Expounding the Dao

To achieve Mortal-World Ascension in the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands, one had to live through lifetime after lifetime, break the shackles of the Heavenly Emperor, and shatter the restraints of the body.

In this cruel world, a transformed body could naturally produce longevity substance and become a Red Dust Immortal.

The Red Dust Immortal Path was indeed extraordinarily difficult.

In the original work, across the long Age of Mythology, Primordial Era, Desolate Ancient Era, and Post-Desolate Ancient Era, only Emperor Zun, Netherworld Venerable, Undying Heavenly Emperor, Beginningless Emperor, Empress Numinous Treasure, Ye Fan, and perhaps the Divine Silkworm Ancient Emperor, who was also suspected to be a Red Dust Immortal, were born—only a handful in total.

Even if that Red Dust Immortal who was little more than a background character in the Strange World was included, there were still fewer than ten.

Each had their own unique path of transformation. Every transformation was a near-death ordeal, and each lifetime was more difficult than the last.

The slightest mishap would lead to death and end the Red Dust Immortal Path. Eternal Emperor and Lingbao Tianzun, for example, were explicitly recorded in the original work as having relied on their own abilities to live a new lifetime, yet they still failed to continue onward.

Those two old fellows, Emperor Zun and Undying Heavenly Emperor, had been hiding behind the scenes since the Age of Mythology, walking the Red Dust Immortal Path.

That old relic Netherworld Venerable had started burying himself in the earth in the early Age of Mythology, crawling out time and again before burying himself once more.

The Divine Silkworm Ancient Emperor was an ultimate shut-in, sleeping and transforming within a coffin all along.

Li Ming thought it over. Those currently walking the Red Dust Immortal Path should be Netherworld Venerable, buried in the earth, and Emperor Zun, who was likely undergoing a lengthy Sacred Spirit transformation.

And in this era, the one who had gone the furthest on the Red Dust Immortal Path should be Lingbao Tianzun.

According to the original work's descriptions, judging from the traces left by Lingbao Tianzun's corpse, he should have lived at least four lifetimes before failing while attempting to live a fifth.

His body had transformed into the Other Shore World and Heavenly Soldier Ancient Star.

Emperor Zun's Ancient Heavenly Court had once established a training ground on Heavenly Soldier Ancient Star. From this, Lingbao Tianzun should have fallen before Emperor Zun's Ancient Heavenly Court was founded.

What was Lingbao Tianzun like now? Had he left behind a legacy?

Had his body already transformed into worlds?

Thinking back to when those Dark Supremes had besieged him and used Lingbao Tianzun's Formation Diagram, Li Ming roughly deduced that Lingbao Tianzun's current situation was probably grim.

Either he had already failed his transformation, or he was lingering between life and death.

Otherwise, Lingbao Tianzun's Formation Diagram would not have fallen into the hands of those Dark Supremes.

Lingbao Tianzun's Formation Diagram should now have returned to Lingbao Tianzun's body, perhaps returning, just as in the original work, to the Other Shore World transformed from his body.

Li Ming had once tried to deduce Lingbao Tianzun's condition, only to find the heavenly secrets utterly chaotic.

He very much wanted to obtain Lingbao Tianzun's scriptures and secret arts, such as Nine Secrets: Zu and the Du Ren Scripture.

Of the Nine Secret Techniques, aside from Emperor Zun's Nine Secrets: Jie, which had yet to be created, the other eight had already been created.

They were already renowned throughout this era.

The reason the Nine Heavenly Venerables of the Age of Mythology were revered as the Nine Heavenly Venerables was partly related to the Nine Secret Techniques they had founded.

Their secret arts had reached the pinnacle and were coveted by countless people.

At present, Li Ming had only obtained Nine Secrets: Zhe and Nine Secrets: Xing.

According to his deductions, these two Nine Secret Techniques were truly astonishing.

This made him desire the other Nine Secret Techniques even more.

Carefree Heavenly Venerable, who had created Nine Secrets: Xing, had already been flayed and dismembered by Li Ming, then made into the Carefree Boots.

This gave him an even deeper understanding of Nine Secrets: Xing.

As for Longevity Heavenly Venerable's Nine Secrets: Zhe, Li Ming had obtained it by accident while excavating a tomb.

That had been on an inconspicuous planet along the Ancient Starry Sky Road.

This unexpected discovery had delighted Li Ming greatly.

Back then, he had not created a secret art like the Phoenix Tribulation Rebirth Technique. Every time he underwent tribulation, he had relied on a few incomplete healing secret arts and struggled terribly to survive.

After obtaining Nine Secrets: Zhe, undergoing tribulation became much easier.

Longevity Heavenly Venerable, the creator of Nine Secrets: Zhe, was not yet dead.

If Li Ming had guessed correctly, Longevity Heavenly Venerable should already have become the master of the Immortal Mausoleum.

The Immortal Mausoleum Forbidden Zone was also a vast forbidden zone.

There were many mysterious tombs there. Legend had it that True Immortals and even Immortal Kings had once been buried within.

They had all fallen into this world from the Immortal Domain Rift.

Longevity Heavenly Venerable had sealed himself inside, silently waiting for the Road to Immortality to open.

When Emperor Zun's Road to Immortality opened tens of thousands or even over a hundred thousand years later, Longevity Heavenly Venerable would certainly take part.

In the original work, Longevity Heavenly Venerable did not succeed that time. Instead, he became one of the main forces behind the ambush on Emperor Zun.

Then he continued sealing himself away, waiting for the Big Dipper Road to Immortality to open.

Unfortunately, the Big Dipper Road to Immortality in the Post-Desolate Ancient Era had truly been a trap.

More than ten Dark Supremes had been trapped to death.

Longevity Heavenly Venerable had narrowly survived on the Red Dust Immortal Path, nearly dying. Then he was severely wounded when the Divine Organization detonated fragments of the Immortal Ascension Cauldron, and finally perished together with the Great Achievement Sacred Body after a bloody battle.

Longevity Heavenly Venerable had indeed been extremely powerful at the time.

By Li Ming's estimate, Longevity Heavenly Venerable should have relied on his own abilities to live a Third Lifetime before severing himself with a stroke.

Otherwise, he should not have been so powerful.

Li Ming currently had no particular thoughts about those Life Forbidden Zones.

As long as they did not provoke him, they could coexist peacefully.

But if those Life Forbidden Zones wanted to covet the origin of his Chaotic Body, he certainly would not spare those Dark Supremes.

He had already killed so many Dark Supremes. He hoped the others would not seek their own deaths.

These Dark Supremes could be said to be the source of the Dark Turmoil throughout the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands.

In order to achieve Mortal-World Ascension, they had all severed themselves with a stroke and sealed themselves away for ages, waiting for the Road to Immortality to open.

But even after severing themselves and sleeping within Immortal Source in the forbidden zones, they could not resist the erosion of time. Their lifespans continued to diminish.

At regular intervals, they had to devour hundreds of millions of living beings to extend their lives before sealing themselves away once more.

The Dark Supremes of this era were not particularly active because the day when the Road to Immortality would open was not far away. Those who needed to devour life essence had mostly already done so.

At least, from the time Li Ming could remember until now, no Dark Turmoil had occurred.

Though these Dark Supremes were not so active, their numbers were astonishing.

They far surpassed those from Ye Fan's era.

This was because some of the Dark Supremes sealed into this era came from the early Age of Mythology, some from the Primordial Ancient Era, and some even from the Ancient Chaos Era.

There were also figures whose identities were unfathomable. No one knew which era they had come from.

According to the original work, large-scale divine wars had erupted at the end of the Mythology Era and the end of the Primordial Era, killing and wounding multiple Dark Supremes.

By that account, no fewer than ten Dark Supremes should have died.

This Age of Mythology had another advantage: the Human Race had successively produced multiple Heavenly Venerables and Supremes, giving humanity an exceptionally high status.

Calling them the strongest race in the universe would not be an exaggeration.

This was nothing like the later era, when they had fallen to around tenth place.

Fortunately, at the end of the Primordial Era, the many Primordial Ten Thousand Races sealed themselves away to await the opening of the Road to Immortality.

Then, during the Desolate Era, Great Emperors of the Human Race emerged one after another, and humanity once more welcomed its most glorious and peak era.

At that time, the relationship between the Human Race's Great Emperors, the Dark Restricted Areas, and the Dark Supremes had deteriorated to the extreme.

The Human Race's Great Emperors spent their lives fighting the Dark Supremes.

Before dying, nearly every Human Race Great Emperor would fight the Dark Supremes in a bloody battle and take some of them with them.

These Dark Supremes had once been powerful figures who ruled over the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands and protected all living beings under heaven.

But in the end, they could not overcome the greed in their hearts.

For the sake of Mortal-World Ascension, they had truly cast aside all shame.

Even if Li Ming now pacified forbidden zone after forbidden zone and killed every Dark Supreme, among the Great Emperors and Ancient Emperors born in later generations, there would still be people who, for the sake of Mortal-World Ascension and waiting for the Road to Immortality to open, became Dark Supremes once more.

And with so many Dark Supremes and Dark Restricted Areas now, Li Ming was not crazy enough to fight them to the death.

He only wanted to become a Red Dust Immortal now. As for everything else, he could deal with it later.

Besides, he had already killed so many Dark Supremes and established a formidable reputation—or perhaps a notorious one. At least in the short term, no Dark Supreme should dare provoke Li Ming.

There was still a long time before Li Ming entered his twilight years.

He was currently at his peak.

With an Immortal Medicine, he could easily live a Second Lifetime.

As for transforming into a Third Lifetime, he had plenty of time to consider and perfect it.

And according to his rough estimate, he had at least fifty thousand years to contemplate how to live a new lifetime.

So he did not need to worry about that yet.

If other cultivators walked the Red Dust Immortal Path, they might have to worry about being ambushed by Emperor Zun or Undying Heavenly Emperor.

But Li Ming had the Bronze Mirror to conceal his aura, so he did not need to worry about that at all.

He could completely hide away and transform in silence, only emerging after succeeding.

In truth, after Li Ming killed so many Dark Supremes, he had retained much of their origin blood essence.

Undying Heavenly Emperor had used those special origins and blood essences to live new lifetime after new lifetime.

Therefore, Li Ming believed that using the origins and blood essences of these Dark Supremes might also allow him to live a new lifetime.

Thus, when he had killed those Dark Supremes, he had kept this possibility in mind and preserved some origin blood essence from each one.

Based on the original work's descriptions, Li Ming roughly inferred that when Undying Heavenly Emperor first began using the origin blood essence of Great Emperors and Ancient Emperors for Nirvana, ordinary ones had been sufficient.

Later, he needed more unusual origins.

For example, Lunar Saint Emperor and Solar Saint Emperor; Fighting Saint Emperor, who wished to become a Battle Immortal; and Taihuang, who cultivated imperial dragon qi. Every one of them had been either extremely special or exceptionally powerful.

Undying Heavenly Emperor had certainly tried to ambush the Demon Emperor and Divine Silkworm Ancient Emperor as well. Perhaps he had failed, or perhaps he had not dared to strike.

Who knew? Many details in the original work had never been described and remained vague, leaving readers to fill in the blanks.

Even though Li Ming had transmigrated to this era and verified many things, much still remained unclear. Only when events unfolded would he truly know the answers.

Aside from that bastard Undying Heavenly Emperor, the person who posed the greatest threat to the entire world was undoubtedly Emperor Zun.

Who knew why Emperor Zun had suddenly gone mad and wanted to refine the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands and the Strange World into the World Cauldron?

At the end of the Age of Mythology, he had appeared briefly as a heroic overlord, then inexplicably turned dark and hid himself away.

He only suddenly reappeared after the entire plot of Shrouding the Heavens had ended.

He overestimated himself enough to challenge Beginningless Emperor, Empress Numinous Treasure, Ye Fan, and Netherworld Venerable. His arrogance was incomprehensible.

His stupidity was equally impossible to understand.

In Li Ming's view, Emperor Zun must have been contaminated by Dark Strangeness or cursed.

Perhaps the Heavenly Court he established had somehow triggered a curse lurking in the unseen.

That was why he had unknowingly fallen victim to it, just like the contaminated Corpse Immortal Emperor.

Thinking of this, Li Ming felt that he should stay away from Emperor Zun when the time came.

He did not want to be contaminated by an Emperor Zun who might already be contaminated.

Li Ming had now returned to Ziwei Star, and countless powerful figures came to pay homage.

According to past custom, whenever someone who had attained the Dao returned to their hometown, they would hold a customary event: expounding the Great Dao for all. Anyone could listen.

The Demon Venerable had only returned to his hometown after so many years, and many people were filled with anticipation.

Moreover, the Demon Venerable's scriptures had never been circulated over the years, making many people deeply curious.

It would have been one thing if he refused to impart them to outsiders, but why had even the people of his affiliated Sun-Moon Holy Land not received them?

Not only were the people of Ziwei Star heading toward the Sun-Moon Holy Land, but the Ancient Starry Sky Road also became lively. Many people crossed the starry sky to reach Ziwei Star, hoping to visit the Demon Venerable.

Some had come purely to offer congratulations, while others were uneasy, worried that Li Ming would settle old scores from their ancestors' time.

The happiest people on all of Ziwei Star were undoubtedly those from the Sun-Moon Holy Land and Ziwei Holy Land.

Li Huayuan, the Holy Lord of the Sun-Moon Holy Land, was especially beaming.

As he looked at the majestic figure in the sky, others were trembling with fear, but Li Huayuan gazed at this ancestral uncle with a broad smile.

Even though they were separated by more than a hundred generations, he still felt incomparably close to him.

Countless cultivators prostrated themselves before Li Ming in worship.

"Congratulations to Ming Venerable on attaining the Dao!"

"Welcome home, Ming Venerable!"

"May Ming Venerable enjoy boundless longevity for ten thousand times ten thousand years!"

The incomparably grand voices spread across all of Ziwei Star and echoed through the starry sky.

From the moment Li Ming returned to Ziwei Star, purple qi stretched across hundreds of millions of miles throughout the planet, radiating an unfathomable Grand Dao aura, as though it had undergone another advancement and transformation.

This world was simply that wondrous. Every planet that gave birth to someone who attained the Dao would seem to advance and transform, producing many mysterious Great Emperor formation patterns closely connected to that person, as though protected by a Great Emperor or Ancient Emperor.

It was truly remarkable.

"Rise!"

"I have returned this time to expound the Dao for ten years. Anyone may listen!"

Li Ming's voice spread across all of Ziwei Star, and every cultivator who had come to pay homage was overjoyed.

Other than expressing their respect for Li Ming, was this not the great fortune they had been hoping for?

If they could comprehend anything from Li Ming's explanations, it would benefit them for the rest of their lives.

No cultivator on Ziwei Star wished to miss such an opportunity.

There were truly layers upon layers of them, above and below, filling every inch of space with cultivators.

There were not only members of the Human Race, but all other living beings of heaven and earth as well.

Soon, the roar of Grand Dao Heavenly Sound rang out through the void.

Li Ming's explanations were simple yet profound, and exceedingly detailed.

He expounded the Great Dao of heaven and earth and the mysteries of the five cultivation methods.

Although much of it was basic knowledge, many Great Saints and even Quasi-Emperors still felt as though they had been enlightened.

The higher one's cultivation, the more one realized that the devil was in the details.

Many tiny discrepancies could easily become obstacles to further progress.

Some people even had no choice but to recultivate the five secret realms, spending long years making up for what they had once missed.

As for the lower-level cultivators, they benefited immensely as well.

Many things they had been unable to understand suddenly seemed to click into place in an instant.

The Five Secret Realms Cultivation Method passed down by the Desolate Heavenly Emperor had always been a cultivation method for developing the human body's potential, with all power belonging to oneself.

For this cultivation method to so quickly replace the former Ancient Immortal Method and Chaotic Ancient Method, it naturally possessed unique strengths.

Yet many things still depended on bloodline, physique, and comprehension.

Without them, advancing to a higher level was truly exceedingly difficult.

As an Acquired Chaotic Body, after Li Ming attained supremacy, he was able to resonate with all the myriad daos of heaven and earth.

When he expounded the Great Dao to everyone, he was far superior to the other Supremes.

He transformed into chaos itself. Endless chaos flowed through this place, resonating and vibrating with the Heavenly Heart Imprint, turning the area into an ocean of the Great Dao.

The paths of the Great Dao pursued by everyone differed vastly, yet they could all gain insights within the Chaos Sea Li Ming had become.

Li Ming meticulously demonstrated each Secret Realm: the Wheel Sea Secret Realm, Dao Palace Secret Realm, Four Extremes Secret Realm, Dragon Transformation Secret Realm, and Immortal Platform Secret Realm.

The mysteries of the five cultivation methods were laid out plainly before everyone.

Because the Five Secret Realms Cultivation Method had been created by the Desolate Heavenly Emperor, and the Desolate Heavenly Emperor was of the Human Race, this Five Secret Realms Cultivation Method was undoubtedly most suited to humanoid cultivators.

Of course, other demon races and ancient creatures could also assume human form or cultivate in their original forms.

But comparatively speaking, human form truly deserved to be called an innate Dao body.

At least, that was how Li Ming felt.

All powerful cultivators eventually gained the ability to assume human form.

As Li Ming demonstrated his insights into the Great Dao, everyone listened with rapt attention and fell into a state of enlightenment.

Many things they had been unable to understand despite endless thought seemed to become clear in the blink of an eye.

Many people unknowingly made breakthroughs.

Time flew by. The ten years of expounding the Great Dao passed in an instant.

Li Ming stopped his exposition.

Only after a long while did the many cultivators awaken from their state of enlightenment, their faces filled with either lingering yearning or delighted surprise.

They respectfully bowed to Li Ming.

"Many thanks to Ming Venerable for your great kindness!"

"Thank you, Ming Venerable, for your guidance!"

Li Ming had long since vanished, yet everyone still respectfully bowed toward the place where he had stood.

After the sermon ended, many cultivators remained for some time before gradually departing.

The once-crowded Sun-Moon Holy Land finally became tranquil once more.