Chapter 2263: Kong Shi's Countermove

Zhang Xuan shook his head. "I've never heard of it!"

"Never heard?" Ziyuan Ancient Sage was momentarily stunned. He frowned and asked, "Then... Zhang Shi, you've seen Confucius's clone in the Firmament with your own eyes. Did you notice any differences between him and the real Confucius?"

"Well..."

Seeing his question, Zhang Xuan replied, "That clone was identical to Confucius in every way; no flaws could be seen, except for his personality..."

The Confucius clone had even deceived him back then. If not for its desire to kill him, he would likely never have noticed anything amiss until the very end.

"From the moment they are born, humans inherently carry 'turbid energy' and experience the suffering of birth, old age, sickness, and death. This inevitably leads to various emotions such as desire, greed, and cunning, which cannot be avoided..."

Zhang Xuan nodded. As long as one is human, they will experience these things and harbor such desires. Even the most powerful sages are not exempt. Just like him, he yearned for love, wished to be understood rather than misunderstood; hoped to eat delicious food; desired greater strength; and longed for more cultivation resources... All these were desires.

"The 'Slaying Three Corpses' technique is about cutting off these desires and evil thoughts to purify oneself!"

Zhang Xuan stiffened. Was this real? If so, this cultivation method was simply defying the heavens!

"We also practiced this set of cultivation techniques. On the Master Teacher Continent, I once severed my 'evil corpse' and left it at the interface connecting to the Firmament, suppressing and sealing it there!"

"So... that was your evil corpse..." Zhang Xuan realized. He had found it strange before, seeing the current Ziyuan Ancient Sage's corpse, yet now encountering him alive. It turned out he had used the Slaying Three Corpses technique. The corpse produced by this technique was indistinguishable from the true self, appearing as if the original person had died. Even the most powerful individuals couldn't tell the difference. It could even... deceive the Heavenly Dao!

"That's right. On the Master Teacher Continent, Confucius severed his 'good corpse' and refined it into the Spring and Autumn Annals. In the Firmament, he severed his 'evil corpse,' suppressing it in the Hall of Deities, which is the one you encountered in the Firmament! Your guess is correct; this time, he likely used the hand of Lingxi Great Emperor to sever his 'self corpse'!" Ziyuan Ancient Sage explained.

"'Good corpse,' 'evil corpse,' 'self corpse'?"

"Only by severing good and evil, right and wrong, and severing one's own self can a person truly break through obsessions and transcend themselves!" Ziyuan Ancient Sage said. "Confucius, ever since birth, carried a part of the Heavenly Dao. And each time he used it, gray energy would accumulate within his body. This energy, integrated into his body and soul, was impossible to remove... That's why he found this cultivation method, Slaying Three Corpses, to eliminate all of it and truly achieve great freedom!"

"I see..." Zhang Xuan suddenly understood. No wonder Confucius showed no fear in this battle, even abandoning resistance at the last moment. It seemed he had made his preparations long ago. Using Luo Ruoxi's power to slay his 'self corpse' and disperse his soul was equivalent to giving up everything he had before. The imprint of the Heavenly Dao on him would also be completely erased, allowing him to truly transcend! As expected of Confucius, truly a man of great courage, great perseverance, and great strategy!

Looking inward, Zhang Xuan saw that gray energy had also appeared in his own body, growing denser and penetrating deep into his bones, impossible to dispel. Even now, having comprehended a method that transcended the Heavenly Dao, he was helpless against this energy.

"To successfully perform Slaying Three Corpses, one must conceal it from the Heavenly Dao. Therefore, almost no one knew about this matter except for Confucius and us, his few disciples! Confucius also didn't pass this technique on to others, and once it's used, the Heavenly Dao automatically patches the flaw, making it impossible to use a second time... That's why Confucius didn't teach it to you!"

Zhang Xuan nodded. As the wielder of the Heavenly Dao, he understood this. To detach from the Heavenly Dao, one must first evade its detection. Only by doing so, by preventing it from noticing anything, can one hope to escape. Although he also needed to detach from the Heavenly Dao, this method clearly could not be used again. After all, once it had been used, the Heavenly Dao would be on guard. If he tried to use it again, he would very likely be annihilated, his soul utterly dispersed, with no chance of revival.

"Confucius once discussed you, Zhang Shi, with us. He said that if you wished to transcend yourself like him, you would need to find a new path... This path, though different from his, has been prepared for you by both Lingxi Great Emperor and Confucius himself..."

"Prepared?" Zhang Xuan wondered, confused. "Prepared for me? How come I don't know?"

Ziyuan Ancient Sage said, "We don't know what Lingxi Great Emperor's contingency plan is; Confucius didn't say. But I do know some of what Confucius left for you... The Undying Emperor, indeed, was intentionally left for you by Confucius..."

"This..." Zhang Xuan was dumbfounded.

If the little yellow chick had arrived on the Master Teacher Continent with the Spirit Mark Tribe, it should have been in the ancient battlefield of the Spirit Mark Tribe, not a mountain range on the Master Teacher Continent. This was indeed Confucius's doing... After obtaining the gourd and nourishing the little yellow chick with his True Qi, it successfully recognized him as its master... This then led to his previous cultivation in the Lunar Clear Pool and the fusion with its immortal blood... With this power in his bloodline, if he ever encountered danger, he might become immortal and undying like the little yellow chick, undergoing rebirth after an unknown number of years, just like a phoenix.

However... Even if he were reborn, what then? It was highly probable that, like the yellow chick, the consciousness that emerged would be entirely different. Apart from that, his clone, which also split from his soul, also became completely different from his own low-key demeanor, becoming quite arrogant, didn't it? Similar to cloning in his previous life, even if the genes and everything else were identical, once consciousness formed, they would still be two distinct individuals! Confucius's contingency plan only ensured his immortality, but not the preservation of his consciousness...

So... what was Luo Ruoxi's contingency plan?

A thought stirred in his mind. The two items the girl had given him surfaced in his memory. First, the disguise token, capable of disguising anything. While important, this item had no relation to dealing with or detaching from the Heavenly Dao.

"Could it be... that pendant?" The second item flashed through his mind. The pendant contained a drop of blood, possessing an incomprehensible power. Whenever his mind fell into chaos, this item would pull it back, preventing it from drifting aimlessly... The first time was when he first entered the Firmament and perceived the differences between the two Heavenly Daos, realizing that the Heavenly Dao cultivation methods were not entirely correct... He nearly suffered a cultivation deviation, but this item pulled him back. The second time was just now, when he questioned the "Heaven's Heart Has Affection" technique... Both times, at critical moments, it restored his mind's clarity. Could it be that... if combined with rebirth, this item could ensure his consciousness wouldn't be lost?

But... this item was given by Luo Ruoxi. If she had known this all along, why had she been so worried and sad? Was she afraid of the outcome of the Heavenly Dao's struggle, and that she would have to decide between them?