergarments. The male corpses were treated even worse, left only in loincloths. He tossed the half-naked bodies onto the nearby tree canopies to be dried by the wind.

As he tossed Xiang'er’s body onto the tree, Yang Tang couldn't help but mutter, "If I had known it would come to this, I should have killed you back in Yangzhou, and saved myself the trouble of all this."

Conversion complete. Obtained Kinnara's perfect singing voice. With the four perfect voices collected, the overall mission progress reached eighty percent!

Hearing the system prompt, Yang Tang, who had just shot and killed over a dozen people—some of whom he even knew—couldn't feel happy. He sensed the now-empty fourth storage slot, silently bundled up everyone's belongings, and piled their clothes together to burn them to ashes.

Back in his small cabin in Xiaoyao Valley, Yang Tang began to inspect the items he had scavenged from Mahoraga and the others. Yasha and Xiang'er were women and carried few belongings. Kinnara's vocal cords had been removed, and Yang Tang didn't feel like searching him thoroughly, so his belongings were burned along with his clothes. Only Mahoraga had many bottles and jars, along with an internal martial arts manual, the "Ten Thousand Snake Poison Art."

Yang Tang tested the bottles one by one; he tossed the antidotes and kept the poisons. In any case, he had the "Fairy Music" purification ability and didn't fear any poison.

Throughout the rest of October, Yang Tang practiced all the techniques he had learned, including the Tathagata Palm, the Dog Beating Staff Technique, and the Twelve Ways of Soul-Suppressing Kicks, until they reached the tenth level. In reality, these techniques had already been at the seventh level or higher, so he was merely maxing them out!

As for the four internal cultivation methods—Golden Goose Skill, Shaolin Nine Yang Skill, Xiaoyao Heart Sutra, and the Small Formless Art—Yang Tang had long since cultivated them to the tenth level. In early November, to boost his health and internal energy, he began practicing the Ten Thousand Snake Poison Art, and in the first ten days, he bought the "Fallen Flower Treasure Mirror" from the Xiaoyao Valley shop, practicing both simultaneously.

Meanwhile, the discovery of the naked corpses of the four top experts of the Tianlong Cult in the forest on the outskirts of Luoyang caused a sensation in the martial arts world.

By mid-November, Yang Tang approached Gu Yuexuan and Old Hu, giving them one hundred thousand coins each. He asked Gu Yuexuan to help purchase Millennium Fleece-flower Roots and Old Hu to help collect Rainbow Carp and Divine Fish. He also gave plenty of money to Old He in Dukang Village, and along the way, brought back a large bag of dried bear gallbladders and tiger penises.

In late November, at Jiang Yu's instigation, Yang Tang went to White Horse Temple to prevent Monk Likong from stealing the Forty-Two Chapters Sutra. In gratitude, the monks of White Horse Temple taught him the Zen Lotus Skill.

Thus, from the end of November to late December, Yang Tang spent an entire month practicing his three newly learned internal arts and blacksmithing.

During this period, perhaps because the time was ripe, or perhaps because the hundred thousand coins had greatly increased Old Hu's favor, Yang Tang finally forged the Fuxi Armor using Old Hu’s blacksmithing tools.

Fuxi Armor: Defense +200, Absolute Hit, Hit Halo +50%.

Additionally, Old Hu guided him in modifying his Mother-Son Swords, reshaping them into a new set of dual weapons: "The Mourning Crow's Night Cry"!

Mourning Crow's Night Cry: Attack +90, Combo, absorbs 15% of health and internal energy upon attack.

"Recover health and internal energy with every attack."

Yang Tang was speechless when he saw this special effect. With this, the final shortcoming of his dual-wielding, "Fallen Flower," absolute hit, combo, and consecutive strike build—the issue of weak recovery—was finally resolved.

By the end of December, before attending the Young Heroes Tournament, Yang Tang had already trained the Fallen Flower Treasure Mirror to the tenth level.

At the tournament, Yang Tang met many young heroes and heroines, most of whom he had seen at Jiang Tianxiong's birthday banquet that year. Due to their frequent correspondence, Yang Tang had a high level of intimacy with them.

Therefore, once the actual fighting began, even though Yang Tang only used the Xiaoyao Heart Sutra, the young heroes and heroines did not press him too hard, and by hiding his true strength, Yang Tang ended up winning third place.

When he returned to Xiaoyao Valley, it was already the New Year of the fourth year. After celebrating with Wu Xiazi and his two senior brothers, Gu Yuexuan and Old Hu visited one after the other to deliver the items they had collected for him.

A large bag of dried Millennium Fleece-flower Roots, totaling some thirty or forty pieces, and a similarly large bag of dried Rainbow Carp and Divine Fish, numbering fifty or sixty. Although the dried roots only had eighty percent of the potency of the fresh ones, the sheer quantity helped Yang Tang boost his health by one thousand points and his internal energy by five thousand. After all, those thirty-plus roots alone could increase internal energy by seven thousand, so even with a twenty percent reduction, it still amounted to five thousand six hundred.

In the following six months, Yang Tang wandered through the mountains and forests like a wild man, engaging in constant battle. His seven major internal arts and multiple techniques were all maxed out at the tenth level. Even after converting another 4,999 points of health and internal energy, his naked stats reached a staggering 9,001 health, 9,999 internal energy, 1,417 attack, and 1,365 defense. Once equipped with his weapons, armor, and accessories—Mourning Crow's Night Cry (+90 Attack), Fuxi Armor (+200 Defense), and Turtle Statue (+100 Defense)—his stats hit 9,001 health, 9,999 internal energy, 1,507 attack, and 1,665 defense, accompanied by high evasion, lifesteal, internal energy absorption, combo, consecutive strike, and absolute hit effects.

In mid-June, Yang Tang accompanied his second senior brother, Jing Ji, to the Leshan Giant Buddha and helped him obtain the Buddha Sword and Demon Blade.

On the Qixi Festival, Yang Tang went to see Ren Qingxuan and naturally encountered the Sword Saint. After a series of events, Yang Tang knocked the Sword Saint down. The embarrassed Sword Saint, wanting to save face, taught Yang Tang the dual-wielding "Netherworld Thirteen Styles."

At the end of August, his second senior brother, Jing Ji, seduced by their uncle Xuan Mingzi, betrayed the sect and joined the Tianlong Cult. Yang Tang had been in constant correspondence with Xuan Mingzi, maintaining a high level of intimacy, and with Jing Ji's encouragement, he stepped onto the path of the "Overlord Ending," seemingly reluctantly but actually quite willing.

Each level of internal energy cultivation increases health and internal energy by about one hundred each, and attack and defense by a few points. Of course, weaker techniques increase less, while advanced ones increase more. Maxing them out to the tenth level provided a spectacular improvement!

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