The Eighth Chapter of the Doctrine of the Mean

  The Emperor Jun and the Eastern Emperor Taiyi returned to the Heavenly Court, where they began ordering the heavenly demons to collect the essence of the stars, refine the star flags, and prepare for all matters related to the 'Zhou Tian Star Battle Array'.

  Kunpeng actually dared to lose face in front of Nüwa and Fuxi, making Donghuang Taiyi extremely angry. He then said to Emperor Jun: "Big brother, Kunpeng is so ignorant of good and evil, we should destroy him before he recovers his cultivation, lest we have to worry about defending against him when fighting the Wu tribe."

  The Emperor Jun said helplessly, "I often think of destroying Kunpeng, but now we still need to use him to refine the Star Flag. It's not the right time to destroy him yet. Moreover, if we take action against him now, Nüwa and Fuxi will have something to say about it. However, with Nüwa suppressing him, he doesn't dare to play tricks in the struggle between the two tribes."

  Dong Huang Taizhen said: "Big brother, you say Kunpeng is so bold, has he really escaped the control of 'Zhao Yao Fan'?"

  The Demon Emperor Jyun sighed, "I checked on the way back, and indeed, Kunpeng escaped from the control of 'Zhāo Yāo Fān'. It seems that we still underestimated his ability. In the future, it will be a bit difficult for us to deal with him again."

  Dong Huang Taiyi said: "Kunpeng's escape from the control of 'Zhao Yao Fan' is very unfavorable to us. If he informs others of this method, the Heavenly Court will surely be in great chaos."

  The Emperor Jun said, "My brother is overthinking, Kunpeng is a very cunning person. He hopes that you and I will both be injured by the Witch tribe, so he can benefit from it. If the Heavenly Court falls now, the Witch tribe will set their sights on him, so he won't tell anyone this secret."

  Dong Huang Taiyi said: "Although it is so, no one dares to guarantee that Kunpeng can take care of the overall situation. We still need to make early preparations, just in case."

  The Emperor Jun pondered for a moment, then said: "My brother is right, in today's Honghuang, everything relies on strength. Once the 'Zhou Tian Xing Dou Great Array' takes shape, we should also focus on cultivating and improving our own abilities. With profound cultivation, we will have a solid foundation; otherwise, everything is just empty talk."

  After Kunpeng left the palace of Empress Wa, he took his eldest disciple Wudao to the Taiyin star. Since taking this disciple, Kunpeng had not properly guided him in his cultivation, and now was a good opportunity to teach him well.

  The Taiyin Star was desolate, with only a lone and eerie You Shi Palace. This palace was originally built by the Demon Emperor Jun to win over Kun Peng, but after Kun Peng fell out with Dong Huang Tai Yi, no one came to this star again.

  Time flies quickly, and in the blink of an eye, it's already been a hundred years. In these hundred years, Kunpeng has devoted himself to guiding the various demons in practicing the "Zhou Tian Star Big Array", while also guiding his disciples in their cultivation. The days have passed very fulfilling. During this hundred years, Dong Huang Taiyi and Yao Huang Emperor Jun also came to Taiyin Star several times to observe the practice of the "Zhou Tian Star Big Array", and the result was very satisfactory to them.

  After a hundred years, the You tribe also learned this 'Zhou Tian Xing Dou Da Zhen', and they all returned to the Heavenly Court one after another. The Tai Yin star became desolate once again.

  Kunpeng was secretly refining 365 Star Flags while guiding the group of demons to refine the Star Flags, which would be used to protect his own cave in the future. The quality of these Star Flags was even better than those given to Emperor Jun.

  For a hundred years, Kunpeng refined the several magical artifacts he obtained from Bao Yan, and also sorted out his own cultivation techniques. His own cultivation was stable in the middle of Quasi-Sainthood, but because the Innate Treasure he had obtained had not yet taken shape, he could not cut off the evil corpse. As long as the Innate Treasure took shape, he would be able to quickly cut off the evil corpse.

  The method of beheading the three corpses is to attain sainthood. The two corpses of good and evil are the easiest to behead, because everyone has both good and evil thoughts, and as long as they find the right opportunity, they can do so. The method of beheading the three corpses to attain sainthood requires three pre-heavenly spiritual treasures. Most cultivators think that pre-heavenly spiritual treasures are only used to attach themselves to their own obsessions, and after beheading the corpse, the pre-heavenly spiritual treasure can still be used. They have this idea is wrong, in fact, beheading the three corpses is to use the pre-heavenly spiritual treasure to transform into the body of the three corpses, which is used to attach themselves to their own obsessions. After successfully beheading the corpse, there will be no such spiritual treasure in the world again.

  Kunpeng now has several congenital spiritual treasures, and in the vast wilderness, he can be considered a rich man. However, his good intentions were used up by the 'Twelve-Product Xuan Water Black Lotus', while his evil intentions still haven't fully formed into a congenital treasure. Kunpeng plans to use the 'Thirty-Six Dinghai Divine Beads'. Although San Shi's body is a congenital spiritual treasure, it also needs a spiritual treasure for protection. Kunpeng himself can use the acquired merit treasure 'Nine Heavens Yuan Yang Merit Ruler', while Shan Shi has the 'North Pole Xuan Yuan Kontrol Water Flag'. However, E Shi and Zi Wo do not have corresponding spiritual treasures. E Shi requires a killing treasure, while Zi Wo needs a heavy-duty spiritual treasure due to having the power of thirty-six worlds.

  The remaining few congenital spiritual treasures of Kunpeng are either incompatible with his attributes or have other uses. For example, the 'Wheel of Reincarnation Mirror', 'Sun and Moon Essence Wheel' and 'Drive Mountain Bell' these three congenital spiritual treasures, 'Wheel of Reincarnation Mirror' Kunpeng plans to use it to plot the merits of the Six Paths of Reincarnation, 'Sun and Moon Essence Wheel' and 'Drive Mountain Bell' These two congenital spiritual treasures are incompatible with Kunpeng's attributes.

  Kunpeng pondered for half a day, then sighed: "This method of cutting three corpses to become a Taoist is the most expensive among the three major methods of becoming a Taoist. It seems that I still need to think of ways to get a few more spiritual treasures."

  After the departure of the monsters from Taiyin Star, Kunpeng also prepared to leave Taiyin Star and stay away from the Heavenly Court. Before leaving, he called Wudao over and said: "Wudao, you have a high innate talent, and as my disciple, you have been cultivating for hundreds of years and have already obtained the Xuanxian Dao fruit. Now that the Honghuang chaos has formed, in order to give you the power to protect yourself, I have prepared several spiritual treasures for you."

  Wudao asked in doubt: "Master, you have always been opposed to the use of spiritual treasures. Why do you want to give them to your disciples today?"

  Kunpeng sighed: "The master does not agree with you using the spiritual treasure, fearing that it is too dependent on the spiritual treasure and wasting one's own cultivation. Now the Honghuang is about to be in great chaos, neither the Wu nor the Yao tribes can escape this catastrophe, since you have taken me as your master, I must consider your safety and let you pass through this catastrophe."

  Wu Dao heard Kun Peng's words and was extremely excited. He only heard him say excitedly: "The disciple is incompetent, and the teacher has gone to great lengths."

  Kunpeng said: "In a few hundred years, you will be able to cultivate the Xian Tao fruit, and as your master, I am already very satisfied. You were originally one of the four great spirit monkeys of heaven and earth, and you shouldn't have been involved in this great calamity. But because of our relationship, you got involved in this great calamity, so how could I not plan for you?"

  Kunpeng took out two spiritual treasures from his body, namely the "Pre-Heavenly One Qi Belt" and the "Mysterious Water Shield". He said to Wudao: "This great calamity is the second quantitative calamity between heaven and earth. The scale is so grand that you can't imagine it. These two pre-heavenly spiritual treasures are given to you for temporary protection. The 'Pre-Heavenly One Qi Belt' can form a small space to trap enemies, while the 'Mysterious Water Shield' is a defensive spiritual treasure. Your original body is that of an ape, so you should like staff-like weapons. I will refine a staff-like weapon for you, which should help you survive this great calamity."

  Jiutian said as he handed over the two pre-heavenly spiritual treasures to Wudao, who was extremely delighted after receiving them and hurriedly said: "Thank you, Master."

  Looking at Wu Dao's delighted appearance, Kun Peng said: "There is one thing that Wu Dao must remember, these two pre-heavenly spiritual treasures are only temporarily given to you for self-defense, never use them to entrust the three corpses. After crossing this calamity, I will bring you back to the North Ming Cave Mansion and give you a better pre-heavenly spiritual treasure to entrust the three corpses."

  "Master, isn't it just that any congenital spiritual treasure can be used to kill the Three Corpses? These two congenital spiritual treasures are also of good quality, why can't they be used to kill the Three Corpses?"

  Kun Peng smiled and said: "Wu Dao, did you learn about this from the mouths of those numerous demons just now?"

  Wu Dao said: "Teacher is wise, did the disciple really learn about this from those demons who came to arrange the 'Zhou Tian Star Big Array'?"

  "They only know the result of cutting off the three corpses to achieve the Tao, but they don't know the reason why. Their understanding of the Great Tao is only superficial. According to their method of cultivation, what they cut off are just fake three corpses, which have already deviated from the fundamental principle of the Great Tao, making it difficult for them to attain enlightenment and become a saint. The method of cutting off the three corpses requires that the quality of the innate spiritual treasure is better, then the actual strength of the three corpses being cut off will be stronger, otherwise it won't work. These two innate spiritual treasures are not of good quality, so they are not suitable for cutting off the three corpses."

  "Wudao asked Wudao: 'Master, what kind of innate spiritual treasure is most suitable for beheading San Shi?'"

  Kunpeng said: "The best way to kill the three corpses is to use pre-heavenly treasures such as 'Taiji Diagram' and 'Pangu Flag'. Next are top-grade pre-heavenly spiritual treasures like 'Hetu' and 'Luoshu', but these two types of spiritual treasures are extremely rare, so it's more suitable to use high-grade pre-heavenly spiritual treasures. However, killing the three corpses also has requirements for pre-heavenly spiritual treasures: benevolent corpses should be killed with defensive pre-heavenly spiritual treasures, malevolent corpses with offensive pre-heavenly spiritual treasures, and self-corpse with neutral pre-heavenly spiritual treasures. Wu Dao, this is the master's understanding of the method to kill the three corpses after listening to the Way, it's very important, you must remember not to tell others."

  Wudao said: "Disciple understands, the method of beheading three corpses to become a Daoist has so many requirements, I wonder how many corpses Master has beheaded?"

  Ji Peng said: "To understand the Tao, with your current cultivation, it's a bit early for me to tell you these things, but you must understand the subtleties of killing the three corpses and becoming enlightened. This will save you from taking many detours. I have already killed the benevolent corpse, but since the spiritual treasure that holds evil thoughts has not yet taken shape, although my cultivation has reached the realm of killing the evil corpse, I still haven't eliminated evil thoughts."