Just a Useful Pawn in the Stain Sect

Chapter 543: A Marvelous Karmic Connection

Lü Yang had met the Zouyu Descendants before. However, his Cultivation was low at the time; he had only just established his Dao Foundation, and his overall Cultivation was far from sufficient.

As a result, he hadn’t noticed anything unusual about them then.

Things were different now. Lü Yang’s eyes shimmered with a golden light, and under their piercing gaze, the Yu Zhou before him seemed like nothing more than a shadow cast in the sunlight!

HISS!

At almost the same instant, Yu Zhou sucked in a sharp breath. He felt that the gaze of this "Upper Cultivator" before him was terrifying to the extreme, as if it could pierce right through him.

"Upper Cultivator... may I be so bold as to ask... which Immortal Family you belong to?"

Yu Zhou bit his lip, sweat pouring down his face. He could only cast a pleading glance at Minor Metal. Seeing no reaction, he turned his gaze back to Lü Yang.

As his words fell, Lü Yang retracted the divine glint from his eyes and offered a kind smile.

"I am Du Huan. I hold a minor position in the Dao Court."

"So, the Dao Court... huh?"

The moment he said this, Yu Zhou froze. A chill shot up from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head. The terror he felt was even more intense than when he had been under Lü Yang’s direct gaze.

The reason was simple.

’I’m done for!’

’Du Huan... that’s the Demon Dragon! The one who attained the Fruit of Celestial Fire! He must have learned about my family’s unique nature and has come to wipe us out completely!’

As the current leader of the Zouyu Descendants, Yu Zhou was well aware of his family’s unique circumstances. But he didn’t dare speak of it, keeping it bottled up inside and just trying to get by one day at a time. Only some of the younger generation, those in the Early and Mid-phase of Foundation Establishment, still harbored delusions of restoring their nation.

In Yu Zhou’s eyes, the fact that their family line had survived at all was a blessing from Heaven.

After all, compared to his branch, the "Zouyu Descendants" of this world had been utterly annihilated by the Celestial Wu Daoist Court during a usurpation fifteen thousand years ago.

His own family had it relatively good.

Thus, upon seeing Lü Yang seek him out, Yu Zhou knelt on the ground with almost no hesitation. "My lord, my lord... the Zouyu Race is innocent!"

This reaction, however, stunned Lü Yang.

’The Zouyu Royal Family... they can’t even be called that anymore. After being kept by the Saint Sect for five thousand years, what royalty is left? They’re nothing more than a destitute, broken-down family!’

Still, this was to be expected.

This branch of the Zouyu Descendants was, after all, completely at odds with Heaven and Earth. If they were some great family teeming with ambitious members, it would have been a headache for the Saint Sect Ancestral Master.

Their current state was perfect.

The Saint Sect was essentially keeping this branch of Zouyu Descendants as pampered pets. This way, the Saint Sect Ancestral Master could use them as leverage against the Bhagavat without provoking a major reaction from him.

"Get up."

Lü Yang raised a hand and smiled. "Relax, I’m not here to kill you. Besides, killing you wouldn’t solve the problem—it would just create countless more."

"Thank you for your mercy, my lord!"

Yu Zhou kowtowed again, this time with extreme sincerity. A series of dull thuds echoed as he unexpectedly slammed his head so hard that his Foundation Establishment Body became bruised.

Lü Yang paid him no mind. He watched as Minor Metal opened the doors to a hall for the two of them to speak privately, then respectfully withdrew. Only then did Lü Yang speak again, his voice low.

"I wish to seek the Fruit of Celestial Fire, and the problem lies with your bloodline."

"Daoist, do you have a solution?"

Lü Yang’s directness made Yu Zhou’s scalp tingle with anxiety all over again.

Fortunately, ever since hearing that the Dao Court’s Emperor Huanming cultivated the Fruit of Celestial Fire, he had spent the last ten years tossing and turning at night, wracking his brain over it. He had long since prepared what he would say.

The next moment, the old man sighed.

"Reporting to you, my lord, in ancient times, an Emperor of my race also delved deep into the study of the Fruit of Celestial Fire. He even obtained a legacy and, with the full might of his dynasty, spent countless years refining and improving it."

"That is how the Kan and Li True Method of Positional Shift, which Lord Minor Metal brought to you, came to be. The original version of that True Skill was actually far cruder, filled with baseless speculation and wild fantasy. Only after many years of refinement by our Emperor did it become a proper Dharma Gate with practical applications."

Yu Zhou chose his words very carefully.

He deliberately began with the Kan and Li True Method of Positional Shift to build rapport and imply that his family had, in fact, contributed to his lordship’s cause.

Lü Yang raised an eyebrow at this.

"Could you lend me the Fruit of Celestial Fire legacy you possess for a look?"

"It would be my honor!"

Without any hesitation, Yu Zhou took a thick book from within his robes. Its cover, pages, and spine were all cast from brass.

"This is the legacy our clan possesses, called the Celestial Emperor’s Radiant Book." The old man raised the book over his head with both hands, presenting it to Lü Yang. "This book," he said in a low voice, "records all grades of Abilities and Daoist Skills for a Fruit of Celestial Fire Cultivator, as well as the methods for locating the corresponding Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches."

"The Kan and Li True Method of Positional Shift is also recorded within."

"The one who originally wrote down this legacy was the Great Cultivator of his era most likely to attain the Fruit of Celestial Fire. He was also a Perfected Lord from Beyond the Heavens..."

"A Perfected Lord?"

Lü Yang’s interest was piqued. He knew that an Outer Dao True Monarch could seek an orthodox Fruit, but of all things, why the Fruit of Celestial Fire?

"That Perfected Lord was no ordinary man."

At this, Yu Zhou’s expression turned peculiar. He lowered his voice.

"He was a mysterious and unfathomable figure. It is said that he had already achieved the rank of Perfected Lord once in his youth, but he was ambushed and lost his Fruit, forcing him to reincarnate and start anew."

"But after his reincarnation, not only did he not fade into obscurity, but he staged a heaven-defying comeback. He attained an Outer Dao Beyond the Heavens and returned with overwhelming power. His Cultivation reached an unfathomable level, his methods were ruthless, and with the backing of the Saint Sect, he managed to establish a massive foundation in the North that was in no way inferior to the Dao Court..."

The more Lü Yang listened, the more he felt something was off.

’Why does this story sound so familiar?’

After a moment of contemplation, Lü Yang ventured, "Fortune?"

’Fortune? The one from that other timeline? The one who wasn’t tricked into a miserable death by Ang Xiao and the Heavenly God, but actually found a way out? I find that hard to believe!’

Meanwhile, Yu Zhou wore an awkward expression. "It should be... but it also doesn’t quite seem like him. To be honest, I’ve been very confused about it myself all these years..."

’Good grief, even the Zouyu Descendants themselves are suspicious!’

After all, the difference between the two was enormous. Compared to the Fortune of the current world, what sort of historical divergence could possibly have occurred to allow him to make such an incredible comeback?

For a moment, Lü Yang was struck by the miraculous nature of karmic links.

’My plan to use the Kan and Li True Method of Positional Shift to transform the Fruit of Lamp-Cover Fire into the Fruit of Celestial Fire... was probably the original design of that Fortune from the different space-time.’

’He certainly was ambitious!’

’But is it really Fortune? It couldn’t be an imposter, could it?’

With this in mind, Lü Yang circulated his Divine Sense and examined the Celestial Emperor’s Radiant Book in his hands. Most of its contents were useless to him now.

Except for one line, a lament from its author:

’The Fruit of Celestial Fire is difficult to attain, the Supreme Venerable is one of a kind. The Fruit of Sky-River Water is damaged, its profound mysteries lost. The Fruit of Blade-Edge Metal is sheathed, its edge unseen. As for the Fruit of Rampart Earth... best not to speak of it. Thinking it over, I fear only the Fruit of Great-Forest Wood holds a sliver of hope.’

Besides this, there was one other thing that greatly interested Lü Yang.

’Speaking of which, if the Zouyu Descendants were able to come from that divergent timeline to the current world, it means that somewhere within the Saint Sect... there must be a passage connecting the two!’

At this thought, Lü Yang suddenly raised his head and looked at Yu Zhou. "Fortune... that Outer Dao True Monarch you just mentioned. What happened to him in the end?"

At this question, Yu Zhou’s expression immediately tensed.

"He failed in his attempt to attain the Fruit of Celestial Fire and died. He likely reincarnated again."