Just a Useful Pawn in the Stain Sect

In that instant, all was illuminated between Heaven and Earth.

Across the Five Domains of the World, from the homes of mortals to the Cave Mansions of cultivators, everything associated with the concepts of "candles" and "lamps" began to change.

Oil-less lamps burst into flame, and enchanted candles ignited on their own.

FLICK! FLICK!

Countless points of ethereal light ignited, climbing into the clouds to merge into a single, steady glimmer of lamplight—neither dazzling nor brilliant, but constant and unchanging.

Under the shine of this light, even the sun, moon, and stars seemed to dim. The very face of Heaven and Earth began to change under its glow. The Five Domains, once a seamless whole, now showed immense fissures, and countless pitch-black voids appeared between Heaven and Earth.

At this moment, Heaven and Earth revealed their true form.

Moreover, beyond the Four Great Forces—the Stain Sect, the Dao Court, the Sword Pavilion, and the Pure Land—countless other Sects, large and small, across every region experienced a sudden upheaval.

The most visible effect was on the Sects’ libraries of Cultivation Techniques.

The Restrictions placed upon these texts for secrecy all failed, leaving the contents of the Cultivation Techniques completely exposed to all disciples.

In addition, there were the Artifacts.

Artifacts containing special Divine Effects and self-concealing Spiritual Objects all revealed their true forms in that instant, drawing countless astonished gazes.

The architect of all this was the figure seated beneath that glimmer of lamplight.

Fortune—no, it was the True Monarch of Celestial Destiny.

After five thousand years, he had finally returned to his former Position. The brow that had once been creased with hardship smoothed and rose in triumph, his eyes now flowing with incandescent white fire.

Just a moment ago, he had demonstrated his power to all the Perfected Lords whose gazes fell upon him: the Fruit of Lamp-Cover Fire. It was a light that shone where the sun and moon could not, illuminating what Heaven and Earth left obscure. Under the mighty power of this Dao Fruit, no secret could remain hidden; all things would be forced to reveal their truest forms.

This, of course, included the Dragon and Snake Coiling Shadow Bodhisattva.

As Fortune’s gaze fell upon them, the Dragon and Snake Coiling Shadow Bodhisattva, who had been under Ang Xiao’s control, instantly shattered the Veil of the Trees that was already on the verge of collapse.

The next second, the Bodhisattva stepped back and pressed his palms together.

"Amitabha!"

Having said this, the Dragon and Snake Coiling Shadow Bodhisattva vanished without a moment’s hesitation, returning directly to the Pure Land. It was clear he had no intention of joining the fight.

Meanwhile, Ang Xiao’s expression was as dark as it could possibly be.

Then, with a flip of his hand, he produced a small puppet. It looked exactly like Chong Guang... it was the Chongguang Evil Corpse, formed after his death!

’Why didn’t it work?’

He couldn’t fathom it. The Chongguang Evil Corpse was a trump card he had hastily created. After Chong Guang’s death, he had used the Veil of the Trees to hide the Daoist Remnant, waiting for the perfect moment to bring it out and fight Fortune for the Fruit of Lamp-Cover Fire, thereby stalling for time. But why? Why hadn’t it worked?

「Meanwhile, in the dense forest.」

Lü Yang smiled triumphantly.

’I told you, you can’t hide anything from me... So what if it’s Master Chong Guang’s Daoist Remnant? That’s such an old trick. How could I not be prepared for it?’

’You already got me with this trick back in my ninth life.’

’How could I possibly fall for it again?’

’I was waiting for you!’

Lü Yang grinned. As for how he had influenced the Chongguang Evil Corpse... he had, of course, used the Tribulation Wave Sword Mark he’d carved into Chongguang’s Divine Technique long ago!

’A mere Daoist Remnant. How hard was it to simply modify its conceptual image and make it unable to respond to the Fruit of Lamp-Cover Fire?’

’You helped me refine the Tribulation Wave back in the day. Now, I’m using it to land a heavy blow on you. I guess you could call it karmic retribution. What goes around, comes around!’

At the same time, Fortune made his move.

Without hesitation, the True Monarch of Celestial Destiny brought the full weight of his Position to bear. In that instant, the Earth of Chen between Heaven and Earth erupted with a pillar of Yang Qi that shot into the sky.

Reversal!

RUMBLE!

In an instant, Heaven and Earth roared, and the world was plunged into dim chaos. The Divine Sense of every Perfected Lord detected a vast, boundless darkness rapidly approaching the current world.

This was different from the Sea of Suffering.

If the Foundation Establishment Realm was situated above the current world, and the Sea of Suffering was situated above the Foundation Establishment Realm, then the approaching darkness was located "below" the current world.

And now, it was rising to the surface.

It was the Netherworld!

From within this darkness, a towering figure emerged. With every step, great swaths of shadow were sloughed off his form.

However, each time he sloughed off a shadow, his qi trace plummeted. When he first appeared, his power overshadowed Heaven and Earth, far surpassing even True Monarch Gangxing. Yet with a final, thunderous boom, his Position crashed below the Late Stage of Golden Core, barely stabilizing at the Middle Stage of Golden Core.

At the same time, his true face was revealed.

He was a Daoist wreathed in smoke—or rather, a cloud of smoke that had coalesced into a human form, revealing only a pair of long, narrow eyes.

And, at most, a pair of pale hands.

Such an inhuman appearance, combined with the catastrophic drop in his Position and qi trace from an immeasurable height, allowed the Perfected Lords present to instantly recognize his identity.

Ang Xiao!

He had actually walked out of the Netherworld!

Almost simultaneously, in the dense forest in the North, Lü Yang immediately recalled his Summon and, without a word, fled toward Beyond the Heavens, all while cursing up a storm in his head.

’Fuck me!’

’The Netherworld didn’t strike that old bastard dead!? What happened to ’he’ll definitely die if he drops to the Middle Stage of Golden Core’? This is the result? They just let him walk out?’

’I can’t stay here!’

’Things are getting ugly, time to bail!’

Even though Lü Yang had ultimately won this world-spanning game of chess, he didn’t let the victory go to his head. On the contrary, it was precisely because he had won that he understood just how terrifying Ang Xiao truly was.

’I tried so damn hard.’

’And he still didn’t die!’

In fact, having walked out of the Netherworld, the current Ang Xiao was even more terrifying than before, because now he had no scruples, no restrictions whatsoever!

Fortune had the exact same reaction as Lü Yang.

However, if Lü Yang was merely fleeing out of a knee-jerk reaction, just in case, then Fortune was feeling a bone-chilling Killing intent aimed squarely at him.

And that wasn’t all.

The moment he had attained the Fruit of Lamp-Cover Fire, the Divine Effect of Enlightenment that Lü Yang had placed on him became impossible to maintain and was automatically dispelled.

But that was precisely why he was furious enough to go mad.

’That bastard!’

’He used me to take the fall! Used me to bear the brunt of Ang Xiao’s wrath, and now he’s unreachable! Could there be a more shameless person in this world?’

’He has to be from the Stain Sect!’

At that moment, Fortune subconsciously recalled the coordinate Beyond the Heavens that Lü Yang had given him, and he finally understood the other man’s intentions.

’He wants me to flee to these coordinates?’

’A place where Ang Xiao won’t be able to track me?’

’But... knowing the Stain Sect’s style, since that mysterious person arranged this location, there’s undoubtedly an inescapable trap waiting for me there!’

With Ang Xiao before him and Lü Yang behind him, he was caught between a rock and a hard place!

Despite this, Fortune made his decision in a split second: compared to Ang Xiao, the mysterious man seemed like the easier one to handle.

’It’s a no-brainer.’

’Run!’

With that thought, just as Ang Xiao was taking his final steps out of the Netherworld, Fortune had already fled far Beyond the Heavens, entering the Void Land in the blink of an eye.

"Fortune! Get out here!!!"

Behind him came Ang Xiao’s utterly furious and unhinged roar, but Fortune didn’t turn back. He didn’t even dare to spare Ang Xiao a single glance.

It was too terrifying!

In the Void Land, Fortune patted his chest. It took him a long moment to calm his Heart Spirit. Wiping the sweat that was pouring uncontrollably from his brow, he finally let out a sigh of relief.

Holy shit! Acting like a badass and then running for my life... what a rush!

Only then did a wave of joy finally wash over Fortune’s heart.

’Did I really do it?’

’The Fruit of Lamp-Cover Fire... I have you again!’

At this thought, Fortune quickly focused his senses, wanting to properly feel and examine the Dao Fruit he had yearned for for five thousand years: the Fruit of Lamp-Cover Fire.

Then he froze.

He blinked, rubbed his eyes, and then his mouth fell open, his expression twisting into a look of utter disbelief.

He couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

No, to be precise, he was seeing nothing at all.

"The Fruit of Lamp-Cover Fire... The Fruit of Lamp-Cover Fire... Where the fuck is my Fruit of Lamp-Cover Fire???"

It was such a huge Dao Fruit!

Where did it go!?