The true path.
As a bystander to the memory, Lu Yang couldn't help but fall into a deep silence. He knew exactly why this memory fragment had suddenly unlocked for him.
Because of the [Heavenly Dao]?
Without a doubt, the vast majority of people in this world knew nothing about the [Heavenly Dao]. Even Great Perfected Lords likely didn't know the specific details.
After all, they were already sitting in prison.
Of course, given their capabilities, the Great Perfected Lords should have more or less sensed the pressure from the [Heavenly Dao], but they definitely didn't know its true identity.
Even Lu Yang, if not for the prompt from [The Book of a Hundred Lifetimes], would at most have known that an intangible, formless rule dictating "Great Perfected Lords are not allowed to emerge" enveloped the entire Light Sea. He wouldn't have obtained the name [Heavenly Dao]—and that very name was the key to unlocking this memory.
A dispute over the path of Dao Lords, huh.
Reining in his thoughts, Lu Yang looked back at the memory fragment, then shook his head. Looking back from the perspective of later generations, the outcome of this dispute over the path was obvious.
"You are mistaken!"
Almost simultaneously, that young, high-spirited voice rang out in the projection again. "In my view, the [Heavenly Dao] has at least two fatal flaws."
"The first is stature."
"In your design, Daoist friend, the scale of the [Heavenly Dao] would undoubtedly expand to an unimaginable degree, but its stature would be no different from ours."
"If that is the case, as long as someone in the future reaches our realm and, risking eternal silence, elevates their stature at all costs, it is possible for them to surpass the [Heavenly Dao] in stature. And you all understand very well the absolute disparity brought about by a difference in stature. What would the outcome be then?"
The answer was unquestionable.
The [Heavenly Dao] couldn't possibly be a match, Lu Yang silently muttered to himself. A disparity in stature is an absolute disparity; it cannot be overcome by sheer scale.
Of course, reaching that level of stature would be incredibly difficult.
So, there is an even more serious problem.
Just as Lu Yang thought this, the voice in the memory projection rang out again. "If we say this first problem can still be solved by strictly restricting cultivation..."
"Then the second problem is truly fatal."
"[Variable]."
"Within the Light Sea, the variable reigns supreme. In all things, there is always a sliver of hope. This is an unshakable, supreme principle that you fellow Daoists should all understand."
At that moment, the voice that had originally proposed the [Heavenly Dao] finally spoke. "This problem is not a problem. As long as we incorporate the [Variable] into the [Heavenly Dao] as well, it will be fine. We are not forbidding the emergence of variables; we intend to manipulate them, keeping them within our control."
"Within our control?"
The young voice let out a soft chuckle.
"Let's take a step back. Even if you were to incorporate the Variable into the Heavenly Dao, preventing anyone from overturning its rule…"
"What about the Heavenly Dao itself?"
"Variables will never truly disappear. Under their influence, one day might come when we—who claim to be the eternal and unchanging Lords of the Heavenly Dao—also fall."
"That's right. By then, the variables may indeed be unable to overthrow the Heavenly Dao. However, even if the Heavenly Dao remains unchanged… we, its Lords, can still be replaced."
The words caused a massive ripple.
Countless thoughts intertwined within the memory fragment, causing the projection itself to blur and distort. Clearly, those words had struck at the heart of everyone present.
Looking at it this way, the [Heavenly Dao] really wouldn't work.
Whether the path of the [Heavenly Dao] was correct or not was a minor, peripheral issue. But whether their own positions would remain secure—that was a major issue of fundamental stance!
Seeing this, the young voice immediately struck while the iron was hot. "In comparison, [Paramita] suffers from none of these troubles. We can use it to elevate our stature. A higher stature provides absolute suppression over lower-level cultivators, enough to erase any variable. We will permanently stand at the absolute pinnacle of the Light Sea."
Faced with this proposal, the person who had remained silent all this time finally spoke:
"That is indeed true."
"Ancestor, you truly are considering things for our sake. Compared to the [Heavenly Dao], [Paramita] is indeed much safer. You truly are an honest and good person."
As the words fell, utter silence reigned.
A long time later, the various existences within the memory projection gave their answers. The result was exactly as Lu Yang expected: the [Heavenly Dao] suffered a complete defeat, and [Paramita] emerged victorious.
The memory abruptly ended.
Lu Yang withdrew his consciousness from it and sat quietly within the [Nourishing Life Master], his brow tightly furrowed as he pondered a crucial question:
Who was the Dao Lord who spoke last?
Could it have been a shill hired by the Saint Sect's Ancestor? To actually believe he's a good person... an idiot like that probably wouldn't survive a single day in the Saint Sect.
Or was the Saint Sect's Ancestor's public image management really that good back then?
It wouldn't be surprising.
After all, this seemed to be standard operating procedure for the Saint Sect. Wasn't [Sky-shrouding] also known far and wide throughout the Immortal Nexus as a great philanthropist? It could only be said that those below imitated those above.
It seems [Paramita] granted the Saint Sect's Ancestor an unimaginable benefit. I knew it. The Ancestor doesn't cultivate the Dao of the Three Foundations. Among the Dao Lords, he should be on the younger side, not an absolute ancient antique. How else could he have overtaken them on the curve and become the strongest of the Dao Lords?
All the secrets lay within [Paramita].
Thinking of this, a new question sprouted in Lu Yang's mind. "Come to think of it, this memory doesn't seem like something someone at the Old Dragon Lord's level could have overheard."
Furthermore, who was the uninvited Dao Lord?
The fact that this Dao Lord was ostracized by the others meant that their ultimate fate definitely wasn't good. So, up to the present day, which Dao Lords were in a bad situation?
If he considered the existing Dao Lords...
Su Sui and the Ancestral Dragon!
Su Sui went without saying; the Dharma Body Dao was shattered, and he died as thoroughly as one could. The Ancestral Dragon was even jointly suppressed by the Four Dogs of the Immortal Nexus, finding itself in an equally miserable situation.
"...There are two possibilities."
After a long silence, Lu Yang reached a conclusion: "Either the Ancestral Dragon was present and Su Sui was absent... or the Ancestral Dragon was absent, and Sui was present!"
It sounded like nonsense, but it wasn't.
If the Ancestral Dragon was present and Su Sui was absent, that's nothing unusual. After all, judging from the content of the memory, Su Sui's strength was likely extremely formidable back then.
A Dharma Body that commanded Yin and Yang.
While others had a single Great Dao, he possessed two. It was highly likely he was the strongest. In that case, it would be natural for the other Dao Lords to ostracize him.
But there was a problem with this.
The Spiritual Power Dao Lord and the Dao Arts Dao Lord. The Three Foundations had always advanced hand in hand. Even if the other Dao Lords ostracized Su Sui, would those two also ostracize him?
So there is another possibility... That is, Su Sui was present, and the Ancestral Dragon was absent.
If that's the case, then the problem is huge!
Because if that were true, an entirely new possibility would arise: If the Ancestral Dragon wasn't present, then why was this segment in the Old Dragon Lord's memory?
Was the Ancestral Dragon eavesdropping?
Furthermore, why would the other Dao Lords ostracize the Ancestral Dragon? Ostracizing Su Sui could still be explained by his supreme strength, but what reason would they have for ostracizing the Ancestral Dragon?
A chill suddenly crept into Lu Yang's heart. Unless... the topic they were discussing involved the Ancestral Dragon, which is why the Ancestral Dragon couldn't be allowed to know. The [Heavenly Dao] and [Paramita]? These two things couldn't have been created out of thin air, right? Even with the necessary techniques, they would require the absolute highest quality materials...
Lu Yang immediately recalled the words the First-generation Pill Cauldron Peak Master had spoken to the Old Dragon Lord earlier:
'To refine the best pill in the world, one must naturally use the best ingredients in the world... The Ancestral Dragon's Remnant Bloodline... the Ancestral Dragon itself is the best material in this world!'
Holy shit!
Were they planning to refine the Ancestral Dragon to forge the foundation of the [Heavenly Dao] or [Paramita]? Was the Ancestral Dragon prepared for this, and thus eavesdropping in secret?
This was pure speculation.
To be blunt, it was a deduction based on absolute malice, and very possibly just his own paranoid imagination. But since it could be deduced...
Then it means there is a possibility!
(End of Chapter)