Just a Useful Pawn in the Stain Sect

Chapter 557: Chapter 557: The World is a Giant Stain Sect

Lü Yang did not have to wait long.

Barely a month after their conversation ended, Lü Yang sensed his puppet being reactivated and immediately projected his consciousness into it.

This time, however, the scene before him was vastly different.

It was a magnificent, towering platform. At a glance, Lü Yang saw that it reached straight into the heavens, much like the Star-picking Tower he had built in the Dao Court.

’But it’s several stories shorter... only half the height of the Star-picking Tower.’

Of course, that was to be expected. After all, he was the sole authority in the Dao Court, while Hongtian, despite being the State Preceptor of the Immortal Court, was clearly only one of several people in power.

The next moment, Lü Yang looked toward Hongtian, who was seated on the high platform, and called out, ”Daoist, are you Seeking Gold?”

”Indeed.”

Hongtian nodded. ”I have been fully prepared for some time now. If not for our discussion that day, Daoist, I would have been Seeking Gold half a month ago.”

”I invited you here, Daoist, so you could witness this for yourself.” At this, Hongtian offered a faint smile. ”How could watching from the outside compare to the view from here? You should be able to see everything clearly. Consider it my way of thanking you for your guidance.”

Just then, a voice suddenly echoed in Lü Yang’s mind:

”I buried something on Lonely Heart Island Overseas. If I succeed today, I’ll have no use for it. If I fail and die, then it’s yours, Daoist.”

Lü Yang’s eyebrows rose slightly at his words.

Before Lü Yang could respond, it was as if a great weight had been lifted from Hongtian’s heart. His qi flared as he flicked his sleeves, rose to his feet, and strode resolutely off the high platform.

BOOM!

Hongtian stood poised in the sky, and in an instant, his qi trace radiated across the four seas. Throughout the entire Pseudo-History, everyone under heaven instinctively sensed it.

Almost simultaneously, the Fruit of Celestial Fire flared with brilliant light.

Lü Yang had a clear view. A Spirit Light rose slowly from above Hongtian’s head, revealing the phantoms of countless palaces and pavilions within. It was his Blessed Land.

’Hong Guang Blessed Land!’

With the Blessed Land as its epicenter, Lü Yang saw a dense network spreading out. It was the Immortal Dao Law—known in the Pseudo-History as the Celestial Kingdom Supreme Technique, but essentially the same thing. At this very moment, that great net was expanding without restraint toward the Five Domains of the World!

’It’s beginning...!’

Everywhere the great net covered, the light of the Fruit of Celestial Fire shone down, and Hongtian’s qi trace grew a fraction stronger, bringing him closer to the celestial Fruit.

This was the ritual for the Fruit of Celestial Fire.

Soon, Lü Yang felt as if he could see the teeming masses of the Five Domains of the World, the mountains and rivers, the Nine Provinces and Ten Thousand Directions—all of it materializing in sequence and pressing down upon Hongtian.

CRACK! CRACK!

In that instant, audible cracking sounds came from Hongtian’s body as visible fractures spread across his skin. But in the next moment, a dark golden radiance suffused his form.

Heaven!

Hongtian had also cultivated this Second-Grade Cultivation Technique. Now, reinforcing his physical body, he easily withstood the weight of the Nine Provinces and Ten Thousand Directions.

The moment he bore this weight,

a heavy, oppressive feeling fell over the Five Domains of the World. From the lowest flowers, birds, fish, and insects to the common mortals, and all the way up to Foundation-Stage Cultivators and even Spiritual Materials and Sentient Artifacts—all felt it.

Ruling the World, making the world one’s own!

This was the effect of the Fruit of Celestial Fire’s ritual: by Ruling the World, one could transform the entire world into a stepping stone to reach the place where the Fruit of Celestial Fire resided!

At the same time, Hongtian took a step.

Beneath his feet, a vision of countless mountains and rivers appeared, piling up to form a staircase. He stepped onto it, borne aloft as he walked, step by step, toward the heavens.

The next moment, his figure vanished.

’His Position has been elevated, he no longer exists in the current world... The Foundation Establishment Realm!’

Lü Yang instantly shifted his perspective. Within the Pseudo-History, Foundation-Stage Cultivators and even Perfected Lords turned their attention, casting their gazes toward the Foundation Establishment Realm.

At this moment, Hongtian stood within the Foundation Establishment Realm, hands clasped behind his back as he gazed upward. The radiance of the Fruit of Celestial Fire was even more brilliant here, for this was a place of high Position that transcended reality. It was the very bottom of the Sea of Suffering, and the required path for one to claim a Fruit and traverse it.

The Sea of Suffering is Boundless; the Fruit is the vessel.

To refine a Golden Core and claim a Fruit was like a mortal, struggling to cross the Sea of Suffering, finally finding a raft—never again having to fear drowning in its depths.

DONG!

A deep boom echoed through the Foundation Establishment Realm. Hongtian continued to ascend as the phantasmal light beneath his feet continued to gather, lifting him and his Blessed Land slowly higher.

At the same time, Hongtian slowly began to speak:

”Emperor’s Fate.”

As his voice faded, an Emperor’s Crown with twelve tassels settled upon his head. The radiance of the Ability made the staircase beneath his feet, formed from the phantoms of living beings, grow even more solid.

Hongtian continued to ascend.

Like a mortal climbing a mountain, with the Fruit of Celestial Fire hanging high in the sky, he climbed step by step, treading upon the teeming masses as he ascended toward the Fruit.

He paused to rest only when he was halfway there. The path ahead was still long, yet no new steps formed beneath his feet; the road seemed to end here. Hongtian, however, was not surprised. After resting for a moment, he intoned another name:

”Guiyuan Palace.”

In an instant, the vision of living beings beneath his feet changed. Pavilions and palaces, houses and towers appeared—the very works of civilization this land had nurtured.

Now, they too became Hongtian’s stepping stones.

Reinforced by this new layer of imagery, the staircase beneath Hongtian’s feet regained its brilliance and continued to extend toward the Fruit of Celestial Fire.

Hongtian continued to ascend.

By this point, Lü Yang could no longer see him clearly. He could only faintly discern a figure shrouded in radiance as a booming, thunderous voice rolled out:

”Heaven and Earth!”

Because of this Ability, the phantoms forming the staircase gained the sun, moon, and stars, the mountains and rivers. In that instant, all of creation was plunged into darkness!

It was as if all of creation had been absorbed into the staircase beneath Hongtian’s feet!

Until—

WHOOSH!

As the first spark of fire was lit within the darkness, light returned to the world. It was the Fruit of Celestial Fire, and beneath it, a figure stood.

Hongtian stood with his hands clasped behind him, sizing up the Emperor Fruit before his eyes.

He then gave a slight nod. As his lips parted, a celestial light shone forth. The final name rang out, calm and detached, yet every syllable was suffused with power:

”Coiling Dragon Root!”

At that moment, the four Innate Divine Techniques all manifested their Divine Effects, jointly propelling Hongtian and his Blessed Land forward, poised to step into the Fruit of Celestial Fire.

At that same instant, the Fruit of Celestial Fire—which had always been high and remote, as elusive as a dragon in the clouds—drew incredibly close to the current world for the first time. It was so close that mortals reached out their hands, gazing at the sight of the sun and moon shining together, feeling as if they could pluck it from the sky with a simple grasp—

”Seize it!”

In that instant, the Immortal Court made its move.

The Celestial Kingdom Supreme Technique, which should have been supporting Hongtian, suddenly snapped back. Like a net lying in wait for its fish, it swooped toward the Fruit of Celestial Fire!

Not only that,

but even Hongtian’s Hong Guang Blessed Land was caught within the great net’s reach, and it immediately began to dissolve!

In its bid to capture the Fruit of Celestial Fire, the Celestial Kingdom Supreme Technique no longer held anything back.

All of its hidden aspects were laid bare.

And Lü Yang, positioned directly below Hongtian’s site of Attainment, saw it all with perfect clarity. He saw the truth hidden behind that great net.

’One... two... ten...’

Lü Yang couldn’t help but hold his breath. There, at the very foundation of that great net, he saw what looked like a dazzling galaxy of stars—an uncountable number of Grotto Heavens!

Not fragments, not ruins, but complete Grotto Heavens!

In an instant, Lü Yang recalled a rumor he had once heard about the Dao Court: every Daoist Court Emperor, a thousand years after taking the throne, would ”ride the dragon to join the honored guests” and depart.

Taking their Grotto Heavens with them.

Lü Yang sucked in a sharp breath, a chill running through him as if he’d been plunged into an icy cavern. ’Accompanying the Master of Dao? What a joke!’ he thought. ’They were clearly just fuel for the Immortal Dao Law!’

—At first, the great net had been small.

Then, it captured its first prey: the first Emperor of the Dao Court, whose origins, background, and Fruit had long since been buried by the thick dust of time.

But as it captured more and more Grotto Heavens, it grew larger and larger, eventually reaching its current, terrifyingly magnificent scale.

’The Immortal Dao Law... is actually the Dao Court’s Fruit of Sword Dao!’

It was created through a Void Certificate with a First-Grade True Skill!

’No wonder the Dao Court sealed its borders and ignored foreign affairs... The Daoist Court Daoist Lord laid the foundation long ago. He didn’t have to do anything but let it grow!’

The entire Dao Court, the entire East.

Everyone was just nourishment for the Daoist Court Daoist Lord. Even the Royal Family, who seemed so free and independent in their cultivation, were in reality nothing more than higher-grade materials!

’It’s just like a... a ranch!’

He once thought that, compared to the Stain Sect and the Sword Pavilion, the cultivators of the Dao Court lacked personality and seemed strangely out of place in this Broken Place.

Only now did he have a sudden epiphany:

’Mortals are the chickens and ducks, Cultivators are the pigs and cattle, and the Imperial Family and the Emperor... they’re nothing more than the sheepdogs guarding the ranch! They’re all just livestock, what need is there for personality?’

It was just like—

’The style of the Stain Sect!’

For a moment, Lü Yang’s mouth hung open, utterly speechless. Yes, the Daoist Court Daoist Lord’s design for the East was exactly like the Stain Sect’s design for cultivating talent.

It was even more extreme than the Stain Sect.

’The Daoist Court Daoist Lord... Don’t tell me he’s also connected to the Stain Sect?’

’The Bhagavat studied at the Stain Sect, and the Daoist Court Daoist Lord also has ties to the Stain Sect... Does that mean this whole Broken Place, this whole world, is just one giant Stain Sect?!’