Lu Yang stood in place, his hands clasped behind his back.
Sisui looked on with satisfaction and ceased his assault, allowing Lu Yang to slowly internalize the experience. A hint of anticipation flickered in his eyes.
A moment later, Lu Yang opened his eyes.
"How was it?" Sisui asked curiously.
"Like looking at flowers through a fog."
Lu Yang shook his head helplessly. "I have achieved the state of [knowing the what], yet I still [do not know the why]. Perhaps Senior could strike me a few more times to help me see?"
Sisui burst into laughter. "There is no need. To [know the what] is already good; you are but a single step from true realization. All that remains is to pierce that final layer of paper. We shall end here for today. Your Primordial Spirit is nearing saturation; you should return and rest well."
As he spoke, Sisui pumped a fist in encouragement. "You are not dull-witted. You have forged a Primordial Spirit and possess a stature that is by no means low. Combined with the blessing of the Light of Wisdom from the Beast Taming lineage, your enlightenment is merely a matter of time."
"We aren't continuing?"
Lu Yang was surprised. "I thought Senior would continue mending my foundations at the Perfected Lord level... after all, both my Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment require mending."
"Do not underestimate yourself so much."
Sisui shook his head with a smile. "Cultivation at the Perfected Lord level already involves the transformations of the [Dao] , and your construction of the [Dao] is of the supreme grade."
"Thus, even I have nothing left to teach you there."
"As for the state of [The Great Dao Responds to Me], that was actually a basic requirement for Dao Lords in our era. If you can achieve it, your path forward will be brilliant."
Lu Yang's eyes brightened. "Truly?"
—It was a lie.
To be precise, that was a basic requirement only for himself and the Primordial Saint. Among other Dao Lords , only the Sword Lord had ever come close to that level, and even he had given up halfway.
"In the end, you and I do not follow the same path."
"Therefore, I can only teach you [how things appear]. As for [why they are so], you must sense that through your own [Dao]."
As he finished speaking, Sisui walked up to Lu Yang and gave him a gentle push.
Instantly, the world spun. Lu Yang's vision flipped violently, and when he regained his senses, he found himself standing exactly where he had been from the start.
It was as if the battle had never happened.
Only the soul-deep exhaustion radiating from his Primordial Spirit proved that it had been real. He looked up, but Sisui was already gone.
"..."
Lu Yang exhaled slowly and turned toward Dao Tianqi. He found the first-generation Master of Beast Taming Peak looking as if his soul had wandered off to the outer heavens, even beginning to drool.
"Senior?"
Lu Yang's soft call startled Dao Tianqi out of his daze. He quickly wiped the corners of his mouth and adopted a serious expression.
"Is the training over? Can I take back the Light of Wisdom now?"
Lu Yang: "..."
After a moment of silence, Lu Yang bowed helplessly. "Not just yet, I'm afraid. I'll have to trouble you, Senior—I may need to borrow the Light of Wisdom for a while longer."
"Oh, no problem, no problem."
Dao Tianqi waved it off. "It doesn't matter. I'm currently repairing the Netherworld, and that doesn't require much brainpower anyway. Feel free to use it."
"My thanks, Senior," Lu Yang thanked him once more.
Immediately after, he returned to the [Heavenly Palace]. With a wave of his hand, he summoned the fruit he had attained in this life through Void Attainment— [Heavenly Destiny Reckoning].
"My [Dao]..."
The wonder of this Void Attainment Dao Fruit lay in elevating one's stature. The Primordial Saint called it the unorthodox path to [Transcendence], but what was its true essence?
The union of the Five Great Heavenly Destinies?
And what was that exactly?
'I cannot simply follow the Primordial Saint's logic. If he says it is a path to [Transcendence] and I just accept it, would I be cultivating my Dao or his?'
Gradually, Lu Yang entered deep meditation.
[Heavenly Destiny Reckoning] symbolized stature, yet none of the concepts within the Five Great Heavenly Destinies were related to stature. Why did such a change occur after they merged?
'What is the meaning of the Heavenly Destiny Reckoning?'
Within Lu Yang's mind, endless Light of Wisdom swirled as he attempted to deconstruct and re-interpret the [Heavenly Destiny Reckoning] Dao Fruit from its most fundamental level.
'Heavenly Destiny should be the [laws governing the operation of Heaven and Earth].'
'Destiny, Fortune, Tribulation, Inevitable Fate, and Variables —all are essentially facets of Heavenly Destiny. So... who created these laws?'
In that moment, a flash of inspiration struck.
Lu Yang suddenly recalled something Sisui had said: [The methods of the pre-ancient era differ vastly from modern cultivation; thus, the stature that is usually all-powerful rarely takes effect there.]
Pre-ancient!
'Cultivation is not the only way. Pre-ancient cultivation methods had no connection to stature. Therefore, stature is something that only emerged in the current era of the light sea.'
Lu Yang's thoughts became increasingly clear: "Something that did not exist in the pre-ancient era but appears now proves it is not innate, but rather something forged later. This so-called [stature] is essentially a creation of someone—the one in the high stage of Deity Transformation, the first transcendent in the history of the light sea!"
Stature was the creation of a transcendent Deity Transformation cultivator.
This was why [Heavenly Destiny Reckoning], which symbolized stature, was viewed by the Primordial Saint as the unorthodox path to [Transcendence]. Every clue finally snapped into place.
The second day.
This time, Lu Yang proactively sought out Sisui, eagerly inviting him to battle again. He was promptly rewarded with another merciless and thorough beating.
Through the third day, the fourth day... day after day of cultivation and tempering, Lu Yang's insights did not stray under the tutelage of Sisui's fists. His understanding of [Heavenly Destiny Reckoning] grew clearer and more profound, and the time it took for Sisui to defeat him gradually grew longer.
Eventually, Sisui shared his own insights on [Transcendence] without reservation.
To summarize: "In the pursuit of learning, one gains daily; in the pursuit of the Dao, one loses daily. Loss upon loss leads to non-action. Through non-action, nothing is left undone, and thus one transcends the world."
The Great Dao is non-action; transcendence lies in [loss].
Sisui practiced what he preached. He first discarded his [Dharma Body] , then reduced his [Yin and Yang] , and finally sacrificed his [Dao Heart] to exchange for transcendence.
Even the Primordial Saint followed this path.
He used the [Paramita] to climb in stature and cultivation, but his ultimate design for Deity Transformation and ascension was predicated on destroying the [Paramita] for the sake of transcendence.
At this stage of cultivation, all paths converged.
This was the first time Lu Yang had been so utterly consumed by cultivation.
He could feel himself improving every day, like a rough stone being hammered by Sisui's fists, slowly being forged into exquisite jade.
In the blink of an eye, ten years passed.
"Hmm?"
On this day, Sisui abruptly froze mid-combat. He stopped his movements and looked up toward the light sea beyond the [Tianhuang].
On the other side, Lu Yang was half a beat slower but felt the same resonance.
"This is..."
His gaze pierced the distance, spotting a faint sword light. It did not enter the [Tianhuang] through the material plane but instead came gliding through the long river of time.
It was the Sword Lord.
No, it wasn't just the Sword Lord. There were also the auras of Cang Hao and Myriad Laws. Only the Primordial Saint was missing.
'...Interesting.'
At this thought, Lu Yang finally snapped out of his ten-year state of meditation. A long-absent look of calculation and cunning quickly surfaced in the depths of his eyes.
Have they come to surrender?