[Turtle Dove Occupying the Magpie's Nest].
The characteristics of this golden talent were almost exactly the same as its origin, Perfected Lord Chengtian Zhengde. Even its effects and restrictions matched perfectly.
In short, although it could perfectly seize another person's karma and fate, replacing a person from their origin, it could only be used when a massive gap in stature existed between the two parties. For example, Foundation Establishment against Qi Refining, Golden Core against Foundation Establishment, Great Perfected Lord against Perfected Lord—highlighting the ability to challenge those below one's level.
At the same time, Lu Yang felt a subtle sensation.
'It actually succeeded...'
To be honest, he wasn't very confident at first. Because the great karmic net was different from reality, and karmic scenes weren't the true past.
The so-called karmic scenes were closer to illusions.
All the people and objects within them were essentially the materialization of past karma. And since they were illusions, in theory, it should naturally be impossible to seize them.
But there is an exception to everything!
'As expected of the [Book of a Hundred Lifetimes].'
The effect of [Turtle Dove Occupying the Magpie's Nest] was inherently to seize karma, not to invade a sea of consciousness and seize a physical shell in the broad sense. Therefore, it actually worked.
As the talent activated, Lu Yang immediately felt himself shedding the skin of the young novice monk. He then merged into one with Dragon Lord Yu Zhao before his eyes, completely hiding himself within the other party's karma. Just in case, he immediately curled up, fully retracting himself within.
In the next second, the World Honored One descended.
Buddhist light abruptly surfaced deep within Dragon Lord Yu Zhao's eyes. The World Honored One's gaze emerged from the Buddhist light, scanning his surroundings, ultimately revealing a look of confusion.
'How could this be?'
Inside the Great Thunderclap Temple, the World Honored One's expression was solemn. He meticulously inspected the Dragon Palace from head to toe, and then had to admit a fact that made him frown:
"He ran away?"
Vanishing right under his nose just like that... Did the Primordial Saint make a move? Or another Dao Lord? The Sword Lord? Cang Hao? The World Honored One was somewhat uncertain.
Or perhaps... Beast Taming, did you leave behind some contingency plan?
Regardless of which it was, the result remained the same: the cooked duck had flown away, and the plan to use his hands to cause the collapse of the Foundation Establishment realm had gone bankrupt.
Thinking of this, the World Honored One's expression grew increasingly gloomy. He pondered for a long while before finally relaxing his brows: 'No, it might not necessarily be a true failure. No matter who rescued him, they most likely did so because they were unwilling to let him fall under my control. However, my plan itself has no flaws.'
There were still many opportunities.
Besides Dragon Lord Yu Zhao, the old Dragon Lord's subsequent eldest son Bai Chi, and even his second son Tian Qiu, both had hope of attaining [Heavenly River Water] and could alter causes and shift effects.
'He should just be hiding.'
'The time period of seventy thousand years ago is already under the surveillance of the Primordial Saint. Even with heaven-defying abilities, it is impossible for him to jump out of this point in time without being discovered by him.'
Thinking of this, the World Honored One calmed down. After all, as long as the plan continued, he wouldn't consider it a loss. At most, it was just "killing three birds with one stone" turning into "killing two birds with one stone." Although somewhat unexpected, it only proved that the Immortal Lord Master of Tribulations and Ferryman of Karma had good methods and was indeed quite slippery.
'...Forget it, I'll give you credit for having some tricks.'
At this thought, admiration actually arose in the World Honored One's heart. He immediately smoothed over the karma and withdrew his gaze. The Buddhist light deep within Dragon Lord Yu Zhao's eyes dissipated along with it.
As for the karmic scene? It didn't matter anymore.
Although Lu Yang's disappearance meant that the young novice monk originally destined to travel to the Dragon Palace and collect the fragments of Dragon Lord Yu Zhao after his fall had likewise vanished—thus altering the course of history…
—It was harmless.
It was still the same phrase: karmic scenes were essentially just a type of illusion.
They were like the reflection of history in the long river of time. No matter how much they were altered, it was like scooping the moon from the water; they couldn't cause any actual impact on the present world.
Except for [City Rampart Earth].
Only the profound wonder of the Supreme Dao Fruit [Commanding Past and Present] could, by modifying the [Cause] of the past, subsequently give birth to the corresponding [Effect] in the present world.
Therefore, in the World Honored One's view, if he sent another novice monk over, it would instead be like plugging one's ears while stealing a bell, only making the matter more conspicuous. The resulting anomalous karmic fluctuations could easily draw the Ancestor of the Saint Sect's attention, subsequently causing the hidden card that was Dragon Lord Yu Zhao to be exposed. So it was better to simply do nothing.
And right after the World Honored One left.
Dragon Lord Yu Zhao and the old Dragon Lord finally sobered up. Completely unaware of everything that had just happened, they resumed their tear-jerking entrustment of an orphan.
Meanwhile—
'Gone?'
Within Dragon Lord Yu Zhao's body, the curled-up Lu Yang was also pondering. At this moment, he had completely severed his perception of the outside world, not even daring to take a single glance outside.
Because a gaze itself was often a clue. Reaching the level of the World Honored One, he was even more sensitive to gazes. In a place where clearly only two people were present, if the gaze of a third person appeared, wouldn't it be plainly obvious that there was a problem? Therefore, Lu Yang went all in, directly sealing himself.
Then, he left everything to [Dragon Lord Yu Zhao].
In short, he let this "clothing" move on its own while he refrained from interfering. At the same time, he was constantly ready to open the [Book of a Hundred Lifetimes] and transfer to the next lifetime.
Fortunately, his luck was good.
'I got through!'
Wild joy abruptly surfaced in Lu Yang's heart. He then looked at the [Dragon Lord Yu Zhao] clothing: 'I knew it! So this guy was actually the World Honored One all along!'
After seizing him with [Turtle Dove Occupying the Magpie's Nest], everything about [Dragon Lord Yu Zhao] naturally couldn't be hidden from Lu Yang, including the extremely dense World Honored One infection on his body. If he had rashly used the Dharma Body Dao to extend his life, these infections might have been injected directly into his sea of consciousness.
'When that happened, my only option would have been to immediately restart. Even a single step too slow would result in an inescapable death trap.'
Thinking of this, Lu Yang couldn't help but grit his teeth: 'As expected of the most shameless one. Just how many pieces has this bald donkey left scattered across the world?'
How utterly wicked he was!
'Forget it, forget it.'
'Regardless, I got through this time. The days ahead are still long.'
Lu Yang sighed inwardly, preparing for a protracted war. After all, to jump out of the Ancestor of the Saint Sect's surveillance, he had to wait for a full five thousand years.
'I must hold on. I can't get lost in the karma...'
Fortunately, five thousand years was different from seventy thousand years. Lu Yang was confident he could endure it. He could just use this period of time to study the World Honored One's [Method of Planar Creation].
However, in the next second, Lu Yang suddenly felt something:
"Hm?"
The great karmic net.
The World Honored One's consciousness had just detached from the karmic scene. His previously somewhat relaxed mood instantly stiffened, his gaze fixing upon the scene before him.
It was a silhouette.
Lofty, untouchable, difficult to reach... And upon that silhouette stood a minuscule figure, seemingly looking toward him with a smile.
Primordial Saint.
The World Honored One's emotions instantly surged to their highest point, a strong sense of warning sweeping across his entire body. However, before he could even speak, the silhouette before him vanished. Only a vast, boundless, indescribable shadow descended from that infinite height, brazenly bombarding the great karmic net below!
In an instant, the World Honored One's expression drastically changed.
He instantly saw the target of this terrifying shadow—it was no longer to stir up the great karmic net. What descended this time was pure destruction!
He was flipping the table!
Although he had one hundred percent confirmed that Lu Yang was hiding in these seventy thousand years ago, under the World Honored One's cover, the Ancestor of the Saint Sect couldn't find a single clue.
Since that was the case, he simply stopped looking.
As long as I know you are hiding in the karmic scene of seventy thousand years ago, that's enough. If I can't find you, then I'll simply destroy all the karmic scenes here!
Leaving no room to maneuver, pulling up the grass by its roots!
This was the style of [Inevitable Fate]!
(End of Chapter)