The Seventy-second Preaching of Dharma

  Kun Peng looked at Hou Yi and said, "Alright, the disputes between sects are none of our concern. What you should think about now is how to improve your own cultivation skills, lest when the great calamity arrives, you will be killed by others. Today, I will teach you the art of beheading corpses that I have come to understand."

  Upon hearing Kunpeng's words, Wudao, Houyi, Chang'e, Jingwei and Cangjie all perked up their spirits, preparing to listen to Kunpeng's lecture. Among the five of them, only Wudao had previously heard Kunpeng explain the Way of Beheading the Corpse, while the other four had never understood the Way of Beheading the Corpse. Of the five, Chang'e and Jingwei's cultivation was far too low, nowhere near meeting the requirements for beheading the corpse. Only Wudao, Houyi, and Cangjie's cultivation barely met the standards to listen to the Way of Beheading the Corpse. Wudao himself had already approached the edge of beheading the corpse in his own cultivation, while Cangjie relied on the power of great merit to directly attain the cultivation of a Golden Immortal. Houyi possessed memories from his past life, allowing him to comprehend this grand Dao.

  "Listen, I'll tell you," said Kun Peng. "The method of cutting off the three corpses to become a saint was passed down by the Taoist ancestor Hong Jun, but back then in the Purple Mansion, none of the people who listened to the Taoist ancestor's teachings had heard him explain this method in detail. As for whether the Taoist ancestor's direct disciples knew about this method, I don't know. So, the method of cutting off corpses that those people obtained back then can be said to have been their own understanding. The method of cutting off corpses that others understood was just a matter of projecting their good, evil, and self onto the Primordial Spirit Treasure, which is still the same as before and can still be used. However, this method has one drawback: the Primordial Spirit Treasure only protects the outer shell of the three corpses, and the three corpses have not fully merged with the Primordial Spirit Treasure. If attacked by a powerful being, the cut-off three corpses are easily injured. This method is relatively easy to practice.

  The method I've come to understand is completely different from theirs. I perfectly merge my good, evil, and self with the Primordial Spirit Treasure, and after combining them, the Primordial Spirit Treasure disappears and transforms into the body of the three corpses. The three thoughts of good, evil, and self become the divine consciousness, and upon completion, it's equivalent to another physical body that has fully inherited the abilities of the Primordial Spirit Treasure.

  My method of cutting off corpses is mysterious, but it's not something that ordinary people can bear. Each time you cut off a corpse, you need one Primordial Spirit Treasure, so cutting off three corpses requires destroying three Primordial Spirit Treasures. Even the wealthiest person cannot afford such consumption. Moreover, my method of cutting off corpses requires a very long time. The better the quality of the Primordial Spirit Treasure, the longer it takes. I've been cultivating since the beginning of Pangu's creation, and only recently have I cut off two corpses - good and evil. As for how much longer it will take to cut off my self, I don't know.

  When I was cutting off one corpse, Minghe from the same era as me had already cut off two corpses. This shows that my method takes a very long time, which is not something ordinary people can endure. However, the longer you cultivate, the more solid your foundation becomes. In terms of the same realm, using my method to cut off three corpses is stronger than the previous one. I don't know which method you want to use to cut off corpses?"

  Hou Yi said: "Teacher, can you elaborate on the key points of these two corpse-cutting methods, so that we can compare their pros and cons?"

  Kun Peng smiled calmly: "The method of preserving the pre-heavenly spiritual treasure, the Corpse Severing Technique, requires that one's cultivation and realm reach the requirements for severing corpses. Once the opportunity arises, one can immediately sever the three corpses. However, as a master, even if the opportunity comes, it is not possible to immediately sever the corpses after reaching the required level of cultivation and realm. It takes a very long time to perfectly merge the three corpses with the pre-heavenly spiritual treasure before being able to sever them."

  "Wudao said: 'Teacher, in the vast wilderness, the strong are revered. I chose to use your method to behead the corpse. Although it takes longer, the result is far superior to the previous one.'"

  The others also nodded in agreement, indicating that they would behead the corpse with this method.

  Kun Peng smiled and said, "Actually, only one person, Daozu Hongjun, achieved the Dao through the method of beheading the three corpses. All other saints have verified the Dao through great merits, so no one knows the best way to achieve the Dao by beheading the three corpses. I have a conjecture about this method, but I don't know if it's correct or not. Now, I'll tell you all, so that you can prepare."

  "For the master, it is believed that this method of beheading three corpses to achieve enlightenment may not necessarily lead to sainthood after beheading the three corpses. It may still require the integration of the three corpses to become a saint. Of course, this is just the master's speculation and may not be correct. If the master's speculation is true, then the previous method of beheading the three corpses to achieve sainthood would be even more difficult. This is because all three pre-heavenly spiritual treasures have physical forms, so how can they be integrated? In contrast, the master's method of beheading the three corpses is easy to separate and combine. From the master's experience in beheading the corpses, the most difficult one to behead is the self; the master still hasn't figured out how to behead this corpse until now. The second is the good intention, which requires a lot of merit to behead the good corpse. In the vast wilderness, merit is limited and not everyone can get great merit. However, among you five, except for Chang'e, all have great merit on your body, so it's not too difficult for you to behead the good corpse. The easiest one is the evil intention, which only requires a strong killing intent or hatred to behead the evil corpse."

  Hou Yi asked, "Master, according to your words, the Three Pure Ones, the Two Saints of the Western Paradise, and Nüwa Niangniang all verified the Tao through their merits. Does that mean their magical powers are the same, and there is no distinction between high and low?"

  Kunpeng smiled and said, "It can't be said that way. Although they are all verified by their merits and virtues, there is a distinction between high and low. The Three Pure Ones were transformed from Pangu's original spirit, so their innate qualities are higher than others, and their magical powers and realms are naturally higher. As for the two saints of the Western Paradise and Nüwa Niangniang, their magical powers are not much different, but because Nüwa Niangniang became a saint through the way of creation, she is ranked last in terms of attack among all the saints. However, the saints do not perish, and their own magical powers and realms are only one aspect of their struggle with each other. Another important factor is their innate spiritual treasures. The Tianxiao Sect Master has the 'Xian Jian Zhen' array, which cannot be broken by any of the four saints, so his attacking power is the strongest among all the saints. This is also the main reason why Taishang Laojun and Yuanshi Tianzun plotted against Tianxiao Sect Master."

  "Wudao asked with some doubt, 'Master, when the ancestors of the Tao divided their treasures, all the saints obtained a lot of pre-heavenly spiritual treasures. Why didn't they take the path of beheading the three corpses to achieve enlightenment, but instead chose the method of verifying their merits through cultivation, which is the most inferior in terms of magical power?'"

  Kun Peng heard Wu Dao's question and couldn't help but smile bitterly, saying: "Even I don't understand this."

  Wudao and others heard Kunpeng's words, and they couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. Seeing this, Kunpeng changed his tone and smiled, saying: "However, according to my master's speculation, only Nüwa was the one who wanted to attain enlightenment through merit at first, while other saints were forced to do so after seeing Nüwa attain enlightenment."

  "When the great war between the witches and demons was about to break out, Nüwa hurriedly ascended to immortality in order to help the demon tribe. Unfortunately, after her ascension, the Daoist ancestor Hongjun forbade her from interfering with the conflict between the two tribes, rendering her plans futile. As for the Three Pure Ones, on one hand, they felt embarrassed that their junior sister Nüwa had achieved immortality before them; on the other hand, they saw that after Nüwa's ascension, although she couldn't openly assist the demon tribe, she was secretly suppressing the witch tribe. They were destined to become saints, and if the demon tribe emerged victorious in the great war, they would be unable to restrain the demon tribe with Nüwa as their backing once they became saints. Therefore, they hastened to achieve immortality through merit in order to counterbalance Nüwa's influence. However, these are just my own speculations and should not be taken as fact."

  Jingwei heard Kunpeng's explanation and said happily: "The teacher's wisdom is unmatched, Jingwei thinks this inference is completely correct."

  Kunpeng smiled and said, "Whether this speculation is correct or not is unimportant. What we need to understand is the true abilities of the various saints, so that we can survive in the future. According to my analysis, the method of cultivating merit and proving one's way is far inferior to the method of beheading three corpses to achieve enlightenment. Otherwise, the Supreme Old Lord would not have created the One Qi Transforms Three Purities method after becoming a saint, and the Two Saints of the Western Paradise would not have created the Golden Body method to enhance their own cultivation. The One Qi Transforms Three Purities method is not something I fully understand, but the Golden Body Great Method is a rare and precious method that can be used to behead one corpse, especially for those without innate spiritual treasures. As for me, in the vast expanse of the Honghuang world, I am extremely wealthy, yet I only accepted five disciples, and the innate spiritual treasures were all consumed. The Three Purities and the Two Saints of the Western Paradise have all established great teachings, do you think they would need a large amount of innate spiritual treasures to supply their disciples with the means to behead corpses? No need to say more, each person would require at least one piece, which is something they cannot afford."

  Hou Yi, Wu Dao, and Chang'e all experienced the Great War of Witch and Yao, so they naturally knew the preciousness of Xiantian Lingbao. In those years, the total number of Xiantian Lingbao possessed by both the Witch and Yao tribes was only a few pieces, but after they became apprentices, each of them got one or two Xiantian Lingbao, which shows how rich Kunpeng is.

  Wu Dao followed Kun Peng for the longest time, naturally knowing that his master's wealth was boundless. He smiled and said: "Master, you have a pool of mysterious black lotus, this innate spiritual treasure is inexhaustible."

  Kunpeng smiled and said, "Only the eighth-grade or higher Xuan Shui Hei Lian can be considered a pre-heavenly spiritual treasure. The others are basically useless for cutting corpses. When I obtained this pool of Xuan Shui Hei Lian, there were only eight eighth-grade Xuan Shui Hei Lian flowers, and the tenth-grade Xuan Shui Hei Lian was even rarer, with only four flowers. The best twelfth-grade Xuan Shui Hei Lian I used to cut off Shan Nian. The eighth-grade Xuan Shui Hei Lian is equivalent to a mid-range pre-heavenly spiritual treasure and is not very suitable for cutting the three corpses. The tenth-grade Xuan Shui Hei Lian is equivalent to a high-end pre-heavenly spiritual treasure, which is just suitable for cutting corpses. Although this Xuan Shui Hei Lian is good, each person can only use one flower to cut corpses. Among you five, Jing Wei and Cang Jie each have one flower, Wu Dao has the 'He Tu' and 'Luo Shu', Chang'e has the 'Ri Yue Jing Lun'. You two don't need it. Later, Hou Yi gave me a mid-range pre-heavenly spiritual treasure, the Quan Shan Duo, so now I'll give you another tenth-grade Xuan Shui Hei Lian to cut corpses. The remaining tenth-grade Xuan Shui Hei Lian has other uses for me. As for the other Xuan Shui Hei Lian flowers, if you need them, you can pick them yourself."

  "Master, can this 'Mystic Water Black Lotus' continue to improve its quality over time?"

  "Master has had this pool of Xuan water and black lotus for a very long time, but only a few second-rate black lotuses have evolved into fourth-rate ones. The rest of the black lotuses remain unchanged, it's clear that the origin of these black lotuses has been exhausted, and there is not enough spiritual energy to support their evolution."