Preaching the Dao

Chapter 44: Preaching the Dao

Ten days passed in the blink of an eye.

Taiyi felt as if he had just closed his eyes for a nap. Before he could even figure out how to use the three Heavenly Dao loopholes, the golden bell of Zixiao Palace rang again—a "dong" that made his Primordial Spirit tremble, forcibly pulling him out of his semi-meditative state.

He opened his eyes to find the hall already filled with people.

Hongjun was still sitting there, his drab daoist robe and indifferent face exactly the same as ten days ago, like a statue. The Dao Ancestor sat quietly with his eyelids half-closed, not looking at anyone, waiting for the hall to quiet down.

Taiyi stood beside Di Jun, taking a deep breath.

He hadn't accomplished anything in the past ten days.

He had intended to consolidate his cultivation, comprehend Causality Vision, and ponder solutions for the loopholes... but as soon as he closed his eyes, the three fragments of Karma Reversal in his mind started acting up. They were like three red-hot irons rolling around in his sea of consciousness, burning him so much that he couldn't calm down.

He had tried to suppress them with True Sun Fire and the daoist rhymes of the Chaos Bell, but the fragments were too peculiar—the more he suppressed them, the more they bounced; if he ignored them, they actually calmed down a bit. In the end, Taiyi had no choice but to let them churn in his sea of consciousness, dedicating a wisp of his mind to watch them, ensuring they didn't cause too much trouble.

As for consolidating his cultivation and planning for the loopholes... it was all for naught.

Now that Hongjun was about to continue preaching, he could only brace himself and go along with it.

The hall fell completely silent.

Hongjun slowly raised his eyelids, his gaze sweeping over those below, and he said indifferently, "Today, I will lecture on the bottleneck of severing the corpses."

His voice was still the same, flat and without fluctuation.

But as Taiyi listened, his heart skipped a beat.

The bottleneck of severing the corpses... this was the true threshold of a Quasi-Saint. The previous lecture on entrusting the Three Corpses was merely a prelude; now, it was time to get serious.

He quickly gathered his mind, preparing to listen attentively.

But at that moment, the three fragments in his sea of consciousness jumped violently.

It wasn't a commotion, but some kind of... sensing?

Taiyi frowned, sending a wisp of divine sense into his sea of consciousness to examine the three fragments. Upon looking, he froze—

The dark golden patterns on the surface of the fragments were now slowly flowing, as if they had come alive. Between the patterns, a certain design was faintly outlined... was it a map? Or some kind of formation?

Before he could understand it, Hongjun's voice rang out again:

"The first stage of severing the corpse is the separation of the Primordial Spirit."

Taiyi quickly pulled his mind back, listening intently to the sermon.

"After completing the entrustment of the Three Corpses, one must use the Primordial Spirit as a knife to sever good thoughts, evil thoughts, and obsessions from the Origin. This process is extremely dangerous; a slight mistake can lead to a backlash of thoughts at best, or the shattering of the Primordial Spirit at worst..."

The atmosphere in the hall instantly became solemn.

Everyone pricked up their ears, afraid of missing a single word.

Taiyi's heart tightened as well.

Using the Primordial Spirit as a knife... that sounded painful. And a "slight mistake" could shatter the Primordial Spirit? This wasn't cultivation; it was playing with one's life.

As he pondered, Hongjun continued, "...The method for separating the Primordial Spirit must be gradual. Initially, only a hair's breadth can be separated. After adapting, one can gradually deepen the separation. Do not be greedy for quick success..."

Taiyi listened and took notes, rapidly deducing the feasibility of this method in his mind.

But at that moment, the three fragments in his sea of consciousness jumped again.

This time, the jump was more violent, as if something was crashing inside. Taiyi could feel the forbidden power deep within the fragments slowly awakening with the sound of Hongjun's preaching.

Damn it, is this going to end?

Taiyi cursed inwardly but dared not ignore it. If this thing truly caused a ruckus in his sea of consciousness, he would be exposed on the spot.

He gritted his teeth and began to multitask—

One part of his mind continued to listen to the sermon, noting every detail Hongjun spoke and deducing the method for severing the corpse.

The other part of his mind sank into his sea of consciousness, watching the three fragments and trying to guide the awakening forbidden power, preventing it from running wild.

It worked at first.

Hongjun spoke slowly, sentence by sentence, with pauses in between. Taiyi took advantage of these pauses to quickly deal with matters concerning the fragments; when the Dao Ancestor spoke again, he would pull his mind back to listen.

But before long, he realized something was wrong.

As Hongjun reached crucial points, although his speaking speed didn't increase, the content became denser, and the contained daoist rhymes grew stronger. As Taiyi listened, he felt his mind becoming insufficient—not that he couldn't understand, but he couldn't handle two things at once.

Just as he noted down "Primordial Spirit separation requires the guidance of primordial qi," the fragments violently shook, and the forbidden power almost broke free. As he rushed to suppress the fragments, Hongjun was already saying, "After separation, it needs to be nurtured with one's vital blood..."

Sweat began to bead on Taiyi's forehead.

He felt like a juggler, tossing three balls simultaneously while walking on a tightrope. With the slightest carelessness, if any ball fell, he would be bruised and battered.

No, it was worse than that—if the balls fell, he would lose his life.

He took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.

Don't panic.

If he panicked, everything would be ruined.

He tried to adjust his rhythm—when Hongjun spoke densely, he focused seven-tenths of his mind on listening to the sermon and three-tenths on watching the fragments; when the Dao Ancestor paused or spoke less critical content, he reversed it, focusing seven-tenths of his mind on dealing with the fragments and three-tenths on listening to the sermon.

This way, he could barely cope.

But before he could relax, something more troublesome arrived.

Just as Hongjun was explaining, "After separation, the Three Corpses need to be nurtured independently and cannot be connected to the main body anymore," Taiyi suddenly felt the three blurry illusory figures of his Three Corpses within him flicker brightly.

It wasn't the fragments causing it; the illusory figures lit up on their own.

As if resonating with what Hongjun was saying, they spontaneously began to solidify and manifest.

Taiyi's heart sank.

This was good—it meant he had gained something from listening to the Dao, and his Three Corpses were evolving in the right direction.

But it was also bad—because as these three illusory figures lit up, the magical power within him began to surge uncontrollably towards them. The True Sun Fire, the Dao rhythm of the Chaos Bell, and even that forbidden power he had just suppressed, all began to converge towards the illusory figures of the Three Corpses.

If this were any other time, Taiyi would have been overjoyed. The more solidified the illusory figures of the Three Corpses became, the easier it would be to sever them.

But not now.

He was in Zixiao Palace, under Hongjun's watchful eye. If his magical power surged like this, his aura would definitely become unstable. What if the Dao Ancestor noticed the abnormality on him...

Taiyi gritted his teeth and began to divide his attention into three—

The first part of his mind continued to listen to the Dao; it couldn't stop. This was fundamental. If he missed this sermon, who knew when the next one would be.

The second part of his mind focused on the fragments, guiding the forbidden power. If this thing went berserk now, he'd explode on the spot.

The third part of his mind... suppressed the illusory figures of the Three Corpses and controlled the surge of magical power.

Three tasks, performed simultaneously.

Taiyi felt his brain was about to burn.

Like an old computer running three large programs at once, its CPU was about to smoke. Every thought had to be split into three to be used, and every wisp of divine sense had to process information from three places at once.

Sweat dripped from his forehead, flowing down his temples and soaking his collar.

His face turned pale, his lips pressed tightly together, as if enduring immense pain.

Di Jun turned his head and glanced at him, his eyes filled with concern.

Taiyi forced a smile and shook his head, signaling that he was fine.

But inwardly, he was already at his limit.

Hongjun continued to speak, his voice calm and distant: "...During the independent nurturing of the Three Corpses, external interference must be isolated. If stray thoughts invade, it can lead to contamination of the Three Corpses, rendering all previous efforts futile..."

Taiyi listened, but his mind was simultaneously processing two other things—

On the fragment side, the forbidden power had already emerged, slithering through his sea of consciousness like a venomous snake. He had to carefully guide it, preventing it from touching the illusory figures of the Three Corpses, from touching the origin of his magical power, and making it flow obediently along his meridians...

On the side of the illusory figures of the Three Corpses, the surge of magical power was becoming more violent. The True Sun Fire was like a runaway wild horse, and the Dao rhythm of the Chaos Bell was like a breached flood, rushing into the illusory figures. He had to desperately suppress it, pull it back bit by bit, and maintain the stability of the illusory figures, preventing them from dissipating...

And on the side of listening to the Dao, Hongjun's teachings were becoming deeper and more profound. He had to desperately remember, desperately understand, and desperately deduce...

The three tasks were like three mountains, pressing down on him, making him unable to breathe.

Taiyi felt his Primordial Spirit groaning and wailing, like a rubber band stretched to its limit, about to snap if pulled any further.

But he knew he couldn't let it snap.

If it snapped, it would be over.

He gritted his teeth and held on.

Time passed bit by bit.

He didn't know how long it had been, perhaps the time it took for an incense stick to burn, or perhaps an hour.

Just as Taiyi felt he was about to collapse, the three fragments in his sea of consciousness suddenly trembled simultaneously.

It wasn't a disturbance, but a kind of... rhythmic vibration?

Taiyi paused for a moment and sent a wisp of his divine sense to look.

Upon seeing it, he froze.

The dark golden patterns on the surface of the fragments had completely come alive. They flowed like water across the fragment surfaces, outlining a complex pattern—a pattern he had seen before. Ten days ago, when he used Causality Vision to observe the great net of the Heavenly Dao, he had seen the locations of those three loopholes!

The fissure in Buzhou Mountain's ley lines, the karmic stains in the Sea of Blood, the karmic knots in the Underworld...

Three loopholes, corresponding to three fragments?

Taiyi's heart leaped.

Before he could think further, the fragments trembled again.

This time, the vibration was clearer and more regular—as if it were... breathing?

As the fragments vibrated, the flow of the forbidden power also began to become orderly. It no longer darted around like a headless fly but followed a specific trajectory, circulating slowly within his meridians.

And as the forbidden power flowed in an orderly manner, the surge of magical power from the illusory figures of the Three Corpses actually began to subside.

The True Sun Fire stopped rushing into the illusory figures, and the Dao rhythm of the Chaos Bell stabilized.

The three tasks, suddenly, became... coordinated?

Taiyi was a little stunned.

He tried to adjust his state of mind, no longer resisting forcefully, but instead following this newly emerged "rhythm" while simultaneously handling three tasks—

While listening to the Dao, he let his mind ebb and flow with the rhythm of Hongjun's sermon;

When guiding the forbidden power, he let his divine sense flow with the vibration of the fragments;

When suppressing the illusory figures of the Three Corpses, he let his magical power circulate with the newly found sense of coordination.

The three tasks were like three rivers, originally flowing separately, that suddenly found a common estuary and began to flow in the same direction.

Although he was still dividing his attention, the pressure had drastically reduced.

Taiyi let out a long breath, and the sweat on his forehead finally stopped.

He closed his eyes and began to truly immerse himself in this peculiar "multithreaded" state.

Hongjun's sermon, the vibration of the fragments, the rhythm of the magical power's circulation... the three intertwined, forming an unprecedented experience.

He could "hear" every fragment of law contained within the Dao Ancestor's words, "feel" every trace of fluctuation of the forbidden power deep within the fragments, and "control" every subtle change in the magical power within his body.

The three did not interfere with each other, yet they resonated faintly.

It was like three different songs playing simultaneously in the same space; not only was it not chaotic, but it formed a grander, more complex harmony.

A thought suddenly popped into Taiyi's mind—

This is what the System called "multithreaded operation ability"?

It's not innate talent, but something that can be trained?

He didn't have time to ponder this further, as Hongjun's sermon had reached the most crucial part.

"...The second stage of severing the corpses: purification of the thought."

The Dao Ancestor's voice became exceptionally solemn at this moment.

"After the Three Corpses are separated, their thoughts still retain the imprint of the original body. They must be repeatedly tempered with one's own Dao fire to remove impurities, until the thought is pure and flawless, before it can be entrusted..."

Everyone in the hall held their breath.

Taiyi also pricked up his ears, simultaneously sending out a wisp of divine sense to perceive the three solidifying illusory figures of the Three Corpses within him.

Dao fire tempering... removing impurities...

As he listened, he deduced, and then attempted to simulate the process in his sea of consciousness according to the method Hongjun described.

And the three fragments in his sea of consciousness began to change slowly with his simulation...

The sermon continued.

And Taiyi's multithreaded operation had only just begun.