Just a Useful Pawn in the Stain Sect

Chapter 348: Chapter 348: Reverse-Slashing a Golden Core Perfected Lord!

The Netherworld, a place that defies description.

A majestic palace sat amidst the void. A river of countless souls flowed past its gates, all observed by the figure within.

”...Heh.”

Ang Xiao suddenly let out a soft chuckle.

Almost simultaneously, his body began to shimmer with Illusionary Colors, which slowly seeped into the river of souls before him, gently caressing every last one.

—But nothing happened.

This unexpected outcome caused Ang Xiao’s brow to furrow, but his expression quickly returned to normal. ”Fellow Daoist Hongyun, why bother hiding? Why not show yourself?”

He had just felt a gaze upon him.

’Who’s watching me?’

The answer was self-evident. After all, only a Perfected Lord could maintain their consciousness within the Netherworld. ’Besides the recently reincarnated Fortune, who else could it be?’

At this thought, Ang Xiao gazed at the river of souls. His fingers twitched, but he ultimately lowered his hand with a sense of helplessness. He didn’t dare truly touch the souls entering the Netherworld; doing so was a grave taboo that would shake the very foundations of this realm. He was not yet the Lord of the Netherworld, and the price would be too great to bear.

’A lesson learned the hard way.’

Ang Xiao sighed. ”I was certain I’d erased that part of your memory back then. I never thought that after all this time, you would recall it.”

A moment later, a voice filled with resentment finally echoed out:

”Ang Xiao!”

Within the river of souls, a golden light flared, and a soul took on a vividly ferocious form. ”You despicable, shameless bastard!”

Ang Xiao was right. He had remembered everything.

It was precisely because he remembered the past that he was now hurling curses. The way he had been defeated in his previous life had been far too humiliating.

”You monster... To think you’d place your lair at the very entrance to the Netherworld!”

That way, every soul in Heaven and Earth would have to pass under his gaze before reincarnating—not even a reincarnating Perfected Lord was an exception!

”Five thousand years ago... I had just died and was about to reincarnate. That’s when you ambushed me!”

The Netherworld back then was nowhere near as terrifying as it is today.

That was how Ang Xiao, by withstanding the pressure of the Netherworld, had managed to ambush him. He had been caught completely off guard in the midst of reincarnation, and Ang Xiao had paid the price of severe injuries for the attack.

That was when Ang Xiao had stripped him of his memories.

”If not for the protection of the Netherworld, you wouldn’t have dared to destroy my soul directly and had to settle for my memories. I would have truly died back then!”

”You absolute monster...!”

In the face of Fortune’s furious tirade, Ang Xiao remained completely unfazed, even feeling a slight pang of regret.

’The sneak attack five thousand years ago only succeeded because Fortune was completely unprepared. Now that he’s on guard, it won’t be so easy to ambush him again.’

’Besides, the Netherworld itself has grown stronger.’

’Not to mention, the millennial calamity is approaching. My identity has been exposed, forcing me out of the shadows and into the open. I can no longer afford to pay such a price.’

”...So be it.”

With that thought, Ang Xiao retracted the Illusionary Colors swirling around him. He ignored Fortune’s furious curses and closed his eyes, his thoughts turning inward once more.

’Still... something doesn’t feel right.’

’Fortune is a Perfected Lord, after all. With his level of Cultivation, if he truly wished to hide, I shouldn’t have been able to detect his gaze within the Netherworld.’

’For me to be able to detect a gaze... there must be a disparity in our Realms...’

’...Wait, no!’

In that instant, Ang Xiao’s eyes snapped open. ”That wasn’t Fortune’s gaze? It was someone else... Could it be that mysterious young friend watching me?”

Be that as it may, the number of souls entering the Netherworld was immense. Even with Ang Xiao’s abilities, it would be impossible to find that specific tributary in the stream again, let alone single out the young friend who had glanced at him. ’But... why would they suddenly come to the Netherworld?’

At this thought, a shadow fell over Ang Xiao’s eyes.

’Unfortunately, because of Minor Metal and that No Heaven, it is difficult for me to leave the Netherworld at present. A sexagenary cycle... sixty years. How many unexpected twists and turns will arise in that time?’

At this point, even he had to admit:

’The grand course of the world is no longer in my hands...’

.......

”Holy shit, that scared the hell out of me!”

Mixed within the torrent of souls, Lü Yang’s Split Soul finally let out a sigh of relief. ”That old bastard Ang Xiao... he’s too damn Taiyin! How many more tricks does he have up his sleeve?”

”He’s like a damn ghost!”

Even though this wasn’t their first encounter, Lü Yang had been so frightened he’d almost severed the connection to his Puppet, terrified that Ang Xiao would trace him back to his real body.

Still, there had been an unexpected reward.

Through his Puppet, Lü Yang’s gaze was locked onto a single soul. It was wreathed in golden light, its spiritual form clear and lucid, completely unlike the muddled souls around it.

’Fortune!’

’If it hadn’t been for Ang Xiao, I probably never would have spotted this Reincarnated True Monarch.’

Lü Yang maneuvered his Split Soul, inching it closer to the Perfected Fortune’s soul. He didn’t dare stare for too long, afraid of being noticed. A fiery excitement began to build in his heart. ’Even a Perfected Lord, capable of obscuring their karmic links right after rebirth, surely won’t have much of their Mighty Power left...’

A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!

The Gold Attribute of a Reincarnated True Monarch... its value is on a completely different level than that of Summon or Minor Metal. After all, strictly speaking, those two haven’t even achieved their breakthrough yet.

Though his heart burned with excitement, Lü Yang’s mind grew ever calmer.

BOOM!

Finally, another of the Netherworld’s gates opened. Lü Yang watched as Fortune’s soul drifted ethereally upwards and, in a flash, disappeared into the portal.

Lü Yang, who had long been waiting for this moment, followed right behind him, slipping through the gateway just before it closed!

.......

The Yan Family Estate, Yan City, Northern Border.

Fortune opened his eyes. In that instant, the soul of a Perfected Lord was flooded with a thousand thoughts.

’Ang Xiao... this isn’t over!’

Although his attempt at Seeking Gold had failed once again, Fortune had already recalibrated his mindset. ’Strictly speaking, I still hold a huge advantage in this life!’

’Minor Metal... as hateful as he is, he actually did me a favor.’

”With All True Monarchs gone, no one can stop me from Seeking Gold anymore. As for the Fruit of Lamp-Cover Fire being hidden from the world, that’s not an unsolvable problem.”

Fortune was, after all, a former reigning Perfected Lord. For other Perfected Persons at the stage of Foundation Establishment Perfection, the seclusion of the Fruit would cause the difficulty of Seeking Gold to skyrocket. But Fortune had his own methods. ’The most direct approach would be a grand massacre... destroying a Marvel to serve as the resource for Seeking Gold...’

Soon, Fortune had laid out his plan for this new life.

’The first priority is to restore my Foundation Establishment Cultivation. That should only take a few Hours...’

Just then, Fortune felt a strange sensation next to him. He turned his head and found himself staring right into a pair of eyes.

There was another boy lying right next to him.

Only then did Fortune realize that in this reincarnation, he actually had a twin brother. It was just... the way his brother was looking at him didn’t seem quite right.

’...This is bad!’

Years of intuition sent a jolt of alarm through Fortune. ’Damn it, there’s a predator here!’

But it was too late.

The next second, he saw his brother by blood in this life suddenly flash a somewhat deranged smile.

”Eheheh...”

Before Fortune could react, Lü Yang’s Dharma Body tore through the void. It descended from the heavens and seized Fortune’s newly reincarnated body!

’This is my greatest prize yet!’

’Today, I shall challenge one of a higher realm! At the Mid-phase of Foundation Establishment, I will slay a Perfected Lord!’

An unprecedented feat!

Fortune: ”???”

The next second, Lü Yang ripped Fortune’s soul from his body. The Centome, like a ravenous wolf catching the scent of blood, immediately pounced!

Refined in an instant!