Just a Useful Pawn in the Stain Sect

"Nourishing Life Master." Between the spacious bookshelves, the Old Dragon Monarch and Mu Changsheng casually flipped through the Fruit Position Books. However, an unconcealable look of worry plagued both of their faces.

Nearly fifty years had passed.

Since the Great War of Righteous and Evil fifty years ago, the Immortal Pivot had entered a state of full preparation for war, and the various factions had undergone tremendous changes.

First was the Pure Land. Although Venerable Victory Treasure Pestle Bodhisattva had thoroughly perished, leaving the Fruit of Pine-Cedar Wood vacant, there was a saying that every generation produced its own talented individuals. In just a short fifty years, another Great Power Arhat had successfully ascended to the position, filling the Bodhisattva’s vacancy and restoring the Pure Land to its peak combat prowess.

Second was the Dao Court. After the Fruit of Celestial Fire was taken over by the Immortal Dao Law, the Dao Court immediately established the position of State Preceptor. Following that, church and state were unified, with Emperor Jia You personally assuming the role. This was no small matter. In terms of results, Emperor Jia You had gained control over the Fruit of Celestial Fire. Only the foundational profound mystery of the Engraving Laws remained temporarily unusable. However, that was only a matter of time. After all, no matter how stubborn the Fruit of Celestial Fire was, it was now trapped by the Immortal Dao Law and would sooner or later submit. When that time came, Emperor Jia You’s strength would surge once more.

Then there was the Stain Sect. Following the battle between righteousness and evil, the Stain Sect’s rise in strength was undoubtedly the most exaggerated. After that battle, True Monarch of Contained Light and Floating Heaven successfully took over the two Sword Pavilion True Monarchs who were previously attached to True Monarch Gangxing, successfully breaking through to the Late Stage. In other words, the current Stain Sect not only had two Great Perfected Lords—World Purger Fei Xue and True Monarch of Contained Light and Floating Heaven—holding down the fort, but they also had Bright Pearl Great Saint, True Monarch Zeng Cai Qiluo, True Monarch Teng Guangye Hui, and True Monarch Gai Shuangling Feng. With a full four Perfected Lords, they essentially overshadowed the entire Immortal Pivot.

As for the Sword Pavilion, they were in a miserable state. True Monarch Chengtian Zhengde had long since fled far away with Ang Xiao. Today, Zenith Cliff only had a single Demon Subduing Zhenren struggling to maintain the situation. Fortunately, the Fruit of Blade-Edge Metal still carried significant weight. Moreover, the Sword Dao was ultimately extracted by the Bhagavat. With Demon Subduing Zhenren simultaneously wielding the Sword Dao and the Fruit of Blade-Edge Metal, his combat prowess was still passable. Of course, that was in the past. Given the current situation where there were a full four Great Perfected Lords in the world, a mere Early Stage of Golden Core holding the Fruit of Blade-Edge Metal was ultimately not enough to hold the stage. However, the more this was the case, the more the various factions chose to remain silent. No one dared to take advantage of the Sword Pavilion’s misfortune; even the Stain Sect exercised restraint. They had no choice—fifty years ago, the sword chime from the Sword Pavilion’s Master of Dao had been far too terrifying. No one dared to provoke a Master of Dao at this time. Simply put: crises lay everywhere, and there wasn’t a single entity they could afford to provoke.

"Sigh." At this thought, the Old Dragon Monarch suddenly let out a long sigh, his face filled with sorrow. "Times are so difficult. There’s truly no way to survive in this broken place anymore."

"Is that so?" a voice suddenly rang out.

"Isn’t it?" the Old Dragon Monarch remained oblivious, continuing his muttered complaints. "If we weren’t driven to a dead end, why would I have to—holy shit!"

The Old Dragon Monarch jerked awake in shock. Perhaps because he had overused the Fruit of Vast-Sea Water previously, his startled cry carried a sharp, feminine pitch amidst his dragon’s roar.

However, it was too late. Right beside the Old Dragon Monarch, Lü Yang extended a large hand with a calm expression. An overwhelmingly unmatched, unstoppable force exploded from his palm! There were no profound mysteries, nor were there any visual phenomena. There was only the purest strength. Possessing all four elements, Lü Yang was just one step away from mastering the Dao of Arcane Body, standing squarely at the absolute peak of the Middle Stage of Golden Core!

SLAP!

The strike ruthlessly hit the Old Dragon Monarch across the face, instantly sending him sprawling to the ground. His dragon physique, which should have been capable of shouldering the sun and moon and bearing the weight of Outer Realms, was as powerless as a toddler before this strike. Seeing stars and feeling his spiritual space churn violently, only intense terror surfaced in his heart.

"Who? Who is it!?" he thought.

In a split second, the Old Dragon Monarch dared not overthink. The profound mystery of the Fruit of Vast-Sea Water churned, manifesting a clear, azure, boundless band of illusionary colors. All-Embracing Sea Light! The illusionary colors draped down like a canopy. Though it appeared to be but a thin layer, it actually possessed the immense density of a boundless, vast ocean, capable of severing nearly any external force.

Following that, the Old Dragon Monarch turned and fled. "First, I need to create some distance..." he thought. While running away, he didn’t forget to glance back to see exactly what kind of divine being had suddenly appeared beside him and slapped him.

Then, he froze. The All-Embracing Sea Light he had placed his high hopes in didn’t manage to delay his pursuer for even a fraction of a second. The man simply lifted his foot and stepped right through it. The entire process was extremely eerie. He just watched the man raise his foot, and a path spread out from beneath him, effortlessly passing through the All-Embracing Sea Light. All rough obstacles instantly turned into a smooth journey, and the path stretched all the way to the Old Dragon Monarch’s own feet!

"Dao Without Borders... It’s the Fruit of Post-Road Earth!" he thought. Only then did the Old Dragon Monarch finally understand the identity of his attacker, hurriedly shouting, "I’m on your side! It’s a misunderstanding! I’m one of yours, Daoist!"

Lü Yang turned a deaf ear to this. With new grudges and old hatreds welling up in his heart, he acted entirely out of instinct without a single shred of hesitation. A mass of golden light had already gathered in his palm. Fruit of Divine-Empyrean Thunder! Even though it was currently still an Outer Dao Fruit Position, empowered by Lü Yang’s high position, it still erupted with a magnificent aura that struck fear into the Old Dragon Monarch’s heart. Infinite lightning resoundingly disrupted Yin and Yang as it converged in Lü Yang’s palm. Having been accumulated and settled for a long time, it burst forth in a single move. The rumbling thunder sound vibrated through Dao Fruits, and the flashing electricity moved too fast to be caught, even exceeding the perceptive range of spiritual perception. The Old Dragon Monarch’s vision was instantly filled with a blinding golden-white.

AARGH!!!

The golden-white radiance swept through like a storm, destroying all phenomena. With a miserable shriek, by the time the lightning dimmed, half of the Old Dragon Monarch’s body was already scorched black!

Seeing this, Lü Yang immediately laughed. "Oh, if it isn’t the Old Dragon Monarch. Long time no see. How did you end up like this?"

COUGH!

Before his words even fell, the Old Dragon Monarch violently coughed up blood, his gaze locked onto the ground beneath his feet. Just a moment ago, he had actually had a chance to dodge this Divine-Empyrean Thunder. But right as he prepared to cast a spell to evade, the path under his feet had abruptly been severed. Dao Without Borders could both pave paths and sever them. When the path was opened, the whole world became a smooth journey. When the path was severed, even flat ground became worse than a mire. Because Lü Yang had used Dao Without Borders to sever his "path" of escape, he had nowhere to run and could only stand his ground and take the lightning strike head-on!

"It’s just as I expected... This man cannot be restrained by anyone below a Great Perfected Lord!" he thought. Spitting out fresh blood, the Old Dragon Monarch finally managed to catch his breath. His hands cycled through Daoist Hand Seals, and the visual phenomena around him blended Qing and Zhuo, stirring up a brilliant burst of Water Element illusionary colors. Heaven and Earth Root!

"Mama!"

The foundational profound mystery of the Fruit of Vast-Sea Water brought the injuries on the Old Dragon Monarch’s body to life. Calling out "Mama," they scrambled over each other to flee from him. In the blink of an eye, his injuries left his body. The Old Dragon Monarch returned to his peak state. As for those injuries, once they had detached, he dispelled the profound mystery from them, causing them to individually fade into nothingness.

"Daoist, it’s really a misunderstanding..."

The Old Dragon Monarch tried to speak again, only to see Lü Yang continuing to ignore him, raising his hand to gather lightning once more. This caused his expression to shift slightly as he hurried to get to the point, "I have a way to help you out of your current predicament!"

"...What?" Before his words finished echoing, a palm was already supporting the Old Dragon Monarch. He looked up, only to be met with a face full of apology and sincerity.

"Oh my, I was too reckless.

"But you have to take the blame for this too, Old Dragon Monarch. Why didn’t you say so earlier?"

The Old Dragon Monarch was speechless. Despite cursing him countless times in his heart, he maintained a stiff expression as he listened to Lü Yang continue, "However... how can you help me, Daoist?"

"Naturally, I can’t do it myself," the Old Dragon Monarch subconsciously lowered his voice. "But there’s always someone who can... Have you forgotten? The Void Sea of Light is vast, and there aren’t only four Masters of Dao."

"Hmm?" At these words, Lü Yang immediately understood, his expression turning odd. Good heavens, Old Dragon Monarch, have you secretly defected to another super Outer Realm?

"...The Profound Wall or the Star Palace?"

"The Profound Wall!" The Old Dragon Monarch finally revealed his true purpose. "The Thousand-Year Tribulation is approaching. If you’re willing to join the Profound Wall, I have a spell here that can help you rid yourself of the pain of being stranded!"