Chapter 560

The lecture on the Dao lasted a full three thousand years.

To the innate powerhouses inside the hall, three thousand years was but a flick of a finger.

As Hongjun began to expound step by step on the profound mystery of severing the three corpses, the atmosphere in the hall grew increasingly fervent; many ancient monsters who had been stuck at the peak of Golden Immortal Great Luo for countless yuan hui wore expressions of ecstasy and sudden enlightenment.

Minghe Laozu clapped his hands and laughed loudly; behind him, the two divine swords, Elemental Slaughter and Avici, rang out with joyful sword cries.

Zhenyuanzi stroked his beard and smiled faintly; atop his head, the Earth Book flickered with signs of taking form.

Youshi Kunpeng's eyes burned hot; he stared fixedly at Hongjun on the Dao Platform, greedily drinking in every word and sentence.

Only Di Jun, seated in the front row, had his aura violently churning.

Boom

A golden divine light shot up from atop Di Jun's head, transforming into a magnificent, extraordinary illusion of a three-legged golden crow.

Above the head of that golden crow, the Hetu Luoshu suddenly unfurled; a figure seventy percent resembling Di Jun's face, wearing a white Daoist robe, with a compassionate and serene expression, slowly stepped forth from the void!

Shan Shi!

Under the guidance of the Ancestor of the Dao's lecture, Di Jun, relying on his vast accumulation over countless kalpas, actually managed on the spot, with the aid of the Innate Supreme Treasure Hetu Luoshu, to successfully sever his first incarnation—Shan Shi!

At the instant of severing the corpse successfully, Di Jun's aura surged geometrically, directly leaping over the chasm between Golden Immortal Great Luo and Quasi-Sage, and firmly stepping into the early stage of Quasi-Sage!

Terrifying imperial might spread throughout the hall, shaking many Golden Immortal Great Luo in the rear ranks so that their forms swayed.

"Congratulations, fellow Daoist, on severing Shan Shi!" Fuxi transmitted his congratulations from behind, his eyes full of admiration.

The Three Purities in the front row also shifted their expressions slightly.

Tong Tian raised his eyebrows: "This bald feathered beast moves rather quickly."

Yuanshi Tianzun's face darkened; his hand inside his sleeve clenched slightly, clearly extremely displeased at being outpaced by the Yao Clan.

On the Dao Platform, Hongjun's half-closed eyes opened a slit, glanced faintly at Di Jun, and his Dao resonance continued without pause, proceeding to expound the methods for severing E Shi and Zhi Nian Shi.

Di Jun's heart overflowed with ecstasy upon severing Shan Shi.

He was about to withdraw his incarnation and turn to tell his younger brother the good news, when he suddenly noticed Gu Yuan tilting his head, cheek resting on one hand, eyes fixed unblinkingly on a crack in the stone below the Dao Platform, his gaze dazed, even the corner of his mouth bearing a hint of drowsiness.

The ecstasy in Di Jun's heart instantly turned into deep sorrow and self-reproach.

Here I am breaking through my realm, severing the Dao, while my younger brother, due to deficient innate origin, cannot even grasp the most basic principles lectured by the Ancestor of the Dao, and can only sit here in a daze.

"Younger brother…"

Di Jun quietly reached out, grasped Gu Yuan's slightly cool hand, and passed over a strand of the gentle, pure qi he had just comprehended,

"Do not worry, Elder Brother has already grasped the mystery of severing corpses. When we return to the Heavenly Court, Elder Brother will personally guard you, seek the finest Innate Spiritual Treasure, and certainly help you sever an incarnation!"

Gu Yuan was brought back to reality by Di Jun's action.

He blinked, then put on an expression of "I'm trying hard to listen but truly cannot understand," and said softly: "Elder brother, that 'severing attachment, merging body with Dao' the Ancestor of the Dao just spoke of—I keep feeling it's strange as I listen."

Di Jun startled: "Where is it strange?"

Gu Yuan lowered his voice, his tone extremely flat, like a novice casually asking a childish question:

"Since what is severed is one's own goodness, evil, and attachment, after severing, is the remaining 'me' still the original 'me'?"

"If one gives one's own origin to three cold, lifeless treasures, letting the treasures cultivate the Heavenly Dao in one's stead, then in the end, when one attains sagehood, is it the person, or those three treasures, that has become sage?"

Gu Yuan's voice was transmitted via the Donghuang Bell, flowing only between him and Di Jun.

Yet it was precisely these two light sentences that caused Di Jun, who had just severed Shan Shi, to startle, his whole body freezing in place.

He instinctively turned his inner vision to his sea of consciousness.

There, the Shan Shi he had just severed, entrusted to the Hetu Luoshu, sat cross-legged in the depths of his sea of consciousness, wearing a white Daoist robe and smiling faintly.

The aura of that Shan Shi was pure and flawless, filled with the ultimate truths of the Heavenly Dao, yet for some unknown reason, as Di Jun followed Gu Yuan's words and carefully sensed it, a sudden chill rose from his heart.

He felt that the Shan Shi…… seemed to be separated from his own soul's will by a membrane.

That membrane was entirely constructed from Heavenly Dao laws.

Whenever he activated the Shan Shi's power, he must first pass through that filter of Heavenly Dao laws!

"This……" Di

Jun's pupils contracted sharply.

He glanced at his innocent-looking younger brother beside him, then at Hongjun on the Dao Platform lecturing with flowers falling like rain, and a cold sweat suddenly trickled down his back.

Those involved are confused; those observing see clearly!

Because I rushed to break through, I was dazed by the surge of power before my eyes and failed to notice the hidden danger behind this technique.

On the contrary, this younger brother of mine, with low cultivation and never having entered the fray, seems to have perceived what I have failed to perceive!

"Younger brother, you…"

Di Jun opened his mouth, the sound of his transmission trembling slightly.

"Elder brother, what's wrong? Did I say something wrong?" Gu Yuan looked at him innocently.

"No…… you didn't say anything wrong."

Di Jun took a deep breath, forcibly suppressed the storm in his heart, and his gaze became unprecedentedly solemn,

"You are quite right. Elder Brother…… narrowly avoided going astray!"

He silently vowed in his heart that after returning to the Heavenly Court, he would never lightly sever a second incarnation, but must first find a way to completely resolve the Heavenly Dao hidden danger on Shan Shi's body!

Seeing his elder brother grow wary, Gu Yuan smiled inwardly.

He moved his lips to give Di Yuan a heads-up, preventing him from being completely overshadowed by Hongjun and the Heavenly Dao in the future.

Just at this time, the lecture on the Dao from above the Dao Platform gradually came to a halt.

The heavenly golden lotuses dispersed, the underground clear springs vanished.

The Zixiao Palace restored a scene of coolness and solemnity.

Hongjun opened his eyes, his gaze calm as he swept over the crowd below.

"This lecture on the Dao has lasted three thousand years; it ends here."

Inside the Da Dian, everyone snapped awake from their state of enlightenment, their faces all showing regret at not having had enough.

The Three Purities bowed respectfully: "Thank you, Teacher, for transmitting the Dao!"

Everyone echoed in unison: "Thank you, Ancestor of the Dao, for transmitting the Dao!"

Hongjun nodded slightly, then spoke with an indifferent expression: "I have obtained the divine artifact of creation, followed Heaven and responded to humanity, and transmitted the Dao three times in this era. Now the second lecture is complete; the next lecture will establish the Saint Position and apportion the heavenly and earthly fortunes."

Upon these words, the breath of all the powerful beings in the hall instantly grew heavy.

Establish the Saint Position!

Apportion the heavenly and earthly fortunes!

These six characters carried too much weight—so much that even Laozi, who always practiced non-action, felt ripples stir in the depths of his eyes.