Xiu Zhen's suspicion flashed through his mind for only an instant.
Simultaneously, he recognized Lu Yang's identity: 'It's that outsider. Fortunately... at least he isn't one of those on the [Paramita]; there's still room for maneuver.'
That being said, he would never leave his life or death in Lu Yang's hands. His actions remained swift—his Primordial Spirit thoughts moved like a spark and rapidly dimming. Though he appeared to be inches away from Lu Yang, he suddenly felt as distant as the ends of the earth.
This was the technique of [Meeting and Forgetting].
Having hidden for so many years, Xiu Zhen had reached the pinnacle of this field, deducing many peculiar methods specifically designed to evade the gaze of Dao Lords.
[Meeting and Forgetting] was one such method.
As the name implies, once this art is deployed, Xiu Zhen's silhouette immediately distances itself from the target, and even the memory of having seen him is wiped away.
Of course, this method was not omnipotent.
Its greatest flaw was that it could only be used once on the same target. Furthermore, after the first use, the target's memory would be restored upon seeing him again.
However, in all things, there are gains and losses. Xiu Zhen had deliberately created such a massive flaw; while it weakened the utility of the secret method, it strengthened its effect to the extreme. Combined with its lack of lethality, a sudden activation could catch even a Primordial Spirit cultivator off guard!
"I'm off..."
Before departing, Xiu Zhen cast a final glance toward Lu Yang, unable to suppress a sense of pride in his heart. The opponent seemed unable to withstand his secret art.
This proved that he was not inferior to any Dao Lord.
If they could sit on the throne of the [Paramita], why couldn't he?
It would be his turn sooner or later!
Just as Xiu Zhen was thinking this, a bone-chilling aura suddenly flooded his mind, nearly destabilizing the secret art he was performing.
'What's happening?'
In the next instant, he looked up at the sky, only to find the sun and moon above seemed to blink for a moment, as if someone's cold eyes were staring down.
No, it wasn't just the sun and moon.
There were the stars, karma, and destiny; even every person in the vast Jiangnan region, the spiritual power within Perfected One Subduing-Spirits and Perfected Lord Chengtian Zhengde, and even the [Meeting and Forgetting] art he had just performed—all seemed to manifest an inexplicable spiritual sentience in his eyes.
[They] were all looking over.
"RUMBLE!"
The final image reflected in Xiu Zhen's eyes was the back of the black-robed youth, his robes fluttering like a city wall blocking all incoming gazes.
Lu Yang flicked his sleeve, not taking a single cloud with him.
He blocked all gazes from atop the [Paramita]. The World Honored One cooperated without a word, churning the Karma of this place into a complete mess.
Then, Lu Yang's silhouette abruptly vanished.
In his wake, the thoughts of many Dao Lords flooded the small Extreme Heaven Cliff, eventually locking onto Perfected Lord Chengtian Zhengde, Perfected One Subduing-Spirits, and Long Tu.
Without hesitation.
Every Dao Lord, including the Primordial Saint, struck out, directly scouring the memories of the three present and taking every thought into their view.
However—
"There are no images of what just happened."
"The Karma is disordered, and the memories are largely missing and difficult to restore... As for him, he seemed only to have taken a look before leaving."
"Impossible!"
"What exactly did he do?"
On the sixth layer of the [Paramita], the Primordial Saint knit his brows. He had been watching Lu Yang from start to finish and naturally saw the entire process of his clash with Xiu Zhen.
What made him frown was exactly the existence of Xiu Zhen. That aura was treacherous and unpredictable, yet too weak; he was definitely not one of the Dao Lords he knew. Yet, strikingly, he possessed a complete Primordial Spirit. Without Lu Yang, he would undoubtedly be the greatest variable in the Light Sea—one the Primordial Saint would want to eliminate immediately.
More importantly, what had he done?
The Primordial Saint's gaze fell upon Long Tu. At this moment, the remnant consciousness was completely damaged, its memories gone; even a soul-search would yield nothing.
"Hmph."
At this thought, the images in the Primordial Saint's eyes began to reverse—time traced back and Karma inverted. He intended to directly view what had happened fifteen minutes ago.
Then he paused.
'...It's too messy.'
Destruction is far easier than creation. The World Honored One had simply sabotaged him, turning the Karma into a mess; the Saint would have to expend several times the effort to restore it.
In the past, he wouldn't have minded.
But now, he no longer possessed that powerful Light of Wisdom.
The Primordial Saint could only shake his head. He pulled a precious bag from his robes and extracted a single sliver of bright Light of Wisdom from it.
He used it very sparingly, clearly having calculated its use with great care.
With the reinforcement of this sliver of Light of Wisdom, he finally smoothed out the destruction caused by the World Honored One. The originally chaotic scenes regained their stability.
He reviewed the past scenes one by one.
"The Gatekeeper... didn't die?"
"Hidden within the eighth secret realm..."
In an instant, the Primordial Saint's eyes lit up brilliantly: "As I suspected! That Xuande came for this—the Gatekeeper has another method to enter the eighth secret realm!"
Thinking of this, he reached out his hand.
"RUMBLE!"
In the image before him, Long Tu was being interrogated by Xiu Zhen and was about to have all his memories erased. However, at that moment, this segment of Karma was forcibly altered.
"Pfft!"
In a hidden location, Xiu Zhen tumbled out, his Primordial Spirit flickering violently. He hurriedly sat to regulate his breath, and only after a long while did he manage to barely stabilize his thoughts.
"That outsider—was he helping me?"
"No, that group from the [Paramita] was lured here by him. He wasn't helping me; it's more like he finished what he came to do and was just tying up loose ends!"
At this thought, Xiu Zhen felt a surge of horror.
What did he do to me?
Xiu Zhen clutched his chest, still shaken, yet completely unaware that beside him, an invisible black-robed youth was watching him with a smile.
In the youth's hand was a floating panel.
On the panel, five characters were glowing brilliantly.
[Off-Stage Observer].
Xiu Zhen—Observed.
At this moment, the real Lu Yang had not caught up to Xiu Zhen; he was merely using the [Off-Stage Observer] perspective to remotely investigate Xiu Zhen's status.
Thus, even the Primordial Saint found it difficult to notice.
'He's probably still investigating Long Tu right now.'
Lu Yang's expression was calm. Having experienced a dozen lifetimes, he was well-versed in the essentials of layout. All else was secondary; the focus was purely on information disparity.
Therefore, to lay a trap, one must first hide their true purpose.
In the Primordial Saint's eyes, this clash was for the sake of Long Tu, the Gatekeeper, and the eighth secret realm. In reality, Lu Yang's true target was Xiu Zhen.
Although he was determined to smuggle himself through the Great Karmic Net and sneak into the eighth secret realm through the ancient [Heavenly Being's Remnant Consciousness], the actual implementation was difficult. The Ancient Era was a territory the Primordial Saint guarded strictly, and since Lu Yang was a thorn in his side, it was hard to escape his notice.
And if the Saint saw him entering the eighth secret realm...
He would surely go on a rampage, immediately triggering the Final Tribulation to destroy everything and forcing a restart, just like in the previous life. That would be meaningless.
So—
'I must find a way to mislead the Primordial Saint's judgment.'
Observing Xiu Zhen was the first step.
(End of Chapter)