Shi Feiyang led everyone and easily crossed the first barrier, traveling another three hundred li to reach the second layer.

Here, it was said to be the Aurora Fire, but actually, there were no visible flames, just a dazzling wall of light, enormously long and neatly cut, standing thousands of feet tall, with no ends in sight on either side. The lower half of the wall shone like the Sun, mere brightness, while the upper half reflected a spectrum of colors that were even more beautiful than a rainbow. In it were many shadows of mountains, figures, flora, sea monsters, and more, moving and hunting—inverted, with their heads down and feet up.

Everyone marveled in amazement, and Shi Feiyang said, "This is a scene from within the Outer Heaven Divine Mountain, formed by the refraction of celestial light here. Do not be distracted, follow me through."

This time, he took out the Cave Spirit Zither, offered it into the air, and plucked the strings with a thought in his left hand.

Soon, constellations shifted on the zither, thunder boomed and lightning flashed, entering the Earth Sound Realm. The barrier wall of Taihuo Aurora Fire also fluctuated and began to jump vigorously, the extent of fluctuations growing increasingly until it twisted and deformed, creating a large hole tens of zhang in diameter.

Shi Feiyang led everyone through the Aurora Fire to the third barrier, an invisible layer of Mixed Essence Spirit Qi. Although invisible, the interaction above between the True Sun Fire and Earth's Magnetic True Qi caused colorful auroras, constantly morphing into bizarre patterns. This layer was the most dangerous, where unforeseen collisions would instantly reduce one to ashes, utterly destroying both body and soul!

This time, Shi Feiyang stirred his True Qi, exhaling two inner cores that spun around each other, forming a cluster of starry chaos. These resonated with the Mixed Essence Spirit Qi, naturally creating two semicircular caverns to the sides, through which he led his disciples.

Everyone was stunned by the wonders they witnessed, except Deng Bagu… Her meticulous observation let her discover: Master actually cultivated two inner cores? Are those inner cores? The inner core of a cultivator is just a cluster of unscattered True Qi, not a true physical inner core; only peculiar beings cultivate a Lifebound Primordial Pill like that…

After overcoming three barriers, unaffected by magnetic fields inside, Shi Feiyang returned their Flying Sword Magical Treasures to them, "In the future, you must cultivate a Magical Treasure specialized to break through the aurora and magnetic forces; otherwise, entry and exit are too laborious."

Inside the Outer Heaven Divine Mountain, in all directions—east, west, north, and south—it spanned more than ten thousand li, even larger than the Pacific Ocean on Earth.

At the center was a sea, its waters crystal clear, and lacking the fishy smell of the outer seas. Instead, as the sunshine and waves surged, it emitted waves of fragrance, for many exotic flowers of Heaven grew on the sea floor. Bathed in constant light, not only did they perfume all the waters, but the scent also wafted throughout the realm. The sea sands were crystal clear, any handful could be used to make Magical Treasure, with various pearls and gemstones scattered everywhere.

The surrounding mountains were crystal-clear crystal ridges and jade mountains, with wonderful trees, unique flowers, celestial springs, waterfalls, and bizarre rocks creating an endlessly beautiful scenery.

The cliffs to the north and south were thinner, with Mixed Essence Spirit Qi right outside, while each of the east and west sides faced each other across the sea. The city to the east was the city that never sleeps, and to the west was the Bright Realm.

Everyone looked around, their spirits uplifted. Lin Han and Shi Sheng were so excited that they asked, "Master, are we really going to establish an Immortal Mansion here?"

"No," Shi Feiyang drew with a Jade Ruler. "The entire Outer Heaven Divine Mountain will be our realm!"

The situation here was better than he had anticipated. Gazing at the undulating sea waves below, his heart broadened: This was where a dragon ought to be, places like Dinghu Peak and Purple Cloud Palace were mere bathtubs and mouse holes in comparison, not nearly enough for spreading one's wings.

The Dao of the Three Emperors was different from the Dao of the Three Pure Ones, the latter emphasizing a hermit-like cultivation apart from the world, consequently attracting all kinds of gods and ghosts, drawing talismans to summon gods, practicing divine Dao, and borrowing divine power... Initially, Dao was the family learning of Huaxia, and Daoist Skill was meant to govern the nation, a grand academic endeavor. Later generations turned it into a kind of spirit-medium performance, where approaching the emperor was seen as the Demon Path disrupting the nation, either drawing talismans and worshiping gods with the emperor or making him take alchemical elixirs as medicine. In contrast, Confucianism, which originally practiced mediumship, adopted some aspects of the great Dao and took up the art of governing.

The "Book of Poetry," "Book of Documents," "Ritual Records," "Music Scripture," "The Book of Changes," "Spring and Autumn Annals" were educational materials passed down during the national dynasty even before Confucius, later turning into the holy scripture of Confucianism.

Even in the ways of the Heavenly Master Dao and the Great Peace Dao, one would still need to pay homage to various gods and respect many ghosts, making oneself a Heavenly Master to assist the Human King.

However, the Dao of the Three Emperors was different, where the Human King is the Saint, united as one! I am the god, the king among gods, naturally strong and endlessly self-improving, capable of $virtue that carries all things. Why should I rely on other ghosts and gods? I command the great Dao and oversee the world,—which ghost or god would dare stir up trouble before me? All demons, beasts, evil spirits, and monsters that dare not respect the royal command are to be killed without exception!

Speaking of good deeds, the Dao of the Three Pure Ones emphasizes doing good to help people, either dispensing medicine to heal diseases, helping the weak against the strong, performing acts of chivalry, or accumulating hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of good deeds, and establishing a school often requires amassing a hundred thousand good deeds.

It's somewhat laughable; the origin of chivalry is Mozi, and the great success of righteousness is Mengzi; these two were quite at odds, with Mengzi criticizing Mozi's "fatherless" thought as that of a beast...

In the view of the Dao of the Three Emperors, these are all minor good acts, not worth even a tiny bit!

Like the Three Emperors and Five Emperors braving thorns and slashing thistles, leading the subjects of the world to establish life and order within the vast wilderness of Primordial Times, the accumulation of their good deeds exceeds countless millions! In terms of passing down the great Dao, benefiting generations for thousands of years, their merit is immeasurable!

Cultivating oneself and governing the nation, the body and the nation are one, governing the nation is cultivating oneself, and cultivating oneself is also governing the nation. The path Shi Feiyang wanted to embark upon was that of establishing the nation and becoming a saint just like the Three Emperors and Five Emperors—wildly different from the mainstream Dao of the Three Pure Ones over the last two thousand years. In fact, the Dao of the Three Emperors is the orthodox tradition of Huaxia, only that during the later years of East Zhou, through several calamities, the transmission of the Dao was severed, splitting into various schools. Though schools like Confucianism, Mohism, Legalism, Agrarianism, Military, Medical, Yin Yang, Five Elements... all these hundreds of schools each had aspects of the Dao, none had it in its entirety.

The purpose of seeking enlightenment is not to rigidly adhere to ancient ways or to govern today's matters with today's Dao, to understand the origins of the old to better govern today's matters is the Dao discipline! Later it was twisted into adhering to the old Dao to handle today's issues.

One of the fundamental thoughts in Huaxian civilization is the 'thought of tracing back to the origins'. To grow a big tree well, one must first nourish its roots. Chinese people have always placed great importance on roots, foundations, and origins. Treating water begins with its source, nurturing the body starts with nourishing the internal organs, filial culture, respecting the elderly, worshipping ancestors, learning from history, etc., the underlying logic is also the "thought of tracing back to the origins". Knowing the past better equips us to grasp the future.

Regrettably, in later generations, people no longer knew even where the Spring Festival came from, inventing the mythical beast Nian, forgetting the origins of the twelve zodiac animals, fabricating many seemingly beautiful fairy tales, puzzled why there was a dragon, treating "The Book of Changes" as if the ancients were foolish in their reproductive worship, and Yin Yang, Five Elements, Eight Diagrams all became symbols for fortune-telling, scamming money, and fostering cults...

Shi Feiyang intended to establish a Demon Kingdom on this Outer Heaven Divine Mountain, becoming a Sect Ancestor who would pass down the Dao for ten thousand generations!

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