Peach blossoms fell as shadows, the jade sea surged with tides.
Right now, Lu Yang wore the skin of a young novice monk, treading the waves and splitting the surf as he headed all the way towards the Dragon Palace. Yet, the World Honored One's previous words flashed through his mind.
'The old Dragon Lord's twin brother. I seem to have an impression of him...'
There was a past life where the Perfected Lords hid from the world. He had borrowed the power of the Seven Luminaries Heaven to achieve Foundation Establishment Perfection, slew Tian Qiu, and then took the opportunity to ransack the Dragon Palace.
And within the old Dragon Lord's treasure trove, not only did he obtain the cultivation method for [Heavenly Fire], but he also obtained a Grotto-Heaven fragment of immense value. At the time, his Banner Spirit Tian Qiu had explained to him that it was left behind by a Dragon Lord of the same generation as the old Dragon Lord, and the corresponding Dao Fruit was exactly [Heavenly River Water].
'[Heaven-Covering Mystic-Cleansing Grotto-Heaven]...'
The intelligence matched.
There truly had been such a Dragon Lord, and his Grotto-Heaven fragment had never been used by anyone, indicating he was indeed the last Golden Core Perfected Lord of [Heavenly River Water].
So the question was: would the World Honored One be that kindhearted?
'The World Honored One might be a good person, but it's highly unlikely that the World Honored One is a good person.'
Lu Yang was no fool. He didn't have the first-generation Master of Beast Taming Peak's "senior brother" filter, much less foolishly believe the World Honored One was truly some kindhearted soul.
'Perhaps the World Honored One did have principles in the past. But since he managed to clear this wretched place in one life and become a Dao Lord, it's absolutely impossible for him to still have a bottom line left. What does being senior brothers matter? When the first-generation Master of Beast Taming Peak was rammed to death by [Sky-shrouding] in my past life, I didn't see him come out to save him.'
There was definitely a scheme behind this!
The more Lu Yang thought about it, the gloomier his expression became: 'The World Honored One's idea is nothing more than having me use the Dharma Body Dao to extend the life of that brother of the old Dragon Lord.'
'At first glance, it seems like nothing.'
'But if I use the Dharma Body Dao, will it trigger other variables? Would the World Honored One not covet the Dharma Body Dao? Impossible, he definitely wants it very much.'
After all, Sisui's remnant thoughts were enlightened by him!
After the Dharma Body Dao shattered, only the Pure Land possessed the Golden Body method, which shared some similarities with the Dharma Body Dao. It was evident that the World Honored One had snatched quite a few benefits from the Dharma Body Dao back then.
Since that was the case, how could he refuse a complete Dharma Body Dao?
'On the surface, this is helping me.'
'But in reality, this is also harming me... It's just that my current perspective is too low, and my intelligence is insufficient. I don't know exactly what the World Honored One has prepared...'
Thinking of this, Lu Yang's headache intensified.
The unknown was the most terrifying.
In a daze, he felt as if he were a frail butterfly that had fallen into a spider's web, able only to watch helplessly as the World Honored One approached to feast upon him.
Pure Land, Great Thunderclap Temple.
Watching Lu Yang depart, the young novice monk possessed by the World Honored One didn't stop walking. He arrived inside the precious hall, then looked up at the sky, a look of mockery surfacing on his face.
What met his eyes was still that infinitely high and distant place, its silhouette faintly visible. Upon the silhouette, a minuscule figure resembling a black dot stood tall. A weighty gaze descended, continuously searching through this segment of karmic history from [seventy thousand years ago], the gaze filled with tranquility and indifference.
Unparalleled mighty power.
Searching through karma was simply like flipping through a novel—swiping past page after page, reading word by word, sentence by sentence, and then gradually narrowing down the search scope.
'Soon, there is not much time left.'
'Although I temporarily deceived him just now, as time passes, he will ultimately lock onto this point in time and drag that Master of Tribulations out.'
In his eyes, that Immortal Lord Master of Tribulations and Ferryman of Karma was already a dead man.
Admittedly, the other party's methods were highly profound, his plans were excellent, and he was also very heroic. If placed one hundred thousand years ago, he might have been a great cultivator capable of roaming freely across the light sea.
Unfortunately, he was born at the wrong time.
'Rather than dying without any value, it's better to be used by me. Beast Taming, handing your obsession body of revenge over to your senior brother is the only way it can exert greater value.'
At this thought, the World Honored One immediately shifted his gaze.
His gaze swept overseas, quickly spotting Lu Yang's figure. The wariness deep in the other party's eyes and the hesitation in his actions could not be hidden from his sight.
'It seems he has guessed there's a problem.'
'This is normal too. He is from the Saint Sect after all. Moreover, having suffered such a massive loss back then, it couldn't be more normal for his current obsession body of revenge to be vigilant.'
The World Honored One was very calm.
All emotions had been stripped from his body. He was completely like a different person from the Senior Brother Myriad Treasures who had been chatting and laughing merrily with the first-generation Master of Beast Taming Peak just moments ago.
What remained was only indifference.
'It's useless.'
'The schemes of a Dao Lord can only be seen clearly and resisted by another Dao Lord. You still don't understand this principle, which is why you have ended up in your current state.'
What trap had he laid?
The answer was very simple—the old Dragon Lord's twin brother, the Dragon Lord of [Heavenly River Water], was actually his person right from the start. He was an enlightened incarnation!
'Back when I sought the Nascent Soul realm, [Heavenly River Water] was one of my five-element combinations. And using [One Mind], I assimilated all the cultivators affiliated with me. That Dragon Lord was one of them... It's just that after I achieved the Nascent Soul realm, this segment of history was completely extracted, ultimately turning into the false history.'
Therefore, no one knew.
From beginning to end, that Dragon Lord had been executing his will. Out of fear of being discovered by the Ancestor of the Saint Sect, he even deliberately let his soul shatter.
This was his hidden piece.
It had never been activated, all for the sake of this very day!
Thinking of this, the World Honored One couldn't help but curl the corners of his mouth into a smile. In fact, Lu Yang's appearance was even better than he had anticipated, truly adding brilliance to his present splendor.
In his original plan, it should have been his own incarnation traversing karma to arrive at this era. And since the lifespan issue of the Grotto-Heaven Method couldn't be resolved, he planned to use a secret method to seal the other party's Grotto-Heaven within [Heavenly River Water], only letting it plummet down when needed.
But now, he didn't have to.
'Having that Master of Tribulations extend my incarnation's life—with this massive karma concerning life and death, I can inject the final [One Mind] into his sea of consciousness.'
Subsequently completely crushing the other party's perfected Dao heart!
In other words:
'As long as he does as I instructed, he cannot escape the fate of being reduced to my incarnation... At the same time, my method is also the only available method right now!'
'He can either choose mutual destruction or choose to take a gamble.'
'He has no other choices. Mutual destruction is completely meaningless, while taking a gamble at least holds some hope—of course, it's only hope from his perspective.'
At this thought, light resembling a starry river flashed through the World Honored One's eyes.
These were all karma.
Under the combination of all the [Causes] upon Lu Yang, what kind of [Effect] would ultimately form—all corresponding changes could not escape the World Honored One's line of sight.
This was the gap between a Dao Lord and those below Dao Lords.
Standing high, seeing far.
The Dao Lords stood high enough. This point alone was something lower-level cultivators couldn't understand. Often, a mere information gap was enough to set up an inescapable death trap.
Just like Lu Yang right now.
The World Honored One was already certain in his heart: unless another Dao Lord intervened, Lu Yang's ending would inevitably be completely enlightened by him and reduced to his incarnation.
And not only could he use this opportunity to obtain the Dharma Body Dao, but he could also take the opportunity to trigger the collapse of the Foundation Establishment realm. While causing other Dao Lords to fall in stature, it would prompt them to stop targeting the Netherworld, allowing [Sky-shrouding] to successfully attain the Dao and adding a Dao Lord helper for himself. He would simply rake in the profits!
(End of Chapter)