The third year of the Immortal Calendar, Jiangdong, coastal region.
From east to west, a territory stretching roughly thirty thousand miles horizontally and nearly ten thousand miles vertically was currently shrouded and covered by a continuous, boundless long river.
The surging river water was pitch-black like ink; one couldn't see the riverbed at a glance. There was also a thick sea of fog steaming on the river's surface. These were not transformed from water vapor, but were "demonic miasama" formed by the convergence of countless demon races. They were step-by-step replacing spiritual atmosphere, causing the phenomena between heaven and earth to undergo corresponding changes.
However, all things will always find a path to survival.
Even in such a desperate situation, there were still large and small areas, like single sparks, that survived under the general trend of the Dragon Lords attacking the land.
The [Laojun Temple] was exactly one of them.
Right at the bottom of the river, on a not-so-high mound, formation arrays were seen operating, propping up a curtain of light that squeezed all the river water outside.
And on the mountain, dozens of cultivators were nervously busy.
They were the batch of cultivators with the highest cultivation base currently on the mountain, so they came to take on the most dangerous task: the repair and patrol of the isolation formations.
The reason it was called the most dangerous task lay in the fact that omissions in formations were always inevitable. If luck was good and no problems were encountered, it would be fine. But once a problem occurred, one had to brave the leaking "demonic miasama" and swiftly patch the gap. One careless moment and there would be a risk to one's life.
This time, they were clearly out of luck.
"Quick! Block the gap."
"It's no use. The gap is getting bigger and bigger, and 'demonic miasama' has already come in... Just repairing the formation won't be enough to block these damned things, I'm afraid."
"Quickly return to the temple!"
"As long as we invite a higher-realm cultivator who has held the [Divine Offering], there should still be hope..."
After a burst of commotion, it wasn't until a streak of light traversed the sky, its radiant golden light manifesting a towering light-shadow, that the gap was finally considered blocked.
And when Perfected One Yu Hua was startled awake from his secluded cultivation and rushed to the scene, he found that his direct disciple had already fallen amidst the residual "demonic miasama". An impressive pair of small horns had grown from his originally round forehead, scales surfaced on his skin, and his delicate and pretty appearance had also become ferocious.
"Not good..."
Seeing this, Perfected One Yu Hua gritted his teeth but didn't dare to neglect it. He first went to handle the formation problem, and only after explaining all matters did he sweep up his direct disciple.
A moment later, the two had already arrived at the mountaintop.
What entered their sight was a small temple. The incense in the temple was flourishing, and enshrined in the seat of honor was an exquisitely carved piece of jade stone born with a seven-orifice heart.
"Immortal, save his life!"
As soon as he entered the temple, Perfected One Yu Hua directly knelt on the ground, placed his already unconscious direct disciple on the floor, and said respectfully.
Three years ago, it was exactly this piece of jade stone, and the "Immortal" within the jade stone, that saved his [Laojun Temple] lineage, finding such a place of shelter for the over a hundred cultivators at the time. Three years had passed, and the current [Laojun Temple] continuously took in refugees, its numbers already reaching a thousand.
And these were just cultivators.
If cultivators were excluded, there were also fully more than a hundred thousand mortals, all living around this small mountain, all relying on the "Immortal's" protection.
Perfected One Yu Hua had exactly received the "Immortal's" edict, and only then established the temple. Now, inside and outside the mountain gate, everyone knew the kindness of the [Virtuous Immortal].
Therefore, he firmly believed that even for the demonic atmosphere that everyone feared, this Immortal definitely had a solution.
Soon, following the fall of Perfected One Yu Hua's words, the jade stone also gradually lit up with light. The scene within the stone was also illuminated, revealing a hoary-faced old man.
It was exactly Lu Yang.
To be precise, it was transformed from a streak of Lu Yang's divine sense. At this moment, it had already completely integrated into the false history, becoming an unborn Immortal Spirit within the false history.
This was a Jia Wood Immortal Spirit.
At this moment, Lu Yang entrusted himself to this Immortal Spirit. All the mighty power from his main body was isolated; he couldn't even bring over Mu Changsheng's cultivation base.
This was the price paid for escaping right from under the Primordial Saint's nose.
However, he didn't care.
Even having lost the mighty power that once suppressed the Light Sea, Lu Yang's state of mind remained peaceful, not fluctuating in the slightest due to the decline in strength.
This was the progress of his Dao Heart.
As the saying goes: carrying a sharp weapon naturally breeds killing intent; possessing vast wealth naturally breeds a noble air. A person's state of mind often changes due to changes in external objects.
And once these external objects are lost, very few people can maintain their original heart and face it calmly.
Lu Yang was also like this.
One must know, he was different from his main body. His main body had [The Book of a Hundred Lifetimes]; at worst, he could just restart. But he was merely a streak of divine sense; if he was gone, he would truly be gone... This once made him quite shocked and furious.
Therefore, he spent three years before calming his state of mind and stabilizing his wavering Dao Heart. And when he walked out of this predicament, a realization arose in his heart: No wonder they all say the false history can help temper the Dao Heart. This is the first step. Experiencing such massive ups and downs without changing one's disposition—as long as one can do it, the Dao Heart can instantly break through... But the risk is also great. It's fine if you walk out, but if you don't and get trapped within, you might become useless.
Restraining his thoughts, Lu Yang raised his head.
In a trance, he seemed to be able to see that beyond the heavenly dome, the mighty power of the various Dao Lords was entangling with each other, and there was also an ethereal palace hovering.
[The Heavenly Palace].
Within the palace, there was faintly a figure looking down at him. Lu Yang was very clear that it was his main body. The other party wouldn't be stupid enough to risk himself personally.
So he could only make this streak of his divine sense suffer a bit.
...Bastard!
Thinking of this, Lu Yang couldn't help but curse. Then he operated his profound method, attempting to generate resonance with the [Heavenly Palace], but stopped at the very end.
...Not now.
Lu Yang felt a premonition in his heart. The false history was currently being stared at by the various Dao Lords. Once he resonated with the [Heavenly Palace], it was highly likely he would be found by following the vine to get the melon.
But the problem wasn't big.
Lu Yang's expression remained indifferent. His foundation had already been formed; he didn't care about the size of his existing mighty power. His Dao comprehension was still there; cultivation base was merely a matter of time.
Moreover, as long as I don't go too far like directly bringing down mighty power from the [Heavenly Palace] to elevate my stature, but merely bringing down a bit of wonder, it will be very difficult for Dao Lords to detect any clues. But the prerequisite is that I must first expand the scale of [Divine Offering] and increase the number of incense believers.
Lu Yang silently calculated.
Following that, he suddenly raised his head, looking outward from within the jade stone he inhabited. In the unseen world, an intense malice was currently surrounding him.
This malice came from heaven, came from earth.
Sun, moon, stars, flowers, birds, fish, and insects—vast like a vast ocean, surrounding the hill where the [Laojun Temple] was located, liable to surge over at any time.
The Lord of Heaven...
Lu Yang was well aware of this. This was malice from the Lord of Heaven. As early as three years ago, the other party had wanted to seize the body of himself, who was currently an Immortal Spirit.
But today was different from the past.
Previously, facing the body seizure of the foolish and ignorant Lord of Heaven, Lu Yang had no choice but to admit defeat. However, the him of today had completely shed his mortal body and exchanged his bones, enough to deal with it easily.
The [Laojun Temple] was his masterpiece.
Spreading the Investiture of the Gods Method, using Foundation Establishment cultivators who had cultivated [Divine Offering] to occupy this small mountain, forcefully stripping it away from the Lord of Heaven's control.
Of course, unlike the foolish ignorance in true history, the Lord of Heaven in the false history was incredibly clear-headed.
He could feel that the only reason the other party hadn't made a move against him yet was simply because it temporarily lacked the leeway.
And now, it seemed to have freed up a little leeway.
Lu Yang lowered his eyelids.
His gaze passed through the jade stone, landing straight on Perfected One Yu Hua's direct disciple who was infected by the "demonic miasama". Ripples gradually surfaced deep in his eyes.
(Author's Note: End of chapter)