Slaying the Corpse Is Difficult

The River of Time and Space, unique to East King Gong, ended here.

However, Donghua did not break through to Great Luo, as his Great Luo realm was incomplete during his re-cultivation.

He continued to wander the River of Time and Space, searching for his own incompleteness, but could never find it.

He entered and exited the River of Time and Space, yet remained utterly perplexed.

"This shouldn't be. If my original body could break through to Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal and achieve Quasi-Saint, how could it be incomplete? If it were incomplete, it wouldn't have been able to escape the River of Time and Space."

Donghua's journey of re-cultivation halted here, as he couldn't break through to Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal.

Just as Donghua was racking his brain.

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck him. He thought of his previous life. Although he was East King Gong, he possessed his own unique memories.

In an instant, he understood where his incompleteness lay: it was his previous life. The original body, East King Gong, lacked those memories, making it naturally complete and able to break through to Quasi-Saint.

But he was incomplete, and therefore, could not break through.

With this thought, Donghua once again entered the River of Time and Space to search for his past.

The River of Time and Space was boundless and conceptless. He didn't know how long he searched, but he could never find the segment of the River of Time and Space that belonged solely to him.

"That's right, Earth doesn't exist at this time, so it's impossible to find it within the River of Time."

"Will my life end like this?"

Donghua was filled with regret at this moment.

At this moment, he thought of many things: people from his Primordial World memories, and his family and friends from his previous life.

"If it doesn't exist, why don't I create one? Isn't it just Earth? For me, at this moment, it's easy."

He immediately took action, beginning to forge Earth within the River of Time.

The Pure Yang Sword in his hand emitted a majestic divine might. He intercepted a segment of the River of Time and directly began creating it in the likeness of Earth.

In an instant, a replica of Earth appeared in the River of Time. Then, based on his memories from his previous life, he evolved his entire life.

After the evolution was complete, he merged this segment of the River of Time into his own River of Time.

At this moment, outside, the Three Islands and Ten Continents were filled with the flow of Dao Rhyme Laws. A colossal phantom of Donghua manifested above Jingyang Palace.

Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown, Five Qi Returning to the Origin, and several Innate Spiritual Treasures rotated ceaselessly within the Auspicious Cloud.

But Donghua, at this moment, could not see any of this; he was solely immersed in his own cultivation.

After merging it into his River of Time, East King Gong felt his Dao path become clear. The previously unbreakable realm barrier suddenly opened, and he stepped once more into the Primordial Golden Immortal Realm, achieving the venerable position of Quasi-Saint.

At this very moment, the traces of the original body, East King Gong, vanished completely.

Only Donghua remained.

Donghua comprehended his own Great Dao. The Magical Power within him was unified, and he wielded various Law powers with ease.

The Pure Yang Great Dao merged into himself.

The external Preaching of the Dao naturally concluded. At this point, he could control it freely, yet everyone remained immersed in their cultivation.

Donghua contemplated his newfound strength.

"The feeling of power returning to oneself is truly wonderful."

He had come to love the feeling of cultivation, the process of comprehending the Dao.

After returning to the Quasi-Saint realm, Donghua did not stop. He continued to study the Great Dao.

He began to walk in the River of Destiny, searching for the Three Corpses.

However, as soon as he stepped into his own River of Destiny, Donghua felt all sorts of desires and obsessions wash over him.

There were the desires and obsessions of East King Gong, and also the desires and obsessions from his previous life.

"What the hell is this? My twenty-something years of desires and obsessions are more than those of the original East King Gong accumulated over countless Aeons?

Damn it, this is practically all five poisons combined!"

Donghua felt numb. The difficulty for other Quasi-Saints in cultivation lay in "slaying," while his difficulty lay in "finding."

Slaying the Three Corpses was not as simple as just using a Spiritual Treasure to cut them. If it were that easy, Quasi-Saints wouldn't be so valuable.

Desire and obsession were inherently formless; how could they be cut? If it were that simple, he might as well just cut himself and end everything.

Here, "slaying" referred to using one's Dao Cultivation, using the comprehension of one's Great Dao to overcome and slay them.

The Dao Heart gathered all sorts of desires and obsessions, then conquered them.

Afterward, these desires and obsessions were severed from the Dao Heart and entrusted to Spiritual Treasures.

"In the Primordial World, among those who cultivated to the Quasi-Saint realm, who has as many desires and obsessions as I do?"

And how much of his River of Destiny had he even traversed?

He had only walked a small portion, and already there were so many desires and obsessions.

Finding all these desires and obsessions, then overcoming and slaying them, he felt this was far too difficult.

This was not just a little more difficult than others slaying their corpses.

Donghua felt he shouldn't cultivate immortality, but rather demon cultivation. Wasn't he a prime candidate for the Demonic Dao?

"Speaking of which, is it still too late for me to cultivate the Demonic Dao now?"

Donghua lay on the White Lotus with a sigh, ending his cultivation.

"The Dao Ancestor probably won't kill me, right? Hmm, probably not. Look at Minghe, he cultivates both immortality and demon cultivation, and the Dao Ancestor doesn't interfere. I should be fine too."

Donghua smacked his own head. "Fine, my ass! Minghe is just someone who listens to the Dao, but I'm the Head of Male Immortals! No matter how generous the Dao Ancestor is, he wouldn't be that generous."

Donghua tidied his robes and then put away the White Lotus.

A casual calculation revealed that his cultivation had taken three Aeons. Truly, the Primordial World had no sun or moon.

He was no longer the novice he once was, but a genuine Great Power of the Quasi-Saint realm, the Purple Mansion Donghua Emperor, Eastern Wood Duke, East King.

Mastering the Dao was now as easy as flipping his hand.

In the Primordial World, one Yuan was divided into twelve Aeons, with each Aeon lasting ten thousand and eighty years. A full Yuan Aeon was one hundred and twenty-nine thousand and six hundred years.

Therefore, this re-cultivation had taken him over thirty thousand years.

Donghua opened the palace doors and walked out.

The moment he stepped out, he was startled by the scene before him.

He saw many people on the Azure Sea, all sitting cross-legged in cultivation.

Great Commander of Fate, Shao Siming, Grand Origin Immortal Lord, Barefoot Immortal, Lord of the Clouds, the Three Gods of Fortune, Prosperity, and Longevity, the Thirty-Five Commanders of Fate, the Seventy-Two Divine Generals, and the lords of various islands.

Donghua swept his divine sense outwards.

Good heavens, the entire Purple Mansion Continent, and beyond the Purple Mansion Continent, was a hazy expanse filled with cultivators at or above the Dao Fruit Realm.

"What are they doing? Did they realize I'm not the original body and want to rebel? But it's too late for that. If it were any earlier, they might have succeeded. Now, I can take on all of you by myself."

Seeing Donghua emerge, everyone stopped cultivating.

Great Commander of Fate and Shao Siming stepped forward, bowed, and said, "Thank you, Emperor, for the grace of preaching the Dao. Your compassion is boundless."

The others on the Azure Sea also bowed, saying, "Thank you, Emperor, for the grace of preaching the Dao. Your compassion is boundless."

The beings of the Three Islands and Ten Continents who could speak also bowed, saying, "Thank you, Emperor, for the grace of preaching the Dao. Your compassion is boundless."

Donghua was stunned.

It wasn't that he lacked experience, but he had truly never seen anything like it.

In all his memories, the kowtow was rarely seen. A kowtow involved kneeling and prostrating oneself before another.

Cultivators sought transcendence, sought Hunyuan. How could they easily perform such a grand gesture?

The Eastern King Gong had only ever performed such a grand gesture once in his life, towards Old Man Hongjun. And even then, the Three Thousand Guests of the Purple Heavens Palace had all performed it.

This was because Hongjun had preached the Dao, bestowing the grace of enlightenment.

At this point, Donghua finally understood why this was happening.

Hongjun had been truly selfless in his act of preaching the Dao.

He, on the other hand, had only done it for his own re-cultivation. He certainly didn't deserve such a gift.

"Everyone, please, do not do this. I acted as I did for myself. Please, do not perform this grand gesture. Donghua is unworthy, truly unworthy."

Donghua bowed in return, performing the Daoist rite and bowing once to each direction.

"How can the Emperor be like this? We sincerely thank the Emperor. The Emperor's compassion is witnessed by Heaven and Earth."

"Yes, Emperor, you absolutely deserve this gift."

"Emperor, regardless of your personal intentions, the preaching of the Dao is real. The grace of preaching the Dao is greater than the heavens. The Emperor naturally deserves it," Grand Origin Immortal Lord said, stepping forward.

Seeing that everyone was only offering words of gratitude, Donghua turned to Grand Origin Immortal Lord and said, "Fellow Daoist Taiyuan, we were both guests in Purple Heaven Palace. Why are you being so formal?"

"This subordinate cannot accept such an address. In Purple Heaven Palace, you and I were fellow Daoists. But today, I have pledged allegiance to Purple Mansion. The distinction between superior and subordinate, ruler and subject, must exist," Taiyuan said solemnly.

Upon hearing this, everyone heartily agreed, nodding in response.

"Very well. In that case, I, Donghua, accept this gift."

"Since you are all gathered here today, why don't we have a Tea Gathering Dao Conference and discuss matters? What do you say?"

Seeing that all the top figures under his command were gathered, Donghua decided to hold a meeting to convey his intention of not seeking to dominate the Primordial World, but merely to cultivate in peace.

To be honest, he was still afraid of death. He truly couldn't contend with the Heavenly Court.

This was precisely the Heavenly Court's most powerful era, with Heavenly Emperor Di Jun, Eastern Emperor Taiyi, Xi Emperor Fuxi, Empress Nuwa, and Demon Master Kunpeng.

These were all top-tier existences in the Primordial World.

Even the powerful Twelve Demon Gods dared not test their might, merely banding together for warmth.

Moreover, Purple Mansion currently had only him, a Quasi-Saint.