Just a Useful Pawn in the Stain Sect

Overseas, the waves churned, cresting like a thousand mountains.

”It’s finally over...”

As Buddha’s Son Guang Ming’s Split Self shattered and the Earthly Buddha Country dimmed, Hongju and Xiang Ye finally breathed a sigh of relief from afar, the immense pressure on them easing considerably.

After all, the pressure emanating from Buddha’s Son Guang Ming was simply too immense. It wasn’t just due to his background with the Pure Land World Honored One—his personal strength was terrifying. In this day and age, there was likely only one person who could surpass him. Therefore, even though he clearly had no interest in them, they still felt as if they were sitting on pins and needles.

This was especially true for Hongju, who let out a long, deep breath of Muddy Qi.

Xiang Ye was one thing. He had refined a Blessed Land long ago. Although he had yet to extract a Gold Attribute, he at least had the confidence to put up a fight against Buddha’s Son Guang Ming.

But Hongju was a different story.

His entire life was completely tied to the Gold Attribute of his Fortune, a path that was already set in stone. He himself possessed no Gold Attribute, nor could he possibly refine a Blessed Land.

Therefore, among those at Foundation Establishment Perfection, he was a blank slate. Relying on his profound Magic, he might be a cut above the Celestial Python, but only just. To put it bluntly, if he had been the one fighting Buddha’s Son Guang Ming just now, he would have likely suffered grave injuries and been forced to flee in disgrace.

”Let’s go. We should meet with this Fellow Daoist Lü...”

Xiang Ye took a deep breath, dropping any semblance of airs. Just as he was about to move forward, a tremendous roar like surging water suddenly echoed between Heaven and Earth.

RUMBLE!

The source of the sound was, shockingly, Lü Yang himself, who sat cross-legged high in the sky, completely enveloped in the myriad splendors created by the Profound City Blessed Land.

’He’s injured too?’

Xiang Ye was uncertain and suspicious, wondering to himself:

’No, it’s only natural that he’d be injured... That was the Buddha’s Son! Even if it was just a Split Self, to be able to slay it without taking any damage... you’d probably need someone like the Demon-Vanquishing Perfected Person for that...’

This guess, however, was inaccurate. Lü Yang was indeed uninjured, but it wasn’t due to his strength. Rather, he had used a trick, employing the Separation and Union Jade Gui from the Dragon Palace Treasure Vault to take the brunt of the attack from Buddha’s Son Guang Ming. Right now, he was trying to dissolve the Buddha’s Light Magical Power trapped within the artifact.

’The Buddha’s Son... he’s really got some skills.’

Lü Yang sat cross-legged, his hands cupped as if holding a lotus. A torrential flood of Mana poured into the Separation and Union Jade Gui, but he found it was like trying to put out a forest fire with a cup of water.

Vaguely, he seemed to see a giant palm.

The palm seal was full, its five fingers rounded, exuding an Intentional Appearance of ”Perfection,” like a flawless pearl. In a daze, Lü Yang could even hear the sound of chanting sutras emanating from it.

Seeing this, Lü Yang couldn’t help but narrow his eyes:

’If that palm had struck me squarely before, even if I didn’t die, I would have been crippled. The outcome wouldn’t have been a total victory, but mutual destruction.’

At this thought, Lü Yang’s eyes lit up slightly:

’Once I refine this palm strike, I can store it in the Separation and Union Jade Gui and then throw it out to attack my enemies when the time is right... A taste of their own medicine!’

This was another wondrous use of the Separation and Union Jade Gui. Otherwise, if it were merely a simple treasure for warding off calamities, it wouldn’t have been worthy of being stored in the Dragon Palace Treasure Vault.

Lü Yang was still lost in thought.

Suddenly, he raised his brow. In the distance, two streams of Flying Light descended quietly. They kept a respectful distance, not approaching too closely, and bowed to him from afar:

”Xiang Ye of the Stain Sect.”

”Hongju of the Stain Sect.”

”We greet you, Fellow Daoist!”

The two bowed in unison. Behind Lü Yang, Suohuan watched with an indescribably complex expression. They were both Outer Heaven Cultivators, so why was the difference in their treatment so vast?

He had spent centuries Overseas, where he was usually just called an Outer Heaven Wanderer; no one had ever addressed him as Fellow Daoist. The Four Great Forces treated him like a worn-out shoe. And yet, Lü Yang hadn’t even been here for a full day, and a Perfected Person from the Stain Sect had already come to his door, addressing him as Fellow Daoist.

”Greetings to you both, Fellow Daoists.”

Lü Yang didn’t put on any airs, rising to return the bow. He glanced at Xiang Ye, slightly surprised by how his appearance and age were completely different from his memories.

He had gotten old.

In Lü Yang’s memory, Xiang Ye was a young Daoist, but the Xiang Ye before him now was an old man with a kind face, white hair, and a youthful complexion.

’His life force is deficient. What happened?’

Seemingly noticing the doubt in Lü Yang’s eyes, Xiang Ye smiled. ”Forgive my appearance, Fellow Daoist. I too had a major battle with that person from the Pure Land not long ago.”

”Just some minor aftereffects.”

Xiang Ye said it lightly, but when Lü Yang observed him with his Exquisite Heart, he could see that the man had thirty years of life left at most. His end was fast approaching.

The next moment, Xiang Ye stopped beating around the bush and asked directly:

”Fellow Daoist, if you would be so kind as to be frank with us, which Perfected Person of our Stain Sect are you the reincarnation of?”

Lü Yang: ”...”

’Who are you calling Stain Sect!’

”Fellow Daoist, you’ve misunderstood.” Lü Yang smiled faintly. ”I am an Outer Heaven Cultivator and have no connection whatsoever to the Stain Sect you speak of.”

”Really?”

’I don’t believe you!’

Xiang Ye narrowed his eyes, sizing up Lü Yang, who met his gaze calmly. The two stood in a standoff for a moment before Xiang Ye took the initiative to break the silence:

”Since you’re unwilling to say, Fellow Daoist, then let’s drop it... However, you have now thoroughly offended that person from the Pure Land. If you continue to wander Overseas, I fear you will face grave danger. Why not come be a guest at our Stain Sect? To be honest with you, Fellow Daoist, I too am someone who has been marked by that person from the Pure Land with a Buddhist Destiny.”

”In that case, it would be rude to refuse.”

Lü Yang had no intention of rejecting Xiang Ye’s invitation. After all, he had already swept through the Overseas region, and he already had a Split Self in the Sword Pavilion.

He had no connections in the Dao Court, and the Pure Land was out of the question.

After thinking it over, returning to the Stain Sect was naturally the most sensible choice.

However, ”You need not worry about the threat from the one in the Pure Land for the time being.” Lü Yang’s expression was calm. ”For the next year or so, he shouldn’t be able to come out again.”

........

「Pure Land, Shengyi Shengming Temple.」

Formerly known as Fulong Temple.

However, ever since Buddha’s Son Guang Ming was born here, the temple’s name was changed. Its scale grew by the day, and its monastics became innumerable.

But at this moment, an uproar swept through Shengyi Shengming Temple. The monks, one by one, stared at the towering Buddha Statue in the main hall with expressions of anger, fear, or terror. The originally Perfected and Flawless Buddha Light that surrounded it had suddenly collapsed in one corner, a portion of its divine power vanishing into thin air!

”How could this be... How could this be!”

One monk’s chest heaved upon seeing this, and he could barely control his Dharma Body, sweat pouring down his face. The tension only eased slightly when the Novice Monk seated beneath the Buddha Statue opened his eyes.

”Buddha’s Son!”

Seeing this, the monk almost roared the name. The other monks, who had been in a panic, quickly calmed down, their expressions turning to ones of reassurance.

The one that died Overseas was, after all, only a Split Self.

Now that the Buddha’s Son’s true self has awakened from his retreat, if he were to charge over there right now, who could possibly stop him?

Under the expectant gazes of the crowd, Buddha’s Son Guang Ming wasted no time and said directly, ”I will be entering a retreat for one year. Starting today, all cultivators of the Pure Land will enter a retreat with me.”

”Huh?”

The monks were all stunned.

’He’s just accepting this? His Split Self was destroyed, and he’s not going to get revenge?’

For a moment, the few quicker-witted monks unconsciously held their breath. Connecting this to the change in the Buddha Statue, a guess had already formed in their minds:

’Could it be that the Buddha’s Son lost more than just a Split Self...?’

’But he was just an Outer Heaven Wanderer.’

’How did he do it?’

Buddha’s Son Guang Ming, however, paid no mind to the shifting expressions of the crowd. He closed his eyes again, turning his senses inward to inspect his own body, and fell into deep contemplation.

’What a vicious technique for shaving away one’s life.’

’Not only did my Past Body die, but its very life essence was inexplicably stripped away along with it. It will take at least a year of cultivation to recover...’

At this thought, Buddha’s Son Guang Ming’s brow furrowed slightly.

’There are no leads on that Immortal Spirit either. If this continues, gathering the four disciples will be a distant dream... At this point, it seems I have no choice but to find another way.’