Facing the encirclement of Sword Lord, Cang Hao, and Myriad Laws, the Primordial Saint remained very calm, merely chuckling coldly. "What, could it be that you all want to kill me?"
He was completely unafraid.
After all, he had obtained the secret of the [True Nascent Soul]. Unlike Sword Lord and the others, even if his stature fell to Golden Core Perfection, his essence would still remain unchanged.
Therefore, he couldn't die.
Sword Lord and the others naturally understood this logic as well. However, precisely because they understood, the gazes they directed at the Primordial Saint grew even more heated, revealing bone-chilling malice.
"It's exactly because you can't die."
"Sisui has escaped, and the [Heavenly Dao] has collapsed. Right now, we are in need of someone to fill Sisui's vacancy and repair the [Heavenly Dao]... Is Fellow Daoist willing to assist us?"
This was the true reason!
At this moment, the Primordial Saint was in an unprecedentedly weak state. It was the perfect opportunity to rebuild the [Heavenly Dao] and incorporate [Inevitable Fate] into it as well.
And the Primordial Saint himself could, like Sisui back then, become the foundation stone of the [Heavenly Dao].
"Putting talent to its best use."
Cang Hao smiled faintly. "This is also what Fellow Daoist taught us. Looking at it now, Fellow Daoist's way of doing things actually has some merit to it."
These words were extremely harsh, clearly meant to provoke the Primordial Saint's Dao Heart and further test his actual condition. As long as the Primordial Saint, this fierce tiger, showed even the slightest weakness because of this, the three wolf-like Dao Lords would swarm him, tear him apart, and he would meet a miserable end.
The Primordial Saint also realized this.
"...Very well."
As his voice fell, he lightly shook his sleeve and took out a pill as red as blood. Then, with a gentle crush, he refined it into his aura.
Rumble.
In an instant, his aura, which had previously hit rock bottom, seemed to receive a massive boost, climbing upward and recovering a large chunk in the blink of an eye.
This pill was none other than the [Dao of Alchemy], one of the four Void Attainment Great Daos he had created back then. All four Great Daos had major uses.
The [Dao of Artifact Forging] was used in the construction of [Paramita].
The [Dao of Beast Taming] was used to enslave the Ancestral Dragon.
The [Dao of Dual Cultivation] was used to connect with the [Dark Void] and shape the foundation of the [True Nascent Soul].
As for the [Dao of Alchemy], he kept it as his final trump card. At the cost of destroying the Dao and extinguishing the Dharma, it could substantially repair his depleted vitality.
Of course, his [Inevitable Fate] was incredibly vast. Even if he swallowed the entire [Dao of Alchemy], the amount repaired could only be considered a drop in the bucket; it was impossible to instantly return to his peak state. However, looking at the current situation, even a drop in the bucket was enough for him to handle it.
"What is this..."
The Primordial Saint's action naturally fell into the eyes of the three Dao Lords. Sensing that abruptly surging aura, the three Dao Lords immediately stopped their movements.
"How about it? Do you still want to continue?"
The Primordial Saint stood with his hands behind his back. After his aura recovered, he became even calmer. "Which Fellow Daoist plans to step forward and fulfill my desire to make an example of someone?"
"...Fellow Daoist is joking."
After a moment of silence, Cang Hao spoke slowly, "Fellow Daoist has an endless stream of trump cards; we are in awe. We just don't know what kind of supreme medicine you took just now?"
Could it be a potent but short-lived medicine?
Speaking of this, although the swirling profound brilliance surrounding the Primordial Saint loosened quite a bit, it never completely dissipated, seemingly still eager for action.
Seeing this, the Primordial Saint said no more, and his figure vanished instantly.
Rumble!
The Long River of Time appeared once again, mighty and vast. Repeating his old trick, he instantly threw Cang Hao, Sword Lord, and Myriad Laws into different time periods.
"We were merely joking earlier!"
In an instant, all the brilliance dissipated, and the Long River of Time vanished with it. The three Dao Lords stood shoulder to shoulder, respectfully bowing to the Primordial Saint.
The Primordial Saint wasn't surprised to see this.
The Dao Lords fear power but lack virtue.
If it were before, he would have suppressed one Dao Lord no matter what to make an example of them. Alas, right now, he really didn't have many usable talents left in his hands.
Thinking of this, the Primordial Saint couldn't help but glance at the empty Light Sea, the corner of his eye twitching.
If only the Dao of Dharma Body disappeared, that just means creatures of flesh and blood cannot be born. By taking a different approach and starting from consciousness and spirituality, perhaps bizarre lifeforms like the [Taiyi Beast] could still be created.
In that case, there would still be hope of rapidly repairing [Paramita].
However, the problem lay here:
Sisui attained the [Dao Heart] through the Void, encompassing all manifestations of consciousness, and took it away. Now, the Light Sea won't even give birth to consciousness!
Physical body and consciousness.
Without these two Great Daos, it was equivalent to completely eliminating the birth of life in the Light Sea, cutting off his means of harvesting. It was an extremely ruthless scheme.
Fortunately, the [Five Elements] are connected to the Ancestral Dragon, so he couldn't take them away. At most, he just took away the Dao Fruits of the Immortal Nexus. The material foundation of the Light Sea still exists, it's just very fragile right now. Given time, when the [Five Elements] recover and reappear in the world, they can still bear [Paramita].
The Primordial Saint pondered in his heart, calculating rapidly:
However, as things stand now, rapidly repairing [Paramita] is already impossible. I can only wait for the Ancestral Dragon's sea of consciousness to gather naturally.
How many years will that take?
Before long, the Primordial Saint deduced the answer:
"Eighty-four thousand years."
In 84,000 years, the Ancestral Dragon's sea of consciousness would regroup, and the [Five Elements] would be repaired. Only then could [Paramita] truly be rebuilt.
Until then, besides himself, who could reclaim the Dao Lord stature by damaging his own [Inevitable Fate], the others didn't have his methods and could only remain as Dao Sovereigns.
In other words:
[Paramita] is temporarily useless.
Thinking of this, the Primordial Saint immediately looked at Sword Lord and Cang Hao not far away. Since that's the case, I have to settle for the next best thing and activate the [Heavenly Dao].
Then the question arose.
The [Heavenly Dao] required a living stake.
Who would be it?
"Like this, Fellow Daoist should understand now."
After listening to Sisui's detailed explanation, Lu Yang nodded, his previously hanging heart finally settling down. "So the Primordial Saint has also hit a dead end now."
"Exactly."
Sisui smiled slightly. "In all fairness, if the [Heavenly Dao] truly incorporated [Inevitable Fate], there might actually be hope of nurturing a Dao Lord."
"However, it's impossible for the Primordial Saint to become the living stake for the [Heavenly Dao], yet he's the only one qualified. So this single track has become a double bind."
"In short, Fellow Daoist doesn't need to worry about the Primordial Saint for a short while. Even if he finds a way to repair the damage to [Inevitable Fate] and recover the Dao Lord stature, he still won't be able to fight his way in. At most, he'll be in a stalemate with me, unless one of Nian Yao, Cang Hao, or Myriad Laws also recovers the Dao Lord stature."
"To achieve that—"
"Either the [Heavenly Dao] is rebuilt and surpasses its peak, or [Paramita] is further repaired. The former is impossible, and the latter requires a vast amount of time."
After speaking, Sisui patted Lu Yang's shoulder.
Even now, Lu Yang was still somewhat in a daze.
Looking at the [The Book of a Hundred Lifetimes] interface beside him, he felt as if he were in a dream. Only after a long while did he finally process this unbelievable outcome.
Could it be...
I don't need to restart this time?