Laozi waved his hand slightly. "The Great Dao lies ahead. How much you can comprehend depends entirely on your own fate and affinity. Go, and contemplate it well."
Dao Xuan respectfully replied, "Yes, Master. This disciple takes his leave."
He slowly withdrew from Taiqing Palace, carefully mulling over what he had gained from the Three Pure Ones' discussion of the Dao. The path ahead seemed increasingly clear.
Suddenly!
From Nine Heavens Above came a Dao voice without any warning!
The sound was neither metal nor stone, neither wind nor thunder, yet it resounded with absolute clarity in the hearts of every great power in the prehistoric world, piercing deep into their primordial spirits!
"The ten-thousand-year period has arrived. Purple Cloud Palace shall hold its third lecture. Those with affinity may come and hear the Dao."
The voice was detached and lofty, devoid of the slightest emotion, yet it carried supreme majesty and the rhythm of the Dao.
It was Dao Ancestor Hongjun, who reclined high atop the Ninth Layer of Clouds, attaining true Dao upon his meditation cushion!
Within Taiqing Palace, the expressions of the Three Pure Saints changed upon hearing that voice.
A trace of solemnity passed across Laozi's placid face.
Expectation shone within Primordial Heavenly Venerate's imposing gaze.
Sect Master Tongtian's eyes, meanwhile, blazed with brilliance as his fighting spirit surged.
"The third lecture... has finally come." Laozi sighed softly, seemingly filled with emotion. "The Great Dao is profound and mysterious. This time, the outcome shall be decided."
Primordial Heavenly Venerate nodded. "Our teacher's lecture is a grand event for the prehistoric world. We should depart at once."
Sect Master Tongtian laughed heartily. "Haha, I was just hoping to hear our teacher's Great Dao again and verify my own Dao!"
Laozi turned his gaze toward Dao Xuan, who stood outside the hall and had likewise been startled by the Dao voice. He said calmly, "Dao Xuan, this lecture at Purple Cloud Palace is also your opportunity. Come with your master."
Listening to teachings at Purple Cloud Palace?!
Dao Xuan's heart jolted, and immense joy instantly overwhelmed him!
That was Dao Ancestor Hongjun's lecture! One of the greatest opportunities in the prehistoric world!
How many great powers dreamed of hearing a Saint expound the Dao, yet could never attain it?
Though he knew his cultivation was still shallow, at the early Golden Immortal stage, merely being able to listen in through his master's favor was already an immense blessing!
"This disciple thanks Master!" Dao Xuan said excitedly, his voice trembling as he hurriedly bowed deeply.
"Good." Laozi said no more and lightly swept his sleeve.
A gentle, clear immortal light containing the Dao rhythm of Taiqing surged from his sleeve, instantly enveloping Dao Xuan.
Dao Xuan felt his body grow light as the scenery before him rapidly shifted. The clouds and mist of Kunlun Mountain and its palaces blurred away in an instant.
Howling astral winds filled his ears, while endless Chaos Void stretched before his eyes!
They had already left the prehistoric land and entered the perilous Chaos, where nothing could survive!
Chaos Qi surged like an invisible colossal beast, sweeping toward them with the terrifying power to dissolve all things and assimilate everything.
An ordinary Golden Immortal without a supreme treasure for protection would turn into Chaos dust in an instant!
Within Laozi's immortal light, Dao Xuan could feel the immense pressure outside, yet remained completely unharmed.
Ahead, above Laozi's head, auspicious clouds suddenly spread out!
Within the auspicious clouds, Mysterious Yellow Qi cascaded down like a waterfall as immeasurable Merit Golden Light illuminated all directions!
A crystal-clear treasure pagoda, nine stories tall and octagonal, its entire body Mysterious Yellow, slowly rose from the auspicious clouds!
The moment the pagoda emerged, it became Invulnerable to All Laws, and every evil force retreated!
Immeasurable Mysterious Yellow Merit Qi descended, transforming into strings of necklace with hanging pearls and Golden Lamps that firmly protected Laozi and Dao Xuan beneath his protection.
It was the First Acquired Merit Supreme Treasure—the Heaven and Earth Mysterious Yellow Exquisite Pagoda!
This pagoda had formed from one share of Pangu's merit in opening the heavens. With it above one's head, one would remain undefeated from the beginning!
No matter how violently Chaos Qi surged, when it struck the Mysterious Yellow Qi, it was like a clay ox entering the sea, effortlessly dissolved and erased without being able to shake it in the slightest.
Dao Xuan watched with fascination and secretly thought, So this is what it feels like to cling to a powerful thigh? My sense of security is through the roof!
With the Exquisite Pagoda protecting them, master and disciple traveled through Chaos as if walking on level ground.
Chaos was boundless. There was no sense of direction, nor any measure of time.
No one knew how long passed.
Deep within the Chaos ahead, a point of purple quietly appeared.
At first, the purple light was faint. As they approached, it rapidly expanded, eventually becoming a towering, ancient palace naturally imbued with the Dao's rhythm!
The entire palace was Chaos-purple, neither gold nor jade, and its material was unknown.
Its eaves curved upward, while Dao Runes faintly flowed across them.
The palace gates were tightly shut. Upon them were three Chaos divine characters that seemed naturally formed by the Dao and appeared to contain the ultimate principles of heaven and earth—Purple Cloud Palace!
Before the gates, auspicious clouds coiled while radiant mists swirled.
Two exquisitely carved children dressed in Daoist attendants' garments stood solemnly before the gate.
The boy wore a double knot hair bun and a pale yellow Daoist robe. His features were delicate, and his lively eyes carried a composure unfitting for his age. His cultivation had already reached the Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm!
He was none other than Haotian.
The girl wore her hair in twin buns and a Water-Combining Robe. Her appearance was graceful, her temperament gentle, and she too possessed Grand Unity Golden Immortal cultivation.
She was none other than Yaochi.
Dao Xuan swept his gaze over them and understood. The future Jade Emperor and Queen Mother are still gatekeeping children... The beginnings of the prehistoric world's big shots are truly plain and unadorned.
Laozi descended with Dao Xuan from the clouds. There were no clouds in Chaos; it was actually their escape light.
Upon seeing the Taiqing Saint, leader of the Three Pure Ones, Haotian and Yaochi did not dare show any neglect. They quickly bowed. "Welcome, Senior Brother Taiqing!"
Laozi nodded slightly without saying more, then led Dao Xuan directly into Purple Cloud Palace.
The gates silently opened.
The scene within suddenly opened up before them.
There they saw:
Radiant mists swirling, auspicious light lingering.
Jade fragrance drifted through the air, while blessed mists shone in myriad colors.
Jeweled terraces were draped in colored knots, and precious pavilions scattered Misty Purple Qi.
Phoenixes soared and luans danced in ethereal forms; golden flowers and jade calyxes rose and fell in shimmering shadows.
Above stood nine-phoenix crimson-cloud screens and eight-treasure purple-rainbow cushions.
Five-colored tables traced with gold, and green-jade basins filled with a thousand flowers.
The palace was immensely vast, as though it contained a world of its own.
At the very front, above a high platform, a plain meditation cushion hung in the air. It was Dao Ancestor's seat.
Below the platform, closest to Dao Ancestor's cushion, six enormous purple meditation cushions were arranged, each radiating an unfathomable Dao rhythm.
The Three Pure Ones walked directly forward. Laozi, Yuanshi, and Tongtian took their seats upon the first, second, and third cushions reserved for them.
As Laozi's chief disciple, Dao Xuan naturally followed behind. He respectfully found a place behind Laozi, sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, calmed his mind, and began regulating his breath.
This was Dao Ancestor's Dao field. The spiritual energy was unimaginably pure and dense, and it even contained faint fragments of Great Dao Laws.
The instant Dao Xuan circulated the Taiqing Immortal Art, he felt the spiritual power within him become exceptionally active and his primordial spirit become clear and lucid. His cultivation speed was more than ten times faster than it had been on Kunlun Mountain!
What a wonderful place! Cultivating here for one day is worth a hundred years of arduous cultivation outside! Dao Xuan secretly rejoiced and hurriedly began breathing and absorbing energy.
As time passed, figures began arriving at Purple Cloud Palace one after another.
Every person who entered the gates possessed an aura as vast and unfathomable as an abyss. Even the weakest among them were at the Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm!
Some came alone, while others arrived in groups of two or three. After entering the palace, they each found seats. Some closed their eyes to rest, while others spoke softly among themselves.
Dao Xuan, a "junior" at the early Golden Immortal stage, sat in the first row behind the Three Pure Ones, making him especially conspicuous.
Quite a few great powers swept their gazes over Dao Xuan with curiosity, scrutiny, and investigation.
But when they saw that Laozi, leader of the Three Pure Ones, was seated before him, every unusual gaze instantly withdrew. None dared reveal the slightest further reaction.
The Three Pure Ones were one entity and Pangu's orthodox lineage. Who would dare provoke them lightly?
Feeling those gazes retreat, Dao Xuan inwardly sighed. It really is cooler in the shade beneath a great tree. The ancients truly did not deceive me!
He swept his gaze around and saw many familiar or legendary faces.
Empress Nuwa arrived together with her elder brother Fuxi. Nuwa gave a slight nod toward Dao Xuan and the Three Pure Ones, and Dao Xuan hurriedly returned the gesture.
Old Ancestor Hongyun was still smiling like a kindly old man. He found a seat by himself, and upon seeing Dao Xuan, warmly waved at him.
Great Immortal Zhenyuan held a whisk, with the aura of the Earth Book faintly appearing around him. After nodding to Hongyun in greeting, he too calmly took his seat.
The Demon Clan emperors Dijun and Taiyi wore Golden Crow imperial robes and carried themselves with imposing dignity. Kunpeng followed behind them, his gaze sharp as an eagle's.
Taiyi's eyes narrowed slightly when he saw Dao Xuan, but he soon looked away.
Old Ancestor Minghe, lord of the Sea of Blood, sat alone in a corner. Blood energy faintly surrounded him, and his baleful aura was oppressive as he closed his eyes without speaking.
Finally, two Daoists hurried over from the western lands.
One was sallow and thin, his body slightly hunched. He wore a double knot hair bun with two branches tucked into it, a washed-out pale yellow Daoist robe, and held a branch that was neither gold nor wood—the embryonic form of the Seven Treasures Wonderful Tree. His face bore an expression of suffering. He was Daoist Jieyin.
The other was somewhat plumper, with fair skin. He wore a Fish Tail Golden Crown, slightly worn, and a crimson cloud-patterned immortal robe whose colors had dimmed. He held a whisk, and his lively eyes carried a trace of shrewdness and urgency. He was Daoist Zhunti.
Purple Cloud Palace was filled with great powers. Nearly all of the prehistoric world's foremost beings had gathered here!
Standing among them, Dao Xuan felt the vast, formless pressure and majestic fate permeating the air. He felt as tiny as dust, yet his heart surged with excitement.
No one knew how long passed.
"Dong—!"
A clear and melodious bell chime, seemingly capable of cleansing the Divine Soul, rang throughout Purple Cloud Palace!
Wherever the bell's sound passed, all distracting thoughts vanished, and every conversation abruptly ceased.
Before the plain meditation cushion that had been suspended above the high platform, a figure had quietly appeared at some unknown moment.
The figure seemed ordinary, dressed in a simple gray robe. His face was indistinct, as though shrouded in endless Dao rhythm, yet he also seemed fused with all of Purple Cloud Palace and even the boundless Chaos.
It was Dao Ancestor Hongjun!
His gaze was calm as it swept over the three thousand guests within Purple Cloud Palace.
When his gaze passed over Dao Xuan, it seemed to pause for one ten-thousandth of an instant. Deep in his eyes, a faint trace of surprise and understanding flashed by, too subtle for anyone to notice, before they returned to their ancient stillness.
"This lecture is the third, and it shall also be the last." Dao Ancestor Hongjun spoke in a detached voice that clearly entered the depths of every living being's primordial spirit. "What I shall teach is the Primordial Chaos Dao Fruit, the foundation of Sainthood."
Having spoken, he said no more and began teaching directly.
"The Great Dao is formless, giving birth to heaven and earth; the Great Dao is emotionless, governing the sun and moon; the Great Dao is nameless, nurturing all things..."
"Profound and yet more profound, the gateway to all mysteries..."
"The Three Corpses are the corpse of good thoughts, the corpse of evil thoughts, and the corpse of self..."
Dao Ancestor expounded the Dao, speaking words of truth.
In an instant!
Within Purple Cloud Palace, heavenly flowers rained down, and golden lotuses sprang from the earth!
Countless Dao Runes manifested from nothingness, weaving into dazzling chains of Dao laws that filled the entire space.
Misty Purple Qi rose, transforming into phantoms of auspicious beasts such as dragons, phoenixes, and qilins that circled and danced.
Golden lotuses bloomed one after another, supporting the listeners and aiding their comprehension.
The Dao's rhythm was like a sea, and laws surged like tides!
All those listening below, regardless of cultivation, involuntarily revealed the manifestations of their own Dao Fruits.
Above the Three Pure Ones' heads, auspicious clouds surged mightily.
Laozi's auspicious clouds were clear and bright as water. Three enormous white lotus buds waited to bloom, while a Mysterious Yellow Exquisite Pagoda rose and fell within them, its phantom appearing and fading.
Primordial Heavenly Venerate's auspicious clouds were vast, grand, righteous, and upright. Ten thousand Golden Lamps and necklaces with hanging pearls swayed and rustled loudly.
Sect Master Tongtian's auspicious clouds released sword qi that pierced the heavens. The phantom of the Green Ping Sword flashed endlessly through them, revealing its sharp edge.
Nuwa's auspicious clouds overflowed with the aura of creation, and a phantom unfolded within them, brimming with life.
Jieyin and Zhunti's auspicious clouds shone with boundless golden light, revealing phantoms of the Bodhi Tree and golden-bodied Dharma forms.
Dijun and Taiyi's auspicious clouds resembled great suns suspended in the sky, while the River Diagram and Luo Book and the phantom of the Chaos Bell suppressed all directions.
Zhenyuanzi's auspicious clouds were as solid and heavy as the earth, with the Earth Book's phantom bearing all things.
Hongyun's auspicious clouds were fiery red, suffused with auspicious energy.
The remaining great powers displayed all manner of phenomena: auspicious clouds like seas, solemn Dharma forms, charging exotic beasts, floating divine weapons... The countless manifestations illuminated all of Purple Cloud Palace in bizarre splendor, their Dao rhythms soaring into the heavens!
Dao Xuan stood among them, feeling pressure as heavy as a mountain!
Every word Dao Ancestor taught was a priceless pearl, containing the supreme Primordial Dao and pointing directly toward the realm of Saints!
Its contents were so profound that they far exceeded what his current Golden Immortal realm could comprehend.
Every word was like a Heavenly Book, every syllable containing endless mysteries. He was left dizzy and disoriented, his primordial spirit violently shaking as though it would be crushed by the vast torrent of the Great Dao!
This is too difficult... It's like explaining calculus to doctoral students. I'm just an elementary school student—I can't understand a thing!
Dao Xuan cried out inwardly, his head splitting with pain as faint streaks of blood seeped from his seven orifices.
Just as he felt he could no longer endure it and was about to have his primordial spirit crushed by the boundless Dao rhythm—
Deep within his Mud Pill Palace, the dormant Chaos Bead suddenly trembled lightly!
A warm, cool, yet supremely exalted Chaos Qi quietly spread out, instantly protecting the core of Dao Xuan's primordial spirit.
At the same time, countless infinitesimal runes upon the Chaos Bead's surface began to flow, deduce, and analyze frantically!
Every Great Dao truth Dao Ancestor uttered, every Dao law rune manifested around him, was captured, recorded, dismantled, and reorganized by the Chaos Bead through an incomprehensible method!
Though it could not fully understand their ultimate mysteries, the Chaos Bead forcibly imprinted that incomparably profound information within Dao Xuan's primordial spirit. In a form he could barely withstand, it analyzed the most basic and core trace of true Dao meaning!
It was as though, amid a monstrous flood, it had built him a single-plank bridge, allowing him to glimpse a path through the gate!
The pressure on Dao Xuan abruptly decreased!
Though he still heard everything as if through clouds and mist, obscure and difficult to understand, it was no longer an entirely incomprehensible Heavenly Book.
From time to time, he managed with great difficulty to grasp and understand one or two foundational principles of the "Three Corpse Severance" method that best suited his current realm, or a superficial description of the Primordial Chaos Dao Fruit.
"Sever attachments... understand one's heart and see one's nature... entrust them to spiritual treasures... so that's how it is..." Dao Xuan greedily absorbed each fleeting flash of insight.
Every realization felt like Anointing with Ghee, producing a qualitative leap in his understanding of his own Dao and the laws of heaven and earth!
Above his head, his original half-acre-sized auspicious clouds slowly began to expand with the aid of Purple Cloud Palace's dense Dao rhythm and the Chaos Bead!
Within the auspicious clouds, the petals of the three white lotus buds trembled slightly, as though they were about to bloom!
Five streams of white waves surged and washed through them, becoming increasingly condensed and powerful!
The Mysterious Gold Law-Breaking Halberd darted and roamed through the auspicious clouds, letting out cheerful chimes. Dao patterns flowed across its shaft, and its spirituality increased greatly!
Dao Xuan's cultivation soared madly as though riding a rocket, bolstered by both Dao Ancestor's lecture and Purple Cloud Palace's environment!
Early Golden Immortal... peak early Golden Immortal... the bottleneck loosened...
Rumble!
A powerful aura erupted from within Dao Xuan!
The celebratory cloud above his head abruptly expanded to the size of an acre. The three flowers swayed gracefully, and the rhythm of the Dao flowed!
Mid-stage Golden Immortal, achieved!
But this was only the beginning!
The Dao Ancestor's sermon continued, the true words of the Great Dao surging like a raging flood.
Under the protection of the Chaos Bead, Dao Xuan struggled to seize every trace of opportunity.
His mid-stage Golden Immortal cultivation rapidly stabilized. His mana, primordial spirit, and physical body all underwent transformation beneath the cleansing of Dao Rhyme.
Time lost all meaning in his enlightenment.
Who knew how much time had passed.
Dao Xuan's mana surged within him like mighty rivers, his primordial spirit crystalline and translucent. His comprehension of the laws had reached a critical threshold!
Boom!!!
An even more violent roar erupted from within him once more!
The celebratory cloud above his head radiated ten thousand rays of rosy light, with countless streams of auspicious energy!
The phantoms of three white lotuses suddenly blossomed. Though they had only just opened, they already revealed a pure and flawless Dao Rhyme, Invulnerable to All Laws!
The Five Qi transformed into five condensed white dragons as solid as substance, circling and roaring within the celebratory cloud!
A vast pressure far surpassing that of a mid-stage Golden Immortal spread outward!
The realm of the Grand Unity Golden Immortal!
Dao Xuan had actually broken through two realms in succession while listening to the sermon in Purple Cloud Palace, stepping into the threshold of Grand Unity Golden Immortal in one stroke!
Though he had only just entered the Grand Unity realm and his foundation still required tempering, such speed was already enough to shock the world!
With the rhythm of the Dao flowing around him, his aura was harmonious and complete. The Top Three Flowers swayed above his head, Five Qi Facing the Origin—he had officially joined the ranks of the formidable core experts of the primordial world!
The Dao Ancestor's voice continued to expound the Dao, still detached and lofty, as though no one's breakthrough had caused even the slightest pause.
Within Purple Cloud Palace, the heavenly music of the Great Dao continued, as did the golden lotuses falling from the heavens.
Dao Xuan immersed himself in the lingering aftermath of his breakthrough and that Vast Dao Rhyme, greedily absorbing this supreme opportunity.
The three flowers that had just bloomed above his head quietly underwent even deeper changes beneath the dual nourishment of the Dao Ancestor's true words and the Chaos Bead...
Before you continue