The bell waves were like a tangible tsunami of chaos, the first to meet the Battle Emperor’s broken halberd.
“Boom!!!”
The halberd radiance collided with the bell waves, as if two ancient universes were slamming into each other!
A destructive storm of energy exploded outward, completely emptying the Realm Sea within several light-years and reducing it to absolute void.
The Battle Emperor let out a muffled groan. The arm holding the halberd trembled violently, the web between his thumb and forefinger splitting open as dark-golden blood spilled into the void.
Every step he took backward stamped a vast black hole into the emptiness.
At last, horror appeared in his eyes. The might of the Chaos Bell far exceeded his estimates!
And almost at the same moment the bell rang out, Lu Xuan seemed to have eyes on his back.
The “Thought-Self Corpse” that had just slashed out the heart-sword abruptly turned back to face the golden flame divine spear already close at hand.
The form of chaotic flame that the “Thought-Self Corpse” had become suddenly spread open. This was no longer devouring, but “assimilation”!
“All fires return to their source, guided by the heart’s intent.”
The flame divine spear pierced into the chaotic fire, yet it was like ice and snow cast into a furnace. That terrifying heat and law capable of burning through all Daos were swiftly absorbed and transformed by the “Thought-Self Corpse” through a mysterious method!
The Undying Fire Spirit felt its control over the flames rapidly slipping away. That divine spear seemed no longer to be its power; instead, it had become fuel nourishing the other party’s “thought-flame”!
“No! That is my fire!” the Fire Spirit roared in chaos and terror, trying to withdraw, only to find itself firmly held fast. Its entire liquid flame body was flowing uncontrollably toward that mass of chaotic fire.
Lu Xuan’s true body slowly turned around, facing the struggling Battle Emperor and the Myriad Realms Vine Ancestor in the distance, whose aura had declined and who was attempting to flee.
“My true self is one; my Dao suppresses the universe.”
The phantom of the True Self Corpse behind him completely fused with him. At this moment, he was the Dao, and the Dao was him.
He did not use the Chaos Bell. He merely threw a simple punch forward.
This punch had no light and no sound, yet it seemed to strike out the origin of the universe, the beginning of all Daos.
Wherever the edge of the fist passed, the chaos of the Realm Sea was forcibly smoothed over, shattered laws were redefined, and all things returned to one, returned to the source!
The Battle Emperor’s pupils abruptly contracted as he sensed a fatal threat.
With a frenzied roar, he burned his innate battle intent and held the broken halberd horizontally before him, transforming it into an undying shield engraved with countless scenes of conquest.
“Dong!!!”
The fist smashed into the halberd shaft.
Time seemed to freeze for an instant.
The next moment, that broken halberd, which had accompanied the Battle Emperor through countless eras of war and was as hard as an Immortal King weapon, began shattering inch by inch from the point of impact!
Immediately after, the Battle Emperor’s towering body seemed to be crushed beneath billions of worlds. His bronze armor turned to dust, and his body was covered in cracks.
Like a broken porcelain vessel, he was sent flying backward, blood spilling across the sky. His aura instantly plummeted to rock bottom, and he fell into a near-death state!
The aftershock of the fist’s momentum crossed the void and caught up to the fleeing Myriad Realms Vine Ancestor.
“No! I am willing to submit…”
The Vine Ancestor let out a desperate plea for mercy.
But the fist force was merciless, like the crushing weight of the Great Dao.
That enormous dark-purple vine body silently disintegrated inch by inch, turning into the most primal spiritual essence and being swallowed by the Realm Sea.
Its billions of eye-pupils dimmed completely, its consciousness annihilated.
In just a few breaths, of the three ancient giants whose might shook the Realm Sea and was enough to make the Immortal Realm tremble, one was dead and two were gravely wounded!
In the end, the Undying Fire Spirit failed to escape. It was completely devoured and assimilated by the “Thought-Self Corpse.” That mass of chaotic fire became even deeper and more agile, then returned into Lu Xuan’s body.
The Realm Sea fell into deathly silence.
All the gazes spying from the shadows carried incomparable shock and fear as they quietly withdrew, no longer daring to reveal the slightest malice.
Lu Xuan stood with his fist withdrawn, his aura calming as if nothing had happened.
He glanced at the Battle Emperor, who was severely wounded and on the verge of death, but did not finish him off. He merely said indifferently, “Considering your Dao heart is pure and you sought only the Dharma, I will spare your life. Conduct yourself well.”
With that, he lingered no longer. Taking a single step, his figure vanished into the depths of the Realm Sea, returning to the Immortal Realm.
Only a devastated battlefield remained, along with an invincible legend that shook the heavens, spreading for a long time among the countless beings of the Realm Sea.
After this battle, the name of Eastern Emperor Lu Xuan would no longer be merely a legend of the Immortal Realm, but would truly resound throughout the Realm Sea.
He had become a supreme giant whom all ancient existences had to revere!
And the method of “Severing the Three Corpses” that he had first created, because of the terrifying might and potential it displayed, became the supreme dawn in the eyes of countless beings across the heavens and myriad realms who were trapped at bottlenecks.
Within the chaotic palace, Lu Xuan’s deductions entered an even deeper stage.
As he continued to dissect the origin of the self, and as the fusion between the Dao laws of the Primordial World and the laws of the Perfect World deepened, the original concept of the Three Corpses, based on the division of “attachment, thought, and true self,”
began to undergo a mysterious change, evolving toward a form closer to the essential root of living beings—the Good Corpse, the Evil Corpse, and the Self Corpse.
The Good Corpse was not simple kindness, but the aggregate of all positive thoughts and actions of a living being, such as “order,” “protection,” “creation,” and “compassion.” It was the “life” aspect within rules, the manifestation of “yang” within the Great Dao.
The Evil Corpse was likewise not pure wickedness, but the condensation of negative thoughts and potential within a living being, such as “destruction,” “plunder,” “ruin,” and “greed.” It was the “extinction” aspect within rules, the manifestation of “yin” within the Great Dao.
The Self Corpse transcended good and evil. After the tendencies of good and evil were stripped away, it was the purest source consciousness, the definition of “existence” itself, the true suchness of one’s nature, the root of the “I” that connected past and future and bore karma and destiny.
These Three Corpses encompassed nearly every layer of a living being’s mind and existence.
If one could sever them and control them, one could understand one’s true nature, harmonize yin and yang, transcend the opposition between good and evil, and glimpse the Hunyuan Dao Fruit.
With a thought from Lu Xuan, the originally indistinct phantoms of the Three Corpses behind him began to twist and reorganize violently.
The first to condense was the Evil Corpse.
It was no longer a mass of chaotic fire, but had transformed into a figure clad in pitch-black battle armor, its features identical to Lu Xuan’s, yet filled with unruliness and baleful hostility.
A destructive aura coiled around it. In its eyes burned the flames of desire to devour all things, and in its hand it gripped a black battle halberd condensed from the purest laws of destruction.
It represented the deepest, ultimate thirst for power in Lu Xuan’s heart, his cold ruthlessness toward enemies, and that destructive instinct capable of burning the heavens to ash.
The moment the Evil Corpse formed, the temperature within the palace plunged, as if billions of wronged souls were howling. The murderous aura from his campaign through the Realm Sea, which had swept away giants, all returned to its body.
Immediately after, radiance gathered, and the Good Corpse manifested.
It wore a moon-white Daoist robe. Its expression was compassionate and peaceful, no different from Lu Xuan’s true body, yet it carried a gentle aura that soothed all things.
In its hand, it held a glazed heart-lamp. The flame of the lamp was no ordinary fire, but had been condensed from pure vitality, hope, and the intent to protect. Wherever its light shone, darkness could be dispelled.
Filth was purified, and all things were nourished.
It bore Lu Xuan’s heart of protection for his kin, his faithful righteousness toward his allies, and even a possible thread of compassion for the countless beings of the heavens.
As the Good Corpse manifested, the palace was instantly filled with warm, auspicious light, forming a stark contrast with the icy destruction of the Evil Corpse.