Chapter 11: A Journey Through Mount Buzhou

Bai Jing first returned to the Wu Clan together with Houtu. The Wu Clan was located at the foot of Mount Buzhou, making it a suitable starting point for ascending the mountain.

However, Bai Jing did not leave immediately. At Houtu’s invitation, he accompanied her to the Pangu Grand Hall.

Houtu called upon Bai Jing because she lacked a primordial spirit and could not perform precise calculations. If she misunderstood anything that Hongjun had conveyed, it could lead to trouble.

With Bai Jing present, any errors or omissions in her account could be promptly corrected.

Thus, in front of Bai Jing and the other ancestral Wu, Houtu spoke of three methods to attain sainthood through proof of the Dao.

“Among these three paths, our Wu Clan likely only possesses the father god’s method of proving the Dao through strength,” Emperor Jiang said after a moment’s reflection.

“Brother’s words are most fitting. Our Wu Clan has no primordial spirit, so the method of severing the Three Corpses is certainly unattainable. As for achieving sainthood through merit, according to Hongjun, that would mean becoming a mere servant of the Heavenly Dao. We Wu Clan only revere Pangu, the Father God. How could we possibly attain sainthood in such a manner?” Zhu Jiuyin responded.

The other ancestral Wu nodded in agreement.

“However, the method of proving the Dao through strength will undoubtedly be extremely arduous,” Houtu sighed.

Hearing this, Bai Jing thought to himself, “Is there any path to sainthood that is simple?

Take the Three Purities as an example. They severed the Three Corpses, then relied on the residual blessings of the original creation and the merits of establishing a teaching, which compounded to enable them to prove the Dao successfully!

This method can be roughly classified as the Three Corpses severing proof of the Dao.

Because the Three Purities had progressed very far along this path, only the fusion of the Three Corpses remained before they could become saints. The establishment of a teaching and accumulation of merits merely accelerated the process—essentially a shortcut.

The two Western saints, Jieyin and Zhunti, lacked the profound foundation of the Three Purities and their methods were correspondingly less robust. Without the blessings of original creation, they relied more on shortcuts and incurred massive merits owed to the Heavenly Dao. Consequently, their strength was inferior to that of the Three Purities.

Zhunti, in particular, was later acknowledged as the weakest saint—such is the price of taking shortcuts.

As for pure merit-based sainthood, it is by no means simple either. To move the Heavenly Dao through boundless merit, becoming a saint of utmost benevolence, requires vast merit, willpower, and fortune to directly invoke the grand intent of the Dao, breaking one’s own shackles.

Then, one must refine the primordial purple energy of the Dao’s foundation and entrust the primordial spirit to the Heavenly Dao to attain the state of undifferentiated origin. Saint Nuwa achieved sainthood through this method, with her vast merits originating from the great merit of creation.”

The merit required to become a saint through merit must be colossal—how could it be so easily obtained?

Moreover, mere abundant merit is insufficient; one must act in a way that truly benefits the primordial world, thereby harmonizing with the Heavenly Dao and even remedying its deficiencies.

Many powerful cultivators in the primordial world, upon witnessing Saint Nuwa’s merit-based sainthood, conceived similar ideas and put them into practice—among them, the Ancestor of the Dark River.

The Dark River Ancestor first imitated Saint Nuwa by creating the Asura race with an endless sea of blood. The Heavenly Dao was moved and bestowed merit, greatly advancing his cultivation, yet he still could not attain sainthood.

Later, upon observing the Three Purities and the two Western saints establishing their teachings and becoming saints, the Dark River Ancestor founded the Asura Sect, also acquiring vast merit.

Although this propelled him far along the path of proof, far exceeding ordinary quasi-saints, he ultimately failed to cross into true sainthood, remaining just one step away.

But that single step was a vast chasm—a monumental divide! All beneath the level of a saint are mere ants, and the Dark River Ancestor was no exception.”

“Young one, I heard you intend to journey to Mount Buzhou?” Xuanming’s words interrupted Bai Jing’s thoughts.

Bai Jing nodded. “Yes, I have that intention.”

“In light of your assistance to the Wu Clan, I offer you a piece of advice. Mount Buzhou is shrouded in overwhelming and majestic Dao pressure that isolates all else. Every step upward is exceedingly difficult. Even great Dao immortals, protected by innate spiritual treasures, can only ascend to about one-third of the way before reaching their limits.

But your cultivation method shares some similarity with ours, emphasizing bodily strength. With your late-stage great Dao immortal physical form, you might reach halfway up. Beyond that, the Dao pressure will crush you.”

A flicker of surprise passed through Bai Jing’s eyes, evidently not expecting Xuanming to share this.

Out of courtesy, Bai Jing thanked him.

The next day, Bai Jing left the Wu Clan and began his ascent of Mount Buzhou.

Mount Buzhou stood as the pillar supporting heaven and earth at the very center of creation. As Xuanming had said, the mountain was enveloped in Dao pressure. With each step Bai Jing took, he felt the pressure intensify.

This pressure also helped to enhance his physical strength. Bai Jing took out some ore and began gnawing on it.

While chewing, he circulated the “Soul Devouring Technique” and his innate ability to purify all things, filtering out the useless impurities within the ore. Then, aided by the Dao pressure on Mount Buzhou, the energy within the ore quickly fused with his body, strengthening it.

Thus, Bai Jing climbed the mountain, gnawing on ore as he went. After roughly a thousand years, he reached the midpoint of Mount Buzhou, his physical strength breaking through to the pinnacle of the great Dao golden immortal stage.

Next, Bai Jing aimed to break through to the mixed-origin golden immortal level. This required both continued enhancement of his physical form and deeper comprehension of the devouring principle. Once both reached a certain threshold and he completed the sixth transformation of the profound skill, his physical strength would likewise break through to the mixed-origin golden immortal realm.

Neither goal could be achieved overnight, so Bai Jing ceased devouring ore and instead wandered around the midpoint of Mount Buzhou.

As the spine of Pangu, Mount Buzhou bore the Dao pressure, and few could reach this place. After some searching, Bai Jing gathered a number of high-quality spiritual herbs.

“Huh? Is this an innate array?” Bai Jing’s face lit up with surprise as he observed the grand formation before him, suffused with an endless aura of innate energy.

Within the array’s bounds, a self-contained world had formed, permeated with potent earth energy, vigorous and abundant throughout every inch.

“Judging by this, it’s even stronger than the innate array I found alongside three superior innate spiritual roots on Yingzhou Immortal Island.

In other words, within this array there is at least one superior innate spiritual root or treasure.”

A gleam of excitement shone in Bai Jing’s eyes as he began to unravel the innate array.

At his current pinnacle great Dao golden immortal physical strength, deciphering this innate array was not too difficult. In about a hundred years, Bai Jing broke through the formation.

Upon entering, the earth energy of the array transformed into myriad forms—mountains, great stones, countless weapons—all crashing toward him.

Bai Jing neither dodged nor summoned the Primordial Measuring Rod. Instead, he braced himself and resisted with his body.

“Thud, thud, thud…”

With each heavy impact, the earth energy-formed objects failed even to pierce Bai Jing’s defenses, let alone harm him.

Soon, Bai Jing reached the center of the array, where a large bronze cauldron of blue-gold hue floated.

It inhaled and exhaled the earth energy within the array, continuously growing stronger.

Bai Jing grasped the foot of the cauldron, and information about it flooded into his mind.