Just a Useful Pawn in the Stain Sect

Chapter 361: The Grand Investigation

Sword Pavilion, Zenith Cliff.

Lü Yang’s avatar exhaled a breath of Muddy Qi. He looked inward, peering into his Foundation Establishment Realm, where he saw a flying sword shimmering brightly beneath the Weakening Wind.

The Eternal Observation of the World’s Golden Sword Foundation!

The grade of this Sword Foundation was on par with the Imperial Dragonrise Foundation. The Innate Ability it formed was called the Minghe Changshi Sword of Righteousness.

It also possessed four Profound Mysteries, which were:

Heaven-Slaying and Lu Zhen.

Sinking Intent and Life-taking!

’Something isn’t right...’

Sensing the name of the Ability transmitted from his Dao Foundation, Lü Yang sank into deep thought. The word "Minghe" was the Daoist name bestowed upon him by the Demon-Vanquishing Perfected.

How could it have become the name of an Ability?

’...Unless my Dao Foundation, and even my Abilities, have already been Recorded in the Book! Offering incense in the Reception Hall... it was probably more than just a simple offering!’

A chill ran down Lü Yang’s spine, but then he couldn’t help feeling a sense of relief. He was lucky to be in this era. If the world’s Perfected Lords were still active, this would be impossible to navigate. The name of this Ability alone would have kept him up at night. But with the Perfected Lords now in seclusion, he at least had some room to maneuver.

"The four Profound Mysteries of my Innate Ability each have their own merits."

Lü Yang carefully contemplated them, wisps of Sword Light flickering in his eyes.

"Heaven-Slaying is for pure offense. A single slash can cut through anything. No matter what Abilities or transformations an opponent uses, if they cannot overcome it, they will be slain."

"Lu Zhen is a skill that manipulates Sword Light."

"Once unleashed, the Sword Light splits into thousands of strands that seep in through any opening. After penetrating an enemy’s body, the strands recombine and can form a sword to strike from within. It’s truly insidious and deadly."

"Sinking Intent is a skill for trapping enemies."

"A mere flash of the Ability can trap an opponent in a strange, unknown space, where you can engage them in Combat."

"If you lose, the encounter becomes illusory, treated as a mere simulation where you suffer no harm. If you win, however, the illusion becomes reality, causing your opponent to die on the spot."

"Furthermore, within the space created by the Ability, the user can try again and again, using Combat as a process of trial and error to figure out the opponent’s trump cards before taking their life with a final strike. The only drawback is that every loss consumes a great deal of Mana, so it shouldn’t be used lightly by anyone without profound reserves."

"The final one, Life-taking, is the Sword of Mutual Destruction."

"As the name implies, once this Profound Mystery is activated, it severs one’s own life before striking the enemy. A single slash is released, and though the target appears physically unharmed, their Fate is extinguished."

Sword Light swirled in Lü Yang’s hand. The Sword Light from his Abilities glowed with the brilliance of four different colors.

Beyond that, Lü Yang had also used his Sword Box to forge two Sword Divine Techniques, though their sole purpose was to enhance the Profound Mysteries of his Innate Ability.

Other than granting a higher conceptual Position, they had no special features of their own.

’It’s probably because I haven’t truly attained the Fruit of Sword Dao. That’s why they don’t have their own Profound Mysteries and can only serve to augment my Innate Ability.’

Lü Yang pushed open the door and strolled out of his Cave Mansion, assessing his own combat strength. ’No wonder the Sword Cultivators of the Celestial Sword Pavilion are hailed as the world’s finest in Combat. These four Profound Mysteries of my Innate Ability have both the raw power and the complex mechanics. With them, I’d be hard-pressed to find a worthy opponent.’

’And that’s not even mentioning Sword Intent...’

As Lü Yang was still lost in thought, a Flying Spirit Letter suddenly descended before him. It was clearly addressed to him. He took it, swept it with his Divine Sense, and a look of surprise crossed his face.

The next second, he transformed into a streak of Sword Light and arrived at the summit of Zenith Cliff.

This place had always been the seclusion spot for True Monarch Chengtian Zhengde. However, with the Perfected Lord now in seclusion, the person sitting here was the Demon-Vanquishing Perfected.

"Greetings, Master!"

Without a word, Lü Yang immediately performed a sword salute.

The Demon-Vanquishing Perfected sized him up before saying calmly, "Now that you have reached this Realm, your foundation from your past life is no longer of much help."

"Go, enter the mortal world."

"We Sword Cultivators have never been ones to cultivate behind closed doors. If you wish to temper a Sword Heart, you must experience countless bloody battles and carve out your path from the crucible of life and death."

The Demon-Vanquishing Perfected spoke cryptically, but Lü Yang understood. For a Sword Cultivator to forge a Sword Divine Technique, they needed to engage in slaughter and Combat. The Sword Pavilion, as always, simply put a nice spin on it. "Entering the world" really meant finding a place to go on a killing spree.

As his voice fell, the Demon-Vanquishing Perfected took out a Jade Scroll.

"Recently, the major Sects and families of the South have reported that the Ten Thousand Poison Sect from the Southern Border has been secretly abducting commoners in the South to use as materials for Refining Gu. Go and investigate."

As he said this, a flash of Evil Qi appeared between the Demon-Vanquishing Perfected’s brows.

"If this is true... report back to me immediately."

Lü Yang respectfully accepted the Jade Scroll. "This disciple accepts your command!"

After Lü Yang left, a figure appeared on Zenith Cliff. It was none other than the Ye Family Zhenren, Ye City, whom Lü Yang had met before. He gazed at Lü Yang’s departing back.

’This person is certainly lucky!’

The scion of the Ye Family’s Direct Lineage mused, ’I thought that by having a spy from the Ten Thousand Poison Sect secretly swap his Foundation Establishment Spiritual Object, he would surely suffer a sudden calamity, given how his karmic debts weighed upon his Qi. His failure to reach Foundation Establishment should have been a foregone conclusion... but his background is truly exceptional. He actually managed to power through it.’

’A shame... If Martial Uncle weren’t so stubbornly orthodox, why would I need to resort to such clandestine methods?’

Looking back at the summit of Zenith Cliff, Ye City shook his head. ’Although our Sword Pavilion is the Leader of the Righteous Path and must have a just cause for its actions, why bother investigating mere commoners?’

Mere commoners weren’t worth wasting time on.

In the grand cycle of Heaven and Earth, if commoners died, more would eventually take their place. There were simply too many of them, making any investigation a troublesome waste of effort.

And what if the investigation actually turned something up?

’Wouldn’t it be more convenient to just let a Sword Species die at the hands of the Ten Thousand Poison Sect?’

’This person caused Xing Feng’s death in his past life, yet my Ye Family disregarded that history and took him in as a disciple. It’s now time for him to repay those karmic links.’

That was why he had plotted in secret, waiting for Lü Yang to fail his Foundation Establishment. He would then pin the blame and karmic links on the Ten Thousand Poison Sect, thereby creating a pretext for the Sword Pavilion to act.

’A Sword Species dies violently, sparking a Great War of Righteous and Evil.’

’Our Sword Pavilion avenges its disciple, carrying out Exorcism and Protection of the Dao. That is the simplest method. The death of one man for the greater good of the world, yet Martial Uncle is unwilling...’

"So be it. I’ll have to take matters into my own hands and alleviate my martial uncle’s burdens for him."

Thinking this, Ye City flicked a finger and sent out a Flying Spirit Letter.

Meanwhile, outside Zenith Cliff at the Sword Pavilion.

A disciple in the Late-phase of Qi Refining suddenly looked up and caught the Flying Spirit Letter that descended from the sky. He then entered a Quiet Chamber to read it.

’The Sword Pavilion... is going to move against the Holy Sect?’

’This is bad!’

The disciple’s expression changed. Taking a deep breath, he quickly sank his consciousness into his Dantian, where a tiny insect lay coiled.

This was the Thousand-Mile Unity Gu.

The Ten Thousand Poison Sect used Gu as the foundation of their practice. Every Cultivator would go through the process of Refining several types of Gu Insects to use in place of Artifacts, and each Gu Insect possessed its own Divine Effect.

The Thousand-Mile Unity Gu, as its name implied, was divided into a mother Gu and a child Gu, allowing messages to be sent from the child Gu to the mother Gu.

With this action, news of Lü Yang’s impending trip to the Southern Border was already on its way to the desks of the Ten Thousand Poison Sect before he had even left the Sword Pavilion.