Book One: The Calamity of the Lich Chapter 142: After the Sermon, Entrusting the Spiritual Manifestations of the Three Corpses

"You—your achievements today are all thanks to your own opportunity and perseverance. Remember, excessive humility is not a virtue!" Wangshu raised her hand and gently tapped Changxi on the forehead, then offered her a reminder.

Changxi quickly rubbed her forehead, then looked at Wangshu with an expression of attentive learning.

"Thank you for your guidance, Your Highness. I have learned much!"

"Promising child!" Wangshu was gratified to see Changxi come to her senses so quickly.

"Now that matters here are settled, let us not disturb Lady Pingxin any longer. The cycle of reincarnation has just begun, and there is much to be done. Lady Pingxin has been guarding this place all along, and we have yet to properly thank her for her protection."

After Changxi’s breakthrough, Wangshu turned to Pingxin and offered her thanks personally.

"Please don’t say that, Your Highness. Without you, how could the Netherworld shine so brightly now? Even the souls drawn into the Underworld are able to coalesce, all thanks to your efforts, Lady Wangshu. Besides, you are now half a denizen of the Netherworld yourself, are you not?"

Pingxin smiled, glancing at the Nether Moon high above before replying.

"This body of mine was born from the Lunar Essence. I always thought my path lay within the Lunar Realm. I labored in cultivation, yet could not attain enlightenment. But now, in the depths of the Netherworld, abandoning my old form, I have fulfilled the Underworld and myself, and so achieved my Dao. Truly, everything is impermanent!"

Pingxin returned her a gentle smile.

Both had succeeded, their paths remarkably similar—each attained the level of Hunyuan Da Luo Golden Immortal only after a rebirth through nirvana.

Though Pingxin’s enlightenment was shaped by merit, she truly attained it through the Dao of Reincarnation. Now she possessed the authority over the Six Paths of Reincarnation, the powers of a Sage, though she sacrificed her freedom.

Yet she never regretted it, just as Wangshu had resolutely come to the Netherworld once she understood her own path.

The two exchanged a glance, then each departed—one to the Six Paths of Reincarnation, the other to the ancient starry skies.

Returning once more to the Lunar Star, Wangshu looked around at the land so familiar to her.

Suddenly, the old attachment and reluctance were gone, replaced by a sense of ease.

"Well, since we have both just broken through, it is best to retreat and consolidate our cultivation for a time. I will not disturb you here."

"Your Highness!" Changxi’s voice was tinged with reluctance as she spoke.

"Enough, don’t show such girlish sentiment! A cultivator walks a lonely path. I know what you want to say, but with my connection to the Lunar Star now severed, it is up to you to guard it from now on."

Wangshu’s words carried a deeper meaning as she looked at Changxi, then departed without lingering, returning to her own small world. Changxi was left gazing after her, watching Wangshu’s departure.

Once inside her small world, Wangshu surveyed the place where she had lived countless ages, then spoke.

"This place no longer suits me; it must be changed."

With that, Wangshu revealed her Hunyuan Da Luo Golden Immortal power, opening a passage that directly connected to the Nether Moon of the Netherworld.

Pingxin, in the midst of the Six Paths of Reincarnation, noticed this. Realizing Wangshu had linked the two realms, she paid it no further mind.

Now that Wangshu had attained Hunyuan Da Luo Golden Immortal, she understood that even the Lunar Realm had its counterpart.

Though the Lunar and Solar realms opposed each other, that was not her Dao. Her path was the pure Lunar Dao.

Thus, she had to incarnate herself as the Nether Moon within the Netherworld.

If the Lunar Star in the ancient starry sky was the positive aspect, then a negative counterpart was needed to balance it, so Wangshu could attain enlightenment through the pure Lunar Dao.

But the primordial world lacked such a counterpart, so Wangshu had to become the Nether Moon herself.

Fortunately, her luck held; she succeeded and did not become completely dormant within the Nether Moon.

"At last, I have a direction for my cultivation."

Having accomplished all this, Wangshu began her retreat. Though her incarnation as the Nether Moon made her familiar with its Lunar Dao, it still did not perfectly match her original path.

"In future, only by merging the two can I advance further in the Hunyuan realm!"

Currently, Wangshu was only at the second stage of Hunyuan Da Luo Golden Immortal, all due to her incarnation as the Nether Moon.

"But if I truly merge the two, my progress will be even faster!"

With that, Wangshu ignored the outside world and devoted herself to her Dao.

While Wangshu was in retreat, Changxi also began to consolidate her newly attained realm.

Upon returning to the Lunar Star, Changxi found her cultivation smoother than ever—almost as if the shackles that once bound her had truly fallen away.

She did not know that this was because she had mastered the Lunar Laws to a significant degree, and the Lunar Star itself was condensed from the pure Lunar source, closer to chaos than the rest of the cosmos.

Moreover, unless she reached the perfection of Hunyuan Golden Immortal, she would almost never again feel the shackles of the Heavenly Dao.

The Great Dao is fifty, the Heavenly Dao forty-nine; now, she had found that elusive one.

While Changxi retreated, the Zixiao Palace had just finished its Dao lecture.

"An era is about to pass. This lecture ends here."

As Hongjun’s voice faded, he addressed the countless mighty beings who had listened.

His words were like the tolling of a grand bell; one after another, all the great powers awakened.

When the World of Life merged with the Primordial World, the Heavenly Dao had sealed the Zixiao Palace, only reopening it after Hongjun’s lecture ended.

Thus, Hongjun and the countless powers listening to the Dao were unaware of the changes occurring in the Primordial World.

Once awakened, all the great powers turned to Hongjun.

"Revered Sage, regarding the items required to sever the Three Corpses, is there any principle to follow?"

Hongjun looked down at the assembled crowd and replied,

"The item used to sever the Three Corpses must be innate, with innate spiritual treasures being best. The Three Corpses are anchored with innate objects. The higher the grade of the item, the better the effect."

Upon hearing this, many looked directly at Taiqing Laozi and Taiyi in the main hall.

They envied Taiqing, but their glances at Taiyi were full of schadenfreude and mockery.

He had once held an innate supreme treasure, but lost it through his own actions.

If only such a treasure were in their hands—how fortunate they would be!

They could discern Hongjun’s intent: the better the item used to sever the Three Corpses, the greater the impact on one’s own strength.

At that moment, Taiyi’s dislike and resentment toward Buzhou Mountain grew even deeper upon hearing Hongjun’s words.

Emperor Jun, sensing Taiyi’s change, wished to warn him, but since this was the Sage’s domain, he could only wait until they returned.

Emperor Jun did not lack hatred for Buzhou Mountain and the Wu Tribe, but since their power still lagged behind, patience was necessary. Only after he became a Sage would he have the strength to confront them.