Forget it.
After pondering for a moment, Lu Yang abandoned the idea of taking Chong Guang into the Righteous Dao Banner. It wasn't that he couldn't or didn't want to, but rather that it was meaningless.
Martial Uncle Chong Guang is different, after all.
His desire to seek the Dao is simply too strong. Over so many lifetimes, he has attained the Golden Core three times. He's either seeking the Golden Core or on the road to seeking it.
Such a person would never willingly enter the banner.
The only way to get him into the banner is to kill him. In this regard, Patriarch Nether Whisper, Master Vanquishing-Demon, and Fellow Daoist Suo Huan are all different from him.
Patriarch Nether Whisper, because of the Shaman Ghost Dao and his absurdly high talent, wasn't actually that passionate about seeking the Dao. If Perfected One Vanquishing-Demon had been obsessed with seeking the Dao, he wouldn't have dragged his feet for so long without validating his Sword Dao back then. And Suo Huan was solely focused on reviving his world realm.
That was why they willingly entered the banner and chose to assist him.
But Chong Guang was different. His heart was set on seeking the Dao, and he would never willingly be subservient to anyone. If he truly became a Banner Spirit, he would no longer be his original self.
There's no need. It's better this way for Martial Uncle Chong Guang.
At this thought, a smile surfaced on Lu Yang's face. He said, "Fellow Daoist's sacrifice of a Perfected Lord to the Dao to forge a True Demon body is truly admirable."
"The Immortal Lord overpraises me."
Chong Guang sighed emotionally. "If the Immortal Lord hadn't bestowed the method upon me, I would have found it difficult to achieve this Dao. This is the grace of attaining the Dao. My gratitude is boundless, and I am willing to serve you like a horse before your saddle."
Lu Yang, of course, didn't believe a word of this nonsense.
Although Martial Uncle's style differs from most of the Saint Sect's disciples—he leans more toward the grand and righteous type—he still hails from the Saint Sect.
When people like this spoke, it was no different from farting.
Boundless gratitude, my foot.
Give me a break. You're only coming to me for backing because Inner Demons can devour souls, making you too great a threat to the Golden Core Perfected Lords, meaning you can't survive in the Immortal Nexus anymore.
This didn't conflict with Chong Guang's creed.
Relying on oneself didn't mean doing absolutely everything alone; it meant centering everything around oneself.
Take just now, for example. Why did Chong Guang refuse Perfected Lord Qingcheng Feixue's recruitment? The reason was simple: he was useless to her current self.
If he chose to seek refuge with Perfected Lord Qingcheng Feixue and accept her protection, he would be placing his life in someone else's hands. Choosing Lu Yang, however, was different. Because Chong Guang's Inner Demon method was passed down by Lu Yang, they had a foundation for cooperation, and Chong Guang held value for Lu Yang.
That was the key.
You didn't just pick a backer at random. You had to find someone who found you useful, using your own value to earn protection. That, too, was a form of relying on oneself.
Understanding this, Lu Yang nodded slightly and said:
"Fellow Daoist is too kind."
"Speaking of which, since you have now forged a True Demon body—the very first case in the present sea of light—I wonder, what profound wonders does it possess compared to an Inner Demon?"
Upon hearing this, Chong Guang immediately understood. He wants me to demonstrate my value. If my value is sufficient, he will accept my allegiance.
He had to admit, this attitude made him very comfortable.
It felt like they were "kindred spirits."
Therefore, he didn't hide anything and said cleanly, "After I became a True Demon, my five former divine abilities all transformed into my own instincts."
"If I had to make a comparison, they are equivalent to Dao Fruit concepts."
Lu Yang nodded. He had been keeping an eye on Chong Guang, and this change was exactly as he expected. The question was whether there were further gains.
"And the profound wonder?"
Lu Yang said deeply, "From what I can tell, your current stature is virtually identical to an orthodox Perfected Lord. You must possess methods akin to the profound wonders of a Dao Fruit."
Chong Guang's eyes narrowed instantly at this. After a moment of thought, he nodded.
"The Immortal Lord's words are very true."
"It's just that the True Demon method differs from a [Dao Fruit]. My stature seems entirely anchored to that great dao which suddenly manifested above the [Sea of Bitterness]..."
As soon as Chong Guang said this, Lu Yang immediately understood. Although the path of the Inner Demon originated from me, the [Divine Firmament Thunder] is only an orthodox Dao Fruit. Logically, it shouldn't be able to push Martial Uncle Chong Guang to an orthodox stature. His current stature comes more from the resonance of the [Tribulation] path!
Meanwhile, Chong Guang continued his explanation:
"As for the profound wonder the Immortal Lord spoke of, I do possess one. It is intrinsically linked to my mind and spirit, yet unrelated to combat. Rather, it's manifested from the instincts of an Inner Demon."
"It should be called the [True Demon Fetus]."
"As the name implies, the True Demon I have become is fundamentally just a demonic fetus. It is still young and weak, and requires constantly devouring souls to truly grow."
Chong Guang spoke very vaguely.
Yet Lu Yang immediately grasped his underlying meaning: It requires devouring souls to grow... In other words, its growth ONLY requires devouring souls.
This is a profound wonder meant for development!
For a True Demon, there are no cultivation bottlenecks, nor is there a need for any dharma rituals. Or rather, the act of devouring cultivator souls IS the True Demon's dharma ritual!
So Martial Uncle Chong Guang doesn't actually need to sit in meditation at all, nor does he need any Dao comprehension. As long as he continues to find ways to devour Perfected Lords—eating his way from the early stage to the middle stage, and then to the late stage—he can logically become a Great Perfected Lord! Just this point alone is enough to make countless people green with envy.
This is truly...
At this thought, Lu Yang gradually realized the severity of the situation. A mere True Demon is actually nothing much. It's just a bit harder to kill.
The problem lies in the cultivation method!
This Inner Demon cultivation method has absolutely no bottlenecks and allows for extremely rapid progress. And yet, it feeds on cultivators. If it were to spread... the calamity it would cause would be far worse than the True Demon itself!
The cultivation world would go mad!
When that time came, let alone the Immortal Nexus, the entire sea of light would become a hunting ground for Inner Demons... Perhaps this was the true reason the [Tribulation] manifested!
For a moment, Lu Yang even felt a chill run down his spine.
After all, the [Sovereign Heart-Demon Scripture] was something he had patched together from the World Honored One's and Sisui's methods. He hadn't expected the technique to possess such terrifying potential.
Should I try spreading it around?
This devilish thought suddenly popped into Lu Yang's mind, but he quickly calmed down. No, at least not yet.
It wasn't that doing so would be detrimental to the harmony of heaven; Lu Yang couldn't care less about that.
The main issue was that the method was still flawed.
After all, there was only one Perfected Lord Chengtian Zhengde. I originally created this method specifically to target him. It doesn't actually have universal applicability.
It needs repair and optimization, at the very least.
Only when one can forge a True Demon body without needing a Perfected Lord's Inner Demon will this method truly become a great tribulation for the entire cultivator population of the sea of light!
As for how to modify it... that depends on Martial Uncle Chong Guang!
As a True Demon, the faster his advancement, the more I will synchronize through the 'Disciple Becomes the Master's Standard,' and correspondingly, the more perfect the True Demon Dao comprehension will become.
In other words: whether he could optimize the [Sovereign Heart-Demon Scripture] depended entirely on how hard Martial Uncle Chong Guang worked!
Martial Uncle, you have to carry this heavy burden forward.
Thinking of this, Lu Yang's expression towards Chong Guang grew increasingly amiable. Just as he was about to say something else, a violent turbulence suddenly erupted from the Mystic Spirit World Realm.
"...Hm?"