Breaking Through to Taiyi Great Perfection, Five Paths to Dao Attainment

This basin was gilded all over, its form a seamless fusion of square and circular contours that felt entirely natural.

Auspicious clouds were carved into its base, while all four outer sides were etched with Dao marks of Wealth and divine runes for gathering fortune, swirling with a brilliant seven-colored radiance of gold, silver, bronze, colored glass, agate, jadeite, and precious gems.

Along its rim, the faint aura of two Great Laws—Fortune and Commerce—pulsed subtly, drawing in the spiritual aura of heaven and earth with every breath.

Once refined and mastered, it could gather wealth energy from all eight directions and condense it into fortune to bless its master.

It granted its owner boundless sources of wealth and everlasting blessings, making spiritual roots tumble into their path as they walked and spiritual treasures drop from the sky.

It was fair to say that even someone as notoriously unlucky as Kunpeng would see his fortunes flourish after holding this treasure for long enough.

Carved into the center of the basin was a massive character for “Wealth”—a divine rune of the Heavenly Dao. When Xuanjian extended his Primordial Spirit into it, he discovered an entire world self-contained within, shimmering with thousands of auspicious rays and surging with wealth energy.

Even ordinary items placed inside would become extraordinary, multiplying and flourishing exponentially.

This object was none other than one of the Three Treasures of Commerce—the Treasure-Gathering Gold Basin!

It was a spiritual treasure intimately bound to Xuanjian's very essence.

Although its grade did not place it among the unique treasures of the Heavenly Dao, it still ranked as a Top-Grade Innate Spiritual Treasure.

Furthermore, even among Top-Grade Innate Spiritual Treasures, it stood near the very top.

“The Treasure-Gathering Gold Basin, one of the Three Treasures of Commerce, capable of anchoring fortune and gathering wealth from all directions.”

“It will be one of the core foundations for establishing my merchant association.”

“Fortunately, it is finally in my hands.”

Holding the Treasure-Gathering Gold Basin, Xuanjian examined it carefully with his Primordial Spirit, a wide smile spreading across his face.

“I should refine it first!”

“I have a feeling that refining the Treasure-Gathering Gold Basin will bring me unexpected rewards!”

With that thought...

Xuanjian immediately began refining the restrictions within the Treasure-Gathering Gold Basin.

...

The river of time surged forward relentlessly.

Ten thousand years passed in the blink of an eye.

The Law of the Great Dao of Commerce swirled endlessly around Xuanjian, condensing into thousands of brilliant rays that scattered across countless spaces and times. His Taiyi Dao charm surged with majestic grandness as the Five Qis aligned in his chest, gradually approaching the state of Great Perfection!

Taiyi Golden Immortal Great Perfection... broken through!

Xuanjian slowly opened his eyes and let out a long breath. A look of surprise flashed in his gaze as he sighed with emotion. “Phew... To think that because the Treasure-Gathering Gold Basin and I share the exact same source and origin, I was actually able to refine all of its Innate Restrictions.”

“This is truly an unexpected pleasant surprise.”

Indeed, that was the case.

Xuanjian had refined all forty-eight Innate Restrictions of the Treasure-Gathering Gold Basin!

This meant Xuanjian could unleash one hundred percent of the Treasure-Gathering Gold Basin's power!

One had to know that the number of Innate Restrictions a Taiyi Golden Immortal cultivator could refine was normally limited.

Taking a Top-Grade Innate Spiritual Treasure as an example.

With the capabilities of a Taiyi Golden Immortal, one could refine at most twenty-four Innate Restrictions.

Anything beyond that was impossible for someone at this realm to refine.

Yet while refining the Treasure-Gathering Gold Basin, Xuanjian defied all conventions by fully refining every single one of its forty-eight Innate Restrictions.

This was utterly incredible!

And yet, Xuanjian accomplished it.

The reason was simple.

Xuanjian and the Treasure-Gathering Gold Basin shared the exact same source and origin.

This made refining the Treasure-Gathering Gold Basin absurdly easy for Xuanjian!

Not only did the Treasure-Gathering Gold Basin offer no resistance, but it actively cooperated with Xuanjian to refine itself.

Only through this was Xuanjian—a mere Taiyi Golden Immortal at Great Perfection—able to achieve the astounding feat of completely refining all the restrictions of a Top-Grade Innate Spiritual Treasure!

Sensing his current cultivation base, Xuanjian paused in surprise. Then, the corners of his mouth curled into a slight smile as he muttered, “To think that while refining the Treasure-Gathering Gold Basin, observing its origin essence would advance my Law of the Great Dao of Commerce, allowing me to break through to Taiyi Great Perfection.”

While refining the Treasure-Gathering Gold Basin, Xuanjian had observed its origin essence and benefited immensely.

His mastery over the Great Dao of Commerce had made substantial progress.

At this moment, Xuanjian's comprehension of the Law of the Great Dao of Commerce had reached forty-nine percent!

Once it crossed fifty percent, Xuanjian could use the Law of the Great Dao of Commerce to attain the realm of Daluo Golden Immortal.

In the world of Honghuang, there were only five paths to Dao attainment that Xuanjian knew of.

First: The Path of Severing the Three Corpses. This was a shortcut path created by Dao Ancestor Hongjun, who had simplified the path to Hunyuan through an ingenious, unconventional method.

Second: The Path of Merit. By combining boundless merit with the foundation of Sainthood—the Primordial Purple Qi—one could become a Saint of Merit.

Third: The Path of Proving the Dao through Strength. This was the exclusive domain of Great God Pangu, and so far, no successful imitator had ever emerged.

Fourth: The Path of Hunyuan, also known as the Path of Laws. True to its name, it involved delving deeply into laws; once one's mastery over a law reached a certain threshold, one could attain the realm of Hunyuan Daluo Golden Immortal, also known as a Hunyuan Saint.

To break through from Profound Immortal Great Perfection to Golden Immortal, one needed to comprehend a law.

Ten percent law mastery meant attaining Immortal Golden Immortal.

Forty percent law mastery meant attaining Taiyi Golden Immortal.

Fifty percent law mastery meant attaining Daluo Golden Immortal.

Sixty percent law mastery meant attaining Hunyuan Golden Immortal.

Seventy percent law mastery meant attaining Hunyuan Daluo Golden Immortal.

And so on.

However, this path was no longer viable in the present era.

During the Ferocious Beast Tribulation, the Heavenly Dao was obscured, the Earthly Dao and Humanity Dao had yet to emerge, and the Great Dao directly governed Honghuang. Back then, the Three Thousand Laws of the Great Dao were like the galaxy in the night sky—seemingly distant, yet clearly visible.

Anyone seeking to attain Hunyuan through laws could observe the Three Thousand Laws of the Great Dao and comprehend the Dao from them.

However, after the Ferocious Beast Tribulation, the Heavenly Dao of Honghuang gradually perfected itself, and the Great Dao partially receded into the background.

After the Dragon-Han Tribulation, the Heavenly Dao took full operational control of Honghuang, and the Great Dao completely went into seclusion.

With the Dao in seclusion, the Three Thousand Laws of the Great Dao were no longer manifest.

This drastically increased the difficulty of attaining Hunyuan through laws.

By the Wu-Demon Tribulation, those cultivating laws could at most reach Hunyuan Golden Immortal Great Perfection.

Sixty percent and seventy percent law mastery formed an insurmountable watershed.

The Heavenly Scourge standing between them was far too immense.

Attempting to cross it was as difficult as ascending to the heavens.

Fifth: The Path of Physical Body Proving.

Indeed, attaining Hunyuan through the physical body was also considered a path to Sainthood.

However, this path to Sainthood had a fatal flaw.

Even if the physical body reached Hunyuan, the Primordial Spirit and law mastery remained stuck below Hunyuan. Such an incomplete Hunyuan was naturally at a disadvantage when facing a true, complete Saint.

One had to understand that whether it was a Saint of Honghuang or a Hunyuan Daluo Golden Immortal, once they attained the Dao, it entailed a triple metamorphosis of physical body, Primordial Spirit, and law mastery.

The Physical Body Proving Method involved only the metamorphosis of the physical body.

Compared to a true, complete Saint, the gap was blatantly visible.

Proving the Dao through strength was one thing.

Attaining a Hunyuan physical body was another.

The two were entirely different concepts.

They could not be conflated.

Still, no matter how flawed it was, it was still a path to Dao attainment.

Its difficulty was self-evident.

In the future, the Twelve Ancestral Witches would remain trapped below a Hunyuan physical body until their very deaths.

Unable to take a single step further.

“I am already very close to the Daluo Golden Immortal realm.”

Drawing the Treasure-Gathering Gold Basin back into his Primordial Spirit, Xuanjian mused inwardly, Judging from the outcome of refining the Treasure-Gathering Gold Basin, as long as I refine the Money-Shaking Gold Tree as well, my Law of the Great Dao of Commerce will surely break through to fifty percent!

Xuanjian had a strong premonition!

As long as he refined the Money-Shaking Gold Tree, he would definitely attain the realm of Daluo Golden Immortal!

“However, my physical body cannot fall behind either.”

“Since I've already obtained the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art, how could I not cultivate it?”

With this thought, a plan formed in Xuanjian's mind.

First, cultivate his physical body to match the realm of his Primordial Spirit!

Then set off to locate the final treasure of the Three Treasures of Commerce—the Money-Shaking Gold Tree!

With Daluo within reach...

It was time for Xuanjian to consider which path to Dao attainment he should pursue in the future.

Regarding this, Xuanjian pondered for only two and a half breaths before coming up with the answer!

Laws + Physical Body!

The Great Dao of Commerce was his foundation.

Yet he also desired the Great Dao of Strength!

He just didn't know whether he would have the chance to comprehend the Law of the Great Dao of Strength later on.

Shaking his head...

Xuanjian pulled out a mountain of natural treasures and heavenly materials!

Some of these he had collected himself, while others were gifts from the Ancestral Witches earlier.

Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art... activate!