The foundational thoughts of the Daoist sect were laid down by numerous Taoist classics, spreading the teachings among all beings and enlightening countless lives.
Beneath one sect were several branches, and within each branch, hundreds of disciples had achieved enlightenment. These enlightened individuals, in turn, founded their own sub-factions, further diversifying into innumerable large and small Daoist lineages, thereby encompassing billions of beings.
Although the Western Pure Land was somewhat vaster than the other three directions of the Primordial World, its total population of sentient beings was less than a tenth of any single direction's!
This was the result even after the Human race had migrated westward and rapidly multiplied into hundreds of millions.
While hundreds of millions of humans seemed like a large number, given the terrifyingly barren natural environment of the Western lands, it would normally be difficult to sustain tens of billions of beings, including humans.
However, the Primordial World was vast. Even if the West was barren, with no signs of life for tens of thousands of miles, there would still be areas where sentient beings could survive within a million miles.
The Eastern Wasteland alone spanned over a hundred billion miles, and the Eastern Wasteland's area was only one ten-thousandth of the Eastern continent.
Although the North and South were slightly smaller than the East, they still possessed nearly seventy to eighty percent of the Eastern continent's size. The Western continent was even larger than the East by half.
Besides the landmass, there were even more expansive oceans. The four cardinal seas were tens of times broader than the Primordial World's landmass, dotted with countless islands, some no larger than a few miles, others as vast as continents. In such a boundless Primordial World, billions of beings in the Western lands were truly like a single drop in the ocean.
Zhunti's bare feet had traversed the Western lands. Even the best shoes could not withstand the ravages of trillions of miles of travel, so he wore none.
He could not, unlike the Sages of the East, simply preach in places where people gathered. Zhunti had to walk step by step. Perhaps at any given step, there might be a tiny insect with a heart yearning for the Dao, and Zhunti would not miss it.
The sentient beings of the West were too scattered, yet Zhunti never gave up on any of them.
In Zhunti's eyes, the ruthless, desolate, and death-filled deserts were pure lands.
There were no schemes, no massacres. While skirmishes might occur, they were merely for survival, unlike in the East, where lives were disregarded for profit, desire, or pleasure.
Zhunti might stop to preach if he encountered a human with exceptional talent. He might even smile and preach if bitten by a scorpion from the Western desert, a creature that Eastern beings considered "beasts." If he met someone with talent, he would joyfully preach; if he met someone dull-witted, he would still preach.
This Sage would sit in contemplation in the desert for three days and three nights, imparting Buddhist scriptures to a scorpion. He would teach principles to a resilient poplar tree. If faced with wind and sand, he would use his coarse robe to shield a sapling, getting his sacred appearance covered in dust.
Regardless of the circumstances, he always wore a smile, so much so that no one knew his hardships, his sorrows, or his grief.
In the eyes of all sentient beings, he always wore a smile, carrying hope and kindness.
Jieyin, seated atop Mount Sumeru, continuously lectured Buddhist disciples day and night, year after year. If they grew tired of listening, he would close his eyes and sleep, then resume listening when he awoke, sleeping again when tired.
Even in his dreams, this Sage engaged in his Great Dream Buddhist Zen, his preaching never ceasing.
The number of sentient beings listening to his lectures on Mount Sumeru gradually grew from a few to dozens, hundreds, thousands, and eventually tens of thousands.
The lectures on Mount Sumeru continued unabated. Those who achieved great enlightenment in Buddhism would then venture out of the mountain, emulating the Buddha Mother Zhunti to deliver sentient beings. For generation after generation, their ancestors and descendants lived in the edification of Buddhist law. The thoughts, words, and deeds of the Western beings were all influenced by the two Sages of the West.
The West was impoverished and barren, hence the need for strenuous effort and diligence.
The East was populous and diverse, with an abundance of species, requiring self-restraint, adherence to propriety, and cultivation of the mind to understand the Dao.
With the propagation of Buddhist and Taoist teachings, the Primordial World was thus divided into two: the West was the West, and the East, South, and North were the East.
The West represented barbarity, backwardness, and poverty, requiring the joy of all beings and great love for all sentient beings.
The East represented prosperity, advancement, and abundance, requiring inner self-awareness, the pursuit of one's own Great Dao, and self-cultivation.
The opposition between East and West, formed in a mere few Yuanhui, was an inevitable manifestation of their opposition.
However, the West lagged behind the East in terms of progress; the East was the pioneer, and the West was the follower.
It was inevitable that the Eastern beings would discriminate against the Western beings. This was due to the poverty of most Western beings, which limited their horizons, making them inherently backward and ignorant compared to the Eastern beings.
Yet, many Western beings still journeyed East to seek the Dao, marveling at the prosperity and flourishing of the Eastern world and lamenting the backwardness and wildness of the West.
Even the Witch tribe, a savage race, was far superior to the Western beings.
The Western beings felt dejected, but most still persisted in revitalizing the West. A small minority remained in the East, abandoning Buddhism for Daoism.
Among the Eastern Daoist sects, the Human sect held the highest status but was the most non-intervening, with most of its disciples living in seclusion. Its teachings were primarily focused on enlightenment, and its influence was not overt.
The Chan sect adhered to the will of heaven, its Dao lineage was noble, upholding heaven's mandate and acting on its behalf. Its influence was immense, and the sects under the Chan sect all followed an elite path passed down through generations.
The Jie sect defied the will of heaven, its Dao lineage most popular, proclaiming, "My fate is determined by me, not by heaven." This attracted countless self-proclaimed extraordinary individuals from all over the land to become its disciples, making its influence the most widespread.
However, those truly accepted into the Jie sect were not the self-proclaimed extraordinary, but those who wholeheartedly sought the Dao.
After the establishment of the three sects by the Sanqing, they parted ways.
Although Kunlun Mountain was vast, it could not accommodate the main lineages of the three sects. Furthermore, their doctrines conflicted, making it impossible to consider the Sanqing as one entity.
The Sect Leader Tongtian accepted the most disciples and successors. His four chief disciples, the Seven Attendants, the Twelve True Disciples, the Nine Outer Disciples, and the thirteen registered disciples who traveled the world were the most famous. The remaining were ordinary disciples of the Sect Leader. In total, Tongtian had accepted over a thousand second-generation disciples.
The first-generation disciples were naturally the Sanqing themselves.
The second-generation disciples, in turn, took disciples and passed on the Dao, leading to third-generation disciples.
As for the sects and temples that revered the Jie sect as the paramount sect, they were countless, appearing everywhere in the Eastern world. The Jie sect was the foremost sect in the Eastern world!
Yet, despite the immense influence of the three sects, their combined power could not even match a single fist of the Wu and Yao tribes.
It was like the difference between a toddler and a giant.
Moreover, as the disciples of the three sects propagated the Dao, they inevitably clashed with the Wu and Yao tribes. Over time, the accumulated disputes grew, and the conflicts between the Wu and Yao tribes were inadvertently mitigated. Instead, the conflicts between the Wu and Yao tribes and the three sects intensified.
In their helplessness, the three Sages restrained their disciples, and the Wu and Yao tribes also ordered their clansmen to yield to the three sects.
As a result, a peculiar balance and relaxation formed among the various powers.
After three Yuanhui, Qing Ling, who had been waiting in the region for a long time, finally heard the voice he had been anticipating.
A voice resounded throughout heaven and earth, awakening countless powerful beings. This voice was none other than Hong Yun's, whom they had searched the world for in vain.
Hong Yun! The Primordial Violet Qi! Countless cultivators trembled with excitement.
"Hear ye, Heaven, Earth, Xuan, and Huang, the Universe and the Primordial World:
Now I, Hong Yun, wish to merge myself into the Earthly Dao, to become the God of Rewards and Punishments for the Earthly Dao.
The Heavenly Dao has its merits, and the Earthly Dao should have its Yin virtues.
All sentient beings in heaven and earth possess Yin virtues. If they perform acts of Yin goodness, they will gain Yin virtue. It will not be apparent during life, but after death, they can enjoy the protection of the Earthly Dao, their souls returning to the underworld. Those with profound Yin virtue may even attain divine positions in the underworld and enjoy longevity in the afterlife!
Those with deficient Yin virtue will suffer the torment of soul-devouring and spirit-crushing in the Three Paths River of the underworld, their lives difficult to secure and their transgressions unforgivable!
May Yin virtue inspire all sentient beings to act, to perform good deeds and accumulate virtue, thereby increasing their Yin virtue, enjoying longevity in the afterlife, attaining divine封神, and reopening the path to the Great Dao!
I, transforming my two corpses into Gods of Yin Virtue, shall reward and punish all beings, wield Yin virtue, and uphold justice. The Earthly Dao is impartial!"
As the voice faded, countless spiritual clouds arose in the sky, and red flames ignited from the earth. The clouds were thick but did not obscure the sun, and the flames burned without scorching the body. These were the ethereal clouds and fires of the netherworld, auspicious signs of Yin virtue rewards.
Qing Ling's primordial spirit bore the imprint of the Earthly Dao, flashing as he projected it onto the Three Lives Stone. A boundless radiance ascended, breaking through the thirty-third heaven and surging into the chaos.
When it returned, it brought with it two Gods of Yin Virtue, one red and one white.
The authority of the Earthly Dao was divided and transferred to the two Gods of Yin Virtue. The Dao of Reincarnation enveloped their bodies, traversing the realms of reality and illusion, making it impossible for even Quasi-Saint powerful beings to discern.
Hong Yun had henceforth severed his two corpses and received the commendation of the Great Heavenly Dao's merits. Even the Heavenly Dao symbolically bestowed a sliver of merit, acknowledging Hong Yun's contribution to the completion of heaven and earth.
The Six Sages remained silent, no one spoke.
Just as Qing Ling had said, this matter was the completion of heaven and earth. Even if it took a shred of their destiny, they could not overtly object. To do so would be to obstruct the progress of heaven and earth, which, at its smallest, was a dispute over destiny and interests, and at its most serious, was to be an enemy of heaven and earth.
The Earthly Dao, for the first time as one of the Three Daos—Heaven, Earth, and Human—made its presence known to all sentient beings. The grand momentum of the Earthly Dao was about to begin!
The Earthly Dao, which Qing Ling had meticulously planned for countless ages, was finally about to enter an era officially presented to heaven and earth.
The era of the three Daos—Heaven, Earth, and Human—standing together was fast approaching!
Zhen Yuanzi watched this scene with both emotion and joy. His warm-hearted close friend had finally achieved this day. The talk of a Saint position in the future was no longer mere conjecture.
Beneath Mount Buzhou, Houtu remained silent for a long time. As she watched the Earthly Dao gradually perfect itself, she sighed in her heart. The Earthly Dao truly needed her, a descendant of Pangu, the Ancestral Witch of Earth, to complete the world that her father, Pangu, had transformed.
However, she had to wait a while longer, wait until she had settled matters with the Witch tribe, severed her karmic ties with them, and could bear to part with her eleven brothers and sisters, and the countless Wu children who regarded her as their mother.
In the Netherworld, Qing Ling looked at the Earthly Dao being perfected once more. He then glanced at Mount Buzhou. "Houtu, how much longer will you delay?"
The calamity of the Wu and Yao tribes was nearing its end. If you did not enter the Earthly Dao soon, what would become of the future of your Witch tribe?
Just as Qing Ling sighed in contemplation, believing the matter to be perfectly concluded, several magnificent Netherworld lights suddenly rose, shooting towards heaven and earth. Laws that seemed like destiny rolled towards the billions of sentient beings in the Primordial World.
From this moment on, beings below the Great Luo Golden Immortal realm all bore an inscription within their primordial spirits and souls. This inscription recorded the good and evil Yin virtues documented by the Gods of Yin Virtue, commemorating the past of each soul and determining its future.
At this moment, powerful beings from all corners of the world took action. Spiritual treasures emerged, and everyone sought to contend for them.