In his line of sight was a towering palace hall.
Inside and outside the hall, there were long corridors, doors, and individual rooms of various sizes. They contained surging profound wonders that were enough to make even a Heaven Treading Great Perfected Lord take them seriously.
However, to the Nameless Dao Lord, these were meaningless.
This was not what he was looking for.
'Where is it.'
He slowly paced forward. The essence of his Primordial Spirit allowed him to completely ignore all obstacles in the material domain. There was simply no profound wonder that could cause him any harm.
Soon, he reached the end of the corridor.
A room with its door wide open entered his sight, brimming with swirling five-colored radiance. It was vast and magnificent, as if connecting to another world.
'Is it here?'
The Nameless Dao Lord raised an eyebrow. Within the entire [Dao-Attaining Hidden Profound Palace], his gaze had only paused here, unable to see through the scene inside.
It was simply too coincidental. It felt just like a hunt, luring him in bit by bit... Thinking of this, a smile couldn't help but surface in the depths of the Nameless Dao Lord's eyes. "Ling Xiao, oh Ling Xiao, you couldn't possibly be this stupid, right? Even if it's me, I am not someone you can handle."
If Ling Xiao truly wanted to hunt him down, he would only shake his head and laugh.
Because that was simply overestimating his own capabilities.
In the next second, he took a step forward and strode into that room swirling with five colors, wanting to see exactly what kind of tricks Ling Xiao was playing.
In an instant, his vision opened up.
The world was vast and boundless. When the Nameless Dao Lord stepped in, he was met with the sight of a sprawling, magnificent world.
"...Oh!"
The Nameless Dao Lord's gaze shifted slightly as he sized up the vast world before him, the sky-filling sea of clouds, and the palaces scattered like chess pieces amidst the clouds.
Immediately after, he glanced at the mist that condensed into the sea of clouds and shook his head. "It's the Knowledge-Perception Barrier. Did he really think these profound wonders could affect me? Unless the caster had also attained the Primordial Spirit, or went a step further and attained [Tribulation], and possessed a high enough stature... then maybe it would be close."
Having said that, he focused his gaze.
Soon, under the blazing gaze of the Primordial Spirit, all the clouds and mist dissipated, revealing the true face of this place. It was astonishingly a city.
Above the city gate, a plaque was adorned with three large characters:
[White Jade Capital]
"Hm? This is..."
In an instant, the Nameless Dao Lord realized something was wrong. His footsteps halted, and his originally careless expression abruptly turned serious and solemn.
"This place..."
Stripped of the Knowledge-Perception Barrier's influence, the city and palaces that had originally looked incredibly real now actually became blurry, like a mirage.
However, the Nameless Dao Lord's line of sight penetrated even deeper. He had seen through the illusory nature of the palaces from the very beginning. The key was why it was illusory. Now, under careful investigation, he finally discovered the clue: "Its true body isn't here; this is merely an illusory projection... The true body is outside the sea of light?"
Impossible. Absolutely impossible!
Thick astonishment surfaced on the Nameless Dao Lord's face. "Under the blockade of the [Heavenly Dao], other than the Netherworld, who else could construct a Dao-Attaining land outside the sea of light?"
Yet the truth was right before his eyes.
'Ling Xiao's masterpiece? That shouldn't be.'
'If he could construct a Dao-Attaining land outside the sea of light, he wouldn't have needed to enter the Netherworld at all; he could have completely built one himself. Where would he get such ability?'
If it were an ordinary cultivator with insufficient Dao Heart cultivation and lacking the discernment to trace back to the source, they might not have realized the true value of this [White Jade Capital]. But the Nameless Dao Lord was not among them. He knew the significance of being "outside the sea of light," and at this moment, his heart was filled with nothing but shock and confusion.
'Who is it?'
In the current sea of light, who else possessed such brilliant capability? And why would it appear inside Ling Xiao's grotto-heaven? What kind of hidden secrets were involved?
The Nameless Dao Lord did not dare to be careless.
He retracted his previously scattered Primordial Spirit sense. His majestic Primordial Spirit will even manifested a hazy projection of light in reality.
He walked all the way into the [White Jade Capital].
In his line of sight, palaces stood in great numbers, each more towering than the last, yet all were completely deserted. It wasn't until he approached the center of the city that profound wonder and mighty power surfaced.
Soon, he saw four palace halls.
In the center of the [White Jade Capital], four palace halls surrounded and clustered around an inner city. Two of them astonishingly had blazing divine light shining into the firmament.
Then, the Nameless Dao Lord was stunned.
Because when his gaze fell upon those two beams of divine light, two concepts that were incredibly familiar to him, yet vastly different, immediately entered his perception.
[Divine Throne of the Black Tortoise, Protector of the Sacred and Overseer of Fate]
[Divine Throne of Great Tranquility Governing the Order of Myriad Phenomena]
Two divine thrones. Faintly, there seemed to be human figures floating within them, clearly indicating they already had masters. But what shocked him even more was the aura contained within the divine thrones.
'[Destiny] and [Inevitable Fate]?'
The Nameless Dao Lord abruptly halted his steps. The violent fluctuations of his thoughts caused his Primordial Spirit light projection to ripple continuously, displaying his lack of calm.
Besides these? Were there more?
The Nameless Dao Lord abruptly shifted his gaze, looking at the other two slightly dim palace halls that lacked divine light. He quickly sensed familiar auras.
'It's [Tribulation] and [Fortune]!'
Immediately after, he raised his head again and looked at the inner city situated dead center. Finally, he caught a strand of an extremely faint, nearly imperceptible profound wonder aura.
[Variable].
'All Five Great Heavenly Destinies are present. The strength of their concepts even surpasses the [Five Elements]. Two of them have already taken shape, and the remaining three are in the process of gestation...'
At this point, the Nameless Dao Lord felt he had seen through the methods of this place's master. This was an attempt to unify the Five Great Heavenly Destinies! And it had already nearly succeeded by half... No wonder Ling Xiao was able to build a connection with the master of this place. As someone cultivating the [Great Forest Wood], he could perfectly light up the [Tribulation] here!
Then came the question.
"To be able to construct a Dao-Attaining land outside the sea of light, harbor ambitions for the Five Great Heavenly Destinies, and even have already succeeded by half... throughout history, who possesses such capability?"
The answer was not hard to guess.
The Ancestral Dragon!
The Nameless Dao Lord raised his head, feeling suddenly enlightened: 'If it's the Ancestral Dragon, then escaping into the false history right under the Primordial Saint's nose makes sense.'
'The Ancestral Dragon also has the motive to build a connection with Ling Xiao. And compared to me, the Ancestral Dragon's identity is undoubtedly more trustworthy, so Ling Xiao cooperating with him is only natural. And as for him possessing Mu Changsheng... It makes perfect sense. Mu Changsheng previously fell into the [Eternal Flowing Water], where the Dragon Lord gestation ritual took place!'
The more the Nameless Dao Lord thought about it, the more clearly he understood.
'The Ancestral Dragon was suppressed, but his methods are heaven-reaching. He found a gap in the seal and utilized his connection with the Dragon Lords to let a sliver of will secretly escape.'
'And this [White Jade Capital] is the contingency plan he left behind.'
'Although the [Heavenly Dao] blocked off the sea of light, given the Ancestral Dragon's age, when he left this contingency behind, the [Heavenly Dao] probably hadn't even appeared yet!'
The logic was clear, fair, and reasonable.
He even largely deduced the reason for the Ancestral Dragon entering the false history: 'It should be the same as me, wanting to borrow the profound wonder of [Yin and Yang]!'