Chapter 40 Laozi Witnesses the Dao

  Jieyin and Zhunti are both heavenly saints, but they have not yet become saints. They still need to pay respects to Nüwa, saying "Greetings, fellow Daoist Nüwa, how have you been?"

  "Not bad, I've brought two fellow Taoists who aren't from Western Bliss, what brings you to this Western Kunlun?"

  "Nüwa, my friend, we came here entrusted by the Queen of the West. We heard that Emperor Jun and Taiyi are leading a large army to attack the Western Kunlun Mountains. At first, we didn't believe it, thinking it was a misunderstanding. I thought Emperor Jun would never be so rude. But the fact is indeed true, and it's hard not to make me deeply grieved. Emperor Jun and Taiyi bully the weak and oppress the small, their actions are really too excessive."

  "You want to turn black and white upside down, we are acting on behalf of heaven to punish the Western Queen who does not respect the heavenly order. You are interfering with this matter, which is truly detestable." Emperor Jun argued from the side.

  "My brother and Nüwa are talking, what right do you have to interrupt? Don't you know shame?" Zhun Ti's words clearly told Emperor Jun that this was a conversation between saints and future saints, so get out of the way.

  Di Jun's anger was almost maddening, he pointed at the accurate proposal with his hand, and didn't know what to say anymore. Tai Yi's eyes were also blazing with fury, and he was about to urge Dong Huang Zhong to go up and fight to the death.

  Nüwa was also dissatisfied with Emperor Jun's overbearing behavior, and as the sacred person of the demon clan, she should have enjoyed the luck of the demon clan, but it was divided by these two people. As a saint, Nüwa was extremely dissatisfied, and originally in the Purple Mansion, she felt a little pleasure seeing Emperor Jun being taken away.

  However, after all, the demon clan is related to Nüwa's luck, and cannot afford to lose. Moreover, as a sacred person, Nüwa's grasp of heavenly secrets has greatly improved, almost able to foresee part of the demon clan's future. Seeing this, Nüwa was also frightened, knowing that she must save Emperor Jun and Taiyi, so there is hope for the demon clan to win, in order to maintain her own luck.

  It was based on these considerations that Nüwa appeared and stopped the dispute between Jiandi and Emperor Jun.

  "Let's not argue about who is right or wrong anymore. Why don't we just think about how to understand this matter? What do you, fellow Taoist, think?"

  "The princess's words are reasonable, I will wait for the fair judgment of our fellow Taoist, Nüwa."

  "Everything will be decided by our daughter." Emperor Jun also agreed.

  Nüwa thought for a moment, "I see that the Queen of the West has not suffered any loss. Why don't we do it this way? I'll be the guarantor. In the future, Emperor Jun and Taiyi will not invade the Western Kunlun Mountains. Let's consider this matter settled. What do you think, fellow Daoists?" Nüwa asked the guides.

  This is not a punishment for Emperor Jun Taiyi at all, and getting just one guarantee is also unnecessary. Although Nüwa is a saint, she can find an excuse to act at any time, and it only says that Emperor Jun Taiyi cannot come, what about the others of the demon tribe? The heart is like a clear mirror, but as a saint, Nüwa herself doesn't want to lose face either.

  "I think the Western Queen Mother is a victim at this time, it's okay to let her speak." The guide pushed the leather ball to the Western Queen Mother. After a moment of thought, she nodded in agreement.

  "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your benevolence. I'm just a humble woman who wants to live out the rest of my days in peace and quiet. As long as Emperor Jun doesn't come to disturb me, I'll be more than content. It's truly a sin on my part to trouble Your Majesty with such a request."

  The Queen Mother of the West didn't want to pursue it anymore, which was also unexpected yet expected. As a revered goddess, Nüwa had come to protect Emperor Jun and Taiyi, so what could the Queen Mother of the West say?

  Di Jun and Tai Yi had no choice but to swallow the bitter fruit, promising not to invade Xiwu Kunlun again. They turned around and returned to the Heavenly Court, and the cloud dispersed from then on.

  "Please lead the Taoist friend in, I have a request, and I hope it will be granted."

  "Queen Mother, please get up quickly. What's the point of saying this? Emperor Jun has already been driven away. What else is difficult for you? Do you need to make such a big fuss?" The guide said, helping the Queen Mother up.

  "I've offended Emperor Jun and Taiyi today. It's often said that it's better to offend a gentleman than a petty person. Those two are indeed petty people, and even with the guarantee of Nüwa Niangniang, they can't help but be reckless. My Western Kunlun is hard to keep quiet." The Queen Mother of the West spoke pitifully, and Jingyuan thought that she wasn't entirely unreasonable.

  "What can Queen Mother do if it doesn't work out? As long as I can help with the introduction, just go ahead and say so."

  "Thank you, I'll prepare to disperse the cultivators of Western Kunlun and head to Mount Sumeru. It doesn't matter if it's just a small mountain peak, as long as I can settle down safely. I don't dare have excessive expectations, thinking about how many powerful beings fell in the vast wilderness, I'm content with just preserving my life."

  The Heavenly Master had originally planned to take in the Queen Mother of the West, but he didn't expect her to be so accommodating and bring it up herself. This was for the best, thought the Heavenly Master after a moment's consideration. "Queen Mother, you see that Mount Kunlun also has some female cultivators," said the Heavenly Master. "Why don't I just hand them over to you to manage? Later on, I'll make arrangements for you, what do you think?"

  The Queen Mother of the West simply instructed a few close female cultivators to follow the guide and set off for Mount Sumeru ahead of time. The guide didn't dare to neglect this great divine being, so he directly assigned the entire Lianyun Peak of Mount Sumeru to the Queen Mother's jurisdiction, and also handed over all the female cultivators to her.

  The Queen Mother of the West came to Mount Sumeru and did not go out of the main gate, nor did she step over the threshold of the second gate. She cultivated her body and nurtured her nature, without inquiring about worldly affairs.

  Three Purities returned to the Jade Void Palace on Mount Kunlun, feeling extremely unhappy. As one who had always considered himself the orthodox Pangu, Three Purities felt deceived by Nüwa and was frustrated that he couldn't become a saint before others.

  What's most anxious is not Yuan and Tongtian, but Laozi. Laozi's cultivation is far superior to that of his two brothers, so he can feel the dynamics of the Honghuang atmosphere. The demon clan's atmosphere is rising steadily, and if this continues, Emperor Jun Taoyi's Dao line will soar, and it's possible that they will become saints before him. Even if not, once the demon clan's momentum becomes a reality, what's the fun in being a powerless saint?

  Laozi left Kunlun Mountain alone and rushed to the vast land of Honghuang, also to find opportunities.

  On this day, Laozi happened to be in front of a tribe, seeing countless people sharing the meat of a fierce beast, with red flames and wafting meat fragrance. These savages were wearing tree bark and leaves, sharing their rare joy.

  Laozi recognized that this was the human race created by Nüwa. For a moment, he couldn't understand why this ordinary human race could enable Nüwa to attain the status of a saint. The human race must have its extraordinary aspects, but where are they? It's fundamentally invisible. Is it the innate Tao body? Laozi was puzzled and couldn't figure it out.

  At this time a little child was holding a piece of tender and delicious meat in his hands and presenting it to his father.

  "Elderly person, you eat."

  The old man took one look at the child's clear eyes and felt a stir in his heart. He said:

  "Are you willing to take me as your master?"

  "What is a teacher? Can it be eaten?"

  "Hehe, you're talking nonsense. A master is someone who can teach you skills to transcend the world's suffering, live forever and be immortal."

  "Immortal? Is he as powerful as a witch?" The old man patiently explained to the child, and through his narrative, it was learned that most of the human race now relies on the witches for survival.

  On that day, the three ancestors of the human tribe accepted the teachings of the guide and made rapid progress, almost reaching the realm of the mysterious immortals. However, this was not enough in the vast wilderness, where the people still struggled to find food, encountered fierce beasts from time to time, and suffered countless casualties at the hands of powerful demons. Fortunately, the human tribe's reproductive ability was too strong, and their numbers continued to increase despite the difficulties.

  Until they met the Witches, the Witches' way of survival was very similar to that of the human tribe, but the Witches were much stronger and lived better. However, the Witches' thoughts were not as delicate as those of the human tribe, and some of the human tribe's handicrafts were quite popular among the Witches. The two tribes gradually became friends, with the Witches helping the humans hunt and the humans making decorative items and tools for the Witches, such as cleaning their houses.

  In this way, the human tribe survived as a vassal of the witch tribe, with their numbers growing more and more, and occasionally the witch tribe would intermarry with the human tribe, and even give birth to offspring with witch tribe abilities, which made the high-level witch tribe who had always been troubled by their small numbers extremely delighted, and they no longer interfered with the interactions between the witch tribe and the human tribe.

  Now every slightly larger human tribe has the existence of witches, using witchcraft to help humans cure diseases, and is widely respected by humans.

  Laozi understood all this, and became even more curious about the human race. He took in the child as his apprentice and named him Xuandu, making him Laozi's only disciple. Laozi continued to ponder why the human race could make Nüwa a saint.

  It's been three hundred years, which is just a blink of an eye for the gods, but for humans now, it's already several generations' life cycle. Xuan Du has long grown up and become an adult, looking slightly wooden, always serving by his master's side. He also knows that his teacher is a great power in the human world, searching for an opportunity.

  That day, Laozi observed life, aging, illness and death, gaining endless insights. His face was filled with joy, a sight that Xuan Yu had never seen before in his teacher.

  "The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao; the name that can be named is not the eternal name. The Nameless is the origin of heaven and earth. The Named is the mother of all things. Therefore, always desire to observe its wonder without desire; always desire to observe its boundary with desire. These two come from the same source but differ in name; they are called mysterious - mysterious and again mysterious, the gate of all wonders."

  "When all men know beauty as beautiful, ugliness arises. When all men know good as good, evil arises. Therefore being and non-being produce each other; difficult and easy complete each other; long and short form each other; high and low fill each other; voice and sound harmonize with each other; front and back follow each other. This is the eternal principle. Thus the sage dwells in non-action, carries out teaching without words; all things develop naturally, without his interference; they grow, but he does not claim them as his own; he achieves success, but does not dwell on it. Only because he does not dwell on it, therefore he is never lost..."

  More and more people gathered here to listen to Laozi's lectures on the true classics, and the smile on Laozi's face became more and more intense. In the end, Laozi said loudly: "I am Pan Gu San Qing's first ancestor, Laozi. Today, I have a feeling about the long fortune of the human race, deeply harmonious with the heavenly creation. Therefore, I established the teachings of humanity, to educate all living beings." As he spoke, Laozi waved his hand and conjured up the Taiji diagram. "With the Taiji diagram suppressing the fortune of the teachings of humanity, the teachings are established!"

  The old man's words were finished, and a huge golden light of merit fell from the top of the nine heavens, landing directly on the old man's head. The secrets of the Heavenly Way were opened to him at this moment, making him extremely joyful. The Great Merit of Opening Heaven within his body was also activated, combining with the external energy, causing the old man's cultivation to rapidly improve.

  Heavenly fragrance descends, golden lotus bursts forth from the earth. The Old Master has become a saint, his aura majestic and powerful, even surpassing that of Nüwa's ascension to sainthood. It turns out that in the final moment, the Old Master carefully guarded his Dao heart, cutting off his attachments, banishing the three corpses, ultimately becoming the leader of the Three Purities. His cultivation is indeed profound.

  Laozi temporarily became the master of human teachings, revered as a sage, and all living beings in the vast wilderness felt a sense of oppression, unable to resist prostrating themselves in worship. The remaining few Heaven-ordained sages were not affected.