Just a Useful Pawn in the Stain Sect

At this moment, the battle was not limited to the Human World.

Overseas, at Skyline, the shattered Earth-Walking Avatar had dissolved into a cloud of mist, within which Lü Yang and Ang Xiao were also trying to kill each other.

Seeing this, Mu Changsheng was stunned.

The Old Dragon Monarch, however, looked as if it were nothing out of the ordinary. "This is normal. All Saint Sect True Monarchs are like this. You’re still too young; you just haven’t seen it much."

He wasn’t wrong.

After all, in his past life, Mu Changsheng had only been at the Foundation Establishment stage. As a mere Lower Cultivator, how could he possibly have understood the ways of a Perfected Lord? It was only in this life that he had barely managed to become an Outer Dao practitioner.

Still, the sight of Lü Yang and Ang Xiao now was a real eye-opener for him.

"They’re fighting already?" Mu Changsheng asked in disbelief. "We haven’t even entered the domain of the Nourishing Life Master. Are they really turning on each other over a single set of coordinates?"

"What else?"

The Old Dragon Monarch sneered. "When you cooperate with Saint Sect True Monarchs, they’re usually extremely reliable. You can even entrust matters to them without a second thought."

"But as soon as the job is done and it’s time to divide the spoils, however reliable those Saint Sect True Monarchs were before, that’s how outrageous they’ll be after. When they fight, each one is more vicious than the last. And they’re as wary as wild animals. You can’t even get the jump on them, or they’ll turn the tables and scheme against you..."

As he spoke, the Old Dragon Monarch trailed off.

He looked like he wanted to cry.

Then, he glanced at Mu Changsheng, his face filled with emotion. ’Your generation has it easy! There aren’t that many true Saint Sect True Monarchs left anymore.’

He knew of Mu Changsheng’s past experiences—it was nothing more than a group of Perfected Lords ganging up to kill a Lower Cultivator.

What was that supposed to be?

That’s just the basic qualification for a Perfected Lord!

Compared to him, I was the truly unlucky one! I had to face the four First Generation Peak Masters of the Stain Sect... the very people who perfected and popularized the ways of their Sect!

At this thought, the Old Dragon Monarch glanced again at Lü Yang and Ang Xiao. Why had he turned and fled the moment he saw them before? He was clearly powerful, yet he had no desire to engage in Combat. This was why. In these two, he saw the shadows of the Stain Sect’s First Generation Peak Masters!

Meanwhile, Mu Changsheng composed himself.

"Then, Senior... are they really going to fight to the death like this?"

"It won’t come to that."

The Old Dragon Monarch said nonchalantly, "Let them fight. Once they’re done and realize neither can do anything to the other, they’ll stop on their own."

"After all, you weren’t wrong about one thing."

"This is just a set of coordinates. They haven’t entered the domain of the Nourishing Life Master, and the real prize isn’t in their hands yet. It’s not worth fighting to the death over."

"If they’re really going to risk their lives, they’ll at least wait until they’re inside the domain of the Nourishing Life Master."

Before the Old Dragon Monarch had even finished speaking, Lü Yang and Ang Xiao, who had been locked in fierce combat just moments before, had already stopped. The shattered Earth-Walking Avatar returned to its original form.

The next second, the two struck again.

One of Lü Yang’s hands firmly gripped the Divine Sense Mu Changsheng had offered, which contained the coordinates for the Nourishing Life Master, while Ang Xiao grabbed the other side.

"You’re getting too excited, Daoist. Aren’t we allies? There is no need to grab."

Ang Xiao sighed.

"Senior is absolutely right."

Lü Yang also nodded.

Then, the two of them just stared at each other. Neither let go, and neither attempted to read the information.

It wasn’t that they didn’t want to, but that they couldn’t. The moment one extended their Divine Sense, the other would decisively strike it down, refusing to let the other get a head start.

Otherwise, what if one of them read the coordinates first, then immediately destroyed the Divine Sense? If the other was just a moment too late, wouldn’t it all be over for them?

So they could only remain in a stalemate.

"...Old Loach, make your move! Let’s get rid of this guy together. He’s too mysterious. I suspect he has other tricks up his sleeve, and he could probably screw us both over!"

Ang Xiao spoke decisively.

Almost at the same time, Lü Yang said nonchalantly:

"Don’t listen to him, Senior Dragon Monarch. Let’s you and I team up to destroy this avatar of Ang Xiao’s. Don’t worry, I’ll handle the pressure. There’s nothing he can do to the two of us."

The Old Dragon Monarch: "..."

’Who wants to be "the two of us" with you two animals!’

"Alright, alright, stop fighting."

The Old Dragon Monarch sighed and took the initiative to condense another strand of spiritual perception, one containing the coordinates for the Nourishing Life Master and its karmic links. He carefully offered it to the two of them.

The next second, Lü Yang and Ang Xiao struck out again, each grabbing the second strand of spiritual perception.

"Let’s split it. You take the left, I take the right?"

"Deal."

As soon as the words were spoken, Lü Yang and Ang Xiao each began to read the spiritual perception they had chosen... while simultaneously and without hesitation, they struck out to destroy the other one.

BOOM!

Both strands of spiritual perception were obliterated.

However, both Lü Yang and Ang Xiao had already finished reading the coordinates for the Nourishing Life Master’s domain, so the destruction did not affect them.

After a moment of silence, they both withdrew their hands.

The Earth-Walking Avatar re-formed. Acting as if nothing had just happened, the two once again housed their spiritual perception within an Artifact.

Mu Changsheng watched, dumbfounded.

The Old Dragon Monarch curled his lip. "See? That’s the Stain Sect for you. In the future, young friend, you’d best stay far away from them, just like I do. Don’t get any funny ideas."

’Did he think I couldn’t tell what was on his mind?’

’It didn’t matter!’

He wasn’t actually opposed to letting a few Saint Sect True Monarchs in on this.

At least they could serve as shields. If there really was a trap within that Celestial Human Residual Consciousness, they would be the first to fall into it, which would buy him time to escape.

"Don’t spout nonsense, Old Loach," Ang Xiao said, his gaze calm.

"The Daoist and I are allies bound by a Magic Contract."

"Indeed," Lü Yang nodded. "You are undermining the unity of our Stain Sect. Senior and I were just having a friendly spar."

As they spoke, both men seemed to have forgotten the conflict and scheming of moments before, once again becoming the staunchest of allies. The submarine of their friendship had resurfaced.

「Meanwhile, in the Human World.」

The main bodies of Lü Yang and Ang Xiao had also stopped fighting long ago.

Ang Xiao patted the spot on Lü Yang’s chest he had just run through, while Lü Yang withdrew the fist he had been pounding on Ang Xiao’s forehead, both their expressions completely normal.

The next second, a Divine Effect activated.

One used the Veil of the Trees to erase his wounds, while the other used a Rebirth Appearance to redirect his injuries. In the blink of an eye, the two blood-soaked figures transformed back into suave Perfected Lords.

"Daoist, I feel we should present a united front."

Ang Xiao said grimly, "If we keep infighting like this, someone is bound to take advantage of our weakness. Like the Old Dragon Monarch, for instance. That Old Loach is black-hearted to the core."

"Senior is right," Lü Yang nodded.

"We should establish a true pact. Then, when the time comes, we first get rid of the Old Dragon Monarch and that Mu Changsheng. After that, we can resolve our own issues."

"As it should be," Lü Yang nodded again.

Ang Xiao said with a look of utmost sincerity, "In that case, I have a Daoist Oath Technique. We can use it to swear an oath to the Sea of Suffering and have it oversee our pact."

"If either of us breaks the oath, the backlash from the Sea of Suffering will immediately destabilize our Fruit and shatter our Great Dao."

"What do you say?"

Lü Yang nodded earnestly. "Of course."

Ang Xiao: "..."

They continued to stare at each other, a silent understanding passing between them: ’To agree so casually means he definitely has a way to avoid the punishment for breaking the oath. This trick is useless!’

In an instant, the atmosphere became still.

Imperceptibly, their expressions shifted several times. The submarine symbolizing their friendship bobbed up and down, one moment surfacing, the next plunging to the seabed.

Finally, they both broke into a smile at the same time.

"Forget it. Let’s just stick to the old rules, shall we? Every man for himself?"

"Senior’s wisdom is profound!"

As the words fell, both Lü Yang and Ang Xiao visibly relaxed. This, after all, was the most reassuring mode of interaction between Saint Sect True Monarchs.