Having experienced it once, doing it again was naturally a familiar road for Lu Yang.
Under the impact of his Light-Chasing Dao Heart, Pan Huang and the other eleven Dharma Body Dao Great Perfected Lords immediately revived, followed by the impressive eruption of sword cry.
However, he soon raised an eyebrow.
Because an anomaly occurred.
Boom!
The sword cry that should have been clear and bright now seemed incredibly turbid and heavy. More importantly, the change that occurred this time was completely different from the lifetime before the last.
"Ah! I am furious!"
Endless sword light howled out, galloping and leaping. Within it, a figure of light faintly manifested. As it trembled, it spat out a faint yet maddened roar:
"Heaven Treading Great Perfected Lord!"
"Why is there a Heaven Treading Great Perfected Lord? The Sword Lord, Cang Hao—what the hell are the Dao Lords in the sky doing? How could they let someone cultivate to become a Heaven Treading Great Perfected Lord?"
As it howled, an incredibly terrifying intent also spread along with the sword cry. It actually managed to single-handedly suppress the consciousness of Pan Huang and the other eleven Great Perfected Lords. The extreme, bone-chilling cold even caused a visible layer of frost to drift across the Dark Aspect of the Light Sea, freezing consciousness wherever it passed.
"What?"
If anyone present was the most astonished, it was none other than Pan Huang, who had just awakened. Clearly, the changes in the scene before him completely exceeded his expectations.
"It's those three Sword Spirits."
"But that shouldn't be right. The Great Sword Ancestor is already dead, his true spirit perished. No matter how powerful the three Sword Spirits are, they are a group of dragons without a leader. How could they possess such might..."
Despite saying this, Pan Huang did not fall into chaos. Instead, he decisively gathered the other Dharma Body Dao Great Perfected Lords to reorganize their array, preparing to suppress that howling sword cry. Otherwise, if left to ravage the Dark Aspect, the result would inevitably be countless living beings in the mortal world dying suddenly because their consciousness was slain by it.
However, the moment Pan Huang's side moved.
The sword cry, which was originally still raging in fury, instantly changed direction. The figure within the sword light also sobered up from its madness and turned to look at them:
"It's you guys again."
"Stupid pigs of the Dharma Body Dao, you caused trouble for me back then and I spared your lives. Now you've come to cause trouble again... Forget it, you're useless now anyway!"
Instantly, the sword cry rose!
Bearing the brunt of it, Pan Huang only felt his newly awakened consciousness instantly covered by a layer of gloomy shadow. Stepping on empty air, he plummeted toward a bottomless abyss.
This isn't right!
These aren't three masterless Sword Spirits, they've merged... They have a method of merging into one. The Great Sword Ancestor didn't die? He's still alive? When did this happen?
Pan Huang's consciousness flew rapidly toward nirvana.
However, right at this moment, a gentle breeze suddenly blew past. Calm and indifferent, it instantly blew away the boundless gloom spreading in the depths of Pan Huang and the others' eyes.
Following it came a sigh:
"So he wasn't truly dead after all. I actually didn't notice it before. Now that my stature is higher, operating from a strategically advantageous position, I finally saw through Fellow Daoist's disguise."
As his words fell.
It was like a sun slowly rising in the Dark Aspect of the Light Sea. Sunlight shone everywhere, and the frosty murderous intent previously stirred up by the sword cry melted and disintegrated under its light.
"This aura..."
Pan Huang was the first to wake up and the first to look up. His gaze instantly landed on a corner of the Dark Aspect, only to see a young man standing there with his hands behind his back.
As a cultivator from the Golden Age and a Dharma Body Dao Great Perfected Lord elevated by Sisui, Pan Huang's experience was unquestionable. From ancient times to the present, no matter which Dao Lineage it was, he could recognize some clues about it. However, when his gaze landed on the young man, an unprecedented bewilderment was revealed.
The young man's figure was not towering.
Tall and sturdy? Not quite.
Handsome? A little bit.
But if he had to say, what Pan Huang saw more of from the other party was contradiction. It was as if the young man standing there was merely an empty layer of skin.
And looking through that layer of skin, what one truly saw were mountains, rivers, the sun, moon, stars, plants, dragons, snakes, birds, fish, insects, shrimp, and the turning of the years. It was as if an entire world and countless living beings were squeezed and forcibly stuffed into this skin, making him look increasingly peaceful.
Which sect's Dao Lineage was this?
It seemed a bit like that bald donkey's evil method, but it didn't feel quite right. If it truly were that bald donkey, it shouldn't exhibit such a complex aura.
Instead, it should be pure and unified.
Yet, although this person's aura was incredibly complex, it constructed a peculiar system, causing an aura that should have been chaotic to exhibit a bizarre order.
"It's you who forced me to expose myself."
A voice filled with malice spread from the sword light. The three Sword Spirits, [Vanquishing-Demon], [Repelling-Evil], and [Subduing-Monster], surfaced, jointly surrounding an illusory figure of light.
Lu Yang didn't respond but stared straight at that figure of light. Although the other party intentionally concealed it, it couldn't hide from his current eyes. Wherever his gaze reached, the illusory face was uncovered, revealing a face identical to Perfected One Vanquishing-Demon's, yet incredibly twisted between the brows.
The most eye-catching feature was that pair of eyes.
Malice, jealousy, greed, anger... It was as if all the malice in heaven and earth had been concentrated in those eyes, staring straight back at him.
"So that's how it is."
Lu Yang nodded slightly: "I was just thinking, since a Dao Lord acted, how could any vitality be left behind? It seems the Great Sword Ancestor is indeed already dead."
"That idiot deserved to die!"
The figure of light gritted his teeth and sneered: "I told him countless times, the further he walked, the faster he would die. Yet he insisted on acting willfully, and in the end, he dragged me down with him."
The figure of light was the "Great Sword Ancestor", yet it also wasn't.
Up to this day, many things could no longer be hidden from Lu Yang's eyes. Even if he didn't know beforehand, seeing it with his own eyes now, he could understand it with a little deduction.
"No wonder. I was thinking, since the Great Sword Ancestor had one body with three spirits, and all had cultivated Fasting of the Mind, how could there still be a so-called main consciousness? Now I understand. He must have divided all the thoughts within the three spirits according to good and evil, finally selecting one to transform into the main consciousness."
Good and evil reside in a single thought, yet they are also the essence of the will of all living beings.
Pan Huang had said back then that although the Great Sword Ancestor was born with three spirits, he thought of a method to merge the three into one. Lu Yang estimated that he had used the changes in thoughts of good and evil.
"The one killed by the Sword Lord was highly likely the good consciousness."
"The evil consciousness survived, took its place, and gradually mastered the three Sword Spirits left behind by the good consciousness. This is why a peculiar existence like Fellow Daoist came to be."
This point could also be seen from Perfected One Vanquishing-Demon.
If the one killed by the Sword Lord was the Great Sword Ancestor's good consciousness, then it was understandable why Perfected One Vanquishing-Demon, who had an extremely deep connection with him, had that kind of personality.
Regarding this, even the evil consciousness itself had no intention of denying it.
"What good, what evil? If I had been leading the main body back then, we wouldn't be in this state of surviving ignobly now. We would have overthrown that stinking bitch long ago!"
As time passed, the evil consciousness visibly became increasingly manic: "Damn it! I was hiding perfectly well, and in this special place of the Dark Aspect, that [Fated Death] had already left me. Now that I'm accidentally exposed, it will definitely come knocking again. It truly infuriates me to death!"
Lu Yang knew what he was talking about.
Because in a previous lifetime, he had also enjoyed the so-called [Fated Death]. Relying on hiding in the [Heavenly Being's Remnant Consciousness], he barely managed to keep his life.
Since then, he had been imprisoned in the [Heavenly Being's Remnant Consciousness].
Going out meant death. Whether using an incarnation or any other method, as long as it had even a little connection to him, it would die suddenly for no reason.
That's right, this is why he didn't reveal himself in the lifetime before the last.
Unfortunately, because my cultivation is higher in this lifetime, a Heaven Treading Great Perfected Lord is enough to easily see through his disguise, so naturally he could no longer hide.
After all, he was different from Pan Huang. Although Pan Huang was at the Heaven Treading realm when he was alive, that was when he was alive. Now he was dead, having lost his foundation of existence in the mortal world. Even Sisui, who elevated him back then, was dead. So he had long lost his Heaven Treading essence and naturally couldn't see through the evil consciousness's concealment.
Right at this moment.
Unseen in the dark, it seemed some massive entity was rolling toward this place, surging like a river, directly locking onto the evil consciousness and those three Sword Spirits.
Lu Yang immediately had a realization in his heart:
It's that [Fated Death]...
Almost simultaneously, the evil consciousness also sensed the arrival of a great terror and suddenly burst into a fit of wild laughter. The sword cry also became impassioned because of it.
"I'm going to die?"
The next second, those eyes containing endless malice abruptly looked at Lu Yang: "You caused my death! Since that's the case, then be buried with me!"
Before his words fell, sword light erupted suddenly!
However, seeing this, Lu Yang merely shook his head, then said indifferently:
"Since Fellow Daoist doesn't want to die to [Fated Death], that's fine too. I will go through the trouble and lend Fellow Daoist a hand, personally executing you."