Chapter Forty-Four: Visiting Master Hongyuan

  Di Jiang instructed Jiufeng for a few sentences, and immediately put Kong Xuan and YuYi Xian into the Qiankun Ding. Then he flew out of the 33rd heaven, already familiar with the road, naturally arriving quickly. At this time, Hong Jun didn't appear like the last two times, but instead sat on his lecturing mat.

  Emperor Jiang entered the Zixiao Palace and immediately found him, paying his respects before sitting down on his own cushion. The vast Zixiao Palace was momentarily occupied by only Emperor Jiang and Hong Jun.

  Di Jiang was puzzled in his heart, how did Hong Jun appear so quickly. But he saw Hong Jun suddenly turn his head and look at himself.

  "Are you trying to gather the Five-Colored Flags of the Five Directions and the Four-Sided Lotus Platform?" Hong Jun asked Emperor Jiang calmly, suddenly asking this question.

  Di Jiang was taken aback, could Hong Jun be waiting for him on purpose? But thinking of Hong Jun's question, Di Jiang became worried again, would he stop himself now?

  "What needs to be cultivated cannot be avoided." Emperor Jiang still replied honestly.

  Upon hearing Emperor Jiang's words, Hong Jun couldn't help but smile, "You're still considered sincere and haven't deceived me. If you had denied it outright, I would have sealed your fate immediately, dooming you to an endless cycle of reincarnation."

  Di Jiang was startled and broke out in a cold sweat. Fortunately, he knew about Hong Jun's deductive abilities and didn't dare to deceive him. If he were to be sealed away, the entire Wu tribe would be doomed.

  Seeing Emperor Jiang's expression, Hong Jun continued: "I want to take you as my apprentice, is that acceptable?"

  Di Jiang heard such a sudden sentence, and directly sweated like rain. Hong Jun, what's wrong with you? Why do you want to accept me as your apprentice again? I don't want to be that Heavenly Taoist Saint. For a moment, he didn't know how to respond, so Di Jiang remained silent.

  As if knowing Emperor Jiang's concerns, Hong Jun smiled lightly and said: "I'll accept you as my disciple, but under the name of Hong Jun, not as the First Heaven's Saint."

  Seeing Hongjun's smile, Emperor Jiang was even more stunned, but after thinking about it, he somewhat understood Hongjun. Now that Hongjun had not yet merged with the Heavenly Way, he was still a Heavenly Way Saint and would only be restricted by the Heavenly Way, but his thoughts would not be controlled by the Heavenly Way.

  "May I be so bold as to ask, why does the Daoist patriarch place such importance on me?" At this point, Hong Jun was still Hong Jun, not the Heavenly Way. Emperor Jiang couldn't help but relax a bit.

  Hongjun looked at Emperor Jiang and said seriously: "You have great kindness, great enlightenment, and great willpower, and you are very similar to me."

  Upon hearing Hong Jun's words, Emperor Jiang felt more and more that the person sitting in front of him was not some kind of Heavenly Dao saint, but just an ordinary old man. However, his words made Emperor Jiang feel a bit embarrassed - was this sentence praising me or was it praising Hong Jun himself?

  Hongjun continued, "Reflecting on my life, I was born in the midst of chaos, with a heart that sought the Way and searched for the method to transcend. Unfortunately, the three corpses were beheaded, making it difficult to unify, and I couldn't verify my own way for a long time. Then, I encountered the heavenly mandate to become a saint and transmit the Way, teaching and transforming all beings. However, the Heavenly Way did not align with the Way I sought. Initially, I wanted to refuse, but seeing the multitude of beings wandering aimlessly on the path, as if treading on thin ice, facing countless difficulties, my heart couldn't bear it. In the end, I abandoned my own way and verified the Heavenly Way, practicing the virtue of teaching and transformation."

  As he spoke here, Hong Jun let out a sigh, these words were like telling a story, but more like venting, venting the helplessness in his heart for many years.

  Di Jiang listened with reverence, only today did he realize that Hong Jun was not what he thought, but a truly great virtuous person, who gave up his own pursuit of countless yuan for the sake of all living beings. This requires having immense good intentions to achieve!

  Hongjun finished speaking, his eyes became increasingly restless, he turned to look at Di Jiang and continued, "After this lecture is over, I will merge with the Tao, thoroughly completing the Heavenly Way. At that time, Hongjun will be the Heavenly Way, but the Heavenly Way will not be Hongjun. It's just that in my heart, I regret not being able to prove my own way, so I want to take you as my disciple and fulfill this wish for me, is that okay?"

  Looking at Hong Jun's appearance, Emperor Jiang felt very unbearable. If Hong Jun merged with the Tao, then there would only be the Heavenly Way left in the world, and no more Hong Jun. At this moment, Hong Jun was like an old man whose life was about to come to an end, hoping that Emperor Jiang could help him fulfill a lifelong regret in his final moments.

  "Disciple Jiang, paying respects to Master." Emperor Jiang didn't hesitate again and directly knelt down, performing the ceremony of paying homage to his master.

  "Good, good, very good." Hong Jun seemed to be very excited, perhaps it was this mentality that made him always unable to complete the Three Corpse Severing Technique.

  It was a long time before Hong Jun calmed down.

  "You get up." Hong Jun said, Emperor Jiang immediately stood up respectfully.

  "Hong Jun continued, 'The master-disciple relationship between you and I is only for a thousand years. After a thousand years, I will merge with the Tao, at that time, Hong Jun will be the Heavenly Way, not your master, remember.'"

  The Emperor nodded in understanding and agreement.

  "Moreover, as for your ascension to the Dao, the Heavenly Dao is extremely impartial and will not intentionally make things difficult. However, the power of the Primordial Chaos is too great, capable of destroying Heaven and Earth. The Heavenly Dao would never allow it to emerge in the Primordial Era. If you ultimately succeed in merging the Three Corpses into one to give birth to the Primordial Chaos Blue Lotus, the Heavenly Dao will absolutely annihilate you at the moment of your ascension."

  Di Jiang furrowed his brow, he had long guessed this matter, but always didn't know how to solve it. He couldn't help but ask: "Master, do you have a way?"

  Hong Jun pointed upwards, "Born from the heavens and earth, entering the Primordial Chaos. After proving the Dao, even the Azure Lotus of the Primordial Chaos can only remain within the Primordial Chaos, it cannot be brought into this realm of the heavens and earth."

  Di Jiang listened, but in his heart he was worried. This Chaos wasn't referring to the kind of chaotic place outside the 33rd Heaven, but rather a more distant place that had completely broken away from the Heavenly Way and was directly under the jurisdiction of the Great Dao. That was the birthplace of Pangu and the three thousand demon gods. He didn't know whether it was dangerous or not, but later he would have to go take a look. If the danger wasn't too great, he could temper his physical body there, as the chaotic energy in that place was everywhere.

  "The disciple already knows, what else can the master teach?"

  Hong Jun looked at Emperor Jiang and said, "The small trend of the Heavenly Way can be changed, but the great trend cannot be changed. The two tribes of witches and demons seized the creation of heaven and earth, with life and death, and must trigger a great war to restore the balance of the cycle of heaven and earth. Otherwise, the number of people in both tribes will increase day by day, and eventually crush the heavens."

  Di Jiang fell silent, he also discovered the harm that the two tribes brought to heaven and earth, which is why the Heavenly Way would create a human tribe with birth, aging, illness, and death to occupy the vast wilderness, while the witch and demon tribes would decline after the Great Witch-Demon War, occasionally producing one or two who would still be suppressed by the Heavenly Way, causing later generations of humans to kill demons at sight, and even creating the slogan "subdue demons and eliminate evil".

  How to save the witch tribe? Emperor Jiang's heart suddenly became annoyed, either not allowing the witch tribe to give birth, or letting the witch tribe become like the human tribe with life and death. Thinking of this, the term "witch" suddenly popped up in Emperor Jiang's mind, but he had already thought of a comprehensive solution, from top to bottom, he would try his best to preserve all members of the witch tribe.

  Seeing the expression on Emperor Jiang's face, Hong Jun already knew that he had found a solution and didn't have anything else to instruct, so he stopped talking and started closing his eyes to cultivate his spirit, quietly waiting for the arrival of other cultivators.

  Di Jiang also sat cross-legged on his own cushion and stopped speaking.

  Before long, Sanqing and other monks arrived one after another. Seeing that Hongyuan had already appeared, they were somewhat surprised but didn't pay much attention to it. They thought that this was the last lecture, and their master looked a bit serious.

  At last, the Zi Xiao Palace was filled with three thousand people, and the gates began to close.

  "This is the last sermon, you all listen carefully." Hong Jun said, his tone changed back to that extraordinary and transcendent calmness.

  Di Jiang also released Kong Xuan and Yu Yi Xian, closed his eyes and listened carefully.

  PS: This chapter is written, I don't know if it will be sprayed or not, but it's indeed the author's own understanding. If there are any places that are not satisfactory, please forgive me. In addition, thank you for the rewards from Greedy Pig, Meet in the Wind, and Sword of Rain Forest, as well as many suggestions from Ice Lingfeng.