Sect Master Tongtian looked at the crazed Li Er, a trace of concern flashing through his eyes. This guy hadn't been invaded by inner demons, had he?
But he called himself Daoist Master. That title seemed rather interesting.
The master of the Dao?
But they were called Daoism, so being the grandmaster of the Dao worked too!
Hehe—this title would be mine from now on.
"Third Brother Pan, I'll cultivate first. Go do your thing. Remember to be steady when you rob people," Li Er said hurriedly before turning and running into the secret chamber.
He had to cultivate harder. He had to break through.
Sect Master Tongtian shook his head helplessly. He knew Li Er cared greatly about his cultivation realm and lifespan. Normally, those in the Golden Core stage only lived around a thousand years.
Li Er often told him that once he grew stronger, he wanted to travel all around the Primordial World, fish everywhere, and eat all the delicacies the Primordial World had to offer.
But with Golden Core-stage strength, if a powerful demon so much as passed by while he was traveling through the Primordial World, he would be dead.
"No, although his realm is low, his combat methods aren't weak. Even ordinary Great Luo Golden Immortals would suffer badly if they carelessly entered those formations of his. Besides, he has the Purple-Gold Gourd and my Qingping Sword.
"If he's careful, traveling through the Primordial World shouldn't be a problem.
"But his strength is still too low, and the Primordial World is too vast. He won't be able to travel very far." Sect Master Tongtian looked at the formation disk in his hand and muttered inwardly.
He could not understand how Li Er's mind worked. He had actually managed to devise such a cultivation method.
"Forget it. Let him fool around for now. If it truly doesn't work, when his lifespan runs out, I'll just let him change bodies."
Holding the formation disk, Sect Master Tongtian went to the place where he usually fished and began studying it. He was indeed curious about this cultivation method.
Three days later.
Sect Master Tongtian wore a thoroughly depressed expression. He knew he had no talent whatsoever in the Dao of formations, but surely he shouldn't be unable to stack them ten thousand times.
Then he looked at Li Er's formation disk. It was simply insane. He could tell there were already tens of millions of stacked layers.
This formation disk looked as if it was about to come alive.
Boom!
Sect Master Tongtian looked toward Li Er's secret chamber. Why had there been an explosion?
He swept it with his divine sense, and the corner of his mouth twitched. Was this a little too extreme? Or was Li Er simply too impatient?
He saw Li Er using the formation disk to assist in inscribing his own body. However, his body was impervious to all laws and indestructible by all laws. The formation could not be inscribed onto its surface.
That was what caused the explosion. Fortunately, the explosive power had no effect on his body.
"No, this can't go on. I'm afraid Li Er will suffer cultivation deviation.
"I need to find something for him to do. Our Daoism has existed for so long, yet we don't even have a single disciple. That won't do.
"Or perhaps I should let Li Er teach disciples. Maybe he can draw parallels and comprehend a solution. It won't do for him to keep researching blindly by himself.
"I've already taught him everything I should. The rest depends on his own fortune, but it seems that won't work now.
"I'll secretly return to the Interception Sect and see if there are any suitable candidates. I'll bring them here for Li Er to teach.
"This will kill several birds with one stone." Sect Master Tongtian stroked his chin and muttered, wisdom gleaming in his eyes.
Clearly, it would not work for Li Er to keep working behind closed doors alone. He needed to interact with other people. Perhaps different ideas would collide, allowing him to comprehend his physique and create a cultivation technique suited to himself.
As for whether Li Er's existence would be exposed...
Sect Master Tongtian felt that he was overthinking it. After observing Li Er for more than two hundred years, he had discovered that Li Er's physique could evade deductions from the Heavenly Dao as well as the deductions of others.
If Li Er had not contained the Purple-Gold Gourd and Qingping Sword within his body, even he would have been unable to deduce Li Er's existence. Even now, he only knew Li Er's location by deducing the Qingping Sword after learning that Li Er possessed it.
So there was no need to worry about Li Er being discovered at all.
Golden Turtle Island—Biyou Palace.
Lingbao Tianzun looked at his two elder brothers, his face full of smiles. More than anything, he looked as if he had simply given up and was ready to let them do whatever they wanted.
After all, he had not created this mess. Both of his elder brothers had helped before, so they bore responsibility for how things had turned out as well.
"Big Brother, this can't continue. Our supreme treasures can't keep suppressing this place forever. We need to quickly find a solution," Yuanshi Tianzun said gloomily, a trace of anger flashing through his eyes.
That bastard Third Brother had run off somewhere again. He always hid whenever he caused trouble.
Grand Pure Saint remained calm. The Taiji Diagram flickered in his eyes as he deduced, and he said seriously, "Lingbao, why don't you create a Merit Golden Body and convert all this merit?
"Otherwise, this place won't stay hidden for long."
Lingbao Tianzun: ...
Yuanshi Tianzun's eyes lit up upon hearing this. "Good idea. Use Big Brother's One Breath Becomes Three Purities technique. Then you can create three Merit Golden Bodies, and you won't have to fear having too much merit."
As expected of Big Brother. This method really would work.
Not only could they use up all the merit of the Interception Sect, but the merit of the two of them could also be transferred to Lingbao Tianzun.
Merit was good stuff, but it was also a shackle.
Lingbao Tianzun maintained his smile, but inwardly cursed like mad. Just because I'm kind, because I'm the good corpse, you two bully me like this?!
"Since you're silent, that means you agree," Grand Pure Saint said earnestly, a hint of slyness flashing through his eyes.
Lingbao Tianzun: ...
"Big Brother, make your move. Give him the One Breath Becomes Three Purities method. Let's begin."
"Lingbao, begin comprehending the method."
Lingbao Tianzun: ...
Immediately afterward, countless streams of merit that had originally descended upon the Interception Sect began gathering around Lingbao Tianzun. He was forced to use the One Breath Becomes Three Purities technique, instantly transforming into three bodies beside him.
Yuanshi Tianzun acted swiftly, waving his Pangu Banner to guide the power of merit and condense it onto the three bodies. He raised his hand and continuously inscribed divine runes upon them, causing the power of merit to gather according to those runes.
Lord Lao did not remain idle either. He hurriedly transferred the merit he had been holding onto into the three bodies as well.
After all, this merit was not so easy to accept. Once he accepted it, he would have to take action whenever something happened to the Interception Sect in the future.
It was not that he was unwilling to act. It was simply that he had the Human Sect. If conflicts arose between the two in the future, it would put him in an awkward position.
Lingbao Tianzun was like a puppet, maintaining a smile the entire time. If one looked carefully, however, his eyes were full of sorrow.
Why did he have to bear all the pain alone? And when one body could not bear it, why did he have to split into several bodies to bear it?
Was it simply because he was kind?
Three hours passed.
Yuanshi Tianzun and Grand Pure Saint looked with great satisfaction at their handiwork. Three Merit Golden Bodies, each possessing the cultivation of a Grand Zenith Golden Immortal, and each capable of continuously receiving the merit gained by the Interception Sect.
The portions that had originally belonged to them had also all been transferred here, reducing their karmic ties with the Interception Sect.
It could not be helped. The Interception Sect was too enormous a disaster waiting to happen.
If you like this book, please remember to add it to your bookshelf so you won't have trouble finding it next time.
If all three brothers were tied to this place, then when it exploded someday, no one could save them. But if Third Brother bore it alone, then his two elder brothers could still lend him a hand when the time came.
"Lingbao, when Tongtian returns, remember to send us a message. The two of us will beat him up for you," Yuanshi Tianzun said comfortingly. He also knew that what he and Big Brother had done was somewhat excessive.
But better a fellow Daoist die than oneself. Besides, this was only one of Tongtian's good corpses. He would not truly die, and his strength had even increased greatly.
"That's right. Remember to send us a message. My pill furnace and pills still need tending, so I'll be leaving first," Grand Pure Saint said before turning and leaving.
Yuanshi Tianzun patted Lingbao Tianzun on the shoulder and left as well. He had to return and manage his Chan Sect better. With the Interception Sect serving as an example, it would be fine for him to recruit more disciples when he went back.
After watching the two leave, Lingbao Tianzun reached up and rubbed his face. Maintaining that fake smile had made his face stiff.
He treated their words as nothing but farting.
Tongtian had clearly already returned to Golden Turtle Island, yet those two pretended not to see him and even told Lingbao Tianzun to message them.
Wasn't this just bullying an honest man?
"Oh? My fellow Daoist, what have you made here? Three Merit Golden Bodies?" Sect Master Tongtian leaped out from the nearby space and teased.
"Hehe—aren't three enough? Do you want to make ten?" Lingbao Tianzun said coldly, a fierce glint flashing through his eyes. His fists itched terribly. He really wanted to hit someone.
"Ten? Good idea. When fighting others in the future, we can just throw one out and blow it up." Sect Master Tongtian's eyes lit up as he spoke excitedly.
Lingbao Tianzun: ...
"Ah, Second Brother's craftsmanship is terrible. He didn't even know to stack the formations. Let me tidy them up.
"No, this One Breath Becomes Three Purities technique isn't powerful enough. Since it can create three, creating a few more shouldn't be a problem.
"Let me think." Sect Master Tongtian circled around the three Merit Golden Bodies, continuously firing streams of law power from his hands and reconstructing the divine runes on them.
Then he slapped one of the Merit Golden Bodies. Under Lingbao Tianzun's shocked gaze, that golden body split into three more.
And so on.
Lingbao Tianzun looked at the nine Merit Golden Bodies standing behind him. Although their strength had fallen from the Grand Zenith Golden Immortal realm to the Great Luo Golden Immortal realm, there were simply too many of them.
Even more astonishingly, each golden body was like an extension of his own limbs. Controlling them required no effort at all; instead, it felt even smoother.
Moreover, the divine runes on every golden body numbered a thousand times more than before, making them far stronger at absorbing and locking down merit.
"Done. Oh, right, Fellow Daoist Lingbao, hide these Merit Golden Bodies within the Interception Sect's formations and alter their appearances.
"Make them protectors of our Interception Sect.
"When we have more merit in the future, I'll split them again."
"What?! You can split them again?" Lingbao Tianzun could no longer sit still. He could no longer maintain his smile.
Splitting into nine was already outrageous enough. Yet Tongtian made it sound as if they could keep splitting, as though they could be divided without limit.
Was this really how One Breath Becomes Three Purities worked?
Could it truly be that one gave birth to two, two gave birth to three, and three gave birth to all things?
Had Grand Pure Saint cultivated it incorrectly? Was Tongtian's method the correct one?
Sect Master Tongtian waved his hand arrogantly. "Calm down. It's no big deal, just a small matter. Don't panic.
"Our Interception Sect won't explode. Don't worry.
"With me here, no matter how much merit there is, we can handle it.
"Oh, right. Does our Interception Sect have any outstanding disciples? I'll take them out for some experience."
"Hehe—you still remember that you have disciples to teach." Lingbao Tianzun mocked him, displeasure flashing through his eyes.
He had caused such a huge mess and dumped it on Lingbao Tianzun, then neglected to teach his disciples and ran off alone to wander outside.
"Aiya, Fellow Daoist Lingbao, you and I are one. Why distinguish between us?"
"Fellow Daoist Tongtian, come on, come on. I'm willing to merge with you. Come on, come on!" Lingbao Tianzun stood up and spread his arms, a look of liberation appearing on his face as if he were waiting for Sect Master Tongtian to fuse him back in.
Sect Master Tongtian: ???
Half an hour later.
Lingbao Tianzun gritted his teeth, nearly driven mad with anger. Tongtian was such a bastard.
In the past, Tongtian had always thought of ways to merge him back.
But when Lingbao Tianzun had just offered to merge willingly, Tongtian actually said, "For the sake of steadiness, it's better not to merge.
"If I die, Lingbao will still have one life left."
He had even told Lingbao Tianzun to guard the place properly and call him back to split the merit again if the power of merit became excessive.
Outside Golden Turtle Island.
Sect Master Tongtian carried an unconscious young chubby fellow in one hand. Curling his lip disdainfully, he said, "Where else am I going to find such an excellent scapegoat? The evil corpse definitely wouldn't be willing to take the blame.
"Lingbao actually wants to merge back with me? Dream on."
He casually slashed open a passage, stepped into it, and disappeared.
Near Mount Buzhou.
Li Er emerged from the secret chamber, utterly resigned. With this damned physique of his, he could not even carve formation runes onto his skin.
It would have been one thing if he simply could not inscribe them, but touching it even caused explosions.
Fortunately, he could carve divine runes into his bones, acupoints, meridians, and internal organs—every place where divine runes could be inscribed.
Unfortunately, he did not know that his body was already enveloped by the Chaos Orb, and that outer layer was formed by the Chaos Orb itself. How could he possibly inscribe anything onto it?
At that moment, the formation outside rippled and opened a passage. Sect Master Tongtian walked in, carrying a young chubby fellow.
"Huh? Third Brother Pan, did you rob someone and bring him back this time?" Li Er walked over and asked curiously. The fatty's cultivation aura was actually that of a Golden Immortal.
The only reason he recognized a Golden Immortal's aura was that Sect Master Tongtian had shown him the auras each cultivation stage should possess.
"This is a disciple I've taken in. How can our Daoism have only two people? We need to recruit some disciples," Sect Master Tongtian explained, a look of astonishment flashing through his eyes.
Li Er's aura had changed greatly. It was a qualitative transformation in his life essence. His cultivation realm had not improved and was still at the Golden Core stage.
But there were no traces of formations on his skin, nor did he display the signs of cultivating the Nine-Nine Mystic Art.
"You succeeded?"
"No. There's still no way, so I can only find another path.
"By the way, is this little fatty's background clean? You didn't just randomly snatch someone off the road, did you?" Li Er abruptly changed the subject and asked curiously. He had seen Pan Laosan's bizarre way of thinking before.
"Don't worry. I used Sword Heart Clarity to summon him, so there definitely won't be a problem.
"I'll leave him to you to teach." Sect Master Tongtian patted his chest.
"Huh? Aren't you going to teach him? He's a Golden Immortal. What could I possibly teach him?" Li Er said in shock. He knew Pan Laosan was especially unreliable.
"Teach him whatever you want. Start by teaching him our Daoism's Steadiness Sutra."
Before you continue