After passing through the gate of light, everyone felt the space become chaotic. A powerful spatial force descended upon each cultivator. Even those who had mastered the Great Dao of Space could not resist this force. Over a hundred cultivators at the Return to Void stage vanished from their original positions.
When they reappeared, Zhang Fan found himself in a world filled with ice and snow. A thousand miles of ice, white snow fluttering, and countless runes formed by ice and snow rules created a massive formation that enveloped the entire world.
At the same time, other cultivators encountered the same situation, trapped in different rule worlds. Zi Shan Kunming entered a world filled with fire element power, also enveloped by a formation of fire element rules.
"Break through seven Great Dao rule worlds to witness my Dao."
A vast voice echoed in the minds of every Return to Void stage cultivator. It was then they understood that this endless palace was actually a rule world for each palace. Just how many Great Daos had this Evil Buddha Immortal Venerable comprehended? To what extent had his Dao reached? It was simply unimaginable.
Among the many cultivators, even those at the Dao Origin stage felt profound shock. In the face of such a powerful being, their own cultivated Daos were like a drop in the ocean, utterly insignificant.
Only Zhang Fan appeared relatively calm. He looked up at the rule formation of the ice and snow world and muttered, "This Evil Buddha Immortal Venerable's understanding of Great Daos is quite extensive, but most have only reached the level of Dao's True Intent, not fully mastered the Great Dao."
Breaking through this level of rule formation was like child's play for Zhang Fan, posing no difficulty. However, for other cultivators, it was as difficult as ascending to heaven.
Even if it was only comprehended to the level of Great Dao's True Intent, if it was a Dao they were skilled in, their sufficient high realm and some effort would eventually allow them to comprehend it.
But if they were unlucky and fell into a spatial rule world, a temporal rule world, a dark rule world, or other more profound Great Dao worlds, even comprehending their Great Dao's True Intent would not be an easy task.
"The Great Dao of Ice and Snow?" Zhang Fan extended a finger and gently tapped the void. Countless ice and snow rules were stirred, as if a mechanism had been triggered. The rule formation enveloping the ice and snow world instantly dissipated.
The space shifted again. This time, Zhang Fan appeared in a void world. Here, nothing could be seen by the naked eye. It was even more empty and dead than the dark space. This was a world full of void rules.
In just a few breaths, the void rule formation dissipated, and Zhang Fan was once again teleported to another rule world.
Zhang Fan did not stay in any world for more than three breaths. After consecutively breaking through seven worlds, Zhang Fan appeared in a vast grand hall.
On either side of the hall stood thirteen giant stone pillars, stretching upwards to the sky, their ends unseen. Far ahead, a Buddha statue towered ten thousand feet high. Beneath the statue were steps built from ancient stone.
Zhang Fan walked up the steps. With each step, Great Dao rules emerged. These were the Great Daos comprehended by the Evil Buddha Immortal Venerable. Zhang Fan paid them no heed, stepping one by one until he reached the stone statue of the Evil Buddha Immortal Venerable.
Whoosh!
As Zhang Fan took the final step onto the stone platform, boundless Buddha light and Great Dao rules intertwined. A shadowy figure of a bald man in a black robe emerged from within the Buddha statue.
His skin was like white jade, his face handsome and imposing. His eyes were filled with wise yet sinister divine light, and his black robes further accentuated this sinister aura.
He gazed at Zhang Fan with his divine eyes for a long time before speaking, "I never expected that a remnant soul of mine would remain for a million years, only to meet a person of reincarnation here. The karmic connections of this world are truly wondrous."
Zhang Fan was slightly surprised that the Evil Buddha Immortal Venerable could see through his past and present lives at a glance. He then couldn't help but ask, "Since Immortal Venerable can see through my past life, you must have cultivated the Myriad Buddha Dao among the three main Daos of Buddhism. Is that correct?"
The mainstream Great Daos of the Buddhist path are the Myriad Buddha Dao, the Self-Buddha Dao, and the Universal Buddha Dao.
The Myriad Buddha Dao emphasizes cultivating all worldly dharmas and integrating them into one's own Buddha Dao. This is an extremely difficult path, much like the countless rule worlds in his Evil Buddha's dojo, which were the Daos the Evil Buddha Immortal Venerable had once comprehended.
The Self-Buddha Dao focuses on cultivating oneself, using oneself as the seed to comprehend the purest Buddha Dao.
As for the Universal Buddha Dao, it requires a heart that embraces all under heaven and a Buddha heart that encompasses the universe to achieve anything in this path.
Each of the three mainstream Daos of Buddhism is extremely challenging, and achieving success in this area greatly tests one's Dao heart.
The Evil Buddha Immortal Venerable's ability to see through Zhang Fan's past and present lives at a glance must mean he had comprehended the Great Dao of Karma. The Great Dao of Karma is ethereal and more difficult to comprehend than the Great Daos of Space, Time, and Darkness. The Evil Buddha Immortal Venerable's achievement in this Dao earned even Zhang Fan's admiration.
After all, among the myriad threads of karma in this world, untangling even one is incredibly difficult, let alone comprehending it. Even a powerful being like Zhang Fan had only dabbled in the Great Dao of Karma, achieving little success.
It was Zhang Fan's former follower, Celestial Lord Tian Hua, who had some talent in the Great Dao of Karma. In the Nascent Soul stage, he could use threads of karma to vaguely deduce the future, something Zhang Fan could not do.
"Myriad Buddha Dao?"
Upon hearing Zhang Fan's words, a complex emotion flashed in the Evil Buddha Immortal Venerable's eyes, whether it was recollection or regret.
The Myriad Buddha Dao had earned him the title of Immortal Venerable, but it had also led to his ruin. This made him question before his death whether the Myriad Buddha Dao was a righteous path or an evil one.
"Fellow Daoist, to be able to break through my rule worlds in such a short time, your past life must have delved into no fewer Great Daos than I. Entering my dojo now likely won't be of much help to you." Although Zhang Fan's current cultivation realm was still low, the Evil Buddha Immortal Venerable treated him as an equal.
"No," Zhang Fan shook his head and said, "I originally came here just trying my luck. But since you cultivated the Myriad Buddha Dao, it holds significant reference value for me. Although my past life's realm was higher than yours, in terms of the breadth of Dao comprehension, I am inferior to you."
"A realm higher than mine?" The Evil Buddha Immortal Venerable stared at Zhang Fan and softly asked, "May I know what realm your past life had reached, and how long ago was that?"
"Heavenly Dao Realm," Zhang Fan lightly uttered these three words.
"Grand Ascension Immortal Emperor?" The divine light in the Evil Buddha Immortal Venerable's eyes trembled slightly. His usually calm eyes showed ripples for the first time. He then asked, "Since you reached the Heavenly Dao Realm, why would you enter reincarnation again?"
The Grand Ascension Immortal Emperor was already the pinnacle existence in this myriad domain star system, someone even he had to look up to in his lifetime. Why would such a person easily enter reincarnation?
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