In the Purple Heaven Palace, the rhyme of the Great Dao permeated the bodies of the three thousand Daoists, each experiencing it differently.
After this Dao, the Purple Heaven Palace resounded with the rhyme of Dao for three thousand years, the Dao Ancestor preaching for three thousand years.
In the Dao Ancestor's eyes, above the Purple Heaven Palace, the three thousand Great Daos shone, merging into the Heavenly Dao, collectively forming one Dao.
After three thousand years, the Dao Ancestor stopped, returning to silence.
One by one, the Daoists slowly awoke, their minds withdrawing from the Great Dao.
Qing Xuan also emerged from a nascent universe, looking towards the Dao Ancestor.
When the last cultivator emerged from the rhyme of Dao, Hongjun suddenly spoke.
"Although I hold the Heavenly Dao, I cannot accept disciples. However, mindful that the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth is incomplete, I shall pass down the Six Great Dao Meridians, serving as both teachers and friends!"
Upon hearing this, the Daoists below felt a surge of anticipation.
Qing Xuan, however, realized that if Hongjun accepted disciples, it would be equivalent to the Heavenly Dao accepting disciples. The weight and authority of a Heavenly Dao disciple would be immense.
Therefore, Hongjun could not accept disciples. He could do so before becoming a Saint, but never after. He would have to relinquish his control of the Heavenly Dao!
Amidst the hopeful gazes of the great beings in the Purple Heaven Palace, Hongjun calmly stated, "Lao Tzu, Yuanshi, Tongtian, Nuwa, Jieyin, Zhun Ti.
Do you six wish to inherit the Six Great Dao Meridians?"
The Three Pure Ones were naturally willing. They immediately rose and bowed respectfully, saying, "We are willing to obey our teacher's command."
Nuwa pondered for a moment, then also rose and bowed, "Nuwa is willing to obey the Dao Ancestor's decree!"
Zhunti and Jieyin bowed deeply, "Zhunti (Jieyin) is willing to obey the Dao Ancestor's decree!"
The assembled great beings looked on with immense envy.
Those with keen observation also noticed that these six were all positioned in the front row.
Hongjun nodded and continued, "Although I have preached for three thousand years, I can only impart knowledge of three paths to enlightenment. These three paths are all methods for achieving the Saintly position.
One is to prove the Dao through power, the second is to prove the Dao by severing the three corpses, and the third is to prove the Dao through merit!
You may choose one path each and tread it with purpose!"
The Daoists below were greatly shaken. Lao Tzu asked, "Are these three paths of differing superiority?"
"Proving the Dao through power is the highest, followed by severing the three corpses, and then proving the Dao through merit."
Yuanshi then asked, "How can these three paths be proven?"
Hongjun replied, "To prove through power, one must shatter heaven and earth. To prove through the three corpses, one must unite the self through good and evil to attain the Saintly position. Those with immeasurable merit can establish the Saintly position."
...
The Dao Ancestor then elaborated on the detailed methods for each of the three paths.
After the Dao Ancestor finished speaking, everyone's hearts were clear.
"Pangu proved the Dao through power. I will prove the Dao by severing the three corpses. The path of merit has not yet been trodden by anyone."
Qing Xuan was startled. The path of merit, untrodden by anyone. Then Nuwa would be the first person on the path of merit!
Before him, Kunpeng asked, "Then what Dao do these three paths prove?"
"The Saintly fruit of the Heavenly Dao!"
"And Pangu?"
"Pangu sought to prove the Primordial Dao!"
Kunpeng fell silent upon hearing this.
Nuwa then asked, "May I ask the Dao Ancestor, what is the difference in hierarchy between a Saint and a Hunyuan?"
As soon as this question was posed, all the Daoists looked towards Hongjun.
"A Saint, under the Primordial World's Heavenly Dao, is three parts stronger than a Hunyuan.
Outside the Heavenly Dao, they are three parts weaker than a Hunyuan."
Zhunti then asked, "Saints are immortal, Hunyuans are immortal, what is the difference?"
"Saints coexist with the Heavenly Dao. As long as the Heavenly Dao is immortal, Saints are immortal, indestructible, and cannot perish.
While a Hunyuan Daluo Golden Immortal is called immortal, the Heavenly Dao and the Primordial Dao can threaten them. However, as long as the Great Dao is immortal, Hunyuans are immortal. Even if the Heavenly Dao perishes, Hunyuans will remain immortal."
Everyone fell into deep thought upon hearing this.
Qing Xuan, sitting towards the back of his mat, saw this opening and quickly asked, "Then, whether Hunyuan or Saint, are there only these three paths?"
Hongjun cast him a meaningful glance but still replied, "To prove oneself as a Saint, there are only these three paths.
To prove oneself as a Hunyuan, currently, there are only these three paths."
The others wished to ask more, but Hongjun waved his hand, "Since the Six Great Dao Meridians have been passed down, they shall have the protection of the Heavenly Dao!
Lao Tzu, I gift you this Taiji Diagram. It can stabilize the elements, heaven, earth, wind, and water, and the profound yellow of heaven and earth!"
Lao Tzu stepped forward, accepting a Dao diagram and storing it in his sleeve.
"Yuanshi, I gift you this Pangu Axe. It can divide heaven and earth, and open the elements, heaven, earth, wind, and water!"
Yuanshi stepped forward and accepted the Pangu Axe.
"Tongtian, I gift you these Four Immortal Slaying Swords. If you achieve Sainthood, only four Saints can break them!"
Tongtian's heart rejoiced, and he stepped forward to accept the four swords.
"Nuwa, I gift you this Mountain and River Chart. It can contain three thousand worlds and give birth to the immeasurable heaven and earth!"
As Nuwa was about to step forward to receive it, she suddenly heard the Dao Ancestor say, "I gift you this Qiankun Cauldron. It can transform all acquired things into innate. Although there is a cost, it is a Primordial Treasure. I hope you will have the welfare of heaven and earth in your heart and not disgrace it."
The assembled great beings, whose envy towards the Three Pure Ones had just subsided, now all turned their gaze to Nuwa, filled with astonishment. To revert acquired to innate, how heaven-defying!
Nuwa's body stiffened slightly, "Dao Ancestor, this treasure is too great, Nuwa cannot bear such a weight."
The Dao Ancestor extended a finger, and the two treasures had already fallen into her body. "If you cannot bear it now, you will in the future!"
Nuwa sighed and returned to her seat.
Hongjun then said, "Zhun Ti, I gift you the Twelve-Grade Golden Lotus. It can suppress boundless fortune, making you immune to all methods and difficult to harm with any treasure!
I bestow upon you the Six Roots of Purity Bamboo. It can purify all ten directions of filth and uphold one's original heart for eternity."
Zhunti, though receiving treasures far inferior to the previous four, still smiled as he accepted the spiritual treasures.
"Jieyin, I gift you the Demon Subduing Pestle. It can extinguish myriad demonic heavens and protect the pure land of three thousand worlds.
I bestow upon you the Twelve-Grade Black Lotus, the demon ancestor's supreme treasure. It can destroy heaven and earth. I hope you will use it wisely!"
Jieyin's heart trembled as he stepped forward to accept the two treasures.
After the six received their treasures, Hongjun stopped bestowing them and said, "I will open the Purple Heaven Palace again after ten Yuanhui periods to preach the Great Dao a second time. You may all depart."
The Daoists were all filled with disappointment. It turned out that all the opportunities within the Purple Heaven Palace belonged to those in the front row.
In the Purple Heaven Palace, the three thousand Daoists returned to the Primordial World.
On the vast and wild land, countless beings looked up at the streams of light descending from the sky. They knew not that a new era was about to dawn!
The Dao Ancestor preached, and all the great beings returned to their dojos to comprehend the Great Dao.
This first lecture only imparted the path to higher realms.
Severing the three corpses!
Proving the Dao through power, Pangu had already failed; this path might be untrodden. The path of merit, never before taken, perhaps a dead end.
Only the path of severing the three corpses was feasible!
The Dao Ancestor transmitted the Great Dao of the three corpses: the good, the evil, and the true self, which could be severed from the primordial spirit, this being the highest.
Or severed with innate spiritual treasures, this being the second.
If one lacked innate spiritual treasures, they would sever the corpses with acquired objects, this being the weakest.
After the Purple Heaven sermon ended, the Primordial World fell silent.
On the Jianmu tree, Qing Ling's coalesced Great Dao embryo remained intact. The origin of Pangu's Great Dao flowed in wisps into Qing Ling's innate Dao body, reshaping himself!
All the great beings and Qing Ling remained in seclusion.
Until, on Mount Kunlun, a shocking aura swept across the eight directions, reaching the nine heavens, stabilizing the universe, and drawing in yin and yang. An old Daoist manifested.
Someone had entered the Quasi-Saint realm!
On Penglai Island, the seven Elder Immortals were filled with envy. They harbored no resentment towards the Eastern King.
Without the Eastern King, they would have remained ordinary great beings their entire lives.
Even now, with the Dao Ancestor having imparted the true Great Dao, they knew their limitations.
In the ten thousand years that followed, within the Primordial World, every few hundred or thousand years, astonishing auras would rise, and the power of the Great Dao would grow stronger!
The Quasi-Saint path taught by the Dao Ancestor had become the mainstream in the Primordial World, with almost no one paying attention to the thirty-three Dao realms of the Primordial Era.
The Primordial World was in turmoil; the era of peace and tranquility had vanished.
Qing Ling, however, remained indifferent to the external conflicts, unaware of the outside changes.
He alone, within Pangu's Great Dao embryo, perceived the primordial chaos!
In an epoch before the primordial chaos had opened, he saw that person, that flower, that world.
The Thirty-Six-Grade Creation Green Lotus!
In Qing Ling's eyes, what mattered was not that Primordial Treasure, but the origin of wood contained within the lotus.
He had comprehended the deepest secrets of the primordial chaos!
Earth, wind, water, fire, wood: the Primordial Chaos had five manifestations and five limits.
Earth was soil, wind was metal, water was water, and fire was fire.
The manifestation of wood solidified, the confluence of all wood manifestations in the Primordial Chaos, condensing into the Creation Green Lotus.
With the five manifestations in disarray, the static balance of the Primordial Chaos was broken, and the four manifestations became violent, turning into earth, wind, water, and fire.
The Green Lotus nurtured creation, giving birth to Pangu.
The Primordial Great Dao gave rise to gods and demons who roamed the Primordial Chaos.
Pangu split the heavens, the gods and demons perished, and the Primordial World emerged.
Now, the three thousand Great Daos, the wood Dao, converged, falling upon Qing Ling.
A strand of Pangu's remnant hair had bestowed upon him boundless origin!
Qing Ling became a lotus, a chaotic lotus blooming to thirty-six grades.
Earth became solid, water gave rise to emptiness, fire became illusion, and wind was boundless.
Four-colored lotuses spread from the Green Lotus, and finally merged back into one, the Green Lotus remaining as it was.