Hongjun's Defenses Shattered! Even If It's True, You Can't Say It Everywhere!

Li Yi's words were nothing short of earth-shattering!

The previously silent crowd below instantly erupted.

Ever since the three Yuan Assemblies, cultivators across the Primordial Continent who had heard the two men preach had openly and secretly debated which was stronger and more orthodox: the Law Dao or the Three Corpses Severing Dao.

Of course, no one had ever reached a conclusion.

After all, to ordinary Great Firmament cultivators, both paths were exceedingly difficult! Since both were difficult, becoming a Quasi-Saint through either should have made one equally formidable!

Yet today, Heaven-Earth Dao Ancestor had personally given them an answer!

Achieving Sagehood through the Law Dao was superior to achieving Sagehood through the Three Corpses Severing Method! Moreover, the Three Corpses Severing Method was a dead end!?

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Among the crowd, Yuanshi and Zhunti's group of four were the most panicked!

They had all become Quasi-Saints through the Three Corpses Severing Method! It was already too late for them to switch paths now!

Yet this Heaven-Earth Daoist had actually said that the Three Corpses Severing Method was a dead end?

In an inconspicuous corner of the crowd, a black-robed Daoist wore an equally gloomy expression.

Hongjun stared at Li Yi atop the jade platform, so furious that his beard quivered and his eyes bulged. His defenses were beginning to crumble.

Seeing that all four of his disciples had come, and considering that Heaven-Earth Daoist would likely explain the Sage Dao today, he had simply sent an incarnation disguised as a Golden Immortal to infiltrate the gathering.

Yet Heaven-Earth Daoist had publicly declared that his Three Corpses Severing Method was inferior to the Law Dao and was even a dead end!?

Hongjun knew that Li Yi was right. But even if he was right, Qiankun could not just say it everywhere, much less in front of so many people! Wasn't that ruining the reputation of him, the Dao Ancestor?

And besides, the Three Corpses Severing Method was a Sage Dao method he had deduced from the Creation Jade Disc. Though it had flaws, how had Heaven-Earth Daoist learned of them?

Could it be... that he was simply spouting nonsense in an attempt to slander him?

On the high platform, Li Yi cleared his throat and began explaining to the crowd.

"The Three Corpses Severing Method requires three Innate Spiritual Treasures born of the Primordial World to sever the Kind Corpse, Evil Corpse, and Self Corpse! If one wishes to become a Sage, the three corpses must ultimately return to the body!"

"The problem lies precisely in this step. For the three corpses to become one, the three Spirit Treasures entrusted with one's good thoughts, evil thoughts, and self-thoughts must share the same origin! Otherwise, the final step can never succeed!"

"Even with Hongjun's abilities, gathering three Spirit Treasures of the same origin would be difficult. Where would any of you find three such treasures now?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the people present were even more shocked, and many began transmitting messages in private.

"Three Innate Spiritual Treasures are already difficult enough to obtain! They even have to share the same origin?"

"I haven't heard of such supreme treasures existing anywhere in the Primordial World anymore!"

"Before the Demon Calamity, Yin-Yang Daoist, a great expert, seemed to possess a set of Supreme-Grade Spirit Treasure formation flags that shared the same origin! But that set of supreme treasures has been lost for a long time!"

"Perhaps they could still have been found before the Calamity Cycles. After several Calamity Cycles in succession, there are basically no complete matching Spirit Treasures left!"

"That Patriarch Hongjun actually hid this secret from us? How outrageous! If I had severed my three corpses using this method, wouldn't I have fallen for that old thief's trick?"

"I had previously intended to sever my Dao with this method. Fortunately, I thought I should first comprehend the Law Dao that Heaven-Earth Dao Ancestor spoke of, compare the merits of the two methods, and decide afterward! Looking at it now, that cautiousness saved me."

"Pah! You really dare to brag. Are you sure you didn't come here only because you couldn't find any Innate Spiritual Treasures?"

"Ahem!"

As the crowd whispered among themselves, some also began taking pleasure in others' misfortune.

"I heard that Yuanshi and Laozi among the Three Pure Ones have already become Quasi-Saints through this method! Those two usually hold their heads so high, believing that becoming Quasi-Saints lets them look down on the rest of us. Yet now it seems that they are the ones whose Dao paths have been cut off!"

"Tongtian of the Three Pure Ones has never looked down on us by flaunting his status as Pangu Orthodox. He became a Quasi-Saint through the Law Dao, so his future is the one worth anticipating!"

Listening to Li Yi's words above, Hongjun's lips moved slightly. Countless words of rebuttal were trapped in his chest, yet he could not speak a single one.

This Heaven-Earth Daoist actually knew such a secret!?

He had deduced it using the Creation Jade Disc, a Spirit Treasure born from Hundun! How had this man learned of it?

Listening to Li Yi's words, while everyone else was merely panicked, shocked, angry, or gloating, Laozi and Yuanshi felt their limbs turn ice-cold as despair rose in their hearts.

Laozi recalled the exhilaration he had felt when he severed the three corpses, as though the Supreme Sage Dao lay right before him. Then he recalled the secret he had just heard from Heaven-Earth Daoist, and his heart ached so badly that he nearly coughed up blood.

"I used the Supreme Unity Whisk to sever my Kind Corpse, while Second Brother used the Jade Ruyi to sever his Kind Corpse. Doesn't that mean that both our paths to Sagehood have been completely cut off?"

His Supreme Unity Whisk, Yuanshi's Jade Ruyi, and Tongtian's Green Duckweed Sword were items of the same origin!

Yet both his Supreme Unity Whisk and Yuanshi's Jade Ruyi had each been entrusted with a Kind Corpse! This meant that they had each cut off the other's path to Sagehood!

Yuanshi had clearly thought of this as well. His face flushed red with rage, and he nearly coughed up blood.

How proud had he always been? Yet now, those Great Firmament Golden Immortals beside him, whom he regarded as mere ants, were actually gloating and saying that he had no hope of attaining the Sage Dao!?

It was not only the two of them. Within the crowd, Jieyin and Zhunti were also so angry that their heads throbbed.

The two of them were even poorer than Yuanshi and Laozi! They had only a few Innate Spiritual Treasures in their possession, and the ones entrusted with their Kind Corpses were merely Mid-Grade Innate Spiritual Treasures!

When the two had arrived earlier, they had been full of confidence, believing that the brothers had already attained great freedom and that becoming Supreme Sages in the future would be effortless!

Yet now, had it all become a joke?

Purple Cloud Palace.

Li Yi had explained the Primordial Unity Dao for five hundred years, and Hongjun's sermon had long since ended.

The people here had already dispersed. As for Laozi, Yuanshi, Zhunti, and the other personal disciples, they were asking Hongjun about difficulties they encountered in their usual cultivation.

Suddenly, Laozi and Yuanshi, who had been asking questions below, both changed expression. They received the information from their incarnations, and resentment toward Hongjun instantly arose in their hearts.

This concerned their paths to Sagehood. Forget Hongjun, a master they had only recently acknowledged—even if he were their biological father, cutting off their paths to Sagehood would make them turn against him!

It was not only Laozi and Yuanshi. Zhunti and Jieyin beside them also had a flash of bitter hatred in their formerly "peaceful" eyes.

The two had cultivated from the barren lands of the West to their current realms. Though they appeared peaceful on the surface, they were actually very confident in their own talent!

Yet now they had learned that their paths to the Sage Dao had been cut off?

Hongjun above had clearly also received the message from his incarnation. His expression stiffened slightly, but before he could speak, Yuanshi below looked up with an angry face.

"Master! I just heard from Third Brother that the Three Corpses Severing Method is an unworkable path!"

"Is this true?"

Not only Yuanshi, but Laozi and Zhunti also raised their heads and looked toward Hongjun.

Feeling the four gazes below that seemed eager to swallow him whole, Hongjun's expression went numb.