A boundless, dark land.
Above the surface of the abyss, Lu Yang's eyes suddenly snapped open. However, with that single movement, his eyeballs exploded with a muffled boom, leaving behind two hollow black holes.
Tears of blood rolled down his face.
Immediately, visible cracks centered on his eyes spread rapidly across his body, like a piece of fine porcelain on the verge of shattering.
He remained in this state for a long time before the cracks finally stopped spreading. After another agonizing period, the fractures began to heal slowly. Flesh and blood re-condensed within the two black voids, until a pair of bright eyes were once again nestled in their sockets.
"Phew!"
Lu Yang finally exhaled his first breath since restarting. In his mind, he subconsciously reached for the final scene he had witnessed before the world ended.
"...What was it again?"
Lu Yang frowned. He remembered the events—the Dao Lords damaging their own cultivation, their true bodies descending from the Paramita to seize the Netherworld. But the specifics? What did the Dao Lords' hands look like? What were their characteristics? What wonders did they manifest? This information seemed to have never existed in his mind. He simply couldn't remember.
"This is a bit too much, isn't it?"
Lu Yang swallowed hard. After a lifetime of relying on innate talent and grueling hard work, he considered himself an outstanding cultivator—a "somebody" in the grand scheme.
But the reality? He didn't even have the capacity to look directly at a Dao Lord.
"No, it wasn't just me. Even the Great Perfected Lords at the late-stage Golden Core were the same... perhaps they were slightly better, but their resistance was ultimately negligible."
Recalling the world-destroying scene before the restart, Lu Yang's eye twitched. "The Dao Lords destroying the world probably wasn't intentional. It was likely a mere side effect of descending with their true bodies to extract the Netherworld... They simply didn't care, and so, the world ended."
"[Sky-Shrouding] really poked a massive hole in the sky..."
He was certain that the Thousand Year Great Tribulation, under a normal script, was never meant to look like this. It should have been a prolonged war lasting over a thousand years. Perfected Lords would be the pieces, and Dao Lords would be the players. To put it bluntly, it was meant to be a civil dispute. The Dao Lords would profit amicably while watching their pieces be exchanged.
However, [Sky-Shrouding] had overturned the chessboard.
He had forced the Dao Lords into the arena, turning a civil game into a bloody brawl. The result was that all the Dao Lords lost face, which indirectly led to the destruction of the world. Looking at it this way, it was no wonder the Nascent Soul Dao Lords never descended in their true forms. If looking at them caused instantaneous death, who could possibly withstand their presence?
Lu Yang patted his chest, trying to steady his nerves. If he weren't in the standby state before restarting, he would have summoned Empress Xiao just to calm his shock. This restart had been truly harrowing.
But that wasn't even the scariest part. The most terrifying realization was the outcome of [Sky-Shrouding]'s pursuit of the Dao. Though he hadn't seen the whole process, Lu Yang could guess the crux of it from the ending.
"That old ghost was plotted against."
"The Netherworld actually has a master?"
After a moment of silence, Lu Yang shook his head. "No, not a master. It was likely a remnant thought. Regardless, it ultimately perished along with [Sky-Shrouding]."
"In the end, whether it was the Saint Sect's old monster nurturing him or the World Honored One supporting him, both were urging him toward the Netherworld. They wanted him to crash headfirst into the Netherworld Core and perish alongside that remnant thought, thereby prying the gates of the Netherworld wide open so the Dao Lords could enter and clean up the mess..."
The realization chilled him to the bone.
"[Sky-Shrouding]'s Dao Heart was perfect; his thoughts couldn't be influenced. In other words, he truly believed from the bottom of his heart that the Netherworld could be claimed. But in reality, could it?"
Lu Yang fell into a long contemplation, reviewing everything he had seen. He finally reached a conclusion: "It could. He wasn't wrong!"
[Sky-Shrouding] was right. The Netherworld could indeed be sought, and there was a genuine hope of stepping into the Dao Lord level. The only problem was that he never expected the Netherworld to already have a master.
"This is logical. The master of the Netherworld should have been the almighty who first attained the Void Attainment of the Netherworld. But that person was killed by the Dao Lords. Who would expect a remnant thought to survive? When Dao Lords move, it's reasonable to assume nothing—not even dregs—would remain."
"This was [Sky-Shrouding]'s fatal miscalculation."
"From beginning to end, the Saint Sect's old monster likely never lied to him. With that old ghost's caution, he would have sniffed out a falsehood. The Saint Sect's old monster simply concealed one truth: that the Netherworld already had a master. It's the most brilliant lie—no need to deceive, just tell the truth selectively to achieve the goal."
"Bastard!" Lu Yang cursed, feeling a pang of pity for [Sky-Shrouding]. The "Number One Perfected Lord under Heaven" was, in the eyes of the Dao Lords, nothing more than a key to the Netherworld.
It was a tragedy, but not one born of incompetence. It was simply the limitation of a lower ream cultivator's perspective. A frog in a well cannot comprehend the vastness of the heavens. Without the perspective of an upper realm cultivator, one is pitted without even knowing it.
But to have an upper realm perspective, you must become an upper realm cultivator. Yet for lower realm cultivators to become upper realm cultivators, they must first have an upper realm perspective. It's simply a paradox. Unless you can find an upper realm cultivator who is especially friendly to you and genuinely willing to help you. But where would such a person exist in this damned place?
The more Lu Yang thought, the grimmer his expression became. He wasn't just mourning [Sky-Shrouding]; he had always viewed the man as a benchmark for his own cultivation.
Now, [Sky-Shrouding] had failed miserably. His lifelong pursuit was revealed to be a ridiculous farce.
Who the hell can I copy now?
Lu Yang's confusion deepened. Dao Lords above... is there truly no road to walk? Is seeking the Dao just flowers in a mirror or the moon in the water, its just an illussion?
"No! That's impossible!"
Lu Yang took a deep breath, replaying [Sky-Shrouding]'s final charge in his mind. After an unknown amount of time, a spark of light returned to his eyes.
"Wait... that's it!"
"There is still a glimmer of hope! There's still a chance!"
"If the result of [Sky-Shrouding]'s attempt was destined to fail no matter what, why did the Dao Lords spare no cost to stop him? Even the Saint Sect Ancestor moved!"
"If [Sky-Shrouding] was undoubtedly defeated, they could have just sat back and watched him bash his head against the Netherworld, right? Why intervene?"
Lu Yang's eyes grew brighter as he grasped the crucial clue.
"Because [Sky-Shrouding] still held a trump card. He must have struck a deal with the World Honored One to be resurrected once after death."
"If the Dao Lords hadn't blocked him, even if he had perished along with the remnant thought of the Netherworld Core, he could have resurrected and charged again. If he had, he would have successfully controlled the Netherworld!"
So the Dao Lords made their move!
Their intervention wasn't to stop him from seeking the Netherworld, but to strip him of his resurrection. That was the key!
"In this regard, the World Honored One likely had no ill intentions. The resurrection count was held in His hands, and given His situation, He truly needs a Dao Lord-level ally."
"Alas, the Saint Sect Ancestor acted. That [Inevitable Fate] was a puzzle neither [Sky-Shrouding] nor the World Honored One could solve. They were forced to consume the resurrection. That was the winning move!"
Lu Yang summarized two vital points: First, the architect of [Sky-Shrouding]'s downfall was the Saint Sect's old monster. Second, the World Honored One was indeed the Dao Lord standing on [Sky-Shrouding]'s side.
As for the Dao Lords snatching the Netherworld at the end? That was just business. Once [Sky-Shrouding] was dead, the lamp was out. The World Honored One had to grab what He could. He was weaker than the others, so His share was smaller, but He didn't lose out entirely.
Lu Yang exhaled a long breath, a heavy burden finally lifting from his shoulders.
The conclusion was clear—seeking the Netherworld is not a dead end!
Either find a way to gain an extra life without the Saint Sect's old monster knowing, or find a way to break that [Inevitable Fate].
Whichever path he chose, there was finally a glimmer of survival.
(End of Chapter)