Immortal Dao Cultivation

Above the Azure Sea stood Jingyang Palace, Donghua's place of cultivation.

In the Primordial Wilderness, places where people cultivated were generally called caves. But the "cave" here didn't mean an actual hole dug out for cultivation; it referred to a blessed grotto-heaven.

Rather than a cave, it was more like a small world—a small world within the Primordial World Continent.

Donghua released the Pure World White Lotus and sat cross-legged upon it.

He wasn't cultivating. He was reflecting and taking stock.

His predecessor had left him a great deal of wealth.

First were the Innate Spiritual Treasures. There were thirty-nine in all: three Top-tier Innate Spiritual Treasures, six High-grade Innate Spiritual Treasures, twelve Mid-grade Innate Spiritual Treasures, and eighteen Low-grade Innate Spiritual Treasures.

The Top-tier Innate Spiritual Treasures were the Dragon Head Golden Staff, the Twelve-grade Pure World White Lotus, and the Pure Yang Sword.

The High-grade Innate Spiritual Treasures included the Purple Sun Bell and Yin-Yang Furnace; the Mid-grade Innate Spiritual Treasures included the Clear Jade Seal; and the Low-grade Innate Spiritual Treasures included the Two Forms Mirror.

Whether Innate or Houtian Spiritual Treasures, they were divided into three grades: high, mid, and low. But some treasures, because of their special nature, were known as Top-tier Spiritual Treasures.

The Heaven and Earth Cauldron, the Five Directions Innate Banners, and the Five Great Lotus Platforms were some of the most notable examples.

Besides the Innate Spiritual Treasures, his predecessor had left him the Fusang Tree, which he had acquired at the cost of his life. More precisely, it was a Yang-attributed Fusang Tree.

But none of these were the most precious inheritance. That honor belonged to the Purple Mansion Immortal Path his predecessor had created.

East King Gong had become the Head of Male Immortals not because of some scheme by Hongjun. If Hongjun had really wanted to kill him, there would have been no need for such complications. One finger would have been enough.

And don't say he couldn't be killed. Even the Three Pure Ones would have been wiped out if Hongjun had wanted them dead. If he lacked even that much power and ability, why cultivate immortality or seek sainthood?

During the era of the Desolate Ancient Fierce Beasts and the Primordial Dragon-Phoenix Era, who knew how many Innate Deities had perished?

"The general course of the Primordial Wilderness cannot be changed, but the small things can." To Donghua now, that sounded like a joke.

There was nothing in this world that would remain unchanged forever, and no one who could not be killed.

To put it simply:

"The Primordial Wilderness doesn't allow anyone to be that damn powerful."

There were two reasons East King Gong had become the Head of Male Immortals.

First, East King Gong was the embodiment of Yang in the Primordial World. Yin and Yang were the foundation of all things, and men were Yang. So if there was to be a Head of Male Immortals, East King Gong was the only suitable choice.

Second, he had earned the title himself. The Head of Male Immortals wasn't a Heavenly Positional Authority, but merely a position within the Immortal Dao.

Hongjun had taught the Immortal Dao, and East King Gong had created the Purple Mansion cultivation path based on his own cultivation. Besides Hongjun, he was the first in the Immortal Dao to create a path that could lead to the Grand Luo Golden Immortal Realm.

That was why Hongjun had appointed East King Gong as the Head of Male Immortals.

West Queen Mother, meanwhile, had been appointed Head of Female Immortals simply because she was the embodiment of Yin in the Primordial World.

So, while the titles Head of Male Immortals and Head of Female Immortals sounded impressive, they weren't actually all that remarkable. It was like Zhen Yuanzi later being called the Ancestor of Earth Immortals.

They were symbols of status and honor.

That said, if East King Gong and West Queen Mother had truly been capable, they could have turned these empty titles into real authority. The Head of Male Immortals could have become the ruler of all male immortals.

As it happened, his predecessor, East King Gong, eventually had exactly that in mind. Recklessly, he raised his banner and established the Immortal Court.

In the end, the Heavenly Court destroyed it. No one came to his aid, nor could anyone have helped him. Helping East King Gong meant helping him claim supremacy. No one would have intervened lightly. And if East King Gong had succeeded, the title of Head of Male Immortals would have become a reality.

West Queen Mother was much smarter. She had always treated her title as nothing more than a symbol of status.

Everyone in the Primordial Wilderness naturally held her in high regard and treated her with courtesy. Even the Saints, after attaining sainthood, were unfailingly respectful and welcomed her as an honored guest.

Donghua had spent the past few days thinking about how to survive. He hadn't expected that, after going out today and hearing Shao Siming's words, he would suddenly see the answer.

As it turned out, as long as he didn't bring disaster upon himself, he wouldn't die.

Then what was there to fear? Just keep the music playing and the dancing going!

His Dao Heart suddenly cleared, and he felt much lighter. Even the Purple Mansion Immortal Path he cultivated began to circulate on its own. His magic power flowed through him like an ocean, while the laws he commanded coursed beyond his body and enveloped the entire Purple Mansion Continent.

Donghua began to circulate the Purple Mansion Immortal Path, directing his magic power and absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

At present, cultivation in the Primordial Wilderness was divided into the paths of Heaven, Earth, Human, God, and Ghost. These were not cultivation realms, but Positional Authorities.

The first realm of immortality was the Dao Fruit Realm.

This was the attainment of an immortal Dao Fruit. One who attained the Heavenly Immortal Positional Authority became a Heavenly Immortal; one who attained the Earth Immortal Positional Authority became an Earth Immortal. The rest followed the same principle.

The second realm of immortality was the Mystic Immortal Realm.

As the saying went, "The profound and mysterious is the gateway to all wonders. Empty beyond emptiness, one law endures. To see one's true nature, one must pass directly through these three gates." The profound was the Dao: deep and unknowable, mighty and unseen, obscure and unfathomable. It was the refinement of the spiritual energy of heaven and earth into profound energy.

The third realm of immortality was the Spirit Immortal Realm.

"Spirit" referred to the Dao's resonance, the root of its very essence. At this stage, one began to comprehend the Dao: the Dao gave birth to One, One gave birth to Two, Two gave birth to Three, and Three gave birth to all things. All things possessed spirit.

The fourth realm of immortality was the True Immortal Realm.

One who attained the Dao became a True Immortal. All things transformed from the illusory into the real, and the Dao Fruit likewise changed from illusory to real.

The fifth realm of immortality was the Golden Immortal Realm.

"Golden" meant imperishable, enduring all hardships without destruction. One attained an immaculate immortal body, the Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown, and the Five Qi Returning to the Origin, and leapt beyond the Three Realms, no longer bound by the Five Elements.

The sixth realm of immortality was the Grand Unity Golden Immortal Realm.

The Dao was completed, and the laws reached perfection. The Dao Fruit and the laws converged into an Indestructible True Spirit. As long as the True Spirit endured, one's true self would never be forgotten.

The seventh realm of immortality was the Grand Luo Golden Immortal Realm.

"Grand" meant boundless; "Luo" meant encompassing, like a net. The Grand Luo was boundless, encompassing all existence. One entered the River of Time and Space, merging past and present, and remained eternally free throughout all times and spaces. The beings of the Primordial Wilderness also called this the Emperor Realm.

The eighth realm of immortality was the Quasi-Saint Realm.

This realm was also known as the Primordial Golden Immortal Realm, the Primal Beginning Realm, or the Primordial Origin Realm. The Divine Dao called it the Primal Beginning, the Devil Dao called it the Primordial Origin, and the Immortal Dao called it the Primordial Golden Immortal Realm. The beings of the Primordial Wilderness also called it the Ancestor Realm.

The cry of "Ancestor" captured the wonder and might of this realm!

But ever since Saints had appeared in the world, it was generally called the Quasi-Saint Realm, and those who reached it were known as Great Powers.

Those in this realm transcended the River of Time and Space and entered the River of Destiny. They sought out the future and began to control their own fate.

The ninth realm of immortality was the Primordial Chaos Great Luo Golden Immortal (Saint).

When primordial chaos first emerged and Yin and Yang had yet to be divided, what was the Dao? The Dao was Hun Yuan. Hun Yuan was the Dao's essence, encompassing everything and containing all things. Hun Yuan was principle, was the Dao, was the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth.

Those in this realm had transcended. They were no longer limited by the River of Time and Space or the River of Destiny. They were truly free and unfettered. They themselves were time and space, and their words became fate.

This realm could also be called the Dao Realm. I am the Dao.

A Primordial Chaos Great Luo Golden Immortal wasn't necessarily a Saint, but a Saint was certainly a Primordial Chaos Great Luo Golden Immortal.

Sainthood wasn't a cultivation realm, but a realm of the Dao, a Positional Authority within the Primordial World. The Primordial Violet Qi Hongjun had bestowed upon the Six Saints was, in truth, a Positional Authority born of the Heavenly Dao—a way to Act as Heaven's Emissary.

Donghua had only just entered the Quasi-Saint Realm and had yet to perform Slaying Three Corpses.

Slaying Three Corpses was the path to enlightenment taught by Hongjun. It could lead one to become a Primordial Chaos Great Luo Golden Immortal or attain the realm of a Saint.

The Three Corpses were the good, evil, and obsessive corpses. Slaying them didn't mean cutting away one's goodness, evil, and obsessions; it meant cutting away one's attachments and desires.

People had more than just these three kinds of attachments and desires. "Good, evil, and obsession" were broad categories.

One had to seek out one's attachments and desires in the River of Destiny, then sever the Three Corpses and entrust them to Spiritual Treasures. Only then could one transcend the limits of the River of Destiny, unite one's own time, space, and fate, and attain the Dao Realm of Hun Yuan.

So it wasn't that one had to slay the corpses to become a Quasi-Saint. Rather, one had to become a Quasi-Saint before one could slay them. Otherwise, one wouldn't even be able to find the River of Destiny. How could one possibly slay the corpses?

The Spiritual Treasures used to house the Three Corpses didn't have to be Innate Spiritual Treasures. It was just easier to entrust the corpses to Innate Spiritual Treasures, and doing so led to greater achievements in the future.

Entrusting the Three Corpses to Spiritual Treasures didn't mean the treasures disappeared and became the three corpse incarnations, turning into living beings.

A Spiritual Treasure remained a Spiritual Treasure.

But when needed, it could also transform into one of the Three Corpse incarnations, much like a weapon with its own intelligence.

Donghua was now immersed in cultivation.