[The Heavenly Palace].
Within the towering palace hall, golden light gathered, lingering around the beams endlessly. Four wonders lined up in a row. Among them, only one was lit up, transforming into the throne in the seat of honor.
Upon the throne, a man with a resolute face sat quietly with his eyes closed.
[Divine Throne of the Black Tortoise, Protector of the Sacred and Overseer of Fate].
It was Master Vanquishing-Demon!
Compared to before, now that he had switched to cultivating the Investiture of the Gods Method and attained a Divine Throne, Master Vanquishing-Demon had undoubtedly achieved an earth-shattering elevation in his cultivation base.
Not only had he already recovered the Perfected Lord cultivation base from when he previously governed [Sword Dao], but he had gone a step further. He was only one step away from Great Perfected Lord. As long as the seven Divine Officials under his command all returned to their positions, he could break through smoothly. Therefore, he had been adapting and taking control of his explosively surged mighty power these past few days.
However, at this moment, he was startled awake from his deep meditation.
"This is..."
Shifting his gaze, Master Vanquishing-Demon immediately looked at the position beside him. Following that, a look of pleasant surprise surfaced on his face: "Fellow Daoist Nether Whisper has broken through."
Before his words fell, a beam of heavenly light had already descended.
It was exactly Lu Yang's main body.
Wherever his gaze reached, he saw that within the [Miluo Palace], among the wonders representing [Inevitable Fate], rays of brilliant light were currently gathering, illuminating a single person.
He was seen dressed entirely in white clothes, his white hair like snow. His handsome face carried a spirituality favored by heaven and earth. At this moment, he similarly opened his eyes. The Light of Wisdom flowing in the depths of his eyes was impressively like stars. At the instant he opened his eyes, the Light of Wisdom also erupted along with it, seemingly containing endless Great Dao talismans colliding within.
Soon, an anomaly surfaced.
Lu Yang saw Patriarch Nether Whisper's Dao Fruit, [Heaven of Carefree], slowly rising like a morning sun. Floating up along with it were the light and colors transformed from [Inevitable Fate].
These were all intercepted and retained from Lingxiao's body.
Although not as exaggerated as Perfected Lord Feixue, as a chess piece valued by the Primordial Saint, the residual concepts of [Inevitable Fate] on Lingxiao's body were equally exaggerated in quantity.
At this moment, these destinies manifested into light and shadow.
Mountains, rivers, forests, and all vegetation; lakes and seas; feathered and winged creatures, beasts that roam; the sun, moon, and constellations; life and death, ranks and destinies—both abstract and tangible, the myriad phenomena of the world were all encompassed within.
However, above these many concepts, there was a handprint that filled the heavens and earth and encompassed the universe. Its five fingers stretched out; every single finger was like a towering divine mountain, suppressing a portion of the concepts within. Finally, the five fingers curled into a fist, completely encompassing all concepts within the palm.
Boom!
Instantly, the concepts rioted. The [Inevitable Fate] pressed down by a single palm directly ran amok, wanting to shake off that fist-clenching, sky-filling large hand, and subsequently escape its control.
The powerful force of the backlash caused Patriarch Nether Whisper's body to shake violently as well.
A drop of crimson blood spilled from the corner of his mouth.
But right at this moment, the light lingering around the [Heavenly Palace] immediately gathered over, blessing him and helping him alleviate the impact brought by the concept's backlash.
An unknown amount of time passed.
As time flowed on, the backlash of [Inevitable Fate] gradually became weaker, seemingly adapting to the control of the large hand, being thoroughly smelted into the wonders.
Only then did Patriarch Nether Whisper let out a long breath.
"Phew!"
Instantly, the sky-filling large hand and the many concepts all disappeared. Within the [Miluo Palace], thousands of lights and colors jointly elevated a brand-new throne that surfaced.
[Divine Throne of Great Tranquility Governing the Order of Myriad Phenomena]!
Behind the Divine Throne, Lu Yang saw the sky-filling large hand transformed from [Heaven within a Palm]. The handprint then disintegrated, and every single finger transformed into a divine duty.
Benevolent Sage Equal to Heaven Divine Official, governing the rewards and punishments, as well as the ranks and destinies of the mortal world.
Sage of Metal Heaven Divine Official, governing the five metals and all feathered and winged creatures.
Exalted Sage of Central Heaven Divine Official, governing the earth, mountains, rivers, forests, and all vegetation.
Illustrious Sage Who Governs Heaven Divine Official, governing the rivers, lakes, seas, and all beasts that roam.
Profound Sage Who Pacifies Heaven Divine Official, governing the constellations and the divisions of the stars.
Boom!
At this moment, not only did Patriarch Nether Whisper's aura explosively surge, but simultaneously, Lu Yang's main body also exhaled deeply. The round halo behind his head abruptly rippled with five-colored waves.
Following that, the round halo proactively disintegrated, presenting illusions of the scenery of ten thousand gods, Bagua patterns, the mortal dust tribulation sea, a sky-filling large hand, and a crimson setting sun. Among them, the sky-filling large hand and Bagua patterns were noticeably a circle larger, even faintly showing a trend of a presumptuous guest usurping the host's role, their phenomena overshadowing the crimson setting sun.
The Investiture of the Gods Method grew increasingly perfect!
Moreover, with the support of the Divine Throne, the might of [Heaven within a Palm] and [Dripping Essence of Heaven] noticeably climbed significantly, already surpassing the other three wonders.
However, Lu Yang did not pay attention to these at this moment.
The next second, he flew up with a leap. First, as usual, he performed a disciple's salute toward Patriarch Nether Whisper, then said joyfully:
"Congratulations, Patriarch!"
Hearing this, Patriarch Nether Whisper instantly relaxed his brows, smiled, and shook his head: "Being able to contribute a portion of strength to your cultivation was my original aspiration to begin with."
"What are you saying!"
Lu Yang immediately retorted: "Patriarch... and Master Vanquishing-Demon, as well as Suo Huan and Xiao Ru. We are of one mind and one body. We are fundamentally fellow Daoists on the path of cultivation."
"When one prospers, all prosper; when one suffers, all suffer."
"How can there be such a thing as contributing strength for only one person's cultivation? If I progress, you, Patriarch, will also progress. If Patriarch progresses, it's the same for me. This is what true cultivation is!"
Lu Yang spoke very pleasantly.
Especially Suo Huan and Empress Xiao. They originally thought they had consciously become little transparent figures, but they didn't expect Lu Yang to specifically mention them. Clearly, he hadn't forgotten them.
Empress Xiao's eyes even rippled with autumn waves, almost dripping with water.
He has me in his heart!
Just like this, after a moment passed, and only after Lu Yang had pacified everyone, did he withdraw his mind, bid farewell to Bu Tianque, and then stride away.
[The Mortal World].
Lingxiao sat cross-legged. In the depths of his eyes full of the Light of Wisdom, schemes and intrigues similarly flickered at this moment. While pondering, his heart suddenly stirred, and he turned around to look.
"...Fellow Daoist has returned?"
Looking at Lu Yang descending once again, Lingxiao immediately and sensitively realized something was amiss. A hint of surprise abruptly surfaced in his originally calm eyes.
Stronger...
Although there was no obvious gap, intuition told him that Lu Yang at this moment had noticeably progressed compared to before. It was simply unbelievable!
Reaching this cultivation base, one can still progress like this?
However, the next second, he adjusted his emotions. Progress is good! He should progress swift and fierce like this; otherwise, how could he believe the other party could attain the Dao?
Thinking of this, Lingxiao immediately stood up:
"Fellow Daoist, regarding that nameless Dao Lord, I've thought of a strategy. Perhaps we can formulate a response; it just depends on whether you, Fellow Daoist, are willing to try it."
"Oh?"
Hearing this, Lu Yang raised an eyebrow slightly: "What strategy?"
Lingxiao instantly smiled:
"Report!"
"The Dao Lords are high above. In this chess game of heaven and earth, no matter how we nameless pawns move and no matter what brilliant moves we play, it is impossible for us to break the game."
So it's better to raise one's hand.
"Reporting the matter of the nameless Dao Lord to the Primordial Saint and letting that old thing deal with it will definitely be more reliable than us blindly guessing here by ourselves..."
Before Lingxiao's words fell, Lu Yang had already thought of his comprehensive plan and swiftly realized.
It wasn't merely a report—this was also a perfect way to divert the coming disaster. If used well, it might even draw the Primordial Saint's attention away, opening up more room for me to maneuver.
Of course, the risks were just as real.
But the Primordial Saint would already be on guard. Concealment was no longer possible. Introducing more variables and clouding his judgment—that was the right course of action.
Moreover, the nameless Dao Lord had always been a thorn in Lu Yang's heart.
Identity unknown, purpose unknown, methods unknown. To a certain extent, the danger level of this person in his heart even exceeded that of the Primordial Saint.
After all, the unknown is the most terrifying.
Lingxiao is right. Only a Nascent Soul Dao Lord can contend with another Nascent Soul Dao Lord. Let those of the same realm investigate one another—Nascent Souls for Nascent Souls, Dao Lords for Dao Lords!
(End of chapter)