Just a Useful Pawn in the Stain Sect

In the Star Palace, Lü Yang had now retracted his indomitable Dharma Body, reverting to the size of a normal person. With his hands clasped behind his back, his eyes were completely placid.

"Bullying the small with my size really feels great," he thought. "No wonder Bhagavat likes to step on people. I’ve cultivated painstakingly for so many years and finally achieved my current Cultivation just so I can trample Lower Cultivators under my feet!"

From beginning to end, he hadn’t used any Profound Mysterious imagery. He relied purely on the sturdy physique and Brute Force of his Dharma Body. However, Star Monarch Fang Ritu couldn’t really be blamed. Let alone a mere Star Monarch, even if True Monarch Chengtian Zhengde were here, he would still stomp him to death with a single step.

"Now, the Star Palace should definitely look at me in a new light. After all, my Dharma Body is so huge and robust," he reasoned inwardly. "To them, whose lifespans have drastically decreased due to the severing of the Dao of Arcane Body, it is definitely endlessly attractive."

And indeed, it was.

In the next second, a Flying Light sped over. A man stepped out from it—it was the very male Star Monarch who had just been traveling alongside Star Monarch Fang Ritu. However, entirely unlike the arrogance and coldness he had displayed earlier when he thought Lü Yang was an Outer Dao native, his face was now plastered with a sycophantic smile. Traces of fear still lingered in his eyes. After all, if he hadn’t been perceptive enough to run away early and fast, he would have likely been buried alongside her.

At this thought, his smile grew even more ingratiating. He immediately gave a deep bow and greeted, "Fu Chen greets Senior!"

Hearing this, Lü Yang revealed an amiable expression. "Apologies, I didn’t control my strength well and stomped that Daoist to death just now. Please don’t mind it."

Fu Chen’s eyes twitched at his words. But soon, he put on a look of righteous indignation. "I don’t mind, I don’t mind at all! This matter was clearly Tian Si not knowing what’s good for her. By stomping her to death, you’ve actually helped our Star Palace clean house!"

"Is that so?" Lü Yang raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Please don’t force yourself, Daoist."

Fu Chen shook his head decisively, stating solemnly, "I’m not forcing myself at all; these are words of justice... Also, several lords in the palace wish to meet with you, Senior."

"They’re finally coming?" Lü Yang thought. As he expected, after displaying his massive Dharma Body, the Star Palace reacted immediately. Moreover, their eager attitude showed they were absolutely drooling with desire.

"Excellent. It’s good that they want it. The more they covet it, the easier it will be for me to negotiate terms... Anyway, I didn’t reveal the Power of Fruit Position I swallowed, so it doesn’t count as exposing my bottom line."

This was all thanks to the Centome. With it whitewashing him, his Cultivation couldn’t be detected at all unless he actively exposed it. Merely having a powerful Dharma Body was far from enough to attract a Master of Dao’s attention. After all, if the Dao of Arcane Body didn’t emerge, everything was just empty talk.

At this thought, Lü Yang simply nodded. "Lead the way."

In the Star Palace’s central pavilion.

Under Fu Chen’s lead, he strode into the towering pavilion, making his way to the pagoda-like grand hall where thirty-six stone statues were located. This was the true "Star Palace."

At this moment, the grand hall was already bustling with voices. Without exception, all thirty-six streams of Spiritual perception had awakened, fixing intently onto Lü Yang.

"Such a perfect Dharma Body!"

"How many years has it been? Ever since the Dao of Arcane Body was severed, I haven’t seen a Dharma Body of this caliber. I really want to touch it myself..."

"SLURP."

Sensing the stone statues swarming around his Dharma Body—so thrilled they looked ready to take a lick, completely lacking the demeanor of esteemed experts—Lü Yang frowned slightly.

In all fairness, it wasn’t that he couldn’t understand these stone statues. Putting himself in their shoes, if he had been trapped in a place like this for over a hundred thousand years, unable to move, half-asleep every day and practically acting like a corpse, he would have gone mad too. He wouldn’t have the luxury to care about acting like a dignified expert either.

However, understanding was one thing. Feeling the Spiritual perception probing his biceps, neck, back, thighs, and even showing a tendency to go further, Lü Yang finally spoke up. "I am Crossing Business, Seniors."

The sound of the Dao swept out like a storm, instantly dispersing the encircling net of Spiritual perception. It also woke up the numerous stone statues who had been hopelessly immersed in wild ecstasy.

"Cough... We’ve made a fool of ourselves before you, Daoist." In the end, it was Hao Yuan Shangzhen—one of the six stone statues in the Upper Position—who spoke first. "May we ask where you come from, Daoist? Why have you intruded upon our Star Palace?"

"You misunderstand, Senior," Lü Yang said with a wave of his hand. "This time, it was you Seniors who invited me here. I didn’t intrude without reason. It’s just that the Daoist who came to receive me wasn’t very friendly."

"Invited... The Profound Spirit Realm?" Hao Yuan Shangzhen didn’t care about the life or death of a mere Star Monarch in the slightest. Instead, he asked in a pleasantly surprised tone, "You come from the Profound Spirit Realm, Daoist... Then what is your Cultivation?"

"To be completely honest," Lü Yang smiled faintly, "this junior accidentally picked up a peculiar fragment in the Profound Spirit Realm. Only after smelting it did I forge such an Upper Grade Dharma Body, which serves as my method of protecting the Dao. But this is just a minor path. In comparison, the Fruit is the true foundation of this junior’s Cultivation."

"A peculiar fragment, forging a Dharma Body..."

For a moment, a dead silence fell over the grand hall. Only after a long while did a stream of Spiritual perception cautiously make a judgment: "Could it be a Dharma Body Dao Fragment from the past?"

"Is that possible?"

"It’s not impossible... When the Dao of Arcane Body was severed back then, Heaven knows what the situation was. Even if fragments of the Great Dao really drifted into the Sea of Light, it would be quite normal."

Watching the crisscrossing streams of Spiritual perception in the hall, Lü Yang chuckled inwardly. This was an excuse he had meticulously prepared. There was a Dharma Body Dao Fragment in the Profound Spirit Realm—this excuse could simultaneously answer the questions regarding his powerful Dharma Body and the mystery of the Profound Spirit Realm’s lifespan. Of course, the truth definitely wasn’t like this.

"If there really was a Dharma Body Dao Fragment in the Profound Spirit Realm, with my current Dharma Body Cultivation, it’s absolutely impossible that I wouldn’t have discovered it. So I’m just using it to fool them," he mused. "But I must admit, this excuse is perfect."

At the very least, the thirty-six stone statues present believed it. They even felt a sense of sudden realization, as if a mystery that had troubled them for years had finally been solved. However, precisely because of this, some people couldn’t sit still anymore.

"A Dharma Body Dao Fragment... You had such a fortuitous encounter, Daoist, one that is hard to find in the entire world, yet you didn’t cultivate deeply in the path of the Dharma Body. You actually settled for the next best thing and cultivated some Fruit?"

What a reckless waste of a heavenly gift!

Hearing this, Lü Yang opportunely showed a look of regret. "Seniors, it couldn’t be helped. I am quite puzzled about it myself."

"After this junior smelted that peculiar fragment back then, I intended to go a step further. But for some unknown reason, no matter how hard this junior tried to cultivate after that, my Dharma Body Cultivation didn’t increase in the slightest. Because of this, I had to settle for the next best thing. I managed to attain a Void Certificate for a Fruit, preparing to switch to cultivating the Fruit instead..."

As his voice trailed off, the grand hall fell into silence once again.

He struck it rich, picked up a Dharma Body Dao Fragment, and cultivated a Supreme Divine Technique, but because it was hard to make progress later, he attained a Void Certificate for a Fruit to cultivate?

...Huh?

Even though they could understand every single word, when put together, it gave all the stone statues present an absurd feeling that they were still dreaming. Was that even human language?

For a moment, the stone statues unanimously intensified their awakened Spiritual perception. With an unprecedentedly serious attitude, they carefully scrutinized Lü Yang from top to bottom.

Lü Yang naturally was happy to see this happen. After all, the persona he was building this time was that of a genius, benchmarking Progenitor Tingyou. It was completely normal to be a little stunning. If asked, the answer was simply that he possessed high Talent Skill.

On the other hand, the stone statues fell into confusion.

"Everyone... what do you think?"

"It doesn’t look like it. If it really is as this person says, his Wisdom Light should be bursting out from the top of his head. It’s impossible that I wouldn’t be able to see it."

"Look carefully, maybe you saw it wrong?"

"I must have seen it wrong. After all, from my perspective, this person clearly has mediocre Talent Skill and average aptitude... but his Cultivation is undeniable."

"Could this be... a great genius hiding under the guise of a fool?"