Just a Useful Pawn in the Stain Sect

Chapter 353: Sword Monarch’s Profound Discussion and Golden Secret -

When Lü Yang emerged from the Reception Hall, he was met with the resigned gaze of the Demon-Vanquishing Perfected. "I didn’t expect you to actually be able to offer incense to the Progenitor..."

"Follow me."

The Demon-Vanquishing Perfected sighed, said no more, and instead took Lü Yang up in a streak of Flying Light, arriving shortly at the highest peak of the Sword Pavilion Mountain Gate.

Here, at what seemed the very summit, all other mountains looked small. A grand hall stood prominently. At this moment, streaks of light were already materializing, revealing themselves to be Foundation-Stage Cultivators. After bringing Lü Yang here, the Demon-Vanquishing Perfected wasted no time. With a simple wave of his hand, he summoned a thick Daoist Scripture.

"Today, the disciple Yan Xiao entered the Reception Hall and offered incense to the Progenitor."

The Demon-Vanquishing Perfected held the Daoist Scripture and said solemnly, "By the Progenitor’s Decree, he is designated a Sword Species of the Sect. He shall devote his life to diligent cultivation, to support the Righteous Dao and bring order to the world."

With that said, he entered the name of Lü Yang’s incarnation for this life into the Daoist Scripture.

"You are my first disciple. In terms of seniority, you belong to the ’Ming’ generation. Today, I will bestow upon you the Daoist name ’Minghe.’ I hope you will strive to live up to it."

"Your disciple greets you, Master."

Lü Yang bowed respectfully and accepted the Token symbolizing his status as a Sword Species from the Demon-Vanquishing Perfected, then voluntarily stepped back.

"The status of a Sword Species is comparable to a Foundation-Stage Cultivator."

"With this Token, you may find a Cave Mansion for yourself within Zenith Cliff. Your foundation from your past life was profound. You should cultivate diligently and reclaim your former position as a Perfected Person as soon as possible..."

After watching Lü Yang leave, the Demon-Vanquishing Perfected’s expression suddenly turned grim.

At almost the same moment, a Foundation-Stage Cultivator walked over and said with a smile, "Congratulations, Perfected Person. You’ve gained a beloved disciple. The day your karmic links are all erased is not far off..."

This person’s name was Ye Cheng.

As a disciple of the Ye Family, his face was filled with a gloating smile. "I heard he’s the one who harmed Xing Feng. It’s only right that he pays for his past misdeeds!"

The Demon-Vanquishing Perfected’s expression grew even uglier upon hearing this.

The Sword Pavilion had a very complete and straightforward process for "whitewashing" outside Cultivators who joined, and the Reception Hall was the most critical part of it.

’All outsiders who join the Sword Pavilion first have their past-life memories erased. Then they offer incense in the Reception Hall, have their Fortune drained, and have it reshaped into Sword Pavilion Fortune... I thought that since Fellow Daoist Lü lacked the aptitude to learn the Sword Monarch’s Profound Discussion and Golden Secret Chapter, there was still a chance to salvage the situation. I never imagined it would be too late to turn back...’

At this thought, the Demon-Vanquishing Perfected sighed once more.

"...Celestial Will."

The Sword Monarch’s Profound Discussion and Golden Secret Chapter was a First-Grade True Skill known to everyone in the Sword Pavilion, yet looking across the entire Sect, both inside and out, very few people actually practiced it.

Among the Sword Pavilion’s true Direct Lineage, it was rare to find anyone who used it for their cultivation.

If one were to do a careful count, they would discover that only disciples who were Perfected Persons from the outside world in their past lives and had joined the Sword Pavilion after reincarnating would cultivate this technique!

.......

「Zenith Cliff, inside a Quiet Chamber in a Cave Mansion.」

"The Sword Monarch’s Profound Discussion and Golden Secret Chapter..."

’This Cultivation Technique was profound and vast, containing tens of thousands of words. It encompassed All Phenomena, but more importantly... it overturned all existing systems of cultivation!’

What is a Sword Cultivator?

Generally speaking, a Cultivator who uses a sword is a Sword Cultivator. However, this was not the case according to the Sword Monarch’s Profound Discussion and Golden Secret Chapter, which regarded such a practice as the Heterodox Dao.

A true Sword Cultivator is one who cultivates the sword itself!

One must focus on it alone, abandoning all other things. With only a single sword as a companion, one must commune with it day and night, achieving spiritual resonance through sincerity. Only by finally taking the sword as one’s Dao can one be called a Sword Cultivator!

Lü Yang couldn’t help but frown as he read this. He had seen quite a few Sword Pavilion Cultivators by now, but according to the standards of the Sword Monarch’s Profound Discussion and Golden Secret Chapter, even within the Sword Pavilion itself, the only one who could truly be called by the two words "Sword Cultivator" was probably the Demon-Vanquishing Perfected, Ye Guangji!

’Something’s not right...’

’His intuition, honed by years of advanced study in the Stain Sect, told Lü Yang that there was a problem here! After all, this was a First-Grade True Skill. How could they just let anyone read it so casually?’

’...Unless it’s a trap!’

’And a massive one at that!’

At this thought, Lü Yang grew even more vigilant. He continued reading the Sword Monarch’s Profound Discussion and Golden Secret Chapter, and soon, his expression changed.

A moment later, he closed his eyes.

’I knew the Sword Pavilion wouldn’t be so kind... Some First-Grade True Skill. It’s incomplete! The part about cultivation just stops at Foundation Establishment Perfection!’

The Sword Monarch’s Profound Discussion and Golden Secret Chapter was indeed a First-Grade True Skill. It was the first true "Void Certificate" method Lü Yang had ever seen. The creator of this Cultivation Technique clearly intended to create something from nothing, to verify a Fruit of Sword Dao. The sheer scale of their ambition was breathtaking.

After all, even No Heaven, strictly speaking, was not a true Void Certificate.

’Rather than a Void Certificate, No Heaven was more like finding a Fruit Position Prototype and then using one’s own Daoist Skill to transform it into the desired form.’

By now, Lü Yang also knew what the Myriad-Soul Banner concealed.

That inexplicable Mighty Power that allowed him to temporarily wield the status of a Great Trueman was, in fact, a Fruit Position Prototype that had been found and sealed away by a Primal Daoist!

So, strictly speaking, No Heaven still had a foundation to it.

However, the Fruit of Sword Dao that the Sword Monarch’s Profound Discussion and Golden Secret Chapter sought to verify was different. It truly aimed to manifest a real Fruit from a place of nothingness!

The ambition was grand, but what about the price?

’We’re the ones paying the price!’

’Regardless of whether you reached Foundation Establishment in your past life, or what Abilities you possessed, as long as you practice this Cultivation Technique, everything will be converted into an Eternal Observation of the World’s Golden Sword Foundation.’

’That includes your former Innate Divine Techniques! They’ll be converted along with everything else!’

’This method was deviously similar to No Heaven. Both of them dragged Dao Foundations from under the purview of other Fruits into the water to fill the great pit of the Sword Dao!’

’The Fruit of Sword Dao is difficult to verify, so it needs people like us to practice this First-Grade True Skill, using our entire lives’ worth of talent and Enlightenment to fill it in and complete it, bit by bit... If the Fruit of Sword Dao is a painting, then we are the ink and brushes used to create it.’

’This Cultivation Technique... it’s probably designed specifically for outsiders!’

Lü Yang understood. Outside Perfected Persons had a wide variety of Dao Foundations. Even if their past-life memories were erased, their Souls had not been cleansed by reincarnation, and their Dao Foundations remained unchanged.

This First-Grade True Skill was the perfect way to wash them clean again.

First, wash the memories. Then, wash the Fortune. Finally, wash the Dao Foundation... In the process, the Sword Pavilion reaped the Fortune and used it to fill the Fruit of Sword Dao. They were making a fortune!

’And for all this, I’m the one who’s indebted to him!’

’Sword Species... no wonder they’re called Sword Species!’

’Without us Sword Species pouring our entire lives of cultivation into it, how could the Fruit of Sword Dao ever take root, sprout, and grow into a towering tree?’

But as he thought of this, Lü Yang suddenly froze.

’No, that’s not right. It’s not as if no one from the Sword Pavilion’s Direct Lineage has ever practiced this First-Grade True Skill. The Demon-Vanquishing Perfected! He seems to be a pure Sword Cultivator!’

Lü Yang had seen the Demon-Vanquishing Perfected in action. Back then, facing the attack from the Celestial Immortals and Earth Immortals of the Profound Spirit Realm, this Great Trueman at Foundation Establishment Perfection hadn’t used a single Ability. He had merely drawn his sword, and that so-called Non-Killing Sword Intent seemed to be the hallmark of a Sword Cultivator!

’But why would he cultivate something that’s such a huge trap?’

’Could it be that he’s like me, a reincarnated Perfected Person from the outside? No, that’s impossible. He’s from the Ye Family’s Direct Lineage, a pure-blooded member of the Sword Pavilion through and through... True Monarch Chengtian Zhengde?’

Suddenly, from within the Myriad-Soul Banner, Progenitor Tingyou, who had been reading the Sword Monarch’s Profound Discussion and Golden Secret Chapter along with Lü Yang, spoke up. His expression was slightly odd.

"What has been will be again..."

Progenitor Tingyou sighed with emotion, then said in a low voice, "The Demon-Vanquishing Perfected, Ye Guangji... don’t tell me he used to cultivate the Fruit of Wall-Surface Earth?"