Primordial Era: A member of the Jie Sect, apprenticed to Tongtian

When this battle began.

No one could have imagined that the plot would develop in this way.

The Lord of Yuanquan Mountain was actually a disciple of the Jie Sect who had not appeared in the Three Realms for hundreds of years.

Then came the three quasi-saints of the Jie Sect who were famous during the Investiture of the Gods: Jinling Shengmu, Zhao Gongming, and Yunxiao.

Now, even saints have appeared in the Three Realms.

Of course.

At this moment, neither Yuanshi Tianzun nor Tongtian Jiaozhu...

None of them are the true form descending.

After all, the rules established by the Dao Ancestor at the end of the Investiture of the Gods were not exactly a big secret.

Saints cannot personally descend upon Jambudvipa, the continent where the human dynasty is located.

Therefore, at this moment, the two saints only manifested a divine thought, which descended along with the Qingping Sword and the God-Slaying Whip.

This can also be considered one of the supernatural powers of a sage.

A Buddhist saying goes, "The verdant bamboo is the Dharma body; the lush yellow flowers are nothing but Prajna (wisdom)."

This refers to the supernatural powers of a sage.

With any single thought in one's mind, anything in the Three Realms can become the Dharma body of a saint.

The mystery within is beyond words.

At this moment, after hearing the question from the Primordial Celestial Venerable.

The Tongtian Sect Leader looked at him with a cold smile: "Yuanshi, what you said is utterly ridiculous."

"On the contrary, it is I who should ask you..."

He held the Qingping Sword in his hand, yet the murderous intent in his eyes was enough to chill the entire Three Realms.

"What is the meaning of your attacking my disciple? Do you... truly believe my Qingping Sword is ineffective?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he flicked his Qingping Sword.

"clang!"

The clear sound of a sword echoed throughout the three realms!

Below, Guang Chengzi, Yu Ding Zhenren, and Taiyi Zhenren felt as if their spiritual apertures were about to collapse.

When a sage harbors murderous intent, it is tantamount to Heaven wanting to kill you, "987"!

When Heaven harbors murderous intent, the world is turned upside down!

They had no doubt that the Tongtian Sect Leader truly wanted to wipe them out with a single sword strike!

The once imposing Yuanshi Tianzun was instead taken aback by this sight.

He had been extremely angry before, so for a moment he had forgotten about it.

Now is not the time for bestowing titles upon gods.

The Tongtian Sect Leader before him was a saint whose great sect had almost fallen into decline.

If they are truly provoked, they are capable of anything!

This is the folk saying: "The good are afraid of the bad, the bad are afraid of the stubborn, and the stubborn are afraid of the reckless!"

Therefore, Yuanshi Tianzun suppressed his anger.

He first raised his hand and unleashed a beam of pure light to block the killing intent emanating from the Tongtian Sect Leader.

"Reaching for the heavens!"

Then, he looked at the Tongtian Sect Leader: "The outcome of the Investiture of the Gods in the past has already been decided."

"Your three disciples have already been listed on the Investiture of the Gods and become celestial beings in the Heavenly Court."

"We should no longer participate in the conflicts between the major sects, and in particular, we should no longer attempt to seize the destiny of the Jie Sect!"

Having said that, he gave Shi Yuan another cold look: "As for your newly accepted disciple, I do not wish to make things difficult for him—you should teach him to hand over the spiritual treasure that he stole from my Chan Sect, and then this matter will be over."

Despite the fact that Shi Yuan was a disciple of the Jie Sect.

Even the Primordial Celestial Venerable himself is still astonished to this day.

After all, he had previously guessed that Shi Yuan was a Buddhist.

If he were a disciple of the Jie Sect, then many things would not make sense.

Neither the Nine Heavens Breath Soil nor the Golden Flame of the Sun should appear in the hands of the disciples of the Jie Sect.

Furthermore, there was that extraordinary Dharma body, comparable to that of a Great Witch, which was something that Yuanshi Tianzun had never seen in any of the Jie Sect members in all these years.

However, Yuanshi Tianzun did not intend to investigate so many things at this time.

In the end, Shi Yuan was nothing more than a Taiyi True Immortal.

Even if his true combat strength could destroy a Great Luo Immortal, it would be nothing more than that to him.

A disciple of the Jie Sect can't cause any real trouble.

"As for these three..."

Then, Yuanshi Tianzun looked at Zhao Gongming and the other two.

"They shall return to Heaven and shall not interfere in the affairs of the mortal realm again."

His words were quite simple.

As long as Shi Yuan returns the fortune that Chan Sect has inexplicably lost and the spiritual treasures that it has stolen in recent days.

Zhao Gongming and the other two only needed to return to the Heavenly Court.

Then he can pretend this never happened.

For Yuanshi Tianzun, this move was undoubtedly a great concession.

But

"You're not going to make things difficult for me?"

Upon hearing this, the Tongtian Sect Leader sneered, "What do you mean by returning fortune? I don't understand a word of that."

"It is your Chan Sect that is so rude, attacking my disciples time and time again. This matter must not be left unresolved."

Before he could finish speaking, the Primordial Celestial Venerable had already spoken!

"Tongtian! Do you really think I'm afraid of you?"

The Primordial Celestial Venerable was genuinely enraged by these words.

When sages clash, one rule is paramount!

What are rules?

That is cause and effect, and the cause is justified.

For example, during the Investiture of the Gods, the immortals of the Chan and Jie sects fought each other.

However, the sages did not personally intervene for a long time.

Instead, it uses the Great Teaching as the pawn and Heaven and Earth as the chessboard to play a game of immense scale!

It was during the Battle of the Nine-Bend Yellow River Formation that the sages began to personally participate in the battle.

Even on that one occasion, it was only in a moment of anger that Qiongxiao spoke recklessly and offended Yuanshi Tianzun.

Then the fairy of colorful clouds actually ambushed him.

This gave Yuanshi Tianzun a reasonable reason to take action.

Otherwise, even if the Primordial Celestial Venerable was furious, he, being the most sensitive of all, would not have personally killed them.

After the actions of Fairy Caiyun and Qiongxiao...

Yuanshi Tianzun intervened, though it was still a case of the strong bullying the weak.

But at least they had a legitimate reason for their actions.

This is the rule of the sages.

A sage may act, but he must have a name to back him up.

If the scheme fails, then there is no going back on it.

After all, if everyone disregards the rules and insists on having the sage personally intervene, it would be disastrous.

Then all the calculations and schemes about the great kalpas would be meaningless.

If the table is overturned, no one will escape unscathed.

Heaven and Earth will not allow it, and Dao Ancestor Hongjun will surely descend and take action himself.

And this time is no different.

"This time, your Jie Sect has disregarded the opportune moment and usurped the destiny of my Chan Sect."

"I have already fought with you, so what if I offend Zixiao Palace and cause trouble for my teacher—don't make things difficult for yourself!"

In the view of Yuanshi Tianzun.

This upheaval in the human world was orchestrated by the Jie Sect.

They wanted to destroy his great teachings and seize his destiny.

Although the Chan Sect has lost some face now.

However, it had already thwarted the Jie Sect's plan and forced Shi Yuan to reveal his identity as a Jie Sect disciple.

Since that's the case—the Tongtian Sect Leader, whose scheme was foiled, should naturally follow the rules of the sages and obediently retreat.

But the Tongtian Sect Leader is still stubbornly refusing to admit it.

In the eyes of the Primordial Celestial Venerable, this was undoubtedly "nonsense and unreasonable, and utterly lacking in the dignity of a sage"!

It is true that he was wary of Tongtian.

After all, he was a saint with no ties to the world, and his supernatural powers were recognized as the greatest among all saints.

His sect was large and powerful, so naturally he was unwilling to risk his life against someone who wasn't even wearing shoes.

But now that Tongtian is not in the right, the fortune of heaven and earth is naturally not with him.

Even if this fight really breaks out, and it even escalates to the point of reaching Zixiao Palace.

He, Yuanshi Tianzun, was not afraid at all!

Even when the Dao Ancestor punishes someone, he is in the right.

However, at this moment, the Tongtian Sect Leader had not yet replied.

But Shi Yuan spoke up instead.

"The Primordial Sage, you are joking."

He bowed slightly to Yuanshi Tianzun, his manners so impeccable that Yuanshi Tianzun could find no fault with him.

"I was merely invited by the king of a human kingdom to serve as a minor totem, and to send my own servant to relieve suffering and distress in the human world."

He even laughed as he spoke.

"But somehow I offended the disciples of the Sage Chan Sect. First, Yang Jian and Nezha wanted to take me to the Heavenly Court to be punished."

"Then, the Golden Immortals of the Chan Sect personally came to kill me... Alas!"

He sighed and looked only at Yuanshi Tianzun.

"I humbly request that the Sage restrain your religion and prevent it from bullying people everywhere."

As soon as he said this...

I don't know about the others, but Master Yu Ding and Master Tai Yi really couldn't help but laugh!

Bullying someone?

Is this human language?

Nezha lost an arm, and Yang Jian had his treasure stolen.

Their spiritual treasures were damaged and lost their spiritual power.

Huanglong Zhenren was beaten so badly that he almost died.

Even Guang Chengzi was almost ganged up on and beaten by Yunxiao and the other two just now.

They really wanted to grab Shi Yuan and demand a harsher answer—who was bullying whom?

"A sharp tongue and a glib tongue are not signs of virtue!"

At this moment, Yuanshi Tianzun also looked coldly at Shiyuan.

However, a sense of unease suddenly arose in his sage-like heart.

Without him.

Under these circumstances, Shi Yuan and the Tongtian Sect Leader's behavior was far too arrogant and fearless!

It's almost like...

"Um!?"

Just as this thought arose, the Primordial Celestial Venerable seemed to suddenly sense something and abruptly raised his head!

His gaze drifted into the distance in disbelief...

That's the direction of the State of Lu!

Meanwhile...

In the State of Lu, at Zouyi City, stands the Qiudao Pavilion.

Because the great battle between the immortals and gods was not concealed, the thunderous roar of the battle and the colossal mountain that blotted out the sky naturally attracted the attention of the mortal world.

Therefore, there were naturally no people reading books in the Seeking the Way Pavilion at this time.

Only in the deepest part of the Seeking the Way Pavilion.

Old Dan, with his white hair, was sitting in front of him.

Compared to his younger days, he now looks much more mature over the years.

His eyes held wisdom and composure, yet they resembled those of an innocent child.

Although he was still a mortal.

But its form is almost one with heaven and earth, making it difficult to fathom.

"despair!"

At that moment, he was putting down the pen in his hand.

Before him lay a bamboo scroll book that had finally been completed.

A slight smile appeared on Lao Dan's lips.

His thoughts began to recall what he had initially sought.

"May I ask you, sir, what is the foundation of this world?"

When he asked this question in the past, Percival covered his face and walked away.

But now, he reads three thousand books in this Seeking the Way Pavilion.

But they already knew what they wanted.

Everything in the world has its own laws.

"Heaven and earth give birth and nurture, the sun and moon revolve."

"Thunder and rain, spring and autumn revolve."

"Plants wither and flourish, cicadas sing and birds fly."

"Its name is unknown, its knowledge is unknown."

At this point, Lao Dan rose from his seat.

He picked up the book he had just finished writing and slowly walked out of the Seeking the Dao Pavilion.

This scene naturally attracted the attention of the mortals who were outside the pavilion, who were curious about the battle between the immortals and gods in the distance.

"It's Lao Dan!"

Over the years, Laozi has long been recognized as a true sage among men.

Especially after he stopped receiving guests and secluded himself to write his own classics.

For over a year, no one had seen him!

Seeing him walk out of the Seeking the Dao Pavilion, countless people naturally turned their attention to him.

This is the first time Lao Dan has walked out of the Seeking the Dao Pavilion since he entered it!

"Lao Dan, our king wishes to see you!"

"Old Dan, my teacher wishes to have a debate with you!"

"Old Dan, have you grasped the truth?"

They all came with a purpose, so naturally they should each say the same thing.

But at that moment, they found themselves unable to utter a single word.

Lao Dan seemed not to have seen them at all.

He simply carried the book and walked away.

It wasn't until he reached the steps of the Seeking the Way Pavilion that he subconsciously looked up.

The three large characters "Seeking the Dao Pavilion" are prominently displayed above.

Many years ago, he entered the cabinet.

Today, he has finally moved on.

then...

"Yes, yes!"

He murmured to himself, "It is what I sought, it is my destiny."

"Since I do not know the name of what I seek... then I shall call it—the Dao!"

He found the answer.

Heaven and earth have their own laws, yet they have never been named.

Therefore, people only know etiquette and law, but not the principles of Heaven.

However, he came to understand the principles of Heaven.

Furthermore, in addition to those rites and laws, a new school was established.

That gate is the 'Tao'!

It is neither the path of spiritual cultivation nor the path of emperors.

Rather, it is the way of heaven and earth, the way of all things.

From this day forward, the world is no longer just about rituals, music, and teachings.

Instead, there was... Taoism!

As Lao Dan finished speaking.

Three large characters silently appeared on the scroll in his hand.

The Tao Te Ching.

Or perhaps it is...—The Tao Te Ching!

And so, the sage who had pondered all his life finally burst into laughter!

"My path...is complete!"

And so at this moment...

The world has changed!

"Buzz!"

Everyone saw that golden flowers suddenly appeared out of nowhere, blooming between heaven and earth.

The boundless golden light transformed into colorful clouds, forming scenes of flying birds, running beasts, and swimming dragons.

In the far west of that day, a vast expanse of purple aura spread out.

It dyed the surrounding sky, spanning nine thousand miles, a purple hue.

Flowers rained down from the sky, golden lotuses sprang from the ground, rosy clouds appeared, and purple aura came from the east!

That was not a manifestation of magic, but a strange phenomenon arising naturally from the Way of Heaven.

When sages and virtuous men emerge, heaven and earth rejoice!