Chapter 673
A Separate Path to Enlightenment
The Great Luo Heaven, the Taiwei Yuqing Palace, the Yuji Hall.
Zhuang Yan stepped into the hall. When he looked up and saw the boundless, pitch-black chaos revealed above the Jade Palace, a glint of light flashed in his eyes.
A moment later, three beams of celestial light shone in the main hall, revealing the figures of Laozi, Buddha, and Hongjun Daoist, all seated cross-legged atop auspicious clouds.
The three smiled and nodded at Zhuang Yan. At that moment, a cloud of auspiciousness rose from beneath Zhuang Yan's feet, and he flew up.
"The three fellow Daoists have sent me a message. I wonder what they have discovered?" Zhuang Yan asked as he approached the three.
At this moment, Hongjun Daoist raised his hand and pointed to the vast chaos reflected above the palace dome, "Fellow Daoist Shenxiao, please look there."
Zhuang Yan looked in the direction pointed out by Hongjun Daoist. As his gaze fell upon the vast, chaotic distance instantly closed, and everything rapidly magnified before Zhuang Yan's eyes.
This is the great power that Zhuang Yan possesses as a Great Luo Golden Immortal. However, even so, when faced with the vast and boundless chaos, Zhuang Yan can only vaguely see a partial outline when things are magnified to their maximum size.
“That is…” Zhuang Yan looked at the outline of that thing, its reality and illusion uncertain, desolate and formless, like a very mysterious and vast energy.
At this moment, Daoist Hongjun spoke up, saying, "That is the 'Dao Mechanism' of another Heavenly Dao, projected into the chaos, and locked onto by Daoist Shakyamuni and me."
"Oh?" Zhuang Yan raised an eyebrow and asked, "Is it the Five Elements Heavenly Dao?"
"It's not certain yet." Buddha Tathagata shook his head and said, "Hongjun Daoist and I have been traveling through the chaos for many years. Seventeen years ago, we sensed this 'Dao Mechanism' and finally locked onto it this year."
Lao Tzu said, "This could be the Dao mechanism of the Five Elements reflected in the chaos, or it could be the Dao mechanism reflected by other Daos. It is not yet certain which possibility it is."
"But what is certain is this," Hongjun Daoist paused, then continued, "this is not the Dao mechanism of the Xuanfa Heavenly Dao. The Xuanfa Heavenly Dao has perished, so it is impossible for its Dao mechanism to still be reflected in the chaos."
Zhuang Yan asked, "Then is it possible to find the location of the Heavenly Dao to which this 'Dao Mechanism' belongs?"
“It will still take some time,” said Hongjun Daoist. “Now that Laojun has come to help, with the combined strength of the three of us, we can pinpoint the location of its respective Heavenly Dao through this ‘Dao Mechanism’ in about a year at most.”
Zhuang Yan nodded and said, "So, in other words, we only have one year left before we have to prepare for a clash with another Heavenly Dao?"
The collision here is not a collision in the literal sense, but rather a change that occurs when two Heavenly Daos suddenly become aware of the existence of the other in the vast chaos.
However, Pangu Heavenly Dao had already made preparations. Regardless of whether the opponent was the Five Elements Heavenly Dao or another Heavenly Dao, they would take the initiative to seek them out, rather than waiting for others to come to them.
“That’s right,” said Hongjun Daoist. “Once we pinpoint the location of that Heavenly Dao and find it, we will begin to build the ‘Bridge to Measuring Heaven’.”
Zhuang Yan nodded and then asked, "Now that the Sky Bridge has been built, can we just charge in?"
"Of course not," said Laozi. "That is a realm of Heavenly Dao. If we go in directly before it is weakened, there will only be one outcome."
At this point, Laozi's expression turned solemn, "He was suppressed by the power of the Heavenly Dao."
Hongjun Daoist nodded and said, "Only by continuously weakening its 'great number' and weakening this Heavenly Dao to a certain extent can we enter without any scruples. Only then will this Heavenly Dao no longer have the power to suppress us."
"Similarly," said Laozi, "even the Great Luo Golden Immortals of the Five Elements Heavenly Dao would not voluntarily enter the Pangu Heavenly Dao before it is completely weakened; that would be tantamount to courting death."
“But there is another possibility,” Hongjun Daoren said. “When the Five Elements Heavenly Dao devoured many Heavenly Daos, its Heavenly Dao power was much greater than that of the Pangu Heavenly Dao, and it could suppress the Pangu Heavenly Dao to a certain extent.”
Then, Hongjun Daoist changed his tone, "But in general, without weakening the enemy's Heavenly Dao, rashly entering the enemy's Heavenly Dao territory would definitely be an extremely foolish act."
Zhuang Yan nodded slightly: "I see."
Just then, a beam of light descended from the sky, and then the Jade Emperor, dressed in Taoist robes, descended into the Jade Palace on auspicious clouds.
Everyone hurriedly stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Greetings, Great Heavenly Venerable."
The Taiwei Yuqing Palace is the Taoist temple of the Jade Emperor, but now, apart from the Jade Emperor's sleeping quarters, the Haotian Jingshe, all areas of the Taiwei Yuqing Palace are open to Laozi, Buddha, Hongjun, and Zhuang Yan.
In other words, the four people mentioned above can enter and exit all palaces of Taiwei Yuqing Palace at any time except for the 'Haotian Jingshe'. That's why the Jade Extreme Palace in front of them is used to reflect chaos and search for the other Heavenly Dao.
The Jade Emperor glanced at the chaos, then looked at Zhuang Yan and said, "Great Emperor Shenxiao, after you descend to the mortal realm, you can inform the Great Awakened Golden Immortals of the various sects about this matter, so that they can make preparations in advance."
Zhuang Yan cupped his hands and said, "I will obey the Great Heavenly Venerable's decree."
The Jade Emperor smiled slightly and said, "After the collision, I will be responsible for guarding the Pangu Heavenly Dao, Laozi, Buddha, and Hongjun Daoist will be responsible for opening and guarding the 'Measuring Heaven Divine Bridge,' and you, the Divine Emperor, will be fully responsible for weakening the enemy's Heavenly Dao."
Zhuang Yan's expression was solemn. The Jade Emperor's meaning was clear: Zhuang Yan was the one in charge of all external warfare.
Zhuang Yan nodded and said, "Great Heavenly Venerable, rest assured, I understand."
The Jade Emperor said, "At that time, I will give you another authority, allowing you to mobilize all forces without any worries."
Zhuang Yan bowed and said, "Thank you, Great Heavenly Venerable."
The five then discussed all the preparations and countermeasures to be taken before the 'collision'. After an hour, they finally reached an agreement, and Zhuang Yan took his leave and went down to the mortal realm.
After Zhuang Yan left, Laozi said to Hongjun Daoist, "Fellow Daoist, you can now unseal the memories of the immortals of your Xuanjiao Sect."
Master Hongjun nodded, then raised his hand and pointed downwards. Instantly, a beam of immortal light leaped from Master Hongjun's fingertip, flying down from the Ninth Heaven and landing in the Bagua Mountain, the headquarters of the Xuanjiao Sect.
Then Laozi and Buddha Tathagata each raised their hands and pointed downwards. As a beam of celestial light and a beam of Buddhist light descended, soon after, all the Great Enlightened Golden Immortals of the Taoist and Buddhist sects sensed an extremely important heavenly secret.
Bagua Mountain, Biyou Palace, Qianguang Hall.
Tongtian Daojun, who was sitting in the hall arranging the affairs of the sect, suddenly shivered, and then his face suddenly froze, which surprised the immortals of Xuanjiao below.
The immortals were puzzled and became very worried when they saw Tongtian Daojun sitting above them with a blank expression.
The immortals looked at each other, not knowing what had happened, but dared not ask, for fear of disturbing the Tongtian Daojun.
After an unknown amount of time, all the immortals present who had entered the Pangu Heavenly Dao with Hongjun Daoren shivered and then sat there blankly.
Some newly promoted Xuanjiao immortals below felt their scalps tingle at the sight, and stood up in shock, but were at a loss for what to do about the bizarre scene before them. But after a moment, Tongtian Daojun above finally returned to normal. A trace of sorrow flashed across his face, but he quickly regained his composure.
Seeing the reactions of those newly ascended immortals, Tongtian Daojun immediately waved his whisk and said, "You need not be alarmed. They are acting out of a sense of heavenly secrets."
Upon hearing Tongtian Daojun's words, the immortals breathed a sigh of relief, then bowed to him and sat down.
Then a young immortal asked, "May I ask, Sect Leader, what heavenly secret is so important? Why haven't we sensed it?"
Tongtian Daojun said, "You will know in the future."
At this point, Tongtian Daojun suddenly noticed that the disciples below who came from Xuanfa Tiandao were all glistening with tears in their eyes. He then calmly said to the disciples who were not from Xuanfa Tiandao, "You may all go down first. I have something to discuss with the elders."
Upon hearing this, the disciples of Pangu Heavenly Dao immediately stood up, bowed, and left. After these disciples left, many people present burst into tears.
Huanglong Zhenren cried the most bitterly, because he was the only one from his entire family who had escaped.
To calm people's hearts, Hongjun Daoist sealed their memories. Now, the memories are flooding back, and those scenes seem like they happened just yesterday.
In an instant, people in the hall cried, sighed, and remained silent. Tongtian Daojun didn't say much either. Memories kept surging in his mind. His deceased comrades, fellow disciples, and his own relatives and disciples flashed before his eyes at this moment.
However, Tongtian Daojun did not grieve for long. He quickly wiped away all his sorrows and said to everyone in the hall, "You all keep watch over the mountain gate. I am going to Buzhou Mountain."
Everyone quickly stood up, bowed, and said, "Yes, Sect Leader."
Mount Buzhou, the Palace of the Mortal Realm.
The Great Emperor of the Central Peak was chatting with the True Immortal of Fire Spirit in the hall when suddenly the entrance to the hall darkened slightly. Then, the Great Emperor of the Northern Peak, the Great Emperor of the Southern Peak, the Great Emperor of the Western Peak, and the Great Emperor of the Eastern Peak walked into the hall side by side.
Fire Spirit Immortal and Zhongyue Emperor immediately stood up to greet them. Zhongyue Emperor laughed and said, "You four fellow Daoists have arrived very quickly."
The Great Emperor of the Eastern Peak laughed and said, "Your Central Peak is in a favorable position, benefiting from its geographical advantage."
After saying this, the Five Sacred Mountains Emperors and the Fire Spirit Immortal greeted each other and then took their seats in order. The celestial attendants immediately served them celestial fruits and spiritual tea.
But they had barely settled down when they saw the Old Mother of Lishan and the Buddha of the East walk into the main hall together. Upon seeing these two great beings, everyone immediately stood up to greet them.
"Oh!" said the old woman of Lishan with a smile, "You all arrived so quickly." Then she stepped forward to greet her.
The Buddha from the East clasped his hands together and greeted each person with a smile.
Among the Great Enlightened Golden Immortals in the mortal realm today, only the Old Mother of Lishan is qualified to lead the Daoist sect and represent the entire Daoist sect at Buzhou Mountain.
Why do you ask? There's no reason, because other great Taoist masters have all entered the Heavenly Court system: the Four Emperors, Taiyi Jiuku Tianzun, Dongwanggong, Xiwangmu, Doumu Yuanjun, Jiutian Yingyuan Leisheng Puhua Tianzun, Zhenwu Emperor, and even several of the Five Sacred Mountains Emperors. Which of these people didn't come from the Taoist school?
Therefore, only the Old Mother of Lishan represented the Taoist sect at the meeting at Buzhou Mountain. The Buddhist sect, on the other hand, did not have this concern, because the Buddha of the East was appointed by the Buddha Tathagata as the head of the Buddhist sect.
Just as the Old Mother of Lishan, the Buddha of the East, and the others finished their greetings, another voice rang out from behind them: "It's so lively here."
Everyone turned around and saw that Zhenyuan Daxian and Tongtian Daojun had come together. The Great Emperor of the Eastern Peak said in surprise, "One of you is in Dongsheng Shenzhou and the other is in Xiniu Hezhou. How come you came at the same time?"
"Hahaha." Zhenyuan Daxian stroked his beard and laughed, "One from the east and one from the west, they came from different places but went to the same place. It just so happens that we met in front of the mountain gate."
Tongtian Daojun quickly stepped forward to greet everyone, and then Huoling Zhenxian invited everyone to take their seats.
Then, the Heavenly Court members, led by True Immortal Huo Ling, took their seats in order on the right side of the main hall, while the Taoist, Buddhist, Xuanjiao, and Zhenyuan Daxian took their seats on the left side of the main hall. The celestial children immediately served them spiritual tea and celestial fruits.
At this moment, Zhenyuan Daxian glanced around and then said, "The Taoist sect, the Buddhist sect, the Xuanjiao sect, and even a rogue immortal like myself have all come. Isn't one sect still missing?"
The Old Mother of Lishan laughed and said, "Fellow Daoist, are you referring to the Brahma Sect and the Demonic Sect? These are two separate sects."
“It’s normal that the Demonic Sect isn’t coming,” Zhenyuan Daxian said. “It’s unreasonable that the Brahma Sect isn’t coming.”
“No,” said the Old Mother of Lishan. “The Demonic Sect must have been invited to this meeting as well; no one can be missing.”
Clearly, both Taoism and Buddhism have received the 'divine will' and know what the matter is about to be discussed.
But Zhen Yuanzi certainly didn't know, because he didn't have any powerful figures like Laozi or Buddha above him.
The Demonic Sect and the Brahma Sect were also unaware of this, so Zhen Yuanzi felt it was normal that the Demonic Sect didn't attend the Chenhuan Jade Palace meeting; they simply couldn't get along with everyone else.
At this moment, the Great Emperor of Zhongyue laughed and said, "Vishnu and Shiva, fellow practitioners of the Brahma religion, have gone to Leize to meet Brahma, fellow practitioner."
"Oh?" Zhen Yuanzi looked surprised. "Wasn't it said that the suppression would last for a hundred years? More than a hundred and ninety years have passed."
Speaking of the Fire Spirit Immortal and the Central Peak Emperor, their faces were full of smiles, and even the Central Peak Emperor laughed out loud.
The Great Emperor of the Northern Mountain asked with a puzzled look, "You've taken another concubine? Why are you smiling so happily?"
The Great Emperor of Zhongyue waved his hand, and facing the surprised looks from the crowd, he calmed himself and said, "The matter is like this. Wasn't the Great Emperor Shenxiao in seclusion before? The Great Emperor Shenxiao was in seclusion for ninety-nine years, but in the sixtieth year of his seclusion, the time for suppressing Brahma was due. But at that time, the Great Emperor Shenxiao was in seclusion, so this matter was delayed. After the Great Emperor Shenxiao came out of seclusion, he attained the Great Luo Golden Immortal Dao Fruit, and then he was busy with other things, so the release of Brahma was also delayed. Vishnu and Shiva didn't dare to mention this matter, or even take the initiative to ask, and no one from the Dust Realm Jade Palace mentioned this matter to the Great Emperor Shenxiao. So, in this way, the time for Fellow Daoist Brahma to be suppressed exceeded ninety years."
At this point, the Great Emperor of Zhongyue began to laugh again, and everyone in the hall also showed inexplicable smiles upon hearing this.
A moment later, the Great Emperor of Zhongyue said, “This time, Vishnu and Shiva arrived even faster than I did. It was the two of them who took the initiative to find the True King of Fire Spirit and bring up this matter. Only then did the True King of Fire Spirit remember it and quickly reported it to the Great Emperor of Shenxiao. The Great Emperor of Shenxiao immediately issued an edict, ordering Vishnu and Shiva to release the fellow Daoist Brahma and bring him along to discuss matters.”
"You didn't see how they looked back then, their faces full of grievances, like little wives, hahaha." The laughter of the Great Emperor of Zhongyue even echoed out of the Dust World Palace.
Outside the Hall of Dust and Heaven, upon hearing the unrestrained laughter of the Great Emperor of the Central Peak, Vishnu and Shiva, who had been beaming with joy at Brahma's escape, immediately darkened their expressions.
Brahma stood silently by, unsure how to comfort him, and he too felt incredibly aggrieved.
Only Mara, who arrived last and accompanied them, laughed at the three and said, "Don't worry about it, just treat it as a fart."
Shiva, Vishnu, and Brahma nodded, then stepped into the Palace of the Mortals alongside Mara. The laughter within immediately ceased, followed by the sounds of mutual greetings; everyone had finally arrived. (End of Chapter)