Taoist Master Xuanhuang

“It will take some time to stabilize,” the Lord of All Beings replied.

Then he asked, "Second brother, you must have come here for another reason, right?"

"Yes!" The Lord of Heaven and Earth nodded.

However, he got the answer from his true self: nothing more than stable development, and thinking too much about other things was useless.

"I came to inquire about the Heavenly Realm's development plan. After thinking about it, I realized that further thought is useless. We should develop slowly and there's no rush," said the Lord of Heaven and Earth.

"The Heavenly Realm is both good and bad. It's good because there are no saints, and it's bad because there are no saints. However, my second brother is already the Heavenly Emperor of Destiny. With his fortune and cultivation, he can still suppress the Heavenly Realm... As long as the wishes of the three of us brothers are fulfilled, the three realms will be united, and controlling the Heavenly Realm will be quite easy."

The Lord of All Beings considered all aspects of the Dao.

“Yes, that’s what I think too,” said the Lord of Heaven and Earth.

"By the way, brother, I heard that the resentment in the main world has increased greatly and has begun to infiltrate the sacred realm. Many places have already been infected, but it shouldn't have too much of an impact, right?"

He also pays attention to the problems in the main world, as well as the recent actions of the Evil Suppression Department and the reasons that led to all of this.

“Indeed, because the Blue Star Holy Land is too powerful, it has become the best place to subdue resentment in the eyes of the Heavenly Dao. In fact, the existence of the five holy lands is to subdue resentment. It’s just that we have gone a little further,” said the Lord of All Beings.

After all, he guarded the human realm and thus gained more knowledge from Xuanhuang.

He was fully aware that the resentment had multiplied, and he also knew the reason why.

He sees it as a good thing.

"Perhaps our investiture of gods can be brought forward," said the Lord of All Beings.

"Oh? Those infected saints?" The Lord of Heaven and Earth immediately understood.

“Yes, because of the infection, killing these holy beings will bring a certain amount of merit from heaven and earth. If this news is spread, those cultivators who want to obtain a divine position will definitely work very hard,” said the Lord of All Beings.

"But, after all, they are fourth-order saints. How can cultivators do that?" the Lord of Heaven and Earth asked, puzzled.

"Don't worry, they have a plan. Not to mention the eight superpowers, the four superpowers all have their own backup plans," said the Lord of All Beings.

The Lord of Heaven and Earth truly doesn't understand. Even if he doesn't underestimate true cultivators, they are still fourth-order saints after all.

"Do you remember the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda bestowed upon Taoism by the Venerable One?" the Lord of All Beings reminded him.

“I remember, but the other three families don’t have it!” said the Lord of Heaven and Earth.

“The Holy True Kings are not, strictly speaking, complete True Kings. They are born from birth, not cultivated by themselves. Third Brother, you are a fourth-order True King, so you should understand the difference.”

The Lord of Heaven and Earth naturally understood the difference between them.

Knowing the power of a fourth-tier True King, he didn't believe that even a fourth-tier Saint could achieve such a feat.

“Within the realm, a Saint is a fourth-order True King, but once they leave the realm, the Saint's True King abilities will be greatly reduced. If they are trapped and unable to return to the realm, they can be worn down to death simply by attrition,” said the Lord of All Beings.

"This is a flaw that even the divine cannot solve; otherwise, so many divine beings wouldn't want to switch to the path of true cultivation."

When it comes to understanding the divine, even the Lord of Heaven and Earth, who has long resided in the celestial realm, knows less than the Lord of all beings.

After the Lord of All Beings said that, I understood.

Strictly speaking, a deity cannot generate magic power on its own, nor does it have the dantian (energy center) of a cultivator to store magic power; it simply possesses a fourth-order deity body nurtured by a realm.

There is a significant gap between them and a true fourth-tier True King.

Their battery life is extremely short, or rather, nonexistent. Within their domain, they are true kings, but outside of it, they are nothing more than wingless chickens.

"I understand. This is their biggest flaw, and also the way they control the sacred realms," said the Lord of Heaven and Earth.

"Yes."

The sacred beings born from the origin of the realm are not meant to let them roam freely without any worries, but rather to confine them within the realm, or at most, to the surrounding areas.

The only way to become stronger is to expand their realm. Only when their realm expands can these holy beings become stronger.

They are to maintain what they have, not to expand.

This is a big difference.

If there were no drawbacks in nurturing a deity, why would the deity be so dedicated to developing and expanding its realm? It could simply run away and ignore it.

Only with such powerful control can the divine be recharged periodically by returning to the realm; only in this way can the divine be controlled.

“I even suspect that the restoration of the Sacred Realm is not free or unlimited,” the Lord of All Beings speculated.

"Hmm?" The Lord of Heaven and Earth thought for a moment and said, "That's quite possible. Otherwise, why would the deities of the Civil and Martial Temples have made such a great effort to get rid of them?"

It's possible.

Even if the heavens and earth are unsealed, saints at the fourth-order True King level can go out.

However, there are conditions.

First, they need to return to their realm regularly to recover. If they don't return to their realm for a long time, they will lose their magic power, since they don't have their own dantian and cannot cultivate on their own.

All deities share a single great dantian, which is the origin of the realm.

Secondly, the ability to recharge is not unlimited. It's impossible for a Holy Being to just go out and wander around, then return to recharge without any cost.

"If that's the case, we can really control this crippled saint," said the Lord of Heaven and Earth.

Putting everything else aside, even if I can't kill you, I can at least trap you.

Don't forget to utilize the field formation. If a cultivator's cultivation level is insufficient, they can rely on the formation. If the formation is insufficient, there are various auxiliary methods.

Spiritual talismans, puppets, and other magical artifacts are just some of the many methods cultivators possess. Furthermore, true cultivators are renowned for their resilience and ability to withstand hardship.

Those who learn the three invincible techniques of the Xuanhuang Dao Master have almost no crisis of mana depletion; they all become stronger the more they fight, as the techniques compensate for the unsustainable weakness.

Trapping a deity that needs to recharge and recover, and then waiting until that deity runs out of power, will make things much easier.

"Furthermore, don't imagine that a sacred body is the same as that of a true cultivator. That's impossible. Their magical power has shortcomings, and their physical bodies also have shortcomings, or even shortcomings all over their bodies," the Lord of All Beings commented.

Compared to true cultivation, the holy ones are like this, with shortcomings all over their bodies.

It should be understood that true cultivators are the strongest among their peers and can crush the strange beings, who are much stronger than the holy ones.

This represents a difference between two levels.

"Does Elder Brother intend to spread this news so that they can go and kill the infected saints?" The Lord of Heaven and Earth understood.

“Yes, it’s not just true cultivators; even the saints of those top realms have their own ideas. After all, they have also been allocated a lot of godhood positions, and to become a god, one must have merit,” said the Lord of All Beings.

The previous conferment of gods was not just something that true cultivators were vying for.

The sacredness of the two temples (the Temple of Literature and the Temple of Martial Arts) and the sacredness of the Yellow River and Mount Tai are also being contested.

Don't worry about how they'll implement their plans after they get the seats; they'll definitely find a way. At the very least, they can learn a mind-distraction technique.

If you don't like the Divine Interference Technique, you can ask the Confucian Temple and the Martial Temple for it.

It's just a matter of paying a price. Confucius and Jiang Shang have already received enough and won't cling to the sacred reincarnation law. As long as the two families ask for it, they will definitely give it to them.

This is a sacred internal matter for them, and they will resolve it themselves.

"Yes, and there are also the top-level realms. They will definitely take action, not only to gain merit, but also to establish authority. After all, the corrupted sacred beings and realms are still sacred beings and realms; if one is damaged, the other will be damaged as well. If the corrupted sacred beings do evil, the top-level realms will also be affected."

The Lord of Heaven and Earth said, “Yes, they have reasons to take action. They are currently observing, and, as we previously guessed, they cannot launch a long-distance attack.”

"Ok!"

The two chatted like old friends, talking about many things.

After that, the Lord of Heaven returned to the celestial realm. The human world was nice, but it was not his final destination.

He still needed to develop the Celestial Realm, so after returning to the Celestial Realm, he went to the ancestral land of the human race.

And the other side.

In a restaurant opened by a temple in Nanshi.

In a secret chamber, eleven fourth-tier True Kings from the top realms gathered.

The porters of Mount Tai, the witches of the Yellow River, Zuo Qiuming of the Confucian Temple, Peng Yue of the Martial Temple, the river carriers of the Yangtze River, the lotus immortals of the Huai River, the people of the Ji River... and the other four sacred mountains.

The Liaozhai Realm and the Moon Heart Realm originally wanted to participate, but unfortunately they were not qualified. The Wenwu Temple, the Five Sacred Mountains and the Four Rivers did not want to act with them.

Even the top realms are divided into levels. What status allows someone to sit with us?
Even the sacred beings have their own pride; they only recognize these eleven top-tier realms and not the others.

Even the Kunlun Realm, the Moon Heart, and the Taoist and Buddhist sects are not weak.

Your problem is that you're not weak; our problem is that we don't acknowledge you.

These eleven realms are reliable allies; they are either related to humanity or represent the sacred positions humans attained after being deified.

They are all die-hard human beings.

The eleven of them could sit together.

"If it doesn't work, just tell the truth. Hiding it won't help."

Zuo Qiuming begins by stating his purpose clearly, presenting a picture of lofty righteousness.

The Lord of All Beings was right; they indeed could not wage war from a distance.

“I think so too,” Peng Yue said.

"Hmph!" The remaining nine snorted coldly.

They understood what the Wenwu Temple was trying to do: they were taking advantage of their plans being in place and weren't afraid to expose this weakness.

The nine families are different, and it hasn't even started yet. If the Holy Ones' inability to act from a distance is exposed, what will the True Cultivators think?
Besides, it doesn't matter how you look at it.

The key is that once their weaknesses are discovered, their deterrent effect is greatly reduced.

You are just a crippled saint. I can't beat you, but I can outrun you. I'll hide where you can't reach me. Even if you break the seal and the true king can go out and travel, what can you do to me?
"Gentlemen, we share the same fate, and we share the same fate. You must have a sense of the bigger picture."

The porter was somewhat familiar with the two men and could even exchange a few words with them.

If the other companies had said it, these two would definitely have been even more dissatisfied.

Zuo Qiuming and Peng Yue, both of whom are pure cultivators, have reached the second level of cultivation, so they are not afraid of being exposed.

The cultivation level of a pure cultivator is already among the strongest in the human world. If one were to utilize the power of a divine avatar, one would only become stronger and would be completely fearless.

"But we can't just sit idly by. We can't just let those demon-possessed holy beings from other realms consume the divine fortune that belongs to us, can we?"

Zuo Qiuming didn't make a fuss either.

Instead, they presented the facts, and now they have to take action.

Although those holy beings and beings from other realms were corrupted and infected, they still belonged to the larger group of holy beings.

The shared system of fortune they share is being disrupted by the demonic acts of the holy beings, which are depleting their merits and fortune.

“That’s right. The only way we could obtain fortune before was to kill more monsters. But now there are no monsters left in Xia Kingdom. How can we obtain fortune and merit? Now it’s even worse. Not only can we not increase our fortune, but some evil spirits are also depleting it. What can we do? We are helpless!” Peng Yue said.

"Wow, who could have imagined things would turn out so quickly!"

The sacred realm of Hengshan sighed.

The world is changing too fast. I thought he was the protagonist of destiny, the savior of the whole world.

Unfortunately, things have changed, and he is no longer qualified to save humanity; he has become an insignificant existence.

They even need to work hard to catch up with the true cultivators, otherwise they will be eliminated sooner or later if they don't.

Tell me, why is your life so miserable?
Even those who become saints cannot find peace.

"It will be discovered sooner or later, but it's better to be a day later than a day earlier. A day later means we have more time to plan... Our elders have been working very hard to learn from the two temples of literature and martial arts. A day more will allow us to prepare more."

The sacred path within the Songshan boundary.

There's no way to slack off, especially after the major operation at the Civil and Military Temples.

The region, which had been in a calm and unhurried state, was immediately put on the defensive.

Being forced to keep up with others, or you'll fall behind—it's so tragic.

Before, when I was wandering around in my mind, I was laughing at how shrewish and uncomfortable humans were. Now that I think about it, it's a real slap in the face.

The blow was too loud and too painful.

If you don't roll it, someone will force you to roll it.

"If you ask me, calling us here to discuss this is useless. Instead of doing this, you should go to the True Cultivator and try to find a solution. The True Cultivator has all sorts of methods and can always find a way. What solutions can we come up with by discussing this behind closed doors? For example..."

Zuo Qiuming suddenly said.

It instantly attracted everyone's attention, and Zuo Qiuming and his colleagues were convinced.

He transformed himself into a fifth-order Venerable and even ventured into the mortal realm.

He was the first to try something new and lived a very carefree life, earning him the title of the founder of unorthodox schools.

It was under his inspiration that the first cultivator to enter the Dao through music was born. Also, with his help, many more cultivators entered the Dao through calligraphy, painting, music, and chess.

Those who attain enlightenment through skill are called the founders of unorthodox schools.

He currently has two titles that bring him great fortune: one is the Sage of History, and the other is the Patriarch of Unorthodox Schools.

With these two prestigious titles, his fortune is no less than that of the legends on Qingyun Mountain, and may even surpass that of the vice sect leaders and vice alliance leaders of the Four Super Eight Greats.

His suggestion was quite effective.

"For example, what?" the crowd asked.

They all stood up, cupped their hands, and asked for guidance.

"For example, the refining method only requires refining a spirit-awakening statue, just like the Dao Lord statues scattered in various places, and what our teacher is doing... As long as you refine a statue that is connected to the realm, having the statue is equivalent to having a hub that can be charged... cough cough, that's the secular term, a hub that can connect the realm."

He continued, "Even if it can't completely replace the ability of the realm, at least it can transmit realm energy over long distances. There's no need to worry about running out of mana. It's just that we need a longer recovery time than true cultivators."

"Huh??" The gods' eyes lit up.

...(End of chapter)