Time Law, Formation Broken, Ferocious Beasts Appear

The realm of the Golden Immortal of the Origin can only be reached by those who perceive the Heaven and Earth Laws with supreme wisdom.

However, this profound insight into the laws is merely the starting point of a long and arduous path.

Once a cultivator breaks through this realm, they can cast off the shackles of the Primordial World and roam the boundless chaos, no longer tethered by the heavens and earth.

Yet, on the path of cultivation, the higher one climbs, the more spiritual energy, opportunities, and fortune they extract from the Primordial World—this is the grace of the world's nourishment.

If all living beings only knew how to take without giving back, choosing to depart at will, then no matter how deep the foundation of the Primordial World might be, it would eventually be drained dry by the endless stream of cultivators, leaving behind only a desolate, withered ruin.

Thus, the heavens and earth, sensing this, imposed an invisible shackle upon all living beings, locking their path forward to prevent the depletion of their essence.

This path is the Heavenly Dao Shackles, which stand before every cultivator—seemingly intangible, yet indestructible.

It is not a physical object, but a web woven from the complex, tangled, and inseparable threads of karma between the cultivator and this world.

To break through these Heavenly Dao Shackles, one cannot rely on brute force or supernatural abilities.

Before a cultivator achieves transcendence, their cultivation is at most that of a Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal; attempting to contend with the entire Primordial World is akin to a mayfly trying to shake a tree.

True breakthrough is not about forceful resistance, but about repayment.

Only by walking the Primordial World, accumulating immeasurable merit, and performing great deeds that benefit the world and its inhabitants can one use these supreme virtuous fruits to settle the karmic debts owed from the past.

When one's deeds are complete and the karma is cleared, the shackles will dissolve of their own accord, and only then can one walk the Hunyuan Path.

Donghua sat quietly on the ground, the birth and death of ten thousand laws reflected in his eyes, eventually fading into a faint, almost imperceptible sigh.

The Hunyuan Path is truly arduous beyond measure.

Not to mention that the comprehension of laws is a chasm that bars ninety-nine percent of cultivators; even if one is fortunate enough to glimpse the threshold, the subsequent requirement to perform great deeds beneficial to the world and clear one's karmic debts to the Primordial World is a prospect with no foreseeable end.

The heavens have never cut off any path, yet while the road remains, the gate has grown increasingly narrow.

Perhaps this is why those who reach the Hunyuan realm are so few—merit is difficult to obtain.

During the Beast Tribulation, Hongjun, Luohu, Yangmei, and others slew the fierce beasts, relying on the resulting merit to break through the Heavenly Dao Shackles and embark upon the Hunyuan Path.

During the Dragon-Han Calamity, the three clans were able to break through by dredging water veins, suppressing volcanoes, and regulating the earth's ley lines.

Yet, after the Dao-Demon Conflict, Hongjun will soon attain sainthood and expound the method of Severing Three Corpses, effectively cutting off the Hunyuan Path for others.

After all, without following the path of Severing Three Corpses, even the Three Thousand Red Dust Guests, who gather many of the Primordial World's Innate Divine Beings, will mostly remain without a chance at becoming a Golden Immortal of the Origin.

Cultivation requires opportunity and resources; it cannot be achieved simply by grinding away time.

Severing Three Corpses provides an alternative path, borrowing the power of the Heavenly Dao to bolster oneself and break through the constraints.

To step onto the Hunyuan Path, both laws and merit are indispensable.

In terms of laws, the two fragments of the Jade Disk of Creation in Donghua's palm are his reliance, sufficient to grant him a deeper comprehension of the laws than most other cultivators.

In terms of merit, this forbidden ground occupied by fierce beasts is the supreme opportunity prepared for Donghua.

The beasts here are all remnants that devour the spiritual mechanism of the world and ravage the Primordial World.

To slay them is to cleanse the universe and protect the Primordial World!

When that time comes, the overwhelming merit bestowed upon him will be enough for Donghua to repay his karmic debt to the world and truly step onto that supreme Hunyuan Path.

With his resolve set and the path ahead clear, Donghua no longer hesitated and began his cultivation.

Though this ley line had been polluted by Sha Qi, the Pure World White Lotus had transformed it into a pure Daoist Ground, brimming with spiritual energy and the nascent resonance of the Dao.

As his divine sense sank into the Jade Disk of Creation, Donghua felt as if he were at the very source of the laws.

The Pure Yang and Lesser Yang Laws were no longer obscure, but had transformed into trajectories that could be touched and understood.

With a slight shift in his thoughts, the resonance of the Dao flowed naturally around him, echoing with the heavens and earth.

His Magic Power grew increasingly pure and refined within this resonance; though his cultivation did not leap forward explosively, it climbed steadily and continuously, like water accumulating in a deep spring.

Time passed, and eventually, Donghua awoke.

His aura was now a seamless whole, as heavy as the earth and as scorching as the midday sun.

Sitting there, he appeared like an eternally burning sun, radiating infinite light and heat, so intense that one dared not look directly at him.

As his divine sense stirred, he felt his Magic Power surging like an endless sea, having already reached the peak of the Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal realm.

Even more profound was his comprehension of the laws.

Donghua's insight into the Pure Yang Law continued to advance; as Pure Yang and Lesser Yang reflected one another, their Daoist resonances intertwined, manifesting the phenomena of day and night cycles and the changing of the four seasons around him.

The vitality of the rising sun and the majesty of the midday heat circled endlessly, as if he held the authority over the supreme Yang of the world.

Compared to before, Donghua's aura was now deeper and more distant.

A moment later, Donghua keenly sensed a vast and mellow power slowly radiating from within the formation where Taizhen resided, flowing like moonlight and filling the room with Clear Radiance.

Taizhen emerged gracefully, surrounded by an indescribable resonance of the Dao that seemed to distort the very flow of time around her.

A flash of admiration crossed Donghua's eyes as he clapped his hands in praise, "Congratulations, fellow Daoist. Your Pure Yin Dao has grown even more refined, and you have even glimpsed the mysteries of time through it."

Taizhen smiled faintly, like flowing moonlight, "I have merely gained a little. The rotation of Yin and Yang is the foundation of the four seasons; this seclusion was nothing more than catching a glimpse of a ripple in the River of Time."

Taizhen twirled her slender fingers, and a strand of gentle silver light coiled around them like a silken thread. Her gaze then shifted to Donghua, "But you, Donghua, your Pure Yang Dao is scorching and vast; compared to before, it is like the difference between clouds and mud."

"In that case, let the two of us see what kind of strength the rats hiding in the shadows possess."

"That is exactly what I intended." Taizhen's gaze was cold and clear; the sliver of silver radiance at her fingertips suddenly expanded, weaving a net of moonlight that quietly shrouded the void in all directions.

Donghua pressed his fingers together into a seal, a spark of spiritual light appearing at his fingertips, rippling with a gentle yet irresistible guiding Dao rhythm.

The pool water below responded, surging with waves that rippled in overlapping layers of gold, silver, and purple, the light shimmering as the Dao rhythm flowed.

Amidst the rippling waves, a Twelve-petal Pure World White Lotus rose slowly from the water. The lotus throne spun slightly, its petals unfolding one by one; every ray of light was pure to the extreme, cleansing all impurities from the world and illuminating the surrounding space until it was transparent and sacred.

The white lotus rotated leisurely in the air, shrinking with every turn until it was the size of a fist, looking like a precious work of art carved from white jade. It drifted lightly into Donghua's palm, its radiance restrained, warm and smooth as jade.

After securing the Twelve-petal Pure World White Lotus, Donghua swept his sleeve again and produced a treasure vase.

He tapped his knuckles against it, causing the vase to Zhen slightly. A vortex of interwoven spiritual patterns appeared at the mouth, and a vast suction force transformed a portion of the Three Light Divine Water in the pool into a rainbow stream, drawing it continuously into the vase for future use.

As the Twelve-petal Pure World White Lotus vanished into Donghua's palm as a streak of light, the Innate Great Array that had relied upon it let out a silent wail. Its circulating Dao rhythm shattered inch by inch, dissolving into specks of light that drifted away, leaving this realm completely exposed to the world.

Almost at the exact moment the array dissipated:

"ROAR!!!"

A series of beastly roars, as if echoing from the primordial wilderness, surged forth from the depths of the Sha Qi, carrying a ferocity that made the Divine Soul tremble, striking with the force of a physical impact.

Where the sound waves passed, rocks shattered and space itself stagnated!