Just a Useful Pawn in the Stain Sect

Although Lü Yang was initially startled, he quickly regained his composure.

The idea that Ang Xiao had a backup plan wasn’t actually that hard to understand, as Lü Yang knew about the flaws in the Pocket World Technique.

Since he knew, why would he stubbornly stick to one path?

Besides, Saint Sect True Monarchs always had multiple escape routes. Lü Yang himself had left an initial anchor point for his own rebirth, so how could Ang Xiao not have an exit strategy?

’It would be stranger if he didn’t! Having one is perfectly normal!’

That being said, there was still something Lü Yang didn’t quite understand. "Senior, you just said... that I’m now a public enemy. What does that mean?"

"Hm?"

At these words, Ang Xiao’s eyebrows shot up, and the look he gave Lü Yang turned peculiar. "...Daoist, you truly don’t know?"

Know what?

Although Lü Yang’s face betrayed nothing, the question itself revealed everything, making Ang Xiao click his tongue.

Why wasn’t he furious with Lü Yang?

To be fair, he had been furious at first, wanting nothing more than to tear Lü Yang to shreds... but then he saw the live broadcast of Lü Yang’s breakthrough.

Reclaiming the Dao of Arcane Body and openly challenging the First Saint.

That cry of "Who can kill me?" was still echoing throughout the Immortal Pivot!

And so, Ang Xiao was no longer angry. After all, when someone goes to such lengths, you have to be magnanimous. There’s no point in getting angry with a dead man.

The next moment, Ang Xiao spoke, his tone tinged with amusement. "Daoist, you may not be aware, but the news of you reclaiming the Dao of Arcane Body has spread far and wide. You were so heroic and valiant, your words so bold. The entire Sea of Light probably knows by now that you, Daoist, are already a dead man..."

Lü Yang: "?"

What do you mean, I’m already a dead man?

Under Ang Xiao’s gaze, Lü Yang tilted his head. ’Is something wrong here? What does he mean, reclaiming the Dao of Arcane Body, the news spreading far and wide...’

It wasn’t until the next second that he finally understood.

In an instant, Lü Yang’s pupils contracted violently!

"Ev-everyone knows?" Lü Yang’s mouth fell slightly agape.

"What did you expect?"

Ang Xiao chuckled. "Daoist, you’ve caused such a commotion. That great figure from the Stain Sect is almost certain to turn his gaze this way. Lucky you!"

Lü Yang: "..."

He subconsciously began to recall what he had done after reclaiming the Dao of Arcane Body. His teeth began to chatter as he couldn’t help but whisper:

"Then, what I said..."

"’Who can kill me?’" Ang Xiao’s smile grew wider, and he even gave a thumbs-up. "Courage like yours, Daoist, only comes once in a hundred thousand years!"

At this moment, seeing Lü Yang’s completely flustered expression, Ang Xiao—who had just been tricked, lost his position as a Great Perfected Lord, and had his path to the Netherworld severed—suddenly felt much better. Looking at Lü Yang again, he even found the unlucky bastard rather pleasing to the eye. Compared to him, his own situation seemed quite good.

In his eyes, Lü Yang was already a talking corpse.

After all, he had merely failed in his plan, and it wasn’t without hope of recovery. The man across from him, however, had both feet in the grave, just waiting for the lid to be closed.

As he thought about it, Ang Xiao let out another laugh.

On the other side, Lü Yang was not in a good mood.

’Damn it! Reclaiming the Dao of Arcane Body gets broadcast live? Is it because of the Sea of Suffering? Because the Dao of Arcane Body is one of the foundations for Cultivators?’

Lü Yang felt a little dizzy.

Then, he looked at the Immortal Core Survival Guide, his hands trembling with anger. ’Didn’t it say there were no pitfalls? And you didn’t think to warn me about a trap this huge?!’

The next moment, he heard Ang Xiao’s laughter.

"...What are you laughing at, Senior?" Lü Yang shot a glare at Ang Xiao, baring his teeth. ’We’re both at the Middle Stage of Golden Core now. You think I’m still afraid of you?’

So what if you have the Fruit of Great-Forest Wood? So what if your Cultivation is profound?

’You can’t kill me!’

Although they had only clashed for a brief moment, Lü Yang already had a rough assessment of Ang Xiao’s strength: very strong, terrifyingly so.

After all, what had fallen was his Realm, not his Cultivation. With Ang Xiao’s level of Cultivation, plus the Fruit of Great-Forest Wood, his combat power would far exceed that of World Purger Fei Xue, even at the Middle Stage of Golden Core. If they engaged in Combat, Lü Yang knew he stood no chance of fighting back and would just be beaten one-sidedly.

But that was all.

Relying on the high defense and immense health of the Dao of Arcane Body, as well as the cheap mechanics of the Three Lives Primordial Qi Technique, it was absolutely impossible for Ang Xiao to kill him.

Even suppressing him would be impossible.

He believed that Ang Xiao had realized this as well, which was why he had changed his tune and proposed cooperation. Otherwise, with his personality, he would have started Killing long ago.

This was the unchanging law of the Stain Sect: only the strong are qualified to cooperate.

Therefore, in the face of Lü Yang’s question, Ang Xiao simply responded calmly, "I just thought of something amusing. It seems you’ve grasped the situation, Daoist?"

"...Hmph!" Of course Lü Yang had grasped it.

First, self-destruction was out of the question. Lü Yang felt he hadn’t reached the point of needing to start over; the situation was still salvageable.

Second, on the premise of not starting over... Ang Xiao’s proposal was very reasonable.

There was no longer any fundamental conflict between them. At most, there were just some minor grudges, like how Lü Yang had severed his path of cultivation.

But what was past was past.

’I can just apologize. And if I’ve already apologized, then it’s your problem if you can’t forgive me.’

As Saint Sect True Monarchs, both Lü Yang and Ang Xiao were forward-looking people, pragmatic enough to let things go. In the end, it all came down to benefits.

And undoubtedly, their current situations were perfectly aligned. One was the former number one Perfected Lord in the world, who had presided over the Netherworld and observed all of creation—a figure worthy of a Master of Dao’s attention. The other was even more notable, a definite thorn in the side of every Master of Dao. The two of them were in the same boat. It was precisely the time for cooperation.

"...How do you wish to cooperate, Senior?"

At these words, Ang Xiao narrowed his eyes. "The person who intervened at the last moment to protect the Fortune... that was Mu Changsheng, correct?"

"Correct." Lü Yang decisively sold out Mu Changsheng.

Ang Xiao nodded upon hearing this and continued, "You said back then that you knew of a second place he had been to... you were referring to the Celestial Human Residual Consciousness?"

"Correct."

Lü Yang smiled. "I wasn’t actually sure at the time. It was a desperate gamble. However, since Mu Changsheng made a move... that just confirmed it."

"Are you going to make a move against him, Senior?"

"Daoist, do you still not understand the importance of the Celestial Human Residual Consciousness?"

Ang Xiao retorted, "Under all of Heaven, besides the Celestial Human Residual Consciousness, only the Netherworld can block the sight of the Masters of Dao. It is the very spark of life within the Great Dao!"

"This spark of life is a supreme principle of the Great Dao."

"Even the Pocket World Technique established by the Patriarch must follow this supreme principle. No matter how much it blocks the path to becoming a Master of Dao, it must leave a sliver of a chance."

"Because if it didn’t leave this sliver of a chance, if it didn’t align with the supreme principle of the Great Dao, the technique itself would have failed. Otherwise, do you think the Bhagavat back then truly couldn’t have completely stamped out the Celestial Human Residual Consciousness? The problem is, if he had truly wanted to obliterate it completely, he would not have been able to affect the place at all!"

"It was precisely because he only intended to splinter it that he succeeded."

"Because splintering isn’t the same as destroying. It further reduced the hope of breaking through to the Nascent Soul Realm via the Celestial Human Residual Consciousness, but it still left an opportunity."

Ang Xiao’s words were a sudden revelation for Lü Yang.

’The Great Dao is fifty, Heaven calculates forty-nine, and one escapes... In all creation, if there are forty-nine Constants, there must be that one Variable for it to achieve Perfection!’

Thinking of this, he glanced at Ang Xiao again.

Without a doubt, from an intelligence standpoint, this man was a greater treasure trove than Si Chou. After all, Si Chou was merely the remnant of a remnant will.

But Ang Xiao was complete.

Especially since he had lived for so many years and had dared to aim for the Nascent Soul Realm, he must have been confident. This meant he surely possessed key intelligence regarding the Nascent Soul level.

’I’m dying to find out.’

’His intelligence!’