The Record of Exterminating Evil from Ashes

The tide of fortune is turning against us, and the sky is turning gray and about to fall.

Within the gloomy, dark box, the secrets of heaven were hidden, and time stood still. Cen Jin sat quietly on the futon, the dark whisper deep within his soul lingering, the eight characters "Twins return to their rightful place, the end is near" etched into his heart like a knife, haunting him relentlessly. A crimson seed quietly sprouted deep within his Qi Sea, resonating remotely with the Demon Lord's divine core above the thousand-mile-long miasma forest. With each faint pulsation, it stole a portion of the origin of heaven and earth, and tainted a trace of the pure white of his Dao heart.

He did not panic and suppress, nor did he forcibly sever the bond between the twins. After years of tempering, four trials to become a god, and the establishment of a record of precepts, he had long since mastered the true meaning of the Great Way of Balance. Light and darkness are interdependent, good and evil share the same origin. The more one fears and avoids, the easier it is for fate to exploit one's weaknesses. Only by facing the root cause and seeing through the essence can one escape the dead end set up in the game.

After several days of seclusion and recuperation, he used his inner Daoist principles to restrain the hidden seed and the merits of heaven and earth to nourish his Dao foundation, forcefully suppressing the seed's awakening momentum and stabilizing the crisis of his Dao heart collapsing. Beside him, Wan Tang slept soundly, her head resting on his sleeve. The Netherworld Box had isolated the remote pull of the divine core, and the restless demon lord's essence within her had completely subsided. Her brows and eyes relaxed, and the fear and anxiety of the past few days had faded away, revealing the pure appearance of a mortal girl.

The days passed peacefully within the secluded box, but the outside world was already turbulent with undercurrents.

The spiritual energy of the entire Demon-Slaying Mountains continued to flow in reverse, and the clear and pure yang Daoist essence between heaven and earth was constantly extracted and diluted, all of which poured into the divine core of the miasma forest. The originally orderly spiritual energy channels of the mountain gate became disordered and unbalanced, and many disciples with shallow foundations and unstable Daoist hearts began to feel restless, their Daoist essence became superficial, and they even developed inexplicable fear and prejudice.

Even more fatally, the lingering obsessions with the old ways and the distractions in people's hearts took advantage of the decay of heaven and earth to reignite.

Within the mountain gate, whispers and rumors quietly began to circulate. Some secretly speculated that the Demon Lord of Wantang, whose origins were immortal, was ultimately a source of calamity for humanity; others questioned the New Path's tolerance of demons and evil spirits, deeming it unjust and unlikely to endure; still others wavered, believing that the four trials to break the deadlock were all illusions, that destiny could not be defied, and that the New Path would ultimately be unable to escape its collapse.

Even the most solid human heart is most easily eroded and cracked in silence.

Cen Jin spread his divine sense, taking in all the strange movements of people's hearts and the chaotic state of spiritual energy throughout the mountain gate, his eyes calm and serene. He knew that the greatest crisis at present was not the divine core hanging in the sky, nor the dark seed awakening within his body, but rather that **all living beings could not distinguish their true nature and could not differentiate between demonic and non-demon natures**.

The world is foolish, clinging to the narrow view that things are either good or evil, equating origin with malice and attributing destiny to original sin, yet they do not know that demonic nature is not necessarily bloodthirsty, and that the human heart is not necessarily pure good. If this is not understood, even if the divine core can be sealed and the dark seed can be suppressed, the human heart will still collapse on its own, and the new path will crumble without a fight.

Since people's hearts are confused, we should start with the righteous path, resolve their doubts with the great way, and guide them to the right path with their original intentions.

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Cen Jin slowly opened his eyes, a clear black and white light flashing from the depths of his eyes, and the turmoil in his Qi Sea completely subsided. He carefully got up, without disturbing the sleeping Wan Tang, and gently formed a hand seal, transforming the Youxia Barrier into a gentle protective shield, locking in the tranquility of this place and protecting the girl's peaceful soul.

Having done everything, he turned and stepped out of the Dark Box.

With each step, a hazy, murky atmosphere swept over him, enveloping him in an oppressive, deathly, and desolate aura, a stark contrast to the tranquility within the secluded box. Looking up, the vast sky had lost its color, the flowing clouds were frozen, and only a heavy, twilight atmosphere remained between heaven and earth, pressing down on the mountains and rivers with solemnity and making all living beings fearful.

On the main peak of the Demon-Slaying Peak, thousands of disciples stood in twos and threes, their hearts uneasy, their eyes filled with confusion and unease. The sincere enthusiasm for the unity of the old and new paths had faded considerably under the wear and tear of the strange changes in the world over the past few days, and people's hearts were restless and their Daoist convictions were wavering.

The Grand Elder and the other elders stood solemnly on the high platform, their expressions grave, gazing helplessly at the hazy sky. The reversed flow of spiritual energy could be channeled, but the confusion in people's hearts and the erosion of the Daoist tradition were a fundamental crisis beyond remedy.

Just as the atmosphere at the mountain gate was becoming increasingly gloomy, a clear and serene Daoist voice drifted from the back mountain, piercing through the deathly silence and resounding throughout the entire Demon-Slaying Mountains, reaching the ears and hearts of every disciple.

"As heaven and earth rise and fall, and fortunes shift, chaos begins to emerge. Do any of you have any doubts?"

His voice was gentle yet extremely penetrating, carrying a pure and balanced Daoist rhythm that instantly suppressed the restless and turbid air, and the chaotic spiritual energy of the mountain gate suddenly stabilized.

Everyone looked up at the sound and saw a young man in white walking on the wind, his figure as upright as a snow-capped pine, his steps as leisurely as a stroll in a garden. Despite the awakening of the hidden seed, the backlash of fate, and days of recuperation, he showed no signs of fatigue. On the contrary, his Dao heart became more transparent, his temperament more composed, and his body was filled with a righteous and peaceful Daoist charm.

Cen Jin landed atop the sacrificial altar, standing beneath the golden Daoist book, overlooking his thousands of disciples with clear and penetrating eyes that could see through the vanity of people's hearts.

"Today, the sun shines brightly in the sky, and the heavens and earth are in harmony. I am here to preach the Dao, regardless of one's level of cultivation or whether one belongs to a new or old sect. If you have any doubts, please speak frankly."

Zhengyang begins his lecture, discerning the heart and the demons.

This was the first time Cen Jin publicly addressed the doubts and preached the Way to the disciples of the mountain sect after the establishment of the new Dao and the engraving of the Five Precepts. It was not for establishing authority or for preaching, but only to dispel the fog in people's hearts, to see through the falsehoods of right and wrong, and to solidify the foundation of the Great Dao.

A moment of silence fell over the audience. A young disciple gritted his teeth, stepped forward from the ranks, bowed deeply, and spoke with a mixture of confusion and trepidation: "Master, I have a question: The Demon Lord's true form has manifested in the world, causing chaos and suffering to all living beings. Demons are inherently evil, and their destiny is to be calamity. Why should the new path tolerate demons and evil, and condone the source of this calamity? Isn't upholding the old path of killing and eliminating evil, eradicating the root of demons, and preventing future troubles the righteous path?"

Upon hearing this question, many disciples nodded in agreement. This was the deep-seated belief of the vast majority of disciples, an inherent understanding passed down through the ages, and the root cause of the current wavering in people's hearts.

Right and wrong, good and evil, are deeply rooted and difficult to distinguish.

Cen Jin listened quietly, neither refuting nor denying, but simply spoke, each word clear and resonant: "You say that demonic nature is evil, is that a sin of origin, or a judgment of the human heart?"

The disciple was stunned, speechless with bewilderment.

"People say that demons are inherently evil, and the source of evil must be eradicated." Cen Jin's voice was calm, building up layer by layer, prompting introspection. "But what you see as demonic chaos—is it an innate bloodlust, or the constraints of a game of chess, or the pressure of fate? Is the righteous path you uphold a genuine desire to protect the world and its people, or a black-and-white, prejudiced belief?"

These three consecutive questions strike at the heart of the matter, probing the Daoist heart of each individual.

The entire hall fell silent, and the thousands of disciples all bowed their heads in deep thought, their preconceived notions suddenly shaken.

Cen Jin raised his hand, and Daoist energy flowed from his fingertips, reflecting two illusory images of heaven and earth, which were suspended in front of everyone.

The image on the left depicts a time long ago, before the Demon Lord's essence was imprisoned by the chessboard. In this time, the mountains and seas were peaceful, all spirits coexisted, humans and demons lived together without interfering with each other, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth flowed smoothly, and all things grew freely.

The image on the right depicts how, after the opening of the Eternal Chess Game, Xuan Ye Zun deliberately instigated conflict between humans and demons, imprisoned the demon lord's origin, distorted the demon's true nature, forced demons and evil spirits to create chaos in the world, and forced all living beings to fight each other, ultimately creating a thousand years of strife and a hundred generations of calamity.

"Have you seen it clearly?" Cen Jin's eyes were clear and his voice was loud and clear. "Demons are not inherently evil. The chaos of the world is not the fault of demons, but the result of the calculations of the game and the shackles of fate. The so-called demonic calamity is a false tribulation set up by the players, a sacrificed piece in the closed loop of heaven and earth, and has never been an inherent sin."

A single word dispels illusions, a single word clarifies the root cause.

As everyone stared at the two starkly contrasting illusions, they were deeply shaken. Their millennia-old understanding of good and evil was completely shaken and collapsed at this moment.

"Then what is the human heart? What is the demonic heart?" another disciple asked urgently. "How can we distinguish between good and evil, guard our true nature, and not be corrupted by demonic tendencies or swayed by fate?"

Cen Jin lowered his eyes, his gaze sweeping over the thousands of disciples, and slowly uttered the core truth of the new path: the essence of discerning the mind.

"The mind has no distinction between right and wrong, only between light and darkness."

"When the human heart harbors selfishness, it can breed deceit, greed, and even murder. For example, Shen Qingyan is hypocritical and deceives the world, using righteousness to pursue his own selfish desires. This is the darkness of the human heart. The essence of demonic nature can be tranquil and peaceful, kind and protective, and able to safeguard the common people. For example, Wan Tang keeps her heart pure, is sincere and kind, and has never harmed anyone. This is the light of demonic nature."

"Whether one is human or demon does not depend on bloodline or racial destiny, but solely on one's own heart. A heart that is good and protects the world and its people is the righteous path; a heart that is selfish and brings chaos to the world is the evil path."

With just a few simple words, it overturns age-old prejudices and reshapes the standards of good and evil in the world.

The old way distinguishes right from wrong based on bloodline and determines good from evil based on race, which is rigid, biased, and creates conflict; the new way distinguishes good from evil based on one's own heart and determines right from wrong based on words and deeds, which is transparent, fair, and inclusive of all things.

"Those who discern the heart are not misled by appearances; those who discern the demons do not cling to the origin."

Cen Jin's Daoist voice was vast and resonant as he continued to preach and resolve doubts, each sentence taking root and becoming profound: "True adherence to the Dao is not about eliminating dissidents and killing all those who are different, but about guarding one's own pure and sincere heart, embracing all the light and darkness of the world, using a just heart to guide the wicked, and using a compassionate heart to protect all living beings."

"To kill out of fear of demons is cowardice; to uphold righteousness and exclude others is stubbornness; to know darkness and tolerate light is understanding."

The explanations were layered and clear, dispelling the confusion in everyone's hearts. Countless disciples closed their eyes and reflected on themselves, their bewilderment, fear, and prejudice of the past few days dissipating completely. Their wavering Daoist hearts were re-established, and their restless minds returned to clarity.

The gloom that had shrouded the mountain gate for many days was completely dispelled by this lecture in the morning.

The stagnant gray-white turbidity between heaven and earth quietly dissipated, and wisps of clear, pure yang spiritual energy once again sprinkled down on the mountains. The disordered spiritual energy channels gradually returned to order, and the wavering foundation of the new path was stabilized once more.

The Grand Elder closed his eyes for a long time, then slowly opened them, his eyes filled with enlightenment and awe. He bowed deeply and said, "For a hundred years I have clung to the old ways, clinging to the prejudices of right and wrong. Only today do I realize that the Great Dao has no boundaries, and the true heart is the only truth. The Dao Master has spread the Dao and awakened the world; his merit is immeasurable."

Thousands of disciples bowed in unison, their voices sincere and resounding through the mountains: "Thank you, Master, for your teachings! We have discerned our true nature and understand the Great Dao!"

The voices of the people were vast and resonant, echoing the Taoist principles.

At this moment, all the disciples of the Demon-Slaying Mountain Sect completely saw through the illusion of good and evil, put aside their millennia-old prejudices, and their hearts were once again united, and their lineage was completely stabilized. Even though the heavens and earth were still ashen and the divine core still hung overhead, there was no longer any confusion or fear in their hearts, only a firm conviction to uphold the Dao and protect the world.

Cen Jin stood on the high platform, gazing at the scene of everyone returning to their hearts, feeling a clear and peaceful mind.

Today, he is giving a lecture in the primordial light, discerning the heart from the demon, not only to enlighten his disciples and stabilize the sect, but also to unravel his own destiny. The twin Dao Masters, light and darkness from the same source, he and Wan Tang are the best proof of the human heart and the demon heart, the primordial light and the darkness.

As long as one's heart is pure, one can uphold the Way regardless of light or darkness; as long as one's convictions are pure, even twins can defy fate.

But just as the Great Dao reached its perfection and people's hearts were at peace, the indifferent Dao voice of Xuan Ye Zun suddenly rang out from the depths of the void, icy and piercing, piercing through mountains and rivers, and landing in Cen Jin's divine soul:

"You teach people to discern the heart and the demons, to see through falsehoods and stabilize people's hearts, thus laying the groundwork for the final outcome."

"But do you really think that having a clear conscience allows you to escape the twin sacrifice?"

Before the words were finished, the Demon Lord's Divine Core, hovering high in the sky, suddenly erupted with a dazzling crimson light, completely connecting with the crimson dark seed deep within Cen Jin's Qi Sea. One external, one internal, one day, one person, the twin origins instantly closed the loop, and a sacrificial power spanning countless ages quietly locked onto his and Wan Tang's life paths.