"Three-Selves" Dao Bodies

Moreover, limited by his cultivation realm, he had yet to deduce and create the portion concerning Three Corpses Unity.

Now that he had deduced and created the Simplified Three Corpse Severing Technique, Yuan Yan did not immediately use it to sever his 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 thoughts of good, evil, and obsession lay.

He did so because he intended to combine certain ideas from his previous life and deduce a method better suited to him for cultivating independent Dao Bodies, to see whether these methods could stack with the Three Corpses Severing Method.

If they could, then even if Hongjun attained sainthood in the future, lectured at Purple Firmament Palace, and passed down the Three Corpses Severing Method, Yuan Yan would still hold an enormous advantage over Innate Divines of his generation.

At once, Yuan Yan immersed himself in deducing the Dao once more.

With the Simplified Three Corpse Severing Technique as a framework, and with his ideas and direction already in place, Yuan Yan deduced and created three different yet similar methods for cultivating independent Dao Bodies in less than two Epochs.

The first was the Three-Lives Body Severing Method. One would first cast a technique 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 for ages, they were constantly subjected to backlash from the River of Time. Unless they erupted regardless of the cost to their own origin, they could ordinarily wield no more than eighty percent of their strength.

Furthermore, to cultivate this method, one had best primarily cultivate the Time Dao. Otherwise, the stronger one became, the stronger the backlash would grow, and the power the Three-Lives Bodies could wield would steadily weaken until they were 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, the True Self, and the 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 "Simplified" prefix was that, in his deductions, there was also an upgraded version similar to Hongjun's Three Corpse Severing Technique.

One needed not only comprehension, but also true insight. The two shared the same underlying principle.

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

This stacking did not mean that he himself could cultivate the Three-Selves Severing Method together with the Three Corpses Severing Method or Three Demons Severing Method.

Rather, after cultivating the Three-Selves Severing Method and severing the Departed-Self Body, True-Self Body, and Dao-Self Body, both his true body and the three selves could cultivate either the Three Corpses Severing Method or the Three Demons Severing Method.

However, the Three Corpses Severing Method and the Three Demons Severing Method conflicted with one another. Though the thoughts of good, evil, and obsession did not entirely correspond to the seven emotions, six desires, and inner demons, their essences were similar. They could not be cultivated simultaneously, much less stacked together.

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

As for the Three Corpses Severing Method or Three Demons Severing Method that could stack with the Three-Selves Severing Method, he would set them aside for now.

First, the treasures used to house independent Dao Bodies determined their foundation, potential, and comprehension.

He did not possess 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 Corpses Severing Method and cultivate it after using it as a reference. That would prevent him from drawing Hongjun's attention, and would also allow his mental cultivation to advance rapidly after Three Corpses Severing.

At this time, Yuan Yan had also made plans for the treasures that would house his three selves.

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, planning to divide it into three.

When he had transformed, he had taken nearly one-third of the Primordial Origin of the Primordial Gourd Vine. During this period, the vine's origin had recovered a little, and 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, each of the three selves should receive two primordial gourds and account for twenty-three percent of its Primordial Origin.

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

With his plan in mind, Yuan Yan wasted no time. He sat down 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 their Departed Self, True Self, and Dao Self chant scriptures.

Given 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 had condensed the Departed Self, True Self, and Dao Self.

Turning his gaze toward the Primordial Gourd Vine, Yuan Yan moved with a thought 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 and fused with his Departed Self, True Self, and Dao Self. Each occupied a section of the vine, with two primordial gourds hanging from each section.

He allowed the "three selves" to deeply fuse with the Primordial Origin of the Primordial Gourd Vine while borrowing its Primordial Origin and Primordial Imperishable Divine Light to cultivate Primordial True Spirits and Primordial Souls.

Yuan Yan no longer paid attention to them, turning all his focus back to himself. As he comprehended the laws and the Great Dao, he also opened the Mind Dao, using the mind to expound and evolve his understanding of all things in the world, continuously evolving and perfecting the Mind Dao.

He sought 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 would all be able to immediately break through to the Great Firmament Golden Immortal realm.

Ten Epochs later!

With a thunderous boom, like the heavenly voice of the Great Dao and the recognition of heaven and earth, the Primordial Gourd Vine split into four sections.

One section bore the Myriad Dao Primordial Gourd, while each of the other three bore two primordial gourds.

Abruptly, 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 vanished completely, replaced by three young Daoists with upright figures and handsome faces. Upon close inspection, one would find that they each resembled Yuan Yan by seventy percent, though their temperaments differed.

"Greetings, True Body!" The three 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, present, and future selves. He held absolute control over them; not only were their minds connected, but he knew them inside and out.

Having just been born, all three possessed Taiyi Golden Immortal Perfection and the foundation of Top-Tier Innate Divines. Though their foundation, talent, and comprehension were somewhat inferior to his, the gap was not great.

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