As Sisui's voice fell, his figure began to dissolve, leaving only a lingering echo:
"Exercise your power for a while, Fellow Daoist."
"Once you are fully prepared, we shall strike together. We will head into the Dark Void and first find a way to reclaim the [Ancestral Dragon Manor] from the Primordial Saint's hands."
Ancestral Dragon Manor.
Although Sisui only spoke the first half of the thought, Lu Yang's intuition instantly completed the second: 'He wants to repair the Netherworld and allow Dao Tianqi to restore his cultivation as well.'
'Then, the three of us will join forces to kill the Primordial Saint.'
'No, more than three. Considering that after Cang Hao and Myriad Laws fused, they can use the [Paramita] fragment to break through—it will be four Dao Lords hunting the Primordial Saint!'
In such a scenario, even if the Primordial Saint pulled Terminus Tiger—that Innate Dao God— as a helper, the numerical gap would be four-to-two. One could say the advantage was firmly on his side...
Lu Yang quickly cut off that unlucky train of thought and entered meditation instead, further examining his own state to master his sky-rocketing stature as quickly as possible.
In the next second, he cast his gaze far into the distance.
His vision swept over [Tianhuang]. Wherever he looked, everything was quantified into data. He had thought that all things would be as clear as the lines on his palm.
However, once he truly looked, he found that was not the case. Within the current [Tianhuang], there was still one object that leaped beyond his range of vision. In his sight, it appeared like a black hole—devoid of data, devoid of information, and impossible to interfere with, no matter how much majesty he poured into it.
With a turn of thought, Lu Yang arrived beside that black hole.
"...As expected, it's you."
Looking at the object before him, realization dawned in Lu Yang's eyes. He was currently deep within the sun of [Tianhuang], bathing in the Great Yang Fire that creates all things.
Unlike the Light Sea, Tianhuang was a vast world where the heavens were round and the earth was square. The sun born here was on a scale that could rival the super-realms of the Light Sea. Its power was so immense that even a Perfected Lord could not approach it; only a Great Perfected Lord could travel upon its surface, resisting the outermost light of the corona.
As for the deepest core of the sun...
Lu Yang made a rough estimate; the intensity here was clearly a deliberate design by Sisui. The stature was incredibly high—even a Heaven-Treading Great Perfected Lord would find it difficult to approach.
Of course, to Lu Yang, it was useless.
No matter how high the stature or how intense the heat, in his eyes, it was merely a segment of meaningless data; it couldn't even burn a single strand of his hair.
As for why Sisui had buried such terrifying flames in the heart of the sun, Lu Yang understood the reason immediately upon arrival.
It was a page from a scripture.
A leaf of the [Heavenly Scripture], the current foundation of Tianhuang, and the missing page of the [Book of a Hundred Lifetimes]. It sat right at the core of Tianhuang's sun.
"Buzz, buzz."
In the next instant, the [Book of a Hundred Lifetimes] panel vibrated violently, appearing ready to charge forward, but Lu Yang held it down at the critical moment.
'I know you're anxious, but don't be anxious just yet.'
Having forged his Primordial Spirit and become a True Dao Lord, Lu Yang's control over the [Book of a Hundred Lifetimes] had grown increasingly strong; he could even manipulate the changes of the panel.
He could enlarge it or shrink it.
Aside from not being able to make it hand out free talents, there was essentially nothing it couldn't do, and he could even achieve a certain level of dialogue with it.
'If I take this page now, Tianhuang will surely collapse.'
'Furthermore, the Primordial Saint from two lifetimes ago seemingly discovered your existence because of this thing. To be safe, it's best not to rush in this life.'
"Buzz, buzz!"
The panel vibrated, its radiance flickering. Lu Yang made a guess, thinking it might be saying: What are you afraid of? Worst case, we just restart!
'There is no need for that,' Lu Yang thought, shaking his head decisively. 'Firstly, there is a great hope for victory in this life; restarting would be too much of a loss. Secondly, restarting also consumes pages. To reclaim one page only to use up another by restarting... isn't that putting the cart before the horse? What would be the point?'
"Buzz! Buzz buzz!"
The vibration didn't stop. Lu Yang felt it was saying that this lost page was different from the other ordinary pages.
'Still no!'
'Endure. Unless it is a last resort, we cannot eat this thing!'
While Lu Yang was wrestling with the [Book of a Hundred Lifetimes] and finally managing to suppress it, another part of the Light Sea underwent a violent upheaval.
"BOOM!"
Within the vast reaches of space, the Long River of Time—which occupied this region—suddenly erupted with crashing waves, symbolizing the unstable fluctuations of its master's thoughts at this moment.
"It appeared?"
"It truly appeared!"
The Primordial Saint stood up abruptly. A golden-lit book appeared in his hand—the [Heavenly Destiny Divine Record]. Currently, the book was emitting continuous, profound tremors.
'There's no mistake. For this treasure to resonate, it means that supreme power—the one that allows a fleeting life to become the past and everything to start anew—has manifested!'
At this thought, the Primordial Saint did not hesitate to drive his majesty to the limit. Through the [Heavenly Destiny Divine Record], he issued a call to that supreme power. The two were originally one; theoretically, if the power fell into the mortal world and received a call from its original body, it would surely return to seek its own completion.
However—there was no reaction.
Both the supreme power that should have manifested and the [Heavenly Destiny Divine Record] acted as if they were broken, showing no response to the Primordial Saint's call.
"...Why?"
The Primordial Saint's brow furrowed as he performed a calculation. In an instant, the skin on his fingertips split, and a stream of blood began to flow uncontrollably.
Even so, he did not stop his movements.
He continued for a full quarter of an hour before stopping. He reached out and brushed the wound to heal it, but he did not reclaim the blood.
This was because the blood was the [Price]. If he reclaimed it, he would surely heal himself, but he would no longer remember the answer he had just calculated. This was only possible because he possessed the visage of that Immortal; otherwise, he wouldn't even have had the chance to calculate.
"That power... has another host?"
"How can this be!"
The Primordial Saint grit his teeth. His calculation suggested that after the Immortal extracted the wonders from the [Heavenly Destiny Divine Record], he had seemingly refined another container for it.
The [Heavenly Scripture] was part of that container.
'Then it is likely also a book.'
At this thought, the Primordial Saint felt he had grasped the truth: 'A cultivator! A cultivator obtained that container and gained that power!'
It was the only possibility.
The Immortal disliked the [Heavenly Destiny Divine Record], so he extracted its power and refined a different treasure to leave as an inheritance for future cultivators!
Who was it?
Two names immediately surfaced in his mind: "Lu Yang and Xiu Zhen. Two Primordial Spirits—one is the incarnation of a [Variable], and the other is Sisui's handiwork."
In countless years, only they had forged Primordial Spirits while jumping out of his surveillance. That supreme power was highly likely to be in the hands of one of the two.
So who could it be?
Lowering his eyelids, the Primordial Saint conducted a serious review with unprecedented gravity. Finally, he cautiously crossed out Xiu Zhen's name in his heart.
'This one does not have heavy schemes.'
'On the other hand, Lu Yang... he is smart, very smart, and clearly has deep-reaching plans. Feixue, Sisui... his understanding of me is beyond the ordinary.'
Before this, the Primordial Saint had never thought in that direction; from the perspective of a [Variable], he could fully understand someone like Lu Yang appearing. But now, when he looked through a biased lens, pre-determining the result and then reviewing all of Lu Yang's actions against him...
He suddenly felt this person was extremely suspicious!
Of course, it was possible he was mistaken, but even if there were only a one-in-a-billion chance, he would absolutely never allow this opportunity to pass!