Above the [Sea of Bitterness], Patriarch Nether Whisper stood with his hands bound.
At this moment, the light point he had planted into the [Sea of Bitterness] earlier had already grown a circle larger. The intense Five Elements colors of azure, yellow, red, white, and black completely wrapped it within.
The appearance of a propulsion rocket was already there.
And after recounting the secret of the First Grade, Patriarch Nether Whisper smiled slightly. Immediately, without dragging things out, he turned his hand seal, and his entire aura underwent a huge change along with it!
Rumble!
In an instant, the Five Elements colors surrounding [Heaven of Carefree] suddenly exploded. Finally, a Dao Fruit conjured from imagination abruptly revealed its stature.
This process was incredibly fast.
Lu Yang widened his eyes, pushing his divine sense to the limit, before finally seeing Patriarch Nether Whisper's operation clearly. Then he felt bad all over.
How is this possible...
Patriarch Nether Whisper had said before that no matter what kind of Dao Fruit was imagined, the foundation was [Heaven of Carefree], so essentially there was only one portion of stature.
So theoretically, no matter how it changed, the stature would not change.
However, Patriarch Nether Whisper came up with an extremely unconstrained method, the principle exactly the same as Lu Yang's previous analogy of a propulsion rocket.
First, he elevated his stature.
Then, he abruptly withdrew the supporting stature beneath him. Before his own stature could fully collapse, he used the next conjured Dao Fruit to elevate himself again from the original position.
Truly stepping on one's left foot with one's right.
No, the key lies in the conjured Dao Fruits. Without this transformation, using identical Dao Fruits could not accomplish such an absurd maneuver.
Five Element Dao Fruit pairing was inherently capable of elevating stature step by step. Patriach Nether Whisper exploited this principle to force ascension. However, during the conversion between Dao Fruits, there was no true foothold. As a result, stature still fell. Reaching the Paramita through this method was impossible.
This wasn't hard to understand.
Under normal circumstances, if all Five Elements Dao Fruits were present, one could climb to the Paramita. However, Patriarch Nether Whisper's method of stepping on his left foot with his right foot had a time lag.
Just like now.
Patriarch Nether Whisper had already used [Wall Earth] to raise his stature, but while switching to [Wellspring Water] to continue climbing, his stature was falling.
This was inevitable.
Because he actually couldn't reach that kind of stature. Without a foothold at that height, falling was normal; it was just delaying the time of falling.
The Patriarch cannot reach the sky in a single bound and arrive at the Paramita with this.
Not just the Paramita, even the stature of a Great Perfected Lord is probably a bit short... But as I expected earlier, a First Grade Perfected Lord is definitely a certainty.
Lu Yang pondered in his heart, but the earlier joy had vanished from his face.
Because right now there was a bigger problem.
Bang!
With an explosive sound, Patriarch Nether Whisper's figure suddenly swayed. His originally flawless white jade Dharma Body suddenly cracked, and a fissure appeared on his glabella.
Injury from stature falling!
Seeing this scene, Lu Yang subconsciously took a step forward.
He knew the reason for Patriarch Nether Whisper's injury. Forcibly climbing to a height that didn't belong to him, falling due to unstable footing—how could he not be injured?
However, the next second, Patriarch Nether Whisper spoke to stop his action.
"Don't come over!"
"It's just a minor injury... How can seeking the Dao be without risk? Moreover, this is an internal cause, I can solve it. The external tribulation is when you need to act!"
Patriarch Nether Whisper's voice was incredibly stern.
Rather, it was the first time Lu Yang heard him so stern.
Therefore, after a moment of silence, Lu Yang took a step back. He didn't speak, nor did he move forward again, watching Patriarch Nether Whisper continue to climb his stature step by step.
In this process, the cracking of Patriarch Nether Whisper's Dharma Body became increasingly obvious. Rolling blood flowed from his glabella, hands, feet, shoulders, and back, falling and directly turning the [Sea of Bitterness] beneath his feet into a pool of blood. Yet even so, his eyes and body didn't waver because of it.
Its not worth mentioning...!
With him bleeding a bit now, Lu Yang might have an extra life in the future because of his appearance. In his view, this was a transaction that couldn't be more cost-effective.
Meanwhile, in the Immortal Nexus.
Foundation Establishment Perfected One felt nothing. Even among Golden Core Perfected Lords, those like [Perfected Lord Chengtian Zhengde], the Three Excellency of the Dao Court, and the like didn't sense much.
Only mid-stage Golden Core cultivators sensed it most clearly.
They couldn't see exactly who was doing what, but they could sense that the other party was stirring the Immortal Nexus, and through the Immortal Nexus, stirring the entire sea of light.
For a time, many began to calculate with their fingers.
Soon, they saw a scene: In the endless ocean, a young Daoist stood with hands behind his back in a pool of blood, his back facing all living beings.
True appearance? Title? Origins? None could be calculated.
All that could be calculated was this light and shadow image. Knowledgeable people knew this was in the [Sea of Bitterness], but exactly where in the [Sea of Bitterness] couldn't be calculated.
...
Jiangbei, Heaven-Connecting Cloud Sea.
Perfected Lord Feixue raised her head, surprise surfacing in her beautiful eyes: "This is... Dao Fruit Sublimation Ritual! Not the previous person, where did this one pop out from?"
After speaking, she rubbed her glabella.
She had to admit, even she had a bit of a headache at this moment... The Immortal Nexus truly brought forth talented people in succession. Why did this kind of figure pop up from time to time?
A while ago, one just came out to confront [Sky-Shrouding].
Now another one came out.
Each one was a sure variable, messing up the world situation she originally thought was relatively clear, forcing everyone to seek change.
But soon, Perfected Lord Feixue put away her worried look, high fighting spirit surfacing on her brow: "Forget it, forget it. Seeking change, seeking change is also a good thing! What's the point of the world being a pool of stagnant water? It needs to change, to fight... fight until the sky is dark and the earth is dim, until karma ceases to exist, only then is there a chance to seek the Dao!"
...
[Sea of Bitterness].
A figure completely shrouded in smoke raised his head, sensing the invisible karma. At the same time, he calculated with his fingers, a cold look surfacing in his narrow eyes.
"I related to that bastard..."
Among the current Perfected Lords of the Immortal Nexus, his Dao comprehension was the highest. Therefore, the information he could calculate from the great net of karma far exceeded other Golden Core Perfected Lords.
In the scene calculated by others, there was only Patriarch Nether Whisper.
However, in the scene he calculated, besides Patriarch Nether Whisper, there was also a figure with sleeves tucked, standing not far away, guarding him.
That figure, he wouldn't forget even in death.
The bastard whose name he didn't know!
"Dao Fruit Sublimation Ritual—intolerable by heaven and earth... Good, good, good. This time he can no longer flee, he must face me directly!"
[Sky-Shrouding] laughed aloud.
Immediately after, following the guidance of karma in the unseen, he rode the wind and broke the waves, speeding toward the area of the [Sea of Bitterness] where Patriarch Nether Whisper was forging the path!
Almost simultaneously—
Suddenly, Lu Yang raised his head, a cold look surfacing in his eyes. The glow of [Holding Candle] in his hand flourished, illuminating karma, allowing him to see clearly the approaching malice.
"...[Sky-Shrouding]?"
"Circumstances are unpredictable. I didn't expect he would be the one pulled over by karma in the end. True, he and I are mortal enemies. It seems a battle cannot be avoided after all."
Lu Yang looked calm.
He wasn't afraid of this, even feeling slightly excited. Although he asked himself if he might not be a match for [Sky-Shrouding], battles were never theoretical discussions.
Without truly fighting, who knew the result?
Perfect, I'll use [Sky-Shrouding] as an opponent to test my current strength—whether I truly stand on the critical point of a First Grade Perfected Lord!