The River of Time and Space unique to East King Gong ended here.
But Donghua did not break through to Grand Unity. His Grand Unity Realm had not been perfected when he began cultivating anew.
He continued wandering through the River of Time and Space, searching for what was incomplete within himself, but he could never find it.
He went in and out of the River of Time and Space, yet no matter how hard he thought, he could not figure it out.
"That doesn't make sense. Since the original East King Gong could break through to Grand Unity Golden Immortal and become a Quasi-Saint, how could his realm be incomplete? If it were incomplete, he couldn't have leapt out of the River of Time and Space."
Donghua's journey of cultivating anew came to a halt here because he could not break through to Grand Unity Golden Immortal.
Just as Donghua was puzzling over this,
a flash of inspiration struck him. He thought of his Previous Life. Although he was East King Gong, he had memories that belonged solely to him.
Suddenly, he understood what was incomplete within himself: his Previous Life. The original East King Gong had none of those memories, so his realm was naturally complete, and he could break through to Quasi-Saint.
But he was incomplete, so naturally he could not break through.
With that thought, Donghua returned to the River of Time and Space and began searching for his past.
The River of Time and Space was boundless, beyond all measure. He had no idea how long he searched, but he could never find the stretch of the River of Time and Space that belonged solely to him.
"Right. There's no Earth at this time, so of course I can't find it in the River of Time."
"Could my life really end like this?"
Donghua was filled with frustration.
At that moment, many people came to mind: figures from his memories of the Primordial Wilderness, as well as his family and friends from his Previous Life.
"Since it doesn't exist, why not create it myself? It's just Earth. That's easy for me now."
With that, he set to work, beginning to fashion Earth within the River of Time.
The Pure Yang Sword in his hand radiated immense might. He carved out a stretch of the River of Time, then began creating Earth according to its appearance.
In no time, the likeness of Earth appeared within the River of Time. Then, drawing on his memories from his Previous Life, he recreated his life.
Once the reenactment was complete, he gathered this stretch of the River of Time and Space into his own River of Time and Space.
Outside, on the Three Islands and Ten Continents, Dao Rhyme Laws flowed without end, while a vast phantom of Donghua manifested above Jingyang Palace.
The Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown, the Five Qi Returning to the Origin, and several Innate Spiritual Treasures revolved endlessly within his Auspicious Cloud.
But Donghua could not see any of this. He was wholly immersed in his cultivation.
After incorporating that stretch into his own River of Time and Space, East King Gong felt his path clear before him. The realm barrier, once unbreakable, suddenly gave way. He stepped once more into the Primordial Golden Immortal Realm and attained the station of Quasi-Saint.
At that very moment, the original East King Gong's traces vanished completely.
Only the Donghua of the present remained.
Donghua comprehended his Great Dao. The magic power within him was unified, and he could wield all kinds of Law Powers with ease.
The Pure Yang Great Dao had merged with him.
His Preaching the Dao outside naturally came to an end. He could now control it at will, but everyone else remained immersed in cultivation.
Donghua savored the power he now possessed.
"The feeling of having all power gathered within me is wonderful."
He had grown to love the feeling of cultivation, and 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 walking through the River of Destiny, searching for the Three Corpses.
But the moment he entered his River of Destiny, all kinds of Desires and Obsessions surged toward him.
There were the Desires and Obsessions of East King Gong, as well as those from his own Previous Life.
"What the hell is this? I've had just over twenty years of Desires and Obsessions, yet I have more than the original East King Gong accumulated over who knows how many eras?
Damn it, I'm a complete nest of the Five Poisons."
Donghua felt utterly numb. Other Quasi-Saints struggled with the 'slaying'; he would struggle with the 'finding.'
Slaying the Three Corpses was not as simple as cutting them down with a Spiritual Treasure. If it were that easy, Quasi-Saints would not be so rare.
Desire and obsession were formless. How could you cut what you couldn't see? If that was all it took, you might as well stab yourself and be done with it.
The 'slaying' here meant using one's Dao Cultivation and understanding of the Great Dao to overcome and cut them away.
The Dao Heart gathered all kinds of desires and obsessions, then overcame them.
Only then could those desires and obsessions be cut out of the Dao Heart and entrusted to a Spiritual Treasure.
"Who in the Primordial Wilderness, at the Quasi-Saint Realm, has as many desires and obsessions as I do?"
And how far had he even gone along his River of Destiny?
He had barely made any progress, and already had this many Desires and Obsessions.
He felt that finding them all, overcoming them, and then cutting them away would be incredibly difficult.
It was far harder than what others faced when Slaying the Corpse—not by a little, but by a lot.
Donghua felt he should not have cultivated as an immortal. He should have practiced the Devil Dao instead. Wasn't he a perfect candidate for the Devil Dao?
"Could I still switch to the Devil Dao now?"
Donghua helplessly lay down on the White Lotus and ended his cultivation.
"Dao Ancestor probably won't beat me to death, right? Hmm, probably not. Look at Minghe—he practices both immortal cultivation and the Devil Dao, and the old Dao Ancestor doesn't care. I should be fine too."
Donghua smacked himself on the head. "Fine? What nonsense. Minghe was just a listener. I'm the Head of Male Immortals. Even the Dao Ancestor couldn't be that generous."
Donghua straightened his robes, then put away the White Lotus.
He casually made a calculation, only to find that his cultivation had taken three cycles of time. Truly, the Primordial Wilderness had no sense of time.
He was no longer the rookie who had just arrived. He was now a true Quasi-Saint Great Power: Purple Mansion Donghua Emperor, Eastern Wood Duke, East King.
Calculating the Dao was now as easy as breathing.
In the Primordial Wilderness, one Yuan was divided into twelve cycles, each lasting ten thousand and eight hundred years. One Yuan was one hundred and twenty-nine thousand six hundred years.
So this time, cultivating anew had taken him more than thirty thousand years.
Donghua opened the palace doors and walked outside.
The sight before him startled him as soon as he stepped out.
There were many people meditating above the Azure Sea.
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 island lords from all quarters.
Donghua swept his Divine Sense outward.
Good heavens! Across Purple Mansion Continent and beyond its borders, the world was shrouded in a murky mass of cultivators, all at the Dao Fruit Realm or higher.
"What are they doing? Have they realized I'm not the original and decided to rebel? But it's too late for that, isn't it? They might have had a chance if they'd acted earlier. Now, I could take on every one of them by myself."
When everyone saw Donghua emerge, they stopped cultivating.
Great Commander of Fate and Shao Siming stepped forward, bowed deeply, and said, "Thank you, Emperor Lord, for preaching the Dao. Your compassion is boundless."
The others above the Azure Sea also bowed deeply. "Thank you, Emperor Lord, for preaching the Dao. Your compassion is boundless."
All the beings across the Three Islands and Ten Continents who could speak also bowed deeply. "Thank you, Emperor Lord, for preaching the Dao. Your compassion is boundless."
Donghua was dumbfounded.
It wasn't that he lacked experience. He had simply never seen anything like this.
In all his memories, the deep bow was rarely performed. To bow deeply meant to prostrate yourself before someone.
Cultivators sought transcendence and Hun Yuan. How could they casually perform such a grand bow?
In this life, East King Gong had only bowed like that to old Hongjun—and all the Three Thousand Guests of Zixiao Palace had done the same.
That was because Hongjun had taught them the Dao and passed it on.
At once, Donghua understood why they were acting this way.
Hongjun had truly preached the Dao out of selfless generosity.
He had only done it to cultivate anew, so he hardly deserved such a show of respect.
"Everyone, please, there's no need for this. I did this for my own sake as well. Please, don't offer me such a grand bow. I'm unworthy of it, truly unworthy."
Donghua bent forward and gave a Dao salute, bowing once toward each direction.
"How can you say that, Emperor Lord? We offer our thanks sincerely. Heaven and Earth can attest to your compassion."
"Exactly, Emperor Lord. You absolutely deserve this bow."
"Emperor Lord, whatever your personal motives may be, you truly preached the Dao. The kindness of passing on the Dao is greater than Heaven itself. You naturally deserve our gratitude." Grand Origin Immortal Lord stepped forward and said.
Seeing everyone talking over one another, all expressing their gratitude, Donghua turned to Grand Origin Immortal Lord and said:
"Fellow Daoist Taiyuan, we were both guests at Zixiao Palace. Why are you being so formal with me?"
"This subordinate cannot accept such an address. At Zixiao Palace, we were fellow Daoists, but now I have pledged allegiance to Purple Mansion. There must be a distinction between superior and subordinate, between ruler and subject," Taiyuan said solemnly.
Hearing this, the others agreed wholeheartedly and nodded.
"Very well. Since that's the case, I accept your bow."
"Since we've all gathered here today, why don't we hold a Tea Gathering Dao Conference and discuss the Dao together?"
Seeing all the leaders under his command gathered together, Donghua thought he might as well hold a meeting and make it clear that he had no intention of fighting for dominion over the Primordial Wilderness. He only wanted to cultivate in peace.
To be honest, he was still afraid of dying. He truly couldn't contend with the Heavenly Court.
This was the Heavenly Court at the height of its power: Heavenly Emperor Di Jun, Eastern Emperor Taiyi, Xi Emperor Fuxi, Empress Nuwa, and Demon Master Kunpeng.
These were all among the Primordial Wilderness's most powerful figures.
At this time, even the mighty Twelve Demon Gods didn't dare to test their strength against the Heavenly Court. They could only band together for mutual protection.
And Purple Mansion had only him, one Quasi-Saint.
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