After completing the creation of his microcosm, Zhou Chen glanced at the Jiejiao disciples who were still immersed in the comprehension of the Dao, and began to organize the contents of the Sage's discourse.
Earlier, the Sage had spoken on the cultivation methods leading from below Daluo up to the Daluo Golden Immortal, alongside the Sage's own insights. These were of little use to Zhou Chen. Below Daluo, one merely polished magic power; as a Taiyi, one plucked the fruit of longevity and touched the laws; at Daluo Perfection, one mastered the laws, stepped out of the River of Fate, and began to construct one's own Great Dao. Although the Sage did not elaborate on the subsequent Quasi-Sage Realm, Zhou Chen was still able to deduce a thing or two.
After all, in his past life, Zhou Chen had read quite a few Primordial World fan-fictions; wasn't it just about slaying corpses? Based on the Sage's teachings and the nature of Xiantian Spiritual Treasures, Zhou Chen deduced that the method of slaying corpses was simply a means to occupy the profound meanings of the Great Dao contained within Xiantian Spiritual Treasures by slaying corpses. This explained why the stronger the Xiantian Spiritual Treasure, the stronger the corporeal avatar derived from it—because stronger Xiantian Spiritual Treasures harbored more formidable Xiantian divine abilities, or rather, profound meanings of the Great Dao.
Although Zhou Chen had not yet constructed his own Great Dao, he was no pushover compared to ordinary Daluo immortals. Setting aside his incomparably vast magic power, the power of time and space contained within his magic power alone was something no Daluo who had yet to walk their own path of the Great Dao could withstand. Although Daluo Golden Immortals had stepped out of the River of Fate, they had not gathered together their timelines. Naturally, practically no one would dare to tamper with the timeline; the River of Time was not something anyone could cross at will. Even Sages relied on magic treasures and divine abilities to protect themselves while crossing it, but did you ever see a Sage dare to make a move within the River of Time?
Not at all. Firstly, the Heavenly Dao did not permit it; secondly, the backlash of the River of Time was something even a Sage could not endure.
Yet Zhou Chen was an absolute exception. His entire being had been scoured by the River of Time, reaching the realm of an undying Physical Body and an indestructible primordial spirit. Moreover, after being scoured by the River of Time, every part of Zhou Chen—including his Physical Body, magic power, and primordial spirit—had acquired certain attributes of the River of Time. This meant Zhou Chen could launch attacks targeting the past, the present, and the future. He had no fear of the backlash from the River of Time. As for the Heavenly Dao, it could not kill him either; at most, it could seal him, and even then, it could not seal him for long because one simply could not seal away the River of Time just to deal with Zhou Chen! As long as you did not seal the River of Time, Zhou Chen could claw his way out from some node within it, needing nothing more than a bit of effort.
While Zhou Chen's offensive might perhaps fell short of those Great Divine Powerholders who had constructed their own Great Dao, when it came to preserving his life, they could not even hope to catch up to Zhou Chen, who had attained an undying Physical Body and an indestructible primordial spirit.
Right now, Zhou Chen's offensive power might still lag behind the Great Divine Powerholders, but his personal attributes were identical to those of the Sages within the Primordial World—mind you, the Sages of the Primordial World!
This was because Sages possessed a special uniqueness: they were Hunyuan Daluo Golden Immortals forged through the Grand Purple Qi, making them truly undying and indestructible within the Primordial World. However, once they left the Primordial World, this undying and indestructible attribute would vanish. Within the Primordial World, by borrowing the power of the Heavenly Dao, their combat prowess could far exceed that of ordinary Hunyuan Daluo Golden Immortals, as they could leverage the Great Dao of the Primordial World. Yet once outside the Primordial World, they could only rely on the strength of their own Great Dao.
Although Zhou Chen had not walked his own path of the Great Dao, his offensive methods were utterly infuriating. Against anyone who had not forged their own path of the Great Dao, Zhou Chen could directly attack their past. Even against those who *had* walked their own path of the Great Dao, Zhou Chen could push himself to launch an attack on their past self, though doing so would inevitably provoke a backlash from the Heavenly Dao. After all, the Heavenly Dao relied on these various Great Daos to enhance its own strength; the more Great Daos existed between heaven and earth in the Primordial World, the stronger the Heavenly Dao became. If Zhou Chen were to act like that, it would be equivalent to smashing the Heavenly Dao's rice bowl, and it would be a miracle if the Heavenly Dao allowed it.
Of course, simply walking your own path of the Great Dao did not mean the Heavenly Dao would offer you special protection. After all, within the Primordial World, the number of Daluo Golden Immortals, Quasi-Sages, and Hunyuan Golden Immortal-level powerheads who had walked their own paths of the Great Dao was countless, and the Heavenly Dao had never once interfered.
The reason was simple: for Zhou Chen to attack someone's past was equivalent to erasing that person's Great Dao in the present. If they died in the past before they had even walked this path of the Great Dao, how could that Great Dao continue to exist?
In the Primordial World, taking Quasi-Sages as an example: without special spiritual treasures, conflicts usually involved one person's Great Dao grinding against another's, completely wearing down the opponent's Great Dao until they perished. But even so, did the opponent's Great Dao truly vanish?
No, the Heavenly Dao retained it, and the version stored in the Heavenly Dao was even stronger. The Heavenly Dao was essentially copying everyone's homework, and not just from one person, but from every single entity across the entire Primordial World. How could an individual ever compare to that?
Ah, but this digression has gone too far. Generally speaking, Zhou Chen's safety was basically guaranteed, and if pushed into a corner, he was fully capable of pulling off some earth-shattering feats.
Zhou Chen sorted through the contents of the lecture. The earlier parts were not particularly critical, but the teachings delivered by Master Tongtian over the subsequent five millennia focused entirely on formations.
Among the Sanqing, Laozi excelled in alchemy, Yuanshi in weapon-crafting, and Tongtian in formations.
Master Tongtian began with the most fundamental and basic formations, then progressed step-by-step from the shallow to the profound, touching upon the Ten-Extinction Formation and the Nine-Bends Yellow River Formation—both of which shone brilliantly in the Investiture of the Gods—and finally concluded with Hunyuan-grade formations: the Immortals-Slaying Sword Formation and the Myriad Immortals Formation.
While the Primordial World teemed with countless formations, there were only four of the Hunyuan grade: the Twelve Divine Fiend Great Formation, the Zhou Tian Star Dou Formation, the Myriad Immortals Formation, and the Immortals-Slaying Formation.
The Twelve Divine Fiend Great Formation was the protective formation of the Wu Clan. Deployed by the twelve Ancestral Witches, it could summon an illusory projection of Pangu, a might no ordinary Sage could resist. In essence, it utilized the foundational Great Daos of the twelve clans to summon Pangu's projection and manifest Pangu's Great Dao of Strength. Naturally, given their actual strength, they could never truly reach the level of Pangu's Great Dao of Strength, but its destructive power could not be underestimated—especially within the Primordial World, where whoever opened up the world possessed the strongest Great Dao.
The Zhou Tian Star Dou Formation was the protective formation of the Demon Clan. Formed by three hundred and sixty-five Daluo Golden Immortals of the Demon Clan, with the Chaos Bell as the formation eye, the River Diagram and Luo Book as the medium, and the three hundred and sixty-five Daluo Golden Immortals as the driving force, it mobilized the Great Dao origins of all the celestial stars to assault the enemy, forcing even Sages to give it a wide berth.
The Myriad Immortals Formation originally belonged to the Eastern Prince. If deployed by ten thousand Daluo Golden Immortals, it was rumored to be a match for a Sage. Later, when the Purple Palace was destroyed by the Demon Clan and the Eastern Prince fell, the Myriad Immortals Formation diagram drifted into the hands of Master Tongtian. The Myriad Immortals Formation was likewise not to be underestimated; gathering the collective strength of ten thousand immortals, it featured formations nested within formations, channeling the Great Daos contained within the array directly into the master of the formation to sharply amplify their combat power.
The Immortals-Slaying Formation was the most renowned of the four Hunyuan-grade formations. If deployed by a Sage, it was famously said to be unbreakable save by the joint efforts of four Sages. It originally belonged to Luohu; later, after Hongjun defeated Luohu, the four Immortals-Slaying Swords and the Immortals-Slaying Formation diagram fell into Hongjun's possession. During the treasure distribution at Zixiao Palace, Hongjun bestowed the four Immortals-Slaying Swords and the Immortals-Slaying Formation diagram upon Master Tongtian.
In truth, it was precisely due to the unique nature of the Great Daos contained within the four Immortals-Slaying Swords, amplified further by the formation itself, that it commanded such a resounding reputation.