Taoist Master Xuanhuang

Chapter 672 Mainstream and Non-Mainstream
When such news spread, the most anxious were the treasures like the ghost ship.

He was originally on the same side as the three big brothers, but suddenly he became their enemy. The speed of this change was so fast.

It cannot be said that some cultivators are wrong; they are indeed gradually eroding the cultivation world, which is based on the three invincible techniques.

The three fundamental laws are based on the three leaders.

“Brothers, let me explain… no, let me explain. This is absolutely not normal. It’s a scheme by the cultivators to sow discord among us brothers.”

Ghost Ship nervously explained, acting as a mouth double.

The furnace, the millstone, and the Jianmu tree remained silent.

It's obvious they lack wisdom and can't tell the truth from the falsehood.

After some thought, the little wisdom he possessed realized that they were indeed eroding his cultivation. He originally only had three visualization objects, just himself and his two brothers, but now his younger siblings were all establishing subordinate cultivation objects. Wasn't that just taking them from him?
"Boatman, don't get agitated. The three of us need to calm down."

Afterwards, Jianmu let the ghost ship and others leave first, and let the three brothers think it over.

This startled the ghost ship.

Clearly, the attempt to sow discord was successful; the three leaders were overthinking things.

Lady White Bone: [...]

Ghost Ship: "What should we do? I don't know what to do either. These humans are indeed not simple. They actually came up with such a divisive tactic. How can they be compared? Those who can cultivate the three great arts will never learn our arts. We have always been a side sect, belonging to the very few. The three leaders are the mainstream. How can this be compared?"

Qingyunzhou: [...]

Qingyunzhou: "That's right, the three leaders misunderstood. But we can't blame them. After all, the wisdom of the three leaders... well, the sincerity of the three leaders has been deceived. Even if we all joined together, we couldn't compare to any one of the three leaders. The most essential things have always belonged to the three leaders. The mainstream, what is the mainstream? It's the kind that is eternal because of our Lord. Sigh!"

The ghost ship has a bitter pill to swallow.

The older brothers aren't very bright, and neither are the older brothers and sisters on our side; participation is what matters most.

Don't expect them to come up with a solution.

It's all my own fault.

As expected, debts must be repaid. My success is entirely due to the strong support of all my brothers and sisters, and now it's time for me to repay them.

Honestly, it's impossible for the three great treasures to be completely unaffected.

They will definitely receive a share of the profits, but it will be very, very small, and practically negligible to the three elder brothers.

Even if these cultivators don't learn their own methods and instead try to comprehend the visualization diagrams of the three fundamental methods, they still have no future.

It was precisely because the three invincible techniques were not suitable that a new lineage was created, making the best use of everyone's talents and striving to explore more paths.

Just like when the Lord created Dream Cultivation, Spirit Beasts, and Divine Cultivation.

All these unorthodox methods of his, when combined, only amount to the size of a divine cultivator, and he is not even as strong as a divine cultivator.

It's simply that his brothers occupy several major realms, and coupled with their high cultivation levels, they have the ability to stand on equal footing with true cultivators.

Even without the blessings of the major realms and the treasures he possessed, his subordinate cultivators were simply no match for him.

What are the three invincible techniques?

That is the Dharma that even the Lord is practicing; it is the foundation, the unshakable foundation of the cultivation world.

It's like asking who can shake the Lord.

As long as the Lord is still alive, the Three Laws will always be the core of the core, the foundation of the foundation, and are unshakable.

The three leaders are still the Lord's most precious treasures, far superior to his own brothers.

There will always be mainstream and non-mainstream. What seems non-mainstream may sometimes flourish, but mainstream is mainstream and irreplaceable.

The three bosses are really overthinking it.

Furthermore, don't you three consider whose laws the "Four Supers and Eight Majors," and even the "Two Major Departments," were learning from?
The three fundamental laws—with these forces in place, how could they be replaced?
If we look at the longer timeline, after the ascension of heaven and earth ends and the complete Heavenly Dao returns, those who learn the visualization method will inevitably become a minority.

At that time, normal cultivation was sufficient, and there was no need to worry about distortions; that was the mainstream approach.

The Heavenly Dao will replace the balance that suppresses the cultivators' souls, at which point we will all be marginalized, existing only in ancient traditions.

Only a small minority of monks are fortunate enough to learn visualization techniques.

At that time, the current enemies, whether demons or Taoists, will return to one camp, while the other camp will be the Heavenly Dao cultivators.

There's really no need to make a fuss.

"Alright, Sister Meng, summon the Sweeping Monk, and Brother Zhou, call Liu Wenhe. I'm not wise enough on my own; I need their help. You all can go back and wait quietly. Trust me, I'll handle it."

Qingyunzhou, Lady White Bone, Void Blade, and others all agreed.

I didn't understand much to begin with, and solving problems was beyond my comprehension.

You might as well go back and wait patiently. Trust me, I'll handle it.

After all, my younger brother is so smart.

This might be what they mean by "fools have good luck." The group of older brothers and sisters happily went home.

……

"Big brother, third brother, what do you guys think?"

"Don't call me the third brother, call me the second brother."

"Whose second brother are you? Do you even deserve to be called that?"

"I……"

"Alright, stop arguing. You're the eldest brother, the second brother, and I'm the third brother," Lu Zi said in a muffled voice.

"Uh? That's not what I meant, but if you were to..." Jianmu.

"Hmph!" the stove snorted coldly.

Good grief, you really want to usurp the throne? I was just kidding, and you actually believed me.

"No, it's nothing. Let's not discuss that. Let's talk about what to do," Jianmu said.

"Some people may seem innocent, but they're actually full of bad intentions. Brother, do you see that now?" Guixu Damo added fuel to the fire.

"Me? What did I do? I just..." Jianmu tried to argue.

"Alright, stop, stop this topic. Call us whatever you want. It's embarrassing to say, but we three are also quite unruly. It's like the upper beam is crooked, so the lower beam will be crooked too." Lu Zi rarely spoke so much.

“Beams are usually made of wood, eldest brother is talking about you, third brother,” Guixu Damo explained.

"Huh? Big brother, are you talking about me?" Jianmu really believed it.

"That's not what I meant. Can we stop changing the subject? You two are treasures, the Lord's most precious treasures, not the Water King. Can we stop talking about these useless things?" Furnace couldn't help but say.

They were the only ones who talked a lot; I was very quiet and never seemed talkative. "What do we do now? Will this really have a big impact on us?" Lu Zi asked directly.

"I didn't feel anything," Jianmu said.

"I didn't feel it either, but you can't say the rumors are wrong. My younger siblings are indeed sharing the spoils that rightfully belong to us cultivators." - Guixu Great Millstone.

“Why don’t we also establish subordinate cultivators? We won’t have to start from scratch. Those who cultivate the body are all Big Brother’s people, those who cultivate the Qi are all my people, and those who cultivate the spirit are all Stone’s people,” Jianmu said.

"Hmm?" The three brothers fell silent.

Just then, the three brothers fell silent and began to contemplate.

Suddenly!
"What are you three doing, sneaking around like that?"

Suddenly a figure appeared, and Xuanhuang appeared in front of them.

"Greetings, Lord! Long live the Lord!" the three brothers said.

"Are you cursing me? Does my existence also harm the people of you three brothers?" Xuanhuang said.

"Huh?" The three brothers were dumbfounded.

What does Your Majesty mean by this?

"Idiots, three idiots." Such profound words are not appropriate for this place.

You can't understand the implied meaning in a conversation with these three people.

"What are you? Whose treasures are you?" Xuanhuang asked.

"We are the three supreme treasures, the core of cultivation, and your supreme treasures," the three said in unison.

"Since you are my most precious treasure, do you want to come with me? Or do you prefer the colorful world, this wonderful world, and are unwilling to transcend it?" Xuanhuang asked again.

"No, no, no, we want to follow you. Wherever you go, we'll go. We want to transcend, we want to transcend!" the three brothers said in unison.

"If that's the case, then what did your master do? Why did the three avatars take charge of the cultivation world? Why did I gradually stop caring about the mortal world? Why?" Xuanhuang asked.

"You, you...you are preparing for future transcendence, you are seeking emptiness?" the furnace muttered.

As his most precious treasure, Xuanhuang wanted to help his three brothers transcend mortality.

So he spoke a great deal to the four of them, who were of one master and servants.

The only things that Xuanhuang has the ability to transcend with everything are his three natal treasures and those that he rests with.

No other living being, no one, nothing can.

Transcendence is always a solitary pursuit; there's really nothing more that can be achieved than one's most cherished treasure.

Subtraction to emptiness, a level above the seventh rank, was something Xuanhuang had mentioned to the three brothers.

“My lord, we understand. The appearance of our younger brothers and sisters is not only not a bad thing, but also a good thing. It is a good thing that reduces our karma. It would be better if there were no objects of our imagination in this world, so that we can reduce our karma,” Jianmu said.

“When there is no trace of the three of us brothers in this world, it means our karma is gone. Lord, we understand.” - Furnace.

“My lord, you are teaching us to transcend, to have a higher level of thinking. My younger brothers and sisters pursue the path of subordinate cultivators, which is the path we once followed. But we must have a higher pursuit, to follow in your footsteps, just as you transcend the Three Realms and are not within the Five Elements. I understand.” - Guixu Great Millstone.

The three brothers finally understood.

This is not a bad thing, but a good thing.

The main problem was that I had been too narrow-minded before. I knew that I was the master's most precious treasure, yet I tried to compete with a treasure that the master had casually crafted.

That's a huge loss of points.

I want to transcend with the Lord, even though I will be much, much later than the Lord, but the goal is the same.

Therefore, since transcendence is the goal, then reducing emptiness, reducing cause and effect, and reducing unnecessary traces are the highest pursuits.

Of course, this is talking about the future, the very distant future.

But we must start preparing now; those who do not plan for the long term cannot plan for the short term.

"Good, so what are you all whispering about? And I just remembered..."

Xuanhuang suddenly changed his tone and said, "The first thing I condensed was the furnace, so the furnace is the eldest brother. The second thing is wood, so wood is the second brother. Stone, you are the third brother. That's settled. If I hear you fighting over the second brother again, I'll throw you into the toilet and suppress you. Do you understand?"

"Haha, I understand, I understand perfectly, my lord, I, haha..." Jianmu couldn't help but laugh.

His words were filled with satisfaction; finally, the matter was settled, and he was indeed the second brother.

"Don't be smug. A second brother should have the demeanor of a second brother. If you're the second brother but don't have the demeanor of a second brother, then you should be the third brother... The same goes for Stone. Even though you're the third brother, how can the third brother not be better than the eldest and second eldest? If you surpass your two older brothers, even though you're the third brother then, believe me, it will be more enjoyable than being the eldest brother."

There can't be no competition either. They are all subordinates of Xuanhuang. How can there be no competition? Xuanhuang still gave them some intensity.

Jianmu stopped laughing, and even the furnace fell silent.

If that's the case, it's truly shameful; what right does he have to be the boss?

Stone went from feeling down to feeling full of energy, imagining himself to be better than the eldest and second eldest brothers. He thought that if he kept calling the stove and the wood "second brother" to him, the stove and the wood would probably feel terrible.

"In short, go ask Wanling whenever you have free time. He's much smarter than you all. Ghost Ship has some clever tricks, but he still needs to hone his wisdom. Wanling is the smartest among you. There's no harm in learning from the smartest person."

Xuanhuang concluded, "It's good to put some pressure on the ghost ship. Just pretend I was never here. Don't stop me or say anything else. Just stay silent. With your brains, the more you say, the more mistakes you make, and the less you say, the fewer mistakes you make. So it's best not to speak. Silence is golden."

After saying this, Xuanhuang left.

"Respectfully seeing off our lord!" the three brothers said in unison.

After Xuanhuang left, the three brothers took a long time to process their feelings. They didn't rush to argue, and even the important matter of the second and third brothers becoming less important became less important.

“Indeed, I’ve been showing off and putting on airs lately, always trying to give advice to my younger siblings. We’re on the path of half-creation, which isn’t suitable for us. Long-term silence and seclusion are what we should be doing,” Furnace reflected first.

“Brother is right, that’s a bit much. Also, his vision is too short-sighted, and he’s lowered his own level. So what if we lose our visualization objects? Right now, our main priority is to break through to the fourth level. After comprehending 120,000, the feedback from cultivators is no longer useful. The last 9,600 require good fortune,” Jianmu said.

“Yes, eldest and second brothers are right. The best thing for the three of us brothers to do now is to shut down all our wisdom and senses and deeply immerse ourselves in the laws of creation, instead of giving advice to others all the time. The key is that our ideas are not perfect either,” Stone said.

It's quite a novel feeling to call my second brother this for the first time.

The moment the furnace and the Jianmu wood exerted pressure, the third brother's tone when calling out to his elder brothers changed noticeably; this change was a sign of endless pressure.

"Seclusion, seclusion, I won't be able to comprehend it until I've fully grasped 129,600. Let's go!" Furnace decided.

“Yes, do it that way, go into seclusion.” Jianmu.

"Finally, tell the ghost ship, 'We don't care, just do your best.' Don't say anything else, don't put pressure on your younger siblings. As the Lord said, silence is golden." - Stone

"Ok!"

……

(End of this chapter)