Just a Useful Pawn in the Stain Sect

Chapter 569: Chapter 569: Unprecedented, The World Seeks Gold

At this moment, the whole world was shaken!

Five beams of Seeking Gold light, five Fruits, all lit up at once, shaking the Foundation Establishment Realm. It was as if the entire realm was about to be torn asunder!

And that wasn’t all.

The phenomenon reached all the way to the very top of the Foundation Establishment Realm, to the bottom of the Sea of Suffering, casting a brilliant, Splendid Light upon its waters.

”What’s going on?”

”What in the world is happening in the Current World...?”

”How could a group of Lower Cultivators cause such a commotion? Even if someone were to seek the Fruit of Celestial Fire, it shouldn’t be enough to make the Sea of Suffering itself react...”

In that instant, even the siege against Progenitor Tingyou came to a halt. The Perfected Lords who weren’t involved in the attack also manifested, their faces filled with surprise. They looked down below the Sea of Suffering, watching as five Fruits appeared one after another in response to the Splendid Light. Gradually, their surprise turned to shock.

”How many are there...?”

”Five! Five people are Seeking Gold! And all of them have an extremely high chance of success... Are you telling me there are five cultivators at Foundation Establishment Perfection in the Current World, all with the potential to become a Perfected Lord?”

”No, that’s not right. Some of them are Outer Dao...”

”Outer Dao or not, a Perfected Lord is a Perfected Lord. Isn’t that Tingyou an Outer Dao practitioner? And yet we can’t do a thing to him... In the end, it all comes down to the individual.”

For a moment, a flurry of discussion erupted among the Perfected Lords.

Until a wild laugh shattered the clamor:

”HAHAHAHA!”

Instantly, the Sea of Suffering churned as a Celestial River shot through the void. At the very crest of this river stood a graceful silhouette, hands on her hips, laughing uproariously at the sky.

”Excellent, excellent, excellent!”

”Unprecedented! The whole world is Seeking Gold... Wonderful! Good! This stagnant pool can finally get a good stir! Just in time for a proper fight before the millennial calamity!”

Such a distinct personality immediately caused many Perfected Lords to shy away.

”It’s that Mad Woman...”

”Fei Xue... let it go, just let it go.”

”Don’t get involved with her. If you so much as look at her funny, she’ll challenge you to Combat. If you get injured, you could be stuck in this Sea of Suffering for another decade or two!”

In an instant, everything fell silent.

Only Progenitor Tingyou remained, along with True Monarch Chengtian Zhengde, who had laid the Array to besiege him, and the Dao Court’s Emperor Jia You and the Three Ministers.

At first, True Monarch Chengtian Zhengde and the others didn’t think much of it. After all, World Purger Fei Xue hadn’t interfered when they were attacking Progenitor Tingyou earlier. They assumed it would be the same this time and were about to resume the siege. The next second, however, World Purger Fei Xue turned to look at them.

Then, World Purger Fei Xue spoke in a low voice:

”Why aren’t you running?”

At these words, True Monarch Chengtian Zhengde and the others were stunned.

Before they could respond, World Purger Fei Xue continued in a rapid-fire torrent, ”You see me, yet you don’t flee. That means you’re not afraid of me. But I’m so strong, so if you’re not afraid of me, that must mean you have some scheme against me. As members of the Righteous Dao, for you to be plotting against me, it’s obvious you want to kill me.”

”Why do you want to kill me?”

”I’ll just kill you first!”

The moment she finished speaking, World Purger Fei Xue went on a rampage. The roiling Celestial River instantly engulfed True Monarch Chengtian Zhengde and the others, who were still completely bewildered.

Leaving only the unharmed Progenitor Tingyou and a single, lingering sound:

”Huh?” 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ

...

While tempestuous waves raged over the Sea of Suffering, down in the Current World, the rise of the five beams of Seeking Gold light had plunged even the True Body Tathagata into shock.

’Five of them! Where did five of them come from?’

Before he could even calculate the karmic links and discern their identities, one of them had already revealed herself: a woman dressed in magnificent robes.

”I, Xiao Ru, attain the Seven Luminaries Heaven in the West.”

Her solemn voice echoed in all directions. She held up her palms, her slender fingers cradling a Dao Fruit before her chest as if it were a Supreme Treasure.

The Incense and Candle Divine Dao!

Back when the world’s Perfected Lords had gone into seclusion, Empress Xiao had painstakingly studied the Incense and Candle Divine Dao. After leaving the Pseudo-History, the first thing Lü Yang did upon finding Empress Xiao was to give her the perfected Seven Luminaries Heaven, allowing her to study it for ten years. With his added guidance, she finally reached the threshold for Seeking Gold.

Beyond that, he had also spent the last ten years doing everything in his power to pave the way for her.

”It was you...?!”

At almost the same time, the True Body Tathagata’s head snapped up. As Empress Xiao revealed herself and no longer concealed her karmic links, the full story began to emerge:

’Those rumors back then... that your life was short and the Pseudo-Dynasty was about to fall... you spread those yourself, didn’t you? The Imperial City Department... yes, that’s it. After that, the Imperial City Department expanded rapidly, spreading the Incense and Candle Divine Dao. I thought you were just trying to use it to counter the Immortal Dao Law’s suppression of your authority...’

Who would have thought it was all to help Empress Xiao in Seeking Gold!

With the Incense and Candle Divine Dao spread across the world, could there be a more suitable Magic Instrument for attaining the Seven Luminaries Heaven? In a mere instant, Empress Xiao had succeeded!

RUMBLE!

And at the very moment of her Attainment, all the Divine Dao Cultivators of the Incense and Candle Divine Dao across the world underwent a qualitative change. Bolstered by a Divine Effect, they were no longer as weak as they had been at the start!

”Now, counterattack!”

High in the dome of the sky, Empress Xiao’s Dharma Body rose up. Her cold, noble voice echoed through Heaven and Earth, ”Purge the traitors for His Majesty! All who follow them shall be executed!”

In an instant, the situation was reversed!

A Perfected Lord, even an Outer Dao True Monarch, empowering their subordinate Cultivators to fight a group of Foundation Establishment cultivators was like a mountain crushing an egg. There was no suspense whatsoever!

And as Empress Xiao attained the Seven Luminaries Heaven and the Incense and Candle Divine Dao counterattacked the Dao Court’s system, Lü Yang’s once-wavering aura of Ruling the World immediately stabilized. This change made the True Body Tathagata, who had been certain of victory, feel his eye twitch as a sense of foreboding rose in his heart.

”Impossible... This shouldn’t be happening!”

”How could Seeking Gold be so simple? How could they all erupt at once? Was it coordinated? All concentrated on this one day?”

While the True Body Tathagata was still lost in thought,

「In the North, on Holy Fire Cliff.」

Minor Metal stood with his hands behind his back, a hint of emotion on his face. Above his head, everything fell into place as the Fruit of Lamp-Cover Fire descended upon him!

”A man must rely on himself... but if one walks the path of the Dao alone, it is far too lonely.”

”Having a few more Daoists along for the journey isn’t so bad.”

At this thought, a faint smile spread across Minor Metal’s face. He then took a step forward. In an instant, the Fruit of Lamp-Cover Fire settled into place, and the aura of an Orthodox True Monarch swept across the North!

”Minor Metal of the Saint Sect attains the Fruit of Lamp-Cover Fire in the North.”

”Jiangbei Loose Cultivators and Holy Sect Disciples, hear my command! All Dao Court Cultivators are to be killed!”

Minor Metal’s voice thundered out. Bathed in the light of the Fruit of Lamp-Cover Fire, all the Holy Sect Disciples were ecstatic, letting out wild cries as they charged toward the Dao Court’s forces.

In an instant, the vast Immortal Dao Law lost both the North and the West and immediately began to shrink. The True Body Tathagata’s expression darkened... His ability to resurrect at will had been built upon the Immortal Dao Law that covered the world, but now, more than half of it had collapsed...

CLANG!

The ring of a sword cut through the True Body Tathagata’s thoughts. It had all happened too fast. From four individuals Seeking Gold to two succeeding, only a few breaths had passed!

And now, the third had made their move!

’The South... Demon-Vanquishing Perfected?!’

The True Body Tathagata whipped his head around, aghast. He finally felt that things were spiraling out of his control. Because the South, of all places, was where someone should have been least likely to seek Gold and Attainment!

Especially the Demon-Vanquishing Perfected!

Wasn’t he supposed to be the Sword Pavilion’s sacrifice for the Void Certificate of the Fruit of Sword Dao? His death was practically a certainty, so how could he possibly be Seeking Gold?

’The karmic links... they’ve changed... How... Why?’

This makes no sense!