Just a Useful Pawn in the Stain Sect-Chapter 129: Is There Still Karma?

Pure Land, the West.

In this land of Zen, temples stood like a forest. Among them was one that was not particularly large, yet it shone with a brilliant Buddha Light and echoed with the sonorous chime of a great bell. Two large words were inscribed on the plaque before it:

Fulong Temple

Pushing open the temple doors and entering the main hall, one could see the Golden Body of a towering Arhat . Beneath it was a prayer mat, and upon it sat a handsome youth with red lips and white teeth.

He was surrounded by his disciples, some chanting scriptures, some holding ritual artifacts, all in the midst of some sacrificial ceremony.

However, at that very moment, a sudden BANG echoed from within the temple.

"Hm?"

The youth with red lips and white teeth opened his eyes, a flicker of confusion in them. ’Guang Hai and Guang Hui... are both dead!? Only Guang Ming is still alive...’

His three most capable disciples had been sent to participate in the Battle for the Dao at the request of the Bodhisattva.

Among them, Guang Hai’s cultivation was the highest, followed by Guang Hui, with Guang Ming being the weakest. He never expected that now that the Battle for the Dao was over, the one to survive would be Guang Ming, the one with the most mediocre talent.

But soon, Arhat Fulong’s expression changed.

’This is... the Ninefold Dragon Metamorphosis? No, it’s the Imperial Dragonrise Foundation! Someone actually managed to achieve Foundation Establishment without me sensing it!?’

At this thought, Arhat Fulong’s expression turned exceedingly grim.

Although he was the one who created the Ninefold Dragon Metamorphosis, the Imperial Dragonrise Foundation was not. It had been specially bestowed upon him by a great figure from the Pure Land.

The so-called Imperial Dragonrise was meant to control the True Dragon Fiend.

The Third Grade Qi achieved by ordinary cultivators practicing the Ninefold Dragon Metamorphosis would ultimately just be used to benefit him, refined into the Dharma Protector Vajras of his temple.

For this very reason, his greatest fear was that someone would break through the limits of the Ninefold Dragon Metamorphosis and, like him, refine the Imperial Dragonrise Foundation.

From that moment on, they would no longer be under his control and would even compete with him for his Dao path, instantly transforming from a useful resource into a lifelong Dao enemy!

’No matter who it is... I must kill him!’

With this thought, Arhat Fulong’s figure suddenly dimmed. He had just used a Buddhist Heart Seal, a technique of heart-to-heart transmission, to instantly travel toward his target’s location.

The next second, however, his expression changed drastically.

He discovered that in the direction he was traveling stood three colossal, indescribable Forms that filled the heavens and the earth, and they were all looking right at him!

"What blind Loose Cultivator is this?"

The soft rebuke struck like a peal of Celestial Thunder. Arhat Fulong’s body trembled on the spot, and he could only watch helplessly as his own Dao Foundation began to collapse and disintegrate.

"Good, good."

A faint Buddhist voice drifted over, calming the void in an instant. It restabilized Arhat Fulong’s collapsing Dao Foundation, pulling him back from the brink of death.

"Benefactor Feixue, aren’t you being a bit too hasty?"

"Fulong and this Benefactor Lü of your esteemed sect share a deep karmic link. Rather than attacking to kill over a single disagreement, why not let the two of them meet first?"

Only then did Arhat Fulong come to his senses. He saw that between the three Perfected Lords, high above a Marvel, there also stood a handsome young man.

The aura emanating from him was identical to the one he had sensed—it was the Imperial Dragonrise Foundation. The young man’s gaze was fixed on him, filled with vigilance.

’...How bitter!’

Arhat Fulong understood the situation in a single glance. This was a damn Perfected Person from the Stain Sect! That being the case, killing him was now impossible!

And yet, this concerned his own Dao path...

What terrified Arhat Fulong even more was that the other party’s Dao Foundation was one of Perfection, Flawless and without defect. He had reached the Peak of Early-phase Foundation Establishment the moment he broke through!

"Perfect Foundation?" Arhat Fulong muttered under his breath.

’With a perfect Dao Foundation, there’s no telling how much effort he’ll save refining his Innate Abilities. In thirty years at most, he’ll be able to attempt to accommodate the first of the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches and charge into the Mid-phase!’

He was truly a Dao enemy!

At this thought, Arhat Fulong gritted his Buddha’s Tooth, then looked toward Lü Yang and said in a low voice, "This person and I do indeed share some karmic links..."

"Oh? Is that so?"

Upon hearing this, World Purger Fei Xue laughed. With a wave of her fair hand, the Marvel formed from an Outer Realm, the Insect Hive, landed in her palm and began to spin.

"Fellow Daoists, do you think I should drop this Marvel in the East, or in the West?"

"I think the West would be a fine choice..."

"Amitabha!"

Before World Purger Fei Xue could finish her sentence, the Perfected Lord from the Pure Land chanted a Buddha’s Name. "Since the Battle for the Dao has ended, I should be returning."

"What’s the rush?" World Purger Fei Xue chuckled. "Isn’t there still some karma to resolve?"

"Not anymore, not anymore."

The Buddhist True Monarch endured the humiliation with a smile and replied, then turned to Arhat Fulong. "Let’s return for now."

Arhat Fulong looked unwilling but helpless upon hearing this. He could only cast a deep glance at Lü Yang in the distance before stepping behind the Pure Land True Monarch.

The next second, the Buddha Light dimmed.

The Pure Land True Monarch, Arhat Fulong, Guang Ming—who had luckily survived the battle—and a dozen or so other fortunate monks returned to the Pure Land in the West.

"...Hmph!"

Meanwhile, the Perfected Lord from the Dao Court had an ashen face. The Pure Land at least had Guang Ming survive, but his side had been completely wiped out.

Fortunately, the Dao Court’s situation was rather unique. The people were not important; what mattered was the Official Position.

As long as the Official Position itself was not lost or damaged, they could simply select a replacement from past Advanced Scholars if someone died. What truly angered him was that Insect Hive.

RUMBLE!

World Purger Fei Xue flicked her fair hand, and the Marvel formed from the Outer Realm plummeted from the sky, crashing heavily into a border prefecture of the Dao Court in the East.

At almost the same instant, the Dao Court’s Perfected Lord let out a muffled groan.

Below, in the East.

In the place where the Insect Hive had fallen, all cultivators felt a change and looked up at the sky. They could only sense that the difficulty of their cultivation had suddenly shifted.

At dawn, the morning dew condensed into mist.

The ambient Qi, now flowing through the earth, connecting north and south, and setting water and fire in opposition, caused all cultivators practicing the Gold Water Technique to feel an invigorating sense of ease.

This was the influence of Fruits!

The Fruit that had originally enveloped this land was pushed aside, and World Purger Fei Xue’s Fruit gained the upper hand, directly influencing all the cultivators below.

Not even Foundation-Stage Cultivators were exempt!

Lü Yang looked out and could even see a few cultivators who were in the middle of breaking through to Foundation Establishment. Due to the change in the Fruit, their already slim chances of success dropped directly to zero.

Meanwhile, a few other cultivators who originally had little hope of success suddenly found their chances increased by ten percent.

"Many thanks, fellow Daoist!"

World Purger Fei Xue laughed heartily at the sight, while the Daoist Court True Monarch said nothing. With a dark expression, he withdrew his form and vanished in the blink of an eye.

....

Pure Land.

After returning to the Pure Land, Arhat Fulong did not leave immediately. Instead, he looked at the Pure Land True Monarch who presided over all matters, the one with the Honorary Title of Bhumba Bodhisattva.

"Bodhisattva... what exactly happened during the Battle for the Dao?"

"We were defeated, that’s all."

Bhumba Bodhisattva’s tone was very calm. After all, although they had lost, the Pure Land’s losses weren’t too great. The Dao Court had borne the brunt of it.

Publicly, the Dao Court’s forces were annihilated, while the Pure Land at least had a few survivors. Privately, she had used the matter with Arhat Fulong as a pretext to have World Purger Fei Xue place the Insect Hive in the East, thus avoiding any losses for herself. Naturally, she could speak of it in a relaxed and carefree manner now.

"That Guang Ming is quite good."

"If he hadn’t sold the Dao Court out in time, I’m afraid that like the Dao Court, not a single one of our participating Buddha Followers would have survived... He’s a sharp one."

"Of course, betraying an ally doesn’t sound good, so it cannot be encouraged."

"So when you return, don’t reward him openly. Secretly, let him cultivate well within your Fulong Temple. He may be of use in the future."

"I accept your decree."

Arhat Fulong bowed, now seeing Guang Ming in a new light. After all, everyone else had died, but he had survived. There was certainly something extraordinary about him.

"But Bodhisattva, that newly-ascended Perfected..."

As Arhat Fulong finished speaking, Bhumba Bodhisattva performed a quick divination with her fingers, then shook her head. "The karmic link has been severed. It is all up to your own abilities now."

"If you have the ability to make him convert, or to kill him, the Pure Land will naturally support you with all its strength."

"If not... the Pure Land does not support the useless."

At these words, how could Arhat Fulong dare to say another word? He immediately prostrated himself, murmuring his assent, and crawled backward out of the Pure Land’s main hall.