Primordial Era: If I remain in Longevity Mountain, I will steadily attain sainthood.

Chapter 20 Questioning Hongjun

The monkey's face immediately fell. He knew he had encountered a powerful being.

No, a great supernatural being?

The monkey's eyes suddenly lit up again. All along, hadn't he just wanted to find a powerful master to apprentice under?

And this woman—no, this master—just said he wanted to take me as his disciple.

The monkey swallowed hard, then quickly called out, "Teacher, teacher!"

"Teacher, I know I was wrong. Please let me go so I can become your disciple!"

Huoyun Daojun looked at the monkey and said, "You monkey, you're not honest. I'm afraid if I let you go, you'll try to escape again."

"I dare not run away, I dare not run away, teacher, believe me."

Upon hearing this, the monkey immediately panicked and hurriedly explained, "Master, you don't know! I sincerely wish to learn the Dao, but I was unlucky enough to encounter a great master who would accept me into his fold. Today, I have met you, Master, and you say you want to take me in. How could I possibly run away?"

Upon hearing this, Daoist Huoyun believed it to some extent, knowing that this monkey had an extremely strong desire to pursue the Dao, otherwise he wouldn't have been so bold as to eavesdrop on the Dao Ancestor's sermon.

That's right, this monkey is none other than the Six-Eared Macaque, one of the Four Mischievous Monkeys.

The four monkeys of chaos are the Spiritual Stone Monkey, the Red-Bottomed Horse Monkey, the Long-Armed Ape, and the Six-Eared Macaque. Each of the four monkeys has its own supernatural powers. The Six-Eared Macaque's element is wind, so it is good at listening, can understand reason, know the past and the future, and understands all things.

Hongyun knew that she had a lot of karma on her hands, so she made plans in advance. Just then, she remembered that there was such a monkey on the road.

He was also close to my own path, so I thought we could be considered to have some affinity. I decided to take him as my disciple first and then make further plans later.

At that moment, Daoist Huoyun released the monkey from its restraints. The monkey, as expected, stopped running and came before Daoist Huoyun, kowtowing several times with a thud, saying, "Disciple Feng Lingzi greets Master. May I ask your name?"

The monkey was also puzzled, because in this primordial world, there were actually not many female immortals who had cultivated great supernatural powers.

As for Huoyun Daojun, it had never heard of such a powerful being.

Upon hearing this, Huoyun Daojun replied, "My true self is still listening to the Dao in Zixiao Palace; what is here is merely an avatar."

"My avatar is called Daoist Huoyun, but my true form is named Hongyun. Are you aware of this?"

The monkey was startled and exclaimed, "I know, I know. Daoist Hongyun is the sworn brother of Zhenyuan Daxian of Longevity Mountain. I've heard he's also incredibly powerful, but I've never seen him before, and I never imagined that he would be my teacher."

The monkey paused at the end, clearly finding it difficult to connect the beautiful female Taoist priest before him with the Red Cloud Taoist. He even wondered to himself, "Could it be that the one who swore brotherhood with Zhenyuan Immortal wasn't a man, but a woman? Are they siblings, not brothers?"

"Or perhaps..."

The monkey thought of a certain possibility and his heart skipped a beat. He could only pray that the teacher he had been taught would be normal and that he would not have any strange habits.

Seeing the monkey's eyes darting around and its expression strange, Huoyun Daojun knew perfectly well what it was thinking. He couldn't help but feel annoyed and said, "You monkey, you're so suspicious! With such a mind, how will you ever learn the Great Dao?"

Upon being reprimanded, the monkey immediately knelt down and said, "Master, I dare not do it again. Please have mercy and do not abandon your disciple."

The monkey panicked and hurriedly tried to please Daoist Huoyun, hastily taking out a large pile of wild fruits he had picked from the mountains and offering them to Daoist Huoyun.

Huoyun Daojun was both amused and exasperated. He waved his hand and said, "Alright, you should put these fruits away for now."

"Later, when I treat you to your senior uncle's ginseng fruit, you'll realize that all your fruits are just ordinary fruits."

The monkey exclaimed with delight, "Does this mean the teacher isn't sending me away?"

"When did I ask you to leave?" Huoyun Daojun retorted.

"This, this..." The monkey didn't know how to answer.

"alright."

Huoyun Daojun then said, "Don't overthink it. But there's one more thing: did you choose that name yourself?"

"It was a random choice by the disciple," the monkey replied.

"It doesn't sound good."

Huoyun Daojun said, "How about I give you a new name? How about Xuanfeng?"

"Xuanfeng?"

Upon hearing this, the monkey exclaimed joyfully, "Xuanfeng is good, Xuanfeng is good! From now on, this disciple will be called Xuanfeng."

"In that case, come with me."

Without saying much, Daoist Huoyun waved his hand and took the monkey with him. A cloud of fire rose beneath him, carrying the two of them, and they flew towards Longevity Mountain.

Meanwhile, back in Zixiao Palace, Hongjun had been preaching for three thousand years, and on this day he finally stopped.

Meanwhile, many powerful figures in the audience also woke up.

Hongjun then spoke, “Since the great god Pangu created the world and created all things in the primordial chaos, several great kalpas have passed, each lasting about 5.6 billion years. I attained the Dao after creating the world, cultivated for several great kalpas, obtained the artifact of creation, comprehended the Dao of Heaven, and thus achieved this position as a sage. I established the Zixiao Palace to teach and enlighten all beings, preaching the Dao. There have been three such sermons. The first sermon has already passed. If you have any doubts while listening to my sermon, you may ask them here.”

Upon hearing this, everyone pondered the meaning behind Hongjun's words for a moment, and then they all realized what he meant. One of the great masters asked first, "Teacher, were the doctrines you preached different in the three sermons?"

Hongjun nodded and said, "The three lectures were all different. The first one was about the Dao of the Great Luo, the second one was about the Dao of Hunyuan, and the third one was about the Dao of the Sage."

Someone else asked, "Teacher, we all know the Great Luo Dao, but we don't know what Hunyuan (Primordial Chaos) is, or what a sage is?"

Hongjun replied, "The Primordial Chaos is the Primordial Great Luo Golden Immortal. This is a realm above the Great Luo, which you will learn about next time you preach. As for the Sage, it is not a realm, but a position of destiny in the universe."

"A sage is also a Primordial Golden Immortal, but he comprehends the Heavenly Dao, wields the power of the Heavenly Dao, and merges with the Heavenly Dao. He can borrow the power of the Heavenly Dao, coexist with the Heavenly Dao, and is not tainted by cause and effect. He is indestructible through countless eons, immortal, and eternally free."

Everyone was startled again. Although Hongjun said that the Sage was also a Hunyuan Daluo Golden Immortal and that the two were at the same level, who wouldn't be longing to hear that the Sage had so many benefits?

Next, even more people rushed to ask Hongjun questions, and Hongjun was not annoyed, answering them all patiently.

Suddenly, Lao Tzu, who was sitting on the first meditation cushion, also stood up and asked, "Teacher, what are the methods to achieve sainthood? Could you teach us?"

Hongjun replied, "Of the three thousand Great Daos, each can lead to the attainment of Hunyuan. After Hunyuan, if the number of Saintly positions has not yet been fulfilled, there is still an opportunity to become a Saint. Whether it is attaining Hunyuan or going further to achieve the status of a Saint, it is extremely difficult."

"You asked me what the methods to become a saint are, and I have summarized three here, which I can pass on to you: The first is to borrow the innate spiritual treasure, entrust good thoughts, evil thoughts, and obsessions, sever the three corpses, and achieve Hunyuan; the second is to follow the way of heaven, accumulate merits and virtues, and prove the Dao through merits and virtues; the third is relatively the most difficult, which is to rely on one's own magical power and supernatural abilities to forcefully prove Hunyuan."

"After achieving the Primordial Chaos stage, one can comprehend the Heavenly Dao and align oneself with it to become a saint!"

(End of this chapter)