[Tianhuang].
The thirty Dao Fruit stars blazed with brilliance, their five-colored radiance intertwining to project the majestic silhouette of the Heavenly Palace. Before long, a figure stepped out from within.
Upon the Dao platform of the Miluo Palace, Lu Yang sat cross-legged.
Beside him, Sisui followed like a shadow, quietly taking a seat on the other side. Compared to the heaviness of previous years, he appeared much more relaxed.
"It is a good thing after all."
Lu Yang shook his head upon hearing this. "Hard to say. Cang Hao has switched to the [Seven Emotions Reaching Heaven Incantation]... I fear that from now on, Cang Hao will be a 'mini Primordial Saint'."
Emotionless, selfless, lawless, and heavenless.
Single-mindedly seeking the Dao.
Such a person has no weaknesses to speak of and cannot be coerced. To bring him to one's side, persuasion is only possible through shared interests.
"If such a person were to defect to my side, I would instead have a headache, needing to guard against him at all times. Fortunately, he ultimately chose the path of the [Paramita]. This creates a deep conflict between him and the Primordial Saint, and since he used that path to return to his Dao Lord rank, he should at least be able to lend a hand in dealing with the Primordial Saint in the future."
"But that is the extent of it."
"Except for dealing with the Primordial Saint, he cannot be trusted in any other matter. And if I can foresee this, the Primordial Saint surely can as well."
Lu Yang did not dare to relax in the slightest.
Even he could sense the gathering storm; there was no way the Primordial Saint was unaware. The closer he drew to victory, the more frenzied the Primordial Saint's counterattack would become.
Right then.
Suddenly, a hand reached out, pressing against Lu Yang's forehead and slowly smoothing out the "river" character frown that had unknowingly formed between his brows.
"There is no need for Fellow Daoist to be anxious."
Sisui's voice was calm. "Regardless, the [Heavenly Dao] is now in our hands. With it, I am finally able to mend the final flaw of your [Heavenly Palace]."
"..."
Upon hearing these words, Lu Yang froze for a moment before he could process them. His previous anxiety instantly transformed into wild joy, and he almost instinctively stood up from the Dao platform.
"Senior means..."
"Indeed."
Sisui nodded with a smile.
With the support of the [Heavenly Dao], the [Heavenly Palace]—which had until now remained one final step away from the [Paramita] and the Netherworld—finally had hope of completion!
After a brief surge of excitement, Lu Yang quickly regained his composure and said heavily, "What preparations does Senior require? Do you need me to provide concealment? I wouldn't want it to be difficult for Senior to withdraw if the Primordial Saint discovers the anomaly... Perhaps it would be best to summon the others to act as protectors."
"That is unnecessary."
Looking at Lu Yang's nervous state, Sisui laughed. "No preparations are needed. Your winning the wager and seizing the [Heavenly Dao] was the best preparation possible."
"Does that mean..."
Lu Yang swallowed hard. "It happens today?"
"Indeed, today!"
Sisui nodded slightly. "Today, the Sword Lord has just fallen. Though [Destiny] has been extinguished, its aftershocks continue to ripple incessantly. It is a cover provided by Heaven and Earth themselves."
"To add further concealment now would be gilding the lily."
Having said that, Sisui stepped off the Miluo Palace platform, reaching the exterior of the [Heavenly Palace] in a single stride. He turned back to look at the towering palace complex.
Then, he reached into his sleeve and produced a mass of intertwined colors. Faintly visible within was a dragon-shaped precious seal. Under the vibration of infinite majesty, a brilliant celestial light coalesced in his palm and began to spread across the entirety of [Tianhuang].
"May the cultivators of this Dao internalize the Will of Heaven above and pity the people below."
Sisui let out a long sigh and tapped his finger. The light of the [Heavenly Dao] rapidly descended, merging into the [Heavenly Palace] and spreading in all directions.
"BOOM!"
At this moment, with the [Heavenly Palace] as the center, every cultivator within [Tianhuang] who had switched to the Investiture of the Gods Method felt a resonance, their auras erupting in unison.
Intense radiance surged across the lands of [Tianhuang], turning into a visible frenzy. Like a hundred rivers returning to the sea, it gathered toward the [Heavenly Palace], eventually stacking layer by layer until it forcibly erected a pillar that held up the sky—reaching down to the Netherworld and up to the Nine Heavens, propping up the [Heavenly Palace] from below!
Almost simultaneously.
Lu Yang, situated at the very peak of the [Heavenly Palace] on the Miluo platform, felt the resonance. He felt his own stature undergoing a world-shaking transformation!
On the surface, it seemed like only a single step forward.
However, this step was an elevation of a thousand or ten thousand times. In an instant, the world that had previously been vivid and lifelike in Lu Yang's eyes appeared like a drawing on a piece of paper.
Was it real?
Undoubtedly, it was real. Every living being possessed self-awareness, and to them, the world was exactly as their eyes perceived it.
Yet to the current Lu Yang, they were also incredibly false, like a dream or a bubble that could be reduced to nothingness with a gentle poke. No wonder Dao Lords never cared for mundane "face"; to a Dao Lord, the Light Sea and the world were like a scholar reading a story in a book.
One might feel moved by the story or even feel genuine emotion.
But that was merely a fleeting sentiment that came and went quickly. Once the gaze was averted and the book was closed, it would no longer be a concern.
'Thus, Dao Lords are heartless.'
'Thus, after falling from their rank, Dao Lords think only of returning.'
Having once been the scholar, only to fall and become a character within the book, losing one's transcendence—who could accept such a downward shift in dimension?
'Seeking the Dao and seeking transcendence follow the same logic.'
In this moment, Lu Yang even felt a bit of understanding toward the Primordial Saint.
If a Dao Lord looks at the mortal world as a scholar looks at a book, how does a Deity Transformation being look at a Dao Lord? Is it the same? Perhaps the Dao Lords are merely part of a larger story.
This is why the Primordial Saint seeks transcendence.
Forget the Primordial Saint—even Lu Yang himself could not help but feel an intense ambition for transcendence in this moment, a refusal to ever fall from this rank again.
"..."
A long time passed before Lu Yang extracted himself from these swirling emotions. He opened his eyes to find Sisui looking at him, a face full of smiles.
"Congratulations, Fellow Daoist. You are now truly among our rank."
Lu Yang opened his mouth but found no words.
It was a very strange sensation. The world that was once real now appeared illusory, while the once-ethereal Sisui now felt increasingly real.
The vast [Tianhuang] was crowded with people, yet Lu Yang felt an unspeakable loneliness. It was as if the only person in his sight who truly counted as a "human" was the Sisui before him; the rest were but bubbles to be popped at a touch, less significant than dust to a Dao Lord.
"...Incredible."
After a moment of silence, Lu Yang couldn't help but marvel. "For Senior to hold such a stature back then and still maintain pity for all living beings... it is truly admirable."
"This, too, is a form of cultivation. You should strive for it, Fellow Daoist."
Sisui was noncommittal and smiled. "The key lies in the 'Self'. If one is deluded by this stature and loses the 'Self', then one is merely a temporary tenant of this position."
"No matter how far one goes, the essence will not change."
"No matter how high the cultivation, one cannot be considered a True Dao Lord."
Enlightenment dawned on Lu Yang. "Like the Sword Lord, Cang Hao, Myriad Laws, and Du Xuan?"
Sisui nodded. "Exactly."
"I see..."
Lu Yang lowered his gaze toward the panel of the [Book of a Hundred Lifetimes]. It had issued no feedback despite his advancement in stature.
In the past, whenever he broke through a major realm, the [Book of a Hundred Lifetimes] would surely resonate and provide him with a new anchor point.
Yet this time, it was silent.
Clearly, Lu Yang's "breakthrough" this time was not recognized by the [Book of a Hundred Lifetimes]. Just as Sisui said, he was currently only a temporary tenant of this position.