[Responding to Emperors].
After leaving [The Mortal World], Lu Yang came all the way to this place, and then expectantly took out the item [Sky-shrouding] had gifted him earlier.
Golden Nature... that was impossible.
What [Sky-shrouding] gifted him was impressively a living creature. It was half black and half white, its mouth full of sharp teeth, tall and thin in stature, with eyes flashing with green light.
"This is... a Ghost Messenger."
Looking at the little ghost before him, Lu Yang rapidly recalled past memories in his mind. He had seen this little thing shaped by [Sky-shrouding] before.
"A living being forged through the power of the Netherworld, even coming with a set of innate divine abilities. It can be said to be the optimal subject for researching the cultivation of the Dao of Death Spirits... It seems [Sky-shrouding] hasn't entirely neglected researching the Dao lineages of Netherworld Death Spirits during his time there, otherwise he couldn't have created a bizarre creature like a Ghost Messenger."
Thinking of this, Lu Yang reached out and patted it.
In the next second, the previously unconscious Ghost Messenger was abruptly awakened. Spectral projections of divine abilities uncontrollably surfaced all over its body.
[Fierce Yin Howl], [Scorched Rock].
[Scorching Wind Land], [Iron Enclosure Mountain]...
[Path of No Return]!
The five divine abilities intertwined with each other. Faintly, they seemed to open a portal leading to a gloomy, utterly dark place, with bone-piercingly cold gales blowing out from within.
Seeing this, Lu Yang's eyes flickered, observing the changes among the five divine abilities with great interest: "Five divine abilities, all targeting the soul. I've witnessed both [Fierce Yin Howl] and [Scorched Rock] in the past. One can shatter the sea of consciousness, and the other can condense millions of years into a single thought."
As for the remaining three divine abilities, he understood them at a glance.
"[Scorching Wind Land] can cleanse the soul. When the hot wind blows, it's like a death by a thousand cuts for the soul; many memories, and even emotions, will be blown away."
"[Iron Enclosure Mountain] focuses on trapping and possesses the power of suppression."
"[Path of No Return] acts like a travel permit, allowing passage through the major checkpoints of the Netherworld. However, one can only enter and cannot exit; besides that, one can travel freely."
A thoughtful look surfaced in Lu Yang's eyes: "This set of divine abilities is actually an excellent disguise, especially the final [Path of No Return]. It will allow me to legitimately pass through the Netherworld's checkpoints. Otherwise, with my stature, entering the Netherworld might carry some risks, and a slight misstep could alert outsiders."
[Sky-shrouding] indeed had some tricks up his sleeve.
After all, having squatted in the Netherworld for so many years, he was already incredibly familiar with the Death Spirit stuff. He had to admit, this Ghost Messenger was truly a generous gift.
With this thought, Lu Yang immediately brought his hands together.
Instantly, the half-black, half-white Ghost Messenger was kneaded round and squashed flat by him, finally exploding with a boom and transforming into a black-and-white scripture of cultivation methods.
[Sky-shrouding's Netherworld Observation Scripture]
Within the cultivation method, aside from the cultivation techniques for the five Netherworld divine abilities, there were also [Sky-shrouding]'s observations in the Netherworld, detailing its situation.
"As expected, deep within the Netherworld, inside the [Four Great Ghost Domains], living beings exist, and even factions... The aftershocks of that Dao Lord battle from back then have not dissipated to this day. Inside the Netherworld, cultivators of the Grotto-Heaven method and the Three Foundations are still fighting; even death cannot make them stop..."
After a moment, Lu Yang put away the scripture.
He had one last matter to resolve.
In the next second, Lu Yang formed a hand seal. Then, the Righteous Dao Banner, the Tribulation Wave, the Yellow Court, and the Dragon-Banishment Ruler—four True Treasures sequentially surfaced around him.
These True Treasures were special.
As treasures for seeking truth at the Golden Core stage, the foundation and root of attaining the Void, in the judgment of the [Book of Hundred Lifetimes], they could be considered both cultivation base and treasures.
Up until now, Lu Yang had always bound them together with his [Cultivation Base]. However, this time, he decided to merge all four True Treasures into the [Arctic Exorcism Court]. Only this way could he extract them together with the [Arctic Exorcism Court] through the [Treasure] option in the future.
The main purpose of doing this was for the Righteous Dao Banner.
More precisely, it was for Patriarch Nether Whisper and the others inside the Righteous Dao Banner. After all, if he didn't do this, they would lose their memories of this lifetime after the restart.
Lu Yang didn't want this to happen.
If possible, he hoped Patriarch Nether Whisper and the others could go through every lifetime together with him. On this journey to the peak, he needed people to walk with him.
Right at this moment.
Suddenly, with a flutter of the Righteous Dao Banner, sword qi flashed. Perfected One Vanquishing-Demon actually stepped down from the banner's surface, his face filled with determination.
"Master?"
Lu Yang froze upon seeing this, then hurriedly stepped forward. Before he could even speak, Perfected One Vanquishing-Demon decisively said: "Give me a copy of the Dao lineage you created."
"I am no longer cultivating the [Sword Dao]."
"...Ah?"
Lu Yang blinked, somewhat unable to react, but Perfected One Vanquishing-Demon said solemnly: "I suspect there is a problem with the very foundation of the [Sword Dao]."
"Although I attained this Dao Fruit out of thin air back then, it was essentially the Sword Pavilion Dao Lord pulling the strings from behind. It wasn't that I wanted to attain it, but rather the Dao Lord wanted me to attain it... I had doubts before, and only made up my mind after seeing those three Sword Gods Fasting of the Mind of that Great Sword Ancestor."
Hearing this, Lu Yang furrowed his brows.
The origins of Perfected One Vanquishing-Demon had been revealed to him by the [Book of Hundred Lifetimes] previously—the sword spirit of the Sword Pavilion Dao Lord's personal sword. At the time, he thought this background was already incredibly grand.
However, looking at it now—
According to Pan Huang and theothers, that Great Sword Ancestor who forged the three Sword God Fastings of the Mind was ultimately refined into a personal sword by the Sword Pavilion Dao Lord.
In that case, as a sword spirit, wasn't Perfected One Vanquishing-Demon essentially the result of the Great Sword Ancestor's reincarnation and rebirth? The Sword Pavilion Dao Lord was truly recycling his human resources! First, to counter the four first-generation Peak Masters, he created the Great Sword Ancestor; later, for the [Sword Dao], he created Perfected One Vanquishing-Demon.
But was there a problem with the [Sword Dao]?
As if seeing through Lu Yang's doubts, Perfected One Vanquishing-Demon said in a deep voice: "Do you think the Great Sword Ancestor didn't attempt to attain this [Sword Dao] back then?"
A single sentence awakened the dreamer.
That's right! Compared to Foundation Establishment stage Perfected One Vanquishing-Demon, how could the Great Sword Ancestor, who could almost be considered a half-step Dao Sovereign back then, not have attempted to attain the [Sword Dao] out of thin air?
"...But he died."
Lu Yang's expression instantly turned serious. When the problem shifted from pure cultivation to conspiracy theories, sparks of wisdom burst forth from his eyes.
"Because... the path was wrong!"
"It's impossible that the Great Sword Ancestor didn't attempt to attest the [Sword Dao] back then, yet he died. The only possibility is that his [Sword Dao] did not meet the requirements."
"The Dao Lords didn't like it!"
Speaking up to here, Lu Yang immediately thought of the three Sword God Fastings of the Mind in the Dark Aspect of the Light Sea: "The Great Sword Ancestor's [Sword Dao]... targeted the Dao heart and consciousness?"
The sword slays the physical body; the mind slays the soul.
This kind of [Sword Dao] was problematic because it could actually be considered half a [Dao Heart] Dao Fruit. To the Dao Lords, this was undoubtedly a massive taboo!
That was why he died.
The [Sword Dao] attained by Perfected One Vanquishing-Demon, however, met the Dao Lords' requirements— severing everything, but strictly limited to the material plane, not involving the Dao heart or consciousness.
It was like a double-edged sword versus a single-edged sword. To the Dao Lords, the existence of the Great Sword Ancestor was undoubtedly a double-edged sword. The outward-facing edge was certainly sharp, but a slight misstep could also injure themselves. But the modified Perfected One Vanquishing-Demon—this single-edged sword was much more reassuring to use.
(End of Chapter)