Just a Useful Pawn in the Stain Sect

Chapter 626: Chapter 626: The True Worth of the Sword Dao

Within the Outer Dao Alliance, Lü Yang stood with his brow deeply furrowed.

’The Sea of Suffering... A boundless ocean of concepts. It’s an incredible treasure trove, yet I can’t even take a bite!’

He knew that if he could just keep absorbing the waters of the Sea of Suffering, his Grotto Heaven would grow at an incredible rate. He could even achieve a balance of the Five Elements without needing any other Fruits. But he just couldn’t do it. The waters of the Sea of Suffering were too vast, too chaotic, and he simply couldn’t swallow them all whole.

The feeling was driving Lü Yang mad!

A mountain of treasure lay before him, yet he was forced to return empty-handed, at best scooping up a few insignificant scraps. How could he accept that?

”No!”

Lü Yang’s eyes turned red. ’If I don’t seize an opportunity like this, can I even call myself a Saint Sect True Monarch?’ Even if he had to gnaw it off, he was going to take a huge chunk out of the Sea of Suffering today!

”Let me think...”

Lü Yang frowned slightly, sinking into contemplation. After witnessing the Sea of Suffering, his understanding of Fruits and his future cultivation had deepened considerably.

What was the essence of a Fruit?

’It’s weaving specific concepts together to form a self-sustaining, internal cycle. The final manifestation of this system is the Fruit!’

’And that’s also the difference between an Outer Dao Fruit Position, an Ordinary Fruit, and even an Emperor Fruit. The more powerful the Fruit, the more complex the weaving of its concepts... Why are Outer Dao Fruit Positions so trash? Why is their Position inherently lower than the orthodox ones? It’s because the Outer Dao evolved naturally!’

Things that evolve naturally are too simplistic.

In contrast, whether in the Immortal Pivot or the Celestial Mansion, the orthodox Fruits and even the Emperor Fruits are all meticulously crafted with the involvement of the Mighty Power of a Master of Dao.

The logic was simple.

Take two pieces of steel. One is forged by human hands, tempered and hammered a thousand times into an Enchanted Sword. The other is a raw, unprocessed piece of natural ore. How could the two even be compared?

’From this perspective, Fruits can’t actually absorb the water from the Sea of Suffering anymore. They’ve already formed their own unique systems. The water of the Sea of Suffering is all-encompassing, which means to a Fruit, it’s full of impurities. Absorbing it would be pointless... unless someone can filter out those impurities for them.’

At this thought, realization dawned on Lü Yang:

’That’s why Perfected Lords are needed!’

’Fruits and Perfected Lords are essentially in a symbiotic relationship. A Perfected Lord who has seen the Sea of Suffering can help elevate a Fruit, and in return, the Fruit grants the Perfected Lord their Position...’

Strictly speaking, the Perfected Lord was still in the weaker position.

They were more like hired hands, really. After all, a Fruit could theoretically change its holder at any time, but a Perfected Lord would lose their Position if they left their Fruit.

Until—

’Until the appearance of the Grotto Heaven!’ Lü Yang’s eyes shone.

’In the Immortal Pivot, while a Perfected Lord with a Grotto Heaven still can’t completely control their Fruit, they can use the Grotto Heaven to forcibly occupy the Fruit they’ve attained.’

Take the Fruit of Celestial Fire, for example. Lü Yang’s current actions of hiding his identity and operating from the shadows should displease it. Yet, the present Lü Yang didn’t need to care about its preferences or resistance at all. He just had to plop his massive Celestial Pillar Profound Grotto Heaven into it, and it would have to obey.

’The Pocket World Technique is simply revolutionary!’

Why could an Outer Dao True Monarch be stripped of their Fruit? Why could those Immortal Monarchs from the Celestial Mansion be stripped of theirs? Ultimately, it was because they didn’t have a Grotto Heaven.

But in the Immortal Pivot, not even the Dao Court could forcibly strip someone of their Fruit. The Three Ministers were constrained by the Dao Court because their Grotto Heavens were shared—a fundamental problem from the very beginning. In contrast, Emperor Jia You, who privately owned his Grotto Heaven, never had to worry about losing the Mighty Power of a Perfected Lord after abdicating.

’Who created this Cultivation Method?’

Lü Yang had seen quite a few Outer Realms by now, yet the Pocket World Technique remained unique to the Immortal Pivot. Only the Perfected Lords of the Immortal Pivot were truly free!

As for the Golden Cores from other places...

Look at those Immortal Monarchs from the Celestial Mansion—they could actually be constrained by their assets! Go bankrupt and you just drop dead. If you told a Perfected Lord in the Immortal Pivot that, they’d laugh their heads off.

’Wait...’

At this thought, Lü Yang’s gaze suddenly shifted to the Demon-Vanquishing Perfected.

He had figured out the essence of a Fruit, but only for normal ones. What about a Void Attainment Position? What was different about it?

With this in mind, Lü Yang suddenly spoke:

”Fellow Daoist Demon-Vanquisher, have you ever seen the Sea of Suffering?”

At these words, the Demon-Vanquishing Perfected, who had seemed lost in enlightenment, was startled back to awareness. He then shook his head. ”I have not... Perhaps my case is special.”

”My Fruit of Sword Dao is not in the Sea of Suffering.”

Not in the Sea of Suffering?

Hearing this, Lü Yang’s interest was immediately piqued. He smiled. ”In that case, why don’t I take you to the Sea of Suffering and see what happens?”

The Demon-Vanquishing Perfected readily agreed.

The next second, Lü Yang once again focused his spiritual perception and gazed toward the Sea of Suffering. The Sea immediately reacted, and its surging waters appeared once more.

”...Let’s go!”

Lü Yang gripped the Tribulation Wave and slashed through the air. He cleaved the surging waters apart and, in the same motion, stepped into the vast Sea of Suffering with the Demon-Vanquishing Perfected.

In an instant, an intense pressure swept over Lü Yang. The boundless Sea of Suffering seemed to have detected a foreign object and pressed in on him, creating an involuntary feeling of suffocation. It was as if he had fallen alone into a vast ocean, able to do nothing but drift with the currents.

But Lü Yang paid it no mind, instead turning to look at the Demon-Vanquishing Perfected.

”How is it, Daoist...”

His voice trailed off.

Because he was shocked to see that as the waters of the Sea of Suffering fell around the Demon-Vanquishing Perfected, they were swallowed whole, devoured in a single gulp!

”Daoist, be careful!”

Lü Yang quickly called out a warning, ”The concepts within the waters of the Sea of Suffering are a chaotic mix! Absorbing them rashly is harmful. You have to select only what is suitable for you...”

Lü Yang’s voice grew softer and softer. He realized that as the Demon-Vanquishing Perfected devoured the seawater, not only were there no signs of a backlash, but his Qi trace was actually climbing steadily. The Non-Killing Sword at his waist trembled violently as sharp Sword Dao concepts continuously gathered around him—

SHING! SHING!

Finally, with the cry of a sword, Lü Yang felt a needle-like prickling pain all over his body. The Demon-Vanquishing Perfected’s eyes snapped open.

At that moment, he no longer needed Lü Yang’s protection.

All the swarming waters of the Sea of Suffering spontaneously parted around the Demon-Vanquishing Perfected, as if an invisible ring of Sword Qi now surrounded him.

Lü Yang was instantly dumbfounded.

Holy shit!

’The Fruit Position Profound Mysterious!?’

He could see it clearly. He had been nurturing this Fruit of Sword Dao for so long, and it was still only at the Outer Dao level, possessing concepts but nothing more. It was still a far cry from an orthodox Fruit.

He had even once suspected it was a fake Void Certificate, and in essence, just another Outer Dao Fruit.

Yet now, in the hands of the Demon-Vanquishing Perfected, after absorbing the waters of the Sea of Suffering for such a short time, it had directly transformed and manifested its Fruit Position Profound Mysterious!

Was this the true caliber of the Sword Dao?

’No, that’s not right... This is the true caliber of a Void Attainment Position!’

Lü Yang’s eyes gleamed. ’If other Fruits need someone to manually filter out impurities for them, then a Void Attainment Position comes with its own built-in filter!’

Every concept within a Void Attainment Position was personally woven by the one who achieved Attainment, completely imprinted into the Fruit itself. Therefore, when the waters of the Sea of Suffering entered a Void Attainment Position, they were naturally diverted, automatically purging all impurities and absorbing only the beneficial parts.

This was the true value of a Void Certificate!

Even if it was no different from an Outer Dao Fruit when it first appeared, as long as it could see the Sea of Suffering and be nourished by it, it could grow with incredible speed!