Just a Useful Pawn in the Stain Sect

Ang Xiao was aware of the profound mysteries of the Fruit of Spring Water.

However, they were no Water Element True Monarch, so their understanding was merely superficial. They only knew that the Fruit’s profound mystery was its ability to absorb injuries on behalf of its user.

So they didn’t pay it much mind.

Their main focus was still on Lü Yang’s Rebirth Appearance, ready at any moment to counter the Tribulation Evil Profound Light. In their view, that was the greater threat.

Yet they had still miscalculated.

They never expected Lü Yang to forgo the Tribulation Evil Profound Light. Instead, he had switched to a different profound mystery, one that reflected the damage back onto them!

The tables turned in an instant.

One moment, Ang Xiao had torn through Lü Yang’s chest, their Mana rampaging through his body and blasting his internal organs to pieces.

But in that very moment, Lü Yang’s Past Dust Appearance had already formed a Daoist Hand Seal. His shattered organs transformed into streams of roiling Cang Water, which latched onto the arm Ang Xiao had plunged through his body and rapidly crawled toward their torso.

’Hmph!?’

In a flash, Ang Xiao reacted, yanking their arm back. But it was too late; the Cang Water had already crept up to their elbow.

Seeing Ang Xiao react, Lü Yang was just as decisive.

"Go!"

With a sharp cry, the deep Cang Water instantly inverted, becoming Xiang-colored. A brilliant golden Splendid Light immediately illuminated Ang Xiao’s Dharma Body.

RUMBLE!

Accompanied by a deafening roar, the Xiang-colored radiance bloomed like a rising sun over the Sea of Suffering, making every inch of the water glitter and shine.

Lü Yang staggered several steps in mid-air before slowly spitting out a bloody breath, his face pale. Within his hollow Dharma Body, Spirit Water converged, drawing away all his injuries. His organs regenerated, and after three full breaths, he finally recovered enough to survey his surroundings.

A look of elation spread across his face.

For not far away stood Ang Xiao, also staggering. Flashes of bloody light could be seen within their churning smoke, a clear sign that they were no better off.

And indeed, they were not.

’A miscalculation...’

Ang Xiao looked down at the large hole in their chest, from which their heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys were now cheerfully spilling out. They couldn’t help but sigh.

’In Combat between Perfected Lords, intelligence is paramount.’

’And the most vexing thing about Lü Yang,’ they thought, ’is how fast his power grows. The intelligence on him is different from one day to the next. He always has some new trick up his sleeve.’

’I suffered a great loss because of this last time. I can’t believe it happened again.’

But before they could even catch their breath, a gray, Illusionary Color flooded their vision, and a powerful sense of crisis washed over them once more.

The Tribulation Evil Profound Light!

Cang Water absorbs the damage, Xiang Water reflects it onto Ang Xiao, and the Tribulation Evil Profound Light finishes the job. The entire combo was as smooth as flowing water!

In an instant, Ang Xiao narrowed their eyes.

With just that simple movement, the entire feeling they gave off to Lü Yang changed. The smoke swirling around their body thinned to an unprecedented degree.

Lü Yang could even vaguely make out their silhouette.

’...A male? No, a naturally flat-chested woman would have a similar silhouette... Damn it, I still can’t tell for sure.’

This wasn’t mere curiosity on Lü Yang’s part, of course.

In fact, after receiving a tip from Progenitor Tingyou, he understood that the smoke surrounding Ang Xiao was incredibly important to them.

In other words, if Ang Xiao’s true gender, appearance, name, or even origins were ever exposed, it would likely inflict a wound on them no less severe than being severed from the Netherworld. It might even shake their control over the Fruit of Great-Forest Wood. That was the real reason Lü Yang was so fixated on it.

Even as he pondered this, Lü Yang raised his guard completely.

’The thickness of the smoke around Ang Xiao is directly proportional to the power they’re exerting... For it to be this thin, they must be planning to go all out!’

The next second, a radiance bloomed.

First, the injuries on Ang Xiao’s body vanished. Then, Ang Xiao themselves vanished, disappearing right before Lü Yang’s eyes.

"Let Heaven and Earth forget me, and I shall naturally achieve Transcendence."

The Tribulation Evil Profound Light struck nothing but air. Though the attack was immensely powerful, it had been used so many times that Ang Xiao was long since prepared for it.

This was true of all Divine Techniques and profound Abilities.

There is no unbreakable technique in the world. The most powerful moves are always the ones yet unknown. Once revealed, a flaw—and a counter—will always be found.

Lü Yang quickly shifted his gaze, looking all around.

’Where did they go?’

Ang Xiao had simply vanished. It wasn’t a mere Veil of the Trees; at his level, such a simple illusion could no longer deceive him.

Then what was it?

In a trance, Lü Yang felt as if he could see a pair of eyes—Ang Xiao’s narrow eyes—looking down upon him from some higher dimension.

Everything was as they had said:

Let Heaven and Earth forget me, and I shall naturally achieve Transcendence—they had transcended, no longer existing between Heaven and Earth, but in some bizarre place separate from all other dimensions.

The next second.

The narrow eyes Lü Yang sensed began to slowly close, no longer looking at him. And just like that, he vanished from Ang Xiao’s field of view.

’!!!’

In an instant, an unprecedented sense of crisis washed over Lü Yang, causing his pupils to shrink to pinpricks. As Ang Xiao’s eyes closed and his image faded from their sight, his own body was also becoming transparent, illusory... and then vanishing!

This wasn’t even an injury.

Therefore, neither his Rebirth Appearance nor the Fruit of Spring Water could reverse this bizarre transformation. He could only watch helplessly as it all unfolded.

Time seemed to grind to a halt once more.

Lü Yang calmed his Heart Spirit, his mind becoming a sheet of ice.

’This move... can’t kill me.’

’They’ll have to open their eyes eventually. This is just a seal, a way to forcibly remove both of us from the battlefield and put us in some state of Transcendence.’

’If this state is maintained for too long, I might actually die.’

’But the current Ang Xiao can’t do that.’

’Unless they were still a Great Perfected Lord, they could have killed me with a single glance by virtue of their Position. But they’re not. So this move is just to stall me...’

’Their target isn’t me!’

At this thought, the icy calm in Lü Yang’s eyes finally shattered, replaced by a blazing fury. ’They want to get past me to strike at the Progenitor!’

’Courting death!’

Instantly, Lü Yang—who had been resisting only half-heartedly, confident he wouldn’t die—let his Qi trace erupt. The Engraving Laws began to operate at their absolute Extreme.

This time, he didn’t borrow any other Fruits.

The next second, the raging flames, boiling Mana, spiritual perception, and all other phenomena were instantly reined in. At a glance, it looked as if he had given up the struggle.

His figure was erased inch by inch: his feet, knees, thighs, waist, chest, hands, shoulders, back, mouth, nose, ears, and eyes... Until at last, only the point between his brows remained. There, within his Mud Ball Palace, at the center of his Spiritual Space, Lü Yang’s Soul finally looked up, a savage glint in its eyes.

Immediately, a Sword Light flared.

Because he was at an extreme disadvantage and had been suppressing it this whole time, Lü Yang’s Unyielding Sword Intent was already boiling over. Now, it was empowered by a profound blessing.

Sword Dao.

The profundity of this Void Attainment Position was utterly pure: to slash all things. It was powerful in its purity. As long as something existed, there was nothing it could not slash!

What’s more, the Demon-Vanquishing Perfected showed no resistance to Lü Yang borrowing their power. They even actively cooperated, allowing him to fully invoke the power of the Sword Dao and augment it with their own Position as a Middle Stage of Golden Core cultivator. One could say that in this moment, the Sword Dao in Lü Yang’s hands was even mightier than in the hands of the Demon-Vanquishing Perfected themself!

CLANG CLANG!

The cry of a sword rang out. In less than a ten-thousandth of an instant, a brilliant Sword Light had already traversed the formless boundary that should have been utterly impassable.

CLANG!

As fleeting as a flash of white, with the unhesitating grace of no return, it forcibly ripped open Ang Xiao’s eyes, which had been on the verge of closing, and forced them to see!

BOOM!

The radiance shattered. The eyes in the void disappeared. The smoke reappeared and coalesced into Ang Xiao’s figure, though it was now much thinner than before.

Meanwhile, Lü Yang’s form also returned, having narrowly avoided complete erasure. However, an intense wave of weakness washed over him. Clearly, Ang Xiao’s technique had not been without effect; he felt a strange emptiness in the parts of his body that had been erased.

The next second, their gazes met.

—A draw!?