The remaining eighty-plus pages of the [Book of a Hundred Lifetimes] restored Lu Yang's confidence. He refused to believe it; could he not strip bare the Primordial Saint's trump cards with over eighty lifetimes?
Thinking of this, he looked at Sisui again.
"Regarding the Primordial Saint's backup plans, we can take our time to discuss them. Senior, the most pressing matter right now is how we should deal with that Dao Lord who is testing us."
Sisui thought about it and smiled: "This is not difficult either."
"If my expectations are not wrong, the chess piece that Fellow Daoist Myriad Treasure, whom you suspect to be the Dao Lord, is using to test you and me should only be a Foundation Establishment Perfected One."
"To bypass the Dao Fruits of the Immortal Nexus and directly seek to attain the fundamental [Five Elements], talent and brilliance are both indispensable. Fellow Daoist can think about it, is there such a Foundation Establishment Perfected One with peerless aptitude in the true history? Furthermore, considering he is attaining the [Five Elements], he is highly likely a cultivator of the Immortal Nexus in the true history as well."
Hearing this, Lu Yang's eyes lit up.
'That's it!'
This was the perspective he lacked. He couldn't directly deduce the cultivation of the person seeking the [Five Elements] through the aura fluctuations he had probed.
Yet Sisui could say with certainty that the other party was at Foundation Establishment.
This was the gap in perspective. It was precisely because Lu Yang lacked this that he felt like he was looking at flowers through the fog. Once this was supplemented, he could deduce the rest himself.
"A cultivator of the Immortal Nexus. First, rule out rogue cultivators."
"Then rule out the Dao Court; that bunch of rats lacks the ability. Next is the Pure Land. In the Sword Pavilion, aside from Master Vanquishing-Demon, the rest are not enough to look at, Subduing-Spirit falls far short."
Thinking it over and over again, there was only one person.
'Martial Uncle Chong Guang.'
Among the Foundation Establishment cultivators of the Immortal Nexus, aside from Perfected One Vanquishing-Demon, Chong Guang was number one. It could only be said that the ability of the Saint Sect's acting sect master was not something others could compare with.
In the Immortal Nexus, there were many cultivators qualified to seek the Golden Core. However, they only possessed the qualification to seek it; whether they succeeded or not was another matter. For example, Perfected One Warding-Evil of the Sword Pavilion once had the opportunity to seek the Golden Core in a certain lifetime, but still failed in the end. Such people were not rare in the Immortal Nexus.
But Chong Guang was different.
'In my dozen or so restarts, Martial Uncle attained the Perfected Lord realm three times. It could be said that as long as no one stopped him, he would definitely succeed. His Dao comprehension and cultivation had already reached the pinnacle.'
Take the lifetime where he attained the Dao of Inner Demons for example.
Facing the completely unfamiliar Dao of Inner Demons, Chong Guang comprehended it thoroughly in an extremely short amount of time, ultimately advancing to Perfected Lord through it. His talent and brilliance were evident.
'It's definitely him!'
Thinking of this, Lu Yang was already certain in his heart:
'It just so happens that because of Ling Xiao, Martial Uncle's Dao path was severed yet again. As long as that Dao Lord promised Martial Uncle a new Dao path, he would definitely gladly agree.'
With the result, deducing the process was much simpler.
'Martial Uncle's previous life was an Immortal Spirit.'
'The gestation time for an Immortal Spirit has always been measured in tens of thousands of years. So barring any accidents, Martial Uncle has the karma of his original Immortal Spirit body in this era!'
'Since he is an Immortal Spirit, the Heavenly Lord must definitely pay close attention... So, as long as some tricks were played on Martial Uncle, plotting against the Heavenly Lord is basically as easy as turning one's hand.'
'When I deduced the karma earlier, the Heavenly Lord indeed stopped me.'
'So, the Heavenly Lord and the Dao Lord cooperated?'
Thinking of this, Lu Yang immediately shook his head.
'Impossible. What kind of tier is the Heavenly Lord to be worthy of cooperating with a Dao Lord? Even with the Great Sword Ancestor it would be a stretch. Rather than cooperation, he must have been controlled by the Dao Lord.'
Who could control the Heavenly Lord?
One Mind!
In an instant, Lu Yang deduced the final conclusion: The Dao Lord testing him was one hundred percent the World Honored One, and Martial Uncle Chong Guang was his chosen chess piece!
Watching the changes in Lu Yang's expression, Sisui smiled and nodded:
"It seems you already have the answer."
"...Many thanks, Senior."
Lu Yang cupped his hands gratefully. If it weren't for the exalted cultivator perspective provided by Sisui, he would at most be guessing, impossible to be as certain as he was now.
More importantly, he learned the most crucial intelligence related to the World Honored One from Sisui's mouth. And with this intelligence as a bargaining chip, regardless of whether the World Honored One's attitude towards him was good or bad, Lu Yang felt he had room to maneuver, and even a great hope of pulling him into his own camp!
Seeing this, Sisui waved his hand:
"Since your doubts have vanished, then do not linger."
"Farewell!"
Lu Yang didn't drag his feet either. He simply withdrew his consciousness from the Foundation Establishment puppet. His main body opened its eyes, raised its head, and gazed off into the distance towards the Jiangbei region.
'Immortal Spirits cannot run around everywhere.'
Even himself, when he first arrived in the false history as an Immortal Spirit previously, couldn't act alone and had to rely on the cultivators of the Laojun Temple for cover.
Compared to him, Martial Uncle Chong Guang's environment was even more perilous.
'After all, Martial Uncle doesn't have my methods. I can hide as a great hermit in the city, but Martial Uncle cannot. He can only cut off all human contact to avoid me finding any clues.'
However, the identity of Chong Guang itself was a clue.
'As an Immortal Spirit, Martial Uncle reincarnated and joined the Saint Sect. His Immortal Spirit body must definitely have been born in Jiangbei. Once I control Jiangbei, finding it will only be a matter of time.'
Since that was the case, there was nothing more to say.
'Just right, the three-year period has arrived.'
'Jiangxi and the overseas region have both been sorted out. It is fitting for me to sweep across the world and seize another region!'
Thinking of this, Lu Yang immediately stood up. With a stir of his thoughts, he floated out of the hall. In just a few steps, he walked all the way towards the direction of Jiangbei.
Jiangbei, Heaven-Connecting Cloud Sea.
Within the Sacred Fire Cliff, a vibrant fiery light was seen falling from the sky. Finally, it transformed into a handsome man pacing out, his eyes carrying a bit of solemnity:
"The hour is approaching!"
"Hm?"
In the next second, black and white light and colors suddenly appeared, then mixed together, transforming into the appearance of Bu Tianque. Her laughter was crisp like a silver bell: "Is that person about to make a move?"
"Correct."
The first-generation Pill Cauldron Peak Master nodded: "I have calculated it. That person has already finished sorting out Jiangxi and the overseas region. His next step will inevitably be to initiate another act of plundering territory."
"Jiangdong and Jiangnan have always shared the same breath and branches."
"Although the Great Sword Ancestor sits by and watches without intervening, the person is there. With that person's cultivation, he probably doesn't dare to clash head-on yet, and can only settle for the next best thing."
Hearing this, Bu Tianque smiled: "Pinch the soft persimmon first?"
"Makes sense. If it were me, I would like to do this too."
"So you're saying, he's about to attack... What does Senior Brother plan to do? Whether it's to fight a battle or help him fulfill his goals, I will fully support you."
Hearing this, the first-generation Pill Cauldron Peak Master's gaze focused slightly:
"My intention is, fight a battle!"
"There are some matters... I feel I might be able to find the answers in him."
Speaking of this, the first-generation Pill Cauldron Peak Master's eyes were profoundly deep like never before. And under his gaze, Bu Tianque waved her hand with a bitter smile:
"Since Senior Brother has said so, what else can I do?"
"Eldest Senior Brother died, Youngest Junior Brother disappeared. In today's Heaven-Connecting Cloud Sea, it is originally just you and me depending on each other for survival. Since Senior Brother has made up his mind, I will naturally follow."
Hearing this, the first-generation Pill Cauldron Peak Master nodded slightly, but couldn't help sighing inwardly:
'Eldest Senior Brother died, Youngest Junior Brother disappeared?'
'No, something is wrong.'
Raising his head and looking at the Immortal Nexus' sky, which was the same as always, the first-generation Pill Cauldron Peak Master thought for a moment and swallowed back the unspeakable question in his heart.
This question was very simple:
'Outside the Immortal Nexus, what is there?'
'The sea of light, the sea of light... why are there so many Perfected Lords, so many Dao Lineages, always spinning around in the Immortal Nexus, yet not a single person ever thought of heading to the sea of light?'
At this moment, the world in his memories in the eyes of the first-generation Pill Cauldron Peak Master, suddenly became somewhat illusory.