Mystic Spirit World Realm, Heavenly Court.
Lu Yang sat upright on a meditation mat, holding a cluster of iridescent light in his hand. The light swirled and steamed, and only upon closer inspection could one make out a disk-shaped object within it.
[Time Reversing World Divine Instrument].
An artifact refined by the World Honored One using [City Rampart Earth], allowing anyone to utilize the fundamental profound wonder of a Supreme Dao Fruit simply by injecting spiritual power.
At this moment, it rested in Lu Yang's palm, seemingly completely unguarded against him. It even actively opened its defenses, looking as if it hoped Lu Yang would inject his spiritual power into it. However, the more proactive it was, the more wary Lu Yang became. He felt that what he was holding wasn't some supreme treasure at all.
It was a hot potato.
In all fairness, when he first snatched this item, he originally planned to let Patriarch Nether Whisper study it to see if they could replicate the World Honored One's methods.
But now, he didn't dare let Patriarch Nether Whisper look at it.
"This thing is a bit evil."
Just by holding it, Lu Yang could feel his Dao heart being eroded by something. If his Dao heart weren't in a state of perfection, he probably would have already fallen victim to it.
'I snatched this treasure; restart with the Book of a Hundred Lifetimes.'
Lu Yang's heart fluttered. After all, this was an artifact made from [City Rampart Earth]. If he could take it with him, having this lifetime end abruptly wouldn't be unacceptable.
However, he quickly regained his calm.
'No, it's not realistic.'
'I can only choose to take things that belong to me when I restart. The ownership of this [Time-Reversing World Divine Instrument] clearly belongs exclusively to the World Honored One.'
Therefore, Lu Yang quickly discarded all his greedy thoughts and turned to ponder another question: 'Should I be bold and try to talk to the World Honored One?'
'It's impossible for the World Honored One not to pay attention to such a supreme treasure. If I utter some secrets to it, there's a high probability I can draw the World Honored One's gaze.'
For example, the matter concerning [Sky-shrouding].
Judging from his experiences in his past life, the World Honored One was quite supportive of [Sky-shrouding]. The cooperation between the two sides was even somewhat out of character for the Saint Sect's usual style.
However, after thinking it over, Lu Yang rejected this idea: 'It's too dangerous. The World Honored One isn't the only one watching the present world, not to mention it also involves that freak old man from the Saint Sect. It'd be bad if I spilled the secrets, the World Honored One didn't show up, and the old man's giant foot stomped down on me first...'
Thinking of this, Lu Yang sighed again.
'I can only send it away.'
This treasure was too precious. A little nobody like him without a Dao Lord backing him couldn't keep such a weighty treasure. It was better to hand this headache over to someone with a Dao Lord background.
So, he slowly reached into his robes.
Then, he pulled out a ring brimming with a mechanical aesthetic—this was the teleportation star gate given to him by Exalted One Hao Yuan before he left the Star Palace.
Previously, when he extracted ten thousand years of lifespan, he had used this to send it to the Star Palace.
"I hope the Star Palace likes it."
Lu Yang opened the star gate, detailed the intelligence regarding the [Time-Reversing World Divine Instrument], then threw the star gate wide open and tossed the artifact inside without a second word.
Faintly, he seemed to hear exclamations coming from the other end of the star gate:
"Holy shit! What is that?"
"Not good. It's a high concentration of the World Honored One's pollution!"
"Quick, set up a cordon—"
—He must have misheard.
Great Immortal Lord Lu had a kind heart and truly couldn't bear to hear such words. So, without any hesitation, he directly closed the star gate. Instantly, he felt a wave of relief wash over his entire body.
Following that, he stood up.
'Calculating the time, it should be about now.'
He didn't perform any karmic divinations, because divining karma wouldn't yield answers. However, regarding many things, Lu Yang already had conclusions in his heart.
For example, the whereabouts of the Primordial Heavenly Demon.
'Will he hide in the Immortal Nexus?' Lu Yang thought for a moment, then shook his head.
'Impossible. In the current Immortal Nexus, the soft persimmon that was the Dao Court has already been crushed to death by him. Neither the Sword Pavilion nor the Saint Sect are entities he can afford to provoke right now.'
'And the old Dragon Lord is out of the question; he can't even see his shadow.'
'In other words, he can hardly take a single step in the Immortal Nexus right now, unable to stir up any waves... Under these circumstances, his choice is very easy to predict.'
Leaving the Heavenly Court, Lu Yang stepped into the light sea.
'According to my experience, when you can no longer survive in the Immortal Nexus, the best method is to jump off the chessboard, transfer to the outer heaven, and seek new opportunities.'
So, where would the Primordial Heavenly Demon go?
'Unsurprisingly, it should be the Celestial Court.'
Thinking of this, a myriad of sinister schemes and cunning plots flashed through Lu Yang's eyes, which were devoid of even a sliver of the light of wisdom. In this particular field, he could be considered a peerless genius.
'The Celestial Court. The place where the freak old man of the Saint Sect and the World Honored One jointly placed their pieces. On the outside, there is the Great Perfected Lord, Immortal Venerable Taiyin, holding the fort. On the inside, there is the Tathagata enlightened by the World Honored One currently saving the remnant consciousness of Sisui. All of this is to completely eradicate the Dharma Body Dao... However, the current Celestial Court has always lacked a crucial variable.'
Just like his [Heavenly Fire] lifetime.
In that lifetime, he himself was that crucial variable. The old freak of the Saint Sect borrowed the hands of others to drive him to the Celestial Court, subsequently triggering a massive upheaval.
'This variable must exist.'
'Because there needs to be a person to gather the concept of the Celestial Court's Six Qi Dao Fruits, ultimately causing the Dharma Body Dao to reappear in the world, allowing Immortal Venerable Taiyin to devour it.'
'In that lifetime, it was me. What about this lifetime?'
Lu Yang strolled leisurely through the light sea, seemingly just taking a walk to relax. Yet, during this process, all his karmic auras were restrained to the point of near nothingness.
'It's impossible now.'
'It's not that I lack the ability. In fact, in the eyes of the Saint Sect's old freak, I am probably still the most suitable poor bastard to send to the Celestial Court.'
However, there was one massive difference between his current self and the self in his [Heavenly Fire] lifetime.
'I am too strong in this lifetime.'
'So strong that even if all the Golden Core Perfected Lords in the Immortal Nexus teamed up to besiege me, I could still escape calmly, head to the [Heavenly Being's Remnant Consciousness], and fear no opponent.'
Under the current conditions, unless a Dao Lord acted personally, there were no methods that could drive him to the Celestial Court. Even a Great Perfected Lord couldn't stop him!
However—the Primordial Heavenly Demon was different.
'The current Primordial Heavenly Demon is in the exact same situation as I was in my [Heavenly Fire] lifetime.'
'His cultivation is very strong, but not strong enough, meaning he can be controlled. As an inner demon, he is very hard to kill, meaning he can be reused. What excellent material!'
'If I were the Saint Sect's old freak, I would definitely send him to the Celestial Court too... Furthermore, the Celestial Court isn't completely without benefits for him. The environment there is too conducive to breeding inner demons. It's guaranteed to let him feast to his heart's content. It can be called mutually beneficial, so the World Honored One wouldn't refuse either, and might even actively facilitate it.'
'So, here comes the question.'
'Under the dual arrangements of the Saint Sect's old freak and the World Honored One, will the Primordial Heavenly Demon just head to the light sea and then lock directly onto the Celestial Court?'
Thinking of this, Lu Yang shook his head. 'If it were before, perhaps it would be possible.'
'But now, he has been heavily injured by my thunder talisman. He must first find a way to recover. But it just so happens that there are simply no Perfected Lords available for him to devour in the Immortal Nexus right now.'
'Therefore, he can only seek them in the outer heaven.'
'An Unorthodox Dao Great World Realm.'
'Although with the Pure Land's foundation, there should be quite a few Unorthodox Dao World Realms he could choose from, but according to my personal experience in my [Heavenly Fire] lifetime...'
In the light sea, Lu Yang came to a halt, stopping before a Great World Realm.
'It should be the Myriad Martial World Realm.'
Lu Yang didn't have to wait long. Just a few short days later, a void tore open, and a dark shadow sped over.
A second later, the corners of his mouth curled up, revealing a faint smile. And right in front of him was the Primordial Heavenly Demon, sporting an expression that looked as if he had just seen a ghost.
(End of Chapter)