Struggling to Survive with Regression Power in the Primordial Saint Sect

‘Master.’

Master of the Sword Dao, 【Master Dangmo, Sage-Sheltering Sword Sovereign】!

To be honest, Lu Yang had never expected Master Dangmo to appear at this moment, and even less that he would strike at the 【Sturdy Path-Preaching True Lord】.

Let alone him—

Even the 【Sturdy Path-Preaching True Lord】 himself hadn’t expected it. At this moment, he could only feel confusion: he had never leaked the matter of ambushing Lu Yang.

He had hidden the causality very well too.

How had Master Dangmo known?

Even in the worst-case scenario, even if he had known that he left the other three True Lords of the Sword Pavilion behind, how had he entered the Sea of Light and found this place?

Why would the Lord of the Sword Pavilion allow it?

Master Dangmo was now the Lord of Sword Dao, bearing the 【Sword Dao Fruit Position】—how crucial was that? To head out to the Outer Realm before even maturing was sheer suicide.

‘Something’s off.’

At this moment, the 【Sturdy Path-Preaching True Lord】 finally began to sense that something was no longer under his control, yet he was supposed to be the fisherman of this game within a game.

Who else was scheming?

‘I made this move only under the secret guidance of the World-Honored One, and the Sword Master had tacitly agreed. In theory, nothing should go wrong... unless it was that one from the Saint Sect who intervened.’

But that didn’t make sense either.

If it was the Ancestor of the Saint Sect, would things need to be so complicated? A single word to True Lord Feixue would have been enough to end this siege.

Unless—

‘I… was being used?’

‘That one from the Saint Sect wants Lu Yang to do something and used me to pressure him—yet they don’t want him dead. That’s why Dangmo came.’

In an instant, the 【Sturdy Path-Preaching True Lord】 felt as though he had fallen into an icy pit.

The next moment, a sword light reflected in his pupils—and the Throne-Seizing Sword Intent he had been so proud of was utterly silenced in the face of that sword light.

The Lord of Sword Dao!

Master of all sword intents beneath the heavens—not even the sword intent of a Grand True Lord was exempt. Even though just recently ascended and still fragile, the profundity was unparalleled.

“Madman!”

The 【Sturdy Path-Preaching True Lord】 roared in fury. Though his sword intent was nullified, he still had other techniques. However, in order to ensure Lu Yang’s death earlier, he had forcibly restored his Grand True Lord position—now he was suffering from the backlash, his aura plummeting, and a real sense of danger emerged.

“Clang!”

The sword lights clashed—two blades met, and the resonant tone echoed throughout the Sea of Light. But then, the 【Sturdy Path-Preaching True Lord】’s expression twisted with shock and anger:

“You’re insane!?”

Meanwhile, Master Dangmo remained calm.

And from his body came a soft snap, as if something had broken—instantly, everyone’s minds conjured the same image.

The sword had broken!

But in that same instant, Master Dangmo’s aura surged to the extreme. With one sword strike, even the 【Sturdy Path-Preaching True Lord】 was forced to retreat!

It wasn’t that he couldn’t win—it was that he dared not win!

Just like when Lu Yang had first ascended—he hadn’t dared to act. When the Dao Court besieged him, he still hadn’t dared. All because of one person—

Master Dangmo!

Because Master Dangmo had chosen to stand with Lu Yang—and he held the 【Sword Dao Fruit Position】. That alone made it impossible for him to act recklessly.

He couldn’t openly attack Lu Yang—Master Dangmo would have stopped him. So, he picked the perfect moment to act in secret—only to find that Master Dangmo had discovered him, even located this place with uncanny precision and outside help.

This moment—was exactly what he had feared.

‘That lunatic… he… he actually severed his connection to the Sword Dao!’

‘No—not severed the Dao itself—but cut off his link to it, falling from True Lord rank. Still… no matter what, this sword must not be broken!’

The 【Sturdy Path-Preaching True Lord】 gritted his teeth.

If Master Dangmo’s sword was broken, then his already unstable 【Sword Dao Fruit Position】—because Dangmo had severed it voluntarily—might completely vanish.

Then it would all be over.

So even though his strength vastly exceeded Master Dangmo’s, he had no choice but to retreat under this decisive sword!

At the same time, Master Dangmo’s voice echoed thunderously:

“This sword—returning it to you all!”

The blazing white sword light fell. It was 【All-Cleaving】—a sword that severed not just his True Lord position, but also his causality with the Sword Pavilion!

Once, he had ascended through the Sword Pavilion.

Now, he returned the Dao Fruit—and all debts were settled!

The 【Sturdy Path-Preaching True Lord】 was speechless. He could only endure the slash of Master Dangmo’s sword, then re-refine it into the Sword Dao Fruit Position.

At this moment, the Grand True Lord frowned deeply:

“Was it worth it?”

Clearly, he was the manifestation of the Sword Master’s sword spirit—a proper Lord of the Sword Dao, with a brilliant future ahead. To give it all up, even the True Lord title—was it truly worth it?

To that, Master Dangmo didn’t hesitate in the slightest:

“Just saving a life. What wouldn’t be worth it?”

Within the limits of his power, saving the life of a close Daoist friend—what could be more worthwhile? Not to mention that he owed his own Dao to Lu Yang.

“Rumble!”

The exploding sword light drowned everything out. The 【Sturdy Path-Preaching True Lord】 feared damaging the Sword Dao Fruit Position, so he dared not move an inch.

Meanwhile, the fallen-from-True-Lord-rank Master Dangmo landed beside Lu Yang, grinning. Though his once-vital life force was rapidly fading, he seemed unbothered and said calmly, “Fellow Daoist Lü, don’t let it weigh on you. This too… was my fate.”

“Fate? What a joke!”

Lu Yang didn’t reply—instead, he unfurled the Banner of Enlightening the Righteous Dao: “No need for words. I can save your life. Go inside first—we’ll speak again later.”

Master Dangmo was stunned.

I can still be saved?

Without hesitation, he threw himself into the Banner of Enlightening the Righteous Dao. He feared death not, but neither did he seek it. Better to live, however stubbornly.

The next second, Lu Yang fully activated the 【Upholding Righteousness】 power of the banner, freezing both Master Dangmo and Suohuan in their critically injured states—stabilizing their souls and bodies to prevent further collapse. With the injuries under control, there would be hope of healing later.

Only after finishing all that did he look at the 【Sturdy Path-Preaching True Lord】.

“You’d better watch your back.”

This grudge—he would remember it!

On the other side, the 【Sturdy Path-Preaching True Lord】 wore a cold expression too, but with the Sword Dao Fruit Position still in turmoil, he couldn’t strike at Lu Yang.

The two locked eyes across the surging sword light.

Then Lu Yang, having recovered, vanished once more into the Sea of Light—while the 【Sturdy Path-Preaching True Lord】 came to a realization.

‘He got away.’

He had acted personally, even risked worsening his state to forcefully activate his Grand True Lord position—yet the other still escaped with his life.

‘…Where did he go?’

The 【Sturdy Path-Preaching True Lord】 tried to sense, but although Lu Yang still carried his sword intent, he could no longer pinpoint his location.

And in the vast Sea of Light, there were only a few places that could shield such a sense.

So he quickly reached a conclusion:

‘【Celestial Mansion】.’

With that thought, the 【Sturdy Path-Preaching True Lord】 couldn’t help but sigh, understanding the deeper truth behind this layered scheme:

‘To drive Lu Yang to the 【Celestial Mansion】?’

No—that wasn’t quite right.

More accurately, the other three Dao Lords wanted to kill Lu Yang—but because the Saint Sect Ancestor interfered, the execution turned into exile to the Outer Realm.

Was this all part of the millennial catastrophe’s setup?

But Lu Yang was only at early-stage Golden Core. Even if he reached the 【Celestial Mansion】, what could he possibly do? Could he really affect the grand war of the millennial catastrophe?

Surely not?

The 【Sturdy Path-Preaching True Lord】 was still pondering—but soon had no more time, for he realized the sound of a surging tide had risen around him.

“Rumble rumble rumble!”

The roaring Heavenly River surged out of the void. True Lord Feixue stood with arms akimbo, icy eyes boring straight into him:

“Seems Fellow Daoist Lü has already fled.”

True Lord Feixue smiled sweetly, but her eyes held no warmth: “Chased him with such passion, did you? Well then, it’s your turn to run.”

“Run fast—before I kill you.”

Upon hearing this, the 【Sturdy Path-Preaching True Lord】 could only sigh helplessly.

This was the other layer of the Saint Sect Ancestor’s scheme—driving him to take this risk, ending in failure, and now suffering Feixue’s wrath. Everything had turned against him.

‘Damn it all!’