Lecture on the Dao

To ascend from the mortal world in the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands, one had to live 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, spanning 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, had emerged—only a handful in total.

Even if that soy sauce Red Dust Immortal from the Strange World was included, there were still fewer than ten.

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

The slightest mishap could lead to death and cut off the Red Dust Immortal Path. Eternal Emperor and Lingbao Tianzun were examples. The original work clearly recorded that both had relied on their own abilities to live new lifetimes, yet neither had managed 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 begun burying himself in the earth during the early Age of Mythology, crawling out of the ground time after time only to bury himself again.

The Divine Silkworm Ancient Emperor was the ultimate shut-in, forever slumbering and transforming inside a coffin.

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

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 Lifetime.

His body became 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's fall should have preceded the founding of Emperor Zun's Ancient Heavenly Court.

What had become of Lingbao Tianzun now? Had he left behind an inheritance?

Had his body already transformed into a world?

Thinking of how those Dark Supremes had used Lingbao Tianzun's Formation Diagram when they besieged him, Li Ming roughly inferred that Lingbao Tianzun's current condition was likely dire.

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

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

By now, Lingbao Tianzun's Formation Diagram should have returned to his body. Perhaps, just as in the original work, it had returned to the Other Shore World formed from Lingbao Tianzun's body.

Li Ming had once tried to deduce Lingbao Tianzun's circumstances, only to find the secrets of heaven shrouded in Chaos.

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

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

They were already renowned throughout this era.

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

Their secret arts had reached the ultimate extreme 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.

That only made him crave the other Nine Secret Techniques even more.

Carefree Heavenly Venerable, the creator of Nine Secrets: Xing, had already been skinned 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 chance while excavating a tomb.

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

That unexpected discovery had delighted Li Ming immensely.

At the time, he had not created a secret art like the Phoenix Tribulation Rebirth Technique. Whenever he underwent tribulation, he had struggled greatly, relying on several incomplete healing secret arts to survive.

After obtaining Nine Secrets: Zhe, crossing tribulations became much easier.

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

If Li Ming's guess was correct, Longevity Heavenly Venerable should already have become the master of the Immortal Mausoleum.

The Immortal Mausoleum Forbidden Zone was also an enormous Forbidden Zone.

There were many mysterious tombs there. Legend said that they had once buried True Immortals and even Immortal Kings.

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

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

When the Road to Immortality opened by Emperor Zun emerged tens of thousands or even over a hundred thousand years later, Longevity Heavenly Venerable would certainly interfere.

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

Then he sealed himself once more and waited for the Beidou Road to Immortality to open.

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

More than a dozen Dark Supremes had been trapped to death.

Longevity Heavenly Venerable had narrowly survived on the Red Dust Immortal Path, nearly died, been grievously wounded when the Divine Organization detonated fragments of the Immortal Ascension Cauldron, and then fought the Great Achievement Sacred Body to mutual destruction.

Longevity Heavenly Venerable's strength at that time had indeed been formidable.

By Li Ming's estimation, Longevity Heavenly Venerable should have lived a Third Lifetime through his own abilities before severing himself with a single stroke.

Otherwise, he should not have been so powerful.

Li Ming currently had no particular plans regarding those Life Forbidden Zones.

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

But if those Life Forbidden Zones plotted against his Chaotic Body Origin, 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 ascend from the mortal world, they had all severed themselves with a single stroke and sealed themselves away for eternity, waiting for the Road to Immortality to open.

Yet even after severing themselves and sealing themselves within Immortal Source, slumbering in the Forbidden Zones, they still could not withstand the erosion of time. Their lives continued to dwindle.

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

The Dark Supremes of this era were not especially active, because the day the Road to Immortality opened 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 particularly active, their numbers were astonishing.

They far surpassed those of Ye Fan's era.

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 people of mysterious and unfathomable origins. No one knew from which era they came.

According to the original work, massive Divine Wars had erupted during both the End of the Mythology Era and the End of the Primordial Era, killing and wounding many Dark Supremes.

Judging by that description, no fewer than ten Dark Supremes should have died.

This Age of Mythology had another advantage: the Human Race had produced multiple Heavenly Venerables and Supremes in succession, and its status was truly lofty.

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

This was nothing like the later era, when it 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, Human Race Great Emperors emerged one after another, allowing the Human Race to regain its most glorious and peak era.

At that time, the relationship between Human Race Great Emperors, the Dark Restricted Areas, and the Dark Supremes could be said to have deteriorated to the extreme.

Human Race Great Emperors spent their entire lives fighting Dark Supremes.

Before dying, nearly every Human Race Great Emperor would fight Dark Supremes to the death and take some of them with him.

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

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

For the sake of ascending from the mortal world, they had truly cast aside all shame.

Even if Li Ming pacified one Forbidden Zone after another and killed every Dark Supreme, among the Great Emperors and Ancient Emperors born in later generations, there would still be people who became Dark Supremes once again in order to ascend from the mortal world and await the opening of the Road to Immortality.

Besides, there were so many Dark Supremes and Dark Restricted Areas now. Li Ming was not going to lose his mind and fight Dark Supremes to the death.

All he wanted now was to become a Red Dust Immortal. Everything else could wait.

Moreover, he had already killed so many Dark Supremes and established a fearsome reputation—or rather, a vicious one. At least for a short while, no Dark Supreme should dare provoke Li Ming.

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

He was currently at the height of his strength.

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

As for transforming into a Third Lifetime, he had ample time to consider and refine it.

By his rough estimate, he had at least fifty thousand years to ponder 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, emerging only after his transformation succeeded.

In truth, after Li Ming killed so many Dark Supremes, he had also preserved much of their Origin Essence Blood.

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

Therefore, Li Ming felt that the origins and essence blood of these Dark Venerables might also enable him to live a new lifetime.

That was why, when he killed those Dark Supremes, he had kept a reserve and saved some Origin Essence Blood from every Dark Venerable.

Based on the original work's descriptions, Li Ming roughly guessed that when Undying Heavenly Emperor first used the Origin Essence Blood of Great Emperors and Ancient Emperors for Nirvana, ordinary ones had been sufficient.

Later, he needed comparatively special origins.

For instance, Solar Saint Emperor and Lunar Saint Emperor; Fighting Saint Emperor, who wanted to become a Battle Immortal; and Taihuang, who cultivated Imperial Dao Dragon Qi. Each was either exceptionally special or exceptionally powerful.

He had certainly tried to ambush Demon Emperor and Divine Silkworm Ancient Emperor as well. Perhaps he had failed, or perhaps he had not dared to attack them.

Who knew? Many details in the original work were left undescribed and vague, requiring readers to fill in the blanks themselves.

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

Aside from that bastard Undying Heavenly Emperor, 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 briefly appeared as a heroic figure, then inexplicably turned dark and hid himself away.

He did not emerge again until 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 idiocy was equally incomprehensible.

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

Perhaps the Heavenly Court he had founded had somehow triggered an unseen curse.

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

Thinking of this, Li Ming felt that he should stay far away from Emperor Zun in the future.

He had no desire 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.

Based on past practice, whenever someone who had attained Enlightenment as Supreme returned to their homeland, they would hold a customary event: expounding the Great Dao for all to hear, with anyone allowed to listen.

Now that Demon Venerable had returned to his homeland after so many years, many people were filled with anticipation.

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

It would have been understandable if he did not teach outsiders, but why had even his own descendants, the people of the Sun-Moon Holy Land, not received them?

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

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

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

In particular, the Holy Lord of the Sun-Moon Holy Land, Li Huayuan, was grinning from ear to ear.

Others looked at the majestic figure in the sky with fearful reverence, 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.

"Congratulations to Venerable Ming on attaining the Dao!"

"Welcome home, Venerable Ming!"

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

The incomparably majestic voices spread across all of Ziwei Star and resounded through the starry sky.

From the moment Li Ming returned to Ziwei Star, purple qi stretched for hundreds of millions of miles across the planet, radiating mysterious and unfathomable Grand Dao Divine Resonance. It was as though the planet had undergone another upgrade and transformation.

This world was simply that wondrous. Every planet that produced someone who attained the Dao would undergo something like an upgrade and transformation, giving rise to many mysterious Great Emperor formation patterns closely tied to that person, as if sheltered by Great Emperors and Ancient Emperors.

It was truly extraordinary.

"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 filled with joy.

Other than showing Li Ming their respect, had they not come precisely in hopes of such a tremendous opportunity?

If they could gain even a little enlightenment from Li Ming's explanations, it would undoubtedly benefit them for life.

Not a single cultivator on Ziwei Star wished to miss this chance.

There were truly layers upon layers of them, filling heaven and earth, packed densely everywhere.

There were not only members of the Human Race, but also all manner of other living beings.

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

Li Ming's explanations were clear and accessible, yet immensely detailed.

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

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

The deeper one's cultivation, the more one discovered that the devil lay in the details.

Many tiny differences could easily become obstacles to their advancement.

Some even had no choice but to recultivate the Five Great Secret Realms, spending long years making up for what they had once lacked.

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

Many things they had been unable to understand seemed, in the blink of an eye, to become completely clear.

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

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

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

Otherwise, advancing to a higher level would truly be extremely difficult.

As an Acquired Chaotic Body, after achieving Enlightenment as Supreme, Li Ming could resonate with the Myriad Dao of Heaven and Earth.

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

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

The paths of the Great Dao that everyone walked were vastly different, yet all of them gained some insight from the Chaos Sea Li Ming had become.

Li Ming demonstrated each of the Wheel Sea Secret Realm, Dao Palace Secret Realm, Four Extremes Secret Realm, Dragon Transformation Secret Realm, and Immortal Platform Secret Realm in meticulous detail.

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

Because the Five Secret Realms Cultivation Method had been created by the Desolate Heavenly Emperor, and the Desolate Heavenly Emperor was human, this cultivation method was undoubtedly best suited to humanoid cultivators.

Of course, members of the Demon Race and other ancient creatures could also assume human form, or cultivate in their original forms.

But comparatively speaking, humanoid 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 understanding of the Great Dao, everyone listened in rapt fascination and entered a state of enlightenment.

Many things that had baffled them no matter how much they pondered them seemed to become clear in an instant.

Many people unknowingly made breakthroughs.

Time flew by. Ten years of expounding upon the Great Dao passed in the blink of an eye.

Li Ming stopped his exposition of the Great Dao.

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

They respectfully bowed to Li Ming.

"Many thanks to Venerable Ming for your immense grace and virtue!"

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

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

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

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