The First Lecture at Zixiao Palace: Three Thousand Daos from the Simplest Truth

Inside Zixiao Palace, the silence was deathly solemn.

High above the nine heavens, boundless Creation Immortal Light surged and roiled. Dao Ancestor Hongjun's towering form sat in the chaotic void, his eyes seeming to hold the birth and death of countless stars and the turning of a thousand ages as he looked down at the seven seated below.

Lin Qiye sat on the first Purple-Gold Meditation Cushion with the Broken Sword on his back. Ji Changkong, Supreme Mystery True Lord, Tu Shanye, Netherworld Blood Emperor, and Ye Chen occupied the seats that followed. Canghai Old Daoist, meanwhile, sat at ease on the Purple Qi Auspicious Cloud the Dao Ancestor had personally bestowed on him.

All seven held their breath, not daring to let even a stray thought arise.

To stand in Zixiao Palace Beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens and hear Dao Ancestor Hongjun—who, legend said, had brought forth the source of all arts and quelled the raging chaos—preach the Dao was an opportunity surpassing every cultivation manual in the Canglan Realm and all the myriad worlds.

Just then—

On the seat of honor, the unfathomable figure in dark robes slowly extended a slender finger and flicked it toward the void.

"Hum—!"

There was no earth-shaking roar, no overwhelming pressure. Only a clear Great Dao Rhythm, like the chime of spring water, echoed through Zixiao Palace.

The next moment—

Golden Lotuses, formed entirely from pure Laws of Creation, appeared across the floor of the vast, silent hall!

Golden Lotuses rose from the ground, and jeweled flowers fell from the nine heavens!

As the Golden Lotuses bloomed, each petal revealed an inscrutable Primordial Pattern. One glance struck the seven like lightning. The bottlenecks that had held them back for thousands, even tens of thousands, of years showed signs of loosening!

"The Dao has no form, yet gives birth to heaven and earth; the Dao has no feeling, yet guides the sun and moon; the Dao has no name, yet nurtures all things..."

Dao Ancestor Hongjun's (Su Chen's) voice rang out slowly.

It was not loud, but it carried the vastness of ages past. With each word he spoke, a character of Ancient Divine Script, shining with the Great Dao's immortal light, formed in the void. Then, as gently as a breeze against the face, it slipped into the souls of the seven below.

The Dao Ancestor spoke not of the specific techniques and breathing methods known in the Canglan Realm, but of what lay beneath them all: the workings of heaven and earth, and the steps of the Great Dao!

"Those who cultivate immortality follow heaven's course, answer the needs of living beings, and seek to understand the Dao."

"When chaos first opened, all things were one. Heaven and earth held no division into 'realms.' There was only the 'Dao.'"

"But beings of the lower worlds had frail bodies and clouded souls. Thus, the steps of cultivation were laid out so they might grow in harmony with the workings of heaven..."

At those words, Supreme Mystery True Lord, seated third, began to tremble violently. His clouded eyes locked on the Ancient Divine Script in the void, and his hands pressed hard against his cushion in shock!

The steps of cultivation were laid out?!

As far as they knew, Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Deification, Dao-Slaying, and Tribulation Transcendence formed an immutable order that had existed since time immemorial!

Yet now, according to this Dao Ancestor who had shaped chaos, those countless cultivation realms were merely "steps" laid out at the dawn of heaven and earth for the sake of weak mortal beings?!

"Great Emperor? Tribulation Transcendence?"

The Dao Ancestor's voice was cold and vast. Each word struck home, sweeping through Zixiao Palace and overturning everything they thought they knew:

"The Tribulation Transcendence Stage and Great Emperor title you seek amount to no more than setting foot across the threshold of the immortal gate in the greater cosmos."

"The Immortal Dao begins when the true spirit awakens and breaks free of the mortal body's shackles."

"There are five grades of immortal: Ghost Immortal, Human Immortal, Earth Immortal, Divine Immortal, and Heavenly Immortal."

"Above the Heavenly Immortal lie the body of a True Immortal, the undying nature of a Golden Immortal, the transcendence of Taiyi, and the eternity of Daluo!"

"Boom—!!"

Those few sentences fell like an ancient hammer, shattering the composure of every old monster in Zixiao Palace save Lin Qiye!

Heavenly Immortal! True Immortal! Golden Immortal! Taiyi! Daluo!

They had never heard of these supreme realms in the ancient texts of the Canglan Realm. They had never even dared imagine them. Yet the Dao Ancestor laid them out one by one, with flawless logic and an order of the Great Dao that seemed exalted beyond measure!

"So... so the Tribulation Transcendence perfection we spent ten thousand years pursuing doesn't even qualify us as Ghost Immortals or Human Immortals?!"

Supreme Mystery True Lord murmured, lost and shaken. Tears streamed down his face.

He had spent his life trying to take that final step. He had exhausted his sect's resources, severed his ties to human love and desire, and nearly fallen to the Devil Dao. Only today, after hearing the Dao Ancestor's first lecture, did he understand: he was a frog in a well, standing beside a tiny puddle and believing he had seen the ocean!

"Human Immortals cast off the mundane world. Earth Immortals govern blessed lands. Heavenly Immortals stand beyond the three realms and outside the five elements... Golden Immortals endure every calamity, undying for eternity!"

The Netherworld Blood Emperor's demonic aura surged wildly. His blood-red eyes burned with a fervor and longing he had never known before.

At last, he understood!

No wonder True Lord Kurong, despite reaching Tribulation Transcendence perfection, had been powerless against the Netherworld's Soul-Reaping Chains! The Tribulation Transcendence Stage did not make one an immortal. Without an immortal body or the rank of Heavenly Immortal, one remained a mortal of flesh and blood, doomed to decay before the true order of heaven and earth!

"Thank you, Dao Ancestor, for showing us the way! How could we, in our mortal ignorance, presume to fathom the Immortal Dao?"

Tu Shanye, the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox Ancestor, knelt on the fourth cushion and bowed his head to Hongjun's towering form. Sacred reverence filled his eyes.

And it was not only them.

Even Ye Chen, the once-timid youth dismissed as a failure, felt his long-dormant Primordial Desolate Physique begin to devour the surrounding Creation Immortal Light as he listened to those simple words that led straight to the Great Dao!

Ye Chen felt his body transform at astonishing speed. Power rushed through his once-shriveled meridians like a raging tide, and his comprehension rose to an unimaginable level!

Lin Qiye, seated first, felt the lecture even more keenly.

The Eight-Nine Profound Art within him circulated as if divinely aided, and an image of True Lord Erlang, the god of war, appeared in his mind.

The Eight-Nine Profound Art can make the body sacred... Cultivated to its limit, this supreme art lets the body cross chaos and endure forever—a Daluo Golden Immortal, or perhaps something higher!

The Golden Mark deep within Lin Qiye's forehead blazed with dazzling light. His warrior's Dao-heart resonated fully with the Great Dao of Zixiao Palace!

Behind them, Canghai Old Daoist sat smiling on the Purple Qi Auspicious Cloud, lost in a profound revelation. Having let go of his obsession and yielded to heaven's course, he now understood the lecture more clearly than anyone. Around him stirred the faint air of a Loose Immortal who had left worldly concerns behind.

Throughout Zixiao Palace—

Golden Lotuses shone with color, and Immortal Sound filled the air.

The seven listeners, each representing a different force among the myriad worlds, lost themselves in the Dao Ancestor's first lecture on the Immortal Dao. Its simple words led them step by step into its depths, washing away all they had known!

Their narrow understanding was torn apart. A vast, rigorous, and supremely exalted system of the Primordial World's Immortal Dao took root like a seed in the depths of their souls!

No one knew how much time passed.

Perhaps it was only an instant. Perhaps it was a thousand years, or ten thousand.

High above the nine heavens, the Creation Immortal Light that had displayed the three thousand Laws of the Great Dao slowly receded, and the Ancient Divine Script scattered across the sky vanished with it.

Dao Ancestor Hongjun's (Su Chen's) commanding voice rang out again through the silent hall:

"The Great Dao has three thousand paths, each with its own course."

"Today's first lecture ends here. Return to your bodies. Conduct yourselves well and reflect deeply on what you have heard, until fate brings you to the second lecture."

With that—

The Dao Ancestor's towering form raised its right hand and swept it gently toward the seven seated below.

"Boom!"

Seven Golden Lotuses of Creation on the floor burst apart, becoming seven pure Purple-Gold Dao Seals that plunged into the depths of their souls!

They were the True Meaning of Listening to the Dao, bestowed by the Dao Ancestor and containing the core insights into the Laws from his first lecture!

"We bow in thanks for your supreme grace, Dao Ancestor!"

The seven came to their senses and, holding back their elation and shock, bowed low on their cushions and cloud.

The next moment—

Before they could raise their heads, an irresistible pull from the void descended. Purple-gold immortal light wrapped around their souls and wrenched them out of the forbidden chaos Beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens!

"Whoosh—!"

The doors of Zixiao Palace slowly closed, and it sank once more into endless chaos and silence.