To be honest, Lu Yang was originally quite confident about this life. He just felt that his faction was full of talent, and they might actually be able to give the Primordial Saint a huge eye-opener.
However, now, he felt a bit guilty again.
'Something's not quite right.'
'The Primordial Saint might truly not know the details of the First-generation Master of Heaven-Mending Peak and the First-generation Master of Pill Cauldron Peak's plans, but he doesn't necessarily not know their plan's objective!'
Because the World Honored One was right there.
'With the World Honored One's interests involved, the bonds of brotherhood made the choices of the other three Peak Masters extremely singular. They could only target the [Paramita].'
Was this deliberately designed?
Lu Yang felt it was highly likely. Relatively speaking, the most calculating and cold-hearted World Honored One stood at the highest point, while the affectionate and loyal ones were placed below.
'Imagine if the World Honored One stood below, and either Pill Cauldron, Heaven-Mending, or Beast Taming became a Dao Lord. Would the World Honored One choose to deal with the [Paramita] for the sake of the other party's interests? Possibly, but not necessarily! Compared to others' interests, the World Honored One is highly likely to care more about his own!'
In that case, a [Variable] would appear.
But now that it was the World Honored One standing above and the others below, the situation changed. This [Variable] was erased, and everything followed a logical course.
All towards the [Paramita]!
In a flash, Lu Yang felt as if he had plunged into an ice cave: 'The plans of the First-generation Four Peak Masters, all their objectives, were guided towards the Paramita under this set of designs!'
There was a problem!
"Senior, something's not quite right!"
With this thought, Lu Yang immediately looked at the youth before him and hurriedly voiced his conjecture: "There's still a problem with the Ancestral Dragon's seal!"
"Saving the Ancestral Dragon and making the [Paramita] collapse might not necessarily succeed."
"Instead, it might play right into that person's hands!"
Hearing this, the youth didn't refute. Instead, he listened to Lu Yang's narrative very seriously. After pondering for a moment, he revealed a look of admiration:
"You're amazing."
"There is indeed such a possibility... But what is the problem? Could it be that destroying the [Paramita] is actually beneficial to Master?"
"Uh."
Lu Yang was taken aback, then shook his head. There was no benefit; at least he couldn't think of any. Moreover, the experience from his life before last also proved this point.
'If the collapse of the [Paramita] is actually beneficial to the Primordial Saint, then why did he voluntarily lower his stature to make a move? He could just sit back and watch everything happen... But my conjecture can't be wrong either. These four meticulously designed martial brothers definitely have a great use to the Primordial Saint Ancestor.'
It was completely elusive.
The more he knew, the more mysteries there were. Just like the so-called Dao Lords—the closer one got to this realm, the more one could feel its majesty and remoteness.
"Don't overthink it."
Seeing this, the youth smiled: "Human effort can achieve anything. If you don't do some things, how will you know the result? You always have to try first."
With that, he waved his hand.
The next second, the golden scripture transformed from the Ancestral Dragon's Remnant Bloodline floated up and landed in Lu Yang's hand. Complex talismans rapidly surfaced upon it.
"This is the pill formula for the [Nascent Soul Pill]."
Lu Yang instantly took a deep breath.
'That's right, I still have so many lives to trial and error. There's no need to obsess over succeeding in this life. As long as I can see more, that's enough.'
Thinking of this, he also calmed down.
Looking at the pill formula in his hand, Lu Yang read it through carefully. The youth beside him also very thoughtfully shared his Light of Wisdom with him once again.
Thanks to this, Lu Yang understood it.
'It's actually like this...'
What was the Nascent Soul Pill?
He had many guesses about this. He once suspected it was an immortal pill that allowed one to break through to the Nascent Soul realm. Later, he thought it might be a bomb specifically meant to blow up Nascent Souls.
However, only now did he understand:
'The answer was actually in the riddle all along. The cultivation method inheritance of the First-generation Master of Pill Cauldron Peak, that [Golden Liquid Returning Core Diagram], had already written it clearly!'
The main effect of the [Golden Liquid Returning Core Diagram] was to make things reach a "perfect" state.
The Nascent Soul Pill was the same.
'The so-called Nascent Soul Pill is actually not meant for people to eat at all, but for the [Paramita] to eat! It's meant to make the [Paramita] become even more perfect!'
It sounded like all benefits.
However, another meaning of perfect was "unable to progress any further." Because the current state was flawless, there was no more room for improvement.
'By the same logic, once the Nascent Soul Pill is consumed, the state of the [Paramita] will be completely anchored. The Dao Lords will be unable to climb any higher, and their realms will no longer undergo any changes. More importantly... the Primordial Saint Ancestor, who sits at the apex, will also be forever locked onto the highest tier of the [Paramita] because of this!'
This was the true plan of the First-generation Master of Pill Cauldron Peak!
Lock down the [Paramita] so the Primordial Saint Ancestor couldn't progress any further. You might still be the strongest, but it's useless; you will never be able to improve in this lifetime.
Want transcendence? Keep dreaming!
'The Primordial Saint Ancestor cannot possibly allow this to happen. But by then, the Nascent Soul Pill will have already fused with the [Paramita] and it will be fundamentally impossible to extract it.'
Then there was only one method left.
Destroy the [Paramita].
Have the Primordial Saint Ancestor personally take action to destroy the Paramita and forge it anew—and once he did this, it would inevitably draw the fierce resistance of the other Dao Lords!
'After all, not all Dao Lords mind this kind of thing.'
'At least the two from the Sword Pavilion and the Dao Court don't. They have the [Heavenly Dao] to rely on; this kind of thing doesn't matter to them at all.'
'But when it comes to the collapse of the [Paramita], that's a different story.'
'Therefore, the First-generation Master of Pill Cauldron Peak's plan was to make the Primordial Saint Ancestor personally destroy the [Paramita], and consequently engage in a fierce firefight with the other Dao Lords!'
What a ruthless method!
And unbelievably audacious! A single Nascent Soul Pill schemed against almost all the Dao Lords; it wasn't just to deal with the Primordial Saint Ancestor!
Thinking of this, Lu Yang was startled:
"This pill formula must absolutely not be seen by anyone else!"
Once such an audacious thing was known by others and exposed, it would inevitably become the target, with absolutely no possibility of success.
Therefore—it needed packaging.
'On the surface, the Nascent Soul Pill cannot have this effect. It must be changed to another one. One that everyone can accept and consider reasonable.'
But change it to what?
Lu Yang felt a bit of a headache. He was absolutely not weak when it came to schemes and tricks, but when it came to things related to cultivation that required Dao comprehension, he was flying blind.
Therefore, he could only look at the youth again and restate his train of thought.
Little did he know, the First-generation Master of Beast Taming Peak was thinking the exact same thing right now. When it came to cultivation, he was never weak, but he wasn't adept at schemes and tricks.
'Senior Brother Myriad Treasures truly sent me a good helper.'
'With him checking for flaws and patching up omissions for me, there is room to maneuver many things.'
After listening to Lu Yang's narrative, the youth thought for a moment, and finally chuckled softly: "In this regard, perhaps you can try to find a solution through the Spiritual Power Dao Lord."
"The Spiritual Power Dao Lord?"
"Correct."
The youth nodded: "After all, among all the Dao Lords in the current world, he is the most special one... Because back then, he wasn't a Dao Lord who broke through at the Heaven Treading Realm."
"He took a desperate gamble while at the Immortal Bridge Realm back then, and unexpectedly succeeded!"