After listening to Tianhun's explanation, Lu Yang fell into deep thought.
He was wondering why the First-generation Master of Heaven-Mending Peak ultimately chose to give up becoming the Master of the Painting for the [Dao-Conquering Tianhun Diagram]. Was this trouble really that big for him?
It shouldn't be that big.
Even if his Dao heart hadn't reached the [Primordial Spirit] level, with the twelve Dharma Body Dao Great Perfected Lords joining forces, they wouldn't be unable to suppress a Great Sword Ancestor.
With this thought, Lu Yang's thinking gradually cleared:
What made the First-generation Master of Heaven-Mending Peak apprehensive was definitely not just a Great Sword Ancestor, but his identity. After all, he is the Sword Lord's disciple!
Connecting this to the whereabouts of the First-generation Master of Heaven-Mending Peak, understanding instantly dawned in Lu Yang's heart: If that guy was truly trying to find a way to smuggle into [Paramita], then he absolutely could not attract the attention of the Dao Lords. And killing or suppressing the Great Sword Ancestor might carry the risk of alerting the Sword Pavilion Dao Lord.
This should be the fundamental reason why Bu Tianque gave up.
After figuring this out, Lu Yang let out a long breath. Bu Tianque worried about this, but he didn't. After all, their situations were different.
The place Bu Tianque wanted to smuggle into, the Ancestral Dragon's seal, was strictly guarded by the Dao Lords.
But the place he wanted to smuggle into, the Netherworld, had to some extent escaped the Dao Lords' sight. Although it wasn't absolutely safe, there wasn't too much risk either.
In other words:
"What he didn't dare do, I dare do, and I can do. Anyway, after I'm done, I'm running off to the Netherworld. Once a person dies, everything is empty; what can they do to me?"
However, Lu Yang quickly glanced at Tianhun again:
"Does Fellow Daoist have anything else hidden from me?"
"I wouldn't dare!"
Seeing this, Tianhun hurriedly bowed, then said cautiously: "If I must say, there is only one thing I didn't clearly state to the Master of the Painting earlier."
He very obediently changed how he addressed him.
Hearing this, Lu Yang nodded slightly: "What is it?"
"In truth, although the consciousnesses of all the Great Perfected Lords have now awakened, I'm afraid it will be difficult for me to return them all to the world of the living to resurrect right now."
"...Because of the Dao of Yin?"
"The Master of the Painting is wise." Tianhun hurriedly said, "Right now, only the Dao of Yang remains in the [Dao-Conquering Tianhun Diagram]. With Yin and Yang incomplete, its divine wonders are naturally flawed."
"Then how many can be resurrected?"
"...One."
Tianhun spoke with difficulty, so before his voice even fell, he immediately added: "Only one in the short term, but after resting for a period of time, another can be resurrected!"
"Given time, a century at most, all the Great Perfected Lords can be resurrected."
"A century..."
Lu Yang stroked his chin. He didn't express his stance immediately, but instead pretended to be dissatisfied, furrowing his brows and waving his sleeve: "Follow me to the Dark Aspect of the Light Sea first."
"Tianhun accepts the order."
Tianhun instantly felt as if he had received a grand amnesty, suppressing the joy in his eyes. Then he transformed into light and soared into the sky, flying into Lu Yang's sleeve and entering the Dark Aspect of the Light Sea with him.
A bizarre and twisted world.
Infinite light and colors were kneaded into a ball, reflecting face after face. There were humans, demons, and the spiritual intelligence of plants and trees, presenting countless emotions.
Envy, arrogance, greed, anger, fear... Endless emotions precipitated in this sea of chaos, boundless and endless, like an ocean forever surging with a stormy tempest. Only cultivators who had condensed the Fasting of the Mind could secure a place in this ocean.
And right now, the storm was intensifying.
"Boom!"
As soon as Lu Yang returned, he heard another loud explosion. It was the collision between the twelve Dharma Body Dao Great Perfected Lords, including Pan Huang, and the three mental sword formations.
"You're finally here!"
Seeing Lu Yang appear, and the [Dao-Conquering Tianhun Diagram] he took out from his sleeve, Pan Huang was instantly overjoyed: "Tianhun! Come quickly and help me form the array!"
Lu Yang didn't speak upon hearing this.
And in his palm, the [Dao-Conquering Tianhun Diagram] seemed dead, without the slightest manifestation of its divine wonders, remaining obediently in Lu Yang's grasp.
"..."
Seeing this, Pan Huang's expression instantly changed. Only after meeting Lu Yang's gaze did he seem to realize something. When he spoke again, his tone had completely changed:
"Fellow Daoist, please assist us."
Only then did Lu Yang chuckle.
In the next second, the gold and white scroll unfurled in the wind. The towering, twenty-four-layered palace with doors opening in six directions manifested from the painting and ruthlessly pressed down!
In an instant, boundless Yin and Yang phenomena were lit up in all directions around the palace. Heaven and earth, sun and moon, water and fire, day and night, ruler and minister, auspicious and ominous, motion and stillness, opening and closing, life and death, spring, summer, autumn, winter, thunder, lightning, rain, and snow... Layers upon layers of illusory colors arrayed and intertwined, encompassing the twelve Dharma Body Dao Great Perfected Lords within.
"Activate the array!"
Almost simultaneously, under the leadership of Pan Huang, all the Great Perfected Lords also spread out. Each Great Perfected Lord resonated with a Yin-Yang concept.
And this in itself perfectly matched a concept.
Or rather, an [Achievement].
[All of you should know my great achievement that far surpasses my predecessors!]
The twelve Dharma Body Dao practitioners evolving the array formation and displaying Yin and Yang perfectly matched the eternal number one achievement from back then: [Sisui devouring Yin and Yang with his dharma body to tread heaven and attest the Dao]!
"Boom!"
Once the array was formed, the three mental sword formations that were originally running rampant and displaying their ferocity instantly fell silent. The surrounding scenes of the Dark Aspect of the Light Sea were completely covered up.
Wherever the sword qi passed, it was no longer a chaotic and disorderly ocean of consciousness, but a slender palm. The palm stretched endlessly, as if its end could never be seen. The fine lines were more towering than mountain ranges, and the five fingers stood majestically like heaven-supporting pillars, grasping the three sword formations in its palm!
This was the true [Dao-Conquering Tianhun Diagram]!
The twelve Dharma Body Dao practitioners forming an array, cooperating with this supreme treasure, reproducing the concept of [Dharma Body Devouring Yin and Yang]. In its peak state, it could even create an incarnation of Sisui out of thin air.
Not far away, Lu Yang watched with keen interest.
Sisui is truly extraordinary. He clearly cultivates the Dharma Body, yet instead of refining his body, he actually started playing with formations! And he plays with them so profoundly and marvelously...
Under the augmentation of the [Dao-Conquering Tianhun Diagram], the mental projections belonging to the twelve Dharma Body Dao Great Perfected Lords were actually coalesced together at this moment, indistinguishable from one another, transforming into an even more massive shadow. It was very obvious that this was an array formation capable of merging mental projections into one!
Lu Yang saw potential in this.
As long as it is an intelligent living being, they will cast a shadow in the Dark Aspect of the Light Sea. Since the twelve Great Perfected Lords can merge, other living beings should be able to as well?
Thinking of this, his eyes grew brighter and brighter.
Because unlike stature in the Light Sea, in the Dark Aspect of the Light Sea, mental projections didn't have differences in level; there were only differences in magnitude.
It was just that previously, the mental projections could only fight independently. Even if gathered together, they were just loose sand. But the current [Dao-Conquering Tianhun Diagram] allowed Lu Yang to see hope—perhaps he had a way to unite this loose sand, transforming it into a sharp blade capable of severing everything!
Trillions of living beings sharing the same goal and Dao.
As long as the quantity was sufficient, could he unify a mental projection comparable to a Dao Lord? And could such a projection touch the heavenly chasm of the Dao Lords?
"It's worth a try!"
(End of Chapter)