Just a Useful Pawn in the Stain Sect

Chapter 246: Chapter 246: Man’s Heart Cannot Change the Will of Heaven and Earth

High in the heavens, within the nearly collapsing Dongyang Blessed Land, Chong Guang stood with his hands behind his back, gazing with bitterness and longing at a lone star in the sky.

The Fruit of Lamp-Cover Fire.

Even then, this Dao Fruit still shone for him, but he no longer had the strength to unite with it. He could only watch helplessly as it gradually dimmed.

Lowering his head, Chong Guang looked at his four Innate Divine Techniques. He saw that the Shade Dragon Water, which he had already reversed back toward the nature of Yang Earth, was now once again showing faint wisps of yin qi. This remnant qi was impossible to eradicate. It was this final trace of yin that had caused his second attempt to end in utter failure.

”A miss is as good as a mile... Truly worthy of a Perfected Lord of the Stain Sect!”

In truth, the Perfected Lord who reversed the Earth of Chen had completed all his steps long ago. His scheme was so profound it must have taken at least several thousand years to prepare, and his resources were beyond imagination.

”Compared to him, I acted merely on a whim.”

At this thought, bitterness flashed in Chong Guang’s eyes again. ’That’s right, it was just a whim... If I had prepared in advance, the outcome might have been different!’

”I’ve already reversed the attribute of most of the Earth of Chen in the world. The fact that I could do this shows that the mysterious Perfected Lord’s foundation is still unstable. He may have started reversing the Earth of Chen thousands of years ago, but he can’t have completed the process of turning Yang Earth into Yin Earth for more than a century!”

’If only I could go back a hundred years, things would be completely different!’

After all, even though his actions were hasty and born of a whim, he had still come close to succeeding.

Using the Treasure of Fruit Position to leverage the Fruit of Lamp-Cover Fire and reverse all the Earth of Chen in the world back to its yang attribute—he had almost succeeded, but he was missing just one thing.

The original Chen Yin Earth.

It was the very first piece of Earth of Chen whose yin and yang the mysterious Perfected Lord had reversed, the one that served as the foundation for his grand scheme. Chong Guang couldn’t find its location.

And in the end, that was what defeated him.

At the critical moment, that mysterious Perfected Lord had used the Chen Yin Earth to influence Chong Guang’s Shade Dragon Water, causing him to fall short at the final hurdle.

With this in mind, Chong Guang glanced down at the world below. ”Where did you hide it?” he murmured. ”That final piece of Earth of Chen, the original Chen Yin Earth.”

At that moment, his perspective was equivalent to that of a Perfected Lord surveying Heaven and Earth. Nothing, whether in the Current World or the Foundation Establishment Realm, should have been able to escape his sight. And yet, he simply could not find it. All the Earth of Chen within his view had reverted to yang; not a single trace of Yin Earth remained.

”Could it be...”

For a fleeting moment, Chong Guang’s eyes shifted as a thought struck him. A spark of understanding lit them, only to be extinguished a second later. ”It’s no use. It’s a dead end.”

But he quickly composed himself again.

He performed a quick divination with his fingers, then glanced behind him. The immense aura of Qi and Merit that had once hovered there, a symbol of his origin as an Innate Immortal Spirit, had already disappeared.

”Still not quite used to it.”

Chong Guang chuckled, having found the answer he was looking for. ”It seems that after I die, I’ll have to endure one hundred and forty-seven lifetimes as a pig or a dog before I can be a human again.”

Despite saying this, there wasn’t a trace of resentment on Chong Guang’s face. Instead, his lips curled into a self-deprecating smile. ”An Innate Immortal Spirit reduced to reincarnating as a pig or a dog... I must be the first. The good news is, pigs and dogs die quickly. One hundred and forty-seven lifetimes... really isn’t that long.”

In other words, this was the end for him.

Even though he had refined his Gold Attribute long ago as a cultivator at Foundation Establishment Perfection, it was useless to him now.

There is a fundamental difference between a Perfected Lord and a cultivator at Foundation Establishment Perfection. A Perfected Lord’s Gold Attribute is fused deep within their Soul, becoming one with it. This is why they don’t suffer from the amnesia of rebirth.

The Gold Attribute of a Foundation Establishment Perfection cultivator, however, is more like an external object. It is stripped away during reincarnation, which is why even they can only retain their memories for five lifetimes at most.

Besides, his Gold Attribute had been completely consumed when he elevated his Blessed Land.

His only hope of surviving with his memories intact would be if a Perfected Lord were willing to use their own Gold Attribute to protect his soul through reincarnation. But his path on the Great Dao was already set; he held no more value for any Perfected Lord.

After all, the path to the Fruit of Lamp-Cover Fire had been severed. No one could attain it now.

Under these circumstances, not even World Purger Fei Xue, who had been his staunchest supporter, would bother with him. This was the Stain Sect, and the Stain Sect had no room for sentimentality.

”...So be it.”

Chong Guang quickly collected his emotions. ”Reincarnation will cleanse my Soul. By the time I am reborn as a human, the traces of my current Great Dao should be all but gone.”

At that time, he could seek another path.

”When I think of it that way, it might not be such a bad thing.”

Although by then, the consciousness that was ”Chong Guang” would likely have dissipated, replaced by a new life and a new consciousness.

But what did that matter?

Chong Guang smiled serenely. ”If I eventually attain the Dao Fruit, then my current self and my future self are ultimately one and the same... And if I do not, then there is no real difference between them anyway.”

”No matter... The sooner I go, the sooner I’ll return.”

As his voice faded, Chong Guang’s figure dissolved beneath the last ray of Splendid Light from the Fruit of Lamp-Cover Fire, shattering like a fleeting dream into a sky full of iridescent light.

However, just before he completely disintegrated, driven by a desire for revenge against the mysterious Perfected Lord who had blocked his path, Chong Guang managed to cast out a final strand of his Divine Sense.

.......

Watching the Fruit of Lamp-Cover Fire fade in the sky, and seeing the Dongyang Blessed Land collapse and dissolve back into the world, Lü Yang couldn’t help but sigh with emotion.

Recalling everything Chong Guang had gone through, he couldn’t help but curse under his breath:

”...That bastard!”

What kind of shithole was this? Attaining a Golden Core was unbelievably difficult. Every step was a pitfall, and one wrong move would lead to the same irrevocable doom as Chong Guang.

At this thought, Lü Yang was overcome with empathetic sorrow. He imagined himself at Foundation Establishment Perfection, spending countless years gathering the necessary Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, refining his Innate Divine Technique, and finally thinking he could ascend to the Golden Ascension Position... only to discover a flaw in his Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches. And to top it off, because the Great Dao allows for no regrets, there would be no way to fix it...

’...Oh, right. I can just restart, can’t I?’

’Never mind then!’

Realizing this, Lü Yang quickly regained his composure. ’The Great Dao allows for no regrets? That rule doesn’t apply to me! As long as I want to walk a path, I can create one!’

However, just at that moment, Lü Yang suddenly froze.

In the next instant, he drew the Formless Sword. The raw material of this Superior Spirit Sword was none other than Perfected Chong Guang’s Immortal Spirit Body—a strand of Xin Metal Qi.

He saw that this strand of Xin Metal Qi was now glowing faintly.

’Is this... Chong Guang’s final message?’

Lü Yang froze. Just as he was about to inspect the sword with his Divine Sense, a cold, slightly hoarse voice suddenly spoke beside his ear, ”What did Chong Guang say to you?”

Lü Yang’s expression stiffened, and he slowly, belatedly, turned his head.

Behind him, a woman in a palace gown had appeared without him noticing. She was covered in blood and her dress was torn. Yet despite her battered, war-torn appearance, her every move was exceptionally graceful. She showed no signs of distress, carrying herself instead like a beautiful matron on her way to a grand banquet.

—World Purger Fei Xue!

”This disciple pays his respects to the Perfected Lord!”

Then, he held out the Formless Sword.

”This disciple has not yet had time to read Master Chong Guang’s message. Please, Perfected Lord, see for yourself.”

”Chong Guang... What a pity.”

World Purger Fei Xue shook her head and glanced casually at the Formless Sword. ”It’s useless information,” she sighed. ”It no longer affects the grand scheme of things.”

”If this were a century ago, perhaps there might have been a chance to turn things around.”

...Oh?

Lü Yang’s heart skipped a beat. ’A century ago... wasn’t that right around the time of my first anchor point, shortly after I was recruited into the Stain Sect?’

As Lü Yang filed this crucial piece of information away, he glanced at the Formless Sword.

Perhaps because he was short on time, the message Chong Guang left via the Formless Sword was very simple. It was just four words, concise and to the point:

”It’s in the Netherworld.”