Primordial Era: The Witch Clan's Dog-Headed Strategist

After the Three Pure Ones went into seclusion, the quiet room on the east side of the Pangu Hall became the most solemn place in Buzhou Mountain.

Three beams of clear light emanated from the dome of the quiet room, intertwining yin and yang energies, chaotic light, and the sharpness of sword intent, ceaselessly shining day and night.

The spiritual energy of the entire Buzhou Mountain was slowly circulating under the guidance of the three beams of clear light.

Like rivers flowing into the sea, they converged on that quiet room, and then, under the breath of the Three Pure Ones, they transformed into a misty spiritual fog, enveloping the east side of the Pangu Hall like a fairyland.

Each of the twelve Ancestral Witches had their own duties: some trained their tribesmen in the tribe, some tempered their bodies in the cultivation realm, and some went to the Blood Sea to assist Houtu in maintaining the operation of the purification array.

Everything in Buzhou Mountain was proceeding smoothly, but everyone knew that what the Three Pure Ones were doing would determine the future of the divine way of education.

In the quiet room, the Three Pure Ones sat cross-legged in a triangular formation.

Taiqing Laozi sits in the center, with the Taiji diagram slowly rotating beneath his feet.

The Yin and Yang energies swirled around him like two dragons, each breath revealing the foundational framework of a new system.

Yuqing Yuanshi was positioned on the left, with the Pangu Banner fluttering behind him and the chaotic light surging endlessly.

The framework deduced by Laozi of Taiqing is refined and reinforced layer by layer, as if using chaos as a brush and laws as ink on an invisible blueprint to outline the contours and boundaries of each realm.

The Shangqing Tongtian sword is positioned on the right, while the four Zhuxian swords hang in the four directions, their sword intent transforming into countless fine threads.

Weaving through the gaps in the framework, injecting the possibility of capturing life into each realm.

Those sword intent threads, though seemingly delicate, contain a sharpness capable of cutting through all constraints, ensuring that cultivators will not be trapped and killed by the rules of Heaven at any bottleneck.

"Hongjun's method aims at achieving immortality and attaining sainthood as its ultimate goal, hence the name 'cultivating immortality'."

The voice of Taiqing Laozi slowly echoed in the quiet room, his tone calm yet each word carrying weight.

"The method we have established is based on understanding the Great Dao and uniting with our true self. It does not rely on external seeking, but only on cultivating oneself."

It should not be called cultivating immortality, but rather cultivating the Tao, or cultivating truth.

The Primordial Celestial Venerable nodded and said, "Those who cultivate the Dao cultivate the Great Dao."

Those who cultivate immortality seek their true selves.

Both originate from the same source but have different names, and both return to the origin of Pangu's primordial spirit.

The foundation of this system lies in the word "truth".

Without relying on external objects, external forces, or external tribulations, one progresses step by step solely through one's own understanding of the Great Dao.

Hongjun's immortal cultivation system uses the Heavenly Dao as a ladder. Every time a cultivator breaks through a realm, they need the Heavenly Dao's approval, which means handing over the key to their own destiny to someone else.

In our cultivation system, the key always remains in the hands of the practitioner themselves.

The Shangqing Tongtian interface said: "Whether it is cultivating the Dao or cultivating the immortal, the core lies in the word 'Dao'."

The essence of the Wu Clan's martial arts lies in not relying on external means.

He did not undergo heavenly tribulations, nor did he seek the approval of the Heavenly Dao; he broke through realms solely through his own understanding of the Great Dao.

This approach must be followed consistently.

In my opinion, the new system can be divided into four major realms: refining essence into qi, refining qi into spirit, refining spirit to return to emptiness, and refining emptiness to unite with the Dao.

After a moment of contemplation, Taiqing Laozi transformed the Yin and Yang energies into four ancient seal characters and hung them between the three people; these were the names of the four realms.

He slowly said, "These four realms are indeed similar to the four realms of martial arts."

Refining essence into qi corresponds to refining the body; both are the foundation for building a strong foundation.

The transformation of Qi into Spirit corresponds to the transformation of Qi, both being transformations of energy.

Refining the spirit and returning to emptiness corresponds to refining the will; both are forms of tempering the spirit.

Refining Emptiness and Uniting with the Dao corresponds to Refining the Dao, both being the union of the Great Dao.

But martial arts cultivate the physical body, while we cultivate the primordial spirit; our foundations are different, so our methods differ.

Yuqing Yuanshi said in the interface: "Not only that."

Each major level cannot be achieved overnight; it should be broken down into three smaller stages.

The twelve minor stages correspond to the three of us on our respective paths.

The way of spreading the Way, the way of elucidating the Way, the way of nurturing life.

In this way, with each step a practitioner takes, they can simultaneously receive nourishment from the three Great Paths.

The three great paths are not independent of each other, but rather complement each other like the three realms of Heaven, Earth, and Man.

The way of spreading the Way is like Heaven, guiding the direction; the way of expounding the Way is like Earth, solidifying the foundation; the way of nurturing life is like humanity, opening up new possibilities for life.

All three are indispensable to constitute the complete path of cultivation.

Sword intent flashed in Shangqing Tongtian's eyes. With a flick of his finger, a sword intent transformed into twelve beams of clear light in the quiet room, arranged in sequence.

His tone was resolute and certain: "Exactly."

The three stages of the Refining Essence into Qi realm: the first stage is to comprehend the Yin-Yang Dao of the elder brother.

Understanding the fundamental laws of birth and death of all things through the changes of Yin and Yang, and transforming one's own essence into a pure foundation of magical power, is the basis for transmitting the Dao.

The second stage involves comprehending the second brother's Dao of Chaos.

The accumulated magical power is organized and regulated by the law of chaos encompassing all things, making it orderly and not chaotic. This is the order of expounding the Dao.

The third stage is to comprehend my swordsmanship, at the crucial moment when I am about to break through to the level of Qi Refining and Spirit Transformation.

To use the power of life-snatching to create a glimmer of hope under the suppression of the Heavenly Dao, and to sever the bottleneck, is the essence of life-snatching.

Only after reaching the third stage of mastery can one enter the realm of Qi Refining and Spirit Transformation. The subsequent three major realms all follow this pattern.

Taiqing Laozi nodded slightly, and with a wave of his sleeve, the names of the twelve minor stages appeared one by one:

The realm of refining essence into qi, and the realm of refining qi into spirit, are where practitioners merge their magical power with their divine soul.

First, use the principles of Yin and Yang to harmonize the balance between magical power and spiritual soul; then, use the principles of chaos to solidify the foundation after fusion; and finally, use the way of the sword to sever the obsessions and stagnation that arise during the fusion process.

The realm of refining the spirit and returning to emptiness is where cultivators temper their soul to the extreme, returning to nothingness. Using yin and yang as guides, chaos as a furnace, and the way of the sword as a hammer, they advance layer by layer until they finally temper their soul to the state of emptiness and clarity.

In the realm of refining emptiness and merging with the Dao, the cultivator merges their ethereal and enlightened soul with the Great Dao, forming their own Dao and completely transcending the primordial spirit of Pangu.

The twelve stages each correspond to one of the Three Pure Ones' Great Dao, with the three paths of spreading the Dao, elucidating the Dao, and gathering life running through the entire process and complementing each other.

Cultivators begin their practice by refining essence into qi, gradually working their way towards the primordial spirit of Pangu.

It's not about becoming Pangu, but about using Pangu's primordial spirit as a blueprint to forge your own path.

When all four major realms are completed, the cultivator can establish their own path, transcend the scope of Pangu's primordial spirit, and reach the same level as Pangu's primordial spirit.

The Three Pure Ones did not explicitly state this ambition, but they were all well aware of it.

Yuqing Yuanshi examined the law patterns of each stage one by one, and occasionally used the light of chaos to repair any omissions.

His brow furrowed slightly, his tone carrying the rigor one would use when explaining a principle:

"In the realm of refining essence into qi, the transmission stage focuses on comprehending the changes of yin and yang. Practitioners need to observe the unity of opposites in all things in heaven and earth, and comprehend the profound principle of the flow of yin and yang from the alternation of the sun and moon and the coming of cold and heat."

The stage of expounding the Dao requires transforming one's understanding of Yin and Yang into concrete knowledge of the laws, and clarifying the point of convergence between oneself and the Great Dao.

This step is the most crucial; if there is a misunderstanding of the principles, subsequent cultivation will go astray.

The "Rebirth" stage requires severing one's attachment to the old realm with sword intent when one's vital energy is almost exhausted and one's magical power is almost complete.

This is different from severing the three corpses.

Severing the three corpses means cutting off the primordial spirit, while rebirth means breaking through the shackles.

One is division, the other is destruction; they are similar in form but different in spirit.

Tongtian added: "The essence of the way of life lies in 'cutting'."

The suppression of the Heavenly Dao is omnipresent; every time a cultivator breaks through a realm, they will feel the invisible obstacles posed by the rules of the Heavenly Dao.

Hongjun's immortal cultivation system uses the tribulation process to help cultivators "adapt" to the Heavenly Dao, while our Life-Gathering Path allows cultivators to "break through" the Heavenly Dao.

It's not about adapting to the rules, but about transcending them. The sharpness of the sword is for this very moment.

In what seemed like an impossible predicament, a path was carved out that the laws of nature had never foreseen.

Taiqing Laozi's final conclusion:

"After this system is fully developed, we still need someone to test it."

He single-handedly traversed these twelve smaller stages to verify whether the breakthrough standards for each realm were reasonable.

Whether each stage of the practice is feasible, and whether the path of life-saving can truly open up new possibilities at critical bottlenecks.

This person must possess sufficient qualifications, yet not be too deeply influenced by Hongjun's immortal teachings; ideally, they should be someone who has never practiced Hongjun's methods.

He paused, his gaze sweeping over his two brothers. "I already have this person in mind."

Yuanshi and Tongtian exchanged a glance and both nodded slightly.

Tongtian smiled slightly: "What you think, elder brother, coincides with my thoughts."

He is the only one who can test the Dao.

However, for now, this system needs to be polished to perfection before it can be passed on to him for trials.

The Three Pure Ones continue their deduction.

To what extent should the standards for breaking through each level be refined to be considered qualified?

How can the methods of practice at each stage be taught to practitioners of different aptitudes in the simplest way?

Are the correspondences between the twelve minor stages and the Three Pure Ones Great Way completely balanced?

Is it possible that at a certain stage, one will rely too much on one approach and neglect the other two?

The specific application of the principles of life-saving at critical bottlenecks.

How do we determine when to use the method of life-saving techniques, and how do we guide practitioners to find a glimmer of hope in dire straits?

Every detail needs to be carefully considered and verified repeatedly.

The three of them were completely absorbed in the quiet room, oblivious to the passage of time outside.

Only those three beams of clear light continued to shine through the dome of the meditation room day and night, witnessing the birth of this cultivation system that was destined to change the landscape of the primordial world.