To be honest, the moment realization struck him, Lu Yang almost thought he was about to be spawn-camped by a Dao Lord again, his grand undertaking dying midway.
But he quickly came to his senses.
'Wait... that's not right!'
'It's no secret that the [Mark of Fulfilling Virtue] is in my hands; Perfected Lord Feixue gave it to me personally. Never mind others, how could the World Honored One not know?'
'Furthermore, for some unknown reason, this jade slip actually has that signature karmic spiritual light of the World Honored One on it. Clearly, the World Honored One knows everything... And since he even gave me the Dao Fruit Secret Method for [City Rampart Earth], how could he let me get spawn-camped by the Saint Sect's old undying dog just like this?'
'Wait... is that why he came to see me first?'
Imagine this: if he hadn't met with the World Honored One first, but instead directly entered the [Mark of Fulfilling Virtue] and obtained the jade slip, what would the result be?
'The answer is obvious.'
'The moment I stepped out, I'd probably immediately enjoy Mu Changsheng's treatment. The massive hand of the Saint Sect's Ancestor would snatch me up and instantly refine me into nothingness...'
But things were different now.
The World Honored One meeting him a step ahead of time meant he definitely needed to handle the loose ends of this matter for him. Otherwise, wouldn't his previous investment have gone down the drain?
Instantly, Lu Yang's breathing grew ragged.
'The World Honored One... how incredibly bold.'
He was playing a game of chess against the Ancestor of the Saint Sect!
'When it comes down to it, so what if I entered the [Mark of Fulfilling Virtue]? When I defeated Perfected Lord Feixue back then, I hadn't yet gone to challenge [Responding to Emperors].'
'And a [Heavenly Being's Remnant Consciousness] can isolate a Dao Lord's influence. Therefore, the Ancestor of the Saint Sect cannot be certain whether I actually obtained the Netherworld's blueprint. Building on this, with the World Honored One's capabilities, he could completely manage to obscure the relevant karma for me. He also has the motive to help me...'
Because this was also beneficial to the [Project: Collapse Paramita]!
'Although I plan to bring down the Netherworld, I knew absolutely nothing about it before and didn't even have a clue where to start. But with the blueprint, things are completely different!'
The more Lu Yang thought about it, the calmer he became.
Of course, the most important thing was the karmic spiritual light on the jade slip containing the Netherworld's blueprint—which bore the distinct style of the World Honored One—that solidified Lu Yang's speculation.
Yet in the end, he suddenly let out a sigh.
"Sigh..."
What was all this?
The [Project: Collapse Paramita] was clearly his own ambition, yet suddenly, both the World Honored One and the Ancestor of the Saint Sect had meddled in it.
'Perhaps this is the true underlying nature of the Immortal Nexus... To those Dao Lords residing high on Paramita, the vast majority of things in the mortal world are utter garbage. Whether it's Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, or even Golden Core, they're all just picking through this garbage heap to eat the scraps the Dao Lords don't want.'
'So they don't care, and they don't even have the interest to look.'
Lu Yang's face gradually turned ashen:
'However, the moment true interests are touched upon, the sense of smell of these Dao Lords is sharper than dogs. They check the karma, observe the future, and directly pull up the problem by the roots.'
How the fuck are you supposed to play against this!?
After a long while, Lu Yang finally let out a deep breath of stale air, revealing a bitter smile. "Forget it, forget it. You have to look on the bright side of everything."
In this wretched place, if you can't resist, just lie back and enjoy it.
If nothing else, the fact that he could now draw the attention of Dao Lords and even have them personally come to discuss cooperation showed that he was already qualified to enter their sights.
At least he was very close to the World Honored One.
As for the Ancestor of the Saint Sect scheming against him, in reality, he was probably just pushing the boat along with the current. The root cause was likely just Perfected Lord Feixue wanting to pass the buck.
'With my current cultivation base, I probably haven't entered the Ancestor's sights yet. That exalted figure stands far too high. It would be a different story if it were [Sky-shrouding].'
Lu Yang quickly adjusted his emotions.
Of course, up to this point, he was only making speculations. It was also possible that he had guessed wrong, and the moment he stepped out of the [Mark of Fulfilling Virtue], he would be refined by the massive hand of the Saint Sect's Ancestor.
'If it really comes to that, I'll accept my fate.'
Lie flat!
Thinking of this, Lu Yang actually became excited: 'No matter what, I must memorize the Netherworld's blueprint first. I might not have the chance in my next life.'
After all, once he restarted, the [Mark of Fulfilling Virtue] would immediately return to Perfected Lord Feixue's hands. And Lu Yang truly didn't plan to touch something so likely to draw the Ancestor's attention ever again. It was better to grab the benefits in this lifetime, then restart and cut ties. This could be considered making a fortune in silence.
Lu Yang's mind sank back into the jade slip.
Soon, a sea of knowledge surfaced, almost making him forget to leave. It took a tremendous amount of effort just to extract a brief summary from all this knowledge.
Then he realized: "The Netherworld is so huge..."
To be honest, it wasn't as if he hadn't seen the Netherworld before. Back when he used [Marionette] to manipulate souls, he had traversed the Netherworld's reincarnation passage.
To him—a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator at the time—the Netherworld actually seemed very small. It was nothing more than a gateway that guided souls. Souls entered from one side of the gate and exited the other, thereby reincarnating. The entire process was incredibly simple and straightforward... Incidentally, [Sky-shrouding] lived right next to that gateway.
But now he finally understood.
'My perspective back then was still too much like a lower-tier cultivator... No, even after becoming a Golden Core Perfected Lord, my perspective of the Netherworld has always remained at the lower-tier level.'
This was also very normal.
After all, even a Golden Core Perfected Lord wouldn't be any different from a mortal soul when reincarnating and being reborn. Looking at the sky from the bottom of a well, how could one glimpse the vastness of the universe?
'If we're talking about who could view the Netherworld from a higher perspective before this, it was probably only [Sky-shrouding]... But now, you can add me to that list.'
Thinking of this, Lu Yang couldn't help but feel a bit smug.
"The Netherworld is composed of seven components in total. The guidance and reincarnation of all souls is actually just the function of the Netherworld's outermost component."
Its name—[Ghost Gates]!
"[Ghost Gates]: Guides souls and sends them to reincarnate. The process judges karma and fortune, possessing a rigorous and effective operating logic."
Those with good fortune get good reincarnations.
Those with heavy karma will find their reincarnations affected.
Everything related to the Netherworld that present-world cultivators saw—the guiding of souls and the function of the cycle of reincarnation—was actually merely the function of the [Ghost Gates].
So here came the question.
If a single [Ghost Gates] handled all the work of the cycle of reincarnation, what did the other components of the Netherworld do? What use did they have?
The answer was simple:
"Among the seven components, apart from the [Ghost Gates] and the core [Palace of the Netherworld Lord], the other five are all designed to deal with souls that have been scattered and completely annihilated!"
The Netherworld's guidance wasn't absolute.
At least, when there was a full realm difference in cultivation and the stronger party was determined to pull up the problem by the roots, cases of souls scattering and becoming un-guidable were common occurrences.
Lu Yang himself had done it many times.
Once upon a time, he had a question: Since the Netherworld's primary function is guiding souls, doesn't the scattering of souls damage the Netherworld's operation?
"...I was too shallow."
Lu Yang sighed, a look of admiration surfacing in his eyes. "The first-generation Master of Beast Taming Peak considered this point long ago and solved it perfectly."
As the old saying goes: When a person dies, they become a ghost; when a ghost dies, it becomes a Zhan; when a Zhan dies, it becomes Xi; when Xi dies, it becomes Yi. After a person's death, so-called "soul scattering" isn't true complete annihilation. Even if the soul shatters, indestructible true spirits, minuscule to the extreme, will wander between heaven and earth, re-entering the cycle of heaven and earth.
However, the Netherworld changed all of this.
"Within the Netherworld, the [Ghost Gates] are used to guide souls. And behind the [Ghost Gates], the [Yellow Springs Road] is used precisely to guide these true spirits!"
And it didn't even stop there.
"The [Yellow Springs Road] guides the true spirits, the [Bridge of Helplessness] plants a mark, the [Home-Viewing Terrace] reconstructs the soul, and the [Three Lives Stone] awakens the memories. The soul becomes alive again!"
"After that, there are the [Four Directional Ghost Domains] to accommodate the dead spirits."
"Within the [Four Directional Ghost Domains], these dead spirits will sever all ties with their past lives and turn to cultivating the Dao of the Netherworld, using themselves to continuously expand the Netherworld's scale."
"This is the true reason why the Netherworld continuously grows!"
"Given enough time, as these ghost cultivators grow stronger and stronger, the Netherworld itself will also grow stronger, until it becomes a second Paramita capable of bearing Dao Lords!"
This entire design... the first-generation Master of Beast Taming Peak was simply a supreme talent!
(End of Chapter)