Chapter 164: Ao Xing Departs, the Secret of Merit

Master, I have now completed my cultivation and have come specially to bid you farewell.

"Currently, the clan's warfare is tense; a message was sent to me. As Ao Xing, being a son of the clan, having received many favors from the clan, I cannot but go; I hope Master will fulfill my request."

Qi gazed at Ao Xing kneeling on the ground, his feelings indescribably complex; after a moment of silence, he then said: "Hmm, I understand. Since you are about to enter the tribulation, although you have divine abilities and magic arts protecting you, you still need to be extra careful."

"Thank you, Master, for your concern; Xing will surely be careful and prudent."

Ao Xing's expression was firm; he merely nodded in agreement. At this moment, he devoted his whole heart and mind to the dragon clan's warfare, and did not notice Qi's abnormality.

Qi waved his hand and summoned the Water Splendor Awakening World Drum, saying to Ao Xing: "This drum is a top-grade innate spiritual treasure, named the Water Splendor Awakening World Drum; within it evolves the manner of Pangu's shouting and the heavenly thunder that gives birth to the world."

"It has the effect of warding off evil and eliminating calamities; when struck, it can produce Zi Xiao divine thunder, usable for resisting enemies and protecting the Dao."

"This is my treasure for protecting the Dao; you are about to enter the tribulation, so I will lend this treasure to you for protecting the Dao; keep a kind heart and refrain from killing."

"Xing will surely remember Master's teachings and refrain from creating killing karma."

Ao Xing assented.

In recent years, the Phoenix clan and the Qilin clan have cooperated, with flying beasts and land beasts forming an alliance, jointly targeting the Scaled Armor clan.

The White Tiger clan led the land beasts in a massive slaughter of the Scaled Armor clan members in the wilderness, especially the White Tiger clan's main base on the Western Continent; now the Scaled Armor clan has utterly vanished.

Among the flying beasts, the Great Peng clan has been exterminated; thus, led by hawks and falcons, wherever they pass, there are no Scaled Armor.

In the Southern Continent where the Phoenix resides, it is even more so; even in rivers and streams, no Scaled Armor kind can be seen.

At this time, the dragon clan can only retreat to the east, occupying most of the Eastern Continent.

Within its territory, the Snake clan, having suffered heavy losses, also dealt harshly with the flying and land beasts; the skies see no birds, and the earth has few hares and rabbits.

The Northern Continent is relatively calmer; flying beasts, land beasts, and the Scaled Armor still exist, but because the three clans lack the presence of the Phoenix, the number of flying beasts is somewhat fewer.

However, this peace will soon be broken; the Eastern, Western, and Southern continents now have stable spheres of influence and can exert little effect.

Their gaze will naturally shift, turning toward a land capable of producing new changes.

Because only new change can break the current stalemate, and the Northern Continent is the new battlefield chosen by the three clans.

Qi watched Ao Xing's retreating back; after observing for a moment, he turned and returned to Yunmze Marsh.

Gigantic pillars of starlight poured down from the sky, and mist gathered on the water's surface.

The Innate Yunmze Star Array was opened again, separating inside from outside.

Now the Great God Yang Mei has departed, the great tribulation is soon entering its end; it is a time of many affairs, yet it is best to open the array and cultivate in seclusion.

He's gone?

Taiyi asked with interest.

He's gone; the rest is up to fate.

Qi composed his state of mind and no longer pondered Ao Xing's matter.

Taiyi saw Qi's feeling of indebtedness toward Ao Xing and advised:

"Qi, you do not owe him anything; as a divine spirit, you must hold the mindset of treating all things in heaven and earth as chess pieces, and of non-action toward all beings, only then can it be."

"Heavenly gods, earthly deities, and divine humans—as long as heaven and earth remain unchanged, you and I will remain unchanged; how could there be so many worries? Just pray that heaven and earth remain unharmed."

"He, as your substitute in the tribulation, is the best solution for you, for him, for the dragon clan, and even for heaven and earth."

"Even if you do not teach him, he will eventually have to enter the tribulation; moreover, he lacks those divine abilities and magic arts, and the cultivation of a present-day Golden Immortal of the Great Luo."

"Even if it is indebtedness, what you owe should be the other two clans among the three. Although the great tribulation is initiated by you, the true source is not you, so there is no need to bear responsibilities that are not yours."

"Just like me, as long as the sun star operates without problem, able to rise and set normally, then I owe nothing to heaven and earth and all beings."

"Even if there is karmic reckoning, it should be they who owe me; now it is merely repayment."

When Taiyi said this, he was very calm; in his heart he had always held this view.

"In the past, when you, Qi, condemned the gods in Yunmze Marsh, you likewise affected all beings; why don't you behave this way now?"

"Could it be that the influence on countless beings is not as great as your influence on Ao Xing?"

Qi looked at Taiyi with some astonishment, discovering that if he calculated karma using Taiyi's method, it seemed that all of heaven and earth's beings would owe him much.

Taiyi frowned slightly, displeased with Qi's astonished gaze, and said: "If you don't believe it, you can just look, have your primordial spirit self-examine whether heaven and earth accept this karmic reckoning; not quarreling with them is fine—that is my magnanimity."

"If I were to reckon, then all who receive the sun's universal light ought to repay my kindness."

"After all, without me, the sun star could scorch the earth to barrenness; whenever fire poison erupts, all beings under heaven suffer great calamity."

"You say, I spare them from great calamity; do they receive my grace and owe me karmic debt?"

"Heaven and earth still wish to accumulate merit for me through this; heaven and earth acknowledge it, so it is naturally reasonable."

Qi suddenly felt as if he had missed something, and said: "Please bear with me, Taiyi; are you saying that heaven and earth have always been calculating merit for you in this way?"

At this moment, Qi no longer had the heart to concern himself with how Ao Xing was; he felt that heaven and earth seemed to have swallowed a large sum of his merit.

Since his birth from Yunmze Marsh, the merit he has obtained has mostly been unrelated to Yunmze Marsh; the few occasions that were related were when he lectured together with Taiyi Di Jun in Yunmze Marsh.

"You aren't calculating it this way, are you?"

Taiyi's voice carried a hint of hesitation, and he also sensed something amiss.

In the starry heavens, the merit of many heavenly deities originates from this place; precisely for this reason, they rarely enter the wilderness.

After all, in their view, rather than frolicking in the wilderness, it is better to cultivate painstakingly in the starry heavens while accumulating merit.

"I will first go into seclusion for a while to examine my primordial spirit; if feasible, I fear I will have missed much."

As soon as Qi finished speaking, he felt that heaven and earth were abnormal; countless golden clouds of merit appeared from the sky, stretching endlessly.

Its magnificent scale was not inferior to the merit Qi had obtained when he wandered and lectured in the wilderness; indeed, there was even a surplus.

The arrival of these merit golden clouds attracted the attention of Di Jun and Fuxi and Nüwa.

When they arrived, the heavens were just resounding with the Dao's melody, and heavenly maidens were scattering flowers; upon understanding, everyone fell silent.

"Merit and karmic retribution can actually be calculated in this way?"

Nüwa seemed to have opened the door to a new world.

How generous heaven and earth are to the heavenly gods and earthly spirits!

Fuxi sighed.

Di Jun, however, said: "The human way also has this; heavenly gods and earthly deities have the merit of heaven and earth, the human way also has the merit of the human way, and for divine beings to obtain it is also extremely easy."

"Whatever divine beings do, if it benefits all beings, once it spreads and has an effect, they can reap the rewards."

"But this is something heavenly gods and earthly deities lack; if it were not recorded in the inheritance of the Supreme Emperor, I would not know either."

Everyone stared at each other.

(End of chapter)