Chapter 180

At some element, some meeting, some fortune, the Heavenly Court was established, and the Heavenly Dao opened up the Thirty-Three Heavens for it, setting the Central Heaven Gate on Mount Buzhou.

Thus Di Jun established his capital in the Thirty-Three Heavens, building the Lingxiao Treasure Palace, the Jade Pool, etc.

Heavenly Emperor set the capital, and also established the Demon Race; all beings of heaven and earth, whether acquired or innate, all belong to the Demon Race. If anyone refuses to lower their noble status, the Heavenly Court's iron fist will teach them what decorum means!

With the supreme iron fist, the primordial heavens and earth finally stabilized, jointly enjoying equal demon rights; as time passed, demon consciousness took root in people's hearts...

Kunpeng, this reclusive old bachelor hidden across three lifetimes, finally showed his face this time; upon showing himself, he displayed administrative talent that excited the Heavenly Emperor, so his position rose like a rocket until he was appointed as Demon Master.

The Demon Master created the Demon script, established Demon sayings, meeting the people's civilizational construction needs; then together with Bai Ze, Taiyi, and others, they jointly formulated the Demon Calendar applicable to the entire primordial wilderness.

In the first year, first meeting, first cycle of the Demon Calendar, the Heavenly Emperor led hundreds of officials in offering sacrifices to heaven, feeling grateful for the Holy Virtue of the Heavenly Dao in nurturing all spirits!

In the next cycle, he also visited the Teacher of All Beings, Daoist Hongjun, receiving his instruction in immortal methods; thus immortal methods were promoted by the Heavenly Court, and all primordial beings benefited...

In the sixth element, second meeting, eighth cycle of the Demon Calendar, the innate divine elders of Qiankun and Yin-Yang broke the law, relying on their own Great Luo cultivation, they drove away the Heavenly Official Chiefs of the surrounding areas of their own dojo!

Upon receiving the report, the Heavenly Court immediately organized those with great supernatural powers to apprehend the criminals; despite the profound Dao of Qiankun and Yin-Yang, under the Heavenly Court's many hands surrounding them, they could not resist two fists against four, and were captured by a number of Heavenly Court mighty ones.

After the Celestial Judge personally presided over the trial, they were sentenced for the crimes of disloyalty, rebellion, contempt of the Heavenly Court, and other major offenses; the penalties were combined, and they were immediately escorted to the Demon Slaying Platform for formal execution!

Poor the two elders avoided Hongjun's scheming, yet ultimately could not escape calamity; it is unknown whether this was fate's decree...

In fact, the Qiankun and Yin-Yang's formal execution was merely one case among a large batch of cases tried during the Heavenly Court's early stage; actually, the Demon Slaying Platform has never ceased operation since its completion.

Although you beheaded the three ancestors at the outset, since time immemorial there have been countless who habitually esteem force as supreme; among them are innate divinities and acquired beings, and to the Heavenly Court urgently needing to establish primordial order, they are all unstable factors.

Order is always built upon slaughter; this does not shift with any individual's will. To establish a completely renewed world with a fresh atmosphere, one must deal with those obstructive elders...

The blood on the Demon Slaying Platform reflects a completely new era!

Of course, these have little to do with you; at this moment you have already obtained the freedom you desired, and can act as you please wherever you go.

As the places you have visited increase, it is inevitable that you encounter many unexpected people...

In the eastern wilderness of Kunlun Mountain, you met the initially formed Three Pure Ones, and exchanged with them at length about Pangu's past affairs, as well as knowledge of forging, formations, and elixirs; the Three Pure Ones were astonished, and thus wished to take you as their master!

You merely smiled lightly, politely declined their request to become your disciple, and recommended they go to the Jade Capital Mountain Vocational Technical Institute for specialized study, report to counselor Daoist Hongjun; if they give your name, they can even get tuition waived, and so on...

Leaving Kunlun Mountain, you then found Mount Buzhou.

On the mountain, you met a pair of siblings; after a conversation, you once again won them over with your profound knowledge, yet you still recommended they register at Jade Capital Mountain.

At the mountain's base, you encountered twelve primitives roasting meat and playing; though they were savage and crude, their nature was not bad, you conversed happily with them, even squatting together in a cave to roast meat and chat...

Next is the western wilderness's Sea of Blood; here you saw a timid, easily frightened essence of the Sea of Blood; you originally wanted to chat a few words with him, but unexpectedly he panicked at the sight of an outsider and dove straight to the seabed...

Further west, you encountered an essence of Wu Earth who cultivated fruit on the mountain; he welcomed you, this traveler, with specialty fruits; during the gathering, a carefree essence of Red Cloud also came to play, and you chatted with both of them about heaven and earth, immensely delighted.

Even farther west, you also saw a combination of a skinny person and a fat person, who treated you with considerable courtesy...

From east to west, you passed one marvelous immortal mountain after another; many were things you had never heard of, and even not mentioned in Jiaoming's three lifetimes of vast memory.

Only then did you finally become certain that you had surpassed Jiaoming, attaining a freedom he could never obtain!

But you did not mock him, for it is precisely his lack of freedom that gave you your freedom; your success is built on his failure, so there is nothing to be proud of.

Moreover, he has now obtained a freedom greater than yours; death settles everything once and for all, while the living always have constraints... but you will not envy him, for death naturally is freedom at its extreme, yet you do not so eagerly await infinite freedom; for you, the present is already the best outcome!

You have bound this illusory world with your own life; as long as you do not die, the world will endure; you have paid a sufficient price, allowing the primordial wilderness to tolerate your freedom, even if you do not feel this is a loss or cost...

You are enamored between heaven and earth; after enough wandering among mountains and waters, you went to mingle among the myriad demons, and you even possess an identity certificate issued by the Heavenly Court, sufficient for you to live there forever.

To retain your life, the vast primordial wilderness grants you freedom!

After several such elements and meetings, in a certain minor demon city, you normally lived as an ordinary demon commoner, and also pursued your interest, becoming a storyteller.

You took your own and Jiaoming's memories as inspiration, crafting one after another half-true, half-false story; because your foundation is solid, your business is quite good, and nearby you also have some reputation.

Your stories always sell on detail and imagination, such as the illusory 'War of the Three Clans', 'Slaughter of All Beings', 'Chaos Under Heaven'... Everyone marvels at your imagination, that you could actually fabricate such bizarre tales.

Under the Heavenly Court's rule, the ancient primordial tales you narrate never actually happened; listeners know they are false, yet because they are dramatic and captivating, many become increasingly addicted, and your income and fame consequently rise...

Such a life, joy lies within it.

Above the high heavens, the sun and moon's dual pupils, eternal since ancient times, scan all of the world; the sight of thriving myriad beings always makes this sentimental Heavenly Dao quite interested.

But He does not wish to participate; as the master of heaven and earth, a reborn Pangu, He is unsuitable to engage in any affair.

This is also a major reason why He abandoned personally governing the populace; although Jiaoming's political foolishness may have infected Him, it is not impossible to learn, but mainly He ultimately feels He lacks the leisure; rather than doing everything Himself, it's better to find a ready-made worker.

Thus came the matter of Di Jun.

Perhaps the primordial wilderness does not really need Him; He just needs to be a simpleton who supplements the resources of heaven and earth...

Having observed all beings, He then focused His gaze upon that bird of freedom.

After all, he is the sole anchor pinning the true and false, real and illusory of the primordial heavens and earth; everything in the world depends on him, allowing no slightest loss!

"Storyteller? Also quite interesting."

He satisfiedly withdrew His gaze; no matter what the little bird wishes to do, He will fulfill it, which is inherently a kind of price.

Afterward, He began to play with that lump of Golden Crow True Fire obtained by chance; the power of otherworldly Heavenly Dao clinging to the flames still exists, not because He lacks the ability to erase it, but because He intentionally chose to retain it.

Jiaoming's memory ultimately left an indelible mark on Him; the most direct manifestation is the inexplicable reminiscence when facing the True Fire:

In memory, that cluster of flame aided by a transcendent being had helped Him defeat one strong enemy after another, leading Him step by step toward that not-quite-perfect three-lifetime ending.

He naturally knows this is false, for He is not Jiaoming, He is merely the Heavenly Dao; but... one can only say that otherworldly sages indeed have two brushes, forcibly giving Him many identity recognitions!

Back and forth, this cluster of Golden Crow True Fire was thus preserved...

"After all said and done, I ultimately took advantage of you... or should I apologize in person?"

Thinking of that infuriated otherworldly sage from the beginning, the half-persona derived from Jiaoming inexplicably feels somewhat different; various memories of that sage Hongjun flood forth.

Speaking of it, the otherworldly sage's purpose was entirely to resurrect Jiaoming; yet I took His true spirit and even completely extinguished Jiaoming's hope of resurrection, to some extent having gravely offended Him!

Now, having received half of Jiaoming's persona, thereby completing my mind, I can also be considered to have received some of Jiaoming's grace.

Whether for these favors or for the affection brought by Jiaoming, we must give some psychological comfort to that old man who suffered a great loss...

Thinking thus, He began to use the power of the Heavenly Dao on the Golden Crow True Fire to cross the boundary.

……

Jiao Ming's three lifetimes, in the Purple Azure Palace.

Having long finished expounding the Dao, Hongjun was resting with closed eyes, nurturing his spirit; expounding the Dao naturally cost little mental effort, the main drain was suppressing the Heavenly Dao.

Although this Heavenly Dao contains many true spirits of sentient beings, causing its self-awareness to be very weak, Hongjun could basically treat it as a fool and deceive it.

But even a fool occasionally goes mad, so to suppress this fool, Hongjun not only needs to forcibly suppress it with sage power, but also needs to use his own non-thinking, non-worrying to assimilate its will.

In short, it's about using a fool to infect a fool, assimilate a fool—the more foolish one becomes, the more foolish the Heavenly Dao becomes!

Precisely for this reason, Hongjun created the Severing Three Corpses method, cutting away goodness, evil, and obsession; what remains of himself is naturally no different from a vegetative state.

And constantly maintaining this vegetative state, even the sage Hongjun felt he was about to truly become a vegetative...

"Huh?"

Hongjun suddenly opened his eyes, a flash of shock appearing on his usually indifferent face:

Someone is crossing the boundary!

"Who?"

Hongjun's expression suddenly turned grave; although he had never had a contingency plan for external invasions, and he didn't think any powerful dragon could suppress this local serpent, he still heightened his vigilance as much as possible.

Under his vigilant gaze, a vortex made of fire gradually formed in the Purple Azure Palace.

Then, from the vortex emerged…… a figure that was both unexpected and very familiar:

Crimson robes, a delicate physique.

At first sight of him, Hongjun felt as if struck by lightning!

Even knowing it couldn't be him, he couldn't help but let out a trembling cry:

"Fellow Daoist!"

The two gazed at each other, as if everything had returned to that day hundreds of yuanhui ago...

……

(End of chapter)