Upon reflection, Zhou Chen felt a wave of surprise.
"However, this seems to be purely physical cultivation. Can my primordial spirit really control such immense power?"
For a moment, Zhou Chen remained undecided. Sitting there, he fixed his gaze on the starry sky and pondered the subsequent stages of his cultivation method.
The Golden Crow sank in the west while the jade rabbit of the moon rose in the east. Time slowly slipped away.
On a small peak atop Jinao Island, Zhou Chen spent nearly a hundred years sitting in meditation.
Throughout these hundred years, he watched the starry vault by night and gazed upon the expanse of the Primordial World by day. He comprehended the Great Dao of heaven and earth, fathomed the profound mysteries of all things, and forged his own unique method of cultivation.
On this day, he finally made a breakthrough.
"That's right. No matter what one's cultivation realm may be, one must always prioritize one's own physical body and primordial spirit. Even if I thoroughly comprehend the true meaning of the Dao laws, transforming my stellar particles into miniature universes and condensing the shadows of the heavens within my major acupuncture points, what good would it do?"
"If the physical body and primordial spirit cannot bear this immense magic power, it will all be useless and might even trigger a backlash. How can I strengthen both my physical body and my primordial spirit?"
"Only indestructibility constitutes the ultimate physical body. How does one achieve indestructibility?"
"Literally speaking, indestructibility means never decaying and existing eternally."
"Following this train of thought, to achieve indestructibility, I must enter the River of Time and practice cultivation using the power of time flowing within it."
At that moment, Zhou Chen finally achieved a breakthrough in understanding, finding a new direction for the mythical Daluo cultivation method.
Previously, he had already perfected the Earth Immortal Realm: opening up stellar particles, condensing his own Dao fruit, transforming his physical body and primordial spirit, turning his Dao fruit into a Dao body, and stepping into the dimension of space and time.
Now, he had further perfected the cultivation method for the Heavenly Immortal Realm.
Within the Heavenly Immortal Realm, one comprehends the true meaning of the Dao laws, transforms stellar particles into miniature universes, condenses the shadows of the heavens within major acupuncture points, attains an indestructible physical body and an unextinguishable primordial spirit, and plucks the stars of the Primordial World and turns the universe upside down with a mere wave of the hand.
At this point, he had successfully created the Heavenly Immortal Realm cultivation method within the mythical Daluo Golden Immortal cultivation system.
A smile bloomed at the corners of his mouth, and his heart surged with joy.
Back in the Earth Immortal Realm, he was already comparable to the Daluo Golden Immortals of this world. Now that he had created the cultivation method for the Heavenly Immortal Realm, he wondered which realm he would rival once his cultivation was successful.
"Dong! Dong! Dong!"
Three rolls of a drum resounded, striking deep into the hearts of all who heard it. It was the Yu Drum used by Jiejiao to summon the assembled immortals.
Hearing the sound, Zhou Chen could not help but glance toward Biyou Palace.
"Is it already time for the lecture? How time flies!"
Indeed, the day for Master Tongtian to preach the Dao had arrived.
The sound of the Yu Drum served as a reminder to all Jiejiao disciples that the Sage was about to begin expounding the Great Dao.
Without further hesitation, Zhou Chen walked toward Biyou Palace.
By this time, over ten thousand people had gathered outside Jinao Island, all preparing to listen to Master Tongtian expound the Great Dao.
After all, Master Tongtian was a Sage of the Primordial World, and his strength had already reached the absolute pinnacle of this realm.
Listening to a Sage lecture on the Dao would bring boundless benefits to anyone fortunate enough to hear it.
Inside Jinao Island, thousands of disciples were making their way toward Biyou Palace.
These were all disciples whom Master Tongtian had accepted back when he resided on Mount Kunlun.
Zhou Chen glanced at the crowd. Most of the Jiejiao disciples possessed mediocre aptitudes and rather free-spirited, undisciplined conduct, but there was little he could say about it, seeing as he was merely an inner disciple himself.
With a helpless shake of his head, he followed the crowd toward Biyou Palace.
He kept to the middle of the throng, walking at an unhurried pace and blending completely into the background.
When everyone arrived at Biyou Palace and prepared to take their seats, Zhou Chen suddenly felt someone's gaze fixed upon him. Raising his head, he saw that the person looking at him was none other than Our Lady of Jinling.
Zhou Chen smiled and nodded slightly at Our Lady of Jinling before calmly settling into his seat. Assuming she recognized him from their previous encounter and was simply greeting him, he gave it no further thought.
Our Lady of Jinling widened her lovely eyes as she watched Zhou Chen's actions, choking with frustration. Originally, thanks to their Master, she had allowed this fellow to cultivate in her dwelling for a few days, but the wretch had shown not a shred of courtesy and simply left without even saying goodbye! Jinling hadn't been terribly angry at first; after all, they weren't close acquaintances, and perhaps Zhou Chen had urgent business to attend to. She figured that the next time they met, he would surely offer an explanation—especially since she was, after all, the Senior Sister of Jiejiao.
And yet, what happened? The moment this fellow saw her, a mere nod was all he offered! He completely failed to show any respect for her position as Senior Sister!
Hmph! Once Master finished the lecture, she would definitely make him experience the warm care and affection of a Senior Sister!
Our Lady of Jinling's thoughts churned ceaselessly as she plotted how to teach Zhou Chen a profound lesson so that he would forever remember the teachings of his Senior Sister.
As for whether she had considered the possibility that she might not be able to beat him? That thought certainly never crossed her mind! After all, Zhou Chen's cultivation was only at the Earth Immortal Realm! Our Lady of Jinling herself had already broken through to the mid-stage Taiyi Golden Immortal realm, so she didn't care about a minor shrimp at the Earth Immortal level at all.
While Our Lady of Jinling's mind wandered wildly, Master Tongtian appeared on the cloud dais precisely on cue.
After the numerous Jiejiao disciples respectfully bowed in unison, Master Tongtian began to expound the Great Dao.
A Sage's lecture on the Dao was naturally extraordinary. Sage-like resonance filled Biyou Palace and then billowed outward to permeate Jinao Island.
Countless heavenly flowers and golden lotus blossoms welled up within Biyou Palace, and immediately afterward, the wondrous portent of falling heavenly flowers and earth-springing golden lotus manifested across Jinao Island.
Rolling Dao chants transformed into divine dragons, colorful phoenixes, and qilin that surged and roared, scattering boundless sacred light.
Behind Master Tongtian, a gigantic pillar of light emerged. Within this pillar, wisps of brilliant radiance and various Dao laws flashed ceaselessly.
Inside Biyou Palace, all the Jiejiao disciples became immersed in the Dao, listening with undivided attention to the Master's lecture.
The living beings who had come to listen on Jinao Island experienced the same.
Right then, they too were immersed in the Great Dao, unable to extricate themselves.
Zhou Chen, however, was different. He looked at the pillar of light behind Master Tongtian and began to comprehend the various laws contained within it.
Viewing these laws from such close quarters yielded immense gains for him.
At that moment, those laws stripped away their mysterious veils and laid themselves bare before his eyes.
Time drifted by slowly. As Zhou Chen observed the pillar of law-light behind Master Tongtian, his own unique understanding began to take shape.
"The Dao is the primal source of heaven and earth that gives birth to all things. It is the foundation of everything that exists, formless, image-less, boundless, and limitless."
"The Dao begets One, One begets Two, Two begets Three, moving in endless cycles, endlessly reproducing, operating perpetually without exhaustion."
"The Dao can give birth to all things, and it can also destroy all things."
"The Dao possesses neither good nor evil; the Dao abandons nothing; the Dao is everywhere, and the Dao exists in everything."
As time slowly elapsed, by observing the pillar of law-light behind Master Tongtian, Zhou Chen gained a profound insight into the true meaning of the Dao laws.
At that moment, he grasped the true essence of the Dao laws.
"The Dao evolves all things; it begins with creation and ultimately returns to destruction."
At this instant, Zhou Chen had fully comprehended the true meaning of the Dao laws, completing the first step of Heavenly Immortal cultivation: comprehending the true meaning of the Dao laws.
At this point, mastering one law meant mastering all laws, and uniting all ways under a single Dao.
All paths ultimately led to the same destination; although there were distinctions, their essence remained identical.
Comprehending the true meaning of the Dao laws now allowed Zhou Chen to view all things in the world through a completely different perspective.
If previously he saw mountains as mountains and water as water, and after breaking through to the Earth Immortal Realm he saw that mountains were no longer mountains and water was no longer water, then now, having comprehended the true meaning of the Dao laws, he had returned to the realm where mountains were once again mountains and water was once again water.
At this moment, he had reached a state of returning to simplicity and innocence after gaining complete insight into all things—achieving a state of returning to the origin in his cultivation of the Great Dao.
Now, looking upon all matters and things, he could perceive their essence at a single glance, transcending his previous realm.
At that moment, Zhou Chen could not help but smile.
He had completed his breakthrough and comprehended the true meaning of the Dao laws; what remained was transforming his stellar particles into miniature universes.
Having made his decision, Zhou Chen prepared to begin transforming his stellar particles into miniature universes. However, just as he was about to act, he paused.
At that moment, he hesitated: should he first transform his stellar particles into miniature universes, or should he undergo transformation first so that his physical body reached the realm of indestructibility and his primordial spirit reached the realm of unextinguishability?
To elevate his physical body to the realm of indestructibility and his primordial spirit to the realm of unextinguishability, he would need to enter the River of Time, utilizing its supreme power of time to temper his physical body and refine his primordial spirit, thereby forging a light of undying spirit within both.