Chapter 186: The Established Rules

He smiled wryly to himself, realizing that ever since stepping into the thirty‑three layers of heaven, all his actions had been under the Saint's gaze.

In the Tai Qing realm, Zhou Yi vaguely sensed a hidden secret of the Heavenly Dao behind him, one he himself had never touched, perhaps linked by countless threads to Grand Master Hong Yuanzu and the supreme law.

He gently shook his head to dispel these stray thoughts; after all, he had not yet reached the Imperial Realm, and probing the Saint's mystery was like gazing at the moon while watching the stars.

This place, a blessed cavern opened by the Tai Qing Sheng Ren, brimmed with spiritual energy more than ten times that of the outside world, and for cultivators seeking to comprehend the Way of Taiji's yin and yang it was truly a holy land of enlightenment.

The moment Zhou Yi set foot here, he felt the yin and yang qi naturally circulating, his internal cosmic circuit began to run on its own, and the once‑obscure mysteries now shone as clear as a spring.

"The saintly realm is wondrous, truly awe‑inspiring," the youth mused silently. The gap between a quasi‑saint and a true Saint was like fireflies compared to a bright moon, yet even the lingering Dao resonance here benefited him greatly.

Master Miao Le led Zhou Yi through the cloud‑staircase wrapped in rosy light and stopped before a blue‑tile Daoist temple to perform the rites: "Master, the disciple has already invited the Human Emperor."

"Enter."

The brief reply was wrapped in the Great Dao's true words, causing the eaves' bronze bells to tremble lightly.

As Zhou Yi crossed the threshold, it was as if he passed through a water veil dividing yin and yang; looking up again, he saw the elder seated upon the Taiji diagram.

Though unchanged from a century ago when he lectured the Human Race, the innate Dao resonance flowing around the Tai Qing Sheng Ren grew ever more unfathomable.

After Miao Le withdrew, the temple fell into a peculiar silence. Zhou Yi lowered his eyes and stood still, hearing a faint, intermittent harmony of yin and yang in his ears.

Incense of agarwood rose from the desk, sketching a Taiji pattern in the void. The Saint said nothing, yet the entire space filled with unresolved mysteries.

When the ash fell for the third time, the old master waved his dust‑brush lightly: "Do you know the deeper meaning behind summoning you here?"

"The Saint's thoughts encompass all, and I, the junior, dare not guess recklessly." Zhou Yi lightly touched the Kongtong seal in his sleeve; the Nine Tripod Qi silently circulated within his body.

Before a Saint who can glimpse heavenly mechanisms, even a single extra word might disturb one's destiny.

In the Tai Qing Hall, blue smoke curled, the Saint sat on the cloud platform smiling calmly. Zhou Yi bowed his head at the steps, already sweating fine beads on his back.

The Saint's gaze was like a still deep pool, bearing no pressure, yet it made him feel the chill of standing naked on a snowfield.

"Having taught for a hundred years, can you discern its true meaning?" The Saint brushed the dust‑brush, and the blue smoke from the incense burner suddenly solidified into a phantom of the River Diagram and Luo Book.

"The Saint established the Ren Sect to verify the Dao, and thus must repay the ties of cultivation." Zhou Yi's throat moved slightly.

The yin‑yang fish bronze furnace on the desk flickered, reflecting the pattern on his brows with striking clarity.

A clear tone, like jade striking stone, rang from the cloud platform: "Miao Le, deputy of the teaching, the thousand‑year cause and effect has been cleared."

Before the words fell, a surge of purple aura rose from the east outside the hall, wrapping a half‑rolled yellowed bamboo slip that hovered before Zhou Yi.

When the slip unfurled, it displayed the image of Laozi riding a green ox out of Hangu.

Zhou Yi stared at the star‑tracing paths flowing within the slip.

Memories of later ages surged like tides: when the Sealing of the Gods calamity began, the gates of Zixiao Palace shut tight; during the war of the Wu and Yao, Shouyang Mountain's clouds sealed the fog.

The "resolution of cause and effect" spoken by the Saint was precisely this decisive severance.

"Though the Ren Sect stands, it is not a shackles." The Saint tapped his fingertip, the bamboo slip turning into specks of fireflies that entered Zhou Yi's forehead: "When Nüwa molded earth to create humanity, she etched a self‑crossing mechanism into the Human bloodline."

Zhou Yi suddenly felt his spiritual platform clear. In the sea of consciousness, sparks of fire from Suiren's wood‑drilling appeared, beams of wood from You Chao's house‑building, and stalks of grass bitten by Shennong while tasting herbs.

Those faint glows gathered in the darkness into four ancient seal characters: Self‑Strengthening, Never Ceasing.

The incense burner suddenly erupted with Samadhi True Fire, burning the remaining contract documents into blue smoke.

When Zhou Yi looked up, the cloud platform was empty, only a half‑verse of greeting echoing between the beams and pillars: "Non‑conflict is conflict, non‑action surpasses action."

The Tai Qing Sheng Ren's stance was exactly as he described, his ties to the mortal peoples already severed.

Since he has no designs on the Human Race, he naturally does not interfere in their affairs.

What Zhou Yi truly despised were the opportunists who only appeared during the Human Race's flourishing to seek merit.

Facing this founding patriarch, Zhou Yi always maintained a cautious attitude.

The Golden Core Path passed down by the Tai Qing in ancient times, though not a supreme Dao lineage for the then‑still‑ignorant Human Race, ultimately opened a path of cultivation.

For that alone, Zhou Yi refrained from further criticism. What truly concerned him was whether the Saint's layout was a casual move or concealed deep mystery.

Pondering the profound meaning in the Tai Qing's words, Zhou Yi's thoughts grew ever more tangled, and finally he bowed and said: "The Saint's teachings are etched in my heart; the Human Race should strive to become strong."

"What a fine self‑strengthening spirit. If one can uphold this thought, why would the Human Race fear not rising?" the Tai Qing Sheng Ren brushed the dust‑brush, his Taiji robe moving without wind: "You are doubtful; why does this humble Daoist invite you to the Eight Scenes Palace?"

"I humbly request the Saint to clarify." Zhou Yi lowered his head and waited silently.

"It is not a matter of taking disciples; our paths differ. This invitation aims that, when the war of the Wu and Yao erupts, you can maintain the stability of the Six Realms of Reincarnation." These words made Zhou Yi's pupils narrow; even after imagining countless possibilities, he did not expect it to involve the Netherworld's deep lands.

Even more intriguing was that the other side never mentioned the Zhetian Imperial Method, the Ren Sect's propagation, or even the Taiyi War.

All of Honghuang know that the Six Realms of Reincarnation were fashioned by the Hou Tu Ancestor Shaman, and the Wu Clan holds authority over the underworld.

If one seeks a stable reincarnation cycle, one should contact the Wu Clan's high officials; why seek it alone?

In an instant, Zhou Yi's mind flashed a terrifying thought: could his hidden scheme have already been uncovered? He immediately denied it himself.

If the Saint truly perceives heavenly mechanisms, perhaps the Dao Ancestor has already sent down heavenly punishment, lest he remain safely seated in the Taiji Hall.

Purple aura swirled around the Eight Scenes Palace; Zhou Yi knelt before a meditation cushion patterned with chaotic blue lotus.

The Tai Qing Sheng Ren tapped the void, revealing Buddha light at the entrance of the Six Realms of Reincarnation: "When you contended with Kṣitigarbha, I was expounding the cosmic circuit."

Zhou Yi's pupils narrowed; the Twelve Capital Heavenly Demon Array he had placed on the Yellow Springs Road had already been clearly seen by the Saint.

The phantom of the Taiji diagram swirled behind the Saint: "If those two bald donkeys dare to appear, this humble Daoist will handle them."

The mysterious yellow primal qi in the hall suddenly solidified; Zhou Yi felt as if Mount Buzhou pressed upon his spirit. He forced himself to speak: "The Wu Clan will never step out of reincarnation even a half step; this is the rule set by Hou Tu Lady."

As he spoke, the shadow of the Book of Life and Death in his sleeve flickered, subtly aligning with the Six Realms of Reincarnation law.

A hint of approval flashed in the Tai Qing Sheng Ren's eyes; with a light swing of his sleeve‑robe, hurried footsteps of Miao Le echoed from outside the hall.

When Zhou Yi withdrew, he saw the Samadhi True Fire in the Bagua furnace condense into a Wu Clan totem, and his mind instantly cleared.

"Master, will you take me as a junior disciple?" Miao Le grabbed Zhou Yi's wrist and asked, the Bagua purple‑gold furnace behind him spewing cinnabar clouds. Upon learning the result, this Ren Sect's first disciple was so annoyed he almost tipped the jade tray holding the Nine‑turn Golden Core.

As he stepped out of the Tai Qing realm, Zhou Yi gazed at the Honghuang starry sky and murmured: "The Saint's move, truly like an antlered antelope."

The human‑race torch pendant at his waist suddenly lit, revealing the Twelve Ancestral Witches deep within the Netherworld practicing the Great Heavenly Demon Array.