Lu Yang didn't immediately answer the young military general's words, but pondered in his heart:
I got it wrong.
It's not the First-generation Master of Beast Taming Peak; this place was left behind by Sisui! And it was left by Sisui from the period when he was still a Perfected Lord, before becoming a Dao Lord.
To be honest, this surprised Lu Yang quite a bit.
Because the design of this palace in the painting was simply too full of artistic conception, with myriads of profoundness. How should he put it? It didn't look like a method that the Dharma Body Dao could pull off.
However, no matter what, as he displayed his unique and powerful dharma body, the young military general in the painting seemed to misunderstand something because of it. He no longer attacked him, but instead actively lowered the scroll and opened the portal. His eyes were full of expectation, adopting an attitude of letting him enter freely.
Lu Yang thought about it and simply willed it.
[Colorful Talent: Splitting Light and Transforming Shadows]!
In the next second, light and shadows flickered, colors swirled, and an incarnation outside the body walked out from behind Lu Yang, then took a step into the palace in the painting.
Immediately after, a splash of ink appeared out of thin air within the painting.
It was exactly his incarnation.
Lu Yang's main body remained outside, clearly able to see himself and the young military general in the painting go all the way up, finally arriving at the top of the twenty-fourth layer of the palace.
"May I ask... this fellow Daoist—"
It wasn't until this moment that the young military general turned around, cupped his hands somewhat stiffly, and said in a low voice, "Have you inherited Master's Dharma Body Dao lineage?"
He wasn't stupid. Although he was excited for a moment, after calming down he understood that it was impossible for his Master to return, otherwise he wouldn't have sent him here back then. However, Lu Yang's dharma body couldn't be faked. After thinking it over, only an inheritor of his Master's Dao lineage could explain it.
"I was presumptuous just now."
The young military general explained cautiously: "It's just that previously a demon came to this place, possessing the ability to transform, and I was truly traumatized by him..."
A demon? The ability to transform?
Hearing this, Lu Yang's expression turned strange. He then reached out a finger and used his spiritual power to draw the appearance of the First-generation Master of Heaven-Mending Peak: "Is this the person Fellow Daoist speaks of?"
"Yes, yes, yes!"
The young military general instantly became excited: "This person, this person... Fellow Daoist doesn't even know what he did. He actually... to me... it's simply devoid of all conscience!"
Speaking up to here, the young military general's blood rushed to his head, his face ashen: "He said his Dao had hit a bottleneck, having yang but no yin, so he needed the Yin-Yang Great Dao in the [Tianhun Diagram] to supplement it. Then he forcefully... he forcefully humiliated me, and finally took away the Dao of Yin from the Yin-Yang Great Dao."
Lu Yang: "???"
Holy shit!
The First-generation Master of Heaven-Mending Peak forced herself on this painting? Using the methods of the [Heaven-Mending True Scripture] to forcibly harvest it, taking away the profound concepts within the painting?
Hmm? Wait...
"[Yin and Yang] is here? Not in the Celestial Court?"
Lu Yang's expression suddenly turned serious: That makes sense. The Five Elements Dao Fruits of the Immortal Nexus were all dug out, but the [Five Elements] is still being suppressed by [Paramita].
The two were actually very similar.
Sisui used his dharmabody to devour Yin and Yang, one person commanding two Daos. The result was that only the Dharma Body Dao broke, while Yin and Yang went missing... leaving only Dao Fruit remnants in the Celestial Court.
No wonder the Dao Fruits of the Celestial Court are a tier weaker than those of the Immortal Nexus. Even though they are also Supreme Dao Fruits, the Celestial Court cannot be compared to the Immortal Nexus. The reason for this is probably not only because of the Ancestral Dragon and Sisui, but even more so because the [Five Elements] is still in the Immortal Nexus, while [Yin and Yang] has long since left the Celestial Court!
Lu Yang's exclamation also surprised the young military general.
"Fellow Daoist... you didn't know?"
"I truly didn't know."
Lu Yang nodded with a sincere expression: "Although I cultivate the [Precious Life Perfect Form Scripture], all information regarding Senior Sisui has been buried."
After saying that, he even sighed:
"I have always held boundless reverence for Senior Sisui. After cultivating the dharma body, I have been dedicated to finding the many clues left behind by Senior Sisui."
"Being able to find this place was also an accident."
Hearing this, the young military general instantly lowered his head, gnashing his teeth:
"That's true. Since that bastard harmed Master to such an extent, how could he allow Master's traces to remain in the world? It's already not easy for Fellow Daoist to find this place."
"You overpraise me."
Seeing this, Lu Yang quickly struck while the iron was hot and asked: "May I ask Fellow Daoist, what exactly is the relationship between this place and Senior Sisui? And why is Fellow Daoist here?"
The young military general raised his head: "My name is Tianhun. I am the artifact spirit of the supreme treasure [Tianhun Diagram]. Master forged me back then, which allowed him to cast the Immortal Bridge of [Yin and Yang], eventually merging Yin and Yang into his dharma body to tread heaven and seek the Dao. As for this place, it was Master's Dao enlightenment ground."
"Fellow Daoist should know, this place is named [Equality of Things]."
"The true essence of this stage is [Heaven and earth are born with me, and the myriad things are one with me], testing the method of communicating with heaven and earth and aligning with the Great Dao."
"Master once attained Dao enlightenment here."
"Finally, he comprehended the principle that [My body is heaven and earth], perfected the [Precious Life Perfect Form Scripture], and ultimately achieved the grand feat of the dharma body taking in Yin and Yang."
Lu Yang was thoroughly confused listening to this.
Dao enlightenment? The dharmabody also needs Dao enlightenment?
Isn't that something anyone can do?
At the same time, Tianhun suddenly spoke ruthlessly again: "Originally, this place still had the comprehensions Master left behind back then, as well as the reward for clearing the stage."
"However, that demon came."
"He looted Master's legacies clean, taking away the clearing reward for [Equality of Things] along with it, and even thoroughly investigated me..."
Speaking up to here, Tianhun almost covered his face: "In short, that demon had a bizarre way of thinking. Master's artistic conception was so lofty and profound, yet he pondered it for a long time, completely mangling the method of communicating with heaven and earth into something unpresentable. In the end, he even laughed heartily and left, saying something about finally having a method."
Lu Yang listened patiently.
It could be seen that Tianhun had clearly held this in for a long time. He could be said to both hate and fear the First-generation Master of Heaven-Mending Peak. It was hard to imagine what exactly he experienced back then.
After a moment, when Tianhun stopped talking and calmed down a bit, he finally said:
"If that's the case, why is Fellow Daoist here?"
"It was Master who threw me in."
Tianhun had no intention of hiding anything and immediately explained: "Master was plotted against by the Primordial Saint. Feeling that he would certainly die, he didn't want the Primordial Saint to reap all the rewards."
"The Dharma Body Dao was already broken, but [Yin and Yang] could not be handed over, so he sent it into the [Tianhun Diagram] and had me bring it into the [Heavenly Being's Remnant Consciousness] to hide... but it only preserved the most fundamental essence of the Great Dao. The vast majority of the Great Dao's power was still seized, and is estimated to have already been used up."
It has indeed been used up.
Lu Yang took a deep breath, thinking of the scene in the Immortal Nexus: The Dao of Yin and Yang is actually reflected in the Immortal Nexus as well. The most direct manifestation is the sun and moon.
The sun and moon of the Immortal Nexus were not stars from outer heaven.
But pure concepts.
People had tried searching for them before, believing the sun and moon themselves were also Dao Fruits, but found nothing. Over time, no one pursued the truth within them anymore.
Besides this, there was another example that could prove it—
The yin and yang of Chen Earth were inverted by [Sky-shrouding]. The Heavenly Spirits and Earthly Fiends of the Immortal Nexus actually have yin and yang variations within them... Good lord, Sisui's fate is simply too miserable.
Not only did his body die and soul perish, and his Dharma Body Dao get shattered, his [Yin and Yang] was even dug out by someone with immense spiritual power, landing in the Immortal Nexus, becoming the sun and moon of the Immortal Nexus, and even constructing the yin and yang attributes of the Heavenly Spirits and Earthly Fiends. It truly highlighted "making the best use of everything". He was even more miserable than the Ancestral Dragon. At least the Ancestral Dragon was still alive!
With this thought, Lu Yang instantly revealed a look of righteous indignation:
"The Primordial Saint has committed many injustices and is doomed to perish. Since I have obtained Senior Sisui's inheritance, I will certainly avenge Senior in the future. The Saint Sect and I cannot share the same sky!"
After speaking, he finally looked at Tianhun, his true intentions revealed:
"Senior, are you willing to help me?"
(End of Chapter)