"Rumble!!!"
Chen Jiuyang's body erupted with a terrifying aura, golden light and black mist entwined and spewed forth as he directly raised his hand to grab Chen Tongxuan.
"Swish, swish, swish!"
A colossal hand phantom, capable of obscuring the sky, materialized from above, resembling the phantom hand of Chi You, pressing down and grasping towards Chen Tongxuan and the others below!
"Bang, bang, bang!"
A sonic boom, piercing to the point of rupturing eardrums, suddenly exploded.
"Junior! How dare you act so presumptuously before this seat!"
Chen Tongxuan's face contorted in rage, the wind scattering as his boundless magical power surged. The long sword in his hand unleashed a vast sword intent, piercing towards the sky-obscuring giant hand.
"Clang!!!"
This exchange was evenly matched, a stalemate.
Chen Jiuyang sneered, "I don't know where you get the nerve to come here, even demanding I 'self-terminate.' If you wish to harm Chen Biandao, you'll have to get past me first."
"But with just a few old fossils like yourselves, I doubt that's possible."
"Buzz, buzz, buzz!"
The Yan Sheng Blade, sensing Chen Jiuyang's intense killing intent, hummed of its own accord.
Then.
Chen Jiuyang suddenly drew his blade, a cold glint flashing, rendering the heavens and earth colorless.
"Setting Sun!"
In its place, the Yan Sheng Blade in his hand became like flowing fire, resplendently brilliant and dazzling to the eye.
Chen Jiuyang held the blade above his head, the fiery red, magma-like Yan Sheng Blade then fiercely cleaved down towards Chen Tongxuan.
"Whoosh!!!"
This saber strike, fueled by burning true blood and essence, like erupting magma, landed on Chen Tongxuan.
"Clang—"
"Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!"
"Pfft—"
Chen Tongxuan's face twitched, his body instantly turning fiery red as if scorched. Chen Jiuyang's overbearing pure Yang true qi surged into him, rampaging wildly within his body. He felt as if magma was burning inside him, causing him immense pain, and he spewed out a mouthful of purple-black, foul-smelling blood.
Immediately—
Bang!
An explosion sounded from within him.
"Chit! Chit! Chit!"
Chen Tongxuan's body instantly erupted with dozens, even hundreds, of wounds. Residual true qi from Chen Jiuyang could be seen within these wounds, each one scorched to a char.
"Do you truly think this is Shu Mountain, where you can be so arrogant? Demanding I, your junior, self-terminate, where do you get such confidence and strength?"
Chen Jiuyang's indifferent voice followed.
With a single saber strike, Chen Tongxuan, a mighty cultivator of the Void Returning stage, was severely wounded, nearly crippled.
Chen Jiuyang had entered the Venerable realm; the power of his 'Setting Sun' technique was immense. Without a Dao Integration stage cultivation or special magical artifacts, how many could withstand it?
The Chen family members behind Chen Tongxuan immediately stepped forward to protect him, preventing Chen Jiuyang from pressing his advantage and killing Chen Tongxuan on the spot.
"If I want to kill him, can a few of you stop me?"
Chen Jiuyang looked indifferently at these Chen family members: "Years ago, the Chen family wronged me first. It was fortunate enough that I didn't come to your doorstep to cause trouble. Now you treat me like a pushover and dare to act presumptuously on my territory."
"However... since you few have come here to see me today, I cannot let you leave."
"Jiuyang, we are all from the Chen family. Please spare their lives," Chen Biandao interjected, knowing that Chen Jiuyang's influence was now nearly absolute. Even ancestors of the Void Returning stage could not do anything to him. The Chen family would need to bring out an ancestor-level figure of the Dao Integration stage to even hope to harm Chen Jiuyang in the slightest.
But whether the Chen family currently possessed a Dao Integration stage ancestor was a question.
"Hmph!"
Chen Jiuyang snorted, "Uncle Chen, your benevolence is excessive. However, I can accept sparing their lives to resolve your inner demons."
"Power!"
With a cold shout, Chen Jiuyang suddenly grasped at the Chen family members suspended in mid-air.
Aside from Chen Tongxuan, the others were all at the Nascent Soul stage, utterly incapable of blocking Chen Jiuyang's moves.
"Crack!"
The bodies of these Chen family members suddenly stiffened, then plummeted from the sky, including the injured Chen Tongxuan.
"Left Protector, clean up the mess. The news of my presence here must not be easily exposed," Chen Jiuyang instructed.
Although the Azure Bamboo Spirit Domain had been infiltrated by many demonic cultivators, this was a trump card for Chen Jiuyang. Unless the Immortal Alliance launched a large-scale attack on this place, he had no intention of revealing this card.
"Yes, Sect Master."
After giving his orders, Chen Jiuyang turned and left. The remaining matters would be handled by Chen Biandao; he would see how he dealt with them.
Then Chen Jiuyang summoned Han Peiling:
"Lately, I've felt my cultivation stagnating. Are there any limitations to improving one's cultivation in the Martial Venerable realm?"
He was currently at the peak of the second layer of the Venerable realm, but no matter what he did, his cultivation could not advance to the third layer.
The inheritance left by the Pure Yang Medical Immortal was an immortal path inheritance. Even the Pure Yang Medical Immortal had not left behind any secrets regarding the martial path.
Han Peiling looked at Chen Jiuyang with some surprise, then pondered, "To cultivate the Dao in the Venerable realm requires severing karma and thoughts, somewhat akin to the 'severing three corpses' in Taoism and Buddhism."
Chen Jiuyang's brow immediately furrowed.
The Taoist scripture "On the Three Corpses" mentioned: "Within the human body are three corpse worms."
The three corpse worms here are not cells or organisms, but a Taoist term. In Taoism, the three corpse worms are also known as the three Pengs. They are essentially similar to the seven emotions and six desires in Buddhist terms, but simpler. The three corpse worms are the Upper Corpse Worm, the Middle Corpse Worm, and the Lower Corpse Worm. The Upper Corpse Worm, also called Peng Hou, resides in the human brain, making one foolish. The Middle Corpse Worm, also called Peng Zhi, is in the chest cavity, making one impure and unable to enter samadhi. The Lower Corpse Worm, also called Peng Jiao, is in the abdomen, causing greed for beauty and indulgence in food.
Taoism emphasizes the eradication of obsessions, while Buddhism calls it "breaking attachments." Different people have different obsessions. The reason why one's own corpse (the self-corpse) is the most difficult to sever is likely derived from the two verses of Shenxiu and Huineng—
Shenxiu said: "The body is the Bodhi tree, the mind is like a bright mirror stand. At all times, diligently polish it, and do not let dust alight."
Huineng said: "Bodhi originally has no tree, the bright mirror also has no stand. Originally there is nothing, where can dust alight?"
Han Peiling continued, "The three corpses and nine worms, totaling twelve. Upon stepping into the 'extraordinary and sacred' realm of the Venerable, there are thirteen layers in total."
"However, the methods of severing the Dao vary across all heavens and myriad paths."
Cultivating the Dao and then severing the three corpses and nine worms, coupled with the short lifespan of martial cultivators.
This is why most people cultivate the immortal path. After entering the Venerable realm, it is highly possible to remain stagnant and unable to progress.
"Indeed, there are secrets to cultivating the Dao in the Venerable realm. I was unaware of this before."
"Perhaps I must follow the words of Patriarch Chengyun and walk the path of the Human King in the Lesser Immortal Realm to rapidly improve my cultivation."
Chen Jiuyang asked, "Then what should I do for my martial path?"
Han Peiling's face showed a hint of embarrassment, "Jiuyang, cultivating the Dao has a traceable path, but severing the three corpses has no clear route."
"Everyone's karma, obsessions, and the direction of their Dao are different. There is no specific method."
Chen Jiuyang also felt the difficulty immediately.