Just a Useful Pawn in the Stain Sect

In the void, the young man in a profound robe sat cross-legged with a smile on his face. Golden light flowed at his fingertips, leaping like golden snakes before finally sinking between his eyebrows.

He thought, "The [Fruit of Divine-Empyrean Thunder] is more perfect now..."

Lü Yang was fully satisfied. Faintly, he could almost see illusory light and shadows emanating from this Fruit—the profound and mysterious essence that was on the verge of taking shape and condensing.

He pondered, "The Cultivation from the [Fruit of Pine-Cedar Wood] has heavily compensated for its previous shortcomings. From now on, once I attain the Fruit again, everything will naturally fall into place."

As the saying goes, practice is the sole criterion for testing truth. Having Cultivation alone was not enough. Only by truly occupying a Fruit and experiencing its internal operations could one truly master its core secrets. Only in this way did Lü Yang have the confidence to fill the gap of the Wood Element in the [Fruit of Divine-Empyrean Thunder].

"It finally wasn’t a waste of all my great effort," he mused. Lü Yang still felt a lingering fear when he thought about it. After all, that was Bhagavat. Although it was only an Enlightened Body, to some extent, it represented Bhagavat’s stance. Of course, this was also factored into his worst-case scenarios. Rather, from the very beginning, he had prepared himself to clash head-on with Bhagavat. If he hadn’t considered the possibility of Bhagavat intervening, he wouldn’t have needed to make a special trip to the Star Palace to see if he could reap some benefits and maximize his strength. Naturally, encountering Bhagavat in the Star Palace was an unexpected situation.

He mused, "After this, Bhagavat definitely has his eyes on me.

"At the very least, my future attempts to attain the [Fruit of Pine-Cedar Wood] definitely won’t escape his notice. When the time comes, he will most likely lay a trap for me within the [Fruit of Pine-Cedar Wood]."

Despite this, Lü Yang didn’t panic. The reason was simple: he was too familiar with Bhagavat. What kind of traps could this "humble and inquisitive" lord possibly lay? He had already figured it all out during his previous life in the Celestial Mansion.

He sneered internally, "It’s nothing more than trying to force my Enlightenment!

"But now that I have achieved Dao Heart Perfection, even if he really lays a trap in the [Fruit of Pine-Cedar Wood] to force my Enlightenment, I have enough confidence to deal with it."

Compared to that, the [Fruit of Pomegranate Wood] was different. It wasn’t that he was afraid of that old... old but vigorous ancestral master of the Stain Sect. It was mainly because he wasn’t very familiar with the Saint Sect Ancestral Master, nor did he have any certainty about what kind of traps might be laid within the [Fruit of Pomegranate Wood]. Therefore, if he could avoid taking the gamble, he shouldn’t.

"Venerable Victory Treasure Pestle Bodhisattva is already dead, and the [Fruit of Pine-Cedar Wood] is left vacant," he reasoned. "According to the experience of my previous life, even if the Pure Land still has Mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva to fill the vacancy, it won’t happen in just a year or two. It will take at least a dozen years. This period is completely enough for me to take the lead in Seeking Gold Ascension Position."

Thinking of this, Lü Yang couldn’t help but let out a long breath. The path of Dao ahead was bright! As for whether Bhagavat would discover his secret of possessing all four elements, Lü Yang wasn’t worried at all. After all, he had never revealed those methods in front of outsiders.

He thought, "At most, Bhagavat knows I have a powerful Dharma Body.

"That’s nothing. After all, my body is right here for any discerning eye to see, and swallowing a Fruit isn’t the only method to cultivate the Dao of Arcane Body.

"However, since I exposed the secret of [Ang Xiao], Bhagavat will definitely be suspicious. In fact, not just him—any of the Immortal Core People would suspect that I also originate from the Immortal Pivot. But none of that matters. As long as the secret of possessing all four elements isn’t exposed, the other secrets aren’t worth mentioning."

He had restarted so many times, after all. To put it bluntly, he knew best what the bottom line for each Master of Dao’s intervention was, and he knew exactly how to dance back and forth along the edge of their tolerance.

He pondered, "Among all the secrets I hold now, possessing all four elements is the most important.

"Because having all four elements indicates that I cultivated Si Chou’s Cultivation Technique, and it’s highly likely that I will reclaim the Dao of Arcane Body in the future, thereby shaking the foundation of the Pocket World Technique.

"That is the bottom line.

"As long as I don’t touch this bottom line, pushing my luck a bit more won’t be a big problem. No matter how much Bhagavat targets me, at most, he will just Enlighten another Titled Tathagata."

But if he were to cross that bottom line, he feared Bhagavat’s giant foot would stomp down on him. Because of this, during the Combat with the [Vajra Realm Treasure-Born Tathagata] earlier, Lü Yang was willing to use up his Supreme Dao Transformation rather than expose his true foundation.

He comforted himself, "Anyway, half of the [Fruit of Pine-Cedar Wood] is already in my hands now.

"The pursuit of the Dao has always been fraught with obstacles. As long as I can achieve my goal, no matter how much I pay, it’s worth it."

Lü Yang was already very satisfied with this battle result. What’s more, he had an unexpected harvest this time—it was none other than the Gold Attribute of the [Vajra Realm Treasure-Born Tathagata]!

[Settling experiences for ’Vajra Realm Treasure-Born Tathagata’...]

[You are a member sitting on the thrones of the Five Directions Tathagatas of the ’Vajra Realm’. You are a manifestation personally Enlightened by Bhagavat, an innate divinity, descending to the world in response to the summons of believers...]

Words emerged on the panel.

Surprisingly, although the Gold Attribute of the [Vajra Realm Treasure-Born Tathagata] was a three-in-one fusion, the settled experiences had nothing to do with the Three Pure Land Bodhisattvas. Instead, it was an incomplete record.

Lü Yang frowned slightly and carefully reviewed the record on the panel. Soon, a look of astonishment appeared on his face. "The [Vajra Realm]... could it be Bhagavat’s Grotto Heaven?"

According to the record, there were a total of five Titled Tathagatas in the [Vajra Realm], ruling over the five directions. They usually remained in a state of light sleep, responding to the Pure Land Buddhist Cultivators and believers under his command on behalf of Bhagavat. For example, Buddha’s Sons, Ordinary Tathagatas, and so on, were actually sent down by them. Bhagavat himself rarely bothered with the details.

He thought, "Why does this feel a bit like an AI?

"I knew Bhagavat’s Unity was weird. Many times, it wasn’t actually Bhagavat paying attention, but rather a product similar to him.

"Looking at it this way, did Bhagavat slack off?"

Thinking of this, Lü Yang revealed a thoughtful expression. He pondered, "The [Vajra Realm]... Perhaps this is the source of Unity and the foundation that links all Monks together. Is this the method of a Master of Dao?"

According to the record, the [Vajra Realm] was not on the Other Shore, but it was higher than the Sea of Suffering. It was somewhat like a Secret Realm space anchored under Bhagavat’s Position. It contained infinite imagery and connected all Pure Land Buddhist Cultivators. It could be said that under the rule of the Pure Land, everything would manifest in the [Vajra Realm].

Lü Yang’s eyes lit up as he exclaimed internally, "Isn’t this just the [Sea of Suffering]?!"

Recalling his previous speculation that Bhagavat was actually the First Generation Master of Ten Thousand Treasures Peak... Wasn’t the ultimate goal of array artifacts to forge the Sea of Suffering?

It matched! It all matched!

He exclaimed internally, "If this is really the case, then the [Vajra Realm] might be the culmination of Bhagavat’s Array Treasure Dao. He really forged a miniature [Sea of Suffering]!"

Although this Little Sea of Suffering was exclusively tailored for the Pure Land Buddhist Cultivators, in Lü Yang’s eyes, it was still an epoch-making creation.

He marveled, "Given enough time, if the Monks are really allowed to expand across the entire Void Sea of Light, wouldn’t the [Vajra Realm] be able to directly replace the [Sea of Suffering]?"

Bhagavat’s ambition was not small! But that made sense. He was a Nascent Soul Daoist Lord, after all. Although he might be the weakest one, the weaker he was, the more he would try to find a shortcut to overtake the others.

"I’ve acquired another piece of high-value intelligence," he noted with satisfaction. For Lü Yang, there was never such a thing as too much intelligence. After all, this was exactly how [Ang Xiao] had been hollowed out by him lifetime after lifetime, eventually being completely controlled.

It would definitely be useful next time!

Putting away his thoughts, Lü Yang immediately shifted his gaze and looked at the Centome’s panel, rubbing his hands together in eager anticipation. Next, it was time to draw a Talent Skill!

He muttered internally, "The [Vajra Realm Treasure-Born Tathagata] holds, at the very least, one of the highest Positions under Bhagavat, and he also incorporates the Gold Attributes of the Three Pure Land Bodhisattvas. If it weren’t for the Three Pure Land Bodhisattvas lacking sufficient strength and foundation, he could have even had the Position of a Great Perfected Lord. He should drop a Colorful Talent, right?"

Soon, the Centome began to shake.

Lü Yang’s pupils abruptly shrank as he stared intently at the panel with total concentration. The feeling was like slowly opening a sealed bag, watching as it burst forth with—

[You have obtained a Colorful Talent, Vajra Realm Mandala!]

Colorful light!

Jackpot!