Just a Useful Pawn in the Stain Sect-Chapter 48: Manipulation of Karma

Blood Robe Tower. Another quiet morning.

Fairy Feixia leaned lightly against the balcony railing, her silhouette set aglow by the morning haze—an image that could stir endless fantasies.

"I am grateful for your guidance during this time, Junior Brother Lü."

Their dual-cultivation had just concluded. Having reached the limit of her current state, Fairy Feixia could push no further for now.

"Today, I intend to leave the market."

She turned, her gaze locking onto Lü Yang’s with a rare solemnity."My state of mind is far inferior to Junior Brother’s, my talent likewise lacking... yet mediocrity is something I will never accept."

She cast her eyes briefly around the tower, as if committing everything to memory."Once I leave, it may be a long while before we meet again. Whether the road ahead leads me to glory, or my bones end up buried in some distant wilderness... the immortal path is lonely, especially within the Stain Sect."She paused, voice softening."I only hope that, when the future arrives, I might still see a familiar face."

Then she smiled—bright and delicate—as though for the first time revealing her true heart."Junior Brother... would you be that familiar face for Feixia?"

"..."

Lü Yang remained silent.

Any ordinary man, caught under a beauty’s tender gaze, would have already melted. How could one not fall into the net woven from charm, sentiment, and loneliness... ?

But Lü Yang forced calm upon himself.

He merely raised a hand in greeting, voice steady:"You are always welcome here for tea, Senior Sister."

A polite farewell—nothing more.

For a heartbeat, the light in Feixia’s eyes dimmed, disappointment flickering like a candle in the wind. Then she drew back into her usual elegant restraint.

"I must go."

A rainbow-like streak of spiritual light soared upward, vanishing into the distant sky.

Only when she was fully gone did Lü Yang exhale.He retreated into the quiet chamber, array seals closing around him.Clutching the Primal Qi Divine Talisman, he waited for the tremor in his hands to cease.

"Damn it... that was absolutely a scheme from a Foundation-Stage Cultivator."

His dealings with Fairy Feixia had always been pure—just carnal. Yet just now... he had a crush.

A single heartbeat away from whispering "yes." A feeling that was clearly not his own, a seduction woven directly into his heart.

Drawing upon experiences from multiple past lives, Lü Yang quickly understood:

"The Foundation-Stage cultivator behind the scenes has lost patience.He’s using Feixia as bait—trying to bind us together, to lure me out of the market!"

He sat up straight.

"Seclusion. I need to enter seclusion immediately!"

No more chances for karmic entanglements.No more opportunities for others to drag him into their fate.

...

"Remarkable."

Outside the Skull Mountain Marketplace, two figures stood on a windswept cliff—one with hands folded behind his back, the other standing respectfully in crimson robes.

The man with hands clasped behind him let out a low chuckle:"An ordinary disciple with no backing... yet possessing such a firm Dao Heart. Truly remarkable. I tested him many times, yet he never took the bait. Old Second—should I praise your judgment, or criticize it?"

"I beg Senior Brother’s forgiveness."

The young man in the blood-red robe bowed deeply, tone tinged with helplessness."My intention was merely to find a convenient scapegoat. Who could have known even a small pond can raise a big fish."

This youth was Luo Wuya, the "Second Senior Brother" of the Sanhe Association. A perfected Qi refiner—one of the most powerful Stain Sect disciples active at Skull Mountain.

And the one he treated with such reverence—

Was the leader of the Sanhe Association himself.

The man called Perfected YinShan

After breaking into Foundation Establishment, he rose swiftly through the Stain Sect’s ranks and was later entrusted to establish an independent lineage branch at the Cloud Sea.

"But Senior Brother," Luo Wuya frowned slightly, "must it truly be a Stain Sect disciple?"

"You do not understand."

Perfected YinShan shook his head, gaze sinking into distant memory."The Ancient Wu Ghost Sect was once a great demonic sect. The karmic threads in its secret realm are tangled beyond comprehension—even I would not carelessly involve myself."

In this world, karma governs all.

To receive is to incur debt. And debt must be repaid.

"The Wu Ghost Secret Realm was crafted to seek a future prodigy—sowing karmic seeds in exchange for a chance to revive their Sect."

Master Yin Mountain smirked.

"If I interfere directly, the secret realm would reveal itself without effort. But all that karmic backlash would strike me instead. Why should I pay the price?"

He turned slightly, cloak fluttering in the mountain wind.

"So I need a Stain Sect disciple to open the secret realm on my behalf.The Wu Ghost Sect was a demonic sect; their cause-and-effect best matches a Stain Sect heir as the medium."

His eyes narrowed.

"I originally wanted that so-called ’Bloody Master.’ I even arranged formidable enemies for him—if he left the market, I would have stepped in to eliminate them. Killing foes increases fortune; with enough fortune, the Wu Ghost Secret Realm would be drawn to him naturally..."

If Lü Yang heard this, he would immediately recall Xiao Shiye’s fate.A manufactured Child of Destiny—invincible, full of fortune—nothing but bait.Once destiny’s treasure appears, the bait is disposed of. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

Behind him, Luo Wuya bowed even lower, deeply afraid of the terrifying hands that Foundation-Stage cultivators extend... into karma and fate themselves.

"...Forget it."

Perfected YinShan exhaled lightly."Since the Bloody Master refuses to cooperate, we simply choose someone else. He is not indispensable."

He then smiled with a chilling calm.

"Brother, do you remember how the Ancient Wu Ghost Sect fell?"

"Yes. By the Celestial Sword Pavilion."

Luo Wuya answered instantly: "Their Golden-Core Perfected Lord cleaved a sword from the sect’s Seven-Star Cliff—burying the Wu Ghost Sect in one strike..."

"Precisely. A single sword."

Perfected YinShan’s tone grew subdued. "In its prime, the Wu Ghost Sect had over a dozen Foundation cultivators, even a Fourth-Grade Array to anchor its fate...Yet they could not withstand one sword from the righteous sects’s pinnacle."

His voice dropped further:

"And that sword Qi still lingers inside the secret realm to this day."

Golden-Core Sword Qi, slashed out by a Perfected Lord. A will that refuses to fade so long as the Wu Ghost Sect’s legacy remains.

"This is why I won’t open the secret realm myself. Should that sword Qi awaken...I might die before the door even opens."

Therefore—someone else must step into the path of the blade.

"The Sword Qi and the secret realm have merged completely over the millennia. If a Stain Sect disciple cannot serve as the lure...then we entice a Celestial Sword Pavilion disciple to retrieve that Sword Qi instead."

"Either way, the result is the same."

Master Yin Mountain’s robes stirred as light gathered beneath his feet—and he departed the cliff without another word.

At that exact moment—

Deep in the marketplace, Lü Yang, still in seclusion—suddenly felt a weight vanish from his heart, which relived him.