Foundation Establishment Perfection. Lu Yang had once again reached the pinnacle of his ten lifetimes.
That said, I'm actually still lacking a bit.
To reach Foundation Establishment Perfection, one must extract Golden Nature and ascend to a Blessed Land before they can seek the Golden Core, ascend the throne, and construct a Grotto-Heaven... The most critical components among these are Golden Nature and the Blessed Land.
I don't need to worry about the Blessed Land. [Xuandu Blessed Land] is compatible with my mind and spirit. As long as I refine it with divine abilities and merge it into my Dao Foundation, I can use it... In comparison, Golden Nature is even more troublesome. It must be slowly extracted from the soul using divine abilities. It is definitely not the work of a single day.
Of course, there was a shortcut.
That was to use a Rank 1 official position of the Dao Court to extract it... However, after careful consideration, Lu Yang felt it was safer to extract the Golden Nature himself.
Besides, this won't delay things on the [Wu You Heaven] side.
With a turn of his thoughts, Lu Yang's divine sense immediately sank into the [Myriad Spirits Banner]. He saw Patriarch Nether Whisper sitting upright in the banner, with four divine abilities already circling around him.
"[Essence of Myriad Fragrances], [Sea of Sorrow], [Ferry of the Lost], [Song of Everlasting Regret]!"
Lu Yang saw clearly that these four divine abilities were precisely the ones corresponding to [Wu You Heaven]. Half a year had allowed Patriarch Nether Whisper to successfully gather them all.
Thinking of this, Lu Yang's expression suddenly became strange.
[Essence of Myriad Fragrances]... The Patriarch has good endurance.
Although Lu Yang obtained [Essence of Myriad Fragrances] effortlessly back then, it was because he was cheating, relying entirely on his innate talent to withstand the Celestial Maiden Formation.
However, his way of clearing the stage was unique and simply impossible for ordinary people. The correct method should have been to find the flaw in the formation while entangled by the Celestial Maiden Formation, and then break the formation through technical skill. Compared to that, Lu Yang's method appeared to have zero skill, relying entirely on raw power.
Just then, Patriarch Nether Whisper also opened his eyes and said softly:
"...The time has come."
He had refined the four [Wu You Heaven] divine abilities over a month ago. He only chose to wait because Lu Yang hadn't broken through yet.
Now that Lu Yang had broken through, everything was ready.
The next second, Lu Yang cupped his hands in salute: "I'll have to trouble the Patriarch."
"No, I should be thanking you."
Patriarch Nether Whisper shook his head. It is true that after Attaining [Wu You Heaven], he would be the enemy of all Perfected Lords in the world, leaving endless trouble. But so what?
It was still a Perfected Lord position.
This wretched place hadn't produced a Perfected Lord for many years. A single Perfected Lord position was enough to drive countless Foundation Establishment cultivators crazy. Who wouldn't desire it?
Especially Patriarch Nether Whisper. He considered his talent decent, but what could he do against a Perfected Lord? A single sword strike from thousands of miles away could leave him powerless to resist. He understood the gap between Golden Core and Foundation Establishment most deeply, so he cherished it more and understood the value of the Perfected Lord position better.
The more he understood, the more grateful he was to Lu Yang.
"Patriarch must not slack off. This trip is not without variables," Lu Yang said gravely. "If nothing unexpected happens, Chong Guang... that old thief will also appear."
"Chong Guang?"
Patriarch Nether Whisper was stunned. "Didn't you make a deal with him... Right, you are both Saint Sect Perfected Ones. If it were me, I definitely wouldn't feel at ease either."
Not keeping promises—this was the basic qualities of a Saint Sect Perfected One.
Moreover, Lu Yang understood Chong Guang extremely well. He knew this person's philosophy— even if cornered, he would never place his hope entirely on outsiders.
He will definitely seek [Wu You Heaven]!
Not necessarily because he truly wants to attain [Wu You Heaven], but to leave himself a way out, just in case I don't keep my promise and turn against him in the end.
And this worry was actually very correct.
After all, Lu Yang had also discussed a transaction regarding [Overturned Lamp Flame] with [Sky-Shrouding] earlier. Selling one item to two buyers—he really didn't care who got screwed.
Thinking of this, Lu Yang hurriedly reminded, "In short, with Patriarch attaining [Wu You Heaven] this time, the old thief Chong Guang will likely compete with you in secret."
"Be careful."
Although in terms of results, Lu Yang wouldn't lose out regardless of who attained [Wu You Heaven], he still had his own selfish motives. The old thief Chong Guang was unwilling to enter the [Myriad Spirits Banner], so he naturally wasn't as close as Patriarch Nether Whisper. Such a good Dao Fruit would definitely be better given to one of his own.
"Rest assured, I understand."
Receiving Lu Yang's reminder, Patriarch Nether Whisper nodded. "[Wu You Heaven] concerns your plans. I will do my utmost and won't let anyone snatch it away."
"Respectfully sending off the Patriarch."
Under Lu Yang's gaze, Patriarch Nether Whisper smiled and nodded. Then, with four divine abilities supporting his consciousness, he crashed into [Wu You Heaven]!
Layers of cloud seas, overlapping illusions.
Patriarch Nether Whisper's consciousness resided within, strolling idly and observing with great interest. He had actually never entered [Wu You Heaven] before.
However, as a banner spirit, as long as Lu Yang actively cooperated, he could share the banner master's experiences. So he had indirectly entered [Wu You Heaven] and seen [Perfected One Primordial] Mu Changsheng, who remained only as consciousness. Otherwise, in his previous life, he couldn't have imitated Mu Changsheng's consciousness separation method out of thin air.
Of course, there was a difference between indirect and direct.
Looking indirectly, there were always foggy areas. Looking directly was much clearer.
After all, strictly speaking, that child Lu Yang... well, it's mainly because he works hard enough that he has today's achievements. There are many things he actually doesn't understand.
Thinking of this, Patriarch Nether Whisper couldn't help but smile.
But soon, he restrained his distracting thoughts and stood firm in the sea of clouds. Turning his gaze, he saw a figure walking out from the other end of the cloud sea as well.
The visitor had an ordinary face, but the soaring sharpness between his brows revealed his identity.
Seeing the other party, Patriarch Nether Whisper sighed secretly in his heart:
That child really guessed right.
Immediately, he cupped his hands and said loudly, "Greetings, Fellow Daoist Chong Guang."
On the other side, Chong Guang frowned upon hearing this. "And who is Fellow Daoist? To reach this step, you should have some reputation in the world."
"Just a nameless pawn."
Patriarch Nether Whisper waved his hand and said, "On the contrary, Fellow Daoist, since there is already hope for [Overturned Lamp Flame], why come here to seek other Dao Fruits?"
Hearing this, Chong Guang immediately understood in his heart: Is it that Senior who can falsely hold [Overturned Lamp Flame]? No, that's not right. Is it a subordinate of that Senior? What a grand gesture... A Dao Fruit, even if it is an unorthodox Dao, is ultimately a Perfected Lord position. That Senior just gave it away like this?
However, the more this was so, the more vigilant Chong Guang felt.
With such a grand gesture, and highly likely being a Senior of my Saint Sect, would he really falsely hold [Overturned Lamp Flame] to help open up the path of the Golden Core for me?
Chong Guang didn't quite believe it!
But in that case, was he going to fight the Patriarch Nether Whisper in front of him for [Wu You Heaven]? Wouldn't that be offending the mysterious Senior behind him?
If he snatched it, fine.
But if he failed to snatch it, he would lose everything. Without [Wu You Heaven], [Overturned Lamp Flame] would definitely be hopeless too, and his Dao path would be cut off right there!
Thinking of this, Chong Guang fell into a rare hesitation.
After all, it concerned the position of a Perfected Lord; he really couldn't help but be cautious.
However, just then, ripples rose again in the sea of clouds. The next second, an old man with white hair and a pale face walked out from the clouds.
It was none other than [Perfected One Primordial] Mu Changsheng!
However, the current Mu Changsheng ignored Chong Guang. Instead, he focused his attention on Patriarch Nether Whisper immediately, his eyes filled with confusion.
A second later, with some uncertainty, he asked carefully:
"Banner Spirit?"