"Then can you help me advance to Heaven Treading?"
Looking at the golden scripture in his hand, Lu Yang asked a question born entirely of instinct. Even though he had somewhat anticipated it, he couldn't suppress the pleasant surprise in his heart at this moment.
The Ancestral Dragon's Remnant Bloodline!
The very thing the Old Dragon Lord had spent half his life searching for without success was now in his hands. It truly was a case of wearing out iron shoes in a fruitless search, only to find it without any effort at all.
Could it be that I can also take a shortcut to Heaven Treading?
After all, one of the three methods to break through to the Heaven Treading Realm was to receive direct elevation from a Dao Lord's mighty power. And the Ancestral Dragon's Remnant Bloodline definitely possessed such an ability!
Then, Lu Yang saw the characters on the golden scripture pause slightly before shifting again:
[Apologies, I cannot do so now.]
"..."
Seemingly sensing the surging emotions in Lu Yang's heart, the chatacters on the golden book erupted with unprecedented brightness, rapidly forming text.
[Elevation by a Dao Lord is not such a simple matter. Moreover, it brings absolutely no benefit to the Dao Lord; instead, it is a burden. The Ancestral Dragon was in an extremely poor state at that time. Too much of a burden would directly crush its Great Dao... Therefore, only one portion of the corresponding mighty power was prepared, and it has long been used up by Pill Cauldron.]
After reading this, Lu Yang first relaxed his brows, but a moment later, he frowned again.
"That's not right!"
"Didn't the First-generation Master of Pill Cauldron Peak use himself as bait and go to his death? Since that's the case, why waste an opportunity to advance to a Heaven Treading Great Perfected Lord?"
Even though a Heaven Treading Great Perfected Lord was already the pinnacle of the Mortal World.
However, the [Paramita] was far above the Mortal World. In front of a Dao Lord, a Heaven Treading Great Perfected Lord was no different from anyone else—nothing more than a slightly larger ant.
Facing Lu Yang's questioning, the golden book quickly gave an answer:
[There are two reasons.]
[First, certain arrangements required a Heaven Treading Realm cultivation base to complete. For example, this Flaming Mountain and the Purple-Azure Doushuai Fire were all preparations made by Pill Cauldron while he was alive.]
[Second, in the eyes of that old... that immortal old Lord, I am not a secret. He knows I can elevate someone to the Heaven Treading Realm. Therefore, Pill Cauldron had to die with a Heaven Treading Realm cultivation base. Otherwise, He definitely would not have let the matter rest, and instead would have strictly guarded and thoroughly monitored the entire Netherworld!]
"In that case... you would have been exposed."
The Heaven Treading Realm was too huge a variable.
At the very least, the Saint Sect Ancestor could not possibly allow a Heaven Treading Great Perfected Lord outside of his control to appear in the Netherworld. It would disrupt many of his arrangements.
Thinking of it this way, Lu Yang somewhat understood.
However, he quickly changed the subject. "So, Fellow Daoist, what exactly are you? To make the First-generation Master of Pill Cauldron Peak protect you even at the cost of his life."
"He seems to have entrusted everything regarding the [Nascent Soul Pill] to you."
"Or could it be that, as the Ancestral Dragon's Remnant Bloodline, you can contact the sealed Ancestral Dragon?"
[I cannot.]
Facing Lu Yang's questioning, writing surfaced on the golden scripture once again:
[I am not the Ancestral Dragon, nor am I its remnant thought. I am merely a living being enlightened by it. My current appearance was even created for me by Pill Cauldron.]
[As for who I am, Fellow Daoist, you have actually seen me before.]
Seen before?
Lu Yang narrowed his eyes. He instantly recalled the sense of anomaly he had detected when using the [Off-Stage Observer] to observe Mu Changsheng earlier.
"...The Heavenly Lord?"
[Correct, but also incorrect.]
The golden scripture continued to display text: [I am the Heavenly Lord, yet I am also not the Heavenly Lord... To be precise, I should be the very first Immortal Spirit in the history of the Immortal Nexus!]
[Fellow Daoist has interacted with the Old Dragon Lord, so you should know his background. You also know that the Dragon Lords of the True Dragon clan are fundamentally enlightened by the Ancestral Dragon... In fact, the Ancestral Dragon inherently liked and was very adept at enlightening living beings. I was the very last one it enlightened before being sealed.]
[But...]
Before the golden scripture could continue, Lu Yang had already sorted out his thoughts. "But that Lord could not possibly allow the Ancestral Dragon to leave behind a trump card in the outside world that could help it escape!"
[...Yes.]
[Therefore, I had to separate myself, abandoning all mighty power and authority. I detached carrying only the 'Light of Wisdom', and was born into the Immortal Nexus as an Immortal Spirit.]
"Because the 'you' possessing rationality and self-awareness left, the Heavenly Lord became that foolish, idiotic state. But you clearly still have lingering ties with the Heavenly Lord, so sometimes you can use it to lay out plans in the Mortal World... Mu Changsheng was your doing!" Lu Yang instantly unraveled the doubts in his heart.
Besides this, there was also the matter of Immortal Spirits.
Why did the Heavenly Lord always favor Immortal Spirits? Because its missing part had transformed into an Immortal Spirit and left, so it hoped an Immortal Spirit could fill the void!
By the same logic, this was why the Dao Lord wanted to prevent the birth of Immortal Spirits!
A foolish Heavenly Lord posed no threat whatsoever, and could even be utilized. But a Heavenly Lord with intelligence would be extremely troublesome to deal with.
"Interesting."
Lu Yang was suddenly enlightened, yet he couldn't help but curse inwardly: A broken Immortal Spirit, a Foundation Establishment level thing, yet its secret is only unraveled at the Great Perfected Lord realm.
Is this even reasonable?
This was only because he had "cheats". Otherwise, if it were any other Foundation Establishment cultivator screwed over by this kind of thing, they would be destined to die in complete ignorance... The water in the Immortal Nexus is truly too damn deep!
After sighing with emotion, Lu Yang looked at the golden scripture in his hand again and continued asking, "After separating, you were found by the First-generation Master of Pill Cauldron Peak?"
[Correct.]
[My separation was extremely secretive; only the Old Dragon Lord noticed some clues. At that time, the establishment of the Netherworld tied up the vast majority of that Lord's energy.]
[Therefore, the First-generation Master of Pill Cauldron Peak found the Old Dragon Lord one step ahead of that Lord, subsequently locked onto my position, and protected me. Only then was I not completely strangled in the cradle. Later, he told me of the Nascent Soul Pill plan and had me preside over it. Thus, I entered the Netherworld until today.]
Lu Yang frowned. "Can the Nascent Soul Pill truly allow someone to become a Dao Lord?"
[No comment.]
This time, the text on the golden scripture was incredibly firm: [If you want to know more, you can only follow the plan and inherit the identity left behind by Pill Cauldron.]
Lu Yang raised an eyebrow. "...What does that mean?"
[Although Pill Cauldron is already dead, the plan still requires a "Pill Cauldron"...]
The next second, a burst of radiant light abruptly drifted up within the pavilion, flowing across the wall before dramatically opening, revealing a secret room hidden deep inside.
Inside the secret room, an array of items was laid out.
A crown, a Daoist robe, a horsetail whisk, a spiritual sword, a seal, a small bronze cauldron, and a portrait hanging on the wall depicting a handsome Daoist.
The Daoist in the painting stood solemnly, firm and resolute, seeming to face some unspeakable great enemy. However, it lacked a bit of vitality, seemingly because the eyes had not been inked, resulting in a loss of spirituality. On the edge of the scroll, there were three ancient seal script characters forming a talisman.
[Lian Tiandou].
"This is..." Lu Yang revealed a thoughtful look.
But right at this moment, a voice suddenly came from beside him, carrying heartfelt sorrow and lamentation. The tone was ethereal: "This is Senior Brother's name."
...???
Lu Yang's expression stiffened, but he quickly regained his composure.
Turning around, he saw that unbeknownst to him, a handsome youth wearing a feathered cloak was standing beside him. Yet, he possessed an older, more weathered look than the one in Lu Yang's memory.
The next second, the youth looked sideways. He seemed to want to smile, but after the corners of his mouth twitched, it turned out looking as ugly as if he were crying:
"Hello, my name is Dao Tianqi."
"According to your way of speaking, you can also call me the First-generation Master of Beast Taming Peak... although I don't really like it."