Just a Useful Pawn in the Stain Sect

Chapter 352: Grade 1 Foundation Method?

Sword Pavilion, Reception Hall.

Lü Yang held three long sticks of incense. Wisps of blue smoke curled around him. In an instant, a thunderous voice, like the questioning of ten thousand people, echoed in his ears:

"Have you ever colluded with the Demon Dao?"

"Do you harbor ill intentions?"

"Have you awakened to a past life?"

Three sticks of incense, three questions. Enveloped by the curling smoke, Lü Yang’s Split Soul had no way to lie and couldn’t help but speak:

"None!"

His voice was firm and righteous, completely open and honest.

’After all, as a Split Soul, I’m pure and innocent. I truly harbor no ill intentions, nor have I awakened to a past life. As for colluding with the Demon Dao, my main body did that. What does that have to do with me, the Split Soul?’

The next second, the Split Soul came to his senses. He then realized that everything had just been an illusion; only the three incense sticks were still held firmly in his hands.

However, Lü Yang could sense that these three incense sticks were no ordinary items. The only reason he could hold them steady was that he had just passed the test of the three questions. If he had failed, the incense would have likely ignited his body and Soul, burning him to a pile of ash.

At this thought, Lü Yang immediately walked into the Reception Hall.

Although he had deliberately feigned ignorance in front of the Demon-Vanquishing Perfected, he had long since figured out the ins and outs of the Sword Pavilion through the Yun Family’s Ancestor.

’The Reception Hall... it’s especially crucial!’

’It’s not just a place to test one’s foundation, but also where one’s inheritance is decided. The better you perform here, the stronger the inheritance you receive!’

’The Sword Pavilion truly lives up to its name. It’s evenly matched with the Stain Sect...’

’In the Stain Sect, advanced Cultivation Techniques must be exchanged for Contribution Points. In other words, you have to be a "Sect Slave" for someone. You either stage a comeback or become a resource.’

’The Sword Pavilion isn’t much better.’

’The Reception Hall only looks at your foundational background. The good thing is you don’t have to be a "Sect Slave." The bad thing is if your foundation isn’t good enough, your whole life is set in stone. Forget about any comebacks.’

’All I can say is, one is for beasts, the other for bastards.’

’It’s no wonder they say the North and South each have their own ways.’

After walking into the Reception Hall, Lü Yang was surprised to find several other young men and women inside. They looked as young as his Split Soul, but they appeared somewhat illusory.

’There’s more than one Reception Hall...’

Lü Yang understood. These youths were probably undergoing the test in other Reception Halls at this very moment, their images merely being synchronized and projected here.

Sure enough, a few of the young men and women noticed him as well.

However, they only glanced at Lü Yang before looking away indifferently, continuing to hold their incense sticks and grit their teeth as they walked deeper into the Reception Hall.

"I can definitely make it inside!"

Among them was an ordinary-looking young man with a determined expression and a burning gaze, muttering to himself, "Get within one hundred steps of the shrine to become an Outer Disciple. Get within thirty steps for Inner Sect Disciple. Ten steps for True Disciple. And if you can offer incense to the Ancestral Master, you’re an Innate Sword Species!"

With that, he took a step forward.

THUD!

Though nothing seemed out of the ordinary, the young man suddenly began to tremble. Each step was incredibly difficult, and he finally stopped at the eighty-step mark.

"No... eighty steps!?"

The young man clenched his jaw. Eighty steps meant he could only be an Outer Disciple, cultivating a Cultivation Technique below the Seventh Grade. He would be stuck at the Qi Refining stage for the rest of his life. How could he accept that?

"I’ll risk it all!"

The next second, the young man steeled his resolve and took another step forward. But as soon as he took that step, countless gashes burst open all over his body.

In the blink of an eye, he was covered in blood.

THUMP!

The young man fell headfirst to the ground and lost consciousness.

This bloody scene gave the other youths a terrible fright. From then on, they didn’t dare to act recklessly in the Reception Hall, decisively giving up when they could walk no further.

Their entire lives were decided from that moment on.

’Cultivation in the Sword Pavilion isn’t easy either...’ Lü Yang sighed internally.

’Good thing I have a cheat.’

’[Divination Lottery], draw for me!’

The Fortune his Split Soul had accumulated over eight years of suffering erupted in this instant, finally materializing as a brilliantly glowing golden lottery result.

[Event: Walk into the Reception Hall and offer incense to the Ancestral Master.]

[Xiaoji: Your foundation isn’t bad. You get within nine steps of the shrine and rank as a True Disciple.]

[Moji: Although your foundation isn’t bad, you are a Split Soul, after all, with a shallow reserve. You must possess an unyielding Dao Heart to get within three steps of the shrine.]

[Great Fortune: Your Fortune surges. Combined with your profound foundation, you cross the mere Reception Hall as if walking on flat ground, offering incense at the shrine without any obstruction.]

’It has to be [Great Fortune]!’

The next second, Lü Yang felt a profound and mysterious sensation wash over him, as if Heaven and Earth were on his side. He then took a step, walking steadily toward the shrine.

One hundred steps, thirty steps, ten steps... three steps!

RUMBLE!

At that moment, both inside and outside the Sword Pavilion, the numerous Reception Halls all lit up at once. This instantly alarmed the Demon-Vanquishing Perfected outside, a look of surprise in his eyes.

In his view, Lü Yang’s past life was, after all, a Foundation-Stage Cultivator at Mid-stage Perfection, capable of slaying the Master of Heaven Mending Peak. Becoming a True Disciple by getting within ten steps of the shrine was to be expected. But to get within three steps... that was extraordinary. It showed an extremely deep understanding of the Sword Pavilion’s Dao!

’Could it be another Sword Species?’

The Demon-Vanquishing Perfected’s eyebrows rose slightly, a happy expression on his face. Eight years had now passed since the world’s Perfected Lords went into seclusion, and the chaos that arose from it was gradually dissipating.

’The Jiangbei Demon Sect has produced two at Foundation Establishment Perfection, maintaining the overall situation.’

’The Pure Land in the West remains as peaceful as ever. It’s said a Buddha’s Son has descended.’

’The one most affected is actually the Dao Court in the East. The Emperor, Grandmaster, Grand Tutor, and Grand Protector have all gone into seclusion. The Crown Prince Regent has only just managed to stabilize the court...’

’It’s foreseeable that an age of great conflict is fast approaching!’

’I will surely have to contend for a place in the future. If I can train a junior to take charge of the Sword Pavilion for me before then, it wouldn’t be a bad thing...’

While the Demon-Vanquishing Perfected was lost in thought, on the other side, inside the Reception Hall, Lü Yang had already reached the shrine and steadily placed the three incense sticks in his hands into it.

The next second, the blue smoke billowed violently!

Lü Yang’s vision went black. As he inhaled the blue smoke, countless characters suddenly appeared in his mind, finally coalescing into a single Cultivation Technique:

Sword Monarch’s Profound Discussion and Golden Secret Chapter!

’This is...’

After completely digesting the information in his mind, Lü Yang’s main body, located in Hidden Sword Manor, abruptly widened his eyes. ’This thing... it’s a First-Grade True Skill!?’

Before he could even react, something strange happened.

"What... the hell!"

Lü Yang’s eyes were practically splitting with rage as he looked at his Split Soul through [Puppet]. He saw that the Fortune he had painstakingly accumulated over eight years of Life-Reading and Precepts—a long-awaited eruption from a deep reserve—was now being completely snatched away by the blue smoke in the shrine. It swirled around inside the shrine before being slowly returned to him.

However, what was returned was no longer his Fortune.

It was [Sword Pavilion Fortune]!

’In other words, the Fortune I worked so hard to accumulate... from now on, I only have the right to use it? The ownership belongs to the Sword Pavilion, and they can take it back at any time?’

’How the hell is this any different from selling myself into servitude?’

’What’s even more outrageous is...’

’This Fortune doesn’t feel right! This isn’t my Fortune!’

’This is someone else’s Fortune! It’s just been included under the umbrella of [Sword Pavilion Fortune]!’

In a daze, Lü Yang seemed to see numerous karmic links within that stream of Fortune—countless evil deeds and sinful debts that were now being loaded onto him along with it!

’So what happened to my own, clean Fortune?’

’Don’t tell me it was given to a Master Sword Pavilion?’

At this thought, Lü Yang was so angry his hands were shaking.

’No wonder the Sword Pavilion likes disciples with profound foundations. They’re perfect scapegoats. Who wouldn’t love that?’

’You sword-obsessed bastards!!!’