The Mystic Spirit World Realm, a mysterious unorthodox World Realm.
When the Dharma Body Dao shattered, causing the lifespans of all cultivators in the light sea to drastically plummet, the Mystic Spirit World Realm remained almost entirely unaffected.
This was undoubtedly abnormal.
Such a bizarre anomaly naturally piqued the Star Palace's interest. They even attempted to investigate it, but in the end, the Star Palace still found absolutely nothing.
"Thinking about it now... this is actually quite unusual."
Because the Star Palace had a Dao Lord!
A mere Mystic Spirit World Realm—even if it truly hid some great secret, and even if Perfected Lords and Great Perfected Lords couldn't uncover it, could a Dao Lord really fail to detect it?
Of course, given a Dao Lord's immense stature, it was unlikely they would personally cast their gaze down to investigate an unorthodox World Realm. Doing so would only draw the attention of the other Dao Lords and alert them. However, if Lu Yang remembered correctly, the Spiritual Power Dao Lord had an enlightened incarnation in the Star Palace, one that could practically represent the Dao Lord himself.
Elder Star Soul.
With such an anchor holding down the fort, even if the Spiritual Power Dao Lord didn't personally cast down his gaze, he could still conduct a carpet search of the Mystic Spirit World Realm.
The Star Palace had definitely done something similar.
But what was the result?
"Nothing at all..." Lu Yang's brow furrowed even tighter. To render Elder Star Soul, the enlightened incarnation of a Dao Lord, completely empty-handed—what exactly was hidden in the Mystic Spirit World Realm?
And who hid it?
Leaving [Responding to Emperors], Lu Yang returned to the [Nourishing Life Master]. Then, he once again activated [Splitting Light and Transforming Shadows], stepping out as an incarnation to enter the mortal realm.
The Sea of Light.
Lu Yang's incarnation stood with his hands behind his back, silently observing this vast expanse that had birthed countless World Realms. His robes fluttered in the wind, prompting him to look up at the sky.
The light sea was a highly peculiar place. There was a very distinct separation of 'above' and 'below' here. The longer one stayed, the stronger the bizarre sensation grew—as if one were merely a word or a symbol written on a piece of paper, while the entity truly holding the pen was high above.
[Paramita]. Dao Lords.
Judging from the Old Dragon Lord's reminiscence, once upon a time, during the era when Dao Lords resided in the world, they actually didn't possess such exaggerated strength.
Although still powerful, they were not invincible. At the very least, it was absolutely nothing like today, where the dimensional gap was akin to a character in a painting versus the painter. However, the emergence of [Paramita] changed all of that.
The more he understood these things, the more he felt the terrifying nature of the Saint Sect's Ancestor.
To conceive a design like [Paramita], implement it, scheme across the ages, and ultimately overtake everyone from behind to become the strongest Dao Lord.
The Saint Sect's Ancestor's strength lay not just in raw power and comprehension.
His scheming, ruthlessness, and cold-bloodedness... The current "Saint Sect style" was ultimately nothing more than a poor imitation of their founding ancestor.
But correspondingly—
Although the Saint Sect's Ancestor is strong, he is not without his opponents. I think I already know who the instigator of the Mystic Spirit World Realm is, the mastermind behind the scenes.
The next second, Lu Yang took a step forward.
While pondering, he hadn't forgotten to calculate. Having already found the coordinates of the Mystic Spirit World Realm, he naturally arrived in a single step, silently walking into the World Realm.
"It's indeed different."
Back when he was still a Perfected Lord, Lu Yang couldn't feel anything unusual. However, now that he had advanced to a Great Perfected Lord, he immediately noticed something was wrong.
But that was all. Even though he was physically inside the Mystic Spirit World Realm and could sense the subtle disarray this World Realm brought him, he simply couldn't locate its source.
Presumably, the Great Perfected Lords of the Star Palace, like Exalted One Hao Yuan, had secretly investigated this place too. But just like me right now, they couldn't find any clues and could only return empty-handed... Because this World Realm was locked by the mastermind. It was a lock that could only be opened by a cultivator from the same sect and of the same origin.
Lu Yang paced slowly, spreading out his divine sense.
[Heavenly Pivot Dao-Spreading Diagram]!
The artifact refinement method passed down to him by the First-generation Master of Beast Taming Peak. Lu Yang had already scanned it with the [Immortal Nexus Survival Guide], and just as expected, there were no hidden traps.
With this method as a reference, it was like finding the correct route guide for a complex maze. This time, Lu Yang found the source of the disarray without expending much effort.
—Deep within the Mystic Spirit World Realm.
It was like a sealed room. Lu Yang had already found the door, but there was still a lock on it that required a key to open.
"..."
After a moment of silence, Lu Yang activated the [Penetrating the Void and Pacifying Karma Jade Scripture]. This method, passed down from the Heaven-Mending Peak Master, instantly drew a resonance from the Mystic Spirit World Realm.
Rumble—!
Like a key entering the correct keyhole, Lu Yang successfully opened that door. Subsequently, the [Sea of Bitterness] opened up, allowing him to see the scenery within.
Right in the center of the boundless conceptual water, a thumb-sized pill bobbed up and down, emitting a gentle, radiant glow. Countless talismanic character intertwined within the light. It was exactly the unorthodox Dao Fruit of the Mystic Spirit World Realm. At first glance, it didn't seem particularly special—just an ordinary scene of the [Sea of Bitterness].
However, Lu Yang smiled.
In the next second, the [Colorful Talent: Vajradhatu Mandala] activated. The [Secret Method of Constructing the Minor Sea of Bitterness] created by the World Honored One swiftly flashed through Lu Yang's mind.
Then, he saw it.
Directly beneath the Dao Fruit of the Mystic Spirit World Realm, at the bottom of the [Sea of Bitterness], a secret realm was actually hidden, merely concealed by the boundless conceptual water!
Triple insurance. The first layer is the outer shell of the Mystic Spirit World Realm. The second layer is the Dao Fruit of the Mystic Spirit World Realm. The third layer is this vast, boundless [Sea of Bitterness]. No wonder the Star Palace couldn't find a single thing... Yet, these three layers of insurance could incidentally be cracked using the methods of three of the four First-generation Peak Masters.
The identity of the mastermind was self-evident.
The First-generation Master of Pill Cauldron Peak!
A triple insurance that exclusively omitted him. There was only one possibility: the First-generation Pill Cauldron Peak Master was the mastermind who designed this entire process!
Boom!
In a flash, Lu Yang stepped into the mysterious domain located beneath the Dao Fruit of the Mystic Spirit World Realm. The view suddenly opened up, revealing a bizarre World Realm scenery.
It was a volcano.
Surging magma filled the crater, and streaks of flowing light continuously drifted out from the billowing earth fire. Above it sat a three-legged cauldron, as towering as a mountain.
What met the eye was dense white vapor continuously evaporating from the precious cauldron's seven ventilation orifices. It then condensed into a cloud of mist above the cauldron lid, churning and coiling. Faintly, the sound of boiling water emanated from within the cauldron, seemingly at a crucial moment right before completion.
But that wasn't all.
Aside from this precious cauldron and the overlapping concepts, more importantly, right on top of the cauldron lid, beneath the cloud of mist, a figure sat cross-legged.
It was a Daoist child with red lips and white teeth.
However, unlike ordinary cultivators, his blood qi lacked even the slightest hint of masculine vitality. Instead, it was like unmelting ice, exuding a bone-chilling coldness.
The moment Lu Yang stepped into this domain, the child seemed to awaken. He raised his head and gazed far into the distance toward Lu Yang's direction. Immediately after, that cold, iron-hard face—almost no different from a dead person's—gradually twisted, revealing a smile of mingled ferocity and sheer ecstasy.
"Hahaha! It's here... it's finally here!"
"Master didn't lie to me! The final medicinal catalyst! As long as I throw you into the pill furnace and allow the celestial pill to be born, I can rise from the dead and live another life!"
Before his words even fell, the child's aura erupted with a bang!
In an instant, the temperature of the supposedly scorching volcano secret realm plummeted. Frost even appeared around the child, freezing in the blink of an eye, accompanied by a layer of pitch-black ink-like dye.
Baleful yin qi, decaying qi, extermination qi—Lu Yang instantly recognized the child's state and couldn't help but reveal a look of surprise—
"A Death Spirit?"
That's right. The child before him was actually a Death Spirit, an entity that should only exist in the deepest depths of the Netherworld!
(End of Chapter)