As Hongjun spoke, the Dao Sound was no longer merely noise. It directly transformed into patterns of laws that flowed through the hearts of every listener:
"Though a Daluo has transcended the River of Fate and roams freely beneath Heaven and Earth, there is still a sky beyond the river, and the heart remains bound. Thus, it is not true great freedom.
"Only by Severing Three Corpses, becoming a Quasi-Saint, and proving the Dao Fruit of a Saint can one attain true great freedom!"
As the Dao Sound faded, golden lotuses bloomed in the void. Sweet springs surged from the earth, while the glow of the setting sun condensed into tangible seal-script characters that circled the palace, as though the Great Dao itself were resonating in response.
"The Nascent Soul of every living being is like an uncarved jade. Yet from the moment of birth, it is shrouded in the Three Dusts. These Three Dusts are the Three Corpses."
"The first is the corpse of benevolent thoughts. Benevolence is virtue by nature, but excessive attachment turns it into shackles. Compassion instead ensnares the self, making one arrogant and self-bound, unable to attain liberation."
"The second is the corpse of malicious thoughts. Evil is fierce by nature, but indulgence turns it into an abyss. Brutality devours spiritual clarity, causing one to indulge and destroy oneself, losing one's true nature."
"The third is the corpse of obsessive thoughts. It is the most secretive and the most stubborn. It is also the corpse of the self."
"All greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance, and attachments originate from this. It is like a prison of the heart, drawing boundaries upon the ground and preventing you from recognizing your original face."
When Hongjun reached this point, he lightly swept his sleeve. A phantom scene appeared: an ancient mirror covered in dust, whose grime was gradually wiped away until its radiant Clear Radiance returned.
"The Dao Heart is like a bright mirror, while the Three Corpses are like dust and grime. Severing the corpses is not done to destroy the bright mirror, nor to extinguish the seven emotions and sever the six desires. It is to wipe away the dust, allowing the mirror to shine and illuminate all things."
"To Sever the Three Corpses, one must face the True Heart directly, observe movement within stillness, and preserve stillness within movement. One's mind must remain unmoved even when seeing the galaxy collapse, and one's spirit must remain unclouded even when entering the vast mortal world.
"After all Three Corpses are severed, one does not become dead wood or cold stone. Instead, one gains a heart of great freedom.
"Benevolent thoughts, malicious thoughts, and obsessive thoughts are like clouds passing across the vault of Heaven, leaving no trace. The myriad causes and effects are like a boat crossing azure waves, leaving no mark upon the water."
As the Dao Sound rose, the Dao Resonance within Purple Firmament Palace lingered for a long time. The Three Thousand Guests either sank into thought, suddenly understood, or wore bitter expressions, all immersed in this supreme wondrous art.
When the Three Corpses were severed, they became formless thoughts. They needed tangible objects as their foundation before their power could manifest and endure in the world.
Therefore, after severing the Three Corpses, one should choose innate spiritual objects as their vessels. You must understand that these objects concern your future path of cultivation, so you must be exceedingly cautious."
Hongjun's Dao Sound paused briefly. His gaze swept across the many mighty figures below the dais who wore contemplative expressions before he continued his lecture.
"First, the higher the grade of the object used as a vessel, the better. The more powerful the vessel's origin, the stronger the Dao thoughts it can bear, and the more profound the Three Corpses' divine abilities will become when they manifest in the future. This is the foundation, and it determines the height you will reach in the future."
"Second, compatibility is fundamental."
As the Dao Ancestor's voice fell, two interwoven streams of Clear Radiance appeared in the air.
One stream of Clear Radiance shared the same origin and was as tightly connected as one body. The other came from different sources, yet resonated with the same fluctuations of law.
"There are two kinds of compatibility. You may choose your own path."
He pointed toward the first stream of Clear Radiance.
"The first is shared origin. If you use an object of shared origin as the vessel for the Three Corpses, then the auras of the Three Corpses will connect and their Dao Resonance will harmonize. When the Three Corpses merge into one in the future, it will be as natural as water flowing into a channel, with greatly reduced resistance."
"However, the Primordial Wilderness is vast, and innate spiritual objects of shared origin are exceedingly rare. Only those carrying great opportunities can obtain them. Finding one is truly as difficult as seeking a needle in a haystack."
The Dao Ancestor then pointed toward the second stream of Clear Radiance.
"The second is shared laws. Although this path is not as perfectly natural as the path of shared origin, it is a smooth road."
"All innate objects contain profound laws. If you can find three spiritual objects containing the same laws, you will need to expend some effort, but it will still be far better than pursuing those illusory objects of shared origin."
"Using this method to house the Three Corpses will allow you to study one Dao to great depth and establish a solid foundation. It is certainly a wise choice."
In the next moment, the voice of Dao Ancestor Hongjun suddenly rose. It was like the peal of great bells and resonant chimes, yet also like thunder from the Ninth Heaven, shaking the Nascent Souls of the Three Thousand Guests within Purple Firmament Palace and causing their Dao Hearts to awaken deeply:
"The path is clear, and the opportunity is in your hands!"
The Dao Sound seemed to contain supreme might as it pounded against the hearts of every mighty figure.
"Will you seek that illusory supreme treasure of shared origin, something that is difficult to find even once in countless ages, hoping that the future path to merging the Three Corpses will be smooth sailing?"
"Or will you settle for the next best thing and gather spiritual objects containing the same laws, sever the Three Corpses first, prove the Quasi-Saint Dao Fruit, and seize every advantage?"
"There is no right or wrong in this choice. It depends only on your Dao Heart, blessings, and decisiveness."
"A difference of one thought may save you billions of years of painstaking cultivation and lead you to the limitless Dao. Or it may leave you facing thorns at every step, with a difficult and rugged path."
"You must follow your own fate and methods, and decide with the utmost caution!"
The Dao Sound rang through the sea of consciousness of everyone like great bells and resonant chimes, stirring countless deductions and reflections about their own paths of cultivation.
Donghua sat quietly on the ground. Every word spoken by the Dao Ancestor fell like strings of jade pendants, stirring myriad ripples in his mind.
As Hongjun explained the Method of Severing Three Corpses, the layer of fog that had previously clouded Donghua's heart finally dispersed, giving him a clear understanding of this supreme method.
"So that's how it is..." Donghua silently looked inward, his thoughts turning as swiftly as lightning.
If one broke through to become a Hunyuan Golden Immortal by following the path of laws, one sought inward within oneself. Taking one's profound comprehension of the laws of Heaven and Earth as the foundation, one climbed step by step. It was a pure path of transcendence.
The Method of Severing Three Corpses, on the other hand, was an incomparably ingenious method that used the Heavenly Dao to pave a "shortcut" for cultivators.
The so-called entrusting of spiritual treasures was, in essence, seeking outward through external objects: placing the thoughts of the severed Three Corpses upon innate spiritual objects containing laws.
This was not done to comprehend those laws through the opportunity. Instead, the spiritual treasures served as a "bridge" to draw upon and borrow the power of the laws within them, using it to nourish and strengthen the original body.
"One seeks inward within oneself, relying on one's comprehension and perseverance. That is the path of creation. The other borrows from external objects, relying on spiritual treasures and opportunities. That is the path of following the natural order."
Donghua suddenly understood. This was the most fundamental difference between the path of laws and the path of Severing Three Corpses.
This realization gave Donghua a much clearer perspective when weighing his future path.
After severing the corpses, a cultivator could not only wield the laws contained within the spiritual objects used to house the Three Corpses, but could also obtain an independent avatar possessing its own thoughts.
For precisely this reason, during the long years after breaking through, the supernatural abilities displayed by Quasi-Saints often surpassed those of Hunyuan Golden Immortals at the same level.
However, this power was ultimately "borrowed." A Quasi-Saint's true comprehension of the laws did not reach the corresponding realm merely because he had severed the corpses.
The laws contained within innate spiritual objects were fixed. They were a predetermined endowment of innate nature; they would neither grow nor transform.
Thus, the early strength of a Quasi-Saint was like a tree without roots. It appeared lush, yet could never reach the heavens.
If one wished to advance further and glimpse the realm of Hunyuan Daluo, one would ultimately have to turn back, plant one's feet firmly on the ground, and truly comprehend the wondrous workings of the laws of Heaven and Earth.
The Method of Severing Three Corpses appeared to be a shortcut, yet in the end, it still led cultivators back to the most fundamental "path of laws."
However, the Method of Severing Three Corpses was extraordinarily profound and followed the Heavenly Dao. How could breaking through to become a Hunyuan Golden Immortal by walking the path of laws be easy?
During the Calamity of Ferocious Beasts, only a handful of people—Hongjun, Yangmei, Luohu, Wuxing, Qiankun, and a few others—had succeeded, and all of them had once been Chaos Demon Gods.
By the time of the Dragon-Phoenix Calamity, even powerhouses such as Ancestral Dragon, Yuanfeng, and Beginning Qilin had needed to rely on immense providence to strengthen themselves, supplemented by their comprehension of the laws, before they could break through the realm of Hunyuan Golden Immortal.
Yet by relying on the Method of Severing Three Corpses, most of the Three Thousand Guests of Purple Firmament Palace had hope of reaching the Quasi-Saint realm.
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