[The Mortal World].
The sea of fog that could calm one's mind, make one forget both oneself and the external world, and subsequently enter a state of epiphany permeated the area once again. A figure could be faintly seen bobbing up and down within it.
An unknown amount of time passed before a pair of eyes opened from the sea of fog.
"No, it's not that there's no continuation..."
[Sky-shrouding] held the [Sovereign Heart-Demon Scripture] given by Lu Yang in his hand, understanding dawning in his eyes. "So that's how it is. The prerequisites are not yet met."
"Inner demons are inherently illusory entities; they do not truly exist and have no foundation of existence. This [Sovereign Heart-Demon Scripture] naturally has no place to be used. To make it truly effective, one must first create inner demons, let them wreak havoc in the Light Sea, and poison cultivators. This is also the concept of Tribulation."
Thinking of this, [Sky-shrouding] furrowed his brows.
After a moment, he shook his head and chuckled lightly. "That mysterious fellow Daoist should have a way to solve this method. It's just that given his situation, it's impossible for him to take action for me."
"He might even be trying to use this to control me."
"But then again, that fellow Daoist hides far too deeply. He has absolutely no karma, and despite his extremely high cultivation, I don't even know his Daoist title..."
[Sky-shrouding] wasn't anxious.
In the present world, below the Dao Lords, there actually weren't many problems he couldn't solve. Even for inner demons, he still had a feasible method.
That was [Inversion].
The Great Dao he attained Void Attainment for could reverse polarities. He had once used [Great Forest Wood] as a foundation to resonate with Chen Earth, and then used [Inversion] to alter its yin and yang attributes.
The same principle applied now. With the [Sovereign Heart-Demon Scripture] as a foundation, he could entirely repeat his old trick and transform the state of the [Inner Demon], changing it from "illusory" to "real." This way, he would naturally be able to meet the cultivation conditions of the [Sovereign Heart-Demon Scripture].
It was just that there was one other problem.
The stature of [Inversion] points downwards. To reverse the existence of inner demons, I must bring this Great Dao back to the mortal world. Doing so carries quite a bit of risk...
He hadn't forgotten his own situation.
Although he used Hong Yun's matter to escape the Netherworld and had already abandoned that route, on the surface, he had to pretend to still be aiming for the Netherworld.
Otherwise, the Saint Sect's Ancestor would be very unhappy.
And [Inversion] was precisely proof of this. As long as the stature of [Inversion] still pointed downwards, it proved that he hadn't given up on the Netherworld route.
But once he brought [Inversion] back to the mortal world in order to shape inner demons, and then used it to resonate with Tribulation, this would be equivalent to openly telling the Saint Sect's Ancestor that he was no longer seeking the Netherworld. He was very worried that the next time he entered the mortal world, a massive hand would fall from the sky and swat him to death directly.
"Tribulation... that old thing definitely plot for it."
"With my current status, I am absolutely the number one variable below the Dao Lords. If I switch to seeking Tribulation, it will inevitably affect that old thing's plots."
When that time came, he feared he would certainly die.
"...Heh."
[Sky-shrouding] chuckled lightly, completely devoid of fear, even gladly enduring the hardship. After all, what truly made him feel fear was never the long and arduous Dao path.
But having no path to walk.
"On this point, I have to thank that mysterious fellow Daoist."
Thinking of this, [Sky-shrouding] actually became invigorated. Since the Dao path was long and arduous, he would forge ahead. There would always be a day when the clouds parted to reveal the bright sky!
I cannot succeed in this matter on my own.
Compared to the Netherworld, which he had thoroughly studied over countless years, Tribulation was clearly a new path. His understanding of it was extremely limited, making it difficult to plan for.
I need someone to point the way.
Lu Yang's figure suddenly flashed across [Sky-shrouding]'s mind, but after pondering for a moment, he shook his head: Not yet. That person's cultivation is still insufficient.
Although he didn't know how the other party knew of the existence of Tribulations, his cultivation base was right there. Knowing more was useless; his perspective was ultimately from the position of a lower cultivator. To truly understand Tribulations, he still had to seek out those lofty personages residing in [Paramita], overlooking the mortal world.
[Sky-shrouding] calmed his mind.
Deep within his memories lay a seal, burying his most important memories. Only on the eve of seeking the Netherworld would these memories be unsealed.
Unfortunately, plans can't keep up with changes.
With the path to the Netherworld severed, the corresponding memories were naturally useless. Instead, he should extract them all to see if they could be converted into resources for seeking Tribulations.
Unseal it early.
With this thought, [Sky-shrouding] immediately circulated his divine sense, ruthlessly crashing into the memory seal. With a loud boom, the seal shattered, and memories surged out.
In an instant, the torrent of memories containing massive amounts of forbidden knowledge made [Sky-shrouding] feel as if he had plunged into a bottomless abyss. An intense feeling of suffocation swept over his entire body. It was only because his cultivation was high enough and his Dao heart firm that he recovered after a moment, a faint throb of pain coming from his glabella.
"I see... It really is the World Honored One."
He had previously thought that the World Honored One was on the same side as him, but after digesting the sealed memories, he discovered that the two were actually much closer.
However, everything had prerequisites.
He wouldn't believe any nonsense about "the World Honored One being a good friend to lower cultivators."
If I seek the Netherworld... the World Honored One will undoubtedly support me with all his might, because it has nothing to do with [Paramita]. But what about seeking Tribulation? Will the World Honored One still support me?
Not to mention anything else, according to that mysterious fellow Daoist, among the Four Dogs of the Immortal Nexus, only the World Honored One didn't command one of the Five Heavenly Destinies. Given this, would he covet Tribulation? If he did, would he sit idly by and watch him attain Tribulation? He might even be thinking of secretly screwing him over to death.
[Sky-shrouding] could guess it all.
With the World Honored One's personality, he might pretend to support me, only to suddenly enlighten me when I'm about to succeed, occupying the magpie's nest to seize Tribulation for himself.
Killing two birds with one stone, why wouldn't he?
Although a perfect Dao heart can resist the World Honored One's enlightenment, it's not absolute. As long as the World Honored One is willing to spend the time and effort, I definitely won't be able to stop him.
Not to mention there was also [City Rampart Earth].
If the World Honored One truly wanted to strike, would it be difficult to use [City Rampart Earth] to alter causes and shift effects, fabricating a cause where "[Sky-shrouding] had actually been enlightened long ago"?
It's impossible to guard against...
[Sky-shrouding] furrowed his brows tightly, continuously pondering. Ultimately, however, he took a deep breath and made a decision: I still have to walk the World Honored One's path.
Admittedly, this path carried many risks.
But on the other hand, the World Honored One was indeed the only Dao Lord who might support a lower cultivator. Therefore, he had to take this risk and bet his life on it.
In the next second, [Sky-shrouding] formed a hand seal.
Following that, his thoughts crossed mountains, rivers, and layers of void, landing in Jiangxi of the Immortal Nexus, entering the body of an unorthodox Bodhisattva sitting cross-legged.
[Bodhisattva Coiled Dragon Shadow]!
"Amitabha... Thus have I heard."
[Sky-shrouding]'s divine sense vibrated, calling out the secret code he had agreed upon with the World Honored One. In the next second, layers of colorful light suddenly rippled in his sea of consciousness.
[City Rampart Earth]!
The Supreme Dao Fruit hidden deep within the Pure Land activated autonomously. Colorful light permeated, carrying this strand of [Sky-shrouding]'s divine sense instantly into the Great Karmic Net.
[Sky-shrouding]'s consciousness rapidly ascended within the Great Karmic Net.
He was backtracking karma.
A hundred years ago, a thousand years ago, five thousand years ago, ten thousand years ago, thirty thousand years ago—until an extremely familiar cave abode appeared before his eyes.
That was his cave abode in the Saint Sect back when he was still at Qi Refining.
In a daze, he seemed to see a still-naive Daoist child excitedly fiddling with a small white jade box, until the box was snatched away by someone.
That person snatched the small box, soared into the clouds, and then arrived before him in this just-backtracked Karmic Scene, a smile playing on the corners of his mouth:
"Fellow Daoist wishes to see me?"
World Honored One...
[Sky-shrouding] narrowed his eyes.
At this moment, the entire Karmic Scene stopped turning, as if a great will had descended from an infinite height, gazing at him unhurriedly.
(End of Chapter)