Just a Useful Pawn in the Stain Sect

Chapter 808: Chapter 803: The 2nd Colorful Talent

[Calculating experience for ’True Monarch Gangxing’...]

[You were the Sword Pavilion’s prodigy of a generation, a talent seen once in ten thousand years. You achieved Foundation Establishment in thirty years, Perfection in five hundred, and Pocket World Falling in less than a thousand, only to be schemed against by the Master of Dao...]

Dense lines of text materialized on the panel.

Lü Yang stared, stunned. Before, settling a Gold Attribute would only grant one Talent Skill—whatever the Centome settled was what he got.

This time, however, the panel’s content was different.

[As True Monarch Gangxing was in the Late Stage of Golden Core and his Gold Attribute has completed its initial qualitative transformation, you may select one of the following Talent Skills as your reward.]

[1. Revealing Truth and Shattering Illusions: In your eyes, all things have a flaw. One strike is all it takes to hit true and break all laws!]

[2. Victory Sword Intent: After being wounded by your Sword Qi, your target will be afflicted with a Weak Mark. Thereafter, their overall condition will be reduced by thirty percent when facing you.]

[3. Profound Gate God Fusion Refining Dao Skill: Just as a hundred refinements and a thousand forgings are needed to create steel, the closer you are to death from grievous injuries, the more Mighty Power you can forge from the depths of desperation. The heavier your wounds, the greater the boost to the Profound Mysterious used to overcome them once you have fully recovered.]

At first glance, Lü Yang was a little disappointed.

After all, neither Revealing Truth and Shattering Illusions nor Victory Sword Intent seemed to have the value he expected from a Talent Skill settled from a Great Perfected Lord’s Gold Attribute.

Revealing Truth and Shattering Illusions was decent, but not overwhelmingly powerful.

As for Victory Sword Intent, it was also good, but he already had All Evil Beheaded. In comparison, its effect seemed somewhat redundant and insufficient.

But when he saw the last option, his expression changed instantly.

”Profound Gate God Fusion Refining Dao Skill?”

On the surface, this talent’s description was far less clear than the first two, and its effect seemed obscure. But Lü Yang saw through to its true purpose in a single glance.

’This is... a Talent Skill for enhancing the Profound Mysterious of a Fruit Position!’

WHOOSH! Lü Yang shot to his feet. He had never heard of any method to enhance the Profound Mysterious of a Fruit Position before!

’Is it because of True Monarch Gangxing’s experiences? He suffered immensely from the conflict of his attached Fruit Positions, having to constantly use his own Fruit Position to suppress and harmonize the two warring ones... Unbelievable. To think it could settle into such an absurd Talent Skill. Old Gang, you died a good death!’

What’s that? You’re not dead yet?

No matter, you will be soon. In a moment, I’ll refine you into a Life Form Body. Once I’ve used you to swallow the Fruit of River-Sand Gold, you’ll be pretty much dead anyway.

”Don’t worry. In light of your contributions in this life, I’ll let go of the grudge I held for you hunting me down!”

After some time, Lü Yang finally managed to calm himself.

Enhancing the Profound Mysterious of a Fruit Position... what did this mean?

It meant he no longer needed to fight for an Emperor Fruit. He just had to pick a promising one with potential and cultivate it into an Emperor Fruit himself!

Without any hesitation, Lü Yang chose the third option.

[You have obtained the Colorful Talent: Profound Gate God Fusion Refining Dao Skill!]

”It really is a Colorful one...”

This was his second Colorful Talent, and unlike Student as a Model—which was slow-acting, had many conditions, and was a real pain to use—this one would show immediate results!

”What’s even better is that I’m covered in severe injuries right now, and they were inflicted by the Sword Pavilion Daoist Lord. It’s the perfect time to use Profound Gate God Fusion Refining Dao Skill!”

.......

「Ten years flew by in the blink of an eye.」

Within Emperor Ying, Lü Yang watched as the refined True Monarch Gangxing—now a Life Form Body—finished Re-refining Grotto Heaven and once again ascended to the Golden Position. He nodded in satisfaction.

Then, he seized the body and refined it in an instant.

The entire process was incredibly smooth. He didn’t even need to leave Emperor Ying, because it was also possible to complete the Seeking Gold Ascension Position within the Celestial Human Residual Consciousness.

He had obtained the Fruit of River-Sand Gold!

RUMBLE!

Instantly, as the Profound Mysterious of the fourth Fruit Position was swallowed by Lü Yang, completing four of the Five Elements, he felt his body begin to swell.

Immediately after, his consciousness began to drift away, as if leaving his body in a daze. The gates to the Sea of Suffering opened on their own, and an endless torrent of conceptual water surged forth. Faintly, a magnificent Great Dao appeared before his eyes, pouring an infinite stream of information into his Dao Heart with every passing moment.

At that moment, he almost completely lost control of his body.

Just as he was about to drift into the Sea of Suffering and fall into that magnificent Great Dao, a profound sense of crisis swept over him.

HISS!

In the next second, Lü Yang snapped back to his senses. His drifting consciousness stabilized, and his face turned grim as he saw the faint gleam of Sword Light at the edge of the Sea of Suffering before him.

If he had truly walked in just now, he would have likely died instantly and been forced to start over.

”Ten years... The injuries left by the Sword Pavilion Daoist Lord have tormented me for ten years, to the point that even my Perfect Dao Heart has begun to waver. Otherwise, I would not have fallen for that trick.”

Lü Yang quickly understood what had just happened.

In short, his progress had been too rapid, creating a resonance with the Dao of the Dharma Body. Unfortunately, he was simply not yet capable of entering the Sea of Suffering.

WHOOSH...

With a deep exhale, Lü Yang quickly regained control of his body. As he digested the Fruit of River-Sand Gold, an understanding surfaced in his mind.

’The Fruit of River-Sand Gold: a precious substance hidden in sand, its value realized only through man.’

’No wonder True Monarch Gangxing almost never used the Profound Mysterious of the Fruit of River-Sand Gold. It was never meant for killing.’

’It’s a nurturing Profound Mysterious!’

’Its name is—Gradual Formation!’

’Just as the name implies, this is a Profound Mysterious that requires one to endure the greatest of Bitterness to become a Superior among men. Its concept has a miraculous effect on nurturing.’

’And True Monarch Gangxing... he was half-crippled by his Fruit Position conflict and forced into dormancy, which was, in fact, another form of nurturing. The reason he could lower his Position to the Middle Stage of Golden Core and still unleash the Great Perfected Lord’s Sword when necessary was all thanks to the conceptual Profound Mysterious of the Fruit of River-Sand Gold...’

...Hmm? Wait a minute.

Suddenly, Lü Yang’s expression changed. ’True Monarch Gangxing relied on the Fruit of River-Sand Gold to survive the conflict between his Fruit Positions.’

Then what about Bao Lian Hidden Buddha?

She now faces the same problem as True Monarch Gangxing, but she doesn’t have the Profound Mysterious of the Fruit of River-Sand Gold. How is she supposed to resolve the conflict of her attached Fruit Positions?

’If she can’t resolve it... she’s going to die!’

’Couldn’t be that she didn’t know beforehand, right?’

’No, True Monarch Gangxing probably never even intended to tell her. His reason for helping her break through was likely to use this opportunity to screw her over and get her killed...’

Damn, what a Sword Species!

Lü Yang mused for a moment, then stood up. The four Profound Mysteries of Gold, Water, Fire, and Earth instantly surfaced on his body, entering his Dharma Body one by one, causing him to close his eyes.

A moment later, he opened his eyes and slowly extended his palm.

At this moment, within his Dharma Body, the Heart Fire commanded the Lung Gold, harmonized and circulated by the Spleen Earth. Finally, it erupted from his palm, transforming into a dazzling white light.

BOOM!

A Dao-Resonating Thunder Sound!

Though they were Five Elements Fruit Positions, the Qi of Fire and Gold now combined, projecting an intense, pure yang energy—supreme and magnificent—that illuminated the area around Lü Yang.

A vast Thunder Sound reverberated within that brilliant golden light.

Bolts of energy shot out from Lü Yang’s seven orifices like frenzied golden serpents and roaming thunder dragons—wild, powerful, and unparalleled in their ferocity.

And Lü Yang, holding the lightning in his hand, exuded an even more imposing aura. In a daze, a phantom Fruit Position Prototype seemed to flicker in and out of existence.

In that instant, an understanding dawned on him:

’Even though I’ve only gathered four of the elements, I might be able to go to the Nourishing Life Master now, get a World Heaven Seed, and make an attempt at the Pseudo Void Certificate.’