Just a Useful Pawn in the Stain Sect

Chapter 233: Chapter 233: Sui Ying

’It’s probably that madwoman from the Sword Pavilion...’

Gazing at the Sword Light hurtling toward him, Lü Yang’s brow furrowed. He immediately performed a Finger Technique, summoning the Emperor’s Golden Seal of Tushita into the air.

The Quasi-Essence Artifact spun in the air, blossoming with a Divine Power Radiance.

Star Concealment!

With this Quasi-Essence Artifact that could simulate an Innate Divine Technique, Lü Yang was now no different from a cultivator at Mid-stage Foundation Establishment Perfection, ensuring he wouldn’t fall behind others in his Cultivation level.

Moreover, compared to other offensive Innate Divine Techniques, Star Concealment’s strength was its stealth. The Divine Power Radiance descended upon Lü Yang like a silken veil, instantly severing all his karmic links and Qi traces. His figure gradually dimmed, melting into the surroundings.

A moment later, the Sword Light arrived and split apart.

Lü Yang, hidden from sight, glanced over. A Sword Pill hovered above the woman’s head, and she wore an emerald palace dress beneath a wide-sleeved silk robe. It was, indeed, Ye Guyue of the Sword Pavilion!

’...Strange.’

Ye Guyue’s delicate brows knitted together as she scanned her surroundings. She then sent her Sword Pill into the air, performed a Finger Technique with a point, and instantly unleashed a magnificent wave of Sword Light.

The Sword Light fell upon the empty air, as if it had severed something from nothing.

In the blink of an eye, Lü Yang was astonished to discover that all the Spiritual Qi within a thousand-mile radius had been shattered by that one blast of Sword Light, instantly annihilated!

’She’s trying to force someone out...’

Lü Yang knew perfectly well what she was doing. By destroying the Spiritual Qi, any decent Blinding Technique would show flaws, allowing her to catch a trace of her target.

’Too bad for her, I’m different!’

As an Innate Divine Technique specializing in concealment, Star Concealment would be completely worthless if it could be exposed that easily.

To find Lü Yang at this point, one would need a treasure like the Prophetic Orrery’s Bing Fire and use its all-illuminating light to have even a chance of finding a clue. However, it was clear that Ye Guyue possessed no such Supreme Treasure. Thus, she could only search in vain, unable to find a single trace of him.

’I wonder if I could get in a sneak attack...’

Lü Yang mused on the idea. He had relied on this very combination—Star Concealment paired with the Formless Sword—to sneak up on Prince Qing and kill him with a single strike.

’...Unfortunately, this tactic probably won’t work on her.’

After all, as a Perfected Person from the Sword Pavilion, Ye Guyue was bound to have a protective Spiritual Treasure similar to the Black Mantle of Hundredfold Wards. It would be impossible to kill her with a single strike.

’No need to rush. Haste makes waste... I’ll just bide my time.’

Lü Yang was very patient. Aided by Star Concealment, he increased the distance between himself and Ye Guyue, watching from afar like a seasoned hunter.

Meanwhile, Ye Guyue’s brow was deeply furrowed.

Her Sword Heart and Sword Intent told her something was amiss, yet her repeated probes with both her Divine Sense and Sword Techniques had yielded nothing.

’The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. So, someone wants to play the role of the oriole?’

’So be it!’

Ye Guyue scanned her surroundings, then looked toward the location of the Shade Dragon Water ahead. She quickly made her decision: Sword Cultivators would rather break than bend!

The next second, without the slightest hesitation, she drove her sword forward and charged in!

The land manifested by the Shade Dragon Water was a wasteland beneath oppressive dark clouds, filled with heavy rain and thin mist, all of which was now cleaved apart by her sword.

However, for the Shade Dragon Water, the rain and mist were merely an illusion. Its true form was the wasteland itself, the convergence point of all waters. Waves of Yin Fiend rolled forth, surging toward Ye Guyue on their own, but she cut them all down with her sword. She was just about to cast a spell to collect the entire wasteland.

However, at that very moment, as Ye Guyue began to lift the Shade Dragon Water into the air with her Great Magical Power, a Qi trace suddenly emerged from the ground beneath, accompanied by a heaven-shaking roar:

”ROAR—!”

In an instant, wind and clouds surged. The dark clouds that Ye Guyue had just cleaved apart actually gathered once more, transforming into a Vast Ocean that came crashing down!

When the dragon roars, the auspicious clouds gather!

Seeing this, Ye Guyue raised a delicate eyebrow, not the least bit flustered. She had long suspected someone was hiding in the shadows and simply assumed they had finally decided to show themselves.

Seeing her attacker emerge, she let out a great laugh.

”Vile beast, you dare to be so insolent?”

As her voice fell, she slashed out again! The Sword Pill unfurled a thousand-mile-long ribbon of light in the air, descending like a guillotine blade on whatever was below.

In that instant, the loudest sound was inaudible. The tremendous impact paradoxically plunged the surroundings into an eerie silence. The earth below seemed to experience an Earth Dragon Flipping Over as fissures burst open with a deafening roar, spreading out in all directions from the point of impact like a spiderweb.

The cloud-qi scattered, and the Sword Light dissipated.

Yet, in the next second, the two forces gathered themselves again and slammed into each other once more!

”BOOM!”

This collision was even more violent than the last. Not only did the destruction on the ground intensify, but violent astral winds whipped up by the impact also began to howl high in the sky.

Yet neither combatant was willing to stop.

The former hailed from the Sword Pavilion, a sect that prided itself on being peerless in Combat. She was also from the direct lineage of a Golden Core cultivator, so how could she feel fear? The latter, however, was also of noble birth from Overseas.

And so, in the next second, the cloud-qi and the Sword Light manifested once more!

The two of them clashed dozens of times in this manner, their battle so earth-shattering that some Foundation-Stage Cultivators who sensed the commotion didn’t dare approach.

From a distance, Lü Yang watched with considerable surprise.

He knew Ye Guyue’s strength well; she was a notch stronger than the Ye Xingfeng of old, and even Lü Yang himself had no confidence he could defeat her. Yet this mysterious person was able to clash with her head-on without falling into a disadvantage. And they clearly weren’t from one of the Four Great Forces. ’Which Golden Core power’s direct heir is this?’

That being said, Lü Yang had no intention of using this opportunity to launch a sneak attack.

Not only that, but he was sneering inwardly. ’All this commotion from their Combat, yet not a drop of blood has been spilled. They’re obviously fishing for something. Trying to pull this kind of trick on someone from the Stain Sect?’

’You’re still wet behind the ears!’

”BOOM!”

With one final, thunderous crash, the two separated, each taking a side. Simultaneously, Ye Guyue shot an imperceptible glance at her surroundings, thinking to herself:

’No one actually tried to launch a sneak attack... It looks like there really is no one else here!’

That was right. Though her fight with the person opposite her had appeared incredibly intense and created an earth-shattering spectacle, they had in fact reached a tacit understanding and were not truly using lethal force.

Their goal was to see if anyone would try to take advantage of the chaos.

After all, most people who witnessed such a scene, especially if they were skilled in concealment, would find it hard to resist the thought of launching a sneak attack. Few could restrain that impulse.

And if someone had truly made a move, they would have been met with a thunderous, combined strike from the pair.

Since nothing happened, Ye Guyue’s heart settled a bit.

She then looked again at the person across from her, who had now dispersed their cloud-qi, revealing a handsome, martial youth wearing a coronet, his eyes a brilliant gold.

The youth grinned, baring his teeth. He was strikingly handsome, yet he exuded a hint of a sinister aura. His pearly white teeth flashed with a cold light against his scarlet lips, as if stained with fresh blood. Despite his heroic appearance, he was filled with a primal savagery, like a beast that devours raw flesh and drinks blood.

”Sui Ying, of the Four Seas Sect.”

From a distance, Lü Yang activated the Prophetic Orrery and opened the Dharma Eye on his brow to get a better look. He saw a colossal, towering shadow coiled majestically behind the martial youth.

It was a True Dragon!

He performed another quick divination, and the pieces immediately fell into place. ’The Four Seas Sect... of course. The number one sect Overseas. No wonder they could produce a True Dragon like him!’

That was it—this Sui Ying was, in fact, a True Dragon!

’The Four Seas Sect is said to have multiple Golden Core masters, one of whom is a Dragon Monarch of the True Dragon Race. This Sui Ying must be that Dragon Monarch’s direct blood descendant!’

This status was far more prestigious than that of an ordinary True Monarch’s Direct Lineage. Dragons and humans were different. A dragon’s bloodline was genuinely blessed with Mighty Power. The descendant of a human True Monarch merely enjoyed the vast resources their ancestor provided, but the descendant of a Dragon Monarch inherited the miraculous wonders passed down through the bloodline itself!