Chapter 454: Chapter 454: The Perfected Lord is Hard to Attain, Start Over

The time of the Fake Golden Position was finally over.

However, before it ended, Lü Yang leveraged his True Monarch Level Position to completely surround the area of the Earth Fire Sea Heart Furnace with a Third-Grade Array.

He used Fortune’s array.

[Seven Luminaries Array for World Stabilization and Truth Preservation]

’With this array in place, and with the Ancestral Master acting as my Protector, unless a Perfected Lord descends, I at least won’t have to worry about anyone disturbing my Seeking Gold.’

This was the absolute limit of what Lü Yang could do.

And if a Perfected Lord were to burn their Grotto Heaven to descend, or a Master of Dao were to intervene, just to stop him from Seeking Gold... then he’d just have to count himself unlucky. Worst case, he’d just forfeit this attempt.

With that thought, Lü Yang didn’t dally. He immediately sat cross-legged and entered a state of Meditation. However, when he truly reached the final step, an intense wave of fear and apprehension uncontrollably surged into his heart. The various scenes from before appeared in his mind’s eye, one by one.

Chong Guang, Suo Huan, Xiang Ye...

’Failure in Seeking Gold means certain death... Master Chong Guang was one of the luckier ones. Xiang Ye was the truly unlucky one. When he failed at Seeking Gold, he died without even making a splash...’

Oh, right, and then there was Suo Huan.

Having obtained the power of the [Fruit of Long-Flow Water], his task in this life was already complete. He was currently resting inside the Myriad-Soul Banner; his opportunity would come in the next life.

’...That’s right. What do I have to be afraid of?’

This is just trial and error!

Others only have one chance to Seek Gold, but I have dozens more. If I can’t succeed even with this, then it’s impossible for anyone in the world to ever attain the rank of Perfected Lord!

Lü Yang calmed his mind and quieted his qi. With a slash of his Wisdom Sword, he instantly obliterated all distracting thoughts. Then, with a furrow of his brow, a palm-sized stone suffused with a golden Splendid Light appeared before him. It was none other than the Blessed Land refined by the Immortal Spirit Upper Chapter before its death, the [Heaven’s Grace and Earth’s Favor Geng Metal Blessed Land]!

After all, this time he was Seeking the [Fruit of Pomegranate Wood].

His other Blessed Land, the [Profound City Blessed Land], was his Dao Foundation and could not be damaged. He felt no heartache over using the Immortal Spirit Upper Chapter’s Blessed Land.

"Begin!"

In an instant, Lü Yang circulated the Heaven-Mending Skill and began to directly plunder from Heaven and Earth, using "Super Heaven and Earth" as a Ritual to attract the Fruit’s attention.

"RUMBLE!"

At that moment, Lü Yang felt his consciousness begin to ascend, soon arriving within the Foundation Establishment Realm, and then continuing to climb ever higher.

Flying Ascension of the Blessed Land!

Lü Yang’s vision blurred slightly. He saw two distinct scenes, like two sides of the same coin, opposed yet complementary.

One scene he had witnessed before using the [Profound City Blessed Land]: a vision of the world like a honeycomb, where each Fruit was a hole, riddling the world like a sieve. The other scene was from Chong Guang’s memories: the boundless Sea of Suffering that encompassed Heaven and Earth.

’The Sea of Suffering is boundless, and the Fruits are the boats...’

’Between the two scenes, which is real and which is false? Or... are they both real, simply different perspectives that present entirely different images?’

Lü Yang pondered this, but the Flying Ascension of his Blessed Land did not pause in the slightest.

’Being an Immortal Spirit... really has its advantages.’

According to Chong Guang’s memories, this step of the Blessed Land’s Flying Ascension was actually immensely draining; he had to burn the entirety of [Qing Country] just to complete the process.

When it came to Lü Yang, however, it wasn’t nearly so troublesome.

’Is it because I’m an Immortal Spirit now?’

’It feels as if Heaven and Earth aren’t just not stopping me, but are actively pushing me along... It’s saving me a great deal of Mana. This is so much easier than it was for Chong Guang.’

This confused Lü Yang. After all, he wasn’t the Immortal Spirit Upper Chapter that the Heavenly God had groomed. Logically, he should be an enemy of the Heavenly God, yet Heaven and Earth were still supporting him. Could it be that in the Heavenly God’s eyes, it didn’t matter who the Immortal Spirit was, only that an Immortal Spirit needed to attain a Fruit?

’No... impossible!’

If that were the case, the Heavenly God would have had no reason to target him in the first place, only to groom another Immortal Spirit Upper Chapter. That entity clearly placed great importance on the identity of the Immortal Spirit.

’Unless...’

Lü Yang looked around, a sudden horror dawning on him. ’...Unless the one pushing me forward right now isn’t the Heavenly God, but a certain Master of Dao!’

Lü Yang hadn’t forgotten.

Just like the various Tribulations faced by Foundation-Stage Cultivators, which had their own contradictory internal logic, anything the Heavenly God could do, a Master of Dao could do as well!

’Who is it?’

The Pure Land World Honored One? Unlikely. After all, the Bhagavat’s methods were always grand and ostentatious. This kind of subtle, silent touch was more in the style of the Saint Sect Ancestral Master.

’Better not to overthink it...’

Lü Yang shook his head to himself. Regardless, "Heaven and Earth" were supporting him at this moment, and there was nothing he could do to change it. That being the case, he might as well just lie back and enjoy it.

With the path ahead clear and unobstructed, Lü Yang soon arrived before the [Fruit of Pomegranate Wood]. He truly appreciated this Heaven and Earth Fruit Position from up close. At first glance, it appeared to be just a hazy glimmer of light. Upon closer inspection, however, it was as if he were gazing upon a vast, boundless ocean.

’The so-called attainment of a Fruit is the process of making oneself one with the Fruit...’

When a Blessed Land enters a Fruit and their Qi traces merge, it can transform into a Grotto Heaven... Yet this merging of Qi traces, which sounds simple, is in fact harder than ascending to Heaven.

This is because a Fruit’s Qi trace is constantly changing.

Just like this Sea of Suffering before him, with its turbulent, rising and falling waves. The Qi trace was the waves in this sea, and only at their very crest could a merger occur.

Otherwise, one would be immediately struck down by the waves.

’Back then, Master Chong Guang reached this very step, but because of an issue with the [Earth of Chen], his Qi trace couldn’t merge with the Fruit, and he ultimately failed and perished...’

At this moment, scenes once again appeared before Lü Yang’s eyes.

These scenes were all different, each showing him in the act of claiming the Fruit, the process of attuning his Qi trace to the Fruit’s. In every one, he seemed to succeed.

In two of these phantoms of light, his progress was the smoothest. Lü Yang knew full well that these were the paths he had devised by referencing the memories of [Fortune] and [Zhengde]. Because others had planted the trees, he could now enjoy the shade. All the difficulties were clearly laid out, and it seemed as if there would be no risk at all.

’No... that’s not right!’

Lü Yang snapped to his senses, pulling back the foot he had almost put forward. ’They weren’t Seeking the [Fruit of Pomegranate Wood], so how could I just copy their experiences wholesale?’

The moment that thought arose, the two scenes instantly vanished.

"HISS!"

Seeing this, Lü Yang sucked in a cold breath, a realization dawning in his heart. ’These aren’t illusions created by a Heart Demon... they are real, tangible visions of the future!’

The process of him viewing these future scenes was the process of merging his Qi trace with the Fruit’s. Whichever future he chose would become reality. However, only one future led to his success... all the others were illusions. If he chose wrong, he would immediately fail and perish!

’This is a test of my Cultivation...’

If my Cultivation is insufficient and I can’t select the one correct path from the multitude of futures, then no matter how great my abilities are, I will never attain the Dao Fruit!

Lü Yang took a deep breath and continued forward.

Soon, he selected a future scene. Its imagery perfectly matched his understanding of the [Fruit of Pomegranate Wood]; no matter how he looked at it, he couldn’t find a single flaw.

Yet, the instant he chose that future, Lü Yang’s Divine Sense sank, and he once again uncontrollably saw numerous visions. These were all scenes of his failure, seemingly trying to stop him from moving forward.

’Retreat? Think it over again?’

The thought flashed through Lü Yang’s mind for an instant, but he quickly extinguished it. The time for the Blessed Land’s Flying Ascension was limited; he couldn’t possibly try every option one by one.

’These scenes of failure are just demonic obstacles meant to throw my Heart Thought into disarray.’

’No, they might not all be demonic obstacles... because they could be real. Their purpose is to make me doubt myself, to make me hesitate.’

Lü Yang sighed in his heart.

The next second, his gaze suddenly firmed. Ignoring the numerous demonic obstacles, he merged his own Qi trace with the chosen future scene and took a step forward!

"BOOM!"

Along with a massive bang, everything before Lü Yang’s eyes shattered, including the [Heaven’s Grace and Earth’s Favor Geng Metal Blessed Land] he had stolen from the Immortal Spirit Upper Chapter.

’...I failed?’ Lü Yang was very calm, and not at all surprised.

’My Cultivation wasn’t enough... No, the Immortal Spirit Upper Chapter’s Cultivation wasn’t enough... That’s right. For Abilities directly infused by Heaven and Earth, what kind of Cultivation could there even be to speak of?’

At this thought, Lü Yang had a sudden flash of insight.

’The final step of Seeking Gold requires a sufficiently profound Cultivation. This is probably a trap set by a certain Master of Dao, specifically to kill off any Immortal Spirit that manages to mature.’

No wonder no Immortal Spirit has ever succeeded in Seeking Gold!

Some scheming bastard had rigged the process of Seeking Gold right from the source... Who did it? It couldn’t be that fucking Saint Sect Ancestral Master again, could it? This is just too insidious...

Lü Yang’s Heart Spirit rapidly dissipated.

Failure in Seeking Gold meant his soul would be obliterated, with not even a chance for reincarnation... Good thing he had a cheat.

’Centome!!!’