The Salted Fish Dao Ancestor "Hid His Merit and Fame"

The third millennium began amid an unprecedented atmosphere of "harmonious self-study."

With the "it smells so good" experiences of the previous two millennia, none of the remaining great powers felt the slightest resistance anymore. They even felt a faint anticipation. They had come to regard this bizarre Purple Firmament Palace as a supreme holy ground for tempering the heart and strengthening one's foundation, while the sleeping Dao Ancestor on the platform had become increasingly unfathomable in their eyes—though his posture remained as indecent as ever.

This time, without needing any adjustment, every great power immediately entered their deepest state of cultivation.

The atmosphere within the hall grew increasingly solemn. Spiritual energy was no longer surging like raging waves; instead, it was like warm jade nectar, silently nourishing the bodies and minds of every great power. Flaws that had been difficult to notice during past cultivation were uncovered and smoothed away one by one. Their understanding of their own paths became ever clearer and more thorough in this ultimate stillness. Their mana was repeatedly tempered until it reached the utmost purity of their current realms, even faintly emitting a luster resembling innate origin.

Their foundations had been polished to unprecedented solidity!

Time quietly passed, and more than half of the third millennium had elapsed.

On this day, a sudden change occurred within Purple Firmament Palace!

It began with Laozi. The originally perfect, effortless aura around him suddenly withdrew to the extreme. Then, a phantom embodying tranquil non-action yet containing immense power silently leaped from above his head. It looked exactly like Laozi, held a phantom whisk, and bowed to Laozi's true body before merging into the void and vanishing. Laozi's aura suddenly surged, breaking through some invisible bottleneck and entering an entirely new realm! Yet the radiance around him instantly withdrew, making him appear even plainer and more unfathomable.

He had severed his Good Corpse! Early Quasi-Saint realm!

Almost at the same moment, the celebration clouds above Primordial Lord of Heaven churned. A majestic, noble phantom that upheld order stepped forth, nodded at Yuanshi, held a phantom Jade Ruyi, and disappeared into the laws of the Heavenly Dao. The aura around Primordial Lord of Heaven became increasingly vast and imposing, as though he were the incarnation of Heavenly Dao order itself.

He had severed his Good Corpse! Early Quasi-Saint realm!

On Sect Master Tongtian's side, sword intent pierced the heavens. A bold and uninhibited phantom overflowing with battle intent tore through space, laughed heartily at Tongtian, held a phantom Qingping Sword, and vanished with a single slash through the void. Sect Master Tongtian laughed loudly, his voice shaking the hall. The sword qi around his body withdrew, yet he gave the impression that once drawn, his sword would surely shatter stone and shock the heavens.

He had severed his Good Corpse! Early Quasi-Saint realm!

Creation energy swirled around Empress Nuwa. A compassionate, peaceful phantom that nurtured all living beings emerged, bowed gracefully to Nuwa, held a phantom mass of innate Breathing Soil, and merged into boundless vitality. Empress Nuwa's features became ever more sacred, and the Dao rhythm around her grew natural, as though she were the source of life itself.

She had severed her Good Corpse! Early Quasi-Saint realm!

Daoist Jieyin wore a suffering expression. A phantom filled with compassion for all beings and bearing a great vow emerged, chanting Buddhist verses as it held a phantom string of relic beads and merged into the phantom of the Western Pure Land. Jieyin's aura became increasingly vast, yet bitter. Zhunti Daoist, meanwhile, flashed the phantom of the Seven Treasures Wonderful Tree, and a shrewd, calculating phantom determined to deliver all living beings leaped out. It greeted Zhunti before slipping into the void.

They had severed their Obsession Corpses! Early Quasi-Saint realm! (The Western cultivation method was unusual; it severed the Obsession Corpse first.)

The vast auras of six Quasi-Saint breakthroughs erupted in succession, like six enormous boulders cast into a tranquil lake, instantly stirring resonance from the laws throughout Purple Firmament Palace! Heavenly flowers fell in profusion, and golden lotuses sprang from the earth—the phenomena finally arrived late, as though the Heavenly Dao had only just realized it needed to follow procedure. Though these heavenly flowers were shaped like barbecue, and the golden lotuses came with the massage functions of a foot spa, they were auspicious omens nonetheless!

All the great powers in the back rows were awakened by the consecutive breakthroughs. Feeling those six terrifying pressures far surpassing what they had been before, their eyes filled with shock, envy, and... wild delight!

They had broken through! Under this Dao Ancestor's "silent preaching," the six people in the front row had truly broken through! They had attained the Quasi-Saint Dao Fruit they had dreamed of!

Moreover, because their foundations had been polished to incomparable solidity, their breakthroughs came naturally and without the slightest obstruction. They did not even trigger any inner demon tribulations! The depth of their accumulation far surpassed that of ordinary newly ascended Quasi-Saints, rivaling tens of thousands of years of bitter cultivation!

At that moment, the last trace of doubt in the hearts of every great power who had remained completely dissipated, transforming into boundless reverence—and bewilderment—toward the still-sleeping figure on the platform.

Profound! Truly profound! So the Dao Ancestor had not been fooling around at all; he had long transcended the level of preaching through words! These seemingly absurd three thousand years of sitting in silence were actually the most ingenious method of transmitting the Dao! Hearing thunder in silence, forging a Dao foundation in sleep! What an unimaginable realm! What a painstaking arrangement!

We were wrong! We had actually doubted and complained about the Dao Ancestor at the beginning! We deserved death a thousand times over!

Old Ancestor Minghe was so excited that his Sea of Blood churned, and he nearly slapped himself twice. He was grateful he had not left earlier. Zhen Yuanzi stroked his beard and sighed, completely convinced. The Twelve Ancestral Witches stared with blazing eyes. Though they did not cultivate primordial spirits, they could still sense the change in power caused by those breakthroughs, and no longer doubted the effects of "self-study." Kunpeng, Hong Yun, King Father of the East, Queen Mother of the West, and the others made up their minds that even if the Dao Ancestor told them to perform grass-skirt dances next, they would never leave by even half a step!

Even Wangshu in the corner had unprecedented brilliance erupt in her cool eyes. She had personally witnessed six Quasi-Saints being born in the most perfect manner. The stability of their foundations and purity of their auras far exceeded her imagination. All of this had happened beneath that salted fish's snores!

"Was that... an unintentional act, or had he truly calculated things to such a degree?" Wangshu looked at the suspicious trace of drool at the corner of Xiao Kuang's mouth and, for the first time, found him unfathomable.

[Heavenly Dao Garbled Text (awakened by consecutive breakthroughs)]: Beep beep beep!!! Large-scale breakthrough event detected! Breakthrough participants: six! Target realm: Quasi-Saint! Breakthrough quality: SSS+ grade! Energy consumption: 99% below estimate! Inner demon occurrence rate: 0%! [Heavenly Dao Garbled Text]: Breakthrough environment analysis: Dao Ancestor was in a 'deep static Dao enlightenment' (sleep) state... no active intervention performed... all beings within the venue were in a 'high-intensity self-study' state... [Heavenly Dao Garbled Text]: Conclusion: Primary causes of breakthroughs were 'optimization of personal foundations' + 'environmental spiritual energy support' + 'Dao Ancestor's snores providing white noise' (?)... direct correlation with the proxy: below 10%... [Heavenly Dao Garbled Text]: Reassessing 'preaching' effects... 'self-study' mode efficiency... extremely high?... groundbreaking discovery! Recommend promoting the 'Purple Firmament Palace self-study room' model throughout the Primordial Chaos?... [Heavenly Dao Garbled Text]: Warning! This model heavily relies on the proxy 'providing a venue' and 'creating a speechless atmosphere to temper Dao hearts'... cannot be replicated... recording... updating 'Way of the Salted Fish Dao' file... danger level: unknown (exceptional results but hard on one's dignity)... [Heavenly Dao Garbled Text]: Remaining preaching time: 500 years... maintain current conditions... continue observation... Zzzz... (next upgrade requirement: add management clauses related to 'self-study' and 'piggybacking on Wi-Fi')...

The Heavenly Dao once again accepted reality amid its confusion, and even began considering whether to promote this model.

The final five hundred years swiftly passed as the six newly advanced Quasi-Saints consolidated their realms, the other great powers studied with even greater fervor, and the Heavenly Dao remained continuously baffled.

At the instant the third millennium ended—

"Ding-dong! Class is over! Students, you've worked hard!"

The massage chair's timer activated with perfect precision, accompanied by a cheerful dismissal bell.

Xiao Kuang stretched, yawned, and groggily opened his eyes. Scratching his stomach, he said, "Hm? Three thousand years are up? That fast? It felt like I only took a nap... Ah, my back aches from lying down so long..."

As he loosened his limbs, he looked blearily down at the crowd and casually asked, "Well? Did you all understand the Quasi-Saint Dao I taught? It's fine if you didn't. Next time—"

His words abruptly stopped.

That was because he saw all the great powers who had remained, led by the Three Pure Ones, Nuwa, Jieyin, and Zhunti, rise to their feet in unison. Then, with incomparable solemnity, incomparable reverence, and even a hint of fanaticism, they bowed deeply to him!

Their voices rang out in perfect unison, filled with gratitude and awe:

"Thank you, Dao Ancestor, for the grace of transmitting the Dao! We now understand the Quasi-Saint Dao! We submit to the Dao Ancestor's profound intent!"

Xiao Kuang: "???"

He stared blankly at the crowd below, who looked as excited as if they had collectively taken expired aphrodisiacs. Then he looked at Wangshu beside him, whose expression was equally complicated, before finally scratching the back of his head.

What profound intent? What did I teach? Didn't I just take a nap? Xiao Kuang muttered inwardly. Did I teach while sleepwalking? No way... Strange, why does it look like this bunch all broke through? Can sleeping really lead to breakthroughs? Is Purple Firmament Palace's feng shui really that good?

Though he was utterly baffled, he still skillfully adopted an unfathomable posture in response to everyone's thanks—though his freshly awakened hair was as messy as a chicken coop. He gave a dry cough.

"Mm... It's good that you understand, good that you understand. It seems your comprehension is fairly decent; you are barely worth teaching. Dismissed, dismissed. I'm going to soak in a hot spring to ease my fatigue..."

Upon hearing this, the great powers were moved beyond measure.

The Dao Ancestor had become so "fatigued" for our sake! What a great spirit of sacrifice! Though it looked like he was merely tired from sleeping.

Thus, amid a chorus of concerned cries of "Dao Ancestor, please take care of your sacred body," the great powers began reluctantly leaving, filled with incomparable satisfaction and reverence—mainly because they could not bear to part with the self-study room.

Watching their departing backs, Xiao Kuang tilted his head and said to Wangshu, "Did this bunch... cultivate themselves stupid?"

Wangshu looked at his clear—and foolish—yet baffled eyes, then sensed the six incomparably solid Quasi-Saint auras below. After a long silence, she slowly spoke two words:

"...Perhaps."

She felt that her understanding of the world had once again been ground into the dirt.

After recording one final entry—[Preaching mission (second session) complete. Evaluation: SSS rank (results far exceeded expectations). Proxy behavioral pattern: impossible to analyze. Recommendation: increase observation efforts and, when necessary, provide more opportunities for 'sleeping'.]—the Heavenly Dao fell completely silent.

The Salted Fish Dao Ancestor once again "hid his merit and fame" amid utter ignorance.