"Return!"
As his voice fell, Lu Yang pushed the divine wonder of [Deprivation] to its absolute limit, seizing control of the Heaven-Observing Mirror to prevent the other party from destroying the evidence.
Sensing the anomaly, the figure in the mirror grew increasingly astonished. The originally hazy face gradually became distinct. However, to Lu Yang's surprise, he had never seen this face before. Deductions of karma yielded nothing, as if this person possessed no karma at all.
...A cultivator from the outer heavens.
Enlightenment dawned in Lu Yang's heart. Only cultivators from the outer heavens—specifically those who had never made contact with this wretched place—would present such an eerie situation.
Just as Lu Yang was pondering, the figure in the mirror moved. A voice, indistinguishable between male and female, drifted out eerily: "Good, very good. Worthy of being the Immortal Nexus. It is truly a land where outstanding heroes emerge."
Immortal Nexus?
Instantly, Lu Yang's pupils shrank violently. However, the figure in the mirror had already set a hand seal and struck out at him from afar, a blinding light erupting from their palm.
In this instant, Lu Yang seemed to see a magnificent sun hanging before his eyes. Yet, despite such blazing radiance, what followed was a chill that penetrated deep into the bone. Wherever it passed, Lu Yang's spiritual power actually fell into silence, and the phantom colors formed by his concepts withered one after another.
This is... another kind of concept?
Seeing this scene, the curiosity in Lu Yang's heart could finally no longer be suppressed, simply because he had never seen the concept displayed by the figure in the mirror before!
With this thought, he instantly stopped holding back.
Spiritual power fully unleashed, the concept of [Deprivation] invoke to the extreme, he clawed forcefully at the mirror surface. Immediately, the thoughts of the figure in the mirror fluctuated.
Ultimately, it was just an image.
If the opponent's true body were here, perhaps a battle would be possible. But how could a mere image withstand Lu Yang's [Deprivation]?
"Mine, it's all mine!"
In the next second, as the figure in the mirror dispersed, the concept the opponent had just displayed was completely snatched away by Lu Yang. Subsequently, countless enlightenments were born:
The great yang governs heaven's mandate, its qi transforms and circulates the innate, heaven's qi is solemn, earth's qi is still, cold descends upon the great void, yang qi does not command...
Boom!
Instantly, Lu Yang felt a slight stinging pain in his brow as he broke free from that profound concept. Immediately, his eyes burst with light:
...Good stuff!
Just after depriving that single concept, Lu Yang clearly sensed that his [Heavenly Pillar Profound Governance Grotto-Heaven] had actually made very subtle progress!
This was simply incredible!
One must know that once a Grotto-Heaven is condensed, it is nearly fully formed and difficult to continue growing unless one finds an Unorthodox Dao Fruit for the Grotto-Heaven to devour.
Unorthodox Dao Fruit?
Lu Yang thought for a moment, then shook his head: No, that's not right. It's not an Unorthodox Dao Fruit. This kind of concept is even comparable to the concept of an Orthodox Dao Fruit! It cannot be compared to ordinary Unorthodox paths... What lies behind it? A World Realm not inferior to this wretched place? Does such a World Realm really exist?
Lu Yang was stunned!
A super World Realm whose scale likely far exceeded the Mystic Spirit Realm, the Myriad Martial Realm, and even the Seven Luminaries Heaven, perhaps even comparable to this wretched place!
This isn't logical.
I've restarted for over thirty years now. I never encountered a similar situation in so many previous restarts. Why did it appear in this life specifically?
Lu Yang thought it over and felt there was only one possibility.
Because there are more perfected lords?
Because I attained the [Heavenly Fire] and Suo Huan attained the [Wellspring Water], increasing the number of perfected lords and causing the aura to fluctuate, thus attracting attention from the Outer Heavens?
Lu Yang rubbed his chin, becoming increasingly grave.
The sudden appearance of a super World Realm made him involuntarily associate it with another term he had heard in previous lives but never witnessed:
The Thousand Year Great Tribulation.
Previously, when [Bodhisattva Precious Lotus Hidden Subduer] tried to intimidate me with the Thousand Year Great Tribulation, I thought she was just alarmist. But looking at it now, that might not be the case.
At the same time, this resolved another of Lu Yang's doubts: No wonder... I said that as time passed, achieving the statureof a Golden Core perfected lord became increasingly difficult. Except for the Saint Sect, the various factions had no intention of cultivating new perfected lords. Now it seems the number of perfected lords might be the benchmark for the Great Tribulation!
The Outer Heaven Light Sea is boundless and infinite; usually, encounters are rare.
However, when the number of perfected lords in a World Realm exceeds a certain critical point, it immediately attracts a super World Realm of the same level, thereby triggering the Ten Thousand Great Tribulation.
During the tribulation, perfected lords will fall.
Only when enough have died and the number of perfected lords falls back below the critical point will the Great Tribulation end. The two sides will separate again, awaiting the next Great Tribulation...
...Is it possible?
Lu Yang fell into deep thought. The above was just his guess, and there were bound to be inaccuracies, but the general logical direction shouldn't be wrong.
The key was the number of perfected lords!
None of the parties want new perfected lords to appear because they don't want to start the Great Tribulation. After all, no one knows if they will be the one to die in it...
The more Lu Yang thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed.
Immediately after, he looked at the broken mirror in his hand. According to Han Qingyun's memory, he picked up this Heaven-Observing Mirror by accident three months ago.
Three months ago, shortly after he attained the [Heavenly Fire]!
...Interesting.
For a moment, Lu Yang became excited instead. Just as he told [Bodhisattva Precious Lotus Hidden Subduer] before, he did not fear the arrival of the Thousand Year Great Tribulation.
Rather, it was quite the opposite.
Having reached the realm of a perfected lord, to improve quickly, there is nothing better than using the Grotto-Heaven to devour Unorthodox Dao Fruits and Outer Heaven World Realms, carving out a path to the heavens through slaughter!
Thinking of this, Lu Yang's thoughts turned to another matter: Speaking of which, that [Siming] Dao Fruit in the Mystic Spirit Realm seems to fit me very well. If I can get it and devour it, it might be of great benefit to me. I just don't know if the Sword Pavilion has already used it.
Besides that, there is the Saint Sect's Myriad Martial Realm.
He had already cultivated [Heaven]. As a Rank 2 True Art, he could totally take the [Myriad Martial Realm] for himself and merge it into his own Grotto-Heaven.
The Myriad Martial Realm and the Mystic Spirit Realm... they might be the key for me to quickly improve my cultivation base in a short time!
With this thought, Lu Yang's gaze changed abruptly:
Before, I might not have been in a hurry and could boil the frog in warm water... But if the Thousand Year Great Tribulation is truly approaching, I have no time to wait.
Lu Yang flicked his sleeves and stood up, having made his decision.
Go to the Saint Sect first!
In the Sword Pavilion, Master Vanquishing-Demon can't call the shots and might even be ostracized. Not to mention the Patriarch has [Perfected Lord Chengtian Zhengde], an enemy, present.
Going there rashly was unsafe.
In comparison, the Saint Sect was much more reliable. Perfected Lord Feixue dominated alone and had explicitly shown him goodwill. Lu Yang felt they could talk.
Moreover, he had many things he wanted to ask Perfected Lord Feixue. Now that Chong Guang had ascended to the position, he believed it wouldn't be long before this perfected lord, known as the number one in battles for five thousand years, could break through to the late stage of the Golden Core. One could imagine that the knowledge he could learn from her would definitely be immeasurable!