This yearning for power and the unknown Great Dao was like a flame, thoroughly igniting the thirst for knowledge deep within her.
The gray-robed elder had just mentioned the Five Primordial Dharma Bodies that stood above the ninety-nine grades of the Dharma Body Ranking.
Even those supreme divine treasures that drove Saint Grade Heavenly Sovereigns mad were beneath the Divine Lord's interest in cultivating; instead, he had chosen to create his own "Dharma Form of Heaven and Earth."
Then just what heaven-defying powers did these Five Primordial Dharma Bodies possess?
And what ultimate heights of the Great Dao did they represent?
Qian Renxue bit her red lip.
She knew she was merely a lowly maid of the Outer Hall. Asking a question earlier had already been an enormous risk.
But now, the urgent impulse to lift the mysterious veil of the Great Thousand World was beyond her control.
She drew a deep breath and, braving Yun Gugu's slightly warning gaze, took another step forward.
Then, beneath the astonished gazes of tens of thousands of Outer Sect disciples,
Qian Renxue folded her hands and bowed deeply, her clear, firm voice ringing out at the edge of the training grounds.
"Honored elder!"
"This foolish maid has come to understand the Divine Lord's supreme realm of relying on no external things."
"But a doubt remains in my heart, like a bone lodged in my throat."
Qian Renxue raised her head, met the gray-robed elder's calm gaze, and boldly asked the question that had left everyone so curious.
"May I ask, elder, those legendary Five Primordial Dharma Bodies that stand above all rules and draw countless mighty cultivators like ducks flocking to water..."
"Which five are they?"
"And what supreme powers, reaching through heaven and earth, does each contain?"
Qian Renxue's clear voice drifted on the wind above the quiet Dao-Seeking Cliff.
For a moment, all the tens of thousands of Outer Sect disciples around her turned to stare at her as though she were a monster.
A sweeping maid who did not even belong to the Outer Sect had just scraped through with one question, and now she was actually demanding a mile after gaining an inch, asking about the most central, highest-tier Primordial Dharma Bodies of the Great Thousand World?
Her nerve was simply greater than the heavens.
Yun Gugu, standing behind Qian Renxue, frowned even more. She quietly reached out and tugged at the corner of Qian Renxue's clothes, signaling for her to step back at once.
But Qian Renxue bit her lip and remained motionless, a stubborn resolve in her clear eyes that would not turn back until she hit the southern wall.
She wanted to know far too badly.
Beyond the Sky Screen, everyone on the Douluo Continent watched this scene with their hearts rising into their throats.
A breeze swept across the Shrek Academy grounds, stirring a few fallen leaves.
Tang San unconsciously swallowed, his eyes fixed on the image in midair.
Not only him-even Ning Fengzhi of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect stopped tapping his cane and leaned forward slightly.
Everyone was curious about the origins of these Five Primordial Dharma Bodies, which even the Divine Lord disdained to cultivate, yet were revered as the source of all arts in the Great Thousand World.
At Dao-Seeking Cliff.
The gray-robed elder looked at the girl in blue standing at the edge of the steps, her eyes full of stubbornness, and his expression briefly froze.
Then, rather than losing his temper as everyone had expected,
he gently shook his head instead, a kindly smile curling his lips.
"You little girl from a lower world-your cultivation is as thin as paper, but your aspirations are higher than mountains."
As he spoke, the elder casually reached into empty space.
A steaming purple-clay teacup appeared in his hand out of nowhere.
He lifted the lid, leisurely blew on the tea leaves floating on the surface, and took a small sip.
"Very well."
"I'm in a good mood today. Since you've asked, I'll give you all a proper explanation."
The elder set down his teacup and swept his gaze over the disciples below, all straining their ears, his voice spreading at an unhurried pace.
"These Five Primordial Dharma Bodies are supreme divine treasures born alongside the primordial source of chaos when heaven and earth first opened."
"The first is called the Eternal Undying Body."
Hearing that name, everyone held their breath.
"What does it mean to remain undying for eternity?"
The gray-robed elder stroked his beard, a trace of yearning flashing in his eyes.
"The years pass and eras change. Even heaven and earth will one day decline and collapse."
"But once you have refined this Eternal Undying Body, your physical body can truly transcend reincarnation."
"Even if it were struck by chaotic Tribulation Lightning for tens of thousands of years, it would not suffer the slightest damage."
"Even if your Divine Soul were scattered, as long as a single drop of Essence Blood remained, you could be reborn from that drop and endure through eternity."
Hiss!
At this point, a wave of sharp gasps also rose across the Douluo Continent.
Rebirth from a drop of blood, undying through the ages?
How was this still a cultivation method? It was practically exploiting a loophole in the laws of heaven and earth to forcibly give yourself a tortoise shell that could never be broken.
The gray-robed elder continued without pausing.
"The second is the Tai Ling Sacred Body."
"This Dharma Body cultivates no brute physical strength, only the Spiritual Energy of heaven and earth."
"Once unleashed, it allows the cultivator to merge completely with the source of the Great Thousand World's Spiritual Energy."
"With a single thought, they can instantly drain all the energy from several Lower Planes for their own use."
"As long as their Spiritual Energy remains inexhaustible, their battle will never end."
Hearing this, Ning Fengzhi could not help clenching his fists.
The support abilities that the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect took such pride in seemed as ridiculous before this Tai Ling Sacred Body as scooping seawater with a little ladle on the shore.
"The third is the Night God Ancient Body."
The elder's voice suddenly grew somewhat low, as though even the surrounding light had dimmed a little.
"This Dharma Body represents the ultimate darkness and devouring in this world."
"Wherever it descends, all things lose their color, and even time falls still within the darkness."
"If trapped within it, even a Heavenly Sovereign will silently have all their cultivation dissolved, becoming a dried corpse."
In Spirit City, Bibi Dong could not help a gleam flashing in her eyes as she heard the description of this "Night God Ancient Body."
This ability to command absolute darkness coincided perfectly with a certain yearning in her heart.
"The fourth is called the Desolate Ancestor Body."
As the gray-robed elder reached this point, his tone gained the killing chill of clashing blades and charging warhorses.
"This Dharma Body follows the path of ultimate physical destruction."
"It needs no fancy laws or Spiritual Arts. Its essence is to shatter ten thousand arts with a single force."
"With one punch, even the rules of the Heavenly Dao will have a hole forcibly smashed through them."
"There was once a mighty cultivator who practiced a fragment of the Desolate Ancestor Body. With physical strength alone, that cultivator tore apart three supreme Divine Beasts at the Heavenly Sovereign level."
"That is what it means to shatter ten thousand arts with a single force."
Having introduced the first four, the gray-robed elder paused, lifting his teacup for another sip to moisten his throat.
Meanwhile, Qian Renxue, standing at the edge of the steps, had already been shocked speechless by these grand descriptions.
Each introduction of a Dharma Body made her feel as though her understanding of the world had been washed clean and remade.
"Honored elder."
Qian Renxue swallowed dryly and softly pressed on.
"Then... what about the final Primordial Dharma Body?"
The gray-robed elder set down his teacup, raised his head, and gave Qian Renxue a profound look.
This time, he did not speak immediately, instead examining the faint layer of light Spiritual Energy around her from head to toe.
Only after a moment did the elder slowly say:
"This final Primordial Dharma Body is called the Boundless Light Body."
Hum!
When the words "Boundless Light Body" reached her ears, Qian Renxue's pupils contracted.
Not only that, but the Light Spiritual Root within her, which had only just stabilized, unexpectedly gave an uncontrollable, joyful hum.
It was like a lost child suddenly hearing its mother's call.
"Boundless Light Body..."
Watching Qian Renxue's reaction, the gray-robed elder's eyes flashed with an almost imperceptible smile.
"It is the bane of all darkness and evil in this Great Thousand World."
"When this Dharma Body emerges, it is like the blazing suns of ten thousand worlds rising at once."
"Not only can it purify every impurity in the world, it can also instantly heal all of its user's injuries."
"Under the radiance of boundless light, every scheme, deadly poison, and curse will vanish without a trace in an instant."
Hearing these words, Tang San's expression on the Douluo Continent instantly turned somewhat ugly.
Purify every deadly poison?
If such a Dharma Body truly existed, would the Tang Sect poisons he took such pride in not be vaporized by that light before they even had a chance to approach?
Meanwhile, Qian Renxue had long since become utterly absorbed.
Since childhood, she had worshipped the Angel God in Spirit Hall and cultivated the power of light.
But only now did she understand that everything she had cultivated before could, at most, be considered a tiny, feeble candle flame.
This Boundless Light Body was the true blazing sun!
It was the ultimate Great Dao that no light-attribute cultivator would dare imagine even in their dreams!
"Elder."
Qian Renxue tightened both hands around the broom's wooden handle, her palms drenched in sweat.
"Since these Five Primordial Dharma Bodies are so powerful, who exactly controls them in our Great Thousand World today?"
At this question, the disciples across the training grounds craned their necks.
The gray-robed elder sighed, a measure of regret in his voice.
"How could it be that easy?"
"These Five Primordial Dharma Bodies were lost long ago in the great calamity of ancient times."
"In today's Great Thousand World, what the various supreme powers possess are mostly just fragments or clues."
Hearing that the Dharma Bodies had already been lost, everyone sighed in disappointment.
After all that, they were merely antiques that existed in legends.
Yet just as everyone was about to put the matter aside, the gray-robed elder suddenly lowered his voice, a mysterious smile appearing on his face.
He looked at Qian Renxue, then at the distant Divine Lord Peak shrouded in chaotic mist.
"However..."
The gray-robed elder suddenly stroked his beard, then slowly rose from the Azure Lotus, shifting the subject.
"Though these Five Primordial Dharma Bodies have been lost,"
"within the Inner Hall of our Great Desolation Divine Realm lies a divine treasure connected to them."
"While traveling through the Great Thousand World in the past, our Divine Lord once happened upon the true source of a Primordial Dharma Body!"
"And he brought it back to the Great Desolation Divine Realm, sealing it within the Inner Hall's Myriad Arts Cliff!"
Boom!
At these words, the tens of thousands of disciples on the training grounds instantly sucked in a sharp breath.
Even Qian Renxue, standing at the edge of the white jade steps, instantly tightened her grip on her broom.
The Divine Lord had actually found a Primordial Dharma Body?!
That was the source of all arts, a supreme divine treasure over which even Saint Grade Heavenly Sovereigns would fight until their heads split and blood flowed!
Seeing everyone's shocked expressions, the gray-robed elder waved his hand, signaling for silence.
"However, a divine treasure of that caliber has its own intelligence and pride."
"In our Divine Realm, only those who have rendered outstanding service to the sect, or heaven-blessed geniuses like the Divine Son and Divine Maiden, are qualified to enter Myriad Arts Cliff."
"There, they may attempt to comprehend it, seeking to earn that Primordial Dharma Body's recognition."
The elder stroked his beard and shook his head with some feeling.
"As for which of the five great Dharma Bodies it is, someone of my standing has no right to know."
Hearing this, though the disciples yearned for it, they understood that such a thing was simply far too distant from them.
Even an elder at Great Perfection Earthly Sovereign was not qualified to know, much less Outer Sect disciples like them.
Just then, a Supreme Realm disciple of the Inner Sect swallowed and boldly voiced what was on everyone's mind.
"Elder."
"That Primordial Dharma Body is truly too far beyond us, beyond the reach of anyone but an unparalleled genius."
"Might our Great Desolation Divine Realm possess other powerful Dharma Bodies for disciples to cultivate, besides that Primordial Dharma Body?"
The question was cleverly phrased and touched upon everyone's concern.
After all, a meal had to be eaten one mouthful at a time, and a road walked one step at a time.
Yet upon hearing this question, the gray-robed elder could not help stroking his beard and laughing heartily.
"Ha ha ha! Why do you think the Divine Lord established this Great Desolation Divine Realm?"
"Back then, to ensure that elders and disciples like us had a foundation to rely upon, the Divine Lord personally made a journey through the Great Thousand World."
The elder's voice carried an imposing air that looked down upon the world.
"As for the Dharma Bodies on the Ninety-Nine Grade Supreme Dharma Body Ranking,"
"the Divine Lord alone collected no fewer than half of them!"
"Among them are quite a few supreme Dharma Bodies ranked in the top thirty, and even the top ten!"
"Today, the cultivation methods for all these Dharma Bodies rest safely within our Inner Hall's Scripture Pavilion."
At this point, the elder swept his gaze over the pairs of burning eyes below, painting an enormous pie in the sky for them all.
"Here in our Great Desolation Divine Realm, we don't care about your origins or your background."
"As long as you cultivate diligently and accumulate enough Contribution Points for the sect."
"Even Outer Sect disciples who have only just joined have a chance to go in and choose a Supreme Dharma Body that suits them!"
For a moment, the entire Dao-Seeking Cliff erupted.
They had collected no fewer than half of all Supreme Dharma Bodies!
They even had those heaven-destroying, earth-annihilating Dharma Bodies ranked in the top ten!
All it took was Contribution Points to exchange for one!
Listening to the cheers around her, Qian Renxue felt even the Spiritual Energy within her, which had only just broken through, resonate with them.
She had originally thought she was merely a lowly menial in this Great Thousand World, with bleak prospects.
But now, the elder's words were like a bright lamp lit in the darkness.
As long as she was willing to work hard, as long as she could stay in this Great Desolation Divine Realm, she might yet be able to exchange for a Supreme Dharma Body of her own!
Meanwhile, on the Douluo Continent beyond the Sky Screen, every Soul Master's eyes had already turned so red they were purple.
Tang San at Shrek Academy, in particular, was clenching his back teeth so hard they nearly shattered.
They had collected more than half of all Supreme Dharma Bodies? Was this the depth of the Great Desolation Divine Realm's reserves?
Before you continue