The Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable was dead.
When he figured out that he had been reborn into the ancient cultivation world—a time when the Ten Sects of the Immortal Dao held dominion over the world and the new method had yet to be born—a bold thought surfaced in Qiao Sidao's mind.
He would follow the Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable and become one of the very first Dharma Transmitters!
Though the Ten Sects of the Immortal Dao were at the zenith of their power right now, Qiao Sidao, knowing full well the course of the future, was acutely aware that this seemingly eternal rule was utterly fragile before the mighty tide of the new method!
Before long, a terrifyingly swift army of new-method cultivators who plundered Heaven and Earth would, under the leadership of the Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable, sweep through everything like dead wood, overthrow the Ten Sects of the Immortal Dao, and establish the great Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals that would unite Xuanhuang for millions of years.
And no merit was greater than backing the dragon before its rise.
If he pledged his allegiance before the Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable ever rose to prominence, then in the future, when Chuanfa journeyed beyond the heavens, the supreme ruling body of the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals—the Dharma Transmission Council—would surely have a seat for him!
...
At least, that was what Qiao Sidao had thought.
And that was what he had done.
He cast aside the identity of an inner sect disciple of the Seven Stars Sect, which his original host had fought so hard to obtain, trekking across mountains and rivers from the heart of the immortal continent all the way to the borderland wilderness of Congyun Marsh.
After patiently waiting for more than a decade, he finally welcomed the great Dharma-Transmitting Heaven...
No, at this point in time, he should still be called the Dharma-Transmitting Immortal Venerable.
News of the Immortal Venerable preaching his dharma had spread through the surrounding areas not long ago.
Yet at this time, the Immortal Venerable was largely unknown.
Suddenly announcing that he would transmit the dharma and shower blessings upon the world...
Who would actually believe it?
Before him right now sat only a dozen or so cultivators who had heard the news and come just to join the bustle.
Qiao Sidao fought to take the seat right in the middle of the front row, hoping to make a familiar impression.
He looked at those around him, his heart quickening at the thought that these very people would one day be the great Dharma Transmitters wielding supreme power in the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals.
When the Dharma-Transmitting Immortal Venerable glanced his way, Qiao Sidao's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately reined himself in, not daring to look around anymore.
Three days later, barely more than thirty cultivators had gathered on this small island in Congyun Marsh.
Yet Chuanfa didn't mind in the slightest.
Sitting cross-legged on the ground, he began to discourse upon the Dao.
From the world of Xuanhuang and the laws of the immortal principles to the profound mysteries of the human body and the secret reservoirs of essence and qi, all the way to the myriad connections between the world and all living beings.
Spoken with steady, eloquent grace, his words held every cultivator present utterly enraptured.
As the Dharma-Transmitting Immortal Venerable continued his sermon, various phenomena appeared in the skies.
Rolling purple clouds arrived from the horizon, bathed in golden light that made them appear extraordinarily sacred.
Even at night, the purple-gold haze above Wanxian Island never ceased, visible from hundreds of li away.
And so, more and more cultivators were drawn by the spectacle of the Immortal Venerable's sermon.
Spreading the word among themselves, they surged toward the island in a steady stream.
In the presence of the Dharma-Transmitting Immortal Venerable, none dared cause a disturbance. With the front rows already occupied by layers of cultivators, newcomers could only find places to sit in the back.
Yet once they immersed themselves in Chuanfa's sermon, deep regret washed over them.
They cursed themselves for not arriving earlier, having missed so many wondrous, incomparable expositions.
More and more cultivators gathered on the island, eventually exceeding ten thousand.
Only then did the Dharma-Transmitting Immortal Venerable speak:
"Why must our generation beg of Heaven to become immortals? If Heaven will not bestow it, we shall take it ourselves!"
"Obeying Heaven makes one mortal; defying Heaven makes one immortal!"
"Thus, the path of the Immortal Dao is:
Absorb the spirit of Heaven and Earth to command its qi;
Borrow the wonders of Heaven and Earth to build a Dao Foundation;
Spy out the laws of Heaven and Earth to refine a Golden Core;
Seize the essence of Heaven and Earth to form a Nascent Soul;
Extract the marrow of Heaven and Earth to attain its spirit;
Offer sacrifice to the anima of Heaven and Earth to achieve Dao Integration in body;
Defy the principles of Heaven and Earth to prove Longevity!"
...
Having laid bare the foundational truths, the Dharma-Transmitting Immortal Venerable went on to explain the nuances of each realm in detail.
The cultivators across the entire island were left speechlessly stunned.
So immortality could be cultivated like this!
As for Qiao Sidao, his blood boiled with excitement.
One had to know that it was precisely by relying on this heaven-plundering, earth-seizing new method that the cultivators gathered here would one day overthrow the Ten Sects of the Immortal Dao and establish the great Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals.
As if standing in the surging tide of history itself, Qiao Sidao felt as though he had become a part of history.
Yet to his utter astonishment, just as the Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable's sermon reached a critical juncture—speaking on "defying the principles of Heaven and Earth"—a cold snort suddenly rang across heaven and earth, cutting short Chuanfa's words.
"Preposterous heresies to bewitch the masses!"
"Heaven and Earth nurture all living things. If cultivators refuse to repay that debt, so be it, yet you go so far as to commit such vile plunder!"
"How are you any different from beasts?!"
The voice boomed like rolling thunder, echoing endlessly.
Suddenly interrupted, the cultivators listening on the island were naturally both startled and furious.
"Where did this reckless fool come from?"
Qiao Sidao looked on with the mindset of a spectator watching a good show.
He knew well that the Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable held dominion over the world for thousands of years, virtually invincible beneath the heavens.
Was whoever dared provoke him not simply seeking death?
Yet a scene that caught his eye in passing stirred a faint sense of unease within him.
At that moment, the Dharma-Transmitting Immortal Venerable abruptly stood up.
His face was fraught with gravity.
"May I ask Fellow Daoist's name?"
"As the saying goes, the Great Dao has three thousand paths..." Chuanfa cupped his hands, about to speak.
Yet he was crudely cut off once more.
"Save your breath! Under the rule of the Ten Sects of the Immortal Dao, anyone who spreads perverse heresies..."
"Dies!"
With that explosive shout, the speaker revealed his form.
A youth who appeared barely ten-odd years old, clad in gleaming golden armor, hair tied with a red ribbon, clutching a silver spear.
Rather than a cultivator, he looked more like a mortal general.
"Remember, the one who takes your lives today is none other than [Wu] of the Creation Sect!"
Before his words had fully faded, the silver spear plunged from the heavens.
"Insolent child..."
Chuanfa snorted coldly, casually extending two fingers of his right hand to block it.
Who could have known...
The silver gleam struck like lightning, piercing straight through Chuanfa's body in a split second.
Its momentum unabated, it slammed savagely into the earth.
Boom!
Before Chuanfa's disbelieving eyes, the entirety of Wanxian Island turned to dust in an instant.
Even as the colossal silver shockwave pulverized the island, it continued to sweep across Congyun Marsh.
In just a few breaths, not a single living creature could be found in the vast marshlands.
Only raging silver serpents danced through the void.
"Utterly pointless!"
Before Qiao Sidao's consciousness vanished, all he heard was that cold snort from [Wu], and the sight of the Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable's slowly fading silhouette.
...
When he awoke once more from pitch darkness, Qiao Sidao discovered to his pleasant surprise that he had returned to the very moment he was first reborn.
An outer sect disciple of the Seven Stars Sect, wracking his brains and exhausting his energy over the inner sect assessment.
Yet right now, he couldn't care less about entering the inner sect.
His heart was consumed entirely by endless bewilderment.
Why?
How could the Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable fall so easily?
Who on earth was that [Wu]?
Why had he never heard of such a person before?
Countless questions flooded his mind.
Several days passed, yet Qiao Sidao still could not come up with a reasonable explanation.
However, since the world he was reborn into had diverged from the course of history in his memories, he needed to think carefully about his future.
With a powerhouse like [Wu] around, the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals surely would never amount to anything.
Though he felt some regret, a wise man knows how to yield to circumstance.
In this life, Qiao Sidao decisively chose to cast his lot with the Ten Sects of the Immortal Dao.
Then, another unforeseen twist unfolded.
[Wu], who had ended Chuanfa's life with a single spear in his previous lifetime, simply did not exist in this one.
Without his earthshaking feat on Wanxian Island, the new method spread like wildfire across the entire Xuanhuang Realm within just a few years.
Mighty, sweeping, and unstoppable.
In the war against the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals, Qiao Sidao, serving as cannon fodder for the Ten Sects of the Immortal Dao, lost his life once again.
Chapter 604