Just a Useful Pawn in the Stain Sect

Bright light suddenly pierced through the Profound Spirit Realm.

Lü Yang strolled out from the Sea of Suffering, humming a little tune in an excellent mood. By now, he had essentially emptied out all the Banner Spirits within the Righteous Banner, sending them all into the Beiji Exorcism Institute. Progenitor Tingyou was put in charge of commanding them to replicate the Star Palace’s array artifacts craftsmanship. This also gave the Banner Spirits something to do, preventing them from becoming lazy and gluttonous.

"Speaking of which, I used to have the Banner Spirits help me craft Talismans. Unfortunately, as my Cultivation increased, I no longer needed those low-level Talismans. As a result, I indirectly gave these Banner Spirits a vacation. Every day, they just eat and drink inside my Righteous Banner, living a life of boundless joy. Where is the justice in that?" he thought. "I absolutely cannot raise a bunch of freeloaders! Banner Spirits are born to work for me. I gave them a second life, and any Banner Spirit that cannot serve me has no value in existing!"

His expectations for the Beiji Exorcism Institute were very simple. He hoped that in the future, when he attained the Fruit of Divine-Empyrean Thunder and established tribulations for Heaven and Earth, the Beiji Exorcism Institute could become the entity responsible for descending those tribulations.

"The Bhagavat is actually still too merciful," Lü Yang pondered. "The Shixiu Method he created doesn’t hold much appeal for the majority of Cultivators. At the very least, the benefits of joining the Pure Land aren’t apparent at all. I have to be the one to do it."

His plan was straightforward. In the future, he intended to use the Beiji Exorcism Institute to establish tribulations for Heaven and Earth, thereby sublimating the Fruit of Divine-Empyrean Thunder, while simultaneously and officially re-establishing the Righteous Qi Dao to the public.

"From now on, as long as someone joins my Righteous Qi Dao, they can immediately reduce the might of the lightning tribulations they suffer, and even go out and rain tribulations down on others... Will you join me or not? If you don’t, I will strike you to death with lightning tribulations. If you do? That’s easy. Just obediently contribute to the expansion of the Beiji Exorcism Institute," he mused.

Only by applying both grace and severity could great things be accomplished. In Lü Yang’s eyes, Cultivators were all wretched creatures. Rather than giving them benefits to tempt them into joining, it was far better to let them know the consequences of refusing.

"If this plan works," he thought, "not only will my Righteous Qi Dao inevitably flourish, but even the expansion speed of the Beiji Exorcism Institute might surpass the Bhagavat’s Vajra Realm!" He placed great hopes on this.

Of course, those were all future plans. At present, the Beiji Exorcism Institute was merely in its startup phase with countless things waiting to be built; it just looked good on the surface.

"There is no time to lose!" he thought.

After finishing the settlement of the Gold Attribute, Lü Yang rushed non-stop to the exterior of the Profound Spirit Realm. Looking down, he immediately spotted the Immortal Pivot, which resembled a deep abyss. In the very next second, he transformed into a streak of light and descended.

BOOM!

In an instant, Golden Core Perfected Lords all across the Immortal Pivot sensed his arrival. They looked up at the sky, their expressions turning solemn. "It’s that Person from Beyond the Heavens..."

Lü Yang made no effort to conceal his Qi trace, traveling openly and frankly. However, to avoid causing any misunderstandings, he chose the easily bullied Overseas region to enter the realm. Sure enough, upon sensing his Qi trace, the Old Dragon Monarch turned and fled without a word, abandoning the Four Seas Sect in the blink of an eye. He was far too cautious.

"Why bother? I didn’t plan on making a move this time," Lü Yang thought, shaking his head. He didn’t pursue the Old Dragon Monarch and instead focused his attention and held his breath.

At the same time, over a dozen obscure gazes shifted toward him. Completely unbothered, Lü Yang directly circulated the Void Purification and Calm Business Jade Book. After practicing it in the Profound Spirit Realm, he had become increasingly proficient with this Cultivation Technique.

Executing it now was akin to giving the Immortal Pivot a massage. Although it was still not enough to elicit an overly strong reaction from the Heavenly God, he could still get the Heavenly God to cooperate on matters far below its Position.

"I want... the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches!"

Lü Yang formed a Daoist Hand Seal and resonated with the Immortal Pivot. Under his all-out casting, the Heavenly God, who was rather satisfied with the massage, finally responded.

RUMBLE!

In a split second, Heaven and Earth thundered. Following that, a ferocious, pure white, and powerfully built tiger appeared out of thin air beside him, looking as though it were perched upon a mountain peak.

A Heavenly Stem, Geng Metal Qi!

This was only the beginning. Soon after, streams of Qi traces gathered, illuminating with brilliant colors. Finally, they manifested into three more Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, landing right in front of him.

Yin Wood, Xin Metal, and Mao Wood!

Seeing this, Lü Yang swiftly changed his Daoist Hand Seal and gently pressed his hand against his lower abdomen’s Dantian. A radiant, substantial stream of Illusionary Colors flowed between his palm and fingers.

It was none other than a Dao Foundation!

As the Dao Foundation was refined, his Innate Ability was born. Then, the four Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches circled him. Endless rays of light intertwined and reflected off one another, transforming into a towering, gigantic tree.

The Fruit of Pine-Cedar Wood!

This scene practically dumbfounded all the Perfected Lords. They watched helplessly as the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches—which normally required slow searching and the deduction of Karma Links to obtain—simultaneously emerged around Lü Yang. Geng, Yin, Xin, and Mao; the Qi of metal and wood converged upon his Dao Foundation. In just a brief moment, it allowed him to reach Foundation Establishment Perfection!

"He’s... poaching from our Immortal Pivot!"

At this moment, a Golden Core Perfected Lord finally snapped out of his daze, finding the situation utterly absurd. "An Outer Dao True Monarch came to our Immortal Pivot to poach from us?"

Every Golden Core Perfected Lord’s first reaction was that this had to be a joke. It was always them, Immortal Lord Xianshu, plundering the Sea of Light, extorting the Great and Small Boundary Heavens everywhere, and poaching from others. Since when was it someone else’s turn to poach from them?!

This filthy Outer Dao Cultivator was defying heaven!

However, very soon, a Perfected Lord with vast experience and profound Cultivation realized something was amiss. "Wait... if he is an Outer Dao Cultivator, how could he receive such favor from the Immortal Pivot?"

It was extremely difficult for an Outer Dao True Monarch to succeed in Seeking Gold. Because they weren’t native to the Immortal Pivot, they didn’t have its acknowledgment and naturally couldn’t attract the attention of any Fruit Position—unless they fed their own Outer Dao Fruit Position to the Immortal Pivot. Even then, success wasn’t guaranteed.

"I knew it. How could an Outer Dao Cultivator possess that kind of Cultivation?"

"Also, don’t forget that he previously exposed Ang Xiao’s conspiracy to reverse the Earth of Chen. He might be someone who left our Immortal Pivot and reincarnated to return!"

"I think so too."

"Shallow waters only breed toads; how could they produce a True Dragon? It’s highly likely that a Perfected Lord from our side left and has now returned, merely wearing the skin of an Outer Dao Cultivator."

"Then, fellow Daoists, which family’s Perfected Lord do you think he is?"

An unknown speaker suddenly asked a question that plunged all the Perfected Lords into silence. After a long while, a Perfected Lord finally muttered in an annoyed, hushed tone, "Who else could it be!

"It can’t be the Pure Land, considering we just fought a battle, and the Dao Court can’t raise a Perfected Lord of this caliber. So, it’s either the Sword Pavilion or the Stain Sect.

"But you all know how the Sword Pavilion operates. They have always reincarnated within their own ranks, maintaining hereditary bloodlines passed down through generations. When have they ever run outside the Immortal Pivot to reincarnate? After much thought, it can only be someone from the Stain Sect... They frequently do this sort of thing, severing ties with the past."

"That’s unlikely, isn’t it? He ruthlessly sabotaged Ang Xiao, who also hails from the Stain Sect..." another countered.

"That makes it even more likely!" someone else replied.

As soon as these words were spoken, the Perfected Lords present voiced their agreement. They felt this deduction was well-founded and convincing. Besides, whenever there was trouble, blaming the Stain Sect was always the right move!

Meanwhile, Lü Yang retracted his Daoist Hand Seal and opened his eyes, feeling astonished.

"Strange," he thought. "I originally planned to follow Venerable Victory Treasure Pestle Bodhisattva’s experience and set up a Gold-Seeking Device. But before I even made a move, the Fruit of Pine-Cedar Wood revealed itself on its own? Am I highly compatible with the Fruit of Pine-Cedar Wood? Could it be that this Fruit Position most favors a Cultivator like me—someone with profound foresight, transcendent Enlightenment, and a resolute Dao Heart—so it cast its gaze upon me without needing the device?"

Just as Lü Yang was pondering this in confusion, a familiar voice drifted leisurely into his ears from an unknown source.

"Daoist... perhaps we should find an opportunity to meet."

It was Ang Xiao!