Chapter 688: Dao discussion (Part 1)
Nezha killed Ao Bing and the dragon race drowned Chen Tang.
Taibai Jinxing suppressed the dragons and gained more fame for it.
Half a year had pa.s.sed since the flood on the East Ocean. The Heavenly Courts’ power in the Primordial World had reached a new height. The immortal sects of the Middle Continent had all come to join them. The number of troops that the Heavenly Courts had sent to the trichiliocosm had increased by nearly 60%.
In the trichiliocosm, the Burning Incense Divine Kingdom system that the Western Sect had spent tens of thousands of years building was collapsing.
It seemed that he could get the trichiliocosm to escape the shadow of the Western Sect and return to the Heavenly Courts before the Great G.o.d-Conferment Tribulation was completed.
A complete Heavenly Courts system could be completed in two steps.
As a senior blueprint master of the Heavenly Courts, Taibai Jinxing, Li Changgeng, had suddenly awakened his “working spirit” in the past six months.
He had gone to the Lingxiao Hall to visit the Jade Emperor more than before. Every time he went, he would hand over some memorials that would benefit the Heavenly Courts and perfect the details of the various branches of the Heavenly Courts.
He was concerned about the Immortal G.o.d’s pay raise, holidays, tests, and changes.
He was concerned about the Heavenly Soldiers’ battle formations, armor, compensation, and marriage.
He would also worry about the process of holding the Immortal Peach Banquet at the Jade Pool, the a.s.sessment of the fairies, and the rules of condensing the Deity Positions.
Wait, wait, wait.
The Jade Emperor… had a complicated mood.
Li Changshou’s departure seemed to have entered the countdown. As long as there were a few more battles in the South Continent, the matter of the G.o.d-Conferment would be settled, and it would be time for him to leave.
It was as if someone was chasing him.
In the past half a year, Long Ji had brought a large number of Heavenly Soldiers and Heavenly Generals to the Phoenix Mountain in the north of the South Continent. She had built a Green Phoenix Combat Fault and was secretly guarded by the Heavenly Soldiers and Heavenly Generals.
She was waiting for the opportunity to enter the Great Tribulation and partic.i.p.ate in the entire Great Tribulation in the name of the daughter of the Heavenly Emperor and Changgeng’s disciple.
Li Changshou stopped paying attention to Chaoge City.
There was no point.
It was not that the defeat of the Shang Dynasty had been decided, but that Li Changshou would no longer interfere with the internal affairs of the Shang Dynasty.
Speaking of Di Xin, he had no choice but to mention Daji.
The Human Emperor’s destiny could only protect Di Xin from being harmed by Daji. However, Daji did not harm him. Instead, she enjoyed the life of a consort. The Human Emperor’s destiny became just a decoration.
Next, be it Daji’s slander or Di Xin’s attempt to suppress the old factions, using Daji’s words as an excuse to attack the n.o.bles in Chaoge City, it would cause a huge commotion in the Shang Dynasty.
As for Daji…
At that moment, she seemed to really feel that Di Xin was not bad.
He had completely forgotten about Daoist Priest Qi Yuan back then. All he cared about was his King.
In order to restrict the officials of the court, Di Xin also transferred Su Daji’s father and brother to Chaoge City. He promoted the officials and entrusted them with important tasks. He helped Fei Zhongyou, Fei Lian, and the other officials.
If Li Changshou were to directly control Di Xin’s thoughts, the Shang Dynasty would have an 80% chance of winning.
However, he had no choice. The Heavenly Dao was watching.
Nezha and the dragon race were considered the less important characters of the Heavenly Dao script. They could be changed at any time as long as the outcome was not too different.
However, the change of the human emperors in the South Continent and the battle between the two sects were the core of the Heavenly Dao script. If he reversed it directly, the Dao Ancestor would definitely be anxious.
Under Wen Zhong’s guidance, more and more third and fourth generation disciples of Jie School joined the Shang Army.
The G.o.ddess of Fire Spirit had become a Deputy General of a certain pa.s.s. She was not far from Chaoge City, but she did not have much contact with Wen Zhong. She was quite relaxed every day and could leave at any time.
On the other hand, Chan School was calm and composed. It seemed that they had already obtained the accurate script. They had even stopped investigating the various dukes in the South Continent.
However, Li Changshou keenly sensed that Chan School had begun to secretly promote Ji Chang of Zhou Nation.
Clearly, Second Uncle-Master has deduced something again, or the Heavenly Dao has the intention to give Chan School some information.
The Heavenly Dao is impartial.
On the Little Qiong Peak, Li Changshou sat on the rocking chair and gently fanned the fan in his hand. His gaze was a little lost.
After the Chaos Bell arrived, the chess room became lively again. Xuanya came here more and more frequently.
However, he did not know when Little Aunt-Master and Little Grandmaster would return. He wondered if they could come and stay for a while before he left the Primordial World.
Although he rarely went there, he would not feel too lonely if he could hear some laughter.
Li Changshou admitted that he was not a pretentious person. Before he could completely implement the word survival, he did not dare to ask for any restraints or connections.
However, in the end, everyone would experience loneliness.
The path of cultivation was long.
If he did not have relatives and friends to accompany him, he would indeed feel very lonely.
What would happen if a few or more than ten people survived in the Chaos Sea for a long time? Would his relations.h.i.+p with them be able to withstand the pa.s.sage of time?
These questions that were more philosophical were actually very realistic.
Senior Lang, Senior Lang, you really gave me a difficult problem.
Li Changshou keenly sensed a mysterious Dao rune lingering around him. He felt a little sleepy.
Divine Might Hall? Dream Astrometer?
That’s not right. This seems to be the Great Dao of entering a dream. However, it can affect my Dao heart at that moment. In the Primordial World, only the Heavenly Dao and the five Saints can do that.
Li Changshou closed his eyes and exhaled softly.
His clear Dao heart was completely activated, and all kinds of thoughts were quickly cleared. He confronted the Dao runes. The other party seemed to be helpless and could only retreat.
“Changgeng, it’s me.”
Dao Ancestor.
Li Changshou pondered for a while and sealed his Dao heart. He only left behind a wisp of spiritual will and carefully came into contact with the Dao runes. Then, he was pulled into a dream.
If other Qi Refinement cultivators were pulled into the dream, they would only feel that the dream was like reality. It was extremely compatible with real life and they would not be able to distinguish between reality and dream.
However, under Li Changshou’s control, he seemed to have opened a window in his heart. His essence soul sat in front of the “screen” and looked at the various scenes playing inside.
The immersion was not strong.
It was a bustling town. The sky was filled with colorful light barriers. Outside the light barrier, there was a gray world.
When he first stepped into that place, Li Changshou felt that it was familiar, but he could not remember where he had seen it and when he had been there.
Figures kept flying over from outside the array. Most of them looked like Connate Dao Bodies, but a small number of them maintained their beast forms and spiritual forms. They did not seem to be simple humans, demons, and various types of Spirit Race.
He roughly sensed that the figures’ Dao runes were extremely condensed. Any one of them was an expert.
That reminded Li Changshou of an era. An era in the Primordial World where the Zenith Heaven was everywhere and Golden Immortals were rampant. An era where the Chaos Sea and the Primordial World were abnormally lively.
At the end of the ancient times, the Dragon and Phoenix Tribulation.
At that time, in order to avoid the battle between the dragon, phoenix, and Qilin races, most Connate mighty figures and experts lived on the edge of the Primordial World.
At that time, the Three Pure Ones had already taken Dao Ancestor Hong Jun as their master. The Dao Ancestor had established the Mystic Dao Sect. It was only after the Purple Cloud Palace preached and Dao Integration that the Mystic Dao Sect was changed to the Dao Sect.
When Li Changshou saw the familiar “vortex” in the middle of the town, he naturally confirmed when and where the dream appeared.
At the end of the ancient times, in Xuandu City.
Just as Li Changshou looked around and sighed in his heart, a burly old Daoist priest walked out from the corner of the street not far away and smiled warmly at Li Changshou.
Dao Ancestor, Hong Jun.
Li Changshou lowered his head and bowed. He did not say anything and walked over.
Dao Ancestor Hong Jun nodded with a smile and said to Li Changshou, “Follow me.”
“Yes.” Li Changshou bowed and placed his hands in his sleeves. He lowered his head and followed behind the Dao Ancestor into the alley.
After making many turns, Dao Ancestor Hong Jun pushed open two wooden doors and brought Li Changshou into a courtyard filled with green bamboo.
The small courtyard was very elegantly decorated. It was filled with curved streams and streams that were filled with pebbles. It was decorated with rockery and strange stones. The wind blew in the courtyard, and the bamboo leaves rustled softly, isolating the noise.
Dao Ancestor Hong Jun led Li Changshou to the flowing water. He pointed out two meditation cus.h.i.+ons and a short table and sat down.
“Sit.”
“Thank you, Grandmaster,” Li Changshou replied softly. He lifted the hem of his robe and sat opposite Dao Ancestor Hong Jun.
Dao Ancestor Hong Jun chuckled and said, “What do you think of my dream?”
“The dream that Grandmaster created is quite realistic.” Li Changshou smiled cautiously. “It can almost be fake.”
Hong Jun smiled and said, “Why do I feel that you’re always mocking me?”
Li Changshou was rendered speechless.
“I don’t dare.”
“Don’t dare? What else do you not dare to do?”
Dao Ancestor Hong Jun smiled and sighed. “The Heavenly Dao cannot erase the one that has transformed and left using an escape technique. From now on, we can only leave you be.
You have become a little fellow that I have to address as Fellow Daoist.
You’re really cunning.”
Li Changshou said seriously, “No matter what your goal is, Grandmaster, most of what I have today is because of you. Grandmaster must not have summoned me to convince me to believe him. Please don’t say that. I actually admire you very much.”
Dao Ancestor Hong Jun pondered for a while and said, “In that case, let’s talk openly. Let me ask you. That day in the Purple Cloud Palace, you said that you felt that the Human Emperor was suppressing the last will of the Pangu G.o.d. Is that the truth in your heart?”
“It’s just my guess.”
“In other words, it’s not the truth.” Dao Ancestor Hong Jun smiled and said, “I’m really curious how much you saw through the wisp of Primordial Violet Qi in the Kun Peng’s essence soul.”
Li Changshou looked at the patterns on the short table and said, “I actually didn’t see much. I definitely didn’t see more than the few Saints. However, Grandmaster, it’s indeed a little overboard to interfere with the Human Emperor’s thoughts.”
“You knew that Suiren would collapse if you attacked. Aren’t you going overboard by going to the Fire Cloud Cave to invite the Three Emperors and Five Kings?”
Li Changshou said, “I had no other choice. That was the only reason you took a step back and returned to the game. Instead of saying that I went to invite Senior Suiren, it would be more accurate to say that you had used the node of the Great Tribulation and the advantage of being able to jump out of the rules at any time for that scene. Grandmaster’s schemes can usually achieve several goals in one matter. There were no main or secondary goals. That was what I admired the most. I can’t do that.”
“You are indeed implying me. Hahahaha!”
Dao Ancestor Hong Jun stroked his beard and laughed. He kept shaking his head and sighing.
When the laughter stopped, Hong Jun’s eyes contained some emotions. He said, “You and I are actually not opponents. If I have a choice, you and I don’t have to go against each other. I really want to nurture you by my side. Unfortunately, Changgeng, we are already on two opposing sides. You should have seen his records. I’m considered a good friend of your hometown. However, we had a disagreement back then and went toe-to-toe against each other. You are different from him. To be precise, you are better than him. I’m deeply affected by him. However, I see a different arc of light from you.”
Li Changshou said, “Living beings are different from living beings. Thank you for your praise, Grandmaster.”
Hong Jun continued slowly, “I have indeed let the human race down regarding the matter of the Human Emperor. The Heavenly Emperor position should have been given to Suiren, but in order to facilitate the control of the Heavenly Courts, I gave the Heavenly Emperor position to Hao Tian. The Great G.o.d-Conferment Tribulation was indeed pushed by me. I want to transform Jie School into the help of the Heavenly Courts and the Heavenly Dao. I want to use it to consolidate the order of the Heavenly Courts. Di Xin had been schemed against by me in the previous 99 lifetimes. It was for his personality to grow according to the blueprint that I had drawn.”
Li Changshou asked in confusion, “Why does Grandmaster have to protect this script?”
Dao Ancestor Hong Jun said seriously, “That’s because it’s beneficial to the world. Moreover, it’s the longest path that the Heavenly Dao has deduced. The last time you asked me about my relations.h.i.+p with the Heavenly Dao, you were right. I am the Heavenly Dao. The Heavenly Dao is me. The difference is that there are other wills in the Heavenly Dao. However, my will dominates.”
Li Changshou was rendered speechless.
“Today, I summoned you to the dream to tell you this because I want you to understand that when defining the Heavenly Dao or defining me, there is no need to use the word good or evil. What is good and evil? I want to use the Great G.o.d-Conferment Tribulation to collect the power of living beings and let the experts of living beings be used by the Heavenly Courts. In turn, I want to consolidate the order of the Heavenly Dao. To Jie School, I’m evil. However, to countless mortals, I’m good. What do you think?”
“Grandmaster, you’re wrong.”
“Yes?”
Li Changshou said, “Good and evil are just two words. It can’t directly describe a matter or a person. The logic that you want to say is that different things have different interpretations from different angles. However, no matter what, the act of forcefully exerting the will of the strong on the will of the weak cannot be considered good. Sometimes, defense is just the s.h.i.+eld of some hypocrites. The lowest level of logic has to be divided clearly. Living beings have to maintain their bottom line. Grandmaster, you seem to have lost your bottom line after the Dao Integration.”
Dao Ancestor Hong Jun frowned and said, “Change the topic.”
“I said too much.”
The small courtyard was silent for a long time. Dao Ancestor Hong Jun drank a cup of tea and said, “Changshou, what do you think of the strength of the living beings in the dream?”
“Very strong,” Li Changshou said.
“This is just a microcosm of the ancient times.” Dao Ancestor Hong Jun smiled bitterly and shook his head. “Changgeng, sometimes, I can’t help myself. When I was in the Dao Integration, I thought that I could suppress the Heavenly Dao. However, the will hidden in the Heavenly Dao was too powerful. It a.s.similated me. I can influence the development of the Heavenly Dao in everything except one thing.”
Li Changshou asked softly, “Restrain the will of living beings?”
“That’s right,” Dao Ancestor Hong Jun said. “You don’t understand. Countless living beings in the ancient times developed unrestrainedly. What happened to the Great Dao of Single True Spirit living beings created by the Pangu G.o.d? The living beings crushed the Primordial World. There were countless experts and many who were approaching the limits of living beings, who were quasi-saint experts. If the Pangu G.o.d is still around, he could naturally suppress them. However, in order to help them die, the Pangu G.o.d has made too many experts have the possibility of becoming Saints. Why do you think the three strongest races, the Dragon, Phoenixes, and Qilin, fought?”
Li Changshou shook his head slowly.
“For the sake of spiritual energy,” Dao Ancestor Hong Jun said with a bitter smile. “Too much spiritual energy is stored in the bodies of living beings. The spiritual springs in the world are almost dried up. The Primordial World has lost the protection of spiritual energy, and its body is extremely unstable. The current dragon race is just a small portion of the dragon race back then.”
Li Changshou frowned and said, “However, Grandmaster previously said that the Rahu instigated the battle between the three races and secretly absorbed the power of living beings to prove the Dao.”
“Rahu does exist, but the harm is not to that extent. He is just a catalyst, a pitiful person who claims to be smart.”
Dao Ancestor Hong Jun shook his head and said slowly, “At that time, the strongest experts of the Primordial World were also the living beings closest to the Pangu G.o.d. They were the Ancestral Dragon and the Primordial Phoenix. Rahu gave them the so-called opportunity to become Saints. In the end, the battle between the dragon and phoenix erupted, implicating countless races and fighting several hundreds of years. The ancient, almost endless Primordial World was shattered. At that moment, the Heavenly Dao, which was originally hiding under the Great Dao, awakened its own will. It took advantage of the darkest era and quickly took over the entire Primordial World. The fragments of the ancient Primordial World turned into three thousand worlds were actually the masterpiece of the Heavenly Dao’s will. The Heavenly Dao that you know today is actually the Heavenly Dao that was stimulated by the destruction of the Primordial World. It is the will of the world to protect itself and the last will left behind by the Pangu G.o.d. In your opinion, the Heavenly Dao’s ability to restrain the power of living beings is extremely harmful to living beings. It’s a little too much. However, as long as you experienced that great calamity and experienced the dark years where the power of living beings surged limitlessly, you would naturally understand why the Heavenly Dao insisted on doing so. The Heavenly Dao is indeed impartial. It is the law, nature, and the projection of the will of the world. The only purpose of its existence is not to protect living beings, but to protect this world. Living beings are just a part of the world. Tell me again, is the Heavenly Dao good or evil? Now, do you still want to continue representing living beings and staying in a deadlock with the Heavenly Dao?”
Li Changshou frowned and did not say anything. He said in a low voice, “Grandmaster, did you come to find me today to tell me not to stop the Heavenly Dao from plotting to stop the battle later?”
“Yes.”
“Grandmaster, you only need to give me one instruction. I will follow it.” Li Changshou lowered his head and bowed. “If there’s nothing else, I will leave now.”
After saying that, Li Changshou stood up and walked towards the wooden door of the courtyard.
Hong Jun asked, “Changgeng, why can’t you understand the Heavenly Dao?”
“Grandmaster.” Li Changshou stopped and turned to look at Dao Ancestor Hong Jun slightly. Then, he turned around and looked at the Daoist who was in pain.
“I actually understand the Heavenly Dao. Otherwise, I would not have the current Dao Realm. However, Grandmaster, there are three things that you are confused about. Or perhaps, you deliberately neglected them.”
“Oh? What’s the matter?”
Li Changshou slowly explained,
“Firstly, the Primordial World was created by living beings. The ones who changed the environment of the Chaos Sea are the True Spirits. Secondly, if the Primordial World was compared to the human body, the Heavenly Dao would be compared to the immune system of the human body. Grandmaster, you should understand what the word means. Most of the time, what kills the human body is not a pathogen, but an overreaction of the immune system, such as an inflammation. Thirdly, the Heavenly Dao wanted living beings to be silent and made living beings become sh.e.l.ls of True Spirits that revolved around the world. This situation could be summarized with a word. Purgatory. I understand the Heavenly Dao, but I don’t agree with the Heavenly Dao. Living beings need to be balanced with the world. Every living being has its own unique meaning in the world. However, I also know that I came a little too late. That senior from the same hometown as I, has missed the best opportunity to contain the Heavenly Dao. I only want to save my life now. I don’t want to be a hero. I just want to finish everything. I want to bring the people I care about out of the Primordial World and protect the human race in the Outer World.”
Dao Ancestor Hong Jun let out a long sigh. “Forget it. Let’s go. You could have taken my position.”
Li Changshou was silent. He lowered his head and bowed to Dao Ancestor Hong Jun. He turned around and pushed open the wooden door in front of him.
Li Changshou took a step forward and the thin fog around him slowly dissipated. He closed the small window in his heart.
“The Dao Ancestor can’t be trusted easily.”
Senior Suiren’s words slowly sounded in his heart. Li Changshou sat on the rocking chair and closed his eyes as if he was sleeping. Wisps of mysterious Dao runes spread out from his body.
Alright, that Child Bi Yun is dead meat.