Chapter 701

The Three Sovereigns' Celestial Realm was peaceful and tranquil.

This was the human Dao's blissful land, under the governance of the Eight Holy Emperors of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors; though not everyone was inclined toward goodness, everyone was prosperous and free from worries of livelihood.

As for saying there was eternal joy without sorrow, that was unattainable.

This realm had not been endowed with transcendental arts or the like; all living beings inevitably experienced joy and sorrow, just like the two extremes of yin and yang.

Eternal joy without sorrow existed only in some special Daoist pure lands, or perhaps only in Buddhist teachings.

After Zhang Jian walked out of the Hall of Merit, he wandered about everywhere.

He had made many trips back and forth to the Three Sovereigns' Celestial Realm, but opportunities to simply let go of everything and stroll leisurely as he did now were few.

……

Beneath the golden auspicious clouds, auspicious qi seemed to blanket the region where the Three Sovereigns' Holy Court resided; although it was the human Dao's blissful land, most immortals and deities were just as Zhang Jian had been before—even if they had achieved cultivation success, they rarely appeared leisurely, mostly coming and going in haste, embodying a fast-paced cultivation mode.

Because in the entire great environment, other immortals and deities were striving forward with all their might; if one fell behind, it was inevitable to feel some regret.

Zhang Jian observed this scene and immediately shook his head.

He did not mind it, strolling along with ease and contentment.

Soon after, he arrived before a grand and magnificent mansion in the Three Sovereigns' Holy Court.

The Taiji Immortal Court, the Earth Emperor God's Mansion.

This was the official residence built for him by the Three Sovereigns' Holy Court.

And here, a group of human immortals and deities had already gathered, awaiting audience—sent by the Holy Emperor Fuxi to strengthen the human foundation of the Taiji Immortal Court's Earth Emperor God's Mansion.

Zhang Jian gazed upon them; these dozen or so immortals and deities were mostly cultivators with long cultivation periods.

Among them were two who had attained Great Perfection in the Taiyi realm, two Taiyi True Immortals, four Taiyi True Numbers, while the majority were of the Heavenly Immortal level.

These immortals and deities seemed aware that their Dao paths had reached their end, so they chose to be pragmatic, seeking to gain some seniority and experience in the mansions of great divine beings, preparing for future re-cultivation.

Zhang Jian did not disdain them.

Since people had come to his door, he naturally began directing them to enter their respective divine official posts without ceremony, to handle mundane affairs for him.

This time, his return to the Three Sovereigns' Celestial Realm had already fulfilled its main purpose; yet another major matter remained ahead.

The Ancestral Master King Yu had verified the Other Shore; next, he would inevitably hold the Dao Venerable Grand Ceremony within the Three Sovereigns' Celestial Realm to expand the influence of the Tongshan Dao lineage.

King Yu Ancestral Master differed from ordinary solitary Dao Venerables from outside the realm.

King Yu Ancestral Master possessed his own foundation and was also a core elder of the Three Sovereigns and Five Elders Council; verifying the Dao Venerable needed no concealment.

On the contrary, he could openly proclaim it widely, thereby gaining more influence in the Three Sovereigns and Five Elders Council.

However, King Yu Ancestral Master had not yet sent back news on this matter; Zhang Jian speculated he might be waiting for True Person Tianhe to verify the Dao.

If successful, they could naturally hold the ceremony together—double joy arriving at once.

If True Person Tianhe failed, they could still revive the morale of the Tongshan Dao lineage at that time.

……

In the Taiji Immortal Court's Earth Emperor God's Mansion, after attending to some mundane affairs, Zhang Jian simply entered seclusion in the Three Sovereigns' Celestial Realm to contemplate the exquisite method of severing the three corpses.

The great hall, upon the God's Throne, Zhang Jian sat upon the gilded Emperor's Divine Seat; majestic divine power flowed from the God's Throne through the entire immortal abode, yet the immense divine power was naturally contained by the abode's own power, preventing easy leakage.

Zhang Jian sensed this change and smiled faintly.

This was a peculiar sense of comfort—one could fully unleash their divine power without fear of causing any omen; this feeling was excellent.

This was also one of the supreme enjoyments of divinity.

Clearly, this immortal palace possessed more than just this one ability.

Zhang Jian slightly sensed it, paid no heed, and instead retrieved the sealed scroll of the Severing Three Corpses secret method.

It was a scroll suffused with purple intent, its entire body entwined with purple-gray patterns; within those patterns, countless Great Dao eyes seemed to emit light, and the interior was densely filled with scrolls.

The sole function of this scroll was to carry the supreme secret method; the Great Dao prohibitions inscribed upon it were to ensure the secret method would not be easily leaked.

After Zhang Jian condensed a qi mechanism and injected it into the scroll, he saw the scroll in his hand begin to spin rapidly, layer upon layer of purple-gray Great Dao talisman patterns unfurling, a soft golden light flowing from within and instantly falling into Zhang Jian's palm, sinking deep into it, merging into his life palace, whereupon a portion of profoundly mysterious information was instantly grasped by Zhang Jian.

This was the transmission of the Severing Three Corpses secret method, including part of its core transmission.

Zhang Jian closed his eyes and slowly contemplated this transmission of the myriad heavens' void, verified through countless ages of Dao.

From behind his head, four great radiant clouds of light manifested from the Dao fruit's auspicious clouds; boundless luminous power illuminated the sea of consciousness, interpreting one by one the floating secret method runes within.

He gradually mastered the profound mysteries of this supreme secret method.

The Severing Three Corpses secret method was not merely about cutting off a portion of obsession.

At Zhang Jian's level of cultivation, he had already perfected his Dao-heart cultivation, producing no distracting thoughts or obsession.

What was severed was a portion of the self-attachment.

Self-attachment and other-attachment were of the same kind of existence, both containing a portion of one's own origin, but occupying a greater share of origin; thus, once condensed into form, they would possess immense destructive power.

It was also a separate, independent entity.

Unaffected by any ties to the main body.

If one day the main body perished, the self-attachment could become an independent entity, existing independently without extinction.

However, to enable the self-attachment to exert greater power, it was best to find a pure and flawless vessel to give it form.

The stronger the vessel, the greater the assistance to oneself.

It could also aid the self-attachment's incarnation in achieving perfection sooner.

And naturally, the most representative vessel was the innate spiritual treasure.

Innate spiritual treasures were themselves the fruition of heavenly earth Dao rules nurtured over countless years, even some supreme treasures might contain profound mysteries of multiple heavenly earth Dao rules; if directly refined, they could naturally form formidable combat power in a short time.

Thereafter, one could also rely on the innate undying spiritual light contained within the innate spiritual treasure to perfect the Dao fruit.

But to sever the three corpses, it was not necessary to use only innate spiritual treasures; other innate divine objects, heavenly earth rare treasures, even Dao fruit relics, or incense-golden bodies could serve.

However, compared to the pure and flawless innate spiritual treasure, such objects would somewhat possess defects, requiring postnatal cleansing to avoid contaminating the self-attachment.

This differentiation of self-attachment was not to weaken oneself, nor to cause conflict with the origin.

Rather, they each grow, and when the three corpses become one, they will in one fell swoop set foot upon the Primordial Beginning.

"Cultivating the three corpses to obey me, then cutting them out and uniting them with the innate spiritual treasure, thereby perfecting a kind of source— the three corpses are three kinds of sources, finally merging into one, aiding my own Dao rules' transformation and transcendence, comprehending the profound mystery of the Primordial Beginning— this path is actually naturally aligned with his method of proof!"

Upon the Emperor's throne, Zhang Jian's eyes deep within held hidden flowing purple-yellow divine light, and the Dao fruit auspicious clouds above his head shifted unpredictably.

If he walks his path of proof, he feels he will inevitably be able to set foot upon the other shore in a short time.

But as for whether he can become the strongest, Zhang Jian has no confidence whatsoever.

Moreover, Zhang Jian also feels that such a breakthrough would likely waste his own opportunity and talent.

He can feel that he is still far from reaching the upper limit of advancement in the Three Transitions Dao Lord realm.

He feels that the profound mysteries of the Dao laws his primordial spirit can contain still have great room for improvement, and his comprehension of the Mountains and Rivers State Diagram has not yet reached the ideal state.

"Sharpening the knife does not delay the woodcutter; perhaps one can cultivate the three corpses obeying me to form while simultaneously perfecting the myriad heavenly and earthly Dao laws one has comprehended, bringing them to the limit before attempting to sever the corpses, and furthermore deduce the profound mystery of the other shore!"

Zhang Jian thought it over, but still decided to stick with his original idea, merely treating the wonderful method of severing the three corpses as a killing divine ability, not as the secret method of proving the Dao to reach the other shore.

He prepared to create another method based on the wonderful method of severing the three corpses as a blueprint for proving the Dao.

Although his Mountains and Rivers State Diagram is structured with the state and the Nine Depths as the main trunk, it also contains many heavenly and earthly Dao laws, including time and space, Qian and Kun, the five elements, yin and yang, clarity and turbidity, etc.

At this moment he recalled the Purple Yuan Heavenly Emperor who had fallen into his hands.

Could he, by the same principle as the Purple Yuan Heavenly Emperor's Dharma body, use the Mountains and Rivers State Diagram as a source, condense from it source gods corresponding to the myriad laws, similar to the Three Thousand Bodies Gods, smelt the three thousand laws into one furnace, forge the Earth Emperor Dao fruit, and ultimately establish his own Dao, transcending from within?

If successful, after being tempered by the three thousand Dao laws, his Earth Emperor Dao fruit will inevitably be far stronger than his current foundation.

After achieving the other shore, naturally it will also be extremely terrifying.

"That perhaps is the strongest one..."

Zhang Jian secretly thought in his heart.

Having formed an idea, Zhang Jian felt he could give it a try.

After all, he possesses such resources— what if he actually succeeds?

In the following three thousand years, Zhang Jian focused his efforts mainly on cultivating the three corpses knowing me in the method of severing the three corpses, constantly perfecting the myriad heavenly and earthly Dao laws in the Mountains and Rivers State Diagram during his leisure, and then continually attempting to condense source body gods using the three thousand Dao laws, tempering the feasibility of his Earth Emperor Dao rules.

This is his forte.

……

While Zhang Jian presided over the Three Emperors Heavenly Realm, the Tai Ji Immortal Court Earth Emperor God's residence never lacked visitors.

It is rare for Zhang Jian, this Immortal Court Realm Master, to personally appear in the Three Emperors Heavenly Realm, and many high-ranking immortals and gods of the Three Emperors Holy Court, or even immortals and gods from the Central Heavenly Court, successively came to his door.

The appeal of an independent heavenly court to many immortals and gods is immense, with many high-ranking immortals and gods, even Dao Lords coming to the door, seeking permission to enter the Immortal Court Heavenly Realm to wander and cultivate, wanting to broaden their horizons.

There are also those who simply wish to expand their own Dao lineage into the Immortal Court Heavenly Realm.

There are also some ancient Dao lineage powerhouses who came to the door, wanting to trade with Zhang Jian, asking him to open a portion of the Immortal Court Heavenly Realm's authority, allowing other Dao Lords to enter the Immortal Court Heavenly Realm to survive the great calamity of destruction.

Each has their own request.

But Zhang Jian has always maintained a cautious attitude toward opening the Immortal Court Heavenly Realm; before it has truly grown, he will not easily open it.

The previous Immortal Court Heavenly Realm cannot be considered as having grown; Zhang Jian does not demand it to look up to the ancient Earth Immortal Realm, but at least it must grow to the level of the Spiritual Heaven Realm before he can gradually open it.

If someone were to spoil the source of the Immortal Court Heavenly Realm, in the end only his path would be affected.

On the contrary, allowing a portion of those who have attained the Great Completion of Taiyi to enter to survive the great calamity of destruction could be considered.

But like other heavenly courts, such quotas can ultimately only serve as 'strategic resources,' and each衍纪 has a set number, to avoid damaging the creation of the Immortal Court Heavenly Realm.

Given that the source of the Immortal Court Heavenly Realm was previously damaged, Zhang Jian estimates that the number of Dao Lord quotas for this衍纪 must be controlled within three.

That is to say, besides allowing the True Person of the Heavenly River to prove the Dao, the Immortal Court Heavenly Realm can only give birth to two new Dao Lords.

Therefore, Zhang Jian has already decided not to yield the quota to others.

The two Dao Lord quotas may not necessarily meet the internal needs of the Immortal Court Heavenly Realm, let alone the fact that in this衍纪, under his command there are still attendant gods capable of assaulting the great calamity of destruction.

……

And on this day, the Tai Ji Immortal Court Earth Emperor God's residence in the Three Emperors Heavenly Realm received two special guests.

The Prison King Dao Lord, however, brought with him a tall immortal clad in gold robes, appearing before the Tai Ji Immortal Court Earth Emperor God's residence.

This powerful Dao Lord who holds the authority of the Heavenly Court's divine prison at this time carried a heavy gift, his face bearing a smile.

Behind him, the tall immortal clad in gold robes showed a look of helplessness; he is the Pure Gang Emperor.

This master and disciple pair came likewise for the choice of the place for Pure Gang Emperor to undergo his tribulation.

The master and disciple naturally also know of their grudge with this Tai Ji Immortal Court Earth Emperor God, but they could not help coming to try their luck.

Before the Tai Ji Immortal Court Earth Emperor God's residence, not long after, a Taiyi Perfected deity walked out from within, his gaze falling upon the Prison King Dao Lord, and for a moment a look of apology appeared in his expression.

"Prison King Senior, I am sorry, His Majesty the Earth Emperor has been in seclusion during this period, refusing to see guests, but His Majesty the Earth Emperor had already anticipated your coming, so he left words, letting the Prison King Majesty return— the Immortal Court Heavenly Realm will not open to the unfriendly immortals and gods of the Earth Emperor lineage!"

Upon hearing this, the Prison King Dao Lord's face stiffened somewhat; he could only give an embarrassed smile, immediately leaving the gift in his hand behind, preparing to depart, but soon he was called back by the deity behind him, and the gift was returned together.

Seeing this scene, the stern face of the Pure Gang Emperor finally could not help but twitch.

Outside the residence, the Pure Gang Emperor shook his head.

"Master, why do you bother? You clearly know that His Majesty the Earth Emperor is not a magnanimous person— why come here to suffer this humiliation!"

There was some resentment deep in his eyes, but he dared not give rise to even a trace of resentment toward the other party.

The other party is no longer a novice in the Dao Lord realm, but a renowned great divine ability holder in the heavenly void of all realms.

One is a heavenly court master, and moreover has hope of setting foot upon the other shore!

The Prison King Dao Lord, upon hearing this, shook his head and said.

"I endure some injustice— it is nothing, as long as I can strive for a Dao Lord quota for you; now it seems it cannot be done, in the end we must still strive with all our strength for the few public Dao Lord quotas in the Central Heavenly Court!"

At this moment, the Prison King Dao Lord furrowed his brow.

Staring at those several public Dao Lord quotas in the Central Heavenly Court, the number of immortals and gods is too great; to seize one quota from among so many immortals and gods competing is truly letting him feel great pressure.

The master and disciple could only depart in dejection.

……

Three thousand years later.

Good news followed one after another: Tianhe Zhenren passed the first Great Calamity of Destruction and successfully attained the Dao.

This chief disciple of the Tongshan Dao Lineage, after countless years of cultivation, finally attained the rank of Dao Jun with the aid of great fortune.

The Tongshan Dao Lineage thus gained even greater renown.