The "Three Selves" Dao Bodies

Moreover, limited by his cultivation realm, he had yet to deduce and create the portion that merged the three corpses into one.

At this point, although he had deduced and created a simplified Three Corpse Severing Technique, Yuan Yan did not immediately use it to sever his three thoughts of good, evil, and obsession, entrust them to Innate Spiritual Treasures, Innate Spiritual Roots, or Primordial Spiritual Objects, and transform them into independent Three Corpse Dao Bodies.

It was not because he lacked sufficient Innate Spiritual Treasures or Innate Spiritual Roots to house the Three Corpse Dao Bodies, nor because he could not comprehend where his own thoughts of good, evil, and obsession lay.

He did this because he intended to combine certain ideas from his previous life and deduce a method of cultivating independent Dao Bodies that suited him better, to see whether those methods could be layered with the Three Corpse Severing Technique.

If they could, then even after Hongjun became a saint, preached at Purple Firmament Palace, and passed down the Three Corpse Severing Technique, he would still hold an enormous advantage over Innate Divines of the same generation.

Yuan Yan once more immersed himself in Dao comprehension and deduction.

With the simplified Three Corpse Severing Technique as a framework, and because he already had ideas and a direction, Yuan Yan deduced and created three different yet similar methods for cultivating independent Dao Bodies in less than two yuanhui.

The first was the Three-Lives Body Severing Method. One first had to summon the Past Body, Present Body, and Future Body, then entrust them to Innate Spiritual Treasures, Innate Spiritual Roots, or Primordial Spiritual Objects, transforming them into independent Dao Bodies.

Although these independent Dao Bodies could endure in the world, they constantly suffered backlash from the River of Time. Unless they erupted at the expense of their own origin, they could normally exert no more than eighty percent of their strength.

Furthermore, to cultivate this method, it was best to specialize in the Time Dao. Otherwise, the stronger one became, the stronger the backlash would become. The power the Three-Lives Body could wield would grow ever weaker, until it was eventually destroyed.

The second was the Three-Selves Severing Method, an improved version of the Three-Lives Body Severing Method.

In the Shrouding Heaven Method, there were three selves: the Departed Self, True Self, and Dao Self! They represented one's past self, present self, and future self.

Yet they were not the Past Body, Present Body, or Future Body. Even if they were condensed and entrusted to Innate Spiritual Treasures or Innate Spiritual Roots to form independent Dao Bodies, they would not suffer backlash from the River of Time.

The third was the simplified Three Demons Severing Method. One comprehended one's own seven emotions, six desires, and inner demons, severed them, and entrusted them to Innate Spiritual Treasures or Innate Spiritual Roots to form independent Dao Bodies.

The reason it bore the prefix "simplified" was that, in his deductions, there was also an upgraded version, similar to Hongjun's Three Corpse Severing Technique.

It required not only comprehension, but also seeing through them completely. The two methods shared the same underlying principle.

Moreover, among these three methods capable of cultivating independent Dao Bodies, the second, the Three-Selves Severing Method, could be layered with either the Three Corpse Severing Technique or the Three Demons Severing Method.

This layering did not mean that he could cultivate the Three-Selves Severing Method and the Three Corpse Severing Technique or Three Demons Severing Method at the same time.

Rather, after cultivating the Three-Selves Severing Method and severing the Departed-Self Body, True-Self Body, and Dao-Self Body, both his main body and the Three-Selves Bodies could cultivate either the Three Corpse Severing Technique or the Three Demons Severing Method.

However, the Three Corpse Severing Technique and the Three Demons Severing Method conflicted with each other. Though the three thoughts of good, evil, and obsession were not entirely identical to the seven emotions, six desires, and inner demons, their essence was similar. They could not be cultivated simultaneously, much less layered together.

After pondering for a moment, Yuan Yan decided to cultivate the Three-Selves Severing Method first and sever the Three-Selves Bodies.

As for the Three Corpse Severing Technique or Three Demons Severing Method, which could be layered with the Three-Selves Severing Method, he would postpone them for now.

First, the treasure entrusted with an independent Dao Body determined that Dao Body's foundation, potential, and comprehension.

He did not have that many high-quality Innate Spiritual Treasures or Innate Spiritual Roots. Rather than casually severing Dao Bodies with limited potential, he might as well save them for the future.

Second, he still hoped to obtain the authentic Three Corpse Severing Technique and cultivate it after studying it as a reference. That would prevent him from drawing Hongjun's attention, while also allowing his mental cultivation to advance rapidly after severing the three corpses.

At this point, Yuan Yan had also made plans for the treasures that would house the Three-Selves Bodies.

He did not intend to use the Myriad Dao Primordial Gourd, nor did he intend to use the Nine Heavens Breath Soil. Instead, he set his sights on the Primordial Gourd Vine, intending to divide it into three.

When he transformed, he had taken nearly one-third of the Primordial Origin of the Primordial Gourd Vine. During this period, its origin had recovered a little. The Primordial Origin it contained was now roughly sixty-nine percent of what it had possessed before his transformation.

If it were divided into three, then each of the Three-Selves Bodies should possess two Primordial Gourds and twenty-three percent of the Primordial Origin.

Though this was inferior to his main body, after transforming and being born into the world, they would absolutely possess the foundation of Top-Tier Innate Divines. Even among Top-Tier Innate Divines, they should not be considered weak.

Having made up his mind, Yuan Yan wasted no time. He sat cross-legged and began condensing the three selves.

Some exceptionally gifted cultivators in the Shrouding Heaven World, when cultivating Emperor Scriptures in the Dao Palace Realm, would have the Departed Self, True Self, and Dao Self chant scriptures.

With his cultivation realm, even without Shrouding Heaven Method scriptures, it was not difficult for him to comprehend the mysteries of the three selves and condense them.

In less than a month, Yuan Yan condensed the Departed Self, True Self, and Dao Self.

Turning his gaze toward the Primordial Gourd Vine, Yuan Yan moved his thoughts and sent the Departed Self, True Self, and Dao Self into it.

At the same time, under Yuan Yan's control, the remaining Primordial Origin of the Primordial Gourd Vine divided into three portions and fused with his Departed Self, True Self, and Dao Self. Each occupied a section of the Primordial Gourd Vine, with two Primordial Gourds hanging from each.

As the "three selves" deeply fused with the Primordial Origin of the Primordial Gourd Vine, they also used its Primordial Origin and Primordial Imperishable Divine Light to cultivate Primordial True Spirits and Primordial Souls.

Yuan Yan no longer paid attention to them. He turned all his focus back to himself, comprehending the laws and Great Dao while opening the Mind Dao, using his mind to explain and evolve his understanding of everything in the world, continuously evolving and perfecting the Mind Dao.

He wanted to open the Mind Dao as soon as possible and evolve it to the level of a Great Firmament Golden Immortal.

That way, once the Three-Selves Dao Bodies were born, they could all immediately break through to the Great Firmament Golden Immortal realm.

Ten yuanhui later!

With a thunderous boom, like the heavenly sound of the Great Dao and as though the heaven and earth themselves had acknowledged it.

The Primordial Gourd Vine split into four sections. One section bore the Myriad Dao Primordial Gourd, while the other three each bore two Primordial Gourds.

Suddenly, Yuan Yan returned to his Innate Dao Body! The other three sections of the Primordial Gourd Vine also began to change, evolving Innate Dao Bodies and gradually taking human form.

After a long while, the Primordial Gourd Vine completely vanished, replaced by three handsome young Daoists with tall, straight figures. Looking closely and comparing them with Yuan Yan, one would find that they resembled him by seventy percent, though each possessed a different temperament.

"Greetings, main body!" The Three-Selves Dao Bodies cupped their hands in salute.

"Good! Very good!" Yuan Yan nodded in satisfaction as he looked at the three Dao Bodies before him.

As Three-Selves Dao Bodies, they were equivalent to his past self, present self, and future self. He possessed absolute control over them. Not only were their minds connected, but he also knew them inside and out.

They had just been born, yet their cultivation was already at Taiyi Golden Immortal Perfection, and their foundations were all those of Top-Tier Innate Divines. Though their foundations, talent, and comprehension were somewhat inferior to his own, the difference was not great.

He believed that before long, their cultivation realms would catch up to his. With their aid, he would surely succeed in cultivating the Yin-Yang, reincarnation, world, and mind Daos simultaneously.