The time for False Holding Golden Stature ended after all.
However, before it ended, Lu Yang relied on his stature at the Perfected Lord level to completely surround the area where the [Earth Fire Sea Heart Furnace] was located with a Rank 3 Formation.
He used one of Hong Yun's formations.
[Seven Luminaries Stabilizing the World and Preserving Truth Grand Formation]
With this formation here, and having the Patriarch protect me, unless a Perfected Lord descends to the world, I at least don't have to worry about anyone disturbing me while Seeking Golden Core.
This was already the limit of what Lu Yang could do.
And if a Perfected Lord burned their Grotto-Heaven to descend, or a Dao Lord took action, just to stop him from seeking Golden Core... then he would consider himself unlucky. At worst, he would just give up this life.
Thinking of this, Lu Yang didn't delay. He immediately sat cross-legged and entered a meditative state. However, when he truly reached the critical moment, an intense fear and unease uncontrollably surged in his heart. Many scenes from before floated before his eyes one by one.
Chong Guang, Suo Huan, Xiang Ye...
Failure in seeking Golden Core means certain death... Martial Uncle Chong Guang was considered lucky. Xiang Ye was the truly unlucky one; dying from failed seeking Golden Core didn't even make a splash.
Oh right, there was also Suo Huan.
With the power of [Eternal Flowing Water] in hand, his task in this life was complete. At this moment, he was resting inside the [Myriad Spirits Banner]. The next life would be his opportunity.
...That's right, what do I have to fear?
Just trial and error!
Others only had one chance at seeking Golden Core, but I still have dozens of chances. If even this fails, then it's impossible for anyone under heaven to attain the stature of Perfected Lord.
Lu Yang calmed his mind and breath. With a slash of his wisdom sword, he immediately cut off all distracting thoughts. Then, furrowing his brows, a palm-sized stone flowing with golden brilliance appeared before his eyes. It was the blessed land condensed by Immortal Spirit Shangzhang before his death, [Heaven-and-Earth Graced Geng Metal Blessed Land]!
After all, what he was seeking this time was [Pomegranate Wood].
His other blessed land, [Xuandu Blessed Land], was the foundation of his Great Dao and couldn't be damaged. He wouldn't feel heartache over Immortal Spirit Shangzhang's blessed land.
"Start!"
Instantly, Lu Yang circulated the [Heaven-Mending True Scripture] and began directly harvesting from heaven and earth, using "Transcending Heaven" as the ritual to attract the attention of the Dao Fruit.
Rumble!
At this moment, Lu Yang felt his consciousness begin to rise upward, quickly reaching within the Foundation Establishment realm, and then continuing to climb higher.
Blessed Land Ascension!
Lu Yang's eyes blurred slightly. His line of sight saw two scenes, like two sides of the same object, opposing yet complementing each other.
One scene he had seen before with [Xuandu Blessed Land]: a world scene resembling a beehive, where every Dao Fruit was a hole, riddling the world like a sieve. The other scene was from Chong Guang's memories: that boundless sea of bitterness encompassing heaven and earth.
The Sea of Bitterness has no bounds; the Dao Fruit is the boat...
Two scenes, which is true and which is false? Or maybe... both are true, just viewed from different angles, thus presenting completely different concept?
Lu Yang pondered in his heart, but the action of ascending the blessed land did not pause in the slightest.
Immortal Spirit... still has a great advantage.
According to Chong Guang's memories, this step of ascending the blessed land consumed a huge amount of energy. He had to burn the entire Kingdom of Qing to complete the ascension process.
However, for Lu Yang, it wasn't that troublesome.
Because I am an Immortal Spirit now?
I feel like heaven and earth are not stopping me, but actively pushing me forward... saving me a great deal of spiritual power. This is much easier than for Chong Guang.
This puzzled Lu Yang somewhat. After all, he wasn't that Immortal Spirit Shangzhang nurtured by the Lord of Heaven. Logically speaking, he should have a feud with the Lord of Heaven, but heaven and earth were still supporting him. Could it be that in the Lord of Heaven's view, who the Immortal Spirit is doesn't matter; it just needs an Immortal Spirit to attain the Dao Fruit?
No... impossible!
If that were the case, the Lord of Heaven had no need to target him back then and nurture another Immortal Spirit Shangzhang. The other party clearly placed great importance on the identity of the Immortal Spirit.
Unless...
Lu Yang looked around, suddenly feeling a bit horrified: ...Unless what is pushing me forward right now is not the Lord of Heaven, but a certain Dao Lord!
Lu Yang hadn't forgotten.
Like the many tribulations encountered by Foundation Establishment Perfected Ones, the internal logic contradicted itself. What the Lord of Heaven could do, the Dao Lords could do as well!
Who is it?
The Pure Land World Honored One? Unlikely. After all, the World Honored One's actions had great fanfare. This kind of subtle, silent influence felt more like the Saint Sect Patriarch.
Better not overthink it...
Lu Yang shook his head secretly. Regardless, at this moment "heaven and earth" were supporting him, and he couldn't change it. Since that was the case, he might as well lie back and enjoy it.
Because the path ahead was unobstructed, Lu Yang soon arrived before [Pomegranate Wood], truly admiring this heaven and earth Dao Fruit from a close distance. At first glance, it seemed like just a hazy glimmer, but upon closer inspection, it looked like a vast, boundless ocean.
The so-called attaining of the Dao Fruit is to harmonize oneself with the Dao Fruit...
Blessed Land entering the Dao Fruit, auras harmonizing, then it can transform into a Grotto-Heaven... But this aura harmonization, seemingly simple, was harder than ascending to heaven.
Because the aura of the Dao Fruit was constantly changing.
Like the surging sea of bitterness before his eyes, rising and falling one after another. The aura was the waves in this sea; one could only harmonize at the highest point of the wave.
Otherwise, one would be immediately beaten down by the wave.
In the past, Martial Uncle Chong Guang reached this step, but due to the problem with [Chen Earth], his aura couldn't harmonize with the Dao Fruit, ultimately failing and falling...
At this moment, a concept surfaced in the depths of Lu Yang's eyes again.
These concept were all different. They were his actions when entering the Dao Fruit, the process of him aligning with the Dao Fruit's aura. Each seemed to be successful.
Among them, he was most smooth in two lights and shadows. Lu Yang knew clearly that those were paths he walked by referencing the memories of Hong Yun and Zhengde. Because predecessors planted trees, descendants could enjoy the shade. All difficulties were clear, and it seemed there wouldn't be any risks.
No... wrong!
Lu Yang was startled awake in his heart, withdrawing the foot he almost stepped out: What they sought wasn't [Pomegranate Wood]. How can I copy their experience directly?
As soon as this thought arose, the two concept vanished instantly.
Hiss!
Seeing this, Lu Yang sucked in a breath of cold air, realizing in his heart: These aren't illusions born from inner demons... but real future scenes!
The process of him viewing these future scenes was the process of harmonizing with the Dao Fruit's aura. Whichever future he chose, that future would become reality. However, only in one future did he succeed... The others were false appearances. Choose wrong, and he would immediately fail and fall!
This is testing my Dao comprehension...
If his Dao comprehension wasn't enough to choose the most correct one from the many futures, then even with sky-high ability, he couldn't attain the Dao Fruit!
Lu Yang took a deep breath and continued forward.
Soon, he selected a future scene. The concept within perfectly matched his understanding of [Pomegranate Wood]. No matter how he looked, he couldn't find a flaw.
However, the moment he selected the future.
Lu Yang's divine sense sank, and he once again uncontrollably saw many scenes. These were all scenes of his failure, seeming to stop him from moving further forward.
Retreat? Think again?
A momentary thought flashed through Lu Yang's mind but was quickly killed by him. The time for ascending the blessed land was limited; he couldn't try them one by one.
These failure scenes are just demonic obstacles confusing my mind.
No, not necessarily all demonic obstacles... Because they might be real, intended to make me doubt myself, just to make me indecisive.
Lu Yang sighed in his heart.
The next second, his gaze suddenly became firm. Ignoring the many demonic obstacles, he harmonized his own aura with the selected future scene and took a step forward!
Boom!
Accompanied by a loud noise, everything before Lu Yang's eyes was shattering, including the [Heaven-and-Earth Graced Geng Metal Blessed Land] he seized from Immortal Spirit Shangzhang.
...Failed? Lu Yang was very calm, not surprised.
My Dao comprehension isn't enough... No, it's Immortal Spirit Shangzhang's Dao comprehension that isn't enough... That's right, what Dao comprehension is there to speak of for Divine Abilities directly instilled by heaven and earth?
Thinking of this, Lu Yang instantly had a flash of insight.
The final step of seeking Golden Core requires sufficiently profound Dao comprehension. This is probably set up by a certain Dao Lord, specifically to kill off Immortal Spirits that have grown up.
No wonder no Immortal Spirit had ever succeeded in Seeking Golden Core!
There was already a camper tampering with the source of seeking Golden Core... Who did it? Could it be the Saint Sect Patriarch again? This is too insidious...
Lu Yang's mind scattered rapidly.
Failing to seek the Golden Core would mean his soul would be scattered, and he wouldn't even have a chance to reincarnate. Luckily, he had a cheat:
[The Book of a Hundred Lifetimes]!!!