Just a Useful Pawn in the Stain Sect

In the blink of an eye, the light gathering at Lü Yang’s fingertip gently tapped True Monarch Gangxing’s chest before swiftly vanishing into his body.

Instantly, a dreadful chill ran through True Monarch Gangxing.

’What’s happening!?’

Acting on instinct, he immediately tried to activate the Fruit of River-Sand Gold to force Lü Yang back. The moment he did, however, he realized something was terribly wrong.

The Fruit of River-Sand Gold was actually rejecting him!

”RUMBLE!”

In an instant, the Fruit of River-Sand Gold, which had always been perfectly obedient, suddenly turned on him. Not only did it refuse to be commanded, but it began to resist him violently.

The feeling was just like… just like—

’I’m not its master anymore?’

—Correct.

To be precise, Lü Yang had forcibly modified the authentication logic for the Fruit of River-Sand Gold.

Originally, the Fruit’s authentication logic was: Whoever’s Grotto Heaven resides within it is its master.

Now, however, Lü Yang had used Engraving Laws to add a single word to that logic: Whoever’s Grotto Heaven resides within it is not its master.

The result was self-evident.

........

”Gangxing lives up to his name. Experience always wins out.”

In the South, atop Zenith Cliff, the Old Dragon Monarch was still praising True Monarch Gangxing’s tactic of luring the enemy in deep, a hint of anticipation creeping onto his face.

All he could see was a brilliant sword light.

Even now, the Great Perfected Lord’s strike from True Monarch Gangxing had not weakened. The lingering aftershocks of the Sword Light obscured the entire battlefield.

But even without seeing, it was easy to imagine the outcome.

’After all, that was a strike at the level of a Great True Monarch Position. If I had been in his place, death would have been the only outcome. How could he possibly have blocked it?’

’Besides, he doesn’t have the trait of being Immortal.’

’Even if he has some trump card to save his life, he can’t escape being severely wounded… When that happens, I’ll charge in and take advantage of the chaos!’

At this thought, the Old Dragon Monarch’s eyes brightened.

That’s right. He wanted to steal the kill.

Although he no longer had the guts to fight Lü an Yang head-on, he had more than enough courage to kick someone when they’re down—plenty of it, in fact!

’More importantly, I might be able to use the Fruit of Vast-Sea Water to have him bear me a child…’

The Old Dragon Monarch schemed. The Profound Mysterious ability of the Fruit of Vast-Sea Water was quite sickening: a child born from it could completely inherit the Mighty Power of its ”mother’s” body.

And yet, that child would be absolutely obedient to him.

In other words, if he succeeded, he would gain a super-powered enforcer. This was more than enough reason for him to risk trying to steal the kill from True Monarch Gangxing.

”BOOM!”

Just then, with a tremendous roar, the brilliant Sword Light in the distance shattered, and a figure plummeted straight down, streaking toward the ground like a fiery meteor.

’My chance!’

The Old Dragon Monarch was overjoyed at the sight and immediately moved to steal the kill.

Then he got a clear look at the figure falling toward the ground.

The next second, the Old Dragon Monarch, who had just rushed out, made an impossibly sharp turn and dove headfirst back into the South, refusing to show his face again.

At the same time, all the spectating Perfected Lords revealed expressions of astonishment.

”It’s Gangxing…”

High in the heavens, Ang Xiao watched with a grim expression. Compared to their last battle at the Sea of Suffering, Lü Yang had somehow grown even stronger!

Was there any Celestial Principle left in the world?

Without long ages of accumulation, what kind of massive opportunity would it take for a Cultivator to achieve such rapid progress? That’s not how cultivation is supposed to work!

Elsewhere, World Purger Fei Xue was equally astonished.

’He’s so strong. He’s no weaker than I was before I became a Great Perfected Lord… How did he do it? And Gangxing’s current state… what kind of Evil Technique has afflicted him?’

In that moment, countless gazes turned toward the ground.

Meanwhile, the blood-soaked True Monarch Gangxing arrested his fall. His expression was grave; he now understood what kind of trick had been used against him.

’The Fruit of Celestial Fire… Is the Emperor Fruit really this powerful?’

True Monarch Gangxing’s face was a mask of shocked disbelief. After all, he was not the owner of an Emperor Fruit. He had anticipated its Mighty Power, but his estimation had clearly fallen short.

Even now, the Fruit of River-Sand Gold was like a stranger to him, having severed all connection. If his Grotto Heaven weren’t so resilient and deeply rooted within the Fruit, making it impossible to separate, the Fruit of River-Sand Gold might have even tried to forcibly eject it!

And without the support of the Fruit of River-Sand Gold, although his Position remained unchanged, the power of his esoteric manifestations plummeted. This gave Lü Yang the opening to land a vicious blow, worsening his injuries.

Meanwhile, Lü Yang was pressing his advantage.

”There’s no other way…”

True Monarch Gangxing sighed. Instantly assessing the situation and knowing he had fallen behind, he produced a Magical Sword.

The Eternal Sword!

The next second, with the crisp sound of shattering crystal, the blue sky, the white clouds, Lü Yang, the Qi-eating Insects, the Sword Light—all of it shattered into nothingness.

........

Lü Yang’s eyes snapped open.

He was still standing in mid-air, surrounded by the unscathed sea of Qi-eating Insects. Across from him, True Monarch Gangxing also stood perfectly unharmed.

Like a dream, an illusion, a bubble, a shadow.

Everything that had just happened was erased, returning the two of them to the moment before the battle began. Of course, not everything was exactly the same.

Compared to the very beginning, True Monarch Gangxing’s Mana was now noticeably weaker. If before he could rely on the deep reserves of a Great Perfected Lord to overpower Lü Yang, now he was the one being overpowered. Seeing this, the corners of Lü Yang’s mouth lifted into a smile.

’He used the Eternal Sword? Perfect!’

He wasn’t the least bit disappointed that his entire setup had been rendered void. On the contrary, he was secretly delighted, because this would only enhance the effect of All Evil Beheaded!

Mana, Magic, and Fruit.

He had now surpassed True Monarch Gangxing in all three domains. As long as he could stack enough slaying marks, he could instantly put his opponent into a critically wounded state!

True Monarch Gangxing, on the other hand, was not in a good mood.

He had, of course, heard from Ang Xiao and the Old Dragon Monarch about Lü Yang’s strange and unpredictable Curse Technique, and he could feel a faint sense of crisis.

Of course, he still had other tricks up his sleeve.

But there was no need. He now held the absolute advantage and had no reason to engage in a life-or-death struggle. That was not the way of the Sword Pavilion.

With this in mind, he immediately gave the order: ”Attack!”

As soon as he spoke, from within the Sea of Clouds, the True Monarch of Contained Light and Floating Heaven let out a cold sneer. ”As expected. He’s abandoning a fair fight to ’exorcise demons and protect the Dao’!”

”Sword Species!”

The taunt was blatant, but True Monarch Gangxing turned a deaf ear. The strong bullying the weak, the many ganging up on the few—these were, after all, time-honored traditions of the Immortal Pivot.

’My Sword Pavilion is merely following tradition. What crime is there in that?’

’At the end of the day, a poor workman blames his tools. If you have the connections, then call for backup. If you can’t, you have only yourself to blame for your incompetence.’

The next second, from the direction of the South, a host of figures appeared. In addition to the Sword Pavilion’s True Monarch Chengtian Zhengde and two other Perfected Lords, there were the Pure Land’s Three Bodhisattvas, the Profound Turtle Great Saint, the Old Dragon Monarch who had furtively crept back out, and even the Dao Court’s Emperor Jia You and the Three Ministers. Twelve Perfected Lords attacked at once!

And among them were two Great Perfected Lords!

In that instant, countless Arrays monitoring the battlefield from afar exploded. All sound vanished from Heaven and Earth, and a dead silence fell over everything.

Nothing could be perceived.

Nothing could be observed.

Only an endless, boundless Mighty Power raged wantonly. If not for the tacit agreement among All True Monarchs to control it and prevent it from spilling onto the continent below, the Immortal Pivot itself would have likely been obliterated!

After an unknown amount of time, the turbulent void finally calmed. The light that had filled the sky gradually dimmed, revealing a vast, pitch-black, deep abyss.

This abyss, centered on the border between the South and the North, tore through space and plunged into the Void Sea of Light. It gouged a dark fissure even within the Sea of Light itself, and the spreading aftershocks prevented the Duality of Life and Death Profound Light from filling the gap, leaving the rift permanently open.

”Is he… dead?”

”Definitely dead!”

”No one could have survived that. The attack punched straight into the Void Sea of Light. Even the Netherworld wouldn’t have had time to retrieve his soul. No one could have lived through that, no matter where they were!”

That’s right. The outcome was decided.

True Monarch Gangxing had won!