Free Web NovelChapter 573: Chapter 573: Many Things Left to Do
Overseas, above the raging, tempestuous waves, Lü Yang’s voice faded. He stood with his hands clasped behind his back, gazing upon the vast Heaven and Earth and the scene of the Grotto Heaven that now surrounded him.
’A Perfected Lord... Hehe, a Perfected Lord!’
Lü Yang tried his best to keep a straight face, fully savoring the joy of this moment. He even ignored the gazes of the Four Great Daoist Lords that had fallen upon him.
’What are you gonna do, kill me? Go on, try it.’
With a thought from Lü Yang, flames blazed at the spot between his eyebrows, revealing a talisman that resembled a Dragon and Phoenix Seal. Like a Celestial Eye, it calmly gazed toward the sky.
In that instant, his gaze pierced through the Foundation Establishment Realm, through the Sea of Suffering. He saw the Dao Fruits bobbing on the Sea of Suffering’s surface and their masters. In a daze, he even seemed to glimpse a vast, boundless domain, far from the Sea of Suffering, yet utterly unreachable.
One could never understand the abilities of a Perfected Lord without becoming one.
The so-called Fake Holding, while allowing him to borrow the profound mysteries of a Position, was ultimately still fake. His Soul had not undergone a qualitative change, and his perception of many things was still like seeing the world through a single leaf.
In a word: it was beneath him now.
Not to mention, he now possessed a Supreme Venerable Dao Fruit like the Fruit of Celestial Fire, which was inherently a cut above other Dao Fruits and closer to the domain of the Four Great Daoist Lords.
It was because of this that Lü Yang understood:
’The Four Great Daoist Lords... it’s probably not that they don’t want to interfere in the current world, but that they can’t. Or rather, they can’t interfere without harming their own Dao path!’
If cultivation were likened to climbing a mountain.
Mortals would be the earth that supports the mountain. Qi Refining would be the rubble at its base, Foundation Establishment would be a short way up the slope, and Perfected Lords would be standing at the midway point on the mountainside.
As for Nascent Soul Daoist Lords, they would be at the summit.
Or rather, they would be on the path climbing toward the summit. The higher they climbed, the more difficult it became for them to interfere with the ground, the base, or even the midway point.
’Nascent Soul Daoist Lords are currently climbing toward that supreme summit. Under these circumstances, if they want to interfere with trivial matters on the mountainside or at the base, it’s not that they can’t, but they would have to turn back. Doing so would mean all their previous efforts were wasted, and they would have to start climbing all over again.’
Unless their bottom line was crossed, who would be willing to do such a thing?
’The Bhagavat is the only exception!’
Lü Yang complained internally, ’The Bhagavat interferes with the current world the most frequently. Looked at from another angle, this also means he’s eighty percent certain to not have climbed as far as the other Daoist Lords!’
’He just bullies us lower cultivators!’
All of this was inspiration brought to Lü Yang by his Supreme Venerable Dao Fruit. Under the induction of his Spiritual Sense, he didn’t even need to deduce anything; a great deal of knowledge simply flooded into his mind naturally.
Therefore, he was certain that the Four Great Daoist Lords would not descend to the mortal world because of him. A Foundation Establishment cultivator would be one thing—a mere speck of dust to a Daoist Lord—but a Perfected Lord was of a considerable magnitude. This was even more true for one with a Supreme Venerable Dao Fruit. For a Daoist Lord to kill him, they would genuinely have to take a few steps back down from the summit.
But among the Four Great Daoist Lords, who would do it?
If even one of them did such a thing, the other three would surely seize the golden opportunity to climb furiously. The result would be that the one who acted would fall one step behind, and then fall behind at every subsequent step.
Not only would there be no benefit, but they would even fall behind the other Daoist Lords on their Dao path. Naturally, no one was willing to do something so completely disadvantageous.
’The only variable should be the Bhagavat.’
’The Bhagavat’s realm is likely the lowest, so the price for killing me would be the smallest. Plus, he and I have a grudge. If he were to act, the other Daoist Lords would surely be happy to see it happen.’
In the next second, Lü Yang got his answer.
Among the four gazes upon him, the one belonging to the Bhagavat left decisively after lingering on him for only a moment, showing no hesitation.
This scene did not surprise Lü Yang.
Don’t be fooled by the Bhagavat’s shamelessness; in reality, he sees things clearly. What he wants is the Great Dao, and there is nothing for him besides the Dao. A choice like this was not surprising.
Soon, the gazes of the other three Daoist Lords also dispersed one by one.
Only the final gaze lingered on him the longest. The pressure Lü Yang sensed from it was also the greatest, and he knew in his heart who it was.
’The Saint Sect Ancestral Master!’
Without a second word, Lü Yang immediately bowed to the gaze.
To be fair, the Saint Sect Ancestral Master deserved at least seventy percent of the credit for him successfully obtaining the Fruit of Celestial Fire this time. Regardless of his motives, it was a favor!
And a favor must be repaid.
Lü Yang’s bow was a declaration of his attitude. After he completed the gesture, the final gaze seemed at last satisfied and gradually faded into nothingness.
As for the other side—
"Hmph!"
Lü Yang lowered his head. With a slight stir of his thoughts, he discovered that in the unseen world, a great, invisible net suddenly spread toward him, following the trail of his "Emperor Huanming" identity.
In an instant, Lü Yang saw that the Immortal Dao Law had opened all permissions to him. He could not only see all the Grotto Heavens it had captured throughout the ages but also the four Dao Fruit Positions hidden within, as well as a vast repository of cultivation knowledge useful even to Golden Core cultivators. All it needed was his nod of approval.
’Return to the Dao Court, and all of this will be mine?’
’Everything before was a misunderstanding? As long as I return, the Huanming dynasty will no longer be a pseudo-dynasty, and the True Dragon Race will become the noble Royal Family of the Dao Court?’
’I’d have to be a fool to believe you!’
Lü Yang sneered. Having long since seen the Dao Court’s true colors, how could he possibly believe such nonsense? No matter how many privileges he was granted, livestock was still livestock.
Once you fall into that pit, it’s just a matter of whether you’re eaten sooner or later.
Without a moment’s hesitation, Lü Yang severed all connections to the Immortal Dao Law. ’This garbage Dao Court? I’m done with it!’
Engraving Laws!
As the fiery talisman between Lü Yang’s eyebrows surged with power, a new line of text soon appeared within the operating rules of the Immortal Dao Law:
[After an Emperor abdicates, he is no different from a commoner.]
Once the rule was established, as Lü Yang renounced his identity as "Emperor Huanming," his connection to the Immortal Dao Law began to fade away rapidly.
’This is probably another reason why the Dao Court didn’t want me to truly attain the Fruit of Celestial Fire. This ability to modify rules is simply overpowered, and it’s a perfect counter to the Immortal Dao Law. As long as I wanted to, I could rescue the Dao Fruit even if the Fruit of Celestial Fire were captured.’
In any case, the matter with the Dao Court was settled.
Lü Yang surveyed the Heaven and Earth and suddenly burst out laughing. At this moment, he stood independent of the Four Great Forces. The sky was high and the sea was wide; he was free to roam and venture as he pleased!
’Perhaps... I too can establish a Dao Lineage!’
After all, even the Four Great Daoist Lords had left behind Dao Lineages, which meant that a Dao Lineage was also meaningful for Nascent Soul cultivators.
Although Lü Yang didn’t yet know its specific significance, that didn’t stop him from copying their homework. In any case, it couldn’t hurt to establish one first—it was always better to be prepared.
What’s more—
’Putting my own aside for now, I at least have to re-establish the Wu Ghost Sect first. I’ll make the facade look nice and give the Ancestral Master a surprise when he returns.’
Lü Yang hadn’t forgotten that the crises he faced this time during his Seeking Gold were somewhat different from Hongtian’s. The two biggest differences were that the Sword Pavilion did not act, and the Immortal Dao Law did not display the power of the Dao Fruits under its rule, which invisibly saved him a lot of trouble.
Lü Yang was well aware of the reason for the former, as it was part of his own scheme.
He had helped the Demon-Vanquishing Perfected attain the Fruit of Sword Dao and even become a Perfected Lord of the Sword Dao, meaning the Sword Pavilion no longer needed to act against him for a Sealed Title Sword Intent.
The latter, however, had nothing to do with him.
’Thinking about it now, it was probably the Ancestral Master who tied up Emperor Jia You and the others above the Sea of Suffering for me... That’s what prevented the Dao Court from borrowing the power of the Dao Fruits under its rule.’
His successful ascension this time was not due to his efforts alone.
Putting aside his sentiments, Lü Yang gradually began to rub his hands together, his heart burning with excitement:
’Establish a Dao Lineage, consolidate the forces under my command, win over allies, explore the cultivation path of a Golden Core Perfected Lord, and find out what other secrets lie Beyond the Heavens...’
There was still so much to do!
As for where to establish his Dao Lineage, Lü Yang already had a place in mind: ’Isn’t the West quite spacious right now? The Bhagavat doesn’t want it anyway, so it’s destined to be my sacred ground!’
Besides, the Jiangxi Shixiu didn’t have any objections to that.
If anyone were to have an opinion, it would probably be the Pure Land Bodhisattvas above the Sea of Suffering. But that didn’t matter. When the time came, it would just mean another fight.
’I’m terrifyingly strong right now!’
’The Pure Land Bodhisattvas are stuck in the middle, neither high nor low—perfect to be my whetstones!’
Of course, there was something even more important to do before all that.
In the next second, Lü Yang looked beside him with great anticipation. There, a book that only he could see was slowly turning its pages:
The Centome!
