Beneath Saints, all are ants.
Gu Changqing had not said those words only for Di Xin to hear; he had said them to himself as well.
The ultimate opponents he would face in presiding over the Investiture of the Gods would always be the Saints.
Given Tong Tian's temperament, there was no hope of relying on him.
"Is there a Secluded Room in the mansion? I wish to enter seclusion."
Gu Changqing asked Wen Zhong.
"Yes." Wen Zhong replied, "Junior Martial Uncle, follow me."
Wen Zhong led Gu Changqing to a secret chamber, then left to prepare for the expedition.
Inside the secret chamber, Gu Changqing lowered his gaze in thought.
Wen Zhong had yet to leave Chaoge, and there was still some time before the true Investiture of the Gods.
During this vacant period, forces from every side would take the stage, and Chaoge would become a den of demons.
However, in the early stages, the various sects would not dispatch large numbers of experts.
Di Xin already possessed the cultivation of a Great Luo Golden Immortal, along with the two supreme treasures, the Kongtong Seal and the Human Emperor Sword. As long as he did not go astray himself, he should be able to keep matters under control.
It was also time for him to take the opportunity to improve his strength.
Gu Changqing sat cross-legged. Now that he was a Great Luo Golden Immortal, pills no longer had any effect on him.
Cultivation could only depend on one's own comprehension.
He had studied the Primordial Creation True Scripture for years, yet he had never managed to grasp its method.
He recognized every single word, but when they were put together, he could not make sense of them at all.
At that moment, Gu Changqing possessed countless treasures and immeasurable merit, as well as a marvelous scripture like the Primordial Creation True Scripture. Unfortunately, his own comprehension was truly lacking.
It could be said that he possessed a treasure mountain yet could not find the way in.
After pondering bitterly for a long time, Gu Changqing suddenly had a flash of inspiration and recalled a legend.
It was said that burning merit could increase one's cultivation.
Gu Changqing acted as soon as he thought of it, immediately drawing out merit and beginning to burn it.
As the power of merit burned, his mind became utterly clear.
When he comprehended the Primordial Creation True Scripture again, it began to flow smoothly.
This was...
Enlightenment!
So merit had such a wondrous use!
One million units of merit were burned away in less than a day, equivalent to burning a Mid-Grade Acquired Spiritual Treasure.
So that was it!
Merit could not be directly converted into cultivation; it could only help one attain enlightenment.
"Heh! Who told you that?"
At that moment, the system's voice sounded in his mind.
"One hundred billion units of merit can be directly converted into a Merit Saint."
What?
Gu Changqing froze slightly. I have more than one hundred and sixty billion units of merit right now.
Could he not become a Saint on the spot?
"How about it? Do you wish to convert it?"
When Gu Changqing heard the system prompt again, he suddenly shuddered.
The system was a cheat, that was true!
But even with a golden finger, it was impossible to reach the heavens in one step.
There had to be a catch!
Gu Changqing asked, "Will becoming a Saint through merit have any side effects?"
"There are no side effects, but becoming a Saint through merit will cut off your path to Proving the Dao of Mixed Origin."
"As long as the Heavenly Dao remains, Saints remain immortal. But the Heavenly Dao itself is not eternal."
This...
Upon hearing the system's words, Gu Changqing dismissed the idea of becoming a Saint through merit.
Beneath Saints, all were ants. It sounded immensely imposing, but in truth, Saints were merely chess pieces of the Heavenly Dao.
The Heavenly Dao used the Saints as chess pieces, while the Saints regarded all living beings as straw dogs!
He should just burn merit and cultivate on his own!
Only after comprehending the Primordial Creation True Scripture did Gu Changqing realize that Tong Tian had not deceived him.
Although the Nine Revolutions Golden Pill and the Limitless Creation Pill had no side effects, they truly made one's foundation unstable.
Gu Changqing directly recultivated from the start, and after half a year, his cultivation returned to the early Great Luo Golden Immortal stage.
Although burning merit could place one in a state of enlightenment, it was truly expensive!
Though his foundation had become stable, he had lost one hundred and eighty million units of merit.
In the Primordial World, who could be as extravagant as Gu Changqing?
One hundred and eighty million was an astronomical figure to others.
But to Gu Changqing, it was merely a drop in the bucket.
Cultivation as a Great Luo Golden Immortal was even harder to improve.
Increase it tenfold again!
At that moment, Gu Changqing was already enveloped in flames of merit.
The path of Great Luo Golden Immortal cultivation had become clear, but...
It was still not enough!
Increase it tenfold again!
The Merit Sacred Fire blazed fiercely. Gu Changqing's mind had never been clearer, and cultivation came to him as naturally as a fish taking to water.
Gu Changqing's cultivation now consumed more than one hundred million units of merit every day.
That was why Gu Changqing cultivated hidden inside the secret chamber of the Grand Tutor's Mansion. If he did this in Biyou Palace, Tong Tian would have slapped him to death long ago.
What a damn spendthrift!
What a damn extravagance!
Even as a Saint, Tong Tian would not dare to spend like this!
There was no sense of time in cultivation. In the blink of an eye, three years passed.
Gu Changqing emerged from seclusion.
He had now reached the Great Luo Peak, only one step away from the Primordial Golden Immortal realm.
The Primordial Creation True Scripture followed the path of Proving the Dao through strength. Before the Great Luo Golden Immortal realm, it was the same as other immortal cultivation paths, but the Great Luo Golden Immortal realm was the dividing line.
The immortal Dao method passed down by Hongjun was that after Great Luo, one severed the Three Corpses.
Severing one corpse made one a Quasi-Saint, severing two made one a mid-stage Quasi-Saint, severing three made one a late-stage Quasi-Saint, and merging the Three Corpses with the Dao made one a peak Quasi-Saint.
Upon successfully merging with the Dao, one would Prove the Dao of Mixed Origin or become a Saint on the spot.
After becoming a Saint, there were further distinctions: initial Saints, Heavenly Dao Saints, and Great Dao Saints.
Gu Changqing harbored doubts about this entire system, because there were only a few Merit Saints in the Primordial World, yet not a single Mixed Origin Great Luo Golden Immortal.
After the Six Saints, apart from Houtu, no further Saints appeared until the descent of the Age of Dharma Decline.
The Primordial Creation True Scripture was different. After Great Luo Golden Immortal came the Primordial Golden Immortal realm.
The Primordial Golden Immortal realm was a process of condensing laws. There were no early, middle, or late stages. Once the Law Body was complete, one would Prove the Dao of Mixed Origin.
Beyond Mixed Origin lay the Primordial Taiji Great Luo Golden Immortal, the Primordial Taisu Great Luo Golden Immortal...
Those realms were too distant, and Gu Changqing did not think much about them.
Though his cultivation had reached the Great Luo Peak, he had also consumed one hundred billion units of merit.
Only fifty to sixty billion remained, no longer enough to support another period of seclusion. He had to keep some spending money.
Feeling the solid foundation and explosive power within his body, Gu Changqing smiled to himself.
This was what cultivating immortality should be!
If he encountered the Chan Sect Twelve Immortals again, he could suppress them with a wave of his hand without using any treasures!
One hundred billion units of merit had been well spent!
Gu Changqing swept out with his divine sense. Wen Zhong was not in the mansion, so he had clearly departed long ago on the expedition to the Northern Sea.
Chaoge was no longer as prosperous as before. Disciples of the Western Sect, Chan Sect, and Human Sect—the Three Sects—had already begun thoroughly infiltrating Chaoge.
The once-prosperous Chaoge had been ruined by the disciples of the Three Sects into a smoky, chaotic mess crawling with ghosts and demons.
What was Di Xin doing?
Gu Changqing frowned slightly, only to see that Di Xin had also emerged from seclusion at that very moment.
This brat!
Clearly, Di Xin had also spent the past three years cultivating in seclusion and had not handled state affairs.
Like him, Di Xin had recultivated from the beginning, and his cultivation had stabilized at the mid-stage Great Luo Golden Immortal realm.
Mid-stage Great Luo Golden Immortal?
This brat was absurdly gifted!
He was simply a cultivation genius delayed by being a king!
This fellow did not have merit to burn!
After emerging from seclusion, Di Xin poured all of his Body Protecting True Dragon Qi into the Luck Golden Dragon.
The Luck Golden Dragon, which had been somewhat unstable, became solid once more.
Now that he was a mid-stage Great Luo Golden Immortal expert, he had no need for True Dragon Qi to protect his body.
After doing all that, Di Xin did not rush to handle state affairs. Instead, he headed straight for the Grand Tutor's Mansion.
"Your disciple, Zi Shou, requests an audience with Teacher!"
Di Xin arrived outside Gu Changqing's secret chamber and bowed down.
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