Through the benchmark of the World Honored One, Lu Yang finally had a certain degree of judgment regarding the strength among the Dao Lords. However, vigilance still remained in his heart.
'The World Honored One's words cannot be completely trusted.'
'Although he is also a Dao Lord, his position on [Paramita] is still too low. Sometimes, a single leaf blocking the eyes can conversely mislead my judgment.'
Thinking of this, Lu Yang looked at the World Honored One again.
The previous battle had already earned him the qualification, so he no longer held back, directly saying: "I desire to completely seize the Immortal Nexus. Is Senior willing to assist me?"
The World Honored One's answer was also very straightforward.
"I can."
His tone was calm as he said faintly: "Jiangxi is already in your hands. Jiangdong and Jiangbei are nothing but a thought away. I will not interfere with you in these two territories."
"The Heavenly Lord will not be your obstacle anymore."
Lu Yang immediately realized the problem in the World Honored One's words and said in a deep voice: "There is still Jiangnan. Could it be that Senior is also afraid of that Great Sword Ancestor in the Sword Pavilion?"
Hearing this, the World Honored One raised his eyebrows slightly, but didn't answer the question directly. Instead, he gave Lu Yang a meaningful look, then changed the subject: "Since you have already reached a cooperation with Ling Xiao, you should have learned many historical secrets from his mouth, including the ending of this era, right?"
As soon as these words were spoken, Lu Yang's expression instantly changed slightly.
'...Not good!'
'The way the World Honored One said this, it's obvious he's already certain I am a cultivator who emerged after Ling Xiao. Did my words just now reveal a flaw?'
The problem lay with the Great Sword Ancestor?
Thinking of this, Lu Yang felt somewhat annoyed. Due to a momentary lack of observation, he actually let the World Honored One catch a flaw and deduce a part of his origins.
Meanwhile, the World Honored One was also quite surprised.
'He doesn't know what the Great Sword Ancestor did back then, otherwise he wouldn't have asked if I was afraid of the Great Sword Ancestor. He has cultivated for less than ten thousand years up to now?'
Ling Xiao emerged about thirty thousand years ago. At that time, some fragmented intelligence could still be found in ancient texts. However, as he altered causes and shifted effects, reshaping the present world, this intelligence was also buried along with it. Deduced from the years, the person before him had cultivated for ten thousand years at most.
As for the shortest, it might even be less than five thousand years.
For a moment, the World Honored One was even shocked by his own guess. But that was all, after all, there were absolutely no further clues.
In the next second, Lu Yang was heard saying in a deep voice:
"I indeed know. The Great Sword Ancestor spent a cycle of sixty years vanquishing demons, slaughtering the world clean within sixty years—the Three Foundations, the Dao Court, the Saint Sect, the Sword Pavilion—and then drew his sword to commit suicide afterwards."
"Why did he do this?"
Since this part of his origin had already been guessed, Lu Yang didn't pretend anymore. He no longer feigned being profound, but looked at the World Honored One and directly asked the question.
Hearing this, the World Honored One shook his head.
"Sanhe's thoughts were different from others."
Sanhe, the true name of the Great Sword Ancestor. Being spoken by the World Honored One at this moment instantly caused the firmament to shake. It seemed infinite mighty power was surging forth from within the false history.
Lu Yang immediately felt a sensation in his heart.
'It's the [Heavenly Dao]!'
The [Heavenly Dao] had a resonance with the Great Sword Ancestor's true name?
Before Lu Yang could sort out his thoughts, his field of vision abruptly sank. A misty gray color surfaced beneath the World Honored One's feet, then rapidly spread out.
And wherever the light and color passed, complete silence reigned, and heaven and earth were tranquil. It isolated all external perceptions and also cut off the mighty power from the [Heavenly Dao].
Seeing this setup, Lu Yang immediately became excited, understanding in his heart that the World Honored One was about to tell him a secret that hadn't spread to the outside world.
"Today's false history has already changed."
"Because Beast Taming and I both forged Primordial Spirits, making our true selves unique, so the current false history does not contain us. It has long differed from the story of that year."
"Back then..."
Speaking of this, the World Honored One paused, then continued:
"The Primordial Saint exposed his wild ambitions, and the Grotto-Heaven Method and the Three Foundations fell out. But after so many years of a flourishing age, the various Dao Lineages had long become intertwined, with you in me and me in you."
"However, under the will of the Dao Lords, a great war was inevitable. Even Heaven Treading stage Great Perfected Lords had no power to choose. Only Golden Core Great Perfection Dao Sovereigns had a sliver of choice. Looking at the overall situation back then, it was just me, Beast Taming, and Sanhe counting as half. The three of us each chose three paths."
"That fool Beast Taming chose the Netherworld."
"It was already the tail end of the great war at the time. The number of dead cultivators was immeasurable. He made up his mind to establish the Netherworld, gather True Spirits, and call back old friends from the past."
"At the same time, he also wanted to borrow the power of the Netherworld to resolve the disputes among the Dao Lords."
"He was too young, and too naive. Although the "Scripture of True Nature Seeking Immortality" allowed him to cultivate a Primordial Spirit, it also made it difficult for him to change the underlying nature of his disposition from then on."
"He didn't see clearly the cause of the Dao Lord War."
"I saw it clearly."
The World Honored One's voice was very calm, as if merely recounting a past event from ancient texts. Meanwhile, Lu Yang listened while rapidly deducing in his heart.
'It's very normal for cultivating a Primordial Spirit to have drawbacks.'
'After all, cultivating a Primordial Spirit is about cultivating a true self. And the purity of the true self will amplify a person's merits, and naturally also amplify the corresponding flaws.'
'As for the cause of the Dao Lord War, looking at it now, it was because Sisui discovered the Primordial Saint's true colors. But in Dao Tianqi's view, it was probably just a divergence among the Dao Lords on [Paramita]. So he wanted to forge the Netherworld to resolve the dispute. This is a case of the route being wrong, making everything wrong...'
Meanwhile, the World Honored One's voice continued:
"I chose the Primordial Saint."
"At the time, I had vaguely noticed the Primordial Saint's problem. But I didn't have enough strength. I had to scheme for a position on [Paramita]."
"Otherwise, I couldn't protect Beast Taming, Heaven-Mending, and Pill Cauldron."
It was more than just that!
Lu Yang sighed inwardly. Even though the World Honored One ascended to [Paramita], in the end, he still couldn't protect anyone. It could only be said that everything was under the Primordial Saint's control.
Pill Cauldron's True Spirit shattered, Beast Taming fell into a slumber he couldn't wake up, Heaven-Mending hid within the [Five Elements], Myriad Treasure was reduced to a Dao Lord-level 'talent', and the four first-generation Peak Masters were all doing time in prison.
'If I hadn't come, Dao Tianqi definitely wouldn't have been able to wake up. The Primordial Saint would have taken the fragments of the Netherworld and directly stepped on [Paramita] to ascend. Bu Tianque's schemes would also have come to nothing, leading to certain death. Let alone Pill Cauldron. Ling Xiao, with his True Spirit reshaped, would have even died attaining the Netherworld, only to die yet again.'
It was simply a massive [Tragedy].
'Fortunately, I came.'
At this moment, Lu Yang even felt a bit of superiority towards the World Honored One in his heart. The psychological shadow cast by him over the past dozen or so lifetimes thoroughly dissipated at this moment.
The four first-generation Peak Masters would scatter without me!
The World Honored One's voice paused slightly. He glanced doubtfully at Lu Yang, whose gaze sizing him up had suddenly become unhurried for some unknown reason.
"...Finally, there was the Great Sword Ancestor."
"At the time, he also saw clearly the Sword Lord's true colors. But he was different from me and Beast Taming. He didn't focus on the dead cultivators or the overall future situation."
"He looked at the mortals."
"At the time, not long after the Ancestral Dragon was suppressed, the Dao Lords started the great war, allowing it to find an opportunity to contact the Heavenly Lord, intending to borrow the power of the overseas True Dragons to break free."
"You should know, the Immortal Nexus was built entirely upon the physical body of the Ancestral Dragon. Once the Ancestral Dragon broke free, the trillions of mortals on it would inevitably die instantly, without exception... And so, that sixty-year cycle of vanquishing demons occurred. Cleansing the Immortal Nexus and hanging his sword in the sky, it was he who suppressed the Ancestral Dragon's final counterattack."
Lu Yang raised his eyebrows upon hearing this:
"This isn't right, is it? If he just wanted to suppress the Ancestral Dragon's counterattack, shouldn't he have thought of a way to kill the Heavenly Lord? What does it have to do with the cultivators under heaven?"
The World Honored One let out a quiet sigh.
Before he could answer, heaven and earth erupted in a violent resonance. In a daze, Lu Yang seemed to hear the crisp sound of some sealed taboo being undone—like forbidden knowledge unlocking itself.
"Because the earliest cultivators were nurtured by the Ancestral Dragon."
"All cultivators, regardless of their Dao Lineage, ultimately trace their origins back to it. And what it once bestowed… it can, by the same principle, reclaim."
"Were it not for this—how could Sisui have ever agreed to suppress the Ancestral Dragon in those days?"