Chapter 160: Daoist friend, what exactly is your secret!

The Yellow Dragon, whose heart-knot had gradually been untied, finally decided to let go of all hatred!

From then on, Huang Long earnestly cultivated immortal arts on Jade Capital Mountain, blessed with innate divine talent; his aptitude was excellent, and though his progress didn't match that of the Three Golden Crow Siblings of old, it was hardly slow—he advanced a thousand miles a day.

Seeing him untangle his heart-knot, you couldn't help but feel greatly relieved: as a remnant of the old era, yet surviving to this point in the new age, you naturally wanted to completely consign everything primordial to the dustbin of history.

Barbarity, slaughter, race, slavery… and hatred.

In this brand-new era, these things are not needed; let you, with your own power, put an end to all of the past!

You gazed at the sunset on the cliff, thinking thus……

Indeed, just as you wished, after the dragon clan's main force, represented by the Four Seas True Dragon, was exterminated, the Wilderness welcomed the Heavenly Court's efficient governance!

Di Jun coordinated in every way; the Heavenly Court acted accordingly, its orders reaching all five directions, and under this efficient governance, the long-standing uneven resource distribution across regions was considerably alleviated.

Using the surplus to compensate for the deficit, all uneven resources were adjusted as much as possible toward relative balance, and population movement was opened up, allowing civilians from poor areas to migrate to wealthy places, doing everything possible to ease tensions!

To maximize the value of every bit of resource, Di Jun even specially improved various alchemy and artifact-forging techniques……

With the Heavenly Court's efforts, all regions gradually prospered; as society prospered, population grew, further exacerbating the crisis…… Therefore, to alleviate the resource crisis, Di Jun issued an edict limiting population growth.

Without someone to open new sources, we can only cut back.

In short, Di Jun exhausted all means; in every aspect of cutting back, he did so to the utmost: the Wilderness had finally entered the new era, and must not let resource problems topple it!

For if one day resource conflicts become too great, the carriage of this new era will revert to the old age, and strife and slaughter will once again become the theme of the times……

Di Jun did not want to see that, for it not only depicted the misery of all spirits, but also signified the destruction of his own ideal, and even more, the utter bankruptcy of his adoptive father's undertaking!

You saved the era of the Three Clans, but you can't have saved only a loneliness!

Therefore, Di Jun will use everything to safeguard your undertaking……

But no matter how he maintains and fine-tunes, the contradiction between limited resources and unlimited demand will always exist; all measures are merely buying time, and he will surely have a day when he can no longer keep going.

Naturally, Di Jun won't tell you this problem, for hearing it would only make you anxiously fret—useless and even affecting your mood……

For your freedom, Di Jun decided to bear everything!

……

In the 'Age of Peace and Prosperity' painstakingly crafted by Di Jun for you, you, knowing nothing, began to enjoy freedom.

Your original dream was simply to find a group of like-minded companions, then chat enthusiastically while roaming the Wilderness everywhere—that would be freedom.

Now, although you still haven't found a group of like-minded companions, nothing can any longer stop you from roaming the Wilderness!

So you brought Huang Long along, treating him as a junior generation to raise, and then flew about at random.

By the East Sea you fished and watched the sunrise; in the frigid North Sea you had snowball fights and roasted big fish.

In Central Province you climbed Mount Buzhou; in the Western Wasteland's Sea of Blood you churned the waters.

On the heavenly constellations you played with various star spirits yet to be born; in the Southern Wasteland's great volcano you visited the Ancestral Phoenix……

Seeing you arrive dragging Huang Long, the Ancestral Phoenix was speechless: 'Just come, why bring unrelated people!'

The indignant Ancestral Phoenix snorted at you, then ordered a few newly enlightened phoenix seedlings to run errands, bringing some volcanic specialty products; they ate and drank, enjoying leisurely ease……

But when the satisfied you, accompanied by an equally happy Huang Long, returned to Jade Capital Mountain, an unexpected person was already waiting for you on the mountain.

……

"Senior, I'm going down to cultivate now……"

The perceptive Huang Long, seeing the mood was off, immediately took his leave……

Thus only Jiao Ming remained on the summit, along with the purple-robed old Daoist sitting under the old tree.

"Daoist friend, are you still free?"

Hongjun asked with a smile, though this smile carried another meaning.

"That is, of course, very free."

Jiao Ming also responded with a smile, then likewise sat beneath the tree.

"Speak, where did you go to play again?"

Jiao Ming casually asked Hongjun:

"Again a lone person ran out…… this time surely won't run into any Qilin Clan again, right?"

Upon these words, Hongjun visibly trembled, his complexion slightly changing:

"You know all of this?"

Jiao Ming withdrew his smile, leaned sideways against the trunk, and spoke softly:

"It's easy to guess; besides you, who else could it be?"

Hongjun hesitated, then finally let out a faint sigh:

"Alright, I admit it's all my doing."

"Those Qilin Clans were enlightened by me, and I also educated them toward extreme vengeance; they were deliberately distributed across the Wilderness, and I did that…… the purpose was to scheme against the Ancestral Dragon."

"But its lack of resistance is indeed somewhat beyond my expectation; I never thought it would be so easy to lure into a trap……"

Jiao Ming's eye twitched; although he had anticipated this, hearing Hongjun personally admit it felt another way.

Jiao Ming's thoughts involuntarily flew back to the time of their first meeting in his first life:

He was a Phoenix Clan general, while Hongjun was a righteous man seeking to stop the great war of the Three Clans.

Although this guy lacked strength back then, he still dared to stir up rebellion against me, ultimately making things extremely difficult to handle; but at least he didn't choose to split and run, instead facing the Ancestral Phoenix's wrath together with me.

In the end, I chose self-immolation, and Hongjun was also burned to death by the Ancestral Phoenix……

No matter how you say it, this is enough to prove his character is reliable, a righteous figure willing to sacrifice himself!

But this pure righteous image, in my second life, gradually became stained:

Hongjun blew up his Dao-attainment blueprint, and admitted that to attain the Dao he had severed the Evil Corpse Rahu, letting Rahu go open a slaughter pot, and so on……

That detailed Dao-attainment plan left even me dumbfounded; it's hard to imagine this could be a plan devised by the righteous Hongjun.

But having said that, given the situation of the Three Ancestors' Dao attainment at that time, Hongjun truly had no other recourse; he could only fight killing with killing, until he slew the Three Ancestors.

He would bury the old era with absolute violence, then usher in the new era, for which he is willing to bear the stain!

So, although Jiao Ming does not approve of his sacrifice of myriad beings, he will not excessively blame him.

In this life, Hongjun's image has changed once again:

From a pure righteous person, to a stained sage, to now...... a precious old cunt!

In Jiao Ming's mind, Hongjun at this moment is no different from the Three Ancestors' precious things in the previous two lives; all choose to sacrifice innocent people for the sake of attaining the Dao……

Taking a deep breath, Jiao Ming said softly:

"Fellow Daoist, is attaining the Dao really that important……"

This sentence is what Jiao Ming uses to interrogate Hongjun's Dao heart; he tries to awaken Hongjun's conscience in the most direct way.

Because he believes Hongjun is merely temporarily blinded, and there is still hope……

However, what Jiao Ming never expected was that, after he asked this question, Hongjun beside him nodded in deep agreement:

"Attaining the Dao, it's really important!"

Jiao Ming: ……

No, you're hopeless now?!

Jiao Ming was startled, as if meeting Hongjun the old Daoist for the first time, his eyes gradually showing disappointment and another kind of regret:

"Fellow Daoist, I truly never imagined that one day I would be your enemy……"

He began to plan, Hongjun and he are both at Great Luo Peak; once they fight, it would be hard to tell who would win.

It seems we also need to bring Ancestor Phoenix over, and also Di Jun and the others……

【Faced with your increasingly grim expression, Hongjun waved his hands repeatedly: Fellow Daoist, you misunderstand; I mean, attaining the Dao itself is a very important matter, not just for me, but for all heaven and earth myriad beings!】

【In your half-belief, half-doubt, Hongjun solemnly spoke to you about the desperate situation myriad beings now face……】

【"Between heaven and earth, although there are many cultivation resources, they are also very limited; Pangu's legacy is not infinite."】

【Hongjun solemnly declared: In the barbaric era when myriad beings lacked spiritual intelligence and did not know cultivation, resources were naturally sufficient; but as Ancestor Dragon enlightened countless beings, the food, clothing, housing, travel, and use of those billions upon billions of beings would swiftly consume all resources between heaven and earth!】

【The more the population, the more prosperous the fire of the primordial wilderness civilization, the more severe the resource crisis……】

【"How severe could it be?"】

【You, who never had any concept of this, couldn't help but ask.】

【Hongjun solemnly said: It will regress to the ancient primordial wilderness, even more miserable than that; slaughter and war will become a spontaneous, rational act of the masses, until enough people are killed to return the Dao to heaven, and only then will civilization restart.】

【But this only treats the symptoms, not the root; such a method can only make heaven and earth myriad beings endlessly cycle on this dead road, prosperity and decline having periodicity—after prosperity comes decline, then prosperity again, then decline……】

【"Therefore, we must break free from the cycle of law brought about by resource allocation!"】

【The only way to break the cycle is to attain the Dao!】

【Whether it is the Three Ancestors attaining the Dao or Hongjun attaining the Dao, someone must attain the Dao; only those who attain the Dao can resolve this inevitable contradiction!】

【Fellow Daoist, I can understand your kindness, but right now someone must attain the Dao.】

【Everything I have done has never been just for myself; I am still that person willing to bear darkness and stride toward light!】

【Hongjun passionately expressed to you: I may fall, but I will never degenerate!】

【You listened to all this, stunned for a long, long time……】

【Suddenly, you raised your head, gazing at him: "How do you know all this?"】

【You are no longer that simple-minded little firebird; now you have grasped the key in an instant!】

【From long ago, you have always felt Hongjun is profoundly mysterious: he possesses a noble morality that other innate divinities lack, and he pities myriad beings, which is utterly different from all innate divinities.】

【He also knows many things others do not: for example, the "Rahu Method of Imprisoning True Spirits," the "relationship between true spirits and attaining the Dao," the "bloodline method of attaining the Dao," the "indirect method of attaining the Dao," and that "those who attain the Dao can resolve the resource crisis"...】

【You find it hard to believe that a conventional innate divinity would know so much, even things the Three Ancestors do not know.】

【"Fellow Daoist, what secret do you actually have!"】

【Faced with your sudden question, Hongjun stared blankly, completely unprepared for you to ask this.】

【Thus, he broke out in a sweat……】

……

(End of chapter)