Chapter 559

Tongtian opened his eyes, glanced at the silk mat under Gu Yuan's butt, and couldn't help but say softly to Laozi:

"Big brother, look at this birdman, he's quite particular."

Laozi didn't even lift his eyelids, only uttering one word: "Quiet."

Yuanshi Tianzun gave a cold snort, closed his eyes, out of sight, out of mind.

Gu Yuan sat on the chair, leaned back slightly, and adjusted to the most comfortable posture.

His divine sense communicated with the system in his sea of consciousness.

"Xiao Ai, scan these six meditation cushions."

Those six meditation cushions looked nice, but they were actually six body-selling contracts with exquisite packaging.

Once seated, having received the Primordial Purple Qi, one becomes a Heavenly Dao Saint, appearing indestructible for myriad kalpas, but in reality bound for life to the chariot of the Primordial Heavenly Dao, with life and death decided solely by a single thought of Hongjun.

On the contrary, beings like Emperor Jun and Taiyi, who originally had no saintly positions, if handled properly, would have even greater room to jump out of the board.

His goal was very clear.

First, figure out exactly what principle the Three Corpses Slaying Method taught by Hongjun is.

Second, continue to stack buffs on Emperor Jun, letting him bear all karmic calamities on the front line while I peacefully absorb the world's origin in the rear.

Third, take advantage of this lecture to see if we can squeeze some actual benefits out of the system.

"Xiao Ai, main line mission three 'Proof of the Dao Foundation', it says 'In this direction, the source of the myths, prove the Dao'. If I now finish analyzing the method of Severing the Three Corpses, does that count as completing half?"

【……Master, Severing the Three Corpses is a method created by Dao Ancestor Hongjun; analyzing the method only counts as knowing, not as proving the Dao. You must truly condense a Dao fruit or reach an equivalent status for the system to judge settlement.】

"Petty." Gu Yuan replied, "When the Dao Ancestor gives the lecture, you're responsible for recording, no problem?"

【This works! Xiao Ai has launched the all-day Dao analysis tracking procedure, guaranteeing that even the pitch of the Dao Ancestor's cough will be recorded crystal clear!】

Just as the communication in the sea of consciousness had just ended.

The light inside the entire Purple Cloud Palace suddenly dimmed.

There were no signs of spatial fluctuations, nor any rendering of light and shadow effects.

On the dais, above the bare blue stone that originally had nothing, suddenly appeared an old man wearing a coarse gray robe.

The old man's beard and hair were all white, his face extremely ordinary; thrown into a crowd of mundane people, no one would recognize him.

His eyes were half-open, half-closed; he bore no trace of a strong one's aura, not even the sound of breathing or heartbeat, like a stone left there for millions of years.

But at the moment he appeared.

Inside the hall, the Three Purities, Nüwa, Jieyin, Zhunti, and the thousands of powerful beings behind them all involuntarily tensed up.

"Greetings to the Dao Ancestor! May the Dao Ancestor's longevity be boundless!"

Led by the Three Purities, everyone rose from their seats, and a large area knelt down inside the hall.

Dijun also hurriedly pulled Gu Yuan to his feet and bowed deeply.

Gu Yuan accordingly bent over, using the corner of his eye to size up Hongjun on the platform.

In the deep perception of his immortal body and the 123 immortal meridians, this seemingly ordinary Dao Ancestor's internal law circuits were densely intertwined, almost completely coinciding with the operational rhythm of the entire Primordial World.

"No need for formalities, please be seated."

Hongjun's voice sounded, dry and level, devoid of joy or anger, echoing simultaneously in everyone's ears within the hall.

Everyone reseated themselves.

Gu Yuan could feel that his gaze lingered a little longer on him.

Had he discovered something?

This sage……his status might be on par with that of an Immortal Emperor.

Discovering his own problem……also seemed quite normal.

Just as he was thinking that.

Dijun's voice suddenly sounded in his ear: "Don't be afraid, little brother; this is the sage's thought, he's not targeting you."

Upon hearing that, he relaxed a bit.

The existence of a sage really seems different from what he imagined.

A single thought, and one can perceive.

Merely "thinking," the other seems able to have a feeling as well.

Truly terrifying to this extent.

Hongjun didn't waste a word on pleasantries, directly opening his mouth to expound the Dao:

"Heaven and earth are not benevolent; they treat the myriad things as straw dogs. The sage is not benevolent; he treats the common people as straw dogs."

"The Dao gives birth to One; One gives birth to Two; Two gives birth to Three; Three gives birth to all things. All things carry yin and embrace yang, and the vital energy harmonizes them……"

At the moment the grand Dao resonance sounded, phantasms began to arise in the void within the Purple Cloud Palace.

Golden lotuses condensed from nothingness, slowly drifting down; when they landed on a cultivator's head, they turned into pure insight that sank into the celestial spirit.

Clear springs welled up from the ground, exuding a fragrance that cleanse the soul.

The Three Purities listened, entranced and intoxicated.

Above Laozi's head manifested a cloud of auspiciousness the size of a mu, clear qi rising, within which three azure lotuses rose and fell.

Above Yuanshi's head manifested myriad golden rays, hanging down to protect his whole body.

Above Tongtian's head was a forest of sword qi; the fierce Sword Intent within the auspicious cloud continually evolved, giving rise to and passing away.

Nüwa, Jieyin, Zhunti, and the others each manifested their own phantasms, with varied expressions—some showed joy, some scratched their ears and cheeks, obviously having heard the crucial point and now pondering deeply.

Behind them, Dijun's eyes shone; the River Chart and Luo Book above his head flipped on its own, and the trajectories of countless stars within it rapidly reorganized.

His cultivation had long been stuck at the threshold of the peak of Half-Sage; upon hearing the sage's Dao, his internal bottleneck began to loosen, the surrounding blazing golden flames gradually converging, shifting from fierce to pure heft.

And beside Dijun.

Gu Yuan's expression was lax, as if he completely didn't understand.

To others, the fact is the same.

A Golden Immortal listens to a Sage expounding the Dao.

Just like a True Immortal listening to an Immortal Emperor expounding the Dao.

The difference between them is not a small matter.

However.

They were wrong.

It's normal for ordinary True Immortals, or Golden Immortals, to not understand.

But Gu Yuan is no ordinary True Immortal.

He holds in his hand one hundred and twenty-three Immortal Meridians.

Moreover, he is versed in the Three Thousand Great Dao, countless minor Dao, and above all, time reigns supreme.

In terms of level, he is not inferior to an ordinary Immortal King.

Merely understanding it is not difficult for him!

Solemn, he appears to listen more attentively than anyone.

As he listened, Gu Yuan also sensed something amiss.

The so-called severing of the three corpses means cutting off the 'good corpse', 'evil corpse', and 'obsession corpse'; superficially, cultivators use an innate spiritual treasure to sever their own seven emotions and six desires and karmic entanglements, thereby attaining the immaculate mirror state, and then borrowing the power of the Heavenly Dao to merge with the Dao and become a Sage.

But in substance, the severed 'three corpses' are lodged within the spiritual treasures, and all spiritual treasures are products of the primeval Heavenly Dao's laws.

Once severing the corpses succeeds, does it not mean that part of the cultivator's true spirit and origin are permanently anchored within the Heavenly Dao spiritual treasure, eternally bound by the Heavenly Dao?

In other words, the more corpses severed, the deeper the control of the Heavenly Dao; if all three corpses are severed and united to become a Sage, the cultivator would completely lose the possibility of resisting the Heavenly Dao?

"Interesting." Gu Yuan gazed at the expressionless Hongjun on the stage, thinking to himself, "No wonder the ancient Immortal Emperor back then said, the universe needs not obedient pawns, but those who overturn the board."

If one follows Hongjun's path, even if Emperor Jun truly becomes a Sage, the monster clan will ultimately not escape the calamity script arranged by the Heavenly Dao.

After all, you are already a person of the Heavenly Dao; in the tide of that era, sacrificing something is also quite normal, right?

For example...... sacrificing the monster clan, or the shaman clan, or perhaps both?