Amidst the chaos, Lu Yang paced forward.
"Although highly successful, this likely won't deceive the Primordial Saint for too long. That old bastard is far too suspicious, and Dao Tianqi cannot impersonate me forever."
Therefore, time was limited.
Let him first see what exactly lay within this so-called eighth secret realm—the secret realm specifically left for Dao Lords by that transcender of the Deity Transformation stage, [Jun].
Lu Yang walked step by step. The ring of the Great Dao behind his head rotated slowly, the Light of Order maintaining his silhouette while also making him feel a strong sense of rejection from history and Karma—after all, he had not taken the orthodox path this time but had used a trick to smuggle himself in.
Fortunately, just then.
On the panel of the [Book of a Hundred Lifetimes] beside him, the unique talent [Successor of Deity Transformation] instantly blazed with light, dispelling that inexpressible sense of rejection.
Soon, a new scene surfaced from the chaos.
It was a ruin.
A dilapidated divine mountain hung suspended like a lone island over a sea of chaos. Within the pitch-black profoundness, countless fragmented, apocalyptic scenes seemed to have settled.
Like beasts baring their fangs and brandishing their claws, they attempted to approach this lone island but were repelled by an inexplicable majesty upon it, forever unable to truly draw near. Centered around the lone island, the two engaged in a never-ending tug-of-war. At this moment, time was the most meaningless of things.
"This is..."
Lu Yang narrowed his eyes. The ring of the Great Dao behind his head spun even more fiercely. The Light of Order was no longer emitted outward but was concentrated into a single point, converging at his brow.
[Order] possessed the wondrous ability to define myriad phenomena.
Under the illumination of its light, any profound wonder or secret within the reach of Lu Yang's realm would be digitized, parsing out the corresponding intelligence.
However, at this moment, it failed.
[ ???]
Every scene within Lu Yang's sight—from the dilapidated divine mountain to the apocalyptic scenes to the sea of chaos—every inch of space was filled with a massive number of question marks.
"...This shouldn't be."
Lu Yang knit his brows tightly. Setting aside what mysteries lay here, he at least knew that this place was the eighth secret realm from the Ancient Era—a fissure in history.
This point could not possibly be wrong; after all, this was how he had arrived... Since that was the case, this intelligence should have been represented under the digitized perspective. Yet, in reality, everything that met his eyes was a question mark. Even though he knew this intelligence, he was unable to parse it out.
"Cannot be named, cannot be spoken, cannot be thought, cannot be known..."
Lu Yang seemed to reach an understanding. He finally walked on foot into the dilapidated divine mountain. The inexplicable majesty that blocked the numerous apocalyptic scenes did not manifest to stop him at this moment.
In an instant, streaks of light flashed blindingly.
When he recovered his senses, the illusory feeling derived from Karma had entirely vanished. Lu Yang landed steadily before an abandoned palace hall within the dilapidated divine mountain.
"Hmm?"
Lu Yang looked up and surveyed his surroundings, a look of shock suddenly surfacing in his eyes: "It's not a karmic scene, it's a real scene? Impossible, I haven't returned to the current world yet..."
This time, Lu Yang was truly stunned.
In the past, whether it was him, the World Honored One, or the Primordial Saint, the so-called "tracing back history" had never essentially involved truly returning to that point in time in the past.
What they did was merely review the Karma left behind during that period, flip through the traces history left in the sea of light, and then, by altering those traces, indirectly achieve the effect of changing history. No one had ever truly reversed time to stand solidly upon the earth of the past.
At first glance, this seemed harmless.
After all, concerning the result, one could still alter the past at will. Since that was the case, whether one could truly set foot in the past seemed unimportant.
However, the higher his cultivation grew, the clearer Lu Yang understood.
It wasn't that there was no difference.
In fact, it was the exact opposite. Whether one could truly set foot in the past, rather than merely lingering within the Great Karmic Net, was to some extent a qualitative difference.
Just like right before his eyes.
Lu Yang abruptly turned his head. Standing upon the dilapidated divine mountain, his gaze fell downward. The true eye, formed from the convergence of the Light of Order, gazed far off into the extreme distance of the sea of chaos.
In a daze, he seemed to see a sea of light brimming with vitality, where all things vied for growth. He saw Dao Lords—who were still at the Great Perfection of the Golden Core—conversing with one another. He saw countless cultivators driving the universe, witnessing a striving, golden age... Many of these lights and shadows carried an intense sense of reality.
The Ancient Era!
"At this very moment, I am in the Ancient Era! Not an illusory karmic scene, but the true Ancient Era... I've actually truly traced back to this era...?"
Lu Yang could not help but hold his breath.
Almost instinctively, he reached out toward the sea of light of the Ancient Era, only to rapidly pull his hand back as if burned, sensing an intense crisis.
"...I can't go."
Just as his hand reached toward the sea of light of the Ancient Era, the sense of crisis swelled to its absolute limit, as if taking one more step would result in instant annihilation.
Only this place.
The eighth secret realm residing high above the [Heavenly Being's Remnant Consciousness] seemed to be the only place capable of evading everything, existing "truly" within this time.
Lu Yang finally understood completely.
"It's not that I possess some great ability, but rather that the essence of this place is too unique."
It was [Real].
Whether in the past, present, or future, it remained [Real]. It was this characteristic that made it completely independent of the flow of years.
Therefore, even though he had traced back through karmic history to arrive, he truly reversed time to reach the Ancient Era. Thus, he could only move within this eighth secret realm because, strictly speaking, at this moment, the one who was [Illusory] was him. He was an otherworldly visitor, entirely distinct from the current history.
"Incredible."
Lu Yang sighed in a low voice: "Seeking [Truth] to such a degree... words like Perfected One or Perfected Lord can no longer describe it. Is this the cultivation of the Pre-Ancient Era?"
He could see that this place had not a shred of connection to [Stature]; its very existence relied entirely on that high, ethereal essence of being [Real].
Soon, Lu Yang recalled the words that had previously echoed throughout the sea of light.
[Before I transcended, I shattered my own soul and sea of consciousness to create the Heavenly Being's Remnant Consciousness, leaving a sliver of hope for the Light Sea. I left my True Spirit above it; those with the ambition to transcend may come.]
The so-called [Heavenly Being's Remnant Consciousness] was the sea of consciousness and soul of that Deity Transformation being.
The so-called eighth secret realm was the True Spirit of that Deity Transformation being.
"No wonder it's called the [Heavenly Being's Remnant Consciousness]. The Heavenly Being refers to that supreme Deity Transformation being. The remnant consciousness and soul were shattered into seven pieces—how could it not be remnant?"
As for the eighth secret realm.
"The True Spirit is an aggregate of memories, so this region converges the memories of that supreme Deity Transformation being. In that case... could this place be Mount Longhu?"
"The Pre-Ancient Era?"
Lu Yang's eyes lit up abruptly. The supreme Deity Transformation being, [Jun], was suspected to be the last one to stand out in the Pre-Ancient Era. His memories would inevitably contain all the secrets of the Pre-Ancient Era.
And due to the [Real] characteristic of this place...
In an instant, a speculation arose in Lu Yang's heart—one that even he found somewhat hard to believe.
In the next second, this speculation was verified.
"Who goes there?"
Within the dilapidated divine mountain palace hall, a silhouette suddenly appeared in the distance, rapidly approaching Lu Yang's direction while shouting sharply:
"Halt right there!"
(End of Chapter)