Hongjun Delivers His Second Sermon, Laozi Severs a Corpse

Hongjun frowned slightly at his words and fell into thought.

Only when he sensed the Qi Luck of Primordial Beings gathering around him even faster did a faint smile appear on his aged face.

"Good!"

He nodded slightly at Hong Yun, growing even more satisfied with this disciple.

The crowd was instantly dumbfounded. How could they not realize that Saint Hongjun had been pleased by Hong Yun's flattery?

Each of them wished they could take his place, but it was already too late.

"We pay our respects to the Dao Ancestor!"

Having come to their senses, they naturally could not allow Hong Yun to claim all the glory. They bowed once more in unison.

This bow indirectly acknowledged Hongjun's contributions to the Primordial Wilderness and confirmed his title as Dao Ancestor.

It also caused the Qi Luck upon them to gather around Hongjun even faster.

For some reason, Eastern Prince, who was bowing alongside them, felt a sense of loss, as though he had lost something.

Naturally, he did not know that the title Dao Ancestor had originally come from his mouth in his previous life. This time, however, Hong Yun had intercepted it!

Hongjun reined in his smile and raised a hand, saying to the crowd, "Sit!"

Once everyone had returned to their places, Hongjun continued, "What I shall explain this time is the path of the Quasi-Saint. It will last ten thousand years. Listen carefully."

Without waiting for any response, Hongjun began his sermon.

"What is a Quasi-Saint?"

"This realm stands above the Grand Unity Golden Immortal. One must comprehend one's own Great Dao, control the laws, condense them into the Dao, and draw upon the power of Heaven and Earth to bolster oneself..."

"One who proves the Dao as a Quasi-Saint possesses boundless might in every gesture..."

This time, Hongjun's sermon did not produce Great Dao runes as it had before, nor were there visions of lotus flowers blooming from his eloquent tongue or Golden Lotuses springing from the ground.

What he spoke of was exceptionally profound, with every phenomenon completely restrained.

Within Purple Cloud Palace, Hongjun's voice continued to echo, yet the three thousand Great Daos and myriad laws in the palace seemed to come alive.

In the past, it had always been obscure and difficult for Great Powers to comprehend laws and the Great Dao.

It was like everyone had been chasing after something while the Great Dao hid from them. Now, the Great Dao no longer hid. Instead, it fully revealed itself before them.

The six Great Powers seated in the front row focused their minds completely, afraid of missing even the slightest detail.

The remaining cushions beneath the Three Pure Ones, Nuwa, Zhunti, and Jieyin seemed to absorb the Great Dao Hongjun spoke of.

Then, strand by strand, they supplied Dao charm to those seated upon them!

As for Hong Yun, just as last time, he was not listening to the Dao at all. Instead, he kept muttering to himself.

Hongjun merely glanced at him. After the corner of his mouth twitched, he stopped paying attention. Habits truly were terrifying things.

Although Hongjun did his utmost to dissect the Great Dao of the Quasi-Saint Realm,

most of them were only Grand Unity Golden Immortals, making it truly difficult for them to comprehend.

What he taught sounded profoundly mysterious to the Great Powers, leaving many of them scratching their heads in frustration.

The owners of the six cushions were doing relatively well with the cushions' assistance. The expressions of everyone else varied greatly. Some looked anxious as they forcibly memorized what they heard, only to forget it again.

Some took out Jade Slips and tried to carve the teachings into them, but whenever they carved a Dao character, it vanished without a trace.

How could the Great Dao be so easily recorded?

As Hongjun delved deeper and deeper, even the six in the front row found it increasingly difficult to follow. Their breathing became hurried.

"How does one attain the Quasi-Saint Realm? This poor Daoist's method is the Method of Slaying Three Corpses!"

"The Three Corpses are a cultivator's good intentions, evil intentions, and obsessions..."

"Use the indestructible spiritual light within a Spiritual Treasure and entrust the Three Corpses to it. Then one may attain the Primordial Realm..."

"One who slays one corpse is an Early-stage Quasi-Saint. One who slays two corpses is a Mid-stage Quasi-Saint. Once all Three Corpses are slain, one becomes a Late Quasi-Saint!"

"When all Three Corpses emerge and merge as one, when one's heart and thoughts are perfected, one may attain the rank of Primordial Grand Unity Golden Immortal, entrust one's Primordial Spirit to the Heavenly Dao, and become a Saint who is imperishable through ten thousand tribulations!"

At the end, Hongjun revealed his self-created Method of Slaying Three Corpses.

What were the Three Corpses?

How could one use a Spiritual Treasure to slay the Three Corpses?

As for how to merge the Three Corpses and prove the Dao to become a Saint, he only briefly mentioned it.

Although Hongjun preached to all beings for the sake of his own Dao, he was also truly a good teacher, explaining the path of the Quasi-Saint Realm to them as though he had crushed it apart and fed it to them piece by piece.

In particular, his explanations of good intentions, evil intentions, and obsessions were exceptionally thorough.

During his sermon, the cultivation of the Great Powers listening to him unknowingly rose by a level.

Perhaps because they had been delayed for a hundred thousand years, Jieyin, Zhunti, Minghe, and Kunpeng progressed the fastest. They were only a step away from breaking through to the Peak Grand Unity Golden Immortal Realm.

Yuanshi, Tongtian, Nuwa, Fuxi, Tai Yi, Di Jun, Eastern Prince, Western Queen Mother, and the other Great Powers directly leaped into Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal Perfection.

Only the Twelve Ancestral Witches gained very little.

All of them frowned. Compared to the previous teachings on the Grand Unity Golden Immortal, this path of the Quasi-Saint Realm was vastly different from the Body Refining Path they cultivated.

Their cultivation remained at the Late Grand Unity Golden Immortal stage. Although they were only a thread away from breaking through,

compared to everyone else, their progress was truly far too slow!

Hong Yun, on the other hand, had once again plucked his fill.

While harvesting benefits and refining all sorts of fragments, his cultivation and realm unknowingly broke through to the Mid-Stage Primordial Golden Immortal Realm.

"Heavenly Dao above, this disciple of mine is going to defy the heavens!"

Seeing such an effortless breakthrough, as simple as eating and drinking, made Hongjun's eyelids twitch.

He truly feared that by the next sermon, Hong Yun would directly attain the Primordial Grand Unity Golden Immortal Realm. Once the Heavenly Dao awakened, it might send down Chaos Divine Thunder and strike his heaven-defying beloved disciple to death.

After all, a Primordial Golden Immortal was unlike a Quasi-Saint. The Quasi-Saint Realm was a shortcut to the Primordial Realm; one only needed to sever one's obsession to break through.

A Primordial Golden Immortal who proved the Dao through laws needed to accumulate comprehension of the Great Dao and condense laws into the Great Dao itself.

This was a hundred times more difficult than Corpse Severing.

When the ten-thousand-year period came to an end, Hongjun stopped his sermon.

Everyone remained immersed in the profound path of the Quasi-Saint Realm, unable to free themselves. Only when the active Great Dao and laws concealed themselves once more did they slowly awaken.

They then saw a trace of annoyance on the face of Laozi, the leader of the Three Pure Ones.

He had been just a thread away from severing his good intentions.

But the sounds made by everyone awakening had pulled him from his moment of enlightenment, causing him to lose his chance to break through. Laozi was so angry that he blew his beard and glared.

How great was the enmity of obstructing one's Dao!

Yet he did not dare vent his anger on anyone present, much less before Hongjun. He held that frustration inside, and the more he thought about it, the angrier he became.

"My foolish disciple, now that your evil intentions have emerged, why not sever them?"

Hongjun's soft murmur fell into Laozi's ears like the tolling of a great bell.

As inspiration struck, Laozi summoned the Heaven and Earth Exquisite Mysterious Yellow Pagoda. A stream of black qi burst from his forehead and swiftly attached itself to the Spiritual Treasure.

"Evil Corpse, sever!"

Although the Heaven and Earth Exquisite Mysterious Yellow Pagoda was not Innate, the indestructible spiritual light it contained surpassed that of most Innate Spiritual Treasures and was second only to Innate Supreme Treasures.

In terms of power, it was no weaker than an Innate Supreme Treasure. It was indeed suitable for Laozi to use it to sever his Evil Corpse.

"This poor Daoist is Li Er. Greetings, fellow Daoist!"

In the void, an Old Man in a black Daoist robe bowed to Laozi. A trace of ferocity still seemed to linger on his face.

Laozi smiled. "You and I are one body. Why stand on ceremony?"

"Good!"

After hearing this, Li Er withdrew his ferocious expression and turned into a streak of black light, vanishing into Laozi's Sea of Consciousness.

"Thank you, Dao Ancestor, for your guidance!"

Laozi gave Hongjun a deep bow, his heart filled with gratitude.

Laozi's Corpse Severing also proved the viability of Hongjun's Method of Slaying Three Corpses, and for a time, everyone could not help but feel envious.