Just a Useful Pawn in the Stain Sect

The process of entering the Nourishing Life Master was quite unremarkable.

Lü Yang and Ang Xiao didn't even need to leave the Human World. They just had to enter the Void Land first, and then re-anchor their coordinates.

Before long, the world began to spin around them.

By the time Lü Yang came to his senses, he had already found himself in another Outer Heaven Sea of Light. Without any hesitation, he was instantly ready for an attack.

However, the attack never came.

Only then did he survey his surroundings, his expression changing slightly. 'Unlike the Human World, there's no Sea of Light to stand on.'

The Nourishing Life Master was different from the Human World. There was no footprint-shaped Sea of Light like in the Taihuang Realm. Instead, entering brought them directly to the Immortal Palace, though this time to a deeper pavilion. It resembled a giant tower, divided into nine layers from top to bottom.

Immediately after, Lü Yang shifted his gaze.

As expected, on the other two sides of the pavilion, the Old Dragon Monarch and Mu Changsheng had been waiting for a long time. Each of them held a thick book in their hands.

'Is this... a library?'

The entire giant tower had no ground to stand on. Its nine layers were densely packed with bookshelves, both inside and out. Only the center was hollowed out, allowing people to browse the books within.

Lü Yang paused, then looked directly at Mu Changsheng and asked, "May I ask, Daoist, how does one pass the trial in this place?"

Hearing this, Mu Changsheng looked helpless. "I don't know."

"If I had passed the trial back then, I wouldn't have died during Foundation Establishment... I only know that this is a place for reading. Perhaps one must read all the books."

'Read all the books?'

Lü Yang's brow furrowed. 'How hard could that be? We're all Perfected Lords. With a single sweep of our spiritual perception, what books couldn't we finish? Even a trillion volumes would take but a moment.'

But he quickly realized that if it were that simple, why would the Old Dragon Monarch and Mu Changsheng be stuck here? They should have passed the trial long ago... Even so, Lü Yang tentatively sent out a strand of his spiritual perception, aiming at one of the bookshelves, intending to try speed-reading with it.

The next second, however, Lü Yang felt his head grow heavy.

"Ugh...!"

As if his head had been struck by a heavy hammer, Lü Yang's body swayed slightly... Glancing to the side, he saw Ang Xiao stagger a couple of times as well.

'He probably tried the same thing.'

At this thought, Lü Yang's gloomy mood instantly improved. He then exchanged a look with Ang Xiao, and the two tacitly moved apart.

'This place is truly strange...'

Lü Yang casually found a bookshelf on one of the layers, took out a book, and began to read it with his spiritual perception. In an instant, a vast ocean of knowledge surged toward him.

*HISS!*

Lü Yang sucked in a sharp breath. This was why his attempt at speed-reading with his spiritual perception had failed. All of this knowledge, without exception, was—

'It's... all forbidden knowledge!'

Forbidden knowledge was different from ordinary knowledge. It possessed a tangible weight. The more forbidden knowledge one knew, the greater the pressure on one's consciousness.

'No wonder this is the second trial.'

Lü Yang understood. 'The first trial nurtures the Dao Heart. With Dao Heart Perfection and a unified True Self, only then can one withstand the pressure of the forbidden knowledge in the second trial.'

Thinking this, he immediately focused his mind and calmed his breath, looking down at the book in his hands.

'Damn, my head's a little dizzy!'

It wasn't that he disliked reading, but the characters... they were identical to the ancient script in the *Great Mighty Spirit Qi*. 'Damn it, I'm illiterate!'

'This Nourishing Life Master is bullying the illiterate!'

Just then—

*Pfft!*

Lü Yang whipped his head around to see Ang Xiao, not far away, let out a suppressed chuckle before giving him a thoughtful look.

Lü Yang was instantly enraged!

'This is too much! You naturally evil old ghost, I've been putting up with you for a long time!'

'Laughing at me?'

But the next second, he regained his composure. 'Think I have no way to deal with this? What a joke! Making Ang Xiao translate the ancient script before was just a feint!'

'Now I'll show you my mastery of ancient script!'

At this thought, Lü Yang immediately communicated with the Righteous Banner, his consciousness instantly connecting with Zhu Xuanhao and the Star Monarch of Qinghe, who had been refined into Banner Spirits.

'Daoists, help me translate this book.'

Although the two Banner Spirits had entered the banner after death and lacked their own initiative, they could still fulfill a direct request from Lü Yang.

The Star Monarch of the Star River did not hesitate and immediately began to speak in a low voice: "The Sea and Sky Realm emphasizes the Water Element, its intent lies in the Celestial Gate. Its qi returns to seclusion, its water travels everywhere but does not advance. Its momentum returns to a tranquil state. It comes without end and receives without overflowing. Thus is the sea born. By drawing its form from this, the Sea and Sky Realm forms itself..."

Lü Yang listened intently, his brow furrowed.

The book was about the 'sea,' which struck a chord with him, as its imagery was very similar to the Fruit of Vast-Sea Water he had fought against before.

But after listening to the entire text, he had gained nothing.

'Something's not right... This is supposed to be forbidden knowledge, but it doesn't feel forbidden at all. It doesn't even increase my Cultivation. What's so strange about it?'

Lü Yang didn't dwell on it. He turned directly to Mu Changsheng again and said grimly, "Daoist, you said before that the Outer Path Cultivation Technique was inside the Nourishing Life Master. Now that I'm in, all I see is a pile of books. Where is the cultivation method? Or were you lying to me before?"

As soon as he spoke, the atmosphere turned icy.

Ang Xiao silently faded from view, while the Old Dragon Monarch unhesitatingly distanced himself from Mu Changsheng, as if to say, 'I don't know this man very well.'

Mu Changsheng's expression stiffened.

But he quickly regained his composure. Although he was certain he couldn't defeat Lü Yang, he was confident he could survive by relying on No Heaven.

However, from his previous experience, he vividly remembered how difficult a Saint Sect True Monarch could be and how quickly they turned hostile. He knew he had to offer something substantial now, or Lü Yang would definitely not let this go. And Ang Xiao and the Old Dragon Monarch would, more likely than not, be happy to watch it happen.

Thinking this, he immediately spoke:

"Daoist, you've misunderstood."

"The Outer Path Cultivation Technique I spoke of *are* these books here... Daoist, you may not know this, but every single one of these books *is* a Fruit!"

"All the Fruits in the world—Outer Dao, Righteous Dao, Supreme Venerable... regardless of past, present, or future, as long as a Fruit is born from the Void Sea of Light, it will resonate with the Nourishing Life Master at the moment of its birth. It will be registered and cataloged, and finally manifest here as a corresponding book!"

At these words, everyone was inwardly astonished.

Seeing their reaction, Mu Changsheng quickly continued, "And the so-called Outer Dao cultivation is actually very simple. It's just a matter of deleting and altering the content of the book corresponding to an Outer Dao Fruit Position!"

Saying this, he raised the book in his hand.

"This book corresponds to No Heaven. I was the one who added some content to it, which is what caused No Heaven to develop its Profound Mysterious qualities."

Before his voice had even faded, Progenitor Tingyou spoke from within the Righteous Banner:

"That's not right!"

"Outer Dao cultivation isn't that simple. Even if what he says is true... when you alter the content, how can you ensure the changes will resonate with the Fruit?"

"Every Fruit is the culmination of woven imagery, a self-contained system. Adding even the slightest variable would cause a total collapse. Besides, if you could just alter it at will, why not just turn No Heaven into an Emperor Fruit? Why stop at it merely being Profound Mysterious?"

Lü Yang dutifully repeated Progenitor Tingyou's words.

"This..."

Hearing this, Mu Changsheng's voice faltered for a moment before he said frankly, "The answer is simple. Because this *is* the trial of the Nourishing Life Master."

"No Heaven was not generated normally."

"It is a book that I wrote back then, after reading through the entire collection... Then, under the resonance of the Nourishing Life Master, the corresponding Fruit manifested."

"At first, No Heaven was just a World Heaven Seed. I slowly nurtured it over time for it to grow to its current state. And a World Heaven Seed provided by the Nourishing Life Master, as long as it is under the cover of the Nourishing Life Master's Mighty Power, can be modified continuously without fear of the Fruit collapsing as a result."

A Fruit cannot be repaired because it is a self-contained system; one wrong change and it collapses instantly.

But what makes No Heaven different is that as long as it is within the Nourishing Life Master's Secret Realm, one can use countless trials and errors to find the optimal solution!

It was simply unbelievable!