Law Embodies Spirit

While the four sects gathered at Sacred Spring Peak, countless immortals had already arrived at its base. These immortals had originally come for the treasures within Treasure Springs, but when they learned that five saints would be discussing the Dao atop Sacred Spring Peak, they were more pleased than worried and simply stayed put.

For rogue cultivators, being able to observe saints debating the Dao was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to overturn their fate. What were mere treasures? Treasures brought only temporary gains, but hearing the wondrous sounds of the saints would yield endless benefits.

The Plant Spirit Race immortals, armed with "exclusive intelligence," had long since grabbed a prime spot, arriving at the peak closest to Sacred Spring Peak. They stood ready at all times to receive the auspicious signs descending from the heavens and the blessings of the saints.

This was an opportunity Meng Chen had fought for them, and they treasured it deeply.

At the venue, the saints began exchanging greetings.

These greetings were ceremonial in nature—not the kind that cursed someone's parents, nor the sort of veiled, sarcastic jabs. Saints had their conflicts, but no hatred, no grudges.

The struggles of saints were for the sake of spreading their teachings and verifying their cultivation. Saints could win, and they could lose with grace.

"Since we parted at Purple Cloud Palace, hundreds of Yuanhui have passed without meeting. You two junior brothers have been sorting out the Earth Veins in the Western lands, sheltering the living beings there, and delivering all sentient beings—truly admirable."

"You flatter us! Eldest Senior Brother established the Teaching of Humanity, created the Golden Core Great Dao, and civilized an entire race. You are the one we should learn from."

The saints' small talk was quite ordinary, yet their realms were so lofty that every single word triggered echoes from the Great Dao, as if they were being carved into the laws of heaven and earth, becoming golden rules and ironclad decrees.

When two or more saints met, their words caused the Great Dao to resonate. Countless Daos, countless principles manifested from the void, open for anyone to comprehend.

"Hurry, focus your minds and comprehend these Dao traces. This is the opportunity the Immortal Lord has won for us—none of you dare slack off!"

The chieftain of the Blue Silver Grass Clan sent a divine thought to all the Plant Spirit immortals. Those who had been daydreaming got a solid punch from the chieftain.

The Plant Spirit immortals nodded one after another, suppressing their excitement, and began to comprehend in earnest.

"Since we rarely gather like this, why not debate the Dao and grant the living beings of Kunlun Mountain a chance to hear the saints' great teachings? What do you two junior brothers think?"

Yuanshi Tianzun gave a slight nod and made the proposal.

How could he not understand Meng Chen's purpose in choosing Sacred Spring Peak as the venue? He was more than willing to support Meng Chen. Since Kunlun Mountain was the saints' sacred ground, it was essential to let it flourish.

As the Three Pure Ones were the masters of Kunlun Mountain, if Kunlun Mountain prospered, its Calamity Fate would rise, and the Three Pure Ones themselves would reap enormous benefits.

"Since you have such an interest, Senior Brother, we two naturally comply!"

Sage Jieyin and Sage Zhunti had no objections. The Three Pure Ones were actively asking them to spread the Western Esoteric Dharma—something they had been hoping for.

Because of Luo Hou, there was a vast rift between the beings of the East and the West, as incompatible as fire and water. Otherwise, with two saints in the West, why would Eastern beings refuse to join the Western Church?

The real reason was that during the War of Dao and Demon, the beings at the border between East and West had been ravaged by the demonic path. In their memory, the West was nothing but a barbaric land, filled with cruel, bloodthirsty demons.

And so, the wondrous sounds of the saints began to resound endlessly across heaven and earth.

The five saints simultaneously manifested the Three Flowers on the Crown, using boundless divine power to create worlds in the void and unfold the Great Dao. The void was filled with Dao diagrams, Dao sounds, and the principles of the Great Dao spreading out, forming one scroll after another.

In those scrolls, there was Supreme Goodness is Like Water, nourishing all things silently; the Cause of All Fruits, the origin of all things; the cycles of eras, the Way of Interception; Enlightenment in a Dream, the Three Thousand Buddhist Kingdoms; Prajna Bodhi, the Eternal Kingdom...

Each of these Daos opened up a separate world, and the living beings within those worlds were the practitioners of those Daos.

Every saint's Dao was the ultimate truth of heaven and earth. These truths merged into all beings, becoming laws and codes. All things and all Daos operated according to the saints' Daos, enacting life and death, parting and reunion, love and hate, joy and sorrow.

As the saints began their debate, the disciples of the four sects and the immortals around Sacred Spring Peak were plunged into an ocean of the Great Dao. Never before had they been so close to the Dao; they felt an unprecedented bliss.

But Meng Chen was not lost in it. His mind was utterly clear. The saints' Dao was the saints'—not his.

He had taken Yuanshi Tianzun as his master to learn Yuanshi Tianzun's methods, not Yuanshi Tianzun's Dao. He cultivated the Primordial Nine Seals to stand on the shoulders of giants.

He could use the saints' Dao to build his foundation, but he would never take the saints' Dao as his own.

The saints' worlds illuminated all realms and all beings. From within those worlds, Meng Chen saw countless versions of himself. Some were non-action and non-contention, some expounded the great Dao of heaven and earth, some killed people in dreams...

But Meng Chen knew clearly that none of these versions were the real him.

He recalled his past, analyzing his own life, searching for his deepest Dao heart. What was the Dao, if not the thing one desired most?

Wealth—everyone wanted it, but he already had more resources than he could use.

Power—that was indeed a good thing. He was the first disciple of the Teaching Sect, the future Teaching Sect Master; he lacked no power.

Beauty—he had no need for it. Seeking women in the Primordial World was no different from seeking death. The Duke of the East, Di Jun, Haotian the Great, and Di Xin had all fallen because of women. Meng Chen wanted to live a while longer.

What he truly wanted was strength. The strength to roam freely across all realms, lawless and unrestrained.

With this realization, the world before Meng Chen's eyes changed. He saw countless techniques, countless divine abilities. These techniques and abilities transformed into gods and spirits, descending into the void, expounding the true essence of divine powers to him.

"So this is my Dao."

Meng Chen closed his eyes, his hands forming seals. One seal after another took shape within his body—the Primordial Nine Seals. He gathered his will, using his Dao heart to dye the Primordial Nine Seals.

He wanted to turn the Primordial Nine Seals into his own divine ability.

He no longer pursued the cultivation of the ability itself; instead, he infused his will into it, letting the ability evolve naturally.

Under his intent, the Primordial Nine Seals gradually transformed into divine ability runes, then into specks of spiritual light. The light flickered, and a spark of life was born upon the ability, as if the ability itself had attained the Dao and was about to take human form.

Boom!

The Primordial Nine Seals evolved to their extreme, transforming into multiple Meng Chens. Each of these Meng Chens radiated suffocating waves of divine power.

If Meng Chen struck now, it would be like ten of him attacking at once—his combat power had multiplied ninefold.

The changes in Meng Chen naturally could not escape the saints. Sage Jieyin cast a surprised glance at Meng Chen and could not help but praise: "Senior Brother Yuanshi, what great fortune you have! This child has actually comprehended the principle of Law Embodies Spirit. Your Teaching Sect has a worthy successor!"