Chapter 581

After quietly pondering for a moment, the crowd finally sorted the matter out.

"So you're saying that from now on, we must cultivate the Heavenly Immortal Dao?"

Fa Hai nodded: "That's right. Heaven's will has spoken — the Heavenly Immortal Dao must be promoted; otherwise, continuing to cultivate the power of incense and offerings will likely drag the human race down to suffer along with it."

The Old Celestial Master asked: "Then may I ask how mighty the Heavenly Immortal Dao is — can it subdue demons and vanquish evil?"

"Yes, if it's too weak, it won't be able to overawe the wicked."

"On this point, you need not worry." Fa Hai smiled proudly. "The Heavenly Immortal Dao was formed from the convergence of the Dao fruits of all worlds, created by the Primordial Limitless Supreme Mystery Dao Lord. Cultivate to the Heavenly Immortal realm, and your lifespan becomes infinite — enough to look down upon all ages. Mere demons and evils can be suppressed with a lift of the hand."

As he spoke, his white robes flapped loudly.

The next moment, the crowd felt the sky brighten.

They saw, in the void, ten thousand Buddha phantoms standing in attendance, setting off the white-robed Fa Hai as sacred and extraordinary. An awe-inspiring aura descended, making the crowd feel as if facing a great enemy.

"This…"

The crowd was stunned.

Such a sight as ten thousand Buddhas in attendance would have been a grave irreverence before the Immortal-Slaying Calamity.

Now, it merely showed that Fa Hai's strength had reached a level akin to a god or a Buddha.

The Old Celestial Master raised an eyebrow: "That's not right — this isn't the power of incense and offerings. Could this be the Heavenly Immortal Dao?"

"Good eye, Old Celestial Master." Fa Hai laughed heartily. With a shake, his white robes shattered into pieces that fluttered down, revealing his back.

"There are no incense-offering tattoos!"

"There are no 530 incense-offering dharma incantations!"

"And no spiritual power fluctuation either!"

"This is a brand-new cultivation path!"

The crowd was far too excited.

As cultivators, cultivating incense and offerings was only a last resort.

How could they not have wanted to cultivate the ancient arts and step onto the true path of immortality?

One must know that incense and offerings are poisonous.

The longer one cultivates incense and offerings, the more one's divine soul gets stained — and then they are no longer themselves, becoming deified and losing their self.

That is tantamount to perishing.

Five hundred years.

Five hundred years have passed, and finally there is a cultivation path one can practice on one's own, without danger.

Fa Hai said proudly: "This is the Heavenly Immortal Dao. Before all of you arrived, I had already used the Heavenly Immortal Dao to dissolve my former incense-offering thought-power. Now, I am already at the peak of Martial Saint, and in a few more days, I should become a Human Immortal."

"This Lingshan World-Honored One's will is precisely my martial Dao will."

The Old Celestial Master praised: "Master Fa Hai has such boldness — to actually want to become the new Lingshan World-Honored One. Remarkable!"

Lin Yu also praised: "Chan Master Fa Hai has such boldness — he has actually already switched to cultivating the Heavenly Immortal Dao."

"You flatter me." Fa Hai's expression was calm. With a wave of his hand, a little novice monk, wearing an adoring look, brought up a white monk's robe. "Now, let us return to the matter of the Heavenly Immortal Dao. The Dao Lord has transmitted the Dharma (aida) and resolved the affairs of this realm — his kindness is weighty as a mountain, and we cannot fail to repay it. I propose that we offer up all our former ancient cultivation methods to the Dao Lord. What do you all think?"

"Additionally, anyone who cultivates the Dao Lord's Heavenly Immortal Dao must erect a statue of the Dao Lord within their sect; so long as the sect endures, the incense and offerings shall not cease."

"This is only proper."

Hearing this, the Old Celestial Master was the first to declare his stance.

Right after, Maoshan and Quanzhen also declared their stance.

The remaining cultivators exchanged a glance and immediately echoed their agreement.

Before immortality, copying down those long-departed cultivation methods and gifting them away — the fallen ancestors, one supposes, would not mind.

As for erecting a divine statue and keeping the incense and offerings unceasing —

That was even more a matter of course. Having cultivated another's method, one naturally had to worship them.

"We agree."

Fa Hai waved his hand, and a jade slip appeared in his grasp.

"Please look, everyone — this is the jade slip of the Heavenly Immortal Dao. Previously, it was precisely with this jade slip that I offered sacrifice to Heaven and received Heaven's approval. The Heavenly Immortal Dao shall rise — this is Heaven's will."

The Old Celestial Master, being of the highest status, took it first, pressing the jade slip to his brow to read the information within.

After a moment, he took the jade slip down.

Meeting everyone's gazes, he praised: "The Heavenly Immortal Dao is truly wondrous — it requires no spiritual energy, and even ordinary mortals can practice it. However, to cultivate to Human Immortal or Heavenly Immortal, the talent required is still demanding."

Lin Yu took the jade slip and smiled: "Even in ancient times, becoming an immortal was a difficult matter — isn't that only natural? Where in the world would there be such a good thing as everyone being able to become an immortal!"

About half a shichen later, everyone had read the Heavenly Immortal Dao and then immersed themselves in cultivation.

For several days running, everyone cultivated within Jin Shansi, until all of them had abolished their incense-offering power and reached the peak of Martial Saint.

Boom!

Suddenly, Lei Ting exploded with a roar.

The crowd only felt their hearts and minds clear; the sense of layered crises from days past vanished, and in their perception, everything in the world radiated with new life.

"A new epoch begins, and all things are renewed! All that came before is now dust and smoke. From today onward, the Heavenly Immortal Dao shall be the mainstream."

The Old Celestial Master gazed at the sky, calculated on his fingers, and quickly obtained the result.

Heaven's Dao did not conceal the heavenly secrets, and other experts also calculated, arriving at the same result.

Exchanging glances, they all felt quite exhilarated.

The Heavenly Immortal Dao shall rise, and they — as the very first to cultivate the Heavenly Immortal Dao in this new era — would they not have the chance to become the chief of the Immortal Dao, seated high above the nine heavens upon the Jade Emperor's throne?

Thinking of this, everyone's breathing grew rapid.

Cultivators have never been ones to purge their hearts and desires — they possess desires heavier than those of ordinary mortals.

Immortality and unfettered freedom.

This was something ordinary people could only dream of obtaining.

But for cultivators, these things were within their reach — they truly existed.

"Fellow Daoists, let us part ways here. I have already learned the Celestial Immortal Dao, and I must return to the Celestial Master Mansion to organize the secret manuals and deliver them to Chan Master Fahai." The Old Celestial Master was the first to cup his fists in salute. "Until we meet again."

Hearing this, Lin Yu also gave a sweep of his horsetail whisk and offered a slight bow to the crowd: "This poor Daoist is the same — I shall return to Maoshan now. Fellow Daoists, until a later date."

In just half a day's time, every single guest at Jin Shansi had departed.

Several days later.

The cultivation manuals of forces such as Quanzhen, Shushan, Maoshan, and the Celestial Master Mansion were delivered to Jin Shansi, fulfilling the promise made back then.

Apart from this, the Way of Incense was officially abolished.

The cultivation world also gained an explicit prohibition: any cultivator who takes incense to cultivate shall be jointly punished by all under heaven!

Loose cultivators, unaware of the inside story, mistakenly believed the great sects intended to monopolize incense, not knowing the true reason was simply that the Heavenly Dao did not permit it.

For the sake of the human race, the manuals of incense power were sealed away by each sect.

Unless absolutely necessary, they must never be lightly opened.

At the same time.

The promotion of the Celestial Immortal Dao was also proceeding at full throttle.

Whether it was Quanzhen, Shushan, or the Celestial Master Mansion passed down through generations, each sent out disciples to liaise with the mortal dynasties, beginning to spread the Celestial Immortal Dao.

The later stages of the Celestial Immortal Dao required talent — relying on just a handful of disciples from master-disciple transmission would certainly not be enough.

Every sect had drawn up a plan of casting a wide net, gathering many fish, and selecting the best, hoping to gather all the outstanding talents under heaven in order to cope with the coming crisis.

A new era had arrived, opportunities were everywhere, and every sect wanted to seize the leading position — competition instantly grew fierce.

Chat Group.

Fahai: "I wonder what this whole thing will eventually turn into. I hope everyone doesn't cause too much slaughter."

Su Xiao: "If you want to reduce the internal conflicts of the human race, I have a suggestion!"

Ye Hei: "??? Su Xiao is about to make a suggestion again — mortals, stand aside!"

Xiao Mai: "【Laughing】"

Hu Yifei: "【Cold sweat】 Hopefully the Dao Sovereign is here to judge whether Su Xiao's suggestion is reliable or not."

Su Xiao: "【Tears】 You don't trust me!!"

Yukinoshita Yukino: "It's not that we don't trust you — it's just that you have way too many prior offenses."