Laozi Slices His Corpse, Styx Returns

On the futons sat the same six figures as before.

Jie Yin and Zhun Ti had originally been seated at the back of Purple Cloud Palace, but this time their seats had moved considerably forward.

Styx glanced around and noticed that not a single one of the Twelve Ancestral Witches had come this time.

That was why Jie Yin and Zhun Ti were able to take their places.

Moreover, the number of people in Purple Cloud Palace had not changed—still three thousand.

Before long, Hongjun appeared before the crowd. He wasted no words, cutting straight to the point with a single phrase: "The sermon begins."

"The Three Corpses are worms. The Three Corpses pay court three times daily: the upper corpse, Qing Gu, attacks the eyes; the middle corpse, Bai Gu, attacks the five viscera; the lower corpse, Xue Gu, attacks the stomach and life force..."

Hongjun began expounding on the Great Dao of the Three Corpses, and the assembled great powers listened as if drunk or dreaming.

But at the same time, Styx's mind once again wandered from Purple Cloud Palace.

Hongjun continued his sermon without pause, but a hint of displeasure had crept into his eyes.

If Styx continued to occupy one of the three thousand seats of the great powers in Purple Cloud Palace, yet he himself could not absorb any fortune from him, then when he eventually Harmonized with the Dao, he would be unable to achieve perfection!

It seemed he would have to take some measures during the next sermon.

In the thousandth year of the sermon at Purple Cloud Palace, Laozi, seated on his futon, made a move.

The Three Flowers bloomed above his head, radiant with multicolored light, and then a spiritual treasure flew out from his Sea of Consciousness—the Taiyi Whisk.

This treasure had an extraordinary origin.

Tracing it back, one could even reach the Chaos Treasure, the Thirty-Sixth Grade Creation Green Lotus.

After the Heaven-Opening Calamity, the Thirty-Sixth Grade Creation Green Lotus ceased to exist, transforming into countless spiritual treasures.

For instance, the Connate Supreme Treasure God Slaying Spear was formed from its lotus stem, its five petals became the Innate Five Directions Flags, and its four lotus seeds turned into four lotuses: the Twelfth Grade Creation Green Lotus, the Twelfth Grade Extinguishing Black Lotus, the Twelfth Grade Red Lotus of Karma Fire, and the Twelfth Grade Merit Golden Lotus.

Among them, the Extinguishing Black Lotus had originally been obtained by Rahula, and now, like the Red Lotus of Karma Fire, it was in Styx's hands.

The Merit Golden Lotus was in Hongjun's possession, and after the third sermon, when treasures were distributed, it would be given to Jie Yin.

The Creation Green Lotus was different from the other three lotuses. The other three were merely Top Grade Innate Spiritual Treasures, but the Creation Green Lotus, being the only mature one among the four seeds, was a Connate Supreme Treasure.

Later, the Three Pure Ones stumbled upon this treasure by chance, and with the tacit approval of the Heavenly Dao, they split it into three parts, turning it into three Top Grade Innate Spiritual Treasures.

Laozi obtained the lotus flower, which became the Taiyi Whisk.

Yuanshi obtained the white lotus root, which became the Three Treasures Jade Ruyi.

Tongtian obtained the green lotus leaf, which became the Qingping Sword.

These three spiritual treasures were also the Three Pure Ones' enlightenment treasures, holding extraordinary significance for them.

Laozi's Taiyi Whisk flew into the Heavenly Flower among the Three Flowers, and then the Heavenly Flower trembled. Finally, Laozi let out a loud shout: "Sever!"

A Taoist immediately flew out from the Heavenly Flower, bowed to Laozi, and said, "Greetings, Original Body."

Joy appeared on Laozi's face. "Good. From now on, you shall be Supreme Old Lord."

Supreme Old Lord acknowledged with a single word: "Yes."

Then he plunged back into the Three Flowers and vanished.

Laozi closed his eyes and continued listening to the sermon.

The other great powers in Purple Cloud Palace were greatly astonished.

The difficulty of Hongjun's sermon this time was far greater than the last.

While they were still struggling to comprehend, someone else had already severed a corpse!

One could say that from the second sermon at Purple Cloud Palace onward, the true gap between the great powers of the Primordial Wilderness began to emerge.

An insurmountable chasm had also formed between the top-tier great powers and the ordinary ones.

In the fifteen hundredth year, the second person on the futons, Yuanshi, also severed his Good Corpse, Yuqing Taoist.

A trace of barely perceptible regret flickered in his eyes.

He was still one step behind his elder brother.

Tongtian was only a step behind him as well, likewise severing his Good Corpse, Shangqing Taoist.

After that, Purple Cloud Palace witnessed a wave of breakthroughs to Quasi-Sage.

Nüwa, Taiyi, Di Jun, Kunpeng, Hong Yun, Zhen Yuanzi, Jie Yin, Zhun Ti, Fuxi, Western Queen Mother...

Everyone on the futons except Styx had severed one corpse and achieved Quasi-Sage.

Of course, Styx had long since been a Quasi-Sage—he simply hadn't severed a corpse.

A rough count showed that in just over two thousand years of the sermon, more than fifty renowned great powers of the Primordial Wilderness had broken through to Quasi-Sage.

It was worth noting that the corpses severed by these great powers were all either Good Corpses or Evil Corpses—not a single one was a Self Corpse.

After all, good and evil were easy to sever, but obsessions were hard to understand.

In the future of the Primordial Wilderness, there would be many who could sever the good and evil corpses among the Three Corpses but could never comprehend their own obsessions.

Eastern Duke watched one great power after another break through, and anxiety gnawed at his heart.

His position as Lord of Male Immortals was already unstable. If he couldn't break through to Quasi-Sage during this sermon and let the gap between him and the other great powers widen, then his authority in the Primordial Wilderness would truly amount to nothing.

Not that he had much to begin with.

Finally, in the two thousand eight hundredth year of Hongjun's sermon, as it neared its end, he seized his chance. Using the Dragon Head Crutch, he severed his Evil Corpse and successfully broke through to Quasi-Sage.

However, because he hadn't accumulated enough at the Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal realm, the aura after his breakthrough was noticeably weaker than that of the other Quasi-Sages.

But a Quasi-Sage was still a Quasi-Sage. Even if he fell short compared to the others, he was still absolutely above Zenith Heaven Golden Immortals.

Eastern Duke's spirits soared.

After that, no other great power broke through to Quasi-Sage.

Many Zenith Heaven Golden Immortals felt a pang of regret.

They could go back and seclude themselves to break through to Quasi-Sage.

But if they could do it now, they would be counted among the top tier of great powers, subtly increasing their fortune.

Just when everyone thought no one else would break through, the spiritual energy in Purple Cloud Palace suddenly converged somewhere else.

Clearly, someone else was about to break through!

"Who is it?"

Everyone looked around, but the group on the futons exchanged bewildered glances—none of them seemed to be breaking through.

"It's Daoist Laozi!"

Suddenly, a cry of surprise drew everyone's eyes to the futons.

There, the three flowers above Laozi's head reappeared, and the Earthly Flower swayed unsteadily.

The Eight Sceneries Palace Lantern flew out from Laozi's Sea of Consciousness, entered the Earthly Flower, and then Laozi severed his Evil Corpse.

After the breakthrough, Laozi's aura was several times stronger than before.

Everyone felt the terrifying power radiating unconsciously from Laozi, and their hearts trembled—even the newly ascended Quasi-Sages were no exception.

In the Quasi-Sage realm, each level was a world apart.

On the high platform, Hongjun nodded to himself in satisfaction at Laozi.

Such talent was not only exceptional among this batch of Primordial Sacred Beings—it was no worse than the older generation from the dawn of the Primordial Wilderness.

Laozi would become his disciple, a sharp blade in Hongjun's hand. Naturally, Hongjun wanted him to be as strong as possible.

"Congratulations, Older Brother!"

Beside him, Yuanshi and Tongtian were genuinely happy for their older brother!

All three brothers were Quasi-Sages, and Laozi had even severed two corpses to reach mid-stage Quasi-Sage.

Such cultivation could be said to surpass all the great powers of the Primordial Wilderness!

Laozi's second corpse severing became one of the sermon's greatest highlights.

From then until the sermon's end, no one else achieved such a feat.

But what shocked everyone the most wasn't Laozi—it was Styx, who had never severed a corpse at all!

As soon as the sermon ended, Styx's divine soul returned, and a terrifying wave of energy radiated outward from him.

Everyone was stunned—they could feel an aura in that wave even more terrifying than Laozi's!