The Origin of Yin-Yang and the Five Elements: Mutual Generation and Mutual Benefit, Supre

"It's just preaching, what's so special about that?"

Upon hearing this, Meng Lian spoke in a dismissive tone, clearly showing his disdain.

Such "teaching and transmission of teachings" is not uncommon in the Three Valleys.

Perhaps it is extremely precious to the mortal servants of the Nine Academies, like a golden key that can unlock the mysteries of cultivation.

But as a steward of Danlan Valley, he saw this clearly.

Apart from a few deacons who, on a whim, impart some practical tips on spiritual cultivation.

Most of the lessons were just trivial ones, like "the scenery of the Great Wilderness" and "the water and soil of the four states," which were not worth listening to and were far less important than the important matters that Master Zheng had instructed!

Thinking of this, Meng Lian glanced at the group of mortal servants sitting in a row in front of Yanxuan Hall, and was about to ask Wang Fu to point out where Yan Chen was.

However, the next moment, the door of Yanxuan Palace was silently pushed open by two stewards.

Immediately afterwards, a light veil floated out from inside the hall, covering the area about ten feet outside the hall door. The veil blocked the view, making it difficult to see what was inside.

Upon seeing this, Meng Lian's expression froze.

As the head of Danlan Valley, his knowledge and experience were far beyond those of ordinary servants. Just by looking at the scene before him, he had already made up his mind about the identity of the person who was giving the teachings.

"Let's go. If I didn't have official business to attend to, I would have liked to stay and listen."

Wang Fu shook his head and sighed.

……

In front of Yanxuan Palace.

The chimes rang out softly, and dozens of prayer cushions were filled with people. At this moment, the open space in front of the hall was quiet, with no one else lingering around.

Yan Chen sat upright on the futon, his gaze passing through several figures as he looked at the light gauze curtain in the distance.

In the dim light, a graceful figure could be seen slowly walking out of the hall and taking a seat in front of it.

In an instant, all the mortal servants present sat up straight, not daring to speak, for fear of offending this senior brother or sister.

The few futons at the front, where the servants sat, seemed to have received word of the news early on. They all focused intently on the curtain, their eyes filled with reverence.

As a result, the air gradually quieted down, and only the rise and fall of breaths could be heard; you could hear a pin drop.

A few breaths, or perhaps dozens of breaths...

Finally, from within the sheer curtains, a crisp sound, like ice cubes colliding, rang out.

"Ninety thousand years ago, eight celestial officials descended to earth with boundless wondrous methods, sweeping away the 'Daoist Extinction' era that had lasted for over thirty thousand years, and establishing four enduring lineages: 'Immortal Dao,' 'Buddhist Dao,' 'Witchcraft Dao,' and 'Demon Dao'!"

The cushion below.

"Storytelling and historical research, huh...?"

Yan Chen pondered these words carefully and found that they were not much different from what Wang Guian had said before.

"The Path of Immortality, the Path of Buddhism, the Path of Witchcraft, and the Path of Demons... Wait, where did the Path of Demons come from? What about the Path of the Demons?"

Yan Chen suddenly remembered a casual remark made by Supervisor Qu when he first entered the Forging Academy.

"In the courtyard, we ate and slept together, and got up early to recite the ancestral teachings."

"It seems to be... Dongcang Wuzhou?"

So, there must be a "demonic path" in this world. Why did Senior Sister Zhu ignore it?

Was it intentional, or is there another hidden reason?

Not only Yan Chen, but the other ordinary servants who came from extraordinary backgrounds and were quite knowledgeable also showed confused expressions.

However, they dared not ask rashly, for fear of being regarded as rude and ignorant of the rules, and could only wait for what was to come.

Fortunately, the clear voice paused only briefly before speaking again leisurely:

"In the Great Wilderness State, there are four Dao lineages, thousands of paths, and countless Dharma veins, with vastly different inheritances that are difficult to generalize. However, there is one thing that leads to the same destination despite the different paths."

"That is to say, we should take into account the concepts of Yin and Yang and the Five Elements, but give special consideration to the concepts of 'two suitable' and 'mutual generation'!"

"This is the righteous path of the Great Wilderness!"

"Anyone who contradicts the orthodox laws of the Celestial Officials, deviates from this order, and disrupts the balance of Yin and Yang and the Five Elements is considered to be on the 'demonic path,' and shall be punished by all the orthodox traditions under heaven!"

What are Yin and Yang and the Five Elements? And what is meant by the mutual generation of two elements?

Yan Chen, who came from an ordinary background and had little moral education, was completely bewildered and confused.

As he silently lowered his eyelids, a golden light shone in his eyes, and the doubts in his heart were instantly resolved.

The terms "Yin and Yang" and "Five Elements" refer to the general principles of cultivation for practitioners in the Great Wilderness. Regardless of the specific cultivation method, all cultivation methods are derived from these principles, sharing the same origin and encompassing all other methods.

As for "suitable for both" and "mutually generating".

The former lies in "following the principles of Yin and Yang in Heaven and Earth, and seeking harmony between the exterior and interior, and between the inside and outside."

What it refers to is a kind of "balance", such as "yin against yang", "heat against coolness", "movement against stillness", "fast against slow", "good against bad"... and so on.

As for "mutual generation," it is actually included within the Five Elements, which lies in "the continuous flow of Qi, mutual generation and mutual nourishment."

Therefore, wood generates fire, fire generates earth, earth generates metal, metal generates water, and water generates wood.

This cycle repeats itself endlessly, which is called "mutual generation"!

"Yes, with my extraordinary wisdom, the method of 'strengthening earth to control fire' for forging materials actually coincides with the principle of 'mutual generation'!"

"Comparing the two, Xu Hui's method of 'water overcomes fire' was completely heretical. No wonder the Gold Melting Valley made an exception and taught me the Qi guiding technique!"

"Thinking about it this way, it's clear that Supervisor Qu and the others never intended to genuinely help. Otherwise, given their knowledge, how could they not understand the crux of the matter?"

As my mind wandered beyond the mundane world, that clear female voice rang out again.

Yan Chen shook his head, quickly regained his composure, and listened attentively to the lecture.

"Twelve thousand years ago, the Southern Dusk Immortal Continent did not yet have the two great lineages of Jade Sleeve and Rinsing Mist. Instead, it was ruled by an Immortal Dynasty called 'Great Liang'."

"At that time, the Great Liang Dynasty suppressed Buddhism within its borders and honored the Witchcraft and Ghost Sect as the state religion, and even bestowed the title of True Lord of the Witchcraft and Ghost Sect upon him as the National Preceptor of Great Liang."

"At this very moment, a demonic lord rebelled against the court. Originally a subject, he murdered his father and ruler, causing the Great Liang to collapse and fall."

"After hundreds of years of darkness, three Dao lineages rose up in Nanmu Immortal Prefecture: Yuxiu, Shuming, and that demonic Dao lineage!"

"That demonic lord overturned the 'Yin-Yang and Five Elements' and reversed the 'mutual generation of two things'. He wanted to emulate the ancient times and cultivate 'mutual restraint' to pull the Great Wilderness back to the era of 'the annihilation of the Dao'!"

"Such behavior was intolerable to the other two lineages in Nanzhou. After more than a hundred years, they finally managed to expel that demonic lineage from Nanmu Immortal Prefecture."

"However, even a centipede with a hundred legs does not fall down when it dies. For some unknown reason, the demonic path has taken root in Wuzhou of Dongcang and replaced the evil path."

"This caused the evil Taoists to go into hiding and wander across the four states of the Great Wilderness, while the demonic path usurped the throne and occupied the Eastern Cangwu State alone."

"In the end, it was the Buddhist and Taoist sects that intervened, shattering the golden throne of that demonic lord, causing the cave heaven to fall, and the demonic lineage to disappear from the world."

"But because of this battle, Dongcang Wuzhou was driven back by billions of miles, separated from the other three prefectures by the sea. As a result, its spiritual energy withered, its magic lineage collapsed, and it never regained its former glory!"

……

After listening to a long passage of ancient Taoist history, Yan Chen felt his mind was in turmoil and his head was spinning.

For a time, it was difficult to digest such a huge and complex amount of information.

"The ancient struggles for lineage were truly cruel and chaotic, with 'immortal dynasties' frequently collapsing, lineages disappearing into the world, and True Monarchs dying..."

"Is that Demonic Lord truly unforgivable and intolerable to Heaven and Earth?"

"Practicing 'mutual restraint' defies the cultivation laws set by the [Celestial Officials], causing demonic cultivators to hide from the world, and making them enemies of the entire Great Wilderness Continent... Regardless of right or wrong, just hearing it makes one feel that it is extremely rebellious and lawless!"

For some reason, Yan Chen felt a surge of inexplicable emotions.

The phrase "A cultivator should be like this" almost slipped out of his mouth several times!

"History cannot be entirely trusted. Who can say for sure what happened tens of thousands of years ago?"

"Moreover, history is written by the victors. The fall of the Great Liang gave birth to two Daoist lineages, 'Yu Xiu' and 'Shu Ming,' both of which claim to be 'righteous.' They would never say anything good about the demonic path."

……

In the blink of an eye, the sound of bells and chimes was heard—

hum!

Yan Chen suddenly came to his senses, only to see that the light gauze curtain had been slowly withdrawn, and there was not a single person in front of the hall.

The course is over.

……