Just a Useful Pawn in the Stain Sect-Chapter 181: Snitching on Fortune

Within the Sea of Clouds, on Holy Fire Cliff.

In an extremely secluded palace hall, its Karma Links and karmic links obscured by layers upon layers of Arrays, a figure sat before a desk, a candle lit beside them.

The man’s face was chiseled, and at first glance, he radiated an air of righteousness. More importantly, he had achieved Divine Power Perfection. His Abilities now manifested one by one, rampaging wildly throughout the hall. If this were to happen in the outside world, Overseas, it would be a simple matter for him to destroy an entire continent.

The Foundation Establishment Perfection Grand Zhenren, Great Undertaking!

At this moment, Great Undertaking sat upright and motionless. On the desk before him lay a book and a brush. His eyes were slightly closed as if in deep contemplation.

RUSTLE—!

A breeze rustled, flipping through the book’s pages.

The book wasn’t thick, containing only a few thin pages. On its cover was a line of Script, drawn in tadpole-like seal script.

[Tongming Yiyun Talisman Book]

The Treasure of Fruit Position of the Fruit of Lamp-Cover Fire. It was the only one of its kind under Heaven, and since its first appearance, it had been sealed in this very place, never once leaving.

To write in this Talisman Book, one had to use Merit as the brush and Fortune as the ink. The cost was so immense that not even a Foundation Establishment Perfection Grand Zhenren could afford it casually. Even those who could afford it had to be extremely careful with each use, terrified of triggering a backlash and having the plan backfire spectacularly.

Therefore, Great Undertaking had not used this Secret Treasure for a very long time.

But just a moment ago, he had written a line on one of its pages: [Wu Cang Kills Lv Yang]. The moment the words formed, Heaven and Earth’s Killing Intent naturally arose in response...

CRACK!

The next second, Great Undertaking’s movements froze. He saw that on the [Tongming Yiyun Talisman Book] before him, the words he had just written were glowing a sinister crimson.

’This is... not good!’

Before Great Undertaking could react, a bolt of lightning flashed within the hall. It was perfectly aimed and impossible to dodge, striking his Dharma Body with a deafening crash!

This was no ordinary lightning.

It was heavenly punishment!

The lightning lasted for a full quarter of an hour before dissipating, revealing Great Undertaking’s slightly scorched figure. He channeled his Abilities and returned to his original state in the blink of an eye.

However, the recovery was only superficial. In reality, his Merit and Fortune had been depleted by a full tenth, forcibly stripped away by the heavenly punishment. While this wouldn’t affect his strength, for a Perfect Grand Zhenren like him, the weakening of his Merit and Fortune was far more severe!

"How could this be...?"

Great Undertaking’s expression was grim as he immediately began to perform calculations. After a good while, his mouth fell open. "...Mid-phase? That Yuan Tu broke through to the Mid-phase of Foundation Establishment?"

’Impossible!’

’It doesn’t make sense... I couldn’t divine this at all beforehand. Could it be a legacy from the Wu Ghost Sect? Was the Wu Ghost Sect of old really that wealthy?’

Countless karmic links flashed through Great Undertaking’s eyes, and his fingers moved so fast they nearly sparked, yet he still found nothing. He could only speculate inwardly, ’The Wu Ghost Sect controlled the Skull Mountains Lay Line, using the Earth Vein Qi to derive Earth of Wu... While not entirely impossible, the timing is too coincidental. Could it be that the Fruit is helping him?’

Similar situations had occurred before.

Take Perfected Minor Metal, for example. How could a member of the Later Jin generation contend with a Reincarnated True Monarch like Fortune for a Fruit, even managing to suppress him?

Favor from the Fruit!

And as Lü Yang was currently the only Perfected Person whose Dao Foundation pointed directly toward the [Fruit of Rampart Earth], it was perfectly normal for him to receive the Fruit’s favor and be blessed by Fortune.

In fact, that was the only plausible explanation.

However, Lü Yang’s breakthrough and his slaying of Wu Cang had brought Great Undertaking enormous trouble. The Fate he had previously decreed had been completely shattered.

Fate is not omnipotent; all things have a sliver of a chance at survival.

After all, Cultivation itself is an act of defying Heaven. It’s like an endangered species that could either go extinct or undergo a brand-new evolution.

With the shattering of that Fate, he had even suffered a backlash.

The Heaven and Earth’s Killing Intent aimed at Lü Yang had been catalyzed by him using the [Tongming Yiyun Talisman Book], and at the time, his target was only at the Early Stage of Foundation Establishment.

But then Lü Yang broke through to the Mid-phase. This Variable threw a wrench in the works, causing the Fate to shatter... To put it more vividly, it was as if he had paid Money for Heaven and Earth to start a project. But after Heaven and Earth invested, They discovered the project’s intelligence was faulty and the profits were fabricated. All the Money was lost. How could that not invite heavenly punishment?

’However... there’s still a chance to salvage this.’

Great Undertaking thought for a moment, then erased the writing on the [Tongming Yiyun Talisman Book]. His Merit and Fortune flowed away like a bursting dam as he instantly wrote a new line:

[Lü Yang Dies Overseas]

BOOM!

As the words formed, a hint of decay appeared on Great Undertaking’s face. But to eliminate Lü Yang silently, this was the only way.

"...Seal the Cave Mansion. I am entering seclusion as of today."

Great Undertaking shook his head, put away the [Tongming Yiyun Talisman Book], and spoke softly to the Array Spirit outside the hall. With his Fortune damaged, he could no longer go out.

His only choice was to sit quietly in his Cave Mansion and wear away the Tribulation Qi. He could only emerge from seclusion once his mind was clear.

Otherwise, with his Cultivation, he would surely be mired in Tribulation. If he was lucky, he might be able to reincarnate and save his life. If he was unlucky, he might not even get the chance to be reborn.

"Yuan Tu..."

Inside the dim hall, Great Undertaking mulled over the name. His voice echoed faintly before gradually fading, until the hall fell into complete silence.

***

Sea of Clouds, Heaven Mending Peak.

Even now, the surroundings were completely silent. The [Embracing Mountain] stood tall against the sky, a long streak of blood cascading down its face like a waterfall.

It was Wu Cang’s blood.

The situation at the time had been rather chaotic. A crowd of Saint Sect Perfected Persons had been hiding outside Heaven Mending Peak, planning to ambush Wu Cang after he obtained the True Monarch’s Handwriting.

Who would have thought that in the blink of an eye, it would be Wu Cang who was sent fleeing in utter defeat?

And while everyone was still reeling from the shock of Lü Yang breaking through to the Mid-phase of Foundation Establishment, they saw Wu Cang suddenly smash himself violently against the [Embracing Mountain] straight ahead.

At first glance, it really did look like he was seeking his own death.

However, they were all Saint Sect Perfected Persons, each one more skilled at dirty tricks than the last. Thus, most of them remained suspicious, looking at Lü Yang with strange expressions.

"What? You don’t believe me?"

Lü Yang’s expression didn’t change at the sight. He took out the Myriad-Soul Banner. "If I had intended to kill him, why would I have used this [Spirit Protection Banner] to save Senior Wu Cang’s Soul?"

"You call that a Spirit Protection Banner? Something doesn’t seem right."

"Why is it still emitting black smoke?"

Lü Yang didn’t bother explaining. He shook out Wu Cang, who had already become a Banner Spirit, and had him spin a yarn about his recent suicidal despair.

With both a witness and physical evidence present,

under these circumstances, even the Perfected Persons who still had doubts couldn’t say anything. Besides, this was the Saint Sect; the truth didn’t really matter.

What mattered was that Lü Yang was alive, and Wu Cang was dead.

Just then, a voice suddenly called out:

"Yuan Tu, come see me at Holy Fire Cliff."

It was Perfected Minor Metal. His tone was urgent, laced with a surprise he couldn’t quite suppress—an extreme loss of composure for a Perfect Grand Zhenren.

Lü Yang had already anticipated this.

’I’ve broken through to the Mid-phase of Foundation Establishment, putting me on par with Perfected Yin Shan. It seems I’ve barely met his requirements. I just wonder what he needs from me...’

But he quickly adjusted his thoughts.

After all, the fact that Perfected Minor Metal needed him was to his advantage. Especially at this juncture, Perfected Minor Metal would absolutely not ignore his requests.

So, Lü Yang had already made a decision.

’I’m going to snitch on Fortune!’

’The Overseas are so dangerous. Instead of me going to the Azure Sun Cultivation Realm to deal with that Daoist Remnant all by myself, I’d be better off telling Perfected Minor Metal and letting him figure out a way to handle it!’

’Mahayana First Grade True Qi... I refuse to believe Perfected Minor Metal will have an Unmoving Heart!’

As for the reward, as long as Perfected Minor Metal still needed him and he proved to be valuable enough, Lü Yang believed the man wouldn’t mind sharing a portion of it with him.