Late at night, inside Xu An's cave abode.
At this moment, Xu An was still meditating and entering a state of tranquility. However, he did not notice that within his consciousness sea, a completely different foreign object existed.
"[Immortal Kingdom Dao Laws]..."
Lu Yang looked up, examining the sky with great interest, his mind still recalling the memories settled from King Zhen Nan, Wu Taian, of the Dao Court.
Among the four regions of the world, the Dao Court was the most unique.
The [Immortal Kingdom Dao Laws] connected every single person, yet unlike the Pure Land, it didn't use one mind for forceful control. Instead, it deliberately constructed the current order.
And the Nine-Rank Official Positions were the underlying logic of the [Immortal Kingdom Dao Laws]. The Six Ministries born from this directly participated in the lives of the common people in Jiangdong. From the Six Ministries, countless official positions were derived. These official positions clustered together, surrounding the four heaven and earth Dao Fruits.
[Plains Forest Wood], [Wayside Earth], [Gilded Gold Leaf], and [Great Relay Earth].
Four Dao Fruits, divided among the Dao Court's Son of Heaven and the Three Excellencies. The Tianwu Imperial Family inherited one generationally, while the positions of the Three Excellencies circulated among three factions.
Very similar to [City Rampart Earth]...
Lu Yang suddenly understood. This method of binding Dao Fruits was similar to the Pure Land's one mind, except the Pure Land used people, while the Dao Court used official positions.
The Dao Court learned from the World Honored One.
No, it should be the World Honored One imitating the Dao Court!
Moreover, the Dao Court has a full two Earth Element Dao Fruits. If counting the time when the previous dynasty's [City Rampart Earth] was still there, that would be a whole three Earth Elements.
Not to mention [City Rampart Earth] was the Earth Element Supreme.
Incredible... Lu Yang felt terrified thinking about the details.
Comparing it like this, the Dao Court was truly strong before. Instead, the appearance of the Pure Land and the rise of the World Honored One weakened the Dao Court's strength to a certain extent.
...Hiss!
Thinking of this, Lu Yang suddenly sucked in a breath of cold air—could this be related to the past of the World Honored One's rise and his heaven-defying attainment of the Nascent Soul Dao Lord stature?
Was the Dao Court's Dao Lord plotted against?
As an outstanding Saint Sect Perfected One, Lu Yang never shied away from conspiracy theories—
Under heaven, there are always many monks and little porridge. If someone rises, someone has to cut their own flesh... The rise of the World Honored One back then might have been cutting the Dao Court's flesh!
However, the Dao Court's Dao Lord certainly wouldn't willingly be slaughtered.
In that case, behind this must lie the handiwork of the Saint Sect and the Sword Pavilion Ancestor. Perhaps it was one of them who supported the World Honored One back then!
Who could it be?
...The Saint Sect Ancestor?
Lu Yang suspected reasonably. After all, the Pure Land was also called an Evil Sect back then. As fellow members of the Demonic Path, it wasn't impossible for the Saint Sect Ancestor to give the World Honored One a hand.
But soon Lu Yang found something wrong. After all, once the World Honored One came ashore, he decisively whitewashed himself. Not only did the Pure Land not join the ranks of the Demonic Path, but it transformed into the Righteous Path instead, dealing with the Saint Sect together with the Sword Pavilion and the Dao Court... Considering this point, could it be that the Saint Sect Ancestor also miscalculated?
No, likely not.
The World Honored One made the Dao Court's Dao Lord suffer such a big loss. How could the two sides easily turn from enemies to allies? The estrangement probably always existed.
Moreover, the World Honored One is a fence-sitter.
The original situation under heaven was probably the Sword Pavilion Ancestor and the Dao Court's Dao Lord dealing with the Saint Sect Ancestortogether. However, after the World Honored One's promotion, things changed.
At first glance, the Righteous Path gained an extra Pure Land, but in reality, everyone knows the World Honored One plays both sides. Plus, with the estrangement with the Dao Court, neither side could truly cooperate sincerely. Instead... the World Honored One probably hopes more than anyone that the strength of both sides can remain in a balanced state.
Yes, balance!
The more Lu Yang thought about it, the more he felt the World Honored One was probably supported secretly by the Saint Sect Ancestor back then, using the World Honored One to reverse his own disadvantage in one go!
From the original one-vs-two, it became a four-sided standoff!
By carving away the Dao Court's power, the Saint Sect Ancestor supported the Pure Land and weakened the strength of the Righteous Path side, and reaping benefits without direct involvement.
This definitely isn't just the Saint Sect Ancestor'splan.
It was even possible that the World Honored One had proposed the plan to the Saint Sect Ancestor himself, deliberately aligning with the Saint Sect's interests in order to carve out his own path to the Nascent Soul.
Thinking of this, Lu Yang couldn't help but sigh:
Back then... when the World Honored One attained the Dao, it must have shaken the world!
What glorious years those must have been. Just imagining it made Lu Yang feel a surge of emotions—scheming on multiple sides, finally attaining the Dao under everyone's gaze.
Immediately after, Lu Yang couldn't help rubbing his chin again.
Was his guess correct? The direction might be right, but the details might not be accurate. After all, the intelligence he could grasp now was still too little.
But... if my deduction is correct, it explains why the World Honored One is the last Nascent Soul Dao Lord of the current age, and why [Sky-shrouding] didn't try to replicate the World Honored One's path but went to seek the [Netherworld] instead. Because the World Honored One's ascension has already blocked the path for everyone coming after!
A four-side standoff is the most balanced.
And if a fifth Dao Lord appears, it will inevitably lead to the situation collapsing again and interests being redistributed... Probably no Dao Lord wants to see this point.
So [Sky-shrouding] went to seek the [Netherworld].
This move is quite similar to me fleeing to [Seven Luminaries Heaven] back then. Both involve jumping out of the existing chessboard, temporarily transferring, to seek a future.
However, in Lu Yang's view, [Sky-shrouding] didn't seem to flee thoroughly enough.
If really fleeing, he should have flown far away directly, disappearing completely from this wretched place. Yet [Sky-shrouding] remained, and the [Netherworld] was too conspicuous.
Perhaps he has other plans. Or maybe he knows some intelligence I don't know...
Lu Yang took a deep breath, thinking no more.
The urgent task is still the Dao comprehensionneeded to attain [Heavenly Fire] ... On this point, the Dao Court has given me quite a good inspiration.
[Immortal Kingdom Dao Laws]!
This large net covering Jiangdong can directly bestow knowledge upon cultivators through official positions. After cultivators digest this knowledge, it transforms into Dao comprehension.
This is a shortcut!
Originally, Dao comprehension required a long time to improve, but the existence of the [Immortal Kingdom Dao Laws] made rapid achievement possible for him.
The prerequisite is to reach a high position in the Dao Court!
The higher the official position, the greater the authority within the [Immortal Kingdom Dao Laws], the more knowledge the [Immortal Kingdom Dao Laws] bestows upon you, and the higher your Dao comprehension becomes!
One month later, Dongting Lake.
This place was in the inland of Jiangdong. As the name suggested, it was a super-giant inland lake. Called a lake, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to describe it as a 'Mediterranean Sea' in reality.
"Everyone gets ready."
The leading Thousand-Household Liu said in a deep voice: "We will meet the Dragon King of Dongting Lake later to read His Majesty's decree. Don't lose the Imperial Court's face!"
"Yes!"
Xu An swallowed his saliva, suppressing the nervousness in his heart, and followed carefully beside Thousand-Household Liu. The group flew all the way towards the depths of Dongting Lake.
Before long, a majestic island appeared before everyone's eyes.
Looking over, one saw skulls piled like ridges, skeletons like forests. Flesh and skin rotted into mud and dust; tendons and bones hung on trees. At a glance, the blood Qi seemed to rush into the clouds!
True Dragon Clan sounded very noble, but in reality, they were ultimately of the Monster Race. The beast nature in their bones was hard to tame. Consuming blood food was only natural.
Big fish eat small fish; small fish eat dried shrimps. Inland human cultivators at least cared about looking good on the surface; would overseas Monster Race care about that much?
This was only because they were in Jiangdong; they didn't dare eat humans, so they just ate some of their own kind.
Otherwise, placed overseas, Lu Yang had seen it from Tian Qiu's memories—the major Monster Races of the [Four Seas Sect] all had a few human livestock ranches.
It's a pity, they can't integrate into the Dao Court like this...
Seeing this scene, Lu Yang smiled indifferently. Clearly, this True Dragon branch sent into Jiangdong by the Dragon Lord still didn't quite understand the current situation.
It seems I must come out of the mountain!