Just as the Old Dragon Lord and Mu Changsheng were communicating with each other, each harboring ulterior motives, on the other side, Lu Yang and [Sky-Shrouding] were similarly discussing a major matter.
"Fellow Daoist, speak frankly."
[Sky-Shrouding] cut straight to the point, saying faintly, "Pulling that shrew into the game is fine, but considering the Old Dragon Lord's stance, we still need one more person."
As expected, he saw it too.
Lu Yang understood clearly in his heart. Evidently, [Sky-Shrouding] had reached the same conclusion as him, and even his judgment on the Old Dragon Lord's stance was very precise.
But this is normal. I told him before about [Perfected Lord Gangxing Budao] secretly seeking [Heavenly Fire]. And the fact that the Old Dragon Lord holds the inheritance of [Heavenly Fire] likely couldn't be hidden from him either. Based on this, it's not surprising to deduce that there might be a problem with the Old Dragon Lord.
Thinking of this, Lu Yang said simply, "Does Senior have a candidate?"
[Sky-Shrouding] shook his head. "No more. Even that shrew is picking the tall one from among the dwarfs."
"Actually, we can lower our requirements."
Lu Yang said in a deep voice, "Someone like Perfected Lord Feixue is ultimately in the minority. In fact, as long as they can temporarily stall the Old Dragon Lord, it should be completely sufficient."
"In that case..."
Hearing this, [Sky-Shrouding] said deeply, "[Perfected Lord Hanguang Futian]... Although slightly weaker, stalling should still be achievable."
"Moreover, that old loach is smart and judges the situation. Although he might defect to the Sword Pavilion, if the general trend is with me, he will only follow the flow. In the end, he might not necessarily stand on the same stance as the Sword Pavilion. Even if we give enough benefits first, he will inevitably stay out of it."
"Then it's settled." Lu Yang finalized the decision.
"Good." [Sky-Shrouding] also chuckled lightly. "Since that's the case, I'll trouble Fellow Daoist to invite them. After all, if I went, negotiations would likely collapse."
You still have self-awareness?
Lu Yang nodded. "Then I'll do it. However, it's inconvenient for me to leave this place. I ask Senior to lend me the [World-Retribution Incarnation] for a use."
"...Alright."
[Sky-Shrouding] nodded readily.
Immortal Nexus, North of the River, Heaven-Connecting Cloud Sea.
Clouds rolled and unrolled, the sun set and rose. The cold wind howled, with few human voices. The vast Sacred Fire Cliff now appeared rather desolate, revealing an eerie deathly stillness.
Not long after, a beam of heavenly light descended.
In the next second, the void opened, and a man in luxurious robes stepped out. A cluster of candlelight flickered in his palm, and the intense profound wonder of "Revelation" immediately dispersed.
[Holding Candle]!
Under the influence of this profound wonder, the Sacred Fire Cliff, which at first glance seemed desolate and deathly still, immediately revealed streaks of array patterns. Under the illumination of the firelight, all secrets were instantly exposed. The great array had nowhere to hide, and the tiny flaws in its operation were clearly visible, unable to hide from the eyes of the robed man.
"What a great array."
While sighing in admiration, the robed man stepped directly into the great array as if entering an uninhabited land, passing through the array's blockade with ease.
However, in the next second, a large hand slapped over.
The palm was pink and fair, clearly belonging to a woman. Yet the skin that seemed breakable by a blow was now permeated with a massive amount of complex Great Dao marks.
The fundamental profound wonder of [Stream Water], Cleansing World Light.
BOOM!
Instantly, only the hollow sound of the void was heard. Lu Yang collided impartially with that large hand. The scene before his eyes was instantly shrouded by a sky full of white frost.
All that filled his vision was a boundless, formless frost—an expanse so absolute it smothered spiritual vitality and silenced all things. In the next instant, it erupted into a cataclysmic storm, annihilating everything in its path.
Lu Yang's figure was helplessly assimilated into that pallid frost, like ink wiped clean from a page, on the verge of vanishing without a trace in the blink of an eye.
"Hmm?"
Suddenly, a soft sound of surprise rang out. The void opened, and Perfected Lord Feixue stepped out. Her slender jade hand slowly withdrew, and astonishment finally appeared in the depths of her eyes.
Because Lu Yang was unharmed.
Clearly having been swept over by that destructive frost storm, yet he stood leisurely in place as if it had nothing to do with him—without the slightest hindrance.
This scene caused Perfected Lord Feixue's eyebrows to raise slightly:
"Dharma Body Dao? What great audacity!"
At these words, Lu Yang instantly narrowed his eyes: Perfected Lord Feixue... can actually call out the name of the Dharma Body Dao? As expected, her background is also unusual.
Dharma Body Dao—this name wasn't something an ordinary person could call out. Only old antiques like [Sky-Shrouding] and the Old Dragon Lord, who started with tens of thousands of years, would understand it. Perfected Lord Feixue, having ascended to her position only five thousand years ago, was absolutely a youngster. She shouldn't be able to call out this name.
However, she wasn't wrong about one point.
I am indeed a bit overly audacious...
In the eyes of the Saint Sect Ancestor, the Dharma Body Dao was undoubtedly a thorn in the eye and a prick in the flesh. Under these circumstances, he actually entered the Saint Sect openly and aboveboard.
But I'm using the [World-Retribution Incarnation].
If something really happens, the one losing out is [Sky-Shrouding].
Thinking of this, Lu Yang's somewhat apprehensive mood instantly returned to calm. He smiled: "It can't be called audacious, just somewhat confident."
"Confident? Hmph..."
Perfected Lord Feixue didn't say much more. Instead, she scrutinized Lu Yang with a calm expression, looking as if to say, "I'd like to see what you can say for yourself."
At the same time, Lu Yang was also sizing up Perfected Lord Feixue.
As expected, she is different from other Perfected Lords...
So far, he had seen quite a few Dao Fruits and fought quite a few Perfected Lords. However, Perfected Lord Feixue was the most special one among them.
In my previous life, I listed her as Tier One in the Five-Tier Theory of Perfected Lords. Actually, I knew the what but not the why. I only knew her combat power crowned the world, and her Dao comprehension was even high enough to rival a Great Perfected Lord. But based on this alone, she seemed insufficient to be mentioned in the same breath as [Sky-Shrouding] and the others.
Looking at Perfected Lord Feixue back then, he couldn't quite see the trick.
But looking again now, relying on the [Holding Candle] profound wonder, Lu Yang finally truly saw the depth of Perfected Lord Feixue and saw the secret of her combat power.
Her Dao Fruit profound wonder is very different!
Clearly just [Ravine Stream Water], completely incomparable to [Heavenly Fire], yet the feeling the Dao Fruit profound wonder gives me is stronger than [Inscribing Heavenly Chapter]?
No, incorrect, not stronger.
Accurately speaking, it was the degree of development of the Dao Fruit profound wonder.
If the gap in profound wonder between ordinary Dao Fruits and Supreme Dao Fruits lay in [Breadth], then the development of the Dao Fruit profound wonder was [Depth].
And in this domain, Perfected Lord Feixue had almost achieved the extreme.
Not to mention anything else, at least the Dao Fruit profound wonder [Cleansing World Light] she displayed gave Lu Yang a feeling somewhat similar to [Sky-Shrouding]'s [Knowledge-Perception Barrier]!
With this thought, Lu Yang instantly recalled his experience from the previous life.
In the previous life, [Sky-Shrouding]'s remnant image had once said a sentence to him that remained fresh in his memory:
"Without even laying a good foundation, without sublimating the existing Dao Fruit profound wonder to the Supreme Domain... scattered but not refined. Void attainment is just empty talk for you."
—This was it!
Lu Yang suddenly realized in his heart:
Sublimating the Dao Fruit profound wonder to the Supreme Domain... just as I expected, Perfected Lord Feixue should have reached this level mentioned by [Sky-Shrouding]!