At the Star Palace, Lu Yang had already retracted his heaven-spanning dharma body and returned to his normal size. He stood with his hands behind his back, his expression completely tranquil.
The feeling of bullying the weak with sheer power is truly wonderful.
No wonder the World Honored One loves stomping on people. I've cultivated bitterly for so many years to achieve my current cultivation base. It's only right that I trample lesser cultivators underfoot!
From start to finish, he hadn't used any profound concepts. He had relied purely on the brute strength and sturdy frame of his Dharma Body. But honestly, you couldn't blame that Chamber Sun Rabbit Star Lord. Let alone a mere Star Lord, even if Perfected Lord Chengtian Zhengde were here, Lu Yang would have stomped him to death just the same.
With this, the Star Palace should finally look at me with some respect.
After all, my Dharma Body is so massive and sturdy. To them, whose lifespans have plummeted because of the severed Dharma Body Dao, it must be irresistibly attractive.
And indeed, it was.
The very next second, a streak of light sped over, and a man stepped out. It was the male Star Lord who had previously accompanied the Chamber Sun Rabbit.
However, completely contrary to the arrogance and indifference he had displayed when he thought Lu Yang was just an Unorthodox native, his face was now plastered with a fawning smile.
Traces of terror still lingered in the depths of his eyes. After all, if he hadn't been perceptive enough to run fast and early just now, he would probably be buried alongside her.
At the thought of this, his smile grew even more obsequious. He immediately offered a deep bow.
"Fu Chen pays his respects to the Senior."
Hearing this, Lu Yang put on an amiable expression. "I apologize. I failed to control my strength properly and accidentally stomped that fellow Daoist to death just now. Please don't take offense."
Fu Chen's eye twitched at the words.
But he quickly assumed a look of righteous indignation. "Not at all! I don't mind in the slightest! This incident was clearly Tiansi not knowing what's good for her."
"By stomping her to death, Fellow Daoist, you've actually helped our Star Palace clean the house!"
"Is that so?"
Lu Yang raised an eyebrow, smiling. "Please don't force yourself to say that, Fellow Daoist."
Fu Chen shook his head decisively, his expression solemn. "I'm not forcing myself at all! These are words of true justice. Also... several Exalted Ones in the palace wish to meet with you, Senior."
Finally.
As expected, after displaying his massive Dharma Body, the Star Palace reacted immediately, and their urgency made their desperate covetousness plainly obvious.
Excellent. The more they want it, the better.
The more desperate they are for me, the better I can negotiate terms... Besides, I haven't revealed the power of the Dao Fruit I devoured, so I haven't exposed my true bottom line.
This was all thanks to [The Book of a Hundred Lifetimes]. With it washing his cultivation clean, unless he actively exposed himself, there was no way for anyone to probe his secrets. And merely possessing a powerful Dharma Body was far from enough to draw a Dao Lord's attention. After all, as long as the Dharma Body Dao didn't truly re-emerge into the world, it was all empty talk.
With this in mind, Lu Yang simply nodded.
"Lead the way."
The Star Palace, Central Palace Pavilion.
Under Fu Chen's guidance, he strode grandly into the majestic pavilion, proceeding all the way to the pagoda-like great hall housing the thirty-six stone statues.
This was the true "Star Palace."
By now, the hall was already abuzz. All thirty-six strands of divine sense had awakened without exception, their gazes fixed intently on Lu Yang.
"Such a perfect Dharma Body!"
"How many years has it been? Ever since the Dharma Body Dao was severed, I haven't seen a Dharma Body of this caliber. I really want to touch it myself..."
Slurp.
Feeling the divine senses swirling around his Dharma Body—so excited they seemed ready to take a bite, utterly devoid of the dignity expected of exalted experts—Lu Yang frowned slightly.
In all fairness, he could understand these stone statues. Putting himself in their shoes, if he were trapped in a place like this for over a hundred thousand years, unable to move, half-asleep every day like a living corpse, he'd go mad too. Who would have the spare energy to care about dignity?
But understanding was one thing.
Feeling the divine senses lingering on his biceps, neck, back, thighs, and even showing tendencies to explore further, Lu Yang finally spoke up.
"I am Du Ye. Greetings, Seniors."
His Dao voice swept out like a storm, instantly scattering the enveloping net of divine senses and snapping the deeply enraptured stone statues back to reality.
"Ahem... please excuse us, Fellow Daoist."
Ultimately, Exalted One Hao Yuan, one of the six highest-ranking statues, spoke first. "May I ask where you come from, Fellow Daoist? And why did you force your way into our Star Palace?"
"You misunderstand, Senior."
Lu Yang waved his hand dismissively. "I was invited here by all of you Seniors today. I didn't break in without reason. It's just that the Fellow Daoist who came to receive me wasn't very friendly."
"Invited... from the Mystic Spirit World Realm?"
Exalted One Hao Yuan didn't care in the slightest about the life or death of a mere Star Lord. Instead, his tone carried a note of pleasant surprise. "Fellow Daoist is from the Mystic Spirit World Realm... Then what is your cultivation level?"
"To be perfectly honest."
Lu Yang smiled faintly. "This junior accidentally found a peculiar fragment within the Mystic Spirit World Realm. After smelting it, I managed to forge this superior Dharma Body to serve as my method of protecting the Dao. However, this is merely a minor path. Compared to it, my Dao Fruit is the true foundation of my cultivation."
"A peculiar fragment, refiniing a Dharma Body..."
For a moment, absolute silence reigned in the great hall. It was a long time before a strand of divine sense cautiously ventured a guess. "Could it be a fragment of the severed Dharma Body Dao from the past?"
"Is that possible?"
"It's not entirely impossible... When the Dharma Body Dao was severed back then, heaven knows what exactly happened. It's perfectly normal if some Great Dao fragments scattered into the sea of light."
Listening to the intertwining divine senses within the hall, Lu Yang chuckled inwardly.
This was a carefully prepared excuse.
There was a fragment of the Dharma Body Dao within the Mystic Spirit World Realm—this single excuse could simultaneously explain both his powerful Dharma Body and the mystery behind the Mystic Spirit World Realm's lifespans.
Of course, the truth was nothing of the sort.
If there really was a Dharma Body Dao fragment in the Mystic Spirit World Realm, with my current Dharma Body cultivation, it's absolutely impossible that I wouldn't have discovered it. So I'll just use it to fool them.
But I must admit, it's a flawless excuse.
At the very least, the thirty-six stone statues present bought it completely. They even felt a sense of sudden enlightenment, as if a mystery that had plagued them for millennia had finally been solved.
However, precisely because of this, some couldn't sit still.
"A Dharma Body Dao fragment... With such a peerless, once-in-a-lifetime fortuitous encounter, Fellow Daoist, why didn't you delve deeper into the path of the Dharma Body? Why would you settle for second best and cultivate some Dao Fruit?"
What a reckless waste of heaven's gifts!
Hearing this, Lu Yang very appropriately assumed a look of regret. "Seniors, I had no choice in the matter. I myself am quite bewildered by it."
"Back when this junior smelted that peculiar fragment, I originally intended to advance further on that path. But for some unknown reason, no matter how hard I tried to cultivate afterward, my Dharma Body's cultivation wouldn't grow even the slightest bit. Only then did I have to settle for the next best thing. I managed to achieve Void Attainment for a Dao Fruit and prepare to switch my cultivation path to that..."
As his voice faded, the great hall plunged back into silence.
He got incredibly lucky, picked up a Dharma Body Dao fragment, and cultivated a supreme divine ability. Then, because he struggled to progress further, he casually achieved Void Attainment for a Dao Fruit to practice instead?
Huh?
Every single word made sense individually, but strung together, they gave every stone statue present an absurd feeling, as if they were still dreaming.
Were those words a human could even speak?
For a time, the stone statues unanimously intensified their awakened divine senses, scrutinizing Lu Yang with an unprecedented level of seriousness.
Lu Yang, of course, was perfectly happy to let them.
After all, the persona he was building this time was that of an unparalleled genius, benchmarking himself against Patriarch Nether Whisper. Being a little shocking was perfectly normal. If anyone asked, the answer was simply that his talent was exceptionally high.
On the other side, the stone statues were drowning in confusion.
"Everyone... what do you think?"
"It doesn't seem right. If it's truly as this person says, the light of his wisdom should be shooting straight out of the top of his head. There's no way I wouldn't be able to see it."
"Look closer, maybe you're mistaken?"
"I must be mistaken. Because from what I can see, this person clearly has mediocre talent, average at best... Yet his cultivation base is undeniable."
"Could this be... a great sage appearing as a fool?"