Just a Useful Pawn in the Stain Sect

The Void Sea of Light.

Endless streams of the Duality of Life and Death Profound Light collided ceaselessly within the void. As the Power of Destruction surged, the Qi of Creation was also born from the chaos.

Suddenly, a faint swath of Illusionary Colors emerged.

Within the Illusionary Colors, True Monarch Gangxing appeared, dressed in green robes. He wore a scholar’s crown that held his hair in place, and he trod upon the Sea of Light as if it were solid ground, looking for all the world like a refined academic.

At this moment, however, his expression was utterly serious. The casual air he’d worn when facing the cultivators of the Star Palace was gone, replaced by a solemn gaze fixed on what was before him.

In the next instant, waves churned across the Sea of Light.

A figure of light had descended from the Void Land, causing the surrounding Sea of Light to respond. Before long, a hazy mist began to drift around it.

’...Ang Xiao!’

True Monarch Gangxing narrowed his eyes. Unlike the uncertainty and speculation of their last meeting, this time he was completely certain.

The reason was simple. Only the true Ang Xiao—the former number one Perfected Lord in the world—could cause such a violent disturbance in the Void Sea of Light merely by showing up. He himself could do something similar, but the scale of the effect he could produce was far smaller than what Ang Xiao had just triggered.

At this thought, True Monarch Gangxing immediately burst out laughing:

"So, you’ve come again, Daoist!"

Upon hearing this, Ang Xiao’s heart skipped a beat, but his expression didn’t falter. He simply smiled back and said, "It seems you’ve gotten what you wanted, Daoist?"

A perfectly guarded reply.

True Monarch Gangxing mulled it over. ’The man before me is undoubtedly Ang Xiao, but what about the last one? Was he also Ang Xiao?’

’Or was it an imposter?’

’Forget it. Whether they were both Ang Xiao or two different imposters, they were both scheming against me. No matter what, my course is set.’

With that, True Monarch Gangxing spoke. "That’s right. I have the Guardian’s Seal. You’ve also given me the coordinates. There’s no need to rush, Daoist. Once I’ve had some time to rest and stabilize my qi, I will naturally make my way to the Nourishing Life Master to meet with you."

As a Great Perfected Lord, he was no fool.

He had just returned from the Star Palace after unleashing a slash that embodied his Great True Monarch Position. His condition was clearly poor, so he certainly wasn’t about to take any risks at a time like this.

Moreover, he was highly suspicious of Ang Xiao’s motives.

’If the Old Dragon Monarch had invited me, that would be one thing. But Ang Xiao... a Saint Sect True Monarch inviting me? Don’t tell me he’s planning to ambush me?’

It wasn’t impossible!

Thinking of this, True Monarch Gangxing decided to be direct, smiling as he said, "Speaking of which, for you to be in such a hurry to find me... you wouldn’t happen to be plotting something against me, would you, Daoist?"

"You misunderstand, Daoist."

Ang Xiao chuckled, his narrow eyes gazing deeply at True Monarch Gangxing. "There’s no benefit in killing you, Daoist."

As he finished speaking, True Monarch Gangxing raised an eyebrow. The two of them stood at a standstill. After a long moment, Ang Xiao spoke again:

"In that case, I won’t disturb your recuperation, Daoist."

"I will be at the Nourishing Life Master, awaiting your esteemed arrival."

With that, the mist dissipated, and Ang Xiao’s figure vanished abruptly, leaving True Monarch Gangxing standing alone, his expression shifting.

...

「The Nourishing Life Master.」

With a swirl of mist, Ang Xiao opened his eyes. He rose abruptly and walked toward Lü Yang, who opened his eyes at almost the same moment.

Their eyes met.

In the next instant, Ang Xiao flicked his sleeve, rose to his feet, and walked over. He sent a voice transmission, "Daoist, I have some bad news I must share with you."

Lü Yang raised an eyebrow. "Please speak freely, Senior."

"The Old Loach has already met with Gangxing," Ang Xiao said in a low voice. "The ambush plan may have been exposed."

Hearing this, Lü Yang immediately understood. ’That conniving old bastard. He really did go see True Monarch Gangxing in secret!’

He wasn’t surprised. After all, alliances between Saint Sect True Monarchs always involved each party having their own selfish agenda. Everyone had their own ideas. It was already a feat to cooperate on the grand strategy while pulling strings on the minor details. As for ’sincere unity,’ that was just nonsense used to fool people.

’But... it seems Ang Xiao has made a mistake?’

’He must have gone to see True Monarch Gangxing, learned that someone had met with the man before he did, and assumed it was the Old Dragon Monarch.’

’But that person was actually me.’

’No... is he testing me?’

Lü Yang kept his thoughts to himself, his expression unreadable. "So what if he did? The ambush was always an open gambit. It doesn’t matter if it’s been exposed."

The more complex a plan, the more likely it is to fail.

Take Ang Xiao, for example. His plan to achieve Perfection of the Five Elements Fruit Position was flawless, with backup plans layered upon backup plans. But in the end, didn’t I upend it all?

Truly effective plans are best kept simple.

The plan to ambush True Monarch Gangxing, for instance, had no fancy frills. It boiled down to a single question: Do you want the opportunity within the Nourishing Life Master, or not?

If you want it, you walk into the trap.

If you don’t, then I won’t kill you.

In this situation, True Monarch Gangxing had no real choice. The only variable was whether their side had enough combat power to finish the job.

"That may be true," Ang Xiao said, shaking his head, "but there’s still room to maneuver in the details. I think we should start with the Old Loach. We need to control his actions and keep them within predictable bounds. Otherwise, if we let him improvise freely, he becomes too great a Variable."

Lü Yang didn’t argue. "So, what do you propose, Senior?"

Ang Xiao gave a slight smile and laid out his plan. "We impersonate Gangxing and arrange a meeting with the Old Loach. We’ll make him act according to our script!"

"Oh?"

Lü Yang’s eyebrow shot up. "You mean to deceive the Old Dragon Monarch? He isn’t the same as he used to be, Senior. He’s not so easily fooled."

"Difficult, but not impossible."

Ang Xiao pointed to himself, then to Lü Yang. "With my Veil of the Trees and your Profound Mysterious, we actually have a decent chance of success."

"I’m not asking for the Old Loach to switch sides and join us. We just need to guide him a little, so that when he inevitably betrays us, he picks a different target."

"...Explain."

"It’s quite simple," Ang Xiao said coolly. "I’ll impersonate Gangxing and convince the Old Loach that when he makes his move, he should first kill that shrew, Fei Xue!"

At these words, Lü Yang fell silent.

Seeing his reaction, Ang Xiao continued to explain, "That Old Loach has always been a complete opportunist. If he’s going to betray us, he’ll choose the most critical moment to do so."

"However, that same moment is also our greatest opportunity to win."

"We’ll have Fei Xue draw his fire, while you and I seize the opportunity to kill Gangxing. Afterward, we’ll have one less person to split the spoils with. Isn’t that a beautiful plan?"

It sounded very reasonable.

Logical and utterly convincing.

This time, Lü Yang’s silence was long, as if he were wrestling with some intense inner conflict. Finally, after a long while, he gave a slight nod.

"It’s worth a try."