Pan King concluded, brilliant light bursting from his eyes.
“If this method can be popularized, then in the future, my Immortal Domain and the Ancient Realm will no longer have to rely solely on the chance breakthroughs of individual geniuses. Instead, it may become possible to systematically and on a large scale give rise to true Immortal Kings who have illuminated their minds, perceived their nature, and possess stable Dao foundations! This will completely alter the balance of power between us and the Foreign Realm, and between us and the source of darkness!”
This realization made every Immortal King present feel their scalps tingle. Then, an unparalleled excitement and yearning surged within them.
They had seen the possibility of an unprecedented, glorious age!
The Primordial Ancient Realm, the Hall of Wuzhong.
Immortal King Wuzhong and Immortal King Liudao Lunhui sat facing each other. Between them hovered a water mirror, within which the scenes of the Three Corpses manifesting their sacred might and the Thunder Emperor’s final enlightenment were being replayed again and again.
“Time… was affected by the Attachment-to-Self Corpse.”
Immortal King Wuzhong pointed at the scene in which the Attachment-to-Self Corpse lashed the Red King’s river of time, a trace of tremor in his voice that even he himself did not notice.
“It was not forceful interference, but rather a higher-level ‘order’ that temporarily ‘overlaid’ the Red King’s control over time. This method’s application of rules has already reached perfection.”
The six black holes revolving around Immortal King Liudao Lunhui spun somewhat faster than usual, revealing the unrest in his heart.
“More than that. The Good Corpse’s purification and protection, the Evil Corpse’s ultimate destruction, the Self Corpse’s detached dominion… these almost correspond to several fundamental aspects of a living being’s mind and existence. If one can thoroughly clarify and control them, it would be no different from grasping part of the authority of ‘existence.’ My Six Paths of Reincarnation may use this to become more complete, and even… touch the true ‘origin of reincarnation.’”
His gaze fell upon the Thunder Emperor in the water mirror, whose aura was already different.
“This child has already obtained the key to ‘self.’ The realm of Immortal King is within sight. Donghuang’s method points straight to the source of the Great Dao. It is not a technique, but the Dao itself!”
The two leaders of the Ancient Realm arrived at a conclusion similar to that of the kings of the Immortal Domain, and even more profound.
They realized that the method of “Severing the Three Corpses” was not merely a powerful divine ability, but a supreme principle pointing directly to the Hunyuan Great Dao. Its value was immeasurable!
“We must deepen our alliance with the Golden Crow clan!”
Immortal King Wuzhong spoke decisively.
“For Fellow Daoist Donghuang to allow the Thunder Emperor and the others to comprehend it is already a favor as vast as the heavens. Such a Dao Ancestor should be treated with the rites due to a teacher!”
Immortal King Liudao Lunhui slowly nodded.
“Among the Ancient Realm’s stores, there are a few strange objects left behind since the Emperor Fall Era, objects even we have found difficult to comprehend. They may be sent to the Golden Crow clan’s territory as a token of our sincerity, and in the hope that they may aid Fellow Daoist Donghuang in deriving the Great Dao.”
The Golden Crow clan’s territory, deep within the chaotic palace.
Lu Xuan’s true body slowly opened his eyes. His Three Corpses incarnations had already returned, their Dao resonance merging with his true body until they were indistinguishable from one another.
He sensed the fluctuations of will coming from the directions of the Immortal Domain and the Ancient Realm—those emotions mixed with shock, awe, and longing.
His expression remained calm, neither joyful nor sorrowful.
He had created this method in the first place to break the deadlock and open a new path for this world. Now that it was beginning to show results, it was also within his expectations.
He spread open his palm. The mass of “Source of Time” seized from the Red King emitted a hazy halo, within which countless fragments of time seemed to arise and perish. Several other dark secret treasures also hovered nearby, radiating ominous yet powerful fluctuations.
“The foundation of the Foreign Realm is indeed deep. These things can serve as resources for studying the laws of darkness and perfecting the Three Corpses method.”
He murmured softly to himself.
Immediately afterward, his gaze seemed to pierce through the palace. He saw Lu Huang, Lu Yu, and the others still in seclusion within the ancient solar cave, and he also saw the waves this method had stirred up in the outside world.
“The seeds have already been sown. Whether they can grow into towering trees will still depend on their own fortunes, as well as… whether they can survive the even fiercer storms that are about to come.”
He knew that after this battle, he and the method of “Severing the Three Corpses” he had created had thoroughly become the center of the vortex of the heavens.
The Foreign Realm and the source of darkness would never sit idly by. The next challenge would surely be even more perilous.
But so what?
Lu Xuan slowly closed his eyes. Chaotic qi spread around him as he once again entered profound Dao comprehension.
His Dao lay ahead. No matter the wind or rain, there was only moving forward.
And throughout the entire Immortal Domain and Primordial Ancient Realm, after experiencing the initial extreme shock, an unprecedented cohesion and upward momentum were quietly taking root.
All the top forces understood that closely following in the footsteps of Donghuang Lu Xuan and comprehending that supreme method of “Severing the Three Corpses”
would be their only shortcut to seeking transcendence, and even to glimpsing the Emperor Realm, in this magnificent and turbulent great age!
Tens of thousands of years, to mortal beings, were a long cycle of reincarnation. To an Immortal King, however, they might be no more than a single profound seclusion.
Within the chaotic palace, the chaotic qi pervading Lu Xuan’s body grew ever deeper, as though he had already become one with the myriad Daos of the heavens.
The Chaos Bell above his head hovered quietly. What manifested upon the bell’s surface was no longer merely the opening of heaven and earth, but also the birth and destruction of boundless worlds, the gathering and dispersing, rising and falling of cosmic dust.
However, amid this ultimate tranquility, Lu Xuan’s brows furrowed almost imperceptibly.
“The Emperor Realm…”
He silently recited these two words in his heart.
Over tens of thousands of years, he had deduced the method of “Severing the Three Corpses” to perfection. The Good, Evil, and Self Corpses could now manifest at will, wielding rules, their combat strength so formidable that they were enough to sweep across the Realm Sea and look down upon all kings.
He felt that his own power and his understanding of the Dao had already reached an unprecedented peak. The road ahead seemed to have no more fog, clearly visible before him.
Yet, that legendary “Emperor Realm,” transcending all things and standing above Immortal Kings, was still separated from him by an indescribable, impassable invisible barrier.
He had tried every deduction, mobilized every insight, and even drawn upon the resonance of the Chaos Bell, yet he still could not truly touch the wall of that level.
He knew that the true Emperor Realm required one to walk one’s own path.
Although his method of Severing the Three Corpses was incomparably powerful, it still possessed a trace of flaw.
It had never been perfected.
That was not something the accumulation of power could break through, nor something that a deeper understanding of rules could touch.
It was more like… a leap in the essence of life, a domain that required some special “opportunity,” or perhaps “recognition,” before one could step into it.
He seemed to be standing before a tightly shut, majestic gate. He could sense the vast and boundless scenery behind it, yet could not find the key to open the door.
Even with the vastness of Donghuang Taiyi’s inheritance, it had never mentioned how to perfect the method of Severing the Three Corpses.
Just as Lu Xuan’s mind grew沉静, and he sensed a trace of unprecedented stagnation on his Dao path—
“Buzz…”
A faint fluctuation pierced through the isolation of the chaotic palace and entered his perception.
It came from the direction of the Primordial Ancient Realm.
Immortal King Liudao Lunhui, in accordance with their previous agreement, had sent someone to deliver several strange objects left behind from the Emperor Fall Era, both to thank him for his guidance of the Thunder Emperor and the others, and in the hope that they might offer him some inspiration.