Outer heaven light sea, amidst the dark void.
"Who are you!?"
[Immortal Lord Shaoyin] wore a horrified expression, completely unprepared for someone to appear out of thin air and intercept them in the supposedly unobstructed Outer heaven light sea.
In an instant, he felt cold all over.
What [Immortal Nexus] Demon infighting? It's all a trap! Clearly a deliberate setup to lure us into taking the bait, wanting to strike first before the thousand year tribulation.
No, that's not right. The infighting should be real. Those bald donkeys' desire to kill that Supreme dao fruit Perfected Lord is definitely not fake. It's just that they prepared two hands. Regardless of success or failure, they won't suffer a loss in the end... Those bastard, I'm afraid they planned to double-cross us from the start!
[Immortal Lord Shaoyin]'s guess hit the truth with precision.
World Honored One... truly remarkable!
Looking at the two [Celestial Court] Immortal Lords before her, Perfected Lord Feixue sighed with emotion. Yet, within her usually fierce beautiful eyes, a deep wariness emerged.
Look at this scheme.
The best outcome would be the Pure Land successfully killing Lu Yang, and then her arriving a step too late. At that time, neither [Immortal Lord Shaoyin] nor [Immortal Lord Daoyan] would escape.
Slightly worse would be failing to kill Lu Yang, but [Immortal Lord Shaoyin] and [Immortal Lord Daoyan] still wouldn't escape.
The worst case would be the current situation: the Pure Land loses an Unorthodox Bodhisattva... but honestly speaking, that isn't much of a loss.
However, regardless of the situation, the final result would inevitably benefit all parties. They say they colluded with outer heaven cultivators, but in reality, they were still scamming people. They hadn't truly betrayed the wretched place stance. If everything went smoothly, they truly would have achieved their goal while leaving others with nothing to say.
If there was any flaw in this scheme...
It was that it was too weak.
One mid-stage golden core, two early-stage golden cores, and one unorthodox cultivator—this lineup might be fine against an ordinary perfected lord, but against Lu Yang, it was clearly insufficient.
Moreover, it didn't quite fit the [Immortal Nexus]'s fine tradition of "bullying the small with the big."
At least, if it were me, I would definitely take action personally, or simply invite a late-stage Grand Perfected Lord to create a momentum like Mount Tai crushing an egg.
...Hmm!?
Thinking of this, a cold light suddenly flashed in Perfected Lord Feixue's eyes. She abruptly raised her head, looking into the distance at the sea of light where the [Immortal Nexus] was located.
No, something is wrong!
If even she could think of this, how could the World Honored One not?
Not to mention that this was the World Honored One, famous for being shameless. He never minded bullying the weal with the strong. Why would he bring out such a weak lineup to deal with Lu Yang?
This lineup... is for dealing with me!
In an instant, Perfected Lord Feixue understood:
These two [Celestial Court] Immortal Lords were certainly gifts for me, but they were also used to stall me, leaving me no time to pay attention to the situation on the other side.
In fact, even though Lu Yang fought one against four just now and seemed to be in perilous danger, Perfected Lord Feixue had been observing in secret and wouldn't really have let him be in danger. But now, to intercept [Immortal Lord Shaoyin] and [Immortal Lord Daoyan], she had left. This moment was likely when Lu Yang was most in danger!
The real killing trap was only just beginning now!
Thinking of this, Perfected Lord Feixue immediately began to ponder. Who could it be? [Bodhisattva Precious Lotus Hidden Subduer]? Or is the World Honored One personally stepping in?
No, that's not right. None of those are secure.
A mid-stage golden core could suppress Lu Yang, but it would be hard to kill him. If Lu Yang were determined to run, they still couldn't stop him. Only a Great Perfected Lord would have certainty.
With the World Honored One's methods, would he leave any variables?
In this setup, who was the real bait? Who was the real fish? And who was the fisherman holding the rod, fishing in the pond, and ultimately profiting?
"...Ha!"
After a moment of silence, Perfected Lord Feixue suddenly laughed aloud. "I actually underestimated you. Although you are sick beyond cure, you can become a Great Perfected Lord after all!"
...
Outer Heaven Light Sea.
Lu Yang held the freshly refined true treasure, the [Righteous Dao Enlightenment Banner], a look of surprise on his face. "The quality of this true treasure... is surprisingly good!"
Lu Yang had always known the [Myriad Spirits Banner] was powerful. It was a growth-type supreme treasure whose profound wonders were entirely determined by the quality and quantity of the banner spirits within. When he first obtained it, it was merely at the spiritual treasure level. Back then, Lu Yang even thought it would soon be eliminated.
Just like the Avici Sword of the past.
However, as the number of banner spirits increased and their realms rose, it naturally upgraded to the spirit treasure level, eventually even becoming a top-tier spirit treasure.
As Lu Yang progressed, it never fell behind.
And after Suo Huan, Empress Xiao, and Patriarch Nether Whisper achieved the status of perfected lord, the profound wonders of this spirit treasure reached their peak, vaguely exceeding the spirit treasure tier.
This is definitely not something Mu Changsheng could refine.
Lu Yang rubbed his chin. It is, after all, a supreme treasure used to hold an embryonic dao fruit. I fear there was Heavenly Lord's interference, just like the [Tribulation Wave] I refined back then.
Back then, the [Tribulation Wave] was refined under [Sky-Shrouding]'s interference. Its power was so strong that even now, Lu Yang was still using it. The [Myriad Spirits Banner] must be similar; otherwise, it would be difficult to explain its stature and profound wonders, which were visibly higher than a spirit treasure. Perhaps there was a backup plan left by Heavenly Lord within it.
Of course, this banner of mine definitely doesn't have one.
After all, it had been washed by [The Book of a Hundred Lifetimes]. Now that it had been refined into a true treasure, it was dyed with Lu Yang's colors and imprints from head to toe.
Thinking about it, Lu Yang suddenly raised his head. Strange... something's not right!
How long has it been?
By logic, the Saint Sect should have discovered the problem by now. The [Heaven-Reaching Hall] should have re-contacted him to guide him back.
Why is there no movement?
In a flash of lightning, Lu Yang reacted with the intuition of a Saint Sect perfected lord, deriving the same conclusion as Perfected Lord Feixue:
Damn it, the World Honored One is trying to harm me again!
In an instant, Lu Yang had the thought to leave this light sea first. However, in the next second, the expression on his face turned completely dark.
Because nothing happened.
In the outer heaven light sea, everything relied primarily on divine sense guidance. As long as coordinates were anchored, one could travel there in a single thought. Theoretically, one shouldn't be intercepted halfway unless someone used great spiritual power and great divine abilities to cut off, block, and forbid passage, trapping a person within the light sea.
What counts as great spiritual power and great divine ability?
Late-Stage Golden Core!
After sorting out his thoughts, Lu Yang let out a deep breath. Then, as if responding to his guess, a sound suddenly came from the distance:
Tap... tap... tap...
Amidst the boundless light sea, the sound of footsteps drifted over faintly—steady, calm, like a towering mountain walking unhurriedly towards him.
In the next second, the light sea dimmed.
The newcomer stole all the colors of this light sea, causing heaven and earth to darken into a void, transforming into a chaotic abyss. The newcomer walked upon the surface of this abyss.
Lu Yang looked over and saw the newcomer dressed simply, with a dragon-like posture and phoenix-like appearance, wearing a frivolous smile, resembling a wealthy young master on a spring outing. Hanging at his waist was a beautifully decorated precious sword. Though it showed no divine wonder, it caused a needle-like pain to suddenly appear in Lu Yang's divine sense.
This wasn't intentional on the other party's part.
It was merely the natural reaction of Lu Yang's divine sense upon touching the other party, just as a finger stroking a sharp sword would inevitably bleed.
Hu!
The other party didn't conceal his karma. At this moment, Lu Yang calmed down instead, looking at the newcomer with an indescribably strange gaze.
"I didn't expect it would be you, Senior..."
Although he had never truly met the newcomer, Lu Yang still deduced the other party's identity.
All along, the other party had been very low-key. Even with Lu Yang's experience of ten lifetimes, he had almost never seen him take action, only hearing a few rumors about him.
Coercing the Dragon Lord, wielding his sword overseas.
Only once did Perfected Lord Feixue force him to act, testing his condition. Afterward, the news that he was "sick beyond cure" spread throughout the world.
Including [Sky-Shrouding], who also looked down on him.
Over time, everyone stopped taking him seriously, believing him to be a living dead man, powerless to fight others, and unworthy of concern.
But now, he had appeared.
With a gentle smile and refined demeanor, his aura encompassed the universe, causing the surrounding outer heaven light sea pale in comparison. Where was there any sign of being sick beyond cure?
Lu Yang sighed deeply:
"...Sword Pavilion, [Perfected Lord Gangxing Budao]!"