Just a Useful Pawn in the Stain Sect

Ang Xiao departed, full of doubt.

In the very next moment, the sun, moon, and stars all vanished from the boundless sky. The scattered starlight converged into a mighty Celestial River.

Wherever the Celestial River passed, the turbid clouds parted.

The river’s vast waters connected head to tail, coiling like a mountain. As it rose into the air, its clear, jade-green waves directly reflected the entire scenery of the Overseas.

World Purger Fei Xue!

At that moment, Lü Yang was also Overseas and witnessed this scene. He praised her inwardly, ’As expected... The more I watch, the more I see how immense World Purger Fei Xue’s ambition is!’

’Look at this boundless Celestial River. How the hell is this the Fruit of Gully-Rill Water?’

’Anyone who didn’t know better would think it was the Fruit of Sky-River Water! Such a display already has the makings of a Supreme Venerable. This is clearly the result of World Purger Fei Xue’s experiments.’

’Without a doubt, she truly intends to use the Fruit of Gully-Rill Water to usurp the position of Water Element Supreme Venerable. I just wonder what the Old Dragon Monarch of the Dragon Palace thinks about this. He cultivates the Fruit of Vast-Sea Water. Is he really willing to let the Fruit of Gully-Rill Water walk all over him? Doesn’t he want to become the Supreme Venerable again?’

At the same time, the boundless Celestial River suddenly retracted.

The graceful figure of World Purger Fei Xue emerged. She stood in the air, her hands folded before her, at first glance appearing like a classical noble lady who had long been secluded in her boudoir.

However, her face was filled with murderous intent.

"Ang Xiao... ran away?"

World Purger Fei Xue’s delicate brows knitted tightly, her beautiful eyes brimming with killing intent. Ever since Mu Changsheng exposed Ang Xiao and the Earth of Chen incident came to light, she had been in this state.

After all, her path to the Dao was at stake, and she couldn’t yield a single inch.

Never mind that Ang Xiao was only at the Late Stage of Golden Core; even if a Nascent Soul Daoist Lord stood before her, if they blocked her path, she would still fight them with all her might.

Unfortunately, Ang Xiao had fled too quickly.

In the end, World Purger Fei Xue came up empty. When she looked back, she saw that Mu Changsheng had already used No Heaven to escape, not daring to face her at all.

"...Dammit!"

The more World Purger Fei Xue thought about it, the angrier she became, yet there was nothing she could do. She could only stomp her foot ungracefully before puffing up her cheeks and quietly disappearing from the spot.

........

「Overseas, on a deserted island.」

After leaving the Azure Sun Cultivation Realm, Mu Changsheng concealed his entire Qi trace and quietly landed on the island. He then began refining the spoils from his trip.

The process didn’t take long.

After all, Ang Xiao had made a clean break, truly withdrawing all of his consciousness. Compared to a few Divine Soul Thoughts, one’s Dao Heart and true self were far more important.

Before long, Mu Changsheng—who had originally existed only as a formless, intangible consciousness residing within the Primal Daoist Evil—finally used Ang Xiao’s Divine Soul Thoughts to forge a soul for himself. Then, using the power of No Heaven to convert illusion into reality, he created a physical body.

At this point, he no longer planned to seal away all the Perfected Lords in the world.

’It’s meaningless now... My soul has been taken by the Saint Sect Ancestral Master, so starting my cultivation over is impossible. Sealing the world’s Perfected Lords would be a futile effort.’

At this thought, Mu Changsheng couldn’t help but sigh again.

’That mysterious Saint Sect True Monarch... he’s probably planning to use me to draw attention. He might even want to use me to probe the Saint Sect Ancestral Master’s intentions.’

Lü Yang hadn’t made any special effort to hide this fact.

And Mu Changsheng didn’t really have a choice. It was better to be a pawn on the board than to not even have a seat at the table.

Besides, he had experienced too many hardships in his life. He didn’t despair, but quickly adjusted, regained his composure, and even became strangely optimistic.

’Looking on the bright side, at least I can use No Heaven for myself now.’

According to his original plan, he was going to give No Heaven to someone else, have them seal the world’s Perfected Lords, while he himself would reincarnate and attain an orthodox Fruit.

After all, if you could take the orthodox path, who would choose an Outer Dao?

But now his plan was in ruins. An orthodox Fruit was definitely out of the question, so he was no longer in a position to be picky. He could only make do with an Outer Dao Fruit Position for now.

’Besides... an Outer Dao isn’t completely without its opportunities!’

’Although an Outer Dao Fruit Position isn’t as powerful, it also comes with fewer restrictions than an orthodox Fruit.’

Mu Changsheng forced himself to rally his spirits. He recalled a mysterious place the Heavenly God had guided him to back when he was still in the Foundation Establishment stage, and a look of longing appeared in his eyes.

That was where he had obtained the precursor to No Heaven: the World Heaven Seed.

As far as he knew, that place was called the Nourishing Life Master. It seemed to have once been part of an enormous Secret Realm that had later shattered and broken apart.

According to the information he received when he cleared it back then, that Secret Realm once had seven trials. Only by passing one could you enter the next. But now that the Secret Realm was shattered, the trials were scattered far and wide. It was impossible to teleport directly between them; at most, clearing one would give you the coordinates for the next.

Furthermore, the seven trials had no fixed order.

There were various ways to clear them, and the order was completely random. You went to whichever trial you were assigned. Only the total number of trials cleared mattered, not which specific ones.

As the saying goes, to untie the bell, you must find the one who tied it.

The reward from just one of those trials was enough to create No Heaven, an Outer Dao Fruit Position. What spectacular wonders would the other six trials hold?

Mu Changsheng believed that as long as he could find the other trials, the mere restrictions of an Outer Dao Fruit Position would surely not be able to stop him!

Besides, he had a powerful backer.

"WHOOSH..."

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew past.

Mu Changsheng took a deep breath and felt the excitement contained within the wind. From the unseen world, a powerful surge of fortune descended upon him with a crash.

The protection of the Heavenly God!

Evidently, as the Heavenly God’s favorite child, Mu Changsheng’s revival had made the deity very happy. It was only natural that fortune would be lavished upon him as if it cost nothing.

The next second, he abruptly looked up.

He saw a Flying Light streak across the sky and drift down gracefully. Although at first glance it was just an Immortal Alliance Cultivator from the Azure Sun Cultivation Realm, it flew directly toward him.

"Congratulations, Fellow Daoist Mu."

The Immortal Alliance Cultivator clasped his hands in salute and said with a smile, "Daoist, you have escaped your predicament—a dragon returning to the sea. You have also attained a Fruit. From now on, we can be considered fellow travelers on the same path."

Hearing this, Mu Changsheng’s eyes narrowed.

’A clone? A puppet?’

He had deliberately waited on this deserted island precisely to meet this mysterious Saint Sect True Monarch, intending to use the Heavenly God’s power to expose his true identity.

He hadn’t expected the other party to be so cautious.

The man would only appear in person when he had an absolute advantage in strength. Now that Mu Changsheng had attained an Outer Dao, he immediately sent a puppet instead.

’The bastard...’

While Mu Changsheng cursed inwardly, his face remained respectful as he said, "Upper Truth, you praise me too highly. My meager tricks are unworthy of your Dharma Eye."

"Oh, but they are."

Speaking through the puppet he controlled with Puppet, Lü Yang chuckled lightly. "Why must you be so self-deprecating, Daoist...? Speaking of which, what are your plans for the future?"

Mu Changsheng immediately grew wary at these words, but he didn’t dare hesitate for too long. He gave a bitter laugh and sighed, "I must be a laughingstock to you, Upper Truth. The Immortal Pivot Land is fraught with danger, and I have offended too many people. I really don’t dare to stay. I’ll probably just go Beyond the Heavens and try my luck."

Try his luck?

Lü Yang’s eyes narrowed slightly when he heard this. Mu Changsheng’s words made it sound like he’d never been Beyond the Heavens before. It was filled with nothing but Outer Realms; what kind of opportunities could there be...?

...Hm?

In an instant, Lü Yang’s expression turned solemn.

Opportunities Beyond the Heavens... it wasn’t that there were none at all. It was just that in all his many journeys Beyond the Heavens, he had only ever encountered one.

A Celestial Human Residual Consciousness!