Just a Useful Pawn in the Stain Sect

Chapter 576: Chapter 576: Is an Emperor Fruit a Big Deal?

The moment Lü Yang unfurled his Qi trace, Progenitor Tingyou, Suo Huan, and even Empress Xiao, who stood behind him, simultaneously released their own Fruits.

In an instant, the entire sky above the West plunged into chaos. A violent, explosive sound like rolling thunder spread across the Five Domains in a flash. Winds churned the Cloud Sea, condensing it into rain that merged with the gales, creating a scene straight out of an apocalypse. More importantly, this doomsday power was bearing down without restraint!

This was no ordinary Combat.

Before this, even Combat between Perfected Lords was conducted with great care. They would only channel their Mana beyond the Thirty-six Layers of Gang Cloud to avoid affecting the living beings below.

After all, no one wanted to break their own possessions in a fight.

This time, however, the Pure Land was clearly ruthless, completely disregarding the trillions of believers in the West. As for Emperor Jia You, he couldn’t possibly care less.

Lü Yang’s side, on the other hand, could not ignore it.

After all, he was planning to establish a sect in the lands of the West. If it were destroyed, the Spiritual Qi dissipated, and its people annihilated, what use would he have for a wasteland?

”Stabilize!”

The next second, Empress Xiao voluntarily took a step back. She formed a Daoist Hand Seal, and billowing Incense enveloped and protected the myriad inhabitants of the continent below.

After all, she was the weakest of the Perfected Lords present.

Both were practitioners of the Outer Dao, but Progenitor Tingyou’s Fruit of Sorrowless Heaven was inherently stronger than her Fruit of Seven Luminaries Heaven. Furthermore, there was a vast gap in their Enlightenment and methods.

So, rather than charge forward only to get beaten, it was better for her to protect their rear.

As for whether her absence would affect the battle on Lü Yang’s side, Empress Xiao had complete confidence in the man who had created miracles time and again.

「Just before the two sides clashed, in the Four Seas Sect.」

Inside the Dragon Palace, Celestial Python watched the battle unfolding in the West, anxiously pacing back and forth. ”What do we do? What do we do? He’s going to die.”

It couldn’t be helped. The gap between the two sides was too great.

The Dao Court and the Pure Land had joined forces. Bao Lian Hidden Buddha and Emperor Jia You were both at the Middle Stage of Golden Core, while the remaining two Bodhisattvas and the Three Ministers were at the Early Stage of Golden Core.

A total of seven Perfected Lords!

Such a force could annihilate the entire Four Seas Sect!

In comparison, while Lü Yang’s side ostensibly had four Perfected Lords, two were of the Outer Dao, and none were at the Middle Stage of Golden Core. They had no chance of victory.

”Unless Royal Father makes a move... Right, why isn’t Royal Father back yet?”

’Come back and save him!’

Celestial Python clapped his hands, his expression tense. ”Royal Father? Are you there? His Majesty worked so hard to attain the Fruit of Celestial Fire. We can’t just let him be killed like this.”

The vast Dragon Palace fell silent.

After a long while, a voice finally echoed faintly.

”It’s only been thirty years, and you’re already calling him ’Your Majesty’? Or do you really think that True Monarch of the Imperial Extreme and Fate is your nephew? He’s more likely the reincarnation of a Great Power!”

The Old Dragon Monarch’s voice was tinged with anger. He refused to believe a member of his junior generation could, without any help, inexplicably attain the Fruit of Celestial Fire. Who knew what kind of conspiracy lay behind it? At this thought, the ever-cautious Old Dragon Monarch immediately felt the urge to retreat.

The next second, however, Celestial Python cut him off.

”Royal Father! You’re being foolish!”

”Whether His Majesty is the reincarnation of a Great Power is completely unimportant! What matters is that His Majesty needs us now. Providing aid in a time of crisis is far more valuable than offering congratulations after victory!”

The Old Dragon Monarch was stunned, never having imagined Celestial Python would dare to refute him to his face.

”But the Master of Dao...”

”Royal Father, don’t you see he’s still alive? He holds the Emperor Fruit, the Fruit of Celestial Fire! The very fact that His Majesty is alive proves the Master of Dao has already tacitly approved of his existence!”

Celestial Python’s words jolted him from his stupor.

The Old Dragon Monarch instantly understood. That’s right—a Perfected Lord who had attained an Emperor Fruit and was still alive must have the favor of a Master of Dao. He wasn’t alone and unsupported!

Soon after, however, the Old Dragon Monarch glanced at Celestial Python again. He was his son, after all; how could his little schemes possibly escape him? His son simply wanted to attain the Fruit of Sky-River Water for himself. Seeing how Lü Yang had successfully supported several new Perfected Lords without a single failure, Celestial Python was eager to advance his own Cultivation and was therefore goading him into action.

Fortunately, the Old Dragon Monarch also wanted to advance.

Or rather, the entire True Dragon Race wanted to advance. If they provided aid now and earned a great favor, perhaps they would finally have a chance to enter the inland domains?

At this thought, the Old Dragon Monarch hesitated no longer.

”ROAR—!”

In an instant, a heaven-shaking dragon’s roar spread from Overseas. A terrifying manifestation shot forth, and in the blink of an eye, it burst into the center of the battlefield in the West.

Almost simultaneously, Emperor Jia You’s voice, a mixture of shock and fury, rang out.

”Fiend! You dare?”

As his words fell, Heaven and Earth transformed. The sun, moon, and stars lost their luster. All one could see was a vast, jade-green ocean that filled the entire world.

The Fruit of Vast-Sea Water!

The Vast-Sea Water was said to gather a hundred rivers, contain the vastness of Heaven and Earth, and command the rising and setting of the sun and moon. It was the Fruit of a former Water Element Supreme Venerable, and even though its rank had fallen, it remained immensely powerful!

In a daze, the sky seemed to transform into a vast ocean, mirroring the landscape below. Amidst the surging waves, it was impossible to distinguish up from down. Everyone felt as if they were lost in the ocean, forced to drift with the current. Only Foundation-Stage Cultivators could barely hold their ground and perceive the true manifestation within it all.

BOOM!

The next second, the various manifestations dissolved. The figures of Emperor Jia You and the Old Dragon Monarch flickered before being dragged into the celestial ocean, vanishing without a trace.

Of all the Perfected Lords present, Emperor Jia You had the highest Cultivation.

He had ruled Celestial Wu for nearly a thousand years and even had the confidence to pursue the Late Stage of Golden Core, so his Cultivation was naturally exceptional. This was to say nothing of the fact that the Celestial Wu Imperial Family had cultivated its own path to power.

The Old Dragon Monarch taking him away had undoubtedly solved a major problem for Lü Yang.

However, the situation remained grim.

Although Progenitor Tingyou and Suo Huan had each intercepted a Bodhisattva, four Perfected Lords still broke through their lines to collide head-on with Lü Yang.

Lü Yang glanced to the side and saw who had landed before him: the Pure Land’s Middle Stage of Golden Core cultivator, Bao Lian Hidden Buddha, and the Dao Court’s Three Ministers—the Grandmaster, the Grand Tutor, and the Grand Protector. Even for him, the pressure from the four Perfected Lords activating their Fruits felt like carrying the weight of mountains and rivers.

He wasn’t flustered, however. He even sighed to himself.

’Progenitor Tingyou and Fellow Daoist Suo Huan are quite thoughtful...’

’Don’t be fooled into thinking they only managed to stop two Bodhisattvas. They did it on purpose, forcing Bao Lian Hidden Buddha and the Dao Court’s Three Ministers to group up.’

’Perfected Lords from the Dao Court and the Pure Land would naturally coordinate better with their own. But with Emperor Jia You occupied by the Old Dragon Monarch, the Dao Court’s Three Ministers are a headless snake. Now, Bao Lian Hidden Buddha is also without the support of the other Bodhisattvas. It may look like four people are besieging me, but in reality, they are each fighting their own battle.’

Thinking this, Lü Yang grinned.

In terms of weakening the enemy’s combat strength, this was the absolute limit of what Progenitor Tingyou and Suo Huan could achieve. The rest was up to him.

Fortunately, this was exactly what he had planned.

’The Old Dragon Monarch’s intervention was part of my plan. Although he still left me a Middle Stage of Golden Core opponent, that’s perfect. Anything less wouldn’t be enough to establish my might!’

Several thousand years ago, the Stain Sect had also faced a precarious situation.

Without the intervention of a Master of Dao, the Stain Sect’s status would have surely declined if World Purger Fei Xue hadn’t shocked the world by slaying a Middle Stage of Golden Core cultivator in a single battle.

It was the same this time.

If he couldn’t take down a Middle Stage of Golden Core Perfected Lord in front of all the world’s Perfected Lords, he would never be able to establish a foothold in the West, let alone found his own Dao Lineage.

At this thought, Lü Yang advanced instead of retreating!

Seeing this, the leader of the group, Bao Lian Hidden Buddha, was momentarily stunned. Then, the smile on her face grew even more seductive, but inwardly, she was so incensed she could have laughed.

’Arrogant brat!’

’A mere Early Stage of Golden Core cultivator... where did he get this audacity? A one-on-one fight against me would be a death sentence, to say nothing of one against four.’

’Just because he attained the Fruit of Celestial Fire?’

’Does he think an Emperor Fruit makes him so special?’