Just a Useful Pawn in the Stain Sect

At that moment, the already chaotic Immortal Pivot descended into even greater turmoil.

And in the instant that Heaven and Earth began to operate once more, Ang Xiao, who had just been shaking the world in his battle with World Purger Fei Xue, had vanished without a trace.

The second to flee was the Old Dragon Monarch.

The third to react was World Purger Fei Xue. However, she was quite composed, standing among the clouds with her hands on her hips, looking magnificent and unconcerned.

At this moment, Heaven and Earth were still changing.

The once vivid and lively world suddenly seemed to have become a mechanical, lifeless thing, silently operating according to a preset program.

The Fruit of Blade-Edge Metal appeared. Demon Subduing Zhenren was Seeking Gold.

The Seeking Gold was a success.

All variables were erased. There were no accidents. Under that formless, intangible will that mastered everything, there could only be one, unchangeable result.

Immediately after, Demon Subduing Zhenren, who had just obtained the Fruit of Blade-Edge Metal, walked out from the depths of the Sword Pavilion. A dazed expression was written on his face, his gaze falling directly on Lü Yang. At the same time, from within the Dao Court, the Grand Tutor who wielded the Fruit of Post-Road Earth also emerged, looking anxious and uneasy.

Only Lü Yang was still all smiles:

"Everyone, don't panic."

"This is just a technical adjustment. I'm about to attempt a breakthrough to the Late Stage of Golden Core. Whether I succeed or not is up to all of you. Time is short, so I won't explain further."

"..."

Neither Demon Subduing Zhenren nor the Grand Tutor spoke. They just nodded silently, which didn't surprise Lü Yang in the least.

After all, they were different from him.

Without Dao Heart Perfection, one could never be autonomous. To a Master of Dao, their consciousness, their sense of self, everything about them was just a toy to be kneaded at will.

Lü Yang raised his eyes and glanced toward the Pure Land. The light of the Sword Dao there had still not dissipated. Only then did he realize that Heaven and Earth hadn't fully resumed operation... To be precise, only the small area around him and a few select people had truly returned to normal.

But this was normal.

After all, with the Great True Monarch Cultivation of the Bao Lian Hidden Buddha, she could probably destroy the Sword Dao in an instant. How could she possibly wait until he broke through to Great Perfected Lord to make a move?

As for the few who had just fled, they were clearly beings like himself, who had achieved Dao Heart Perfection, could maintain their sense of self, and existed beyond the control of the Masters of Dao.

'Ang Xiao and the Old Dragon Monarch... I'm not surprised by them.'

Lü Yang glanced at World Purger Fei Xue, who stood proudly among the clouds, her dress fluttering in the wind.

'But Fei Xue... she's also achieved Dao Heart Perfection? But she shouldn't have ever been to the Human World, right? She reached Dao Heart Perfection in just five thousand years?'

She certainly had many secrets.

No matter. There would be plenty of opportunities to investigate slowly in the future.

Gathering his thoughts, Lü Yang formed a triangle with Demon Subduing Zhenren and the Grand Tutor. The Fruits of the three of them manifested one after another, drawing closer to him.

Seeing this, a trace of excitement welled up in Lü Yang's heart. Attempting to break through to the Late Stage of Golden Core was both a spur-of-the-moment idea and something he had long planned.

'To be honest, I probably can't succeed.'

Lü Yang knew his own cultivation very well; he wasn't yet at the point where he could attempt a breakthrough to the Late Stage of Golden Core... Even setting that aside, his choice of Fruits was wrong.

'The Fruit of Blade-Edge Metal and the Fruit of Post-Road Earth are incompatible.'

'It would have been better to use the Fruit of Rampart Earth.'

'Unfortunately, while I could use the Pure Land to distract them while I snatched the Fruit of Blade-Edge Metal, trying to grab the Fruit of Rampart Earth as well would be overestimating myself. The Masters of Dao would team up on me...'

In short, although he was ostensibly attempting a breakthrough to Great Perfected Lord, Lü Yang was very self-aware. His attitude toward reaching the Late Stage of Golden Core was that success would be for the best, but failure was also within his expectations. He could just as well proceed with his backup plan... and use the Dao of Arcane Body to swallow the two Fruits!

Admittedly, the Saint Sect Ancestral Master definitely wouldn't want to see this happen.

But so what?

'I gave the Fruit of Celestial Fire to the Dao Court, so the Daoist Court Daoist Lord won't just ignore me. I'm also helping the Sword Pavilion reclaim the Sword Dao, so the Sword Pavilion Daoist Lord should also be on my side.'

Of course, this was all just speculation.

From another perspective, with the Immortal Pivot Celestial Grotto Heaven Technique running rampant, the Pocket World Technique itself was very likely a common interest of the Four Great Daoist Lords, one they would not allow to be affected.

But it was worth a shot!

This was also a perfect opportunity to gauge how much the Masters of Dao valued the Pocket World Technique, the Dao of Arcane Body, and their own interests. The information would surely be useful next time.

With this thought, Lü Yang hesitated no longer.

"Come!"

Lü Yang took a step forward. Demon Subduing Zhenren and the Grand Tutor cooperated perfectly, mechanically channeling their cultivation and manifesting their Fruits, which moved toward the Fruit of Celestial Fire!

RUMBLE!

In the next second, the two Fruits attached themselves precisely to his Yellow Court. Then, Lü Yang felt a pressure heavier than mountains suddenly descend upon him!

The Yellow Court was about to fall!

In a flash, Lü Yang activated his Seeing Myself Immortal Technique, forcibly propping up the Yellow Court, yet he could hardly stop its descent.

'Just as I thought. Because I refined my Grotto Heaven into the True Treasure, the Yellow Court, it inherited almost all the characteristics of a Grotto Heaven, but it ultimately lacks that esoteric, conceptual quality. This makes it impossible to use an Immortal Technique to prop it up and prevent it from falling. With just two Grotto Heavens attached to it, I can barely hold on!'

Thinking of this, Lü Yang looked at Demon Subduing Zhenren.

'Sword Pavilion Daoist Lord, quickly use your invincible Nascent Soul Divine Technique to think of a solution!'

Perhaps Lü Yang's inner voice had an effect. In the next second, Demon Subduing Zhenren formed a Daoist Hand Seal and, channeling the Fruit of Blade-Edge Metal, unleashed a slash of Sword Light.

"CLANG! CLANG!"

The formless Sword Light swept past Lü Yang's body, seemingly taking nothing with it. However, Lü Yang discovered that his Qi trace had intangibly increased by a fair amount.

Propping up the Yellow Court also became easier.

Seeing this, joy blossomed in Lü Yang's heart:

'So the Fruit of Blade-Edge Metal *is* useful... As long as he can continuously slash away the future where the Yellow Court falls, it's the same as me achieving Pocket World Falling!'

Thinking of this, Lü Yang immediately began the procedure.

'Gathering the Three Elements isn't as simple as just having three Fruits attached. The key is the proportioning and adjustment of the Fruits after they are linked.'

'I have to make the two attached Fruits in turn enhance the Mighty Power of my own Fruit.'

'It's just as I saw before in the Sea of Suffering: cultivating a Fruit is like climbing stairs, one step to a new heaven. You use the attached Fruits as stepping stones.'

This required a great deal of cultivation.

If your cultivation is insufficient, you can't optimize the proportioning and adjustment of the Fruits. Or, if the Fruits themselves are in conflict and cannot be adjusted, the breakthrough will fail.

'Doesn't seem that hard.'

Lü Yang looked at the Fruit of Celestial Fire, the Fruit of Blade-Edge Metal, and the Fruit of Post-Road Earth within his perception. His confidence surged, and he decided to perform a simple operation...

"BOOM!"

He exploded.

Without any suspense, the first step of proportioning the Fruits ended in failure. The reason was that the Fruit of Post-Road Earth buried the Fruit of Blade-Edge Metal, causing a chain reaction.

But in the next second, the Eternal Sword flared with light.

The scene of failure shattered and turned to nothingness. Lü Yang returned to the moment he had just begun the proportioning. This time, he precisely bypassed the previous hurdle...

"BOOM!"

He exploded again.

The next second, he recovered once more, gritted his teeth, and said, "I don't believe this... Again! With my peerless innate talent and world-shocking genius, I will break through...!"

"BOOM!"

He exploded a third time.

The fourth time, the fifth... Not until the seventh time did Lü Yang finally complete the initial proportioning and adjustment of the Fruit of Blade-Edge Metal and the Fruit of Post-Road Earth.

It was a long road with no end in sight.

'I really am far from ready...'

Lü Yang sighed inwardly and gave up his unrealistic fantasy. He turned his thoughts to his second objective: directly swallowing the Fruit of Post-Road Earth and the Fruit of Blade-Edge Metal!

In this regard, he was already fully prepared.

Needless to say, Demon Subduing Zhenren was a Life Form Body he had meticulously refined. As for the Dao Court's Grand Tutor... he had actually taken care of that long ago as well.

'The Dao Court's Fruits are very special.'

'Their foundation lies not in the person, but in the Immortal Dao Law. So, to swallow one, all you really need is permission from the Immortal Dao Law.'

'And I received that permission long ago.'

It was from when Emperor Jia You brought the Grand Tutor to see him, right before the great battle.

He hadn't even been secretive about it.

In fact, this was the deal he made with the Dao Court: a one-for-one trade. He would give the Fruit of Celestial Fire to the Dao Court, and the Dao Court would give him the Fruit of Post-Road Earth to swallow.

'From this, you can see that the Daoist Court Daoist Lord is truly drooling over the Fruit of Celestial Fire... which makes sense. That Fruit is simply too perfect a match for the Dao Court.'

After thinking it all through, there was only one problem left.

Lü Yang slowly shifted his gaze from the Dao Court's Grand Tutor to Demon Subduing Zhenren. Ever since he had set this Life Form Body free to develop on its own, he hadn't met with it.

Their reunion after a long separation only happened when the Zhenren succeeded in seeking the Fruit of Blade-Edge Metal.

However, what made his scalp tingle and the corner of his eye twitch was that, ever since a moment ago, the Immortal Core Survival Guide had been constantly displaying a marker over Demon Subduing Zhenren's head—

[Massive Pitfall. Stay Away!]