Jiangbei, Kanyang Lake.
At the bottom of the deep and serene lake, bright light shone brilliantly at this moment. The manifested light and shadow illuminated the lake bottom, staring straight into Chong Guang's eyes.
After a long silence, Chong Guang finally mustered his courage and said in a low voice: "This lowly cultivator pays his respects to the World Honored One..."
As his voice fell, his heart was filled with bitterness.
'It's over!'
To tell the truth, he would rather the one using him as a chess piece be his grandmaster, the Primordial Saint, than see the World Honored One. After all, the reputation of One Mind was simply too infamous.
At this moment, Chong Guang was even wondering:
'Am I still me.'
'Have I been enlightened? Am I ultimately still Chong Guang... or have I already become the World Honored One, merely thinking I am still Chong Guang?'
Meanwhile, the Heavenly Lord, or rather the World Honored One, was sizing up this heaven and earth with great interest, thoroughly digesting the memories from the Heavenly Lord. Soon, he had a clear grasp of the current situation in the false history. Among them, the changes in Jiangxi and the overseas region naturally fell into his field of vision first.
'What formidable methods.'
'The Eastern Sovereign Defying the Heaven, so Ling Xiao secretly cooperated with him? It seems his previous interactions with me were just pretending to be polite and compliant. With things like this, this person's tail has become too big to wag.'
Countless thoughts flashed through the World Honored One's mind.
'Perfected Lord Yuji Siming... who is he?'
'The Dao name corresponds to [Heavenly Fire], but no one ever attained it back then. It was only me who once borrowed its radiance under a false name. What exactly are this person's origins?'
More importantly, what was he scheming?
'Observing this person's actions, he hasn't deviated from the prior arrangements. He is indeed expanding that Investiture of the Gods Method... but it's impossible for him to make a wedding dress for the Sword Lord.'
'What does he plan to do?'
Unlike the Xiu Zhen, the World Honored One was a Dao Lord who truly fought his way up from being a lower-level cultivator. For many things, a single clue was enough for him to deduce the full picture.
'It's the timing.'
'If he doesn't want to make a wedding dress for the Sword Lord, then he must control the timing of the false history's return. He must choose a time when both the Sword Lord and Cang Hao are powerless to attend him.'
Deity transformation and ascension!
Gradually, enlightenment surfaced in the depths of the World Honored One's eyes: 'This person likely intends to guide the false history to return precisely when the Primordial Saint initiates his deity transformation and ascension. Then, he will control the entire sea of light and deal a vicious blow to the Dao Lords... but as a mere lower-level cultivator, where does he get the courage to seize this opportunity?'
'It's premeditated! Someone is directing him!'
—Sisui!
That must be it. This Perfected Lord Yuji Siming eighty percent likely made contact with Sisui and obtained his approval. Only then did he have the guts to perform the act of an ant swallowing a dragon!
In an instant, the World Honored One had already sorted out his thoughts.
Then he realized:
'Is this detrimental to me?'
Deity transformation and ascension, [Paramita] falling, the false history returning, Sisui escaping, the entire sea of light turning into a pot of chaotic porridge... Hearing this, it sounded quite pleasing to the ear.
Wasn't this exactly what he wanted most?
Outside the false history.
On the second tier of [Paramita], the golden-bodied Buddha symbolizing the World Honored One abruptly shattered. Behind him, endless karma manifested in succession, only to shatter one after another.
"Pfft!"
The World Honored One was seen opening his mouth and spewing out a mouthful of Buddha blood. Then, he caught it in his palm and swallowed it back down. His aura consequently withered to the extreme.
"Myriad Treasure... what happened?"
"Failed?"
The voices of the Sword Lord and Cang Hao came over one after another, carrying doubt: "Although the karma of the false history is very chaotic now, it shouldn't be to the point of making you spit blood, right?"
"You didn't attain the Dao of [Karma], what do you know!"
The World Honored One gritted his teeth and said in a low voice: "Our plan failed. That awakened Heavenly Demon in the false history is very smart. He didn't fall for the trick and rashly search Chong Guang's soul."
"Not only did he not, he directly extinguished Chong Guang. I forcefully took action, attempting to deliver him, but he seems to have also cultivated the Dao Heart, resisting my deliverance. Not only that, he seems to have reached a cooperation with the Great Sword Ancestor. That strand of my divine sense was directly killed by the Great Sword Ancestor."
Speaking of this, the World Honored One wore an expression of heartache:
"If it were just this, it would be fine. The problem is I also exposed my identity. The other party locked onto the me within the false history, which caused me to suffer a massive loss!"
As soon as these words were spoken, the Sword Lord and Cang Hao instantly understood.
'It's [Perfected Lord Brilliant World Joyous Light].'
'Then this isn't surprising.'
As everyone knew, among the World Honored One's three lives, his present body, [Perfected Lord Brilliant World Joyous Light], existed precisely five thousand years ago in the false history, and was the foundation of his attaining the Dao.
With the foundation damaged, spitting a mouthful of blood was a matter of course.
"I need help!"
While wiping the corner of his mouth, the World Honored One said in a deep voice: "With my foundation wounded this time, I depleted at least a tenth of my mighty power, and my Primordial Spirit is also somewhat unstable."
"I need compensation!"
Hearing this, the Sword Lord subconsciously said: "How can that be the same? This is due to your insufficient ability. I haven't even pursued your wasting of a perfectly good opportunity..."
"Although the deliverance wasn't successful, I still obtained some intelligence."
"...However, then again, Myriad Treasure, since you exerted such great effort, we naturally won't treat you unfairly. A little compensation is nothing."
Speaking of this, the Sword Lord's tone was incredibly natural:
"What do you want?"
"Authority over the [Heavenly Dao]!"
The World Honored One said in a deep voice: "Don't forget, my present body is in the false history. If necessary, I can have him trace back the karma and resolve all variables!"
"But you also know, this kind of karma tracing has huge restrictions, making it difficult to exert full power. I need authority over the [Heavenly Dao] to help me stabilize the karma and ensure my present body is in its peak state. This way, no matter what problems occur in the false history, I can easily suppress them."
Hiss!
As soon as these words were spoken, the Sword Lord and Cang Hao were both stunned. They clearly hadn't expected the World Honored One to be willing to invest such heavy capital, having [Perfected Lord Brilliant World Joyous Light] take action.
If any accident occurred, he could fall in realm!
'...Something's not right!'
Instantly, suspicion surfaced in the gazes the Sword Lord and Cang Hao directed at the World Honored One: "Myriad Treasure, only you can enter the currently chaotic false history relying on [One Mind]. Everything is just your one-sided story; it makes it very difficult for us to believe you... You want partial authority over the [Heavenly Dao]?"
"That is no problem."
"But the one who obtains the [Heavenly Dao] authority cannot be you, it must be your present body, that [Perfected Lord Brilliant World Joyous Light]. This is also for insurance."
Hearing this, the World Honored One's voice instantly sank: "Sword Lord, Cang Hao, you have gone too far!"
One must know, the [World Honored One] and [Perfected Lord Brilliant World Joyous Light] were different. If the former obtained authority over the [Heavenly Dao], then he truly had authority.
Because the [World Honored One] was a Dao Lord.
However, [Perfected Lord Brilliant World Joyous Light] was different. This present body was only Golden Core Great Perfection, completely suppressed in stature by the Sword Lord and Cang Hao.
Under these circumstances, even if [Perfected Lord Brilliant World Joyous Light] obtained authority over the [Heavenly Dao], it was impossible for him to turn the tables and become the master. Even his own life and death would be controlled by the Sword Lord and Cang Hao. From this perspective, it was equivalent to the World Honored One handing the foundation of his Dao attainment into the hands of the Sword Lord and Cang Hao!
"You bully people too much!"
The World Honored One sneered: "Once [Perfected Lord Brilliant World Joyous Light] dies, I will immediately fall from [Paramita]. Do you think I wouldn't care about such a thing?"
Yes, I truly don't care anymore now.
Beneath his furious vajra glare, the World Honored One's heart was already blooming with joy. Exchanging something destined to be abandoned for true benefits—he was more than happy to do so!
'However... how exactly to exchange, and when to exchange, still remains to be negotiated.'
Regardless, he had already thought it through clearly.
Back then, he chose [Paramita] because it was the only path available, and Sisui's path was fundamentally impossible to replicate.
But it was different now.
Since the broken ship that is [Paramita] is destined to sink sooner or later, rather than continuing to be the Dao Lord at the very bottom, it's better to jump ship and find a better way out!