Chapter 229

Yangmei's face showed hesitation; after a while he said: "Qi, do you seek ultimate freedom, unbound by anyone, unconstrained by heaven and earth? Or do you just want an easier life, to be a Primordial Oneness and that's enough?"

I have long been acquainted with you, Taiyi and Nüwa; now that the time has come and you have asked, I will also tell you all together.

You are all outstanding individuals; even among the primordial divine sages, those who can prove the Great Dao should bear your names.

Listen carefully; these words are both for Qi and for you all.

Seeing Yangmei's seriousness, Di Jun and the others immediately came to attention and listened attentively.

One who attains Primordial Oneness proves the Great Dao, becomes one with the Dao, and nothing in heaven and earth across myriad kalpas can harm them.

All kinds of karmic bonds are like fine threads binding people, preventing freedom; upon entering Primordial Oneness, one's life is like an egg, unstained by anything.

They harbor the Dao fruit within; a single thought connects with the divine; the primordial spirit sits in stillness, gazing upon all phenomena, like flowers in a mirror, moon in water.

They give rise to myriad paths, as numerous as sand grains, divine and spiritual; the Three Corpses are kept in check, free of mixed attachments.

Those who walk this path suffer greatly; calamities arise from adverse circumstances, their fortune flows endlessly yet they incur loss, their steps are arduous, they wear down spirit and will, the three treasures of essence, qi, and spirit are full but not overflowing, yet fatigue brings injury.

The suffering of this path is such that even those who have attained the Dao do not wish to look back; seeing it damages the Dao, leaving a flaw in mind and nature, like me, they develop an attachment they cannot resolve, self-reproaching yet sweet as candy.

Having said this, Yangmei's eyes filled with utter sorrow; memories flashed of the Yin-Yang Ancestor, the Five Elements Ancestor, the Qian-Kun Ancestor, and others; his eyes' utter sorrow transformed into boundless killing intent.

Then seeing Qi and Nüwa Taiyi before him, with Fuxi and Di Jun showing concern, Yangmei calmed his mind, swept away the evil desires and killing thoughts in his spiritual platform, and spoke again: "I was schemed against by others, entered a calamity, the calamitous energy blinded my eyes; being before a great event, I lost my tranquility, grew careless, and was ambushed by villains, thus my mind and nature have a deficiency."

In the calamity I harmed friends, became immersed in hatred, suffered some setbacks, then disregarded everything, forced a breakthrough, becoming as I am now; even a slight look back sinks me into resentment.

If it weren't for you all being here, with an anchor still in my heart, I would surely have fallen into corpse flesh, succumbing to the primordial great catastrophe.

Now I think, perhaps I was already in the calamity of proving the Dao, never fully comprehended it, or only half-understood yet believed I saw the whole picture, leading step by step to foolish moves, self-exiling myself to the wrong path.

Fortunately, with you all present, it's not utterly hopeless; there remains a chance for perfection.

For this, I ought to thank you all; and precisely because of this, I also lament your good fortune, Qi.

Qi felt doubtful, pointing at himself and said:

Me? Where do these words come from?

Yangmei laughed and said:

Look, Di Jun and Taiyi are born naturally from the sun star, one as Lesser Yang, the other as Supreme Yang; myriad heavenly yang dao circulate.

The two together are heaven-ordained dao companions, merely lacking pure yang harmony; although they are in tacit agreement, they easily veer to extremes, and once they err, it is hard to have a good outcome.

But humans are not celestial phenomena; how could they achieve completeness? If they encounter pure yang, they will clash with it, and in their struggle there will inevitably be death and injury.

Qi nodded silently; Di Jun and Taiyi did the same. They had encountered practitioners of the Pure Yang Dao, whom they disliked on sight; were it not for restrictions of identity and character, they would have killed them without cause, and in most cases would have done so personally.

Qi was curious; he had never heard this from Di Jun and Taiyi, and wanted to ask, but the moment was not right; he only listened as Yangmei continued: "Now look at Fuxi and Nüwa, siblings; Fuxi seeks worldly change, charts the principles of the world, thereby following the Way of heaven-earth evolution; though he is a divine being, he is akin to the heavenly gods and earthly deities."

Walking the Way is difficult.

Yet Nüwa accompanies him; she cultivates the Dao of Creation, outwardly appearing to create life, but in truth seeking the evolution of the human Dao.

As a divine person, charting the evolution of the human Dao, in accord with the Three Powers, walking the righteous path, naturally it is as if heaven helps, and spiritual affinities and treasures come of their own accord.

Fuxi is one with the heavenly gods and earthly deities; Nüwa charts the human course; together they are naturally complementary, able to unify the Three Powers, thus they are destined dao companions.

Nüwa possesses the Three Powers fully, walks the righteous path, thus proceeds with unparalleled smoothness, her aura rich and thick.

Although Fuxi has Nüwa completing his Three Powers, he pursues heaven and earth through human effort, thereby going against the Way; he will inevitably reach an impasse, so he has little chance.

Furthermore, going against the Way will inevitably bring lifelong hardships; thus only now has Fuxi finally understood his own Way and created the Eight Trigrams.

Nevertheless, even so, the future will surely bring many hardships; although the Way offers a chance to succeed, it will inevitably be fraught with many obstacles.

Nonetheless, despite this, their relationship remains harmonious, the good outweighing the bad.

After Yangmei finished speaking, he took a sip of tea, then continued to Qi: "That is why I say, Qi, you have good fortune; originally a lone individual, you were abruptly inserted among four people, binding them together."

You first walked the wrong path; your cultivation had no transformation, yet from nothing came something, and fortune came in response to the Dao, thus you were able to meet Di Jun and Taiyi.

Under the influence of their fortune, you suddenly awakened, returned to the proper path, and cultivated the Dao of Purification.

Purification means seeking clarity, removing turbid impurities, aiming to return to the source and purify the root.

Having met Di Jun and Taiyi, their Way, though compatible, is overly intense, giving rise to yang poison that mixes in; your addition is precisely like an antidote for that poison.

Although it does not match the conjunction of the three heavenly yangs, it is also the best suitable remedy, able to regulate the two yangs. Although unlike Fuxi and Nüwa, it is similar; returning to the source and purifying the root, it cures Fuxi's acting contrary to the proper way, which violates the Three Powers.

Nüwa is the most smooth; since she walks the proper path, your influence on her is minimal; merely, the qi fortune of Nüwa and Fuxi combine, one good brings a hundred goods.

Fuxi and Nüwa, Di Jun and Taiyi—these two pairs of dao companions originally had no connection; but because of you, Fuxi and Nüwa were drawn by fortune, sought medicine on their own, and thus came together with Di Jun and Taiyi; this is the union of poison and disease as medicine.

Having said this, although somewhat improper, Yangmei greatly enjoyed it, and even everyone could not help but laugh.

Yangmei also said to Qi: "Look, if you had not initially walked the wrong path, you would certainly not have, through the fortune of nothingness, become acquainted with Di Jun and Taiyi; naturally, there would be no hope of dispelling the yang toxin."

If the toxin is not dispelled, Nüwa and Fuxi would not be led by the medicine to gather at Yunmze Marsh.

If my Dao does not change, I am destined to sink into resentment; at that time, although I would be the Primordial Oneness, Infinite Luo Heavenly Venerated God, I would in fact be corpse flesh.

If you did not associate with those four, having no dao companion, your fortune would not be so rich; your nature is extremely fierce, and you would likely have perished in the calamity of ferocious beasts.

Is this not good fortune?

Hearing Yangmei's explanation of the relationship among the five, Qi could not help but feel astonished, revealing a smile.

Then suddenly recalling a scene from his dream, Yangmei clung to the outside of the primordial heaven-earth embryonic membrane, his expression ferocious; Qi at once broke out in a cold sweat.

Seeing Qi thus, everyone involuntarily asked; Qi related what he had seen in his initial dream, the content he could not recall, but that scene remained unforgettable.

Hearing Qi's account of his dream, Yangmei also felt myriad emotions, and said: "The Great Dao is fifty; all fate is determined numbers, nothing omitted; the vast heavens and earth await my substance!"

Immediately, Yangmei lightly patted his own thigh and shouted: "Hey, thoroughly engaged in idle amusement, forgetting the essence of my previous words!"

The speaker, Yangmei, solemnly addressed the crowd: "Do not speak idly; remember, if you wish to prove the Dao, you must be cautious again and again, your mind must not leave any gaps or deficiencies; otherwise, even if your abilities succeed, it will be nothing but flowers in a mirror, moon in water, full of illusion."

Seeing that the crowd indicated they had taken it to heart, Yangmei then continued to Qi: "Your predicament and choice—I know the dilemma and will make it clear to you; perhaps the position of a sage entails some constraints, but if it is truly no different from Primordial Oneness, choosing this opportunity is also not unacceptable."

If you wish to be like me, seeking no restraints, with heaven and earth allowing you to act alone, consider the hardships you have endured.

No matter how I speak, the right to choose ultimately lies in your hands; how to decide is up to your intention; just do not regret it.

This matter is of great importance; you must consider it carefully; I ought not, nor dare I, decide for you; I can give you a push at the critical moment, but the road ultimately must be walked by yourselves.

Qi also did not know why; although his doubts and choices had received no answer, nor could they be resolved, yet his heart felt much relieved, the previous pressure having vanished.

The great god's words, Qi must certainly keep in mind; as for how the choice would be, Qi only then discovered that a decision had already been made, only he could not bear the greed in his heart and thus trapped himself.

Interacting with the great god, though no solution was found, it nevertheless returned to the root and cleared the source; the healer heals himself, the virus heals itself.

Everyone burst into laughter upon hearing this, though the laughter was mixed with a hint of solemnity, for they knew Qi's choice, which was unexpected yet reasonable.

Qi smiled, facing the crowd, looking around, and involuntarily said: "Such scenery, with friends all gathered, why not drink and make merry?"

Good!

Very good!

Qi's sleeve lightly brushed over the tabletop, and spirit fruit wine instantly covered the table; Yang Mei, seeing this, smiled and said:

"We already have fruit, wine, and vegetables, and friends are all here; how could we lack music and dancing girls to accompany us?"

With a few casual taps of the fingers, hundreds of flowers and plants were instantly transformed into human forms; without instruction, they began to play music and dance in the open space beneath the pavilions.

Di Jun beat time and sang, Fuxi played the zither in harmony, Yang Mei struck the beat, Qi and Taiyi blew the xiao flute, Nüwa danced lightly around the courtyard, and everyone enjoyed themselves.

Although they were in Chaos, it felt as if they were still in the original Yunmeng Marsh—never drunk, yet immersed in wine, not knowing what sobriety is.

Until a sudden breeze swept by, the scene was left in disarray; only then did everyone cease to forget themselves, they gathered up the remnants, and each went to rest and secluded cultivation.

Yang Mei sent Taiyi and Fuxi to the place where the world's origin resides, letting them cultivate there to make up for the wasted time and break through their realms as soon as possible.

Di Jun, meanwhile, discussed with Yang Mei while playing chess, exchanging what they had gained from the Supreme Emperor's Dao; all of Di Jun's doubts in his cultivation he asked Yang Mei about, and each was resolved.

The marvelous part was that the two even had disagreements; their perspectives differed, so their understandings differed, and their gains differed as well— in the end both gained something, only differing in amount.

Qi and Nüwa, meanwhile, went boating; if they felt inclined, they would chat a few sentences, with music, chess, calligraphy, and painting all serving as topics.

When the discussion of the Dao arose, and when it ended, they had experienced a whole yuan cycle; heavenly phenomena appeared together, and only then did they sense the passage of time— it turned out that Taiyi and Fuxi had emerged from seclusion.

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I really can't take it anymore; I wrote until after 3:40 AM, originally intending to write 4000 words, but I still have to go to work in the morning, crying!!!! (End of chapter)