Just a Useful Pawn in the Stain Sect

Chapter 537: Huanming’s Abandoned Explanations, True Martial Demon-Vanquishing

Sword Intent was a Mysterious Divine Power, supposedly on par with that of a Perfected Lord.

Sealed Title Sword Intent was a step beyond even that. Across the entire Sword Pavilion, only True Monarch Gangxing and the Demon-Vanquishing Perfected had ever achieved it.

One could only imagine the difficulty.

This was because Sword Intent had nothing to do with one’s Cultivation level, experience, or external items. It depended solely on a Cultivator’s own Heart Thought. Only those with vast experience could ever hope to grant their Sword Intent a title.

Yet Lü Yang had done it.

The Centome had given him far more than just the settled rewards and the chance to start over. The experiences of every lifetime were a priceless treasure in their own right.

But this treasure was not readily apparent, nor was it easily converted into tangible power. It wasn’t until his previous life, when Lü Yang entered the Sword Pavilion and became a disciple of the Demon-Vanquishing Perfected, that things changed. As he cultivated Sword Techniques and comprehended Sword Intent, his understanding of the world deepened. The more he saw the hopelessness of this broken world, the more his own Sword Intent was honed and refined.

And now, at this very moment, it had finally blossomed and borne fruit.

A simple Sealed Title Sword Intent might not have been enough to decide the outcome of this battle; it would have just been one more technique that approached the Profound Mysterious nature of a Fruit Position.

But adding the Fruit of Sword Dao on top of it changed everything.

This time, Lü Yang didn’t need to use Fake Holding. His Unyielding Sword Intent alone was enough to trigger a spontaneous response from the Fruit of Sword Dao, amplifying the power of his Sword Light.

To put it bluntly,

the power of this sword strike had already shattered the positional limits of a Fruit Position Imagery. It had vaguely reached the fundamental level of a Fruit Position’s Profound Mysterious nature, bringing him infinitely close to an Orthodox True Monarch!

If True Monarch Chengtian Zhengde were here, this single strike would be enough to sever one of his arms!

"Slash!"

A thunderous cry echoed between Heaven and Earth. The Sword Light soared to the highest heavens, forcefully tearing through the boundless Buddha Light to illuminate Ang Xiao’s face. He let out a heartfelt laugh.

"Good. Excellent Swordsmanship."

Ang Xiao never held back his praise for the strong. He was also a man who could take things in stride. He finally raised his brows, his gaze falling upon Lü Yang with unprecedented solemnity.

"You’re quite the character!"

As his voice fell, Ang Xiao showed no intention of dodging. After all, he was merely borrowing the body of an Outer Dao; his true self was safe and sound in the Netherworld, free from any lasting consequences. For a moment, the hot-blooded courage of his long-forgotten youth was rekindled, and he poured every last bit of his Divine Power into the Buddha’s Palm.

Unmoving and unshakable, he met the attack head-on!

This was different from when Lü Yang had used Fake Holding with the Fruit of Celestial Fire to fight the True Monarch of Dragon and Snake Shadow. That had been more of a contest between their respective Fruit Position Imagery.

Though incredibly powerful, that exchange had been silent, almost subtle.

This time, however, there were no flashy tricks—only the purest form of power, roaring in a cataclysmic strike that plunged Heaven and Earth into a brief, deathly silence.

A profound stillness fell over everything.

It wasn’t that there was no sound; rather, the sound was so violent and so immense that it surpassed the range of what anyone could perceive or hear.

Immediately after, a ripple visible to the naked eye spread out from the Pure Land in the West at its epicenter. It was an endless wave of destruction, carrying the shattered remnants of their Fruit Position Imagery. Had this battle not been taking place high in the celestial vault, had it instead occurred on the ground, that single shockwave would have been enough to instantly sink one of the Five Domains of the World!

Only then did sound gradually return.

It was as if the noise was returning from an infinite distance, faint and scattered at first, like the buzzing of mosquitoes. But soon, the sounds grew more and more intense.

"RUMBLE!"

Everyone finally realized that this wasn’t the sound from the initial moment of impact, but the aftershock... an aftershock that was still shaking Heaven and Earth!

Such an event was a rarity in all of history!

After all, when Perfected Lords clashed, they prioritized their imagery, often killing without a trace. Who would resort to such a violent, head-on collision? The impact on the world was far too great.

This single collision caused the eardrums of countless mortals in the current world to rupture and their eyes to go blind. Qi Refiners knelt and vomited blood, with the more severe cases fainting on the spot. Foundation Establishment Cultivators were horrified to find the Position of their Dao Foundation within the Foundation Establishment Realm shaking as if it were about to collapse, only returning to normal after a long while.

"Incredible..."

Looking up at the sky, a flash of astonishment appeared in the eyes of the Demon-Vanquishing Perfected. To have given a title to one’s Sword Intent while still in the Foundation Establishment Realm... he had thought he was the only person in the world to have done so.

He never imagined that today there would be another!

As expected of his Daoist friend!

At this thought, the Demon-Vanquishing Perfected’s expression turned frigid. He, too, unleashed his Sword Light, seizing the golden opportunity to begin a large-scale reaping of the Pure Land!

At the same time, high in the celestial vault, Ang Xiao stood with his hands behind his back, pondering. ’A Sealed Title Sword Intent, the style of the Stain Sect, an unknown Outer Dao Fruit Position, and Tingyou’s method of Fake Holding.’

’There can be no mistake.’

’This person must be from *that* place... otherwise, it would be impossible for him to have mastered the strengths of so many different schools.’

Thinking of this, Ang Xiao suddenly looked up. There wasn’t a hint of dejection on his face. Instead, a mocking, schadenfreude-filled smile appeared.

’Oh, Bhagavat, Bhagavat... you planted this seed in the past. How could you possibly escape the fruit it bears today?’

’I, your junior, have exhausted my strength... there’s nothing more I can do.’

At this thought, Ang Xiao’s figure quietly shattered. Like a firework blooming in the sky, it exploded into a myriad of splendid colors above the Pure Land.

Ang Xiao’s final wisp of spiritual perception dissipated!

The Dragon and Snake Coiling Shadow Bodhisattva was dead!

As for the Unity and the trapped Fruit of Rampart Earth, Lü Yang’s Sword Light hadn’t destroyed them. Instead, it had smashed them directly into the Foundation Establishment Realm.

"Go into seclusion, all of you!"

The Foundation Establishment Realm, the plane that bore the Dao Foundations of the world, was separate from the current world. The Fruit of Rampart Earth had been blasted into it by Lü Yang. The magnificent Sword Light transformed into a seal, instantly suppressing it in the realm’s deepest depths. Now, even if the Bhagavat were to send down another Buddha’s Son’s Dharma Appearance, it would be impossible to activate the Fruit.

「Meanwhile, in Jiangxi.」

The Demon-Vanquishing Perfected had also become ruthless. Unleashing his full power, his Non-Killing Sword Intent surged like a tidal wave, leaving nothing but headless corpses in its wake.

Countless Monks were all collected into his Storage Bag.

But just then, the Fruit of Celestial Fire hanging high in the celestial vault suddenly erupted with a brilliant radiance! Amid the conflagration, a brand-new rule of the world appeared:

[NOT UNTIL MY THOUSAND-YEAR LIFESPAN IS EXHAUSTED SHALL BUDDHISM RISE AGAIN!]

Lü Yang had poured his full Mana into this rule, driving it directly into the lands of Jiangxi. Even after he stepped down from his position of Fake Holding, this rule would not dissipate!

Only the intervention of a Perfected Lord could erase it.

And until that happened, no one in Jiangxi could cultivate Buddhism! Anyone who tried would suffer the Celestial Fire Body Burning Punishment. This truly severed the Pure Land’s thousand-year-old Dao Lineage!

Huanming’s Abandoned Explanations, True Martial Demon-Vanquishing!

For a moment, Heaven and Earth were silent.

Countless Foundation-Stage Cultivators stared at the characters of the new rule, hanging high above the Pure Land like a new sun and moon. Their mouths hung open, a single thought racing through their minds:

’How dare he?’

His audacity was boundless!

This wasn’t cultivation; this was him blatantly stepping on the entire Pure Land to achieve a higher Position! No matter how magnanimous the Bhagavat might be, surely he couldn’t ignore something like this?

"BOOM!"

In an instant, Buddha Light flickered across Heaven and Earth. Having experienced this in his previous life, Lü Yang knew exactly what this was: a sign that the Bhagavat was about to turn his gaze upon them.

And yet, the very next second...

The Buddha Light vanished as if it had been snuffed out by an unseen hand. A profound silence fell. Standing quietly amidst the Cloud Sea, Lü Yang felt the corners of his mouth slowly curl into a grin.

"Hahahaha!"

His laughter was passionate and wild, like that of a high-spirited youth in his prime. It caused the eyes of countless Foundation-Stage Cultivators to gleam with a strange light.

How many years had it been? How many years had passed since a figure like this had emerged?

Thinking of this, the gazes they directed at the tall figure bathed in the light of the sun and moon grew even more complex. It was as if they were witnessing the birth of a legend destined to shake the world.

「At the same time.」

Lü Yang raised his head to the sky and saw that the light of the Fruit of Celestial Fire, which had originally been no bigger than a candle flame, had now reached an unprecedented level of brightness.

He was now, without a doubt, standing at the very peak of his ten lifetimes of Cultivation.

’Time for Seeking Gold?’

’Now?’