Tongtian's session of enlightenment lasted for a full ten years.
To the living beings of the Primordial World, ten years was merely a fleeting moment, but Tongtian's gains were nothing short of monumental. In his view, the harvest from this state of enlightenment far surpassed even what he had gained from listening to Hongjun's lectures at Zixiao Palace.
"Tongtian offers his deepest thanks to Daoist Panshi. If Daoist Panshi ever has any request in the future, Tongtian will certainly lend his full support."
"Mm, not bad. You should have already caught a glimpse of the threshold of the Hunyuan Golden Immortal!"
In Panshi's perception, Tongtian now seemed to have transformed into a divine sword—a divine sword that constantly absorbed and exhaled the power of heaven and earth to temper itself.
One could easily imagine that once this divine sword was unsheathed, it would inevitably cause the heavens and the earth to lose their color.
At this moment, Tongtian already possessed a trace of the demeanor of a true Sword Lord. Once he stepped into the Hunyuan Golden Immortal realm via the Law of the Sword, he would be fully qualified to open the gate of the Sword Dao for the living beings of the Primordial World.
The greatest difference between acquired laws and innate laws was that acquired laws grew bit by bit out of "weakness," which shared a subtle affinity with living beings growing stronger through cultivation. Therefore, it could be integrated into the cultivation system and transformed into a specialized system of practice.
Once Tongtian opened the gate of the Sword Dao and established a Sword Dao cultivation system, he would become the Lord of the Sword Dao, and the insights gained by other living beings practicing the Sword Dao would in turn feed back to him as the Lord of the Sword Dao.
In truth, had Pangu not fallen, the cultivation insights of all living beings in the Primordial World would have likewise fed back into Pangu.
The insights of a single living being might be insignificant, but when the insights of ten thousand, or hundreds of millions of living beings were gathered together, the result was terrifying. Even without actively cultivating, one would be pushed ever forward.
Of course, Panshi did not envy Tongtian. Once he successfully opened up a world within the Chaos Bead, he would have the living beings of an entire world to aid his cultivation.
And it was precisely because Tongtian understood this that his heart was filled with boundless gratitude toward Panshi. Without Panshi's help, his Law of the Sword could never have reached its current height.
It was no exaggeration to say that Panshi had helped him step onto this Grand Dao that led straight to the heavens.
Indeed, in later history, the future Tongtian would sever the three corpses to become a Quasi-Sage, and then rely on the assistance of the Primordial Purple Qi to attain sagehood. Although his cultivation level would rise, his comprehension of the Law of the Sword would lag behind, and he would completely lose the possibility of becoming the Lord of the Sword Dao.
"Tongtian has contemplated the Law of the Sword for countless years, yet only ever grasped the superficial surface. Today, thanks to the guidance of Daoist Panshi, I have finally comprehended the true origin of the Law of the Sword. If Daoist Panshi does not disdain me, Tongtian is willing to take you as my master," Tongtian suddenly blurted out.
Hearing this, Panshi laughed despite himself, shook his head, and said, "Tongtian, there is no need for master-disciple formalities. Under the Great Dao, you and I are both seekers of the Dao, so addressing each other as fellow daoists is quite sufficient. Being able to comprehend the origin of the Law of the Sword is your own fortuitous encounter, though there are a few points I must remind you of."
"Please speak, Daoist Panshi."
Tongtian's expression turned respectful. Although Panshi had rejected his offer of discipleship, the attitude Tongtian now held toward Panshi was precisely that of a student facing a teacher.
"First, the next time Hongjun preaches, he will teach the method of severing the three corpses. However, the method of severing the three corpses taught by Hongjun will have certain omissions. Severing the three corpses requires Innate Spiritual Treasures—three corpses need three Innate Spiritual Treasures, and the origins of those three Innate Spiritual Treasures must be identical, otherwise the three corpses will ultimately fail to merge."
"Second, you must first attain the realm of the Hunyuan Golden Immortal through the Law of the Sword, and only then sever your corpses. This will determine your primary path of cultivation."
"Why must I sever the three corpses? I feel that cultivating the Law of the Sword alone should be enough—reaching the Hunyuan Golden Immortal realm through the Law of the Sword, and then proving the Dao to become a Late Hunyuan Da Luo Golden Immortal," Tongtian asked, somewhat puzzled.
"This brings me to the third point I wish to tell you."
"Although Hongjun is no benevolent figure, the method of severing the three corpses he created still has its merits. First of all, it can drastically accelerate the speed of cultivation within the Hunyuan Golden Immortal (Quasi-Sage) realm.
Secondly, the three corpses also provide formidable combat power. Especially in your case, with the three corpses combined with your true body to deploy the Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation, your might will undoubtedly increase severalfold.
Lastly, these so-called methods of proving the Dao are not limited to practicing just one. You can combine proving the Dao through the Law, proving the Dao by severing the three corpses, and proving the Dao through merit (Pangu's creation merit). By combining these methods of proving the Dao, you can directly leap across two minor realms and reach the stage of a Late Hunyuan Da Luo Golden Immortal (Sage) in a single bound."
This final point was also the most crucial. The further one progressed in cultivation, the harder it became to advance. An ordinary Da Luo Golden Immortal would typically spend tens of millions of years just to advance from the early stage to the mid-stage of Da Luo Golden Immortal, to say nothing of cultivation after attaining sagehood.
While cultivating three different methods of proving the Dao might sound arduous, for Tongtian, it was entirely achievable—it would merely require more time and effort. Compared to the sheer amount of time and effort required to cultivate step-by-step from the Early Hunyuan Da Luo Golden Immortal to the Late Hunyuan Da Luo Golden Immortal, this expenditure was simply negligible.
Listening from the side, Tongtian was left completely dumbfounded. While he was still only considering the cultivation of the Hunyuan Golden Immortal, Panshi was already considering the subsequent cultivation of the Hunyuan Da Luo Golden Immortal. Such a lofty vision was something he could never hope to match.
One could only say that this truly lived up to the heritage of Father God Pangu.
Hearing Panshi consider so many things on his behalf, Tongtian could not help but feel his eyes well up with grateful tears.
A teacher is one who transmits the Dao, imparts professional knowledge, and resolves doubts.
To him, although Panshi was not his master, he was far greater than a master.
"Very well, I have told you everything I need to. From here on out, the path ahead can only rely upon yourself."
Hearing this, Tongtian hastily replied, "Tongtian will certainly not disappoint Daoist Panshi."
"Right, I still have a batch of divine weapons to finish refining, so I will return to forge them now. You should leave as well. After all, this is the territory of the Wu Clan; if Hongjun were to discover that you came here, he might well make things difficult for you."
With those words, Panshi transformed into a streak of escaping light and returned to the treasury of the Wu Clan.
"Divine weapons... what are those?" Tongtian muttered in confusion.
Immediately afterward, he shook his head, watched the retreating figure of Panshi, and murmured to himself:
"Daoist Panshi has helped me so much; I cannot simply accept this without returning the favor. Daoist Panshi seems to have need of a Pangu Mark, and both Big Brother and Second Brother possess a Pangu Mark. Those Pangu Marks are of no real use to them just sitting there..."
...
The Primordial Land was boundless. The straight-line distance alone between the ancestral land of the Wu Clan and Mount Kunlun was countless hundreds of millions of miles. Transforming his form into a sword beam, it took Tongtian several years to finally return to Mount Kunlun.
Before the Three Pure Ones Hall.
"Big Brother, Second Brother, didn't you both enter closed-door seclusion? Why have you emerged so quickly?"
Seeing Taiqing Laozi and Yuqing Yuanshi standing before the Three Pure Ones Hall, the smile on Tongtian's face stiffened.
Taiqing Laozi and Yuqing Yuanshi also saw Tongtian—or rather, they had been waiting right here for him all along.
Taiqing Laozi's gaze swept over Tongtian without speaking a word, but a sharp gleam flashed deep within his calm, unruffled eyes as he detected that Tongtian's cultivation had surged dramatically.
"Tongtian, instead of properly staying in Mount Kunlun to cultivate in seclusion and comprehend the Great Dao taught by our teacher, just where have you been?" Yuanshi demanded sternly.
Tongtian: "..."
"Hmph, even if you don't say it, I know. You undoubtedly went to the Wu Clan! The Wu Clan does not revere the Heavenly Dao and incurs the displeasure of our teacher—why on earth would you still go to them...?"
"Second Brother, is the teacher necessarily always right?" Tongtian retorted.
Had this been before he met Panshi, Tongtian certainly would never have uttered such words. But now, Tongtian already knew the truth.
Hongjun was no good person.
"Y-You... what did you just say?"
Yuanshi stared at Tongtian in utter shock, and Laozi reacted in the exact same manner.