In the boundless darkness, Lu Yang stood silently on the surface of the abyss.
This was the world before the reset.
In the very beginning, Lu Yang couldn't even detect the existence of this world. He only felt his vision go dark, and when he opened his eyes, he was already in his next life.
However, as his cultivation grew higher, he became more familiar with this dark world.
"It's very similar to the Dark Void."
Lu Yang looked around. This boundless darkness was similar to the space he was in before anchoring his position in the dark void of the sea of light, giving rise to many speculations.
But more importantly, this time was different from before.
Previously, only his consciousness came to this place. But now, he could see his hands, feet, and clothes—he clearly had a complete body.
"Is it the effect of the opportunity from [The Mortal World]?"
Enlightenment dawned in Lu Yang's heart, and he immediately began to sense it carefully. In a trance, he once again saw the strange treasure he had pocketed at the very end.
In an instant, he felt as if his body exploded into fragments filling the sky. His consciousness expanded infinitely, then melted and merged back into one. In just this single cycle, his body seemed to have been polished and refined countless times. If he was a stubborn rock before, he was now refined steel.
"It's because of the Dao Heart!"
Lu Yang realized: "As my Dao Heart becomes firmer and my perception of the True Self clearer, my state in this place also becomes more perfect."
At this step, it was already approaching the extreme.
And what use was a perfect Dao Heart to a cultivator?
"With my current Dao Heart, even without a Golden Nature, if I go to the Netherworld for reincarnation, I can probably ensure my True Self remains imperishable and isn't worn away by reincarnation."
In other words, even if he didn't choose to keep his cultivation after resetting and returned to the initial anchor point with only Qi Refining cultivation, then committed suicide to reincarnate in the Netherworld, his memories wouldn't be washed away by the Netherworld. Instead, he would reincarnate while directly retaining his perception of the True Self. To some extent, this replaced the function of the Golden Nature.
"No, that's not right."
"To be more precise, it should be that the Golden Nature replaced the function of the Dao Heart... With the Golden Nature, cultivators rarely cultivate the Dao Heart anymore..."
Thinking of this, Lu Yang was instantly horrified:
"Golden Nature, Dao Heart."
"The Golden Nature is a product of the Grotto-Heaven Method. What does that old immortal from the Saint Sect mean? Using Golden Nature to replace the Dao Heart... is he deliberately trying to prevent people from cultivating the Dao Heart?"
It wasn't impossible!
After all, having cultivated for ten lifetimes, he only truly came into contact with cultivation methods related to the Dao Heart in this lifetime, and in a remote, small world realm at that.
Yet a system that could be born even in a small world realm like the Supreme Imperial World had absolutely no clues in that lousy place called the Immortal Nexus. Whether it was the Saint Sect, the Dao Court, or the Sword Pavilion, none of them had cultivation methods related to the Dao Heart. Only the Pure Land had a hint of it, and even that was monopolized by the World Honored One.
The more Lu Yang thought about it, the more absurd it seemed.
"The Grotto-Heaven Method is a huge pit!"
His attitude toward this cultivation method had changed several times—from initial amazement to suspicion, and finally to the current horror.
Terrifying when thought about carefully!
However, after figuring it out, there were benefits.
"If the purpose of the Grotto-Heaven Method is to prevent people from breaking through to the Nascent Soul, then by seeing what it targets, one can actually deduce the secrets of the Nascent Soul in reverse."
"The Grotto-Heaven Method... the Grotto-Heaven not falling binds the cultivator to the Dao Fruit, and the Golden Nature keeps the cultivator from cultivating the Dao Heart... So to break through to the Nascent Soul, first, one cannot be deeply bound to the Dao Fruit, and second, the Dao Heart must be strong. Both are likely indispensable; otherwise, the Grotto-Heaven Method wouldn't target them!"
Thinking of this, Lu Yang's eyes gradually brightened.
"This is my greatest harvest in this lifetime! Compared to this, cultivation is nothing. Knowing where the path lies and how to walk it is the most important thing!"
Just then, [The Book of a Hundred Lifetimes] emerged.
[Please choose a reset anchor point.]
Looking at the panel before him, Lu Yang fell into deep thought. According to his previous thinking, the best choice was naturally the third anchor point where he had just attained [Heavenly Fire].
After all, he had already refined the [Dao Enlightenment and Self-Realization Immortal Method]. As long as he reset to the third anchor point, he could immediately break through to the mid-stage Golden Core, achieving the Grotto-Heaven not falling... However, knowing there was a problem with the Grotto-Heaven Method, Lu Yang gradually grew suspicious. His previous exchange with the [Sky-Shrouding] projection surfaced in his mind.
First, a viewpoint had to be established.
"[Sky-Shrouding], that old bastard from the Saint Sect, cannot be trusted. Nine truths and one lie, or nine lies and one truth—both are possible. Believing him is eighty percent likely to land you in a pit."
Based on this, a judgment could be made: "When [Sky-Shrouding] fought me earlier, he said my development of [Heavenly Fire] was far from sufficient and that I should focus my energy on developing the Dao Fruit."
"Such words, coupled with his record of thrashing me with [Great Forest Wood], are convincing enough. In fact, I did consider whether to delve deep into [Heavenly Fire]. But the more I think so, the stranger it gets... Would someone like [Sky-Shrouding] really give pointers to a junior disciple?"
Lu Yang hadn't forgotten that book, the Decree on Observing the Golden Core!
"The more I feel there's no problem, the more tempted I am, the more likely it's a pit [Sky-Shrouding] dug for me. There must be a problem here!"
"And [Sky-Shrouding] is different from me."
"I could discover the problem with the Grotto-Heaven Method early because I used cheats. But what about him? It wouldn't be so easy for him to know these secrets."
"According to my guess, when he discovered the problem with the Grotto-Heaven Method, his cultivation should have already been very high. Eighty percent chance he didn't have the opportunity to rein in his horse at the cliff's edge and had already stepped into the pit... That's why he deliberately used words and actions to lure me, wanting to mislead me and get me into the pit too!"
In short: I got soaked in the rain back then, so why should you get to hold an umbrella?
That was [Sky-Shrouding]'s character!
"Old bastard..."
Lu Yang cursed inwardly while making a decision: "I won't go to the third anchor point! Besides the problem with the Grotto-Heaven Method, [Heavenly Fire] is also a bit too conspicuous."
Next, he needed to keep a low profile.
"The first anchor point won't work; I can't go there either."
Because this time he was choosing to keep his cultivation. If he chose to go to the first anchor point, he wouldn't have any anchor points left to use if he wanted to change routes later.
So there was only one answer.
That was the anchor point set when he had just established his foundation, out of youthful ignorance. At that time, he was still a rooted Saint Sect Foundation Establishment cultivator.
And he cultivated [City Rampart Earth].
Thinking of this, Lu Yang even felt somewhat nostalgic.
"At the time, I thought it was a dead save file. Looking at it now, not necessarily. It just depends on whether choosing to keep my cultivation will overwrite the Dao Foundation of [City Rampart Earth]."
If it could be overwritten, naturally everyone would be happy.
Even if it couldn't, with his current vision and methods, it wasn't impossible to change his Dao Foundation. The so-called "once attained, forever attained" was only from the perspective of lower cultivators.
The higher the perspective, the more one understands that nothing is absolute.
In short, it was worth a try!
With this thought, Lu Yang immediately cast aside his worries and spoke his choice to the panel of [The Book of a Hundred Lifetimes]: "Reset. Go to the second anchor point!"
As his voice fell, the darkness before him instantly rippled.
Like a book turning to a brand-new page, fragmented light emerged from the shattered darkness, filling his vision in an instant.
Like sunlight piercing through the night.
[Your decisive suicide left the World Honored One somewhat baffled. He felt something was wrong and even reviewed the records of the Sea of Bitterness but found nothing. In the end, he had to give up and destroyed the "Heavenly Being's Remnant Consciousness" instead. Before dying, the Sky-Shrouding projection kept cursing you bitterly.]