Just a Useful Pawn in the Stain Sect

The North, in a secluded mountain forest.

The north wind howled, and a vast expanse of white snow blanketed the land. Frost seemed to cover Heaven and Earth, dusting a thatched cottage in the forest. Beneath the goose-feather-like snowfall, a man stood with his hands clasped behind his back.

"What heavy snow..."

The man wore a crane-feather cloak, a faint smile on his lips, and gently waved a feathered fan. He had a refined and dashing air about him, at first glance appearing like a young scion from a noble family, out for a stroll in the snow.

Yet when he stood there, even the magnificent, sweeping snowscape seemed to lose its brilliance. All things in existence appeared to gather around him alone, as if he had concentrated all the blessings, wealth, and even luck between Heaven and Earth. He was like a favored child of the heavens, inspiring an involuntary surge of jealousy and resentment in any who saw him.

It was none other than the Perfected Fortune!

At this moment, Hong Yun was making the most difficult decision of his life: whether to go to the bottom of that lake in the South and retrieve the fragment of his former Grotto Heaven.

’That fragment is definitely suspicious.’

’It’s too much of a coincidence.’

’But if I don’t retrieve that fragment, how long will it take me to recover to Foundation Establishment Perfection and attempt the Seeking Gold Ascension Position? I’m afraid I won’t even be able to get back to the Mid-phase of Foundation Establishment!’

The thought that even a piece of trash like the Master of Heaven Mending Peak could now bare his teeth at him made Hong Yun feel utterly suffocated. He seethed with impotent rage for a long while before calming himself. He then formed a Finger Technique and began an Incantation, starting to deduce his karmic links and perform a Divination on his fortune to make the most correct judgment.

Unfortunately, several consecutive Divinations yielded no results.

This made Hong Yun sigh again, regretting his past actions. Back then, he had ignored the favor of Heaven and Earth and forcibly swallowed an Outer Dao Fruit Position.

It was never this difficult in the past.

Back then, no matter what he wanted to do, a simple calculation was all it took. With the blessing of the Fortune of Heaven and Earth, the divinatory trigrams would immediately tell him if the outcome was good or bad.

But now, it had come to this.

No matter how he calculated, Heaven and Earth gave no response. He even had to "fish" for a Son of Fortune and devour them just to maintain his own Fortune.

’Maybe... I should just run for it?’

Hong Yun rubbed his temples in frustration, unable to stop thinking about the arrangements he had made Beyond the Heavens. But that was his final escape route. Had things really gotten to that point?

More importantly, he was a little scared.

After all, going Beyond the Heavens meant escaping the influence of the Netherworld. If he did that, his greatest life-saving trump card—committing suicide to reincarnate through the Netherworld—would be useless.

What if the mysterious person who killed him back then was lying in wait for him Beyond the Heavens? The moment he arrived there to escape, a giant hand could reach out, grab him, and refine him in an instant. Then he would truly have no path to Heaven and no gate to Earth. He could scream his lungs out, and no one would come to save him.

After thinking it over and over, Hong Yun finally made a decision.

"I’ll go to the South after all."

"But before that, I need to have Great Undertaking expend some Fortune and use the [Tongming Yiyun Talisman Book] to create an insurance policy for me, ensuring I can get the Grotto Heaven Fragment."

With this in mind, Hong Yun immediately formed a Daoist Hand Seal and sent out a communication.

A moment later, a streak of Bright Light cut through the swirling snow, arriving through the air and suddenly parting. It was Great Undertaking, who had rushed over after receiving the communication.

However, at this moment, the expression of this Guardian, this Foundation Establishment Perfection Grand Zhenren symbiotic with the Gold Attribute, personally appointed by Hong Yun, was extremely gloomy. His brow was knitted tightly, as if something was weighing on his mind. Even after arriving before Hong Yun, his expression didn’t relax; instead, it grew even more solemn and grave.

"What’s wrong?"

Hong Yun was a little surprised by this and asked curiously, "Has something changed within the Sect? Could it be that junior, Minor Metal, is already preparing to attempt the Seeking Gold Ascension Position?"

"My lord, that is not it."

Great Undertaking shook his head and sighed. "It’s about a junior from our Sect, with the Daoist title Yuan Tu. Recently, I was preparing to eliminate him in secret."

"You told me about this, and I gave my approval."

Hong Yun’s eyebrows rose slightly. "Has a Variable appeared?"

"There shouldn’t be." Great Undertaking’s face was heavy as he lowered his voice. "But for some reason, I’ve suddenly been feeling my heart pound with anxiety lately."

At these words, Hong Yun also grew serious. Great Undertaking was, after all, at Foundation Establishment Perfection and connected to his Gold Attribute. His Spiritual Sense was nearly as sharp as a Perfected Lord’s. If Great Undertaking was feeling anxious, then there was an eighty percent chance something was truly wrong. This was something he could not afford to ignore.

But even so, Hong Yun still couldn’t figure it out:

"A junior at the Early Stage of Foundation Establishment is actually making you feel anxious... That makes no sense. Could it be that he has a Perfected Lord backing him?"

That would be troublesome.

After pondering for a long time, Hong Yun looked at Great Undertaking and said, "Take out the [Tongming Yiyun Talisman Book]. I will borrow the power of the [Fruit of Lamp-Cover Fire] to investigate."

Hong Yun was undeniably cautious.

If he weren’t, he wouldn’t have lived this long.

So, even if there was only a "possibility" of a new Perfected Lord, he had to treat it with the utmost seriousness, willing to pay a great price to investigate it thoroughly.

Hearing this, Great Undertaking also breathed a sigh of relief.

"As you command!"

Great Undertaking was very confident in Hong Yun. After all, while his master might not have much skill in Seeking Gold, his talent for staying alive was immense.

Thinking of this, he quickly took out the [Tongming Yiyun Talisman Book].

Looking at this Treasure of Fruit Position, Hong Yun couldn’t help but sigh. Back then, hadn’t he given up the Heavenly God’s favor and risked swallowing an Outer Dao Fruit Position precisely for this?

Yet, just as he was about to refine it into a True Treasure, he had unexpectedly perished.

As a result, this Treasure of Fruit Position had ended up in this state, neither here nor there. Otherwise, his return to the Golden Position over these years wouldn’t have been so difficult.

At this thought, a hundred emotions flooded Hong Yun’s mind. He couldn’t help but recall his time at his Peak. Back then, the name of the [True Monarch of Celestial Destiny] was known far and wide. He was truly a rising Son of Heaven in the Stain Sect. But the world changes, and now he had become a laughingstock known to all Perfected Lords...

For a moment, Hong Yun was lost in a daze.

He even forgot to take the [Tongming Yiyun Talisman Book] that Great Undertaking was offering. He didn’t speak, just stood there, stunned and motionless like a clay statue or wooden sculpture.

Fortunately, a kind person beside him reached out in time, took the Treasure of Fruit Position for him, and then slowly opened it and began to read it carefully.

"...Huh?"

Watching this scene, Hong Yun suddenly froze.

Wasn’t something wrong here?

He turned his head and looked at the man beside him. A handsome, heroic face with smiling eyes was instantly reflected in his dark pupils.

Then, he looked over at Great Undertaking on his other side and saw him looking back with a solemn expression, with no hint of anything unusual in his eyes. It was as if there had been three people here from the very beginning, and this handsome man was supposed to be standing right beside him. He quickly dismissed his suspicions.

’Hmm, nothing’s wrong. It must be my imagination.’

Thinking this, Hong Yun chuckled lightly, looked at the man beside him, and said, "It’s a good thing you’re here, Fellow Daoist Lü. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have known what to do."

As his voice fell, his eyes became perfectly clear:

"It’s a pity I’m having trouble with my Golden Ascension Position now. Without me, the Righteous Qi Dao has to rely on you alone to carry the burden, Fellow Daoist Lü... Ah, it truly has been hard on you all these years."

"Not at all. It is merely my duty."

Lü Yang smiled. Behind him, the Righteous Banner fluttered, and the rolling black qi transformed from the Divine Effect of [Enlightenment] nearly filled Heaven and Earth. It was being continuously inhaled by Hong Yun and Great Undertaking.

Yet, neither of them was aware of it in the slightest.

Seeing this, Lü Yang’s smile became even more sincere.

After all, he remembered every single one of his old debts!

’I remember back in my third life, this was the guy who suddenly showed up and "bombed my fish." Today, it’s finally my turn to bomb him back!’