bookpub Chapter 18 Innate Fire Spirit, Toad Palace Gazing at the Moon
Chapter 18 Innate Fire Spirit, Toad Palace Gazing at the Moon
"These are the two great calamities that have occurred since Pangu created the world and established the primordial era."
Hongjun Daozu's eyes were filled with sorrow as he sighed, "I have personally witnessed the primordial world being gradually shattered from its original state of perfection, leaving it riddled with holes. In particular, the western lands have suffered from the collapse of their spiritual veins and the great damage to their origins, making it difficult to restore their former glory."
"Just as my young friend said before—"
"Ordinary calamities are merely the replacement of living beings and the rise and fall of races, without harming the very foundation of heaven and earth."
"But if the karma of killing accumulates to the extreme, and the power of the clan's struggle breaks through the limit that heaven and earth can bear, it will turn into an immeasurable calamity. At that time, not only will living beings be extinct, but the primordial world itself will be completely destroyed and return to chaos. All living beings will perish, and even a saint who has attained the Dao may not be able to escape unscathed."
Looking at the undisguised sorrow in Hongjun's eyes, Lingxiao felt a sudden sense of clarity.
Memories of another world suddenly flashed through his mind—the apocalyptic scenes described in those post-apocalyptic novels: zombies roaming, nuclear war… How many civilizations developed to their peak of prosperity, only to ultimately destroy themselves—unrestrained exploitation of the resources of heaven and earth, wanton destruction of the foundation of survival, ultimately leading to the backlash of heaven and earth, resulting in the extinction of civilization and the annihilation of all life.
Looking back now, isn't the primordial calamity the same principle?
Ferocious beasts ran rampant, plundering spiritual veins and destroying the very foundation of life in the primordial world; the three races fought for supremacy, engaging in indiscriminate slaughter and depleting the innate resources of the primordial world.
When the rate of consumption far exceeds the recovery rate of the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and when the expansion of the race has already filled the borders of the primordial world.
The outbreak of the great calamity was already destined.
All of this was never deliberately manipulated by the Heavenly Dao, nor was it orchestrated by sages in secret. It was simply that the insatiable greed of living beings led to their decline after reaching their peak, and ultimately they were devoured by the karma of killing they themselves had created.
This reasoning is far more real and reasonable than later speculations that "the Way of Heaven is a chessboard, and all living beings are pieces."
Having understood this, Ling Xiao looked at Dao Ancestor Hongjun and asked in a deep voice:
"So, the Dao Ancestor's appointment of the Eastern King Duke and the Western Queen Mother as the heads of male and female immortals, establishing the order of the immortal path, was intended to set rules for all living beings, restrain unnecessary killing, reduce the depletion of the primordial essence of heaven and earth, delay the outbreak of the great calamity, and protect the primordial world?"
He sighed inwardly, thinking that whether it was the conferment of immortal titles today or the conferment of gods by the Heavenly Court in later generations, the original intention was probably to eliminate the calamity and bring peace to the primordial world.
Unfortunately, the course of events was difficult to reverse, and all these painstaking plans ultimately became part of a great calamity.
Indeed.
Upon hearing this, Hongjun Daozu showed a bitter smile on his face and sighed softly.
"All I can do is alleviate the situation to some extent."
"The Great Calamity is a natural law of heaven and earth, an inevitable trend. When sentient beings have greed, there will be strife; when there is strife, there will be killing. When the killing karma is full, the Great Calamity will surely come. Even I, a sage of the Heavenly Dao, can only go with the flow and cannot forcibly reverse the universe."
"The reason I established the order of the immortal path is simply to set rules for all living beings, so that independent cultivators have a leader, clans have constraints, there is less unnecessary killing, less waste of the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and so that this primordial world can be a little more peaceful."
"It's a pity that I am but a single tree that cannot support the heavens. The path to joining the Dao and mending the heavens will be extremely difficult. If it weren't for your previous establishment of the Twelve Yuan Chen to fill the gaps in the Heavenly Dao and allow me to meet like-minded people, I wouldn't be speaking these heartfelt words to you today."
Hongjun Daozu gently shook his head, a trace of inexplicable melancholy flashing in his eyes.
He had already deduced that the Way of Heaven was incomplete, and that one must unite with the Way to make it complete.
However, after merging with the Dao, one will be assimilated by the rules of the Heavenly Dao, becoming absolutely calm, selfless, and losing one's original heart; and the Heavenly Dao itself will also be tainted by one's selfish thoughts, resulting in the Heavenly Rules being biased and the Heavenly Dao being unjust.
The two influence each other, and a change in one affects the whole.
After merging with the Dao, even a Heavenly Dao Saint like him could not fully predict what the future held for the primordial world.
"The Dao Ancestor's protection of the primordial world is witnessed by heaven and earth, and proclaimed by the sun and moon." Upon hearing this, Ling Xiao was filled with mixed emotions.
Later generations all say that Hongjun Daozu plotted against the primordial world, manipulated the great eons, and used all living beings as pawns, which led to the decline of the primordial world and the coming of the end times.
But today, having heard and seen it with my own eyes, I realize that the greatest sage of the primordial era sought nothing more than to protect this world that has endured countless calamities and to safeguard the legacy of Pangu's creation of the world.
Unfortunately, even a sage with immense power cannot defy the will of heaven and earth.
Unless one prohibits all beings from practicing cultivation and severs the root of greed and strife, but how is that possible?
Even if the Dao Ancestor were willing, the myriad great supernatural beings of the primordial world would never agree. On the contrary, it would intensify the conflict, resulting in all living beings fighting against the heavens and prematurely triggering the great calamity.
Everyone looks out for themselves; those who obstruct the way are more vengeful than the heavens!
After a heartfelt exchange, Hongjun Daozu said nothing more, and Lingxiao rose, bowed, and prepared to take his leave.
He had already made up his mind that once he left Zixiao Palace, he would travel to the eastern lands to ask Nuwa, who was the embodiment of the innate Yin energy, to act as the matchmaker for this marriage.
Although it is not yet time to distribute the treasures at the Treasure Distribution Rock, and Nuwa has not yet obtained the precious red embroidered ball, among the three thousand Zixiao guests, there is no one more suitable than Nuwa to be the matchmaker.
Just as Ling Xiao turned around, Dao Ancestor Hongjun suddenly spoke up: "Young friend, please wait."
Ling Xiao paused, turned around and bowed again, only to see Hongjun Daozu wave his sleeve, and a golden flame flew out from his sleeve, hovering steadily in front of him.
It was an ancient golden lamp, its body made of innate nine yang fire jade, its wick a wisp of innate supreme yang fire spirit, and its interior contained half a cup of solar divine water formed from the condensation of true solar fire to its ultimate state. As soon as it appeared, a warm feeling spread out, and the surrounding innate spiritual energy all turned into flowing fire clouds.
"This treasure is called the Burning Heaven Golden Lamp. It was originally formed from the failed transformation of the innate supreme yang fire spirit of the Sun Star. It was born at the same time as Fellow Daoist Wangshu of the Moon Star."
"When this treasure appeared in the world, many fellow Daoists in the prehistoric world competed for it. I was fortunate enough to be more skilled and managed to acquire it."
Hongjun Daozu slowly explained: "This lamp is formed from the original source of the innate fire spirit, and the lamp oil is the essence of the true fire of the sun. When the lamp is lit, it can turn into a sea of fire for hundreds of millions of miles. It can burn away the karma of the world, protect the primordial spirit and true spirit, and also burn away powerful enemies. Evil spirits and ghosts will all turn to ashes when they encounter it. It is a top-level fire-elemental protective spiritual treasure in the primordial world."
"I am about to attain the Dao, so this treasure is no longer of any use to me. I will give it to you, young friend, firstly to help you protect your Dao and defend yourself, and secondly to suppress your luck as the Sun Star."
Ling Xiao understood that Hongjun Daozu was the first saint in the prehistoric world, the earliest to be born, with the deepest cultivation, and the Jade Tablet of Creation to suppress his fortune. No one else in the prehistoric world could match his profound blessings.
They had previously bestowed two top-grade innate spiritual treasures upon the Eastern King Duke and the Western Queen Mother without batting an eye. Now, to give me another top-grade innate spiritual treasure is perfectly normal.
As for Wangshu...
During the Great Calamity of Ferocious Beasts and the Great Calamity of Dragon Han, a person with great supernatural powers was indeed born on the Taiyin Star. He was the first Taiyin Star Lord, whose true form seemed to be a moon toad. He established the Toad Palace, a Taoist temple, on the Taiyin Star.
However, by the time Xihe and Changxi were born in human form, there was no news of this ancient and powerful being in the primordial world.
Even during this sermon by the Dao Ancestor, Wang Shu did not appear.
Nine times out of ten, they quietly encountered an unforeseen accident.
During that period, the Moon Star had the Moon Toad Gazing at the Moon, and the Sun Star should have also had a great supernatural being born, but the transformation failed and turned into this top-grade innate spiritual treasure, which was obtained by the Dao Ancestor Hongjun.
This treasure, however, is most compatible with the lineage of the Sun Star.
"Thank you for your generous gift, Dao Ancestor!" Suppressing his distracting thoughts, Ling Xiao bowed deeply to express his gratitude and then put the Burning Heaven Golden Lamp into his pocket.
He had already decided that upon returning to the Sun Star, he would hang this lamp in the main hall of the Lingxiao Palace, along with the Fusang Divine Tree, to suppress the Sun Star's original fortune.
After expressing his gratitude, Ling Xiao took his leave again and turned to leave the main hall of Zixiao Palace.
Outside the hall, Xihe and Changxi had already come out from the side hall. Seeing him come out, they hurriedly came to greet him.
Ling Xiao smiled and briefly recounted what had just happened. He then put his arms around the two women's waists, and together they set off in a rainbow beam that stretched for miles, passing through the chaotic void and the membrane of heaven and earth, heading straight for the primordial starry sky.
After an unknown amount of time, the rainbow streaked across the starry sky and finally landed steadily on the eastern land.