As his voice fell, the sky vault didn't change in the slightest.
However, soon enough, Lu Yang discovered something was wrong. Unknown when, a vast and boundless scroll of intertwined black and white had actually appeared out of thin air above his head.
The scroll divided Yin and Yang, the diagram opening creation.
At this moment, it blotted out the sky and covered the earth, encompassing both the Heavenly Palace he had transformed into and the twelve Water and Fire Dao Fruit stars. Then, it swiftly separated, like Yin and Yang standing in opposition.
"Hm."
This unexpected change immediately drew Lu Yang's attention. Because as this Yin-Yang diagram scroll separated, he discovered that the twelve Water and Fire Dao Fruits, which were originally closely united with him, had become phantom-like at this moment, as if they had been isolated in another space, their connection severed out of thin air!
"The change of Yin and Yang?"
This time Lu Yang was truly surprised. The previous Buddha body was one thing; after all, it imitated the Dharma Body Dao, the method of this thing wasn't high.
But this current one was different.
He saw it clearly. The spiritual treasure the World Honored One deployed this time imitated [Yin and Yang], borrowing the profound concept of the unity of opposites of Yin and Yang.
"Just a minor trick."
The World Honored One's expression was calm as he said faintly: "Back then, when Sisui held power, it wasn't like now. At that time, even Dao Lords would open their doors wide and exchange pointers with fellow Daoists under heaven. I can be considered to have taken advantage of the times. Whether it was Dharma Body, Spiritual Power, Dao Arts, Heavenly Destinies, Yin and Yang, or the Five Elements, I used spiritual treasures to simulate them all once."
Before his voice faded, warning bells abruptly blared loudly in Lu Yang's heart.
In the next instant, he felt a sensation in his heart and looked up at the sky. Above his head, unknown when, a guillotine had appeared and its cold blade raised high.
"Clang—!"
The guillotine fell.
It did not cleave flesh, nor did it cut through intent—yet Lu Yang distinctly felt that, in some unseen domain, something of utmost importance had been abruptly reduced by more than half.
'It's [Fortune]!'
With a quick calculation on his fingers, realization dawned at once: 'This strike is eroding my [Fortune]. With that single fall, my fortune is already on the verge of exhaustion!'
Meanwhile, the World Honored One's assault did not cease in the slightest.
In the span of a thought, two more radiant lights unfolded before him.
This time, what emerged was a book and a brush. The auras they exuded were utterly distinct—the book embodied [Destiny], while the brush carried the authority of [Inevitable Fate].
In the next instant, the book opened of its own accord, pages filled with dense script woven from light and color. The World Honored One grasped the brush of [Inevitable Fate] in one hand, while the other formed a seal. Blazing white [Karma] gathered forth, transforming into vermilion ink upon the tip of the brush, before he gently set it upon the page.
"Fortune exhausted, death inscribed in destiny, karma decreed—there remains no cause for change!"
The three spiritual treasures moved in perfect accord.
At once, boundless gloom engulfed Lu Yang's vision. Within that all-consuming darkness, a single character blazed with resplendent brilliance—
[Death]—
pronouncing the finality of his end.
At this moment, even having fallen into peril, Lu Yang couldn't help but praise:
'Myriad Treasure, this is the true Myriad Treasure!'
'Dharma Body, Yin and Yang, Fortune, Destiny, Inevitable Fate... simultaneously activating so many supreme treasures, while also circulating karma; there should also be the support of Spiritual Power.'
Good at using external objects, truly living up to the name!
At this moment, Lu Yang seemed to have run out of options. His Water and Fire Dao Fruits were isolated, he was all alone, and the shadow of death destined by karma had already crept over his face.
Yet not the slightest bit of joy surfaced in the World Honored One's eyes.
Instead, it was entirely heavy.
'Is this all there is?'
Although disappointed in his heart, his methods showed no mercy. He still went all out, even deploying another brilliantly glowing talisman.
This was a supreme treasure forged by imitating Dao Arts. Deployed in the air at this moment, it possessed the ability to amplify Dao Arts. Casting down a sky full of rosy light, it further added to the [Cause] of the karma of death, making the shadow on Lu Yang's face increasingly thick and his vision increasingly blurred, as if he were about to die and fall right then and there.
Danger beyond danger, a desperate situation had already formed.
However, facing such a scene, the dark-robed young man wasn't moved in the slightest. Instead, he chuckled lightly, his laughter clear and resonant: "Senior seems to have misunderstood something."
Water and Fire Dao Fruits?
Heaven and Earth resonance?
It couldn't be denied that these were indeed very important, adding many profound wonders to Lu Yang. However, these were merely methods, not the foundation of his lifelong cultivation.
"The destined karma of death is indeed very heavy. But we cultivators have never believed in fate. If fate were useful, if everything was an inescapable Inevitable Fate, then what is the point of cultivation? The sea of light wouldn't place [Variable] first either. The Dao Lineage I created is precisely to overturn all of this."
As he spoke, firelight suddenly appeared!
At first, it was merely a streak of crimson glow, incredibly weak. However, as it gradually spread, the crimson fire started a prairie blaze, becoming increasingly dazzling, like the morning sun rising!
[Fate Revolution]!
At this moment, even separated by a towering sky vault, that prairie-blazing crimson fire still seeped through a fraction, allowing all the people of the false history Immortal Nexus to see it.
If it were any other profound wonder, there would probably already be countless mortals kneeling and worshipping on the ground, shocked by that vast mighty power, unable to control their own actions.
However, this streak of crimson light was different.
Whether Perfected Lords, Foundation Establishment, Qi Refining, or even mortals, they could all sense its mighty power, yet not a single person gave rise to the thought of worshipping and submitting.
Some people who were kneeling even couldn't help but stand up at this moment.
Everyone, without exception at this moment, regardless of cultivation, regardless of nobility or lowliness, all stared in a trance at that lifelike crimson fire on the sky.
It was peaceful, it was uplifting.
All profound wonders, all concepts, finally transformed into an intense, unstoppable thought of "advancing," bursting forth with indomitable will.
At this moment, Lu Yang stood within the crimson light. All karma of death was brazenly broken open by him. The indescribable [Variable] changed the destined ending, and also broke open the World Honored One's blockade.
The twelve Water and Fire Dao Fruits responded once again, revolving around Lu Yang, following his lead.
"...Come with me."
Lu Yang advanced, the crimson light moved with him, the twelve Dao Fruits moved with him. Like an arrow released from the bowstring, he arrived before the World Honored One in the blink of an eye!
"Amitabha."
The World Honored One pressed his palms together, his palms slightly apart like holding a piece of fruit. Then his figure drifted and scattered like clouds and smoke, and the world visibly distorted.
[Karma]!
He intended to use the profound wonder of altering causes and shifting effects to erase his own damaged [Cause] in exchange for an unharmed [Effect], thereby evading Lu Yang's attack.
However, right at this moment, a streak of heavenly light fell.
[Heavenly Fire]!
[Imperial Decree: First-generation Myriad Treasure Peak Master, seek an audience at the Imperial Court!]
The golden dharma decree was etched into the very fabric of heaven and earth within the Immortal Nexus, its radiant and supreme profound wonder blazing forth from the descending heavenly light. In an instant, it forcefully halted the World Honored One's attempt to escape through [Karma].
Bathed in crimson light, the corner of Lu Yang's lips curled slightly upward.
Indeed, within the vast sea of light, [Variable] stands foremost. Yet the Primordial Saint had laid his designs for countless years, and within this false history, [Inevitable Fate] instead held the upper hand.
[Karma] is but an unorthodox branch of [Variable].
And within [Heavenly Fire] lay concealed the concept of [Inevitable Fate].
Thus, when [Heavenly Fire] was brought to bear against [Karma], it produced a startling, almost miraculous effect—binding the World Honored One in place, his figure momentarily unable to move.
He could only face him head-on!
IIn that instant, Lu Yang's figure flashed forth like a white steed slipping through a crevice—swift as lightning. The indomitable crimson radiance shot forward, piercing straight through the glabella of the World Honored One's Buddha body!
Heaven and earth froze.
Countless resplendent colors winked out in succession—then reversed. Time itself turned back at that moment, all things rewinding to their origin. Both sides were returned to the very instant of their initial confrontation.
The [Cause] of the battle vanished, and the [Effect] dissolved along with it.
It was as though the clash had never occurred at all. The heaven-shaking spectacle from before seemed no more than an illusion. Lu Yang came back to himself, only to find that he was still standing where he had been from the very beginning.
In the next breath, a smile spread across his face.
"…Haha!"
Within the same realm, [Karma] had already been suppressed by him. Yet just now, the World Honored One had elevated his own level, reversing time from a higher realm.
In other words—he had grown anxious.
At this realization, Lu Yang could not help but smile. "May I boldly ask, Senior—does this junior now possess the qualification to cooperate?"
As his words fell, the World Honored One stood opposite him, tall and composed, palms pressed together. With a faint sigh tinged with emotion, he raised a hand to touch the glabella that had just been pierced through.
Only after a long moment did he give a slight nod.
"Good!"