Chapter 497: The National Teacher is Probably Beyond Saving

Prison Peak is perpetually quiet. Even if there are sounds, they are merely the wails of the prisoners.

The prisoners' wails are usually brief; they confess everything quickly. Those who stubbornly refuse are directly refined into artifact spirits.

Today, however, was different. This time, the prisoner was extraordinarily vocal, screaming for half an hour without stopping.

With his high cultivation, the prisoner's throat didn't get hoarse despite all the wailing.

"So, what should we do?"

Lu Yang, Immortal Fairy, and Senior Sister looked at the still wailing Grand Preceptor with helplessness.

Senior Sister even found the Grand Preceptor too noisy and set up a soundproofing array, letting him scream inside without disturbing the outside.

Instantly, it became quiet.

Lu Yang shook his head, filled with regret. He had finally captured a key figure from the Great Yu Dynasty, only to find him a tough nut to crack. The Grand Preceptor preferred to remain cursed rather than reveal any information.

Yunzhi tried many methods to break the curse, but none worked on the Grand Preceptor.

Breaking one of the Seven Troubles and Eight Pains is easy for Yunzhi with a simple spell. However, the Grand Preceptor wasn't afflicted with just one, but all of them, plus an inability to advance his cultivation while alive and soul dispersion after death.

This was an unprecedentedly powerful curse. Even the Grand Preceptor, who possessed a rudimentary form of the Karma Dao Fruit, couldn't undo it himself.

"How about, Fairy, you give him a rudimentary Dao Fruit, let him self-detonate a hundred times to break the curse, and then take back the rudimentary Dao Fruit?"

Those who possess a complete Dao Fruit have absolute control over its rudimentary forms, able to grant and retract them at will.

Immortal Fairy shook her head, rejecting Lu Yang's suggestion: "No, he already has a rudimentary form of the Karma Dao Fruit within him. A person cannot possess two rudimentary Dao Fruits simultaneously."

"Moreover, even if he didn't have the rudimentary Karma Dao Fruit, I couldn't give him one."

"A rudimentary Dao Fruit isn't like clothes that you can put on or take off as you please."

"A rudimentary Dao Fruit represents a rule. The prerequisite for possessing one is a certain level of understanding of that rule. This fool knows nothing about my rudimentary Immortal Dao Fruit. If I just gave it to him, his soul couldn't bear the power of the rudimentary Immortal Dao Fruit, and he would be scattered."

The Grand Preceptor's repeated actions made Immortal Fairy doubt his intelligence, wondering if he was perhaps a half-immortal who had bluffed his way up.

"Fairy, wait a minute, I don't understand the Immortal Dao Fruit either, but you can still give me a rudimentary Immortal Dao Fruit?" Lu Yang remembered Immortal Fairy constantly talking about forcing a rudimentary Immortal Dao Fruit upon him.

Immortal Fairy looked at Lu Yang in surprise: "Second-in-command, what are you talking about? Under my long-term guidance and subtle influence, your understanding of the Immortal Dao Fruit is far superior to that of the Third-in-command."

Lu Yang: "..."

When did that happen? Why don't I know about it?

"Did you think I made you Second-in-command just because we're close? How could that be? I am fair and just; the ranking within the Immortal lineage depends on strength!"

The Third-in-command, hearing an opportunity for advancement, quickly chimed in: "Don't worry, Boss, I will diligently study the Immortal Dao Fruit and strive to become Second-in-command!"

Immortal Fairy glanced at the Third-in-command dismissively and said impatiently: "Go, go, go. What are you getting excited about? If you dare to become Second-in-command, I'll strip you of your rudimentary Dao Fruit."

The Third-in-command looked enviously at Lu Yang and slunk away.

"Can the power of national destiny break curses?" Lu Yang recalled how Meng Jingzhou, the Holy Son of their sect, had been harmed by a villain and afflicted with a curse that prevented him from touching women. He was eventually freed by the power of national destiny.

Senior Sister nodded: "That is a method."

She crooked her index finger, and the Grand Preceptor, who was writhing in pain on the ground, began writhing while floating in the air.

"I'll go to the imperial palace. Wait for me at Prison Peak."

Since they were using the power of national destiny, it was most convenient to seek its source.

Leaving this instruction, Senior Sister rose and hurried to the imperial palace.

The prisoners held in Prison Peak were all vicious individuals. Even the faint-hearted would tremble just standing there.

Lu Yang, however, felt no fear. Both the new and old prisoners of Prison Peak knew him.

He had captured the new ones, and the old ones had watched him bring the new ones in.

If anyone should be afraid, it was the prisoners of Prison Peak who should fear Lu Yang.

The prisoners in Prison Peak whispered among themselves, afraid Lu Yang might overhear.

The prisoners were only souls, with their magic and divine senses sealed. They had their own method for discussing things without being discovered by Lu Yang.

The cells of Prison Peak were forged from refined ore, specifically designed to seal souls and were indestructible.

The prisoners would speak to the iron bars, transmitting sounds through their vibrations, and then perceiving them with their acute souls.

"My goodness, did you see that fight just now? A half-immortal-level expert attacked Lu Yang, and Lu Yang didn't even fight back; he just collapsed as if on cue."

"This Lu Yang is unfathomable. He looks like he's only at the Golden Core stage, but his true strength is definitely much more than that."

"Have you noticed? Ever since this Lu Yang joined the Dao Inquiring Sect, there have been more and more people in our Prison Peak. At first, it was just Body Integration stage cultivators, then Tribulation Transcending stage, and now even a half-immortal has been captured. Is this something a Golden Core stage cultivator can do?"

"I've never seen a half-immortal in my life; I never thought I'd see one here."

"Is this the Great Era of Strife? Even powerful half-immortals are reduced to prisoners."

The more the prisoners discussed, the more shocked they became, finding Lu Yang unfathomable and someone not to be offended under any circumstances.

Lu Yang didn't know what these heinous prisoners were discussing. He took advantage of Senior Sister's absence to continue discussing high-level topics with Immortal Fairy.

"Fairy, since immortals need to sever karma to advance further, wouldn't a rudimentary form of the Karma Dao Fruit like the Grand Preceptor's be a great advantage?"

"It's not that immortals need to sever karma to advance further, but rather that Yingtian Immortal and others believe that they need to sever karma to advance further," Immortal Fairy emphasized.

"Okay, Yingtian Immortal and the others believe that. Then, if the Grand Preceptor forms a rudimentary Karma Dao Fruit, and then advances further to form a complete Karma Dao Fruit, wouldn't he be able to sever karma at will and become an existence beyond immortals?"

Immortal Fairy shook her head: "That's not how it works. The moment the Grand Preceptor condensed a rudimentary Karma Dao Fruit, he himself became intricately linked with the concept of 'karma.' Forming a complete Karma Dao Fruit would bind him even more closely, merging him with the concept of 'karma' itself."

"If he's merged with the concept of 'karma,' how can he sever karma?"

"He must have heard somewhere that immortals value karma greatly, which is why he tried to condense a rudimentary Karma Dao Fruit, unaware that this is a misguided path, a most basic error."

"There are no shortcuts to becoming an immortal. Trying to take advantage is impossible."

"Speaking of which, although there might indeed be realms beyond immortals, none of us five have ever given it much thought."

"Why?"

"Because there's no need! We are already immortals, with infinite lifespans and unmatched power. We're living quite well, so why bother pursuing a higher realm?"

Lu Yang felt that the Fairy's words were very reasonable.

The second update will be at eleven o'clock.