613: Xu Lan severed the three corpses?

Demon Venerable Realm Ninth Transformation!

This was Chen De's current cultivation level; he had finally reached the pinnacle of the Immortal Realm.

Meanwhile, the world-descending demonic blade had now advanced to the level of an Immortal-grade Innate Supreme Treasure weapon.

According to classification, Innate Supreme Treasures are far, far more powerful than Top-grade Innate Spiritual Treasures.

Each sect leader of the Ten Sects of the Sacred Ring uses an Immortal-grade Top-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure.

So now, when facing the ten sect leaders, Chen De's advantages lie in his bloodline, talent, and weapon.

As for cultivation level, he likely still falls short compared to them.

As for his actual combat strength, Chen De still needs to test it firsthand to know.

Coincidentally, there is one right here; why not pay a visit?

No sooner said than done. With a flash, Chen De arrived outside the Small World where Xu Lan was located.

Xu Lan's secluded cultivation site could be considered absolutely confidential; even the three great elders didn't know about it.

Chen De was able to find him thanks to the power of the system map.

Although the map couldn't search across realms, he managed to exploit a bug.

As long as he infused a bit of his black liquid into each Small World,

Then, it would be equivalent to him being inside as well, with his main body also near that bit of black liquid, allowing the system map to detect it.

Thus, Xu Lan's secluded cultivation site was quickly uncovered by Chen De.

This guy was quite cunning; that Small World was constantly moving in a hidden manner.

Moreover, it had strong concealment functions, making it look just like an ordinary Small World.

Without precise coordinates, even a powerhouse at the Immortal Law Realm Ninth Transformation level would find it difficult to locate him.

Unfortunately, he ultimately encountered Chen De, this great Holy Mother.

In the face of justice, all evil will have nowhere to hide.

At the same time, according to the system map, it could also be confirmed that the other party had not yet succeeded in Slaying Three Corpses.

So when facing Chen De, the other party wouldn't have overwhelming strength.

At this moment, Chen De appeared in the form of the Great Elder Ye Xi.

Using Evil God Essence to conceal himself, he deepened the Influence on this Small World a bit more.

Just as he Influenced a little, he discovered the numerous arrangements Xu Lan had left here.

However, he wasn't aiming to Influence the entire Small World; this level was sufficient.

After entering, Chen De found Xu Lan's location within the Small World—a hidden corner.

Simultaneously, every inch of space here was filled with various methods.

And the closer one got to Xu Lan's position, the denser these methods were arranged.

Especially around him, that space was practically composed of various methods.

Chen De also possessed the complete Three Corpses Severing Method, so he could tell that Xu Lan seemed to be at a critical juncture of Slaying Three Corpses... Xu Lan sat cross-legged on a cliff, with dark clouds gathering and lightning flashing and thundering overhead.

Now, only the final and most crucial step remained.

He gazed ahead as lightning from the sky occasionally struck down.

As one of the ten sect leaders, he had held the Three Corpses Severing Method for who knows how many billions of years.

Every detail and step within it was etched in his memory.

But at the same time, he was also well aware of the dangers involved.

At any time, in any way, splitting oneself is an act of self-destruction.

If he had wanted to, he could have attempted it long ago; it was just that he couldn't bring himself to make the decision.

However, the success and pressure from Xie Feng of the Nine Absolute Sword Sect made him realize he had to do this.

Similarly, he knew that under normal circumstances, he couldn't break through to the Saint Extreme Realm, so this was the only way.

So regardless of success or not, as a sect leader, Xu Lan had to give it a try.

In this universe, if you don't fight with your life, you'll lose it; only by not fearing death can you avoid dying!

Then, with a wave of his hand, a solidified, miniature nebula appeared in his palm.

About a foot in diameter, the disc was neither solid nor illusory, floating above his palm and slowly rotating on its own.

Its main body was dark black, and the disc surface wasn't smooth, covered with countless naturally formed patterns that flowed and changed slowly.

At the very center of the disc surface, there existed an extremely tiny 'point,' sometimes bright, sometimes dark.

Staring at this point, one could almost feel time speeding up and slowing down.

This object was the Immortal-grade Top-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure of the Yuanxu Sect—the yuanxu plate!

Compared to the other nine sect leaders, his greatest advantage was that his Spiritual Treasure had a balancing effect.

In terms of success rate, it could be considered the highest, which was also one of the key reasons Xu Lan could make up his mind.

good corpse, evil corpse, self corpse.

And the one Xu Lan chose first was the so-called easiest to sever—the good corpse.

At any time, the first and easiest thing for a person to abandon is their own kindness.

The first step of severing the good corpse.

Repeatedly visualize all one's kindness, compassion, and moral principles until these thoughts condense into form.

Second step.

Gradually transform these kind thoughts into a benevolent self, presenting a specific image—an elder, a middle-aged person, a youth, a child... it varies from person to person.

Third step.

Engage in discourse with the benevolent self in the spiritual consciousness, gradually perfecting the understanding of 'goodness,' thoroughly comprehending one's own goodness, one's personal 'goodness.'

Fourth step.

At the moment the discourse with the benevolent self ends, use the Dao heart as a sword to separate it from the main body, then entrust it to a pre-prepared Spiritual Treasure.

After these four steps, the good corpse is successfully severed, becoming a great aid to oneself.

Simultaneously, one's own strength will greatly improve, stepping into the realm of Quasi-saint/Half-saint.

Among the four steps, the first three seem the safest and easiest, to be done or stopped at will.

As long as the fourth step isn't taken, even repeated attempts don't matter.

But in reality, this is the most dangerous part!

A single misstep can easily create huge hidden dangers for the final step, or even lead to qi deviation.

Because if one's understanding of their personal 'goodness' is insufficient, impure, or filled with doubt, what is severed may no longer be a pure good corpse.

On the contrary, it might very well be an obsession or a polluted, twisted incarnation.

At the same time, it will greatly affect the corpse severer themselves: collapse of kindness, qi deviation, backlash of the Dao heart, proliferation of inner demons... Everyone's goodness is different; the most important thing is to understand what constitutes one's own goodness.

If you want to take shortcuts, you must bear the risks and costs of taking shortcuts.

All the preparations made before were actually repeated verifications of the first three steps.

And now that Xu Lan had taken out his life-bound Spiritual Treasure, it meant he was about to begin the fourth step.

In his spiritual consciousness, Xu Lan looked at the benevolent self before him and, without the slightest hesitation, severed it.

Right after the discourse ended was when the benevolent self's spirituality and perception were at their strongest.

As time passed, it would gradually become blurry, eventually failing to meet the requirements for corpse severing.

However, there was no risk of qi deviation because even if severed, something so blurry couldn't form a good corpse with the Spiritual Treasure, rendering the effort wasted.

So he only had an instant; this timing had to be grasped.