Just a Useful Pawn in the Stain Sect-Chapter 197: Bountiful Harvest

Overseas, Lü Yang wasn’t in any hurry to leave. Instead, he began to carefully take stock of his spoils.

First was Ye Xingfeng’s Lifebound Flying Sword.

’Unfortunately, it was damaged by a Perfected Lord, and the impact was immense. Of the three Divine Effects on the sword—Breaking Barrier, Exorcism, and God-slaying—only Breaking Barrier remains.’

In all honesty, the quality of this Lifebound Flying Sword was even higher than the Abi Sword. After all, all three of its Divine Effects were designed for slaughter. It just went to show why Ye Xingfeng was the direct lineage disciple of a Perfected Lord. To forge such a Spiritual Treasure, the Sword Pavilion True Monarch must have had a hand in it.

In comparison, Ye Xingfeng’s other two Spiritual Treasures were much weaker.

One was the Vestment Robe he wore, a brocade robe and mantle. Every thread flowed with a shimmering, mythical light. A single glance revealed it to be a protective Supreme Treasure, immune to water and fire.

"The Black Mantle of Hundredfold Wards!"

The Divine Effect of this Superior Sentient Artifact was called Hundredfold Wards. As the name implied, the mantle contained a hundred disaster-warding talismans, and a single attack could only dispel one of them. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

No matter how skilled your techniques or powerful your Abilities, a single strike could only dispel one talisman. If the assault paused, the Spiritual Treasure could regenerate them. Only by landing a hundred consecutive hits on the wearer’s true body in a short period could the protection of this Vestment Robe be broken.

As everyone knows, Sword Cultivators have high offense but weak defense.

This Vestment Robe was clearly meant to compensate for that weakness. When Ye Xingfeng wore it, combined with his Lifebound Flying Sword, it was no wonder he was unrivaled in the Mid-phase of Foundation Establishment.

’A shame it’s useless!’

’No matter how strong his combat power or how skilled he was in a fight, he was still just in the Mid-phase of Foundation Establishment. A Perfected Lord could kill him with a wave of a sleeve, and a Late-stage Grand Zhenren could easily take his life...’

Lü Yang sighed. ’A high realm is what really matters!’

Next, Lü Yang picked up another Spiritual Treasure. It was a small, six-story pagoda that looked as if it were cast from white jade, with a Treasure Pearl resting on its peak.

"The Jingping Qingfeng Treasure Tower!"

This Superior Sentient Artifact wasn’t a weapon for combat, but a tool for cultivation. Its Divine Effect was called Clearing the Atmosphere, which could purify Spiritual Qi to help a Foundation-Stage Cultivator nourish their Dao Foundation.

If placed within one’s Dao Foundation, it could strengthen it and reduce the erosion of the Weakening Wind, granting a Foundation-Stage Cultivator an extra thirty years of life. Furthermore, if any artifacts or spiritual materials were tainted by Muddy Qi and had their spirituality sullied, passing them through the pagoda would restore their purity.

Finally, there was Ying Tongshou’s Superior Sentient Artifact.

Its name was the Ziwei Official’s Supreme Golden Seal. He had refined it using his Official Position in the Dao Court. Its Divine Effect was called Surrender, and it specialized in suppression and capture.

Any item made of gold and iron fell within this Enchanted Seal’s range of suppression and capture.

Not only that, but Lü Yang could also use this Spiritual Treasure to claim any suppressed Spiritual Treasures for himself and even manipulate them to turn against their original owners.

’This is a fine treasure, too!’

With a flick of his finger, Lü Yang instantly refined the three Spiritual Treasures.

In the blink of an eye, the Black Mantle of Hundredfold Wards was draped over his shoulders, the Jingping Qingfeng Treasure Tower settled into his Dao Foundation, and the Ziwei Official’s Supreme Golden Seal was hanging from his waist.

The moment he stood up, he radiated a heaven-piercing mythical light!

Seeing this, Lü Yang hurriedly activated Embracing Mountain to suppress his own presence, reining in the glow of his Spiritual Treasures. That was more in line with his low-key style.

’But in terms of value, the most precious item has to be this.’

With a thought from Lü Yang, a talisman appeared in his hand.

Its material was neither gold nor jade. Tadpole-like script outlined the shapes of cloud dragons and strange birds. When activated with mana, it exuded a golden radiance, presenting a truly magnificent sight.

The Emperor’s Golden Seal of Tushita!

The True Treasure left behind overseas by the Perfected Fortune, which he had been refining using the entire Azure Sun Cultivation Realm. Unfortunately, he hadn’t succeeded before he perished mid-way through his plan.

Thinking back now, the Perfected Fortune had laid out such a grand scheme in the Azure Sun Cultivation Realm and had even quietly restored his cultivation to Foundation Establishment Perfection. His ambitions were clearly enormous. He was just waiting for Perfected Chong Guang to begin his ascent to the Seeking Gold realm to deal him a vicious blow, but I accidentally ruined his plans.

At this thought, Lü Yang began to ponder the Emperor’s Golden Seal of Tushita in his hand again.

A moment later, Lü Yang opened his palm. The talisman, which could be considered a Quasi-Essence Artifact, continuously transformed in his palm until it finally became a beam of Profound Light.

’Incredible...’

Wherever the Profound Light passed, all phenomena dimmed, karmic links were erased, and Divine Sense would fall into a state of ignorance, making it impossible to scry or perceive the objects within the light.

’...This is... Star Concealment?’

The second Innate Divine Technique corresponding to the Fruit of Rampart Earth Dao Foundation!

This Innate Divine Technique was born from an Earthly Branches position, created from the fusion of Yin Wood and Minor Fire qi.

Yin Wood, also known as "Yin," is the position where the three yangs converge. It’s where Yang Fire is born and Yin Fire recedes, where the rising sun appears and the stars hide. Even the most glaring karmic links cannot reveal its light.

It corresponded to the Profound Mysterious effect within Lü Yang’s Innate Ability: Determination.

Determination could anchor the development of events to a desired outcome, while Star Concealment could completely conceal the resulting karmic fluctuations.

Used correctly, it could even create an effect similar to Heaven and Earth’s Killing Intent!

In addition, Star Concealment could also block others’ premonitions of danger and conceal Lü Yang’s own movements, making it equally formidable for assassinations.

"Incredible!" Lü Yang exclaimed in amazement.

The Emperor’s Golden Seal of Tushita could actually simulate the next required Innate Divine Technique for a cultivator ahead of time, and using it was as easy as moving one’s own arm!

This transformation might not seem significant at the Mid-phase of Foundation Establishment, when a cultivator only has one Innate Divine Technique. But for a cultivator at Mid-stage Foundation Establishment Perfection, or even in the Late Stage, its usefulness was unimaginable.

It was almost equivalent to a direct increase in one’s cultivation realm!

With this Quasi-Essence Artifact, a cultivator at Mid-stage Foundation Establishment Perfection would instantly become a Great Trueman of the Late Stage, and a Late-stage Grand Zhenren would instantly reach Foundation Establishment Perfection!

’Then... what about someone at Foundation Establishment Perfection?’

The more Lü Yang thought about it, the more shocked he became, until he finally couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

’Fellow Daoist Hongyun, you did well to die!’

’Even though you once stole my rewards during my fifth life, I’m a kind and magnanimous person, so I’ll forgive you in this one.’

One shouldn’t speak ill of the dead, after all!

If I had possessed these artifacts back when I was dealing with Arhat Fulong, why would I have needed to be so cautious? I would have beaten his brains out!

He even felt confident enough to fight the Master of Heaven Mending Peak!

Thinking of this, Lü Yang let out a long sigh, feeling that all his arrangements had finally paid off. "All my efforts weren’t for nothing."

And these were just the spoils from "this life."

Beyond that, there was a spoil that concerned his future path on the Dao—the harvest for his "next life." It was the Daoist Remnant left behind by the Primal Daoist who had failed their Seeking Gold trial!

’Unfortunately, this thing’s position is too high, so I can’t perform Soul Searching on it...’

Lü Yang had already stored the Daoist Remnant in his Myriad-Soul Banner. Compared to before, it seemed that World Purger Fei Xue had drained its Divine Effect.

It had fallen into a deathly stillness, and its qi trace had dropped to the level of the Early Stage of Foundation Establishment.

It no longer possessed its original transcendent air.

’It was formed from the death of a Primal Daoist, so it must know the details of Mahayana First Grade True Qi. I’ll have to figure out a way to extract its knowledge later...’

Just as Lü Yang was contemplating how to deal with this Daoist Remnant...

Suddenly, a deafening boom rang in his ears, so loud it nearly shook his very soul and caused his Dao Foundation to tremble violently.

"What’s happening!?"

Lü Yang looked up at the sky.

He saw that high in the dome of the heavens, of the two Fruit Position Stars formed from the Fruit of Wall-Surface Earth and the Fruit of Gully-Rill Water, one had suddenly dimmed, flickering out like a candle flame!