Jiangnan, Extreme Heaven Cliff.
Looking out, a sky-covering sea of clouds surrounded the cliff peak. Blending the light of the sun and moon, swirling with spiritual atmosphere, it encircled a youth with red lips and white teeth, resting his hands on a sword laid across his knees.
However, the youth's expression was not very pleasant. His brow was tightly furrowed, as if trapped in a nightmare. It wasn't until a long while later that he abruptly opened his eyes and instinctively unleashed a sword strike. Instantly, the sea of clouds was cleaved apart, the spiritual atmosphere was split in two, and a clear sword mark was carved into the firmament.
"Hoo..."
Perfected Lord Chengtian Zhengde exhaled a deep breath of foul air, a shadow surfacing in his eyes. 'This outcome again... Nether Whisper, exactly how much longer do you intend to torment me?'
At this thought, he looked up at the sky again.
The current Immortal Nexus was different from the past. Even though it was broad daylight, aside from the morning sun, the bright radiance of a star was impressively visible.
That was the Mystic Spirit World Realm.
'Immortal Lord Du Ye, Master of Tribulations...'
Perfected Lord Chengtian Zhengde silently chanted this title in his heart, gritting his teeth. 'If he hadn't materialized inner demons, how could I have fallen to this state?'
It had been several years!
No matter what he did, the moment he entered deep meditation, the inner demon would immediately seize the opportunity to slip in, dragging him into a scene he never wanted to recall.
It was a spiritual battle.
Back then, he was arrogant and haughty, believing himself to be the true master of destiny for the [Wall Earth]. So, he secretly concealed his identity and took the initiative to challenge Patriarch Nether Whisper at the Shaman Ghost Dao.
What he met with, however, was a crushing defeat. Patriarch Nether Whisper very enthusiastically "guided" him, allowing him to deploy every single method he had, effortlessly receiving them all. Then, right before his eyes, he replicated all of his methods—even optimizing them so their effects were better than his own.
Look at this, is this even human?
The dao arts, sword incantations, and even divine abilities that took him hundreds of years to master, Patriarch Nether Whisper surpassed in less than a day.
He even said something about how cultivation should be done with a smile.
Smile my ass!
Because of that, this scene became the deepest nightmare in his heart, impossible to forget for a long time, to the point where it eventually became his mental barrier.
But if it had only been that, it wouldn't have been a big deal. However, ever since inner demons appeared in the world, this mental barrier—which previously only caused him slight distress—suddenly came alive. Almost every single day, it attempted to devour his soul. If not for the protection of his Golden Nature, his sea of consciousness would probably have already fallen.
This was incredibly difficult to endure.
Every time he encountered an inner demon invasion, he had to exhaust his mental energy to slay the inner demon using his Golden Nature, buying himself two to three days of breathing room.
"The main issue is that the knot in my heart remains untied."
"If the knot is not untied, the inner demon will forever have soil to breed in," Perfected Lord Chengtian Zhengde sighed. It wasn't that he didn't know where the crux of his problem lay.
The problem was how to solve it.
At this thought, a stroke of inspiration suddenly hit him. A thought inexplicably surfaced in his mind: "Why not go bully lower-tier cultivators? I can use that to rebuild my Dao Heart!"
This thought came very suddenly.
However, after Perfected Lord Chengtian Zhengde thought about it carefully for a moment, he actually felt it was a very good idea. After all, bullying lower-tier cultivators could be considered a tradition of the Immortal Nexus.
Right at that moment.
A streak of spiritual light tore through the sea of clouds and landed directly in front of Perfected Lord Chengtian Zhengde. It suddenly parted, revealing Perfected One Subduing-Spirits's plea for reinforcements.
"Hong Ju?"
Perfected Lord Chengtian Zhengde looked at the flying message, a thoughtful expression on his face. "I remember now. Isn't this the Dao Protector enlightened by that unlucky bastard, Hong Yun?"
If there was any Perfected Lord even he could despise, Hong Yun would absolutely rank first. After all, he was a bizarre anomaly who hadn't managed to ascend to his position in five thousand years—a unique case even among reincarnated Perfected Lords. And the Foundation Establishment Perfection cultivator he enlightened was probably nothing special either. He could be considered an excellent whetstone!
"Perfect. I'll use you to test my blade!"
Perfected Lord Chengtian Zhengde bared his teeth in a smile. His previously slightly hesitant mood instantly firmed up: he would also send an enlightened incantation to join the fray!
After all, if Hong Yun can send one, why can't I?
Besides, he just happened to have exactly such an enlightened incantation on hand.
It was just that he had originally kept it, planning to use it to protect himself in the future after his lifespan ended and he reincarnated. Bringing it out now could also serve to test the waters first.
At this thought, his mind stirred.
The next second, a youth who looked almost identical to him appeared out of thin air beside him. It was precisely the Zhengde avatar that had once fought Lu Yang.
Seeing this, Perfected Lord Chengtian Zhengde didn't delay. He directly bestowed the spiritual sword in his hand upon the incantation. Following that, he pulled out various spiritual treasures from his storage bag—from spiritual robes to dao crowns, boots, jade pendants, and other items. It was a complete set, practically arming the avatar to the teeth right on the spot.
Having done all this, he nodded slightly.
"With this, it should be impossible for any accidents to happen. I just need to wait for this avatar to sweep through the Demon Sect. It will slightly ease the knot in my heart and somewhat alleviate the pain of this inner demon."
The [Sea of Bitterness].
Above the surging undercurrents, Lu Yang—who had been patiently waiting, using the [Divine Firmament Thunder] as a fishing rod and the [Master of Great Tribulations] as bait—suddenly revealed a look of delight.
"The big fish has finally taken the bait!"
Initially, it was just a minor event. However, like dominoes, the accumulation of minor events ultimately became the straw that broke the camel's back.
The result was that Perfected Lord Chengtian Zhengde, who normally would absolutely never go out of his way to bully lower-tier cultivators when he had nothing better to do, suddenly had the thought and decided to send an incarnation on a trip.
This was a classic case of entering the tribulation. If he had simply ignored everything and quietly chanted two or three volumes of scriptures on Extreme Heaven Cliff, Lu Yang would have had no way to deal with him.
"It's a pity you have an inner demon."
With an inherent flaw in the form of an inner demon, coupled with someone secretly guiding the [Tribulation], it was truly impossible even for a god himself to save him. Even the vast karmic net remained silent to this day!
'This can also be considered the Perfected Lords' path dependence.'
'They used to be able to see clearly just by deducing the karma of any matter. But now that the vast karmic net isn't working, these Perfected Lords, who normally observe things as clearly as a blazing fire, are suddenly flying blind.'
At this thought, Lu Yang's gaze dropped down to the mortal world.
Meanwhile, Perfected Lord Chengtian Zhengde's avatar had already left the Sword Pavilion and traveled all the way to a location a thousand miles outside Gantang Channel. However, Hong Ju had long since achieved his goal and departed.
Chong Guang had no intention of stopping him.
After all, he had unexpectedly devoured Long Tu earlier, causing his inner demon to reach major accomplishment a step ahead of schedule. Naturally, Hong Ju, whom he had originally targeted, was no longer important.
Therefore, he didn't block Hong Ju. Instead, he focused all his energy on the arrangements in Gantang Channel. The very instant the Zhengde incarnation arrived, a pillar of purplish-black smoke rose from the ground, connecting with the milky way and blotting out the sky and sun. Like a gaping, bloody maw, it swallowed the incarnation whole in an instant.
Instantly, responses arrived from all sides.
"Hm? Who is..."
The first to react was Perfected Lord Chengtian Zhengde himself, because when he had observed Gantang Channel just a moment ago, he hadn't noticed such a thing.
Where did this pop out from?
The second gaze cast over naturally belonged to Perfected Lord Qingcheng Feixue. However, her gaze carried a hint of schadenfreude and curiosity. "Who is it? Did someone finally lose their patience?"
Everything happened in a fleeting instant.
However, for an inner demon, a fleeting instant was enough.
Beneath the purplish-black smoke screen, Perfected Lord Chengtian Zhengde's incarnation directly affected the main body. He only felt his limbs grow heavy, and a wave of drowsiness abruptly surged into his mind.
The next second, he saw a figure of light step out before his eyes.
The person's figure shifted, and a moment later, the light and shadow faded, revealing a white robe and a pair of eyes that seemed to flash with boundless light of wisdom.
Instantly, Perfected Lord Chengtian Zhengde's pupils violently shrank.
"Nether Whisper? You aren't dead!?"
The very next second, whether it was Perfected Lord Chengtian Zhengde's incarnation or his main body located on Extreme Heaven Cliff, both suffered a moment of disorientation and collapsed to the ground.