Once the decision was made, the issue lay in the method.
'False History... no, the Heavenly Scripture is already being used to seal Sisui. Besides, False History hasn't been peaceful lately; Sisui even shows signs of breaking free.'
'Ancestral Dragon seal.'
'This is a possibility, but as a seal, it is far too conspicuous. It would be difficult to lure someone into such a trap; one doesn't simply walk into a sealing ground.'
In the Primordial Saint's mind, one sealing ground after another surfaced, only to be rejected. Finally, only one location remained that met all his requirements.
The River of Time!
'If this person truly intends to use the Ancestral Dragon to find [Supreme Grandmaster], then I shall beat him at his own game and lure him to the source of the River of Time.'
After the River of Time was transformed into the Great Karmic Net, it isolated almost all outside prying; it was a natural place for suppression and sealing. Of course, this entire set of safeguards was designed by the Primordial Saint, so it naturally couldn't restrict him; he could easily open a gap to the outside world.
'Counter-scheme.'
'If he truly wants to enter [Supreme Grandmaster] to find that book, I will give him the opportunity and leave him at the source of the River of Time forever.'
Under the governance of [Time], the past cannot be changed.
As long as Xuande enters the River of Time, the Primordial Saint felt he had at least nine ways to handle him, ensuring he would completely vanish from the history of the Light Sea.
In the gloomy Dark Void.
Lu Yang lowered his eyelids, his gaze falling upon the Light Sea, the Netherworld, and the [Paramita]. Deep thoughts swirled in his eyes, manifesting as doubt.
'Something's not right...'
Through [Off-Stage Observer], Lu Yang clearly "saw" the Primordial Saint's gaze descend from the heavens, conducting an exhaustive investigation of the Ancestral Dragon.
The result, naturally, was that nothing was found.
However, what Lu Yang found strange was that the Primordial Saint stopped right there. Finding no problems, he stopped searching and very decisively withdrew his gaze!
To anyone else, this might be nothing; since no clues were found, it would mean the direction was wrong, and it was only natural to investigate from a different angle. But the Primordial Saint? Lu Yang absolutely did not believe he would just give up like that. On the contrary, the more the Saint failed to find a problem, the more he would feel a problem existed.
'He gave up too easily.'
'It's not like him.'
Lu Yang frowned. An ill omen rapidly surfaced in his heart. Could that naturally wicked Primordial Saint still harbor suspicions after all this?
This was why playing schemes in front of the Primordial Saint was so difficult.
It wasn't because the Primordial Saint was exceptionally clever.
It was because his style was too extreme—as long as things were within his sphere of influence, he didn't follow logic at all; he simply made a subjective guess and then acted upon it.
Generally speaking, such reckless behavior would lead to losses. Even if he guessed right a few times, he would fail in most cases. However, the Primordial Saint's strength was too great; his status as the number one in the Light Sea gave him the capital to be willful, allowing him to shoot the arrow first and draw the target later.
Fortunately, Lu Yang operated with the same logic.
But unlike the Primordial Saint's absolute strength, Lu Yang's capital came from the Book of a Hundred Lifetimes. The restart gave him the courage to shoot the arrow first and draw the target later.
'Something unusual is afoot; there's always a Primordial Saint trying to harm me.'
Looking at the quiet Light Sea and the motionless [Paramita], Lu Yang instantly concluded: 'I'm exposed! The Primordial Saint is only trying to keep me steady for now!'
Lu Yang wasn't sure exactly how much was exposed.
However, he was sure of one thing.
'After my essence metamorphosis, even if I can't beat the Primordial Saint, I can certainly escape. If he truly wants to kill me, the only way is to set an ambush in advance.'
How would he ambush?
Soon, combining all known intelligence, he reached a conclusion: "The River of Time! That is a natural sealing ground, perfectly suited for an ambush."
Realizing this, Lu Yang immediately understood:
'He has miscalculated!'
Lu Yang knew very well that the only true advantage he held over the Primordial Saint was the Book of a Hundred Lifetimes and his innate talents.
For instance, while the Primordial Saint might deduce that Lu Yang wanted to use the Ancestral Dragon to find [Supreme Grandmaster], he could never deduce Lu Yang's actual method. [Off-Stage Observer] was not something the Primordial Saint could discover, and Lu Yang didn't even need to physically go to [Supreme Grandmaster]!
Therefore, this was not a danger.
Instead, it was an opportunity!
'If the Primordial Saint truly intends to lure me into a trap and ambush me, he will inevitably view the Ancestral Dragon as bait and allow it to enter [Supreme Grandmaster].'
That was enough.
As long as the Ancestral Dragon entered [Supreme Grandmaster], his goal would be achieved. No matter how bad the situation became after that, it would simply be a matter of a "victorious transition" to the next life!
'In that case...'
At this thought, Lu Yang immediately clarified what he needed to do: 'I'll go with the flow and let the Primordial Saint discover more "suspicious points" that support his judgment.'
'It's best to leak a bit of a feeling that I've noticed a problem, making him willing to pay a heavy price and play for keeps. I have to handle the balance of this carefully...'
After a moment of thought, Lu Yang moved.
A "gaze" from a higher stature descended once again from the Dark Void, violently breaking into the Light Sea. This time, the Sword Lord did not react to it at all.
The gaze fell upon the Netherworld.
In the next second, [Sky-shrouding]—who had been severely injured by the surge of death qi in the Netherworld and was currently regulating his breath—snapped his eyes open and looked at the Daoist before him.
"Senior..."
[Sky-shrouding] didn't say another word and decisively lowered his head to show respect. After all, he had borne the brunt of the earlier conflict between Lu Yang and the Sword Lord in the Netherworld.
Thus, he knew very well that despite facing the malice of the Sword Lord, this mysterious Dao Lord before him could still leisurely appear in front of him again. His cultivation must be unimaginably high. Furthermore, the fact that he seemed to come from beyond the heavens and did not rely on the [Paramita] made [Sky-shrouding]'s heart burn with fervor.
At this thought, [Sky-shrouding]'s knees decisively went soft.
"Thud!"
Before Lu Yang could speak, [Sky-shrouding] prostrated himself and performed a grand, respectful salute, shouting loudly: "Disciple Ling Xiao greets the Teacher!"
"Ah~~!"
Lu Yang let out a long, satisfied breath, then looked at [Sky-shrouding] with a smile, unable to resist whispering: "Call me that again, let your Master hear it."
"Disciple Ling Xiao..."
"Ah~~!"
[Sky-shrouding]: "???"
Following this, under [Sky-shrouding]'s subtly strange gaze, Lu Yang waved his hand: "There is no rush regarding cultivation matters; your Master has serious business to attend to first."
Serious business?
[Sky-shrouding] was stunned, but in that very instant, boundless Buddhist light burst forth from the void, instantly submerging his vision.
The [Cause] from the distant past underwent a change at this moment, bringing about a completely different [Effect]. [Sky-shrouding] was entirely unaware of this, but Lu Yang could see it clearly. He immediately split off a Primordial Spirit thought, traversed through the years from effect back to cause, and escaped into a brand-new scene.
"Amitabha."
A familiar Buddhist invocation sounded in his ears. Lu Yang looked up and found that the scenery had changed drastically; before him stood a monk in golden robes.
"This poor monk, Di Muni, greets Fellow Daoist Xuande."
The World Honored One—or rather, [Perfected Lord Brilliant World Joyous Light]—smiled and said in a relaxed tone: "Arriving without notice, perhaps this poor monk has come at an inopportune time?"
(End of Chapter)