Chapter Thirty-Five: The Treasure of Mount Buzhou

Dong... With a crisp chime of the bell, everyone fell silent.

A gaunt elder in a gray-white Daoist robe—the revered Ancestor Hongjun—suddenly appeared atop the highest purple cloud bed. He materialized without a sound, with not the slightest warning, leaving all those who had come to listen inwardly awed, feeling ever more the unfathomable depth of a Sage.

“Without even revealing his aura, he exerts such pressure. Is this the power of a Sage?” The Sea of Blood avatar, too, felt a ripple of unease.

Hongjun sat high upon the cloud bed, surveying those below. When his gaze fell upon the Sea of Blood avatar, he paused ever so slightly.

“Hmm?” The Sea of Blood avatar, sensing something, tensed inwardly, uncertainty flickering through his heart. “Has Hongjun seen through me?”

But Hongjun soon withdrew his gaze and began to speak slowly: “From this day forth, your seats shall remain as they are, unchanging. This discourse will last three thousand years.”

“Before Heaven and Earth opened, there was something formed in chaos, born before Heaven and Earth, silent and vast, standing alone, unchanged, revolving yet unwearied—this may be called the Mother of All Under Heaven. I do not know its name and thus call it Dao. Forced to name it, I call it Great. The Great moves, and movement leads afar, afar brings return. Thus, the Dao is great, Heaven is great, Earth is great, and living beings are also great.”

“The Dao that can be spoken is not the eternal Dao; the name that can be named is not the eternal name. Nameless, it is the origin of Heaven and Earth; named, it is the mother of all things. Hence, ever desireless, one observes its wonders; ever desiring, one observes its manifestations. These two emerge together yet differ in name; both are called mysterious. The mystery of mysteries is the gate to all wonders.”

“Great virtue is accommodating; it follows only the Dao. The Dao is elusive and vague. Vague and elusive, within it is form; elusive and vague, within it is substance. Deep and obscure, within it is essence; its essence is most real, within it is faith.”

“The Great Dao flows everywhere; it may go left or right. All things depend on it for life, and it rejects none. Its work is accomplished yet it claims no merit. It nourishes all things but does not rule them—thus it is called small. All things return to it, yet it does not rule them—thus it is called great. Because it never regards itself as great, it is able to accomplish greatness.”

...

Truly worthy of a Sage’s discourse, the teachings were profoundly mysterious and the manifestations extraordinary. Countless golden lotuses drifted down within the Palace of Purple Clouds, golden lotuses bloomed from the earth, and the rich, pure spiritual energy transformed into rare birds and beasts. Marvels abounded, celestial flowers rained down, clouds and mists were born, and heavenly radiance soared on all sides.

This was Hongjun’s first discourse. The principles expounded were not overly abstruse, beginning with the cultivation of sentient beings and ending at the realm of Grand Luo Golden Immortal. Though many present had already attained this stage, they still listened with great attentiveness. Hongjun’s teachings encompassed all things; even those not strictly relevant to one’s own practice could serve as valuable references, broadening knowledge and perspective.

A thousand years passed. Hongjun finished explaining all levels below the Quasi-Saint, and the audience, utterly enthralled, gained much from his words.

Having covered the foundations of cultivation, Hongjun moved on to expound the higher truths of the laws—the Three Thousand Daos recorded within the Jade Butterfly of Creation.

The path of the laws is extremely difficult to comprehend and serves as the gateway to the Quasi-Saint and Sage realms. Though Hongjun only introduced the fundamental insights into the laws, many present were only at the Taiyi Golden Immortal level and had yet to attain their Grand Luo fruits, making comprehension exceedingly arduous. However, for the likes of the Three Pure Ones, who had already begun to grasp, or even deeply comprehend, the laws, every word was a priceless treasure.

In the two thousand years that followed, Hongjun’s teachings of the laws planted the seeds of Dao in the hearts of those present. Whether these seeds would sprout and grow depended on individual fortune and insight, and among those gathered in the Purple Cloud Palace, there was no lack of extraordinary talents.

Some, seizing upon Hongjun’s discourse, swiftly attained insight into the paths they were most attuned to. Though their cultivation did not leap forward, their deepened understanding of the Dao allowed them to wield its power more effectively, and their strength naturally increased. Thus, even among Grand Luo Golden Immortals, difference in Dao comprehension could lead to vast disparities in power. The deeper one’s understanding, the greater the power one could draw from spiritual treasures.

Unnoticed, the three thousand years slipped by. When Hongjun finished and ceased speaking, those immersed in the mysteries of the Dao awoke, all feeling unsatisfied and longing for more.

“This first discourse ends here. The next will be in three thousand years. All of you, return now!” Without waiting for a response, Hongjun waved his sleeve lightly and vanished as silently as he had arrived.

Seeing Hongjun depart, everyone, though regretful, bowed in unison. “Thank you, Dao Ancestor Hongjun. We take our leave!”

“Dao Ancestor? An apt title!” the Sea of Blood avatar thought to himself, “Hongjun’s discourse, though in accordance with the rules of Heaven, likely serves more than mere reputation—he is surely using the title of Dao Ancestor to indirectly strengthen his own fate and fortune.”

With the first discourse concluded, the assembly did not linger in the Purple Cloud Palace but returned to the Great Desolation. Many had not fully comprehended all that Hongjun taught and needed to enter seclusion to ponder it deeply.

In the northwest of the Great Desolation, within the depths of Heavenly Chasm Mountain where the five-elemental energies converged, the ancestor of Heaven and Earth—having just finished pondering the insights gained from the discourse—slowly opened his eyes, brow furrowed in resignation. “So Hongjun did not speak of the Way of Three Corpses this time. It seems I must wait until the next session.”

“Ah, well—there is no rushing it! For now, I should focus on penetrating what I have already gained,” he said with a small shake of his head, then once more closed his eyes and entered meditation.

Meanwhile, the Sea of Blood avatar, having left the Purple Cloud Palace and just returned to the world, was about to make his way back to the Nether Blood Sea when he keenly sensed a surge of spiritual energy from Mount Buzhou. Brow arching in interest, he hurried in that direction.

Halfway up Mount Buzhou, an immortal vine grew with extraordinary vigor. Now, spiritual energy was gathering about it, and it was madly absorbing the celestial essence of Heaven and Earth—the gourds hanging from its tendrils were about to ripen. This immortal vine was truly remarkable: it bore seven gourds of different colors, each possessing unique powers—the supreme innate spiritual root known as the Gourd Vine.

When the Sea of Blood avatar arrived, he saw nine figures already gathered before the vine: the Three Pure Ones, the siblings Nuwa and Fuxi, the brothers Emperor Jun and Taiyi, as well as Red Cloud and Zhen Yuanzi. With the arrival of the Sea of Blood avatar, there were now ten contenders.

There were only seven gourds, but ten people—how could they possibly divide them? For a moment, as they looked upon the last arrival, the Sea of Blood avatar, the Three Pure Ones and the others all frowned slightly, a trace of displeasure in their hearts.

The Sea of Blood avatar paid their feelings no mind. His eyes gleamed with delight as he gazed at the gourd vine and its seven burgeoning gourds.

This vine was no ordinary thing—once the gourds ripened, their quality was exceptional, and with a little refinement, each could become a top-grade innate spiritual treasure. No one present was unmoved; after all, the Dao Ancestor had not yet distributed treasures at the Rock of Treasure Division, and those skilled in artifact refinement were rare. Most great beings of the Great Desolation possessed few innate spiritual treasures.

As the surrounding spiritual energy gradually dispersed—a sign of the gourds’ impending maturity—Laozi could no longer contain himself and spoke first: “The three of us are the orthodox successors of Pangu and ought to receive the first three gourds.”

Hearing the Three Pure Ones claim three for themselves, the others frowned, but as the brothers were united, highly cultivated, and possessed the supreme Merit Pagoda for protection, none dared gainsay them and could only nod in reluctant agreement.

Laozi stepped forward and took the first gourd, which he later refined into the Purple-Gold Red Gourd, used to store elixirs—it preserved their potency and could nurture pills, enhancing their quality. Yuanshi took a pure white gourd, and Tongtian a green-skinned gourd.