Just a Useful Pawn in the Stain Sect

In the Immortal Pivot, above the Overseas clouds.

Lü Yang walked out of the Sea of Suffering. He calmly swept his gaze around, clearly sensing the fearful stares cast his way by the Perfected Lords from all sides.

Only the direction of the Stain Sect was different. On the Holy Fire Cliff, World Purger Fei Xue stood with her hands behind her back. Her eyes were burning as she stared fixedly at Lü Yang, seemingly forcefully suppressing something.

Lü Yang paid her no mind. He immediately leaped up as a beam of heavenly light and vanished from the Immortal Pivot, returning to the Profound Spirit Realm. Now that these two Outer Realms had completely merged, the Constant written by the Saint Sect Ancestral Master could be considered established, though the Profound Spirit Realm still hadn’t fully integrated into it.

"My harvest this time is simply too great!"

Returning to his Quiet Chamber in the Celestial Court, Lü Yang finally dropped his calm facade. He rubbed his hands together in excitement, feeling the Profound Mysterious nature of the Fruit of Divine-Empyrean Thunder.

He thought, "Right now, even without using my Dharma Body, I am still a First-class True Monarch!

"Just like the Progenitor, regardless of what tier of Perfected Lord one was before, as long as they complete the Ascension Ceremony, they can immediately reach the True Monarch Level.

"Of course, it’s not without its flaws.

"My Ascension Ceremony is still unstable. I need to constantly draw upon a portion of the Profound Mysterious to maintain my modifications to the concept of the Heart Demon."

Once he ran out of resources and had no strength left to sustain it, the Ascension Ceremony would collapse on its own, and his combat strength would drop a tier.

He pondered, "As expected, there are grades to the Ascension Ceremony as well.

"The Lower Grade is the temporary ceremony I just held. Although usable, it has glaring flaws. It’s only good when I have the upper hand; fighting an uphill battle would be very difficult.

"The Middle Grade should be like that of World Purger Fei Xue.

"Her ceremony is likely the Five Thousand Years of Fighting Number One. This ceremony is actually limited to a span of five thousand years. Once the time passes, it naturally no longer counts.

"Not to mention that at least three thousand of those five thousand years were siphoned away by the Bhagavat. From this perspective, she actually found a loophole. But that’s normal; if she didn’t exploit loopholes, she wouldn’t seem like a Perfected Lord of our Stain Sect. In short, her ceremony has basically stabilized.

"As for the Upper Grade..."

Thinking of this, Lü Yang glanced at Progenitor Tingyou and sighed in his heart. He thought, "The Upper Grade is naturally like the Progenitor’s, directly pioneering a brand-new Great Dao.

"A Great Dao that ascends like a rocket.

"Normally having only the standard of an ordinary Perfected Lord, but when necessary, the Fruit ascends, directly reaching the True Monarch Level. This is a fundamental change to the Cultivation system.

"Once this kind of ceremony is completed, there are no hidden dangers or instability. I can only say that the Progenitor truly lives up to his title."

However, Lü Yang wasn’t greedy. After all, the Fruit of Divine-Empyrean Thunder had just reached Perfection. A significant part of his Ascension Ceremony’s success was thanks to his Heaven and Earth and I Are Born Together Talent Skill.

"Given time, I will also be able to reach the Progenitor’s Realm!" Lü Yang thought, his heart brimming with ambition.

"Then again, my creation of the Heart Demon Tribulation is probably bad news for those Cultivators who are currently breaking through Realms with unstable states of mind."

Thinking of this, Lü Yang rubbed his chin, a playful smile on his lips.

"Hmm, it’s about time I reestablished the Righteous Qi Dao.

"I can also hang up the sign for the Beiji Exorcism Institute. I’ll just say that as long as they join, they can master the Thunder Skill, which has miraculous effects in eliminating Heart Demons..."

Wasn’t this exactly how a monopoly was built?

On a remote, desolate island in the Xingluo Sea of the Profound Spirit Realm.

Looking around, a snow-white mist churned between Heaven and Earth, climbing toward the sky and clinging to the clouds. Within it stood a handsome young man wearing a Daoist Robe.

Above the young Daoist’s head hovered a Profound Cloud that covered the entire island. Lightning danced within the cloud layers, emitting deafening, drum-like booms that resonated through the heavens.

RUMBLE!

The next second, golden light cascaded like a waterfall, and lightning rained down. Bolt after bolt smashed onto the island in endless succession, fiercely detonating into blinding expanses of brilliance wherever they struck.

The young man was engulfed by the light. His entire body let out CRACKLE sounds as his flesh was instantly torn open, turning him into a blood-soaked mess. However, he gritted his teeth and persevered, shoving Qi Pills into his mouth as if they cost no Money. One Spiritual Treasure after another flew out to block the descending lightning.

Only after a long time did the Profound Cloud gradually dissipate.

On the desolate island, now reduced to ruins, the young man knelt on the ground with tattered clothes and a charred face. Yet, his eyes were filled with uncontrollable joy.

"I succeeded!

"I’ve finally survived this godforsaken lightning tribulation! From now on, I am a Ghost Immortal of the Celestial Court. In the future, I will govern a region and enjoy the Great Dao of longevity!"

At this thought, the young man was overwhelmed with ecstasy.

Immediately after, he felt a sudden wave of dizziness. He subconsciously patted his body but didn’t find anything wrong, so he simply left the desolate island.

Following this, in just a short span of a thousand years, it was as if his luck had completely turned around. He encountered countless fortuitous opportunities, and his Cultivation advanced by leaps and bounds. He progressed from a Ghost Immortal to a Human Immortal, then to an Earth Immortal, before reaching the peak as a Celestial Immortal. Finally, after the fall of the previous generation’s Supreme Venerable, he competed against the other Celestial Immortals for dominion over the world and became the next generation’s Supreme Venerable...

"Huh!?"

Just as he was about to step onto the throne of the Supreme Venerable, the young man suddenly shuddered and snapped back to reality. He looked around in bewilderment, cold sweat instantly pouring down his face.

He thought, "Are you kidding me!

"Supreme Venerable of the Profound Spirit Realm? Where would I get that kind of Talent Skill? My lifelong wish was just to attain the Realm of a Ghost Immortal and then slack off. Why would I ever compete for the position of Supreme Venerable?

"An Illusion Realm!?"

The moment the young man snapped awake, the scene before him shattered with a BOOM. Only then did he realize that what lay before him was not the throne of the Supreme Venerable.

It was a bottomless abyss!

If he had actually taken that step just now, he would have plummeted straight down. He didn’t know what the consequences would be, but he was absolutely certain he didn’t want to find out.

The next second, the abyss collapsed, ultimately transforming into a ghostly phantom that drifted above his Spiritual Space. A MUAHAHA laugh immediately echoed out. "Consider yourself lucky, kid. Your Cultivation is just too low, so only a minor Heart Demon like me was born. Don’t worry, I’ll be waiting for you in the future..."

As its voice faded, the phantom shattered.

Leaving behind only the bewildered young man, who fell to the ground with a THUD. He felt a lingering wave of terror. "What was that... could it be another Tribulation?"

"Damn it! Is there an end to this!?" the young man couldn’t help but curse out loud.

He had just gotten lucky this time because his desire to slack off was so intense that the Heart Demon hadn’t chosen the right method. If it really came again next time, he had no confidence that he would survive!

At that moment, a Flying Light suddenly shot over from outside the desolate island.

"Daoist Lan?"

The Flying Light parted to reveal a middle-aged Daoist stepping out. Upon seeing the young man, his face immediately lit up with joy. "Thank goodness! At least one managed to survive this time!"

Lan Daoist was speechless.

"What do you mean by that, Daoist?" Having just narrowly escaped death, how could the young man tolerate such words? He immediately glared in anger. "Are you saying this humble Daoist isn’t meant to survive his Tribulation?"

"You are unaware, Daoist," the middle-aged Daoist shook his head, his expression turning bitter. "The Immortal Monarch of Tribulation has established another Tribulation, known as the Heart Demon. I don’t know how many Cultivators have fallen victim to it.

"Caught completely off guard, so many people died!

"I, Chen Mountain, normally have a wide circle of friends. Yet, after visiting my friends who were undergoing their Tribulations, I’ve almost scoured the entire Xingluo Sea, and you are the only one still alive, Daoist!"

At these words, Lan Daoist instantly drew in a sharp breath of cold air.

A moment later, he couldn’t help but complain in a low voice, "Why is that Immortal Monarch always trying to find ways to increase the difficulty of Cultivation? Are they even one of us Profound Spirit People?"

Our Profound Spirit Realm has always had honest and simple customs! The worst we do is Killing people to steal their treasures; we never engage in such underhanded schemes. How did a freak like the Immortal Monarch of Tribulation end up coming from here?

"Shh... You mustn’t disrespect the Upper Cultivator!" Daoist Chen Shan hurriedly covered Lan Daoist’s mouth. "Rumor has it that the Immortal Monarch can sense things at will. If you curse him, he might strike you with lightning in retaliation!

"And they say he’s quite petty..."

BOOM!

A bolt of lightning suddenly struck down. Chen Mountain, who had just been exuding a transcendent Immortal aura, instantly had his face charred black. He held his breath for quite a while before finally opening his mouth to exhale a puff of black smoke.

"See what I mean?"

Lan Daoist immediately nodded frantically, his head bobbing up and down, but then his face fell again. "That may be so, but what are we supposed to do now that Tribulations are getting harder and harder to overcome?"