Years flowed by and time sped like a shuttle; a decade passed in the blink of an eye.
During these ten years, Lu Yang persevered, contacting various parties multiple times to assault the False History. However, each attempt was defeated by the trio of Sword Lord, Cang Hao, and the Primordial Saint.
Every great battle caused the sea of light to tremble and the Dark Void to grow dim. A few times, they nearly triggered a second collapse of the [Paramita]. Eventually, real tempers flared; the World Honored One died several more times, only resurrecting through the power of his Dao Lord position. The most perilous moment among them was the battle in the Dark Void one year ago.
In that battle, Lu Yang did not act.
The Primordial Saint keenly sensed something was wrong. He immediately activated the [Paramita] to illuminate the Dark Void, discovering Lu Yang beyond the sea of light, attempting to break through.
It was in that very battle.
The Primordial Saint no longer let Sword Lord and Cang Hao lead the charge while he assisted from the sidelines. Instead, he truly utilized his methods—the profound wonders of [Time] manifested in the world once more!
It was a killing blow.
Lu Yang clearly perceived that his entire [Past] within the sea of light and even the Dark Void was being wiped clean by a towering, magnificent hand.
If the past does not exist, how can there be a present? What future could there be?
At that moment, Lu Yang—in a rare instance without activating the [Book of a Hundred Lifetimes]—truly experienced death, a thorough and absolute death.
Specifically, every karmic thread related to him vanished. The things he had done in the past never happened; the World Honored One and Dao Tianqi forgot him, the Foundation Establishment Perfected Ones of the sea of light were not protected by him, and Lian Tiandou and Bu Tianque were not rescued. History was strikingly reversed on a massive scale.
It was simply inconceivable.
Except for a few special threads of Karma—such as the Ancestral Dragon being erased by the [Off-Stage Observer] and the events within [Supreme Grandmaster]—everything else was altered.
He was erased from the years by the Primordial Saint.
Even his Primordial Spirit thoughts seemed targeted; a crack was torn into his originally microscopic and imperceptible flaws in an instant.
Even his consciousness nearly came to a standstill.
Fortunately, at that moment, he had not yet disconnected his [Dead Cycle].
Thus, in the next second, as the Light of Order illuminated the Dark Void, the originally reversed historical Karma restored to normal, and everything was guided back onto the right track.
Neither increasing nor decreasing, neither dying nor being extinguished.
This included his Primordial Spirit; though a crack had been torn into it, it was anchored in the depths of [Order]. It ultimately did not shatter completely and maintained its stability.
Immediately following this, the ring of the Great Dao rotated, distancing itself from the [Paramita] in an instant and leaping away from the Primordial Saint's great hand, opening a distance deep within the Dark Void.
In the end, the Primordial Saint could only withdraw his hand with regret.
On the other side, the heavily injured Lu Yang did not dare to remain in the Dark Void. He immediately transformed into a streak of light and escaped into the Netherworld, concealing all of his aura.
Seeing this, the various Dao Lords ceased their actions.
Everything had remained quiet until now.
In the Netherworld, Lu Yang opened his eyes. His aura was still very weak; the Primordial Saint had struck ruthlessly a year ago, and he truly suffered a heavy blow that he had yet to recover from.
However, his spirit was excellent, and a smile hung on his lips.
In the next second, as his thoughts shifted, colorful brilliance surrounded him, strikingly reflecting the phantom of a Heavenly Palace. Then, the gates swung open, and the sound of a bell rang out.
"DONG—!"
As the sound of the bell passed, the Heavenly Palace opened layer by layer, reaching straight into the [Lingxiao Hall], finally revealing a youth wearing cyan robes with long, narrow eyes.
It was Ling Xiao.
This former number one Perfected Lord of the world, after helping Lu Yang outscheme the Primordial Saint, had switched to the Investiture of the Gods Method and spent many years in quiet cultivation within the [Heavenly Palace].
Immediately after bringing Ling Xiao into the Heavenly Palace, Lu Yang had passed the Dao Heart cultivation method to him. Now, he had already refined the Fasting of the Mind, and his essence, qi, and spirit had reached a higher level. Given the current stature of the [Heavenly Palace], as long as Ling Xiao refined a Primordial Spirit, he could immediately step into the Great Perfection of the Golden Core without any obstruction.
"Fellow Daoist, your opportunity has arrived."
Before Ling Xiao could speak, Lu Yang spoke first: "The False History has manifested. With your Dao Heart cultivation, if you can enter it, a great creation awaits you."
Having spoken, he produced the [Method of Traversing the Mortal Dust].
This Primordial Spirit method, combined with the False History, possesses the wonder of creating a Primordial Spirit. In the previous life, Lu Yang achieved his success through this, and Ling Xiao likely had a significant chance as well.
However, this was merely incidental.
Lu Yang's true purpose did not lie here. His decade of assaults on the False History was essentially a smokescreen designed only to hide his real objective.
On the other side, Ling Xiao took a deep breath and accepted the method.
There was excitement in his eyes, but even more so, there was determination.
With his insight, he could naturally see that his Dao Ancestor Xuande had other schemes and was merely using him as a useful chess piece... but so what?
At least he gave rewards!
Compared to being a chess piece for the Primordial Saint, how had he been treated there? Never mind rewards—when he did work for the Saint, he had to give him rewards!
The gap between the two was far too vast.
In Ling Xiao's view, being a chess piece for this Dao Ancestor Xuande for ten years was truly countless times more pleasant than being a chess piece for the Primordial Saint for tens of thousands of years.
Therefore, he had only one sentence to say:
"I respectfully obey your decree."
Having spoken, Ling Xiao immediately left the [Heavenly Palace]. Driving a streak of light and under Lu Yang's protection, he rapidly descended toward the direction of the False History.
Almost simultaneously, from the direction of Mysterious Wall, the Dao Lord of Dao Arts, Myriad Laws, also sent a streak of light toward the False History. It was the Heaven-Treading Great Perfected Lord Miao Le of the Dao of Dao Arts.
The World Honored One also struck immediately, churning Karma. One cultivator after another thus obtained an [Opportunity] and was sent into the source of the False History.
"Again..."
Atop the [Paramita], Sword Lord immediately detected this scene. She intended to strike to stop it but was blocked by Myriad Laws. A battle of Dao Lords seemed about to restart.
However, this time was different.
Because this time, those heading toward the source of the False History were lower cultivators. Being weak had its advantages—slipping through the cracks—and for a time, not a single Dao Lord could spare a hand to block them.
Everyone was tied down.
Seeing this scene, Lu Yang smiled as expected:
'That's right, just like the previous life.'
Over the decade, he had struck several times only to return empty-handed, even suffering heavy injuries. At first glance, it appeared the chaos of those years had finally settled.
However, in his view, the opposite was true.
'Now, it's just getting started!'
In the next second, Lu Yang's silhouette vanished into thin air, disappearing from the Netherworld.
Immortal Nexus, the land of Jiangnan.
While the Dao Lords were wrestling over the False History, a figure invisible to ordinary people was pacing through the air, soon arriving at the Extreme Heaven Cliff of the Sword Pavilion.
This person was exactly Xiu Zhen.
At this moment, his face was written with excitement.
'I've finally waited for it!'
'One Ling Xiao, one Miao Le—both are Heaven-Treading Great Perfected Lords, and both have the potential to attain the [Yin-Yang] unorthodox path.. I must make a trip to the False History.'
At the very least, he had to delude one of them into seeking the [Yin-Yang] unorthodox path. Otherwise, his desire to shed his current Primordial Spirit body and become a true Great Perfection of the Golden Core, and even look toward the Dao Lord stature atop the [Paramita], would likely be a distant dream. To this end, taking a little risk was only natural.
[Xiu Zhen thought thus.]
[As for how to reach the False History, he intended to take the Sword Pavilion's Perfected One Subduing-Spirits with him, to see if he could use him to find Karma related to the Gatekeeper lineage.]
[Granted, the risk was even greater this way.]
[However, as the saying goes, wealth is sought amidst danger; the greater the storm, the more expensive the fish. If he could enter the eighth secret realm ahead of the others, he could surely surpass the various Dao Lords!]
[At this thought, ambition burned fiercely in his heart.]
[Thus, he...]
In a place Xiu Zhen could not see, complex handwriting flowed with a colorful halo. From the observer's perspective, it flashed continuously on the panel of the [Book of a Hundred Lifetimes].
(End of Chapter)