The collapse of the Foundation Establishment realm rapidly impacted the entire light sea.
Within an indescribable, dim domain shrouded by countless streams of light, a pair of eyes abruptly opened. His gaze pierced through the [Sea of Bitterness], looking upwards.
Those eyes quickly fell into bewilderment and shock.
"It got lower..."
This wasn't his first time looking up at [Paramita]. After all, he dreamed of forging a Nascent Soul and establishing his own Dao position in that infinitely high and distant place.
He knew better than anyone exactly how high and how far [Paramita] was. But precisely because of this, at this moment, no one could feel the change in [Paramita] more acutely than him. He was absolutely certain that the originally unattainable [Paramita] had suddenly slid downwards. It was no longer so unattainable!
Similar anomalies were occurring everywhere across the light sea.
Golden Core Perfected Lords might not have felt it clearly yet. However, any cultivator who had reached the Great Perfected Lord level could feel the pressure coming from overhead.
[Paramita] was falling.
Everything was exactly as the World Honored One planned. With the collapse of the Foundation Establishment realm, it became difficult for the present world to support the heavy pressure of [Paramita], which carried the six Dao Lords!
At this moment, the Dao Lords who were originally fighting over the Netherworld tacitly stopped their respective actions. Instead, they unanimously surged toward the [Inevitable Fate] forged by the Ancestor of the Saint Sect in the Netherworld. For a moment, they actually managed to block the [Inevitable Fate]'s action of obliterating Perfected Lord Ling Xiao the Eastern Sovereign.
[Primordial Saint, this person cannot be killed.]
[The Foundation Establishment realm has already collapsed. If the Netherworld collapses too, the present world will lose its two major pillars, and Paramita will inevitably fall because of it. Our plans will be ruined!]
[I think so too...]
—Lu Yang continued to daydream about the conversations between the Dao Lords, watching the conflict in the Netherworld with great interest. Hurry up and fight, I want to see rivers of blood!
Following that, he glanced at [Sky-shrouding] again.
'Oh wait, I should call him Perfected Lord Ling Xiao the Eastern Sovereign now. This old ghost actually hid this kind of identity and didn't tell me. And to think I considered him my brother...'
Just you wait, I'll settle this score with you in my next life!
Meanwhile, Perfected Lord Ling Xiao the Eastern Sovereign seemed to have reacted as well, suddenly speaking up: "I already have one foot stepping into the [Netherworld Lord's Palace]."
"Let go of the [Inevitable Fate] and let me attain the Dao. I can expand the Netherworld to the entire light sea, replacing the Foundation Establishment realm. I will be the master of the Netherworld. I will not compete with you for positions on Paramita, nor will I threaten you in the short term. Even less will I compete with you for opportunities to reach higher realms."
"Otherwise... I will detonate the Netherworld!"
Speaking up to this point, Perfected Lord Ling Xiao the Eastern Sovereign's expression was incredibly resolute: "It's best not to doubt whether I can do it. Otherwise, it will only result in a lose-lose situation."
Detonate the Netherworld—could he do it?
Lu Yang quickly came to a conclusion in his heart: 'It's possible!'
Because just as Perfected Lord Ling Xiao the Eastern Sovereign said, he already had one foot stepping into the [Netherworld Lord's Palace], giving him a certain degree of authority over the Netherworld.
Even if he couldn't use the power of the Netherworld to forge a Nascent Soul and become a Dao Lord, it didn't mean he couldn't detonate it. After all, destroying was inherently much easier than creating. Of course, this could also be a bluff, but considering the situation of [Paramita], it was almost impossible for any Dao Lord to risk testing it.
'On issues concerning themselves, Dao Lords always like to reconcile and compromise.'
'With the Great Dao right in front of them, if you say there will be one more master of the Netherworld sitting at the table to eat with them, cutting into their profits, they definitely won't allow it.'
'But if you say, if you can't get a seat at this table, you'll just flip it so no one can eat, then these Dao Lords will come over to reconcile. They'll be willing to let a master of the Netherworld have a seat... Not bad, this evil old ghost reacts quite fast, immediately understanding the situation.'
Lu Yang sighed in admiration inwardly.
Following that, he looked towards the very top of [Paramita], at that still-calm, minuscule figure: 'What will you do? Just compromise like this?'
In the next second, Lu Yang got his answer.
Rumble!
In an instant, the [Inevitable Fate] suspended high above the Netherworld, yet blocked by the other Dao Lords, trembled slightly. Then—it continued to press down!
No compromise!
This scene instantly made Lu Yang's pupils contract sharply. Seeing this, [Sky-shrouding] also revealed a look of astonishment. He completely hadn't expected the Ancestor of the Saint Sect to make such a choice.
After all, everyone was a Perfected Lord of the Saint Sect.
For the sake of benefits, let alone compromising, even begging one's grandfather and pleading with one's grandmother wasn't out of the question for a Saint Sect Perfected Lord. Judging others by oneself, the Ancestor of the Saint Sect should logically be the same.
But why?
It was just one extra master of the Netherworld. Even if he grouped up with the World Honored One, his level was actually very limited and couldn't possibly truly threaten him. Why not compromise?
Only Perfected Lord Qingcheng Feixue on the other side shook her head, sighing inwardly: 'What a pity. If it was before that old immortal left behind the [Inevitable Fate], perhaps there would still be a chance to negotiate. But since the [Inevitable Fate] has been revealed, there is no room for negotiation anymore. It must become a reality!'
If the general trend could be changed, how could it be called [Inevitable Fate]?
'If he truly abandoned this [Inevitable Fate] and chose to concede, then the foundation of [Inevitable Fate] in the light sea would be pried open, causing a change of instability.'
'This is a Dao struggle!'
'Because the current situation no longer has anything to do with the Netherworld. The old immortal absolutely cannot concede, and the other Dao Lords cannot sit back and watch him do whatever he pleases.'
—This was Lu Yang's misjudgment.
Prior to this, Lu Yang had always believed that the World Honored One nurtured [Sky-shrouding] in order to have an extra Dao Lord group up with him to oppose the Ancestor of the Saint Sect.
Even [Sky-shrouding] himself believed this.
However, they were all wrong.
Or rather, they didn't think deeply enough, nor did they look far enough—having [Sky-shrouding] become the master of the Netherworld was merely an incidental result of the plan.
'The Netherworld is actually not important.'
'An extra master of the Netherworld, at best, would only stand on the first tier of [Paramita], not even comparing to me. How could that make the Primordial Saint feel wary?'
The World Honored One lowered his eyelids. On his compassionate face, his smile grew somewhat colder: 'A Dao struggle, this is the true hope! By utilizing the relationship between the Netherworld and the present world to comprehensively trigger contradictions between the other Dao Lords and the Primordial Saint, setting off a Dao struggle—only this way do I have hope of fishing in troubled waters!'
Right now, his plan had already succeeded.
The best outcome, undoubtedly, was the Dao Lords winning, the Primordial Saint being forced to concede, the phenomenon of [Inevitable Fate] dying prematurely, and [Sky-shrouding] taking the opportunity to become the master of the Netherworld.
In this way, the Primordial Saint's side would be damaged, and he would gain a powerful reinforcement—the master of the Netherworld. With one side ebbing and the other flowing, combined with the feedback gained from manipulating the great karmic net by laying out plans for eons, guiding the general trend, and counterattacking [Inevitable Fate]—it would be enough for him to climb one tier higher, running neck and neck with the Dao Lord of Spiritual Power.
He's winning big.
The secondary outcome was nothing more than the Dao Lords compromising with each other, minimizing the damage to [Inevitable Fate]. However, regardless of what happened, damage would still be taken.
'Primordial Saint, you cannot escape this round!'
In the World Honored One's view, the Ancestor of the Saint Sect's only method to break the deadlock—which was also the worst outcome in his plan—was the Primordial Saint single-handedly suppressing all the Dao Lords.
Forcibly maintaining the [Inevitable Fate].
Forcibly killing [Sky-shrouding] and collapsing the Netherworld.
But if that happened, Paramita would inevitably fall. Even if the Ancestor of the Saint Sect maintained the phenomenon of [Inevitable Fate], his own stature would drastically plummet.
Of course, this would also affect the World Honored One himself.
But so what?
'It's nothing more than gambling my life with you all.'
As a junior who only achieved the Nascent Soul realm five thousand years ago, if I don't risk my life, if I don't have the determination to gamble everything, how can I compete with the other Dao Lords?
'At worst, the light sea is reshaped, and everyone returns to the time when Dao Lords resided in the mortal world to start from scratch. I'll still have a chance!'
(End of Chapter)