Chapter 1205: Creating Transformation from the Square, Opening the Immortal Path from Qin, Tempering the Hundred Schools in the Miscel

Dao Wujin stood respectfully beneath the Bai Di's altar, while atop the altar stood an old man with a wide belt and a high crown.

Behind him, dozens of Primordial Spirit True Immortals stood trembling, and the elders of the Ying clan, who piloted the bronze war chariots, knelt on the ground, not daring to rise.

The Bai Di's Metal Virtue was bound by the chains on the body of the stone man offering sacrifices to heaven.

When the Bai Di's Great Dao descended, no one dared to look directly at it; only he, with his aged eyes, continued to stare straight at the firmament.

"The formless void is called Dao, the nurturing of all things is called Virtue..." the old man said slowly: "Virtue is the dwelling of Dao; things are born through it, and wisdom relies on it to grasp the essence of Dao. Therefore, Virtue is 'attainment'!"

A yellow bell hovered above his right hand!

The elders of the Ji clan of the Zhou house stood on both sides with ashen faces, their hands hanging down, no longer possessing a shred of the arrogance of Primordial Spirits.

They merely stared longingly at the yellow bell, even more worried than when the object was in Qian Chen's hands.

The old man lowered his head kindly and said to Dao Wujin, "Do you know what this sentence means?"

Dao Wujin replied respectfully, "Virtue is the manifestation of Dao; all things rely on it to grow, and wisdom relies on it to recognize the essence of Dao. Therefore, 'Virtue' is 'attainment.' The so-called attainment means that what one seeks to obtain has already been realized."

"Non-action is called Dao, and manifesting it is called Virtue. Thus, there is no distance between Dao and Virtue; discussing them often makes no distinction."

"If one insists on asking for the reason for their distance, it is that Virtue is used to manifest Dao."

The old man smiled and nodded: "Worthy of being a seed of the True Transmission Dao. You have already grasped a thing or two about the Dao of Supreme Non-action!"

"The Great Dao descends to form a body, which is called 'Virtue'! Therefore, Virtue flows from top to bottom."

"The Great Dao is holistic; heaven and earth rely on Dao to take form, and all things operate through Dao. This formless constraint and physical form is 'Virtue.' Vast Heaven originates from the Great Dao and is omnipotent; with a single thought, He can create all things, yet the operation of all things has rules and order. This is Vast Heaven's self-constraint, and this constraint is called 'Virtue.'"

"Therefore, Dao and Virtue are one body; the above is called Dao, and the below is called Virtue!"

"After Supreme replaced Vast Heaven, the rules that constrain the self and allow heaven, earth, and all things to continue operating are 'Morality'!"

"This is the origin of my Daoist school."

"The so-called Daoist school is nothing more than those who embody the Virtue of Supreme above and thus seek the Dao."

"During the time of the Old Heaven, Vast Heaven had Virtue, which He divided among the Five Emperors and arranged according to the Five Elements. This was the Virtue of the Five Emperors of high antiquity. These Five Virtues, like the Virtue of Vast Heaven, flowed from top to bottom, descended by the Great Dao, and therefore cannot be called 'Dao Fruits'! Because it is holistic like heaven, empty and still."

"But after the New Heaven, Vast Heaven lost Virtue, and Supreme merged with Dao. With constant compassion, He operates Morality. Virtue is no longer from top to bottom, with the Great Dao falling to form a body, but rather flows from man's seeking of the Dao, reaching up to heaven. Therefore, 'Virtue' became 'attainment'."

"'Virtue-Dao' became 'attaining the Dao'..."

"Virtue is non-action, falling in accordance with the Great Dao; attainment is action, like man who constantly harbors greed and seeks in accordance with his nature!"

"This process is called cultivation."

"Cultivation is attaining the Dao. Therefore, the Old Heaven had no cultivation; only the New Heaven has the 'Way of Cultivation.' At this time, Virtue is no longer simply the form of the Great Dao, but the path for us to approach the Great Dao!"

Behind Dao Wujin, many demonic disciples listened in confusion.

As small demon lords of the Demonic Path, they were best at reading the room!

After all, the big shots within the Demonic Path and the subordinates of the Heavenly Demons were talents and pawns; under the eyes of the Righteous Path, they were merely small demon lords and demonic bastards.

Seeing such a supreme big shot of the cosmic realms speaking to them in such a friendly manner, they could not fail to appreciate the kindness.

Immediately, they each activated their world-shaking demonic wisdom to contemplate the big shot's meaning.

Dao Wujin contemplated and realized, feeling that this guidance was infinitely profound. Thinking of it through the Dao of Yin and Yang, he felt an endless sense like the Void Sea.

He looked up and said, "What the senior said, applied to the Great Dao of the Five Emperors, could it be that the Five Virtues are 'Virtue-Dao,' while the Five Elements are 'attaining the Dao'? Are the Five Virtues the fallen form of Dao, while the Five Elements are the path to approach the Great Dao?"

"Between the Five Virtues and the Five Elements, though they are one body, they are also the two sides of Yin and Yang..."

The old man nodded slightly and said with his hands behind his back, "Your view is still a bit simple, but the Great Dao is profound and mysterious; we are merely forcing an explanation. Whether it is simple or complex is somewhat unnecessary. Yin and Yang is a correct path; if you follow it, you are on the road to 'attaining the Dao.' As for other minor details, it is fine to think about them after reaching the Primordial Spirit, as long as you are not like those pieces of trash..."

He pointed at those Primordial Spirits; among the dozens of Primordial Spirit True Immortals, not one dared to refute him.

"Then it would not have been in vain that I opened the Immortal Path and left behind those great supernatural powers of the Heavenly Dipper and Earthly Fiend!"

Dao Wujin's body trembled slightly, and the small demon lords behind him lowered their heads and buried their faces, extremely terrified in their hearts. The person before them was actually one of the founders of the Immortal Path, the figure who passed down the thirty-six great supernatural powers of the Heavenly Dipper.

The origins and names of those great Fangshi of Immortal Qin turned over and over in their hearts several times, but in the end, they did not dare to speak them out loud.

The old man sighed faintly: "In the past, Zou Yan sought the Five Elements Dao Fruit, which is why he failed to attain the Dao. But he was, after all, one of the most outstanding figures in the Earth Immortal Realm. After failing to attain the Dao, he quickly realized the Great Dao of the Five Virtues, condensed the Great Expansion Dao Fruit, and passed down the Great Dao of the Five Virtues at the Jixia Academy, fully describing the differences between the Five Elements and the Five Virtues."

"His disciples collected the Dao of the Five Virtues and Five Elements he described, which is one of the sources of the Immortal Path in the Earth Immortal Realm, the 'Heavenly Expansion Five Virtues Profound Scripture'."

"This is one of the two great foundations for opening the Immortal Path, Yin and Yang and the Five Elements. The great merit of bringing the Great Dao of the Five Elements into the Immortal Path is also my former teacher!"

Dao Wujin blinked: "The name of Dao Lord Great Expansion is like thunder to our ears. Our sect has also mentioned that Dao Lord Great Expansion was the synthesizer of the Yin-Yang school, a figure who truly integrated Yin and Yang and the Five Elements into one."

The old man nodded: "The entry of Yin and Yang into the Five Elements was not the work of Dao Lord Great Expansion alone. As early as the time of the Three Divine Dynasties, the Ancient Witch Dao had already begun to categorize the Five Elements with Yin and Yang, and divide the Five Elements with Yin and Yang. Only then did the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches and the Dao of Change and Numbers exist."

"But only Dao Lord Zou Yan truly achieved the integration of Yin and Yang and the Five Elements, realized the beginning and end of the Five Virtues, and opened the Dao of the Five Elements' mutual generation and mutual restraint, making the Five Elements holistic while having differentiation—one yet different, different yet one!"

The Primordial Spirit True Immortals present could not help but lower their heads to hide their shock.

The name of Dao Lord Great Expansion was known to all, but the fact that the mutual generation and mutual restraint of the Five Elements were created by this person was a secret that was incredible even in the cosmic realms!

The mutual generation and mutual restraint of the Five Elements were actually not a Great Dao that existed innately, but were opened by Zou Yan.

The demons behind Dao Wujin whispered "buzzing." At this time, ordinary spiritual sense language could not carry the insights and concepts they wanted to express, so they instinctively communicated with each other using the "Om" demonic sound taught to them by Qian Chen.

In that instant, infinite irritability surged from the hearts of the dozens of Primordial Spirits around them. Even as Primordial Spirit masters who had begun to cultivate the Dao, they could not avoid the fire of ignorance in their hearts.

The eyelids of those elders of the Zhou house twitched, and a trace of evil qi could not help but surface on their faces, but soon that evil qi dissipated.

They looked at the old man above them with awe, and miscellaneous thoughts surged in their hearts as well.

If it weren't for this demonic sound, if it weren't for these small demonic cubs using the demonic sound to provoke their murderous intent, they would not have rashly pursued and killed, broken into this Bai Di's altar, bumped into this Immortal Qin great power, and lost the yellow bell, the spiritual treasure that was the lifeblood of the Zhou house.

The old man, however, tilted his head with great interest to listen to the demonic sound.

"That's right!" He listened to the demonic sound and praised: "The Five Virtues originally did not have mutual generation and mutual restraint. The so-called Metal Virtue, Wood Virtue, Water Virtue, and Fire Virtue are not Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth. They were originally holistic in themselves, forming one side of the Great Dao. It was Zou Yan who realized that the Five Virtues are the same from beginning to end, and only then did he create the Dao of mutual generation and mutual restraint, dividing the Five Elements out, yet integrating them into one through the Dao of Yin-Yang generation and restraint."

"Reversal is the movement of Dao!"

"Dao is still and becomes Virtue; movement gives birth to demons. Using Dao to reverse the demonic sound and describe the Dao of the Five Elements and Five Virtues is also quite mysterious."

"I haven't returned to the Earth Immortal Realm for a long time. Are the little friends of the Demonic Path nowadays all so interesting?"

He looked at Master Kou beside him, only to see the Master smile bitterly: "The newcomers of the Demonic Path have no rules; they are indeed a bit more lively..."

"This 'Om' demonic sound was obtained when they accidentally broke into a forbidden area where the Louguan Dao sealed a Demon Lord. This demonic sound originated from the hands of the Fallen Demon Lord and is a natural supernatural power of the strange insect he refined—the World-Destroying Demonic Mosquito. The Primordial Spirit masters were also because of this that they disregarded their dignity, bullied the small with the big, and pursued them."

The old man nodded and praised: "The heroes of the world are like crucian carp crossing the river; we have successors!"

"I haven't been to the Earth Immortal Realm for a long time. I thought that after the fall of Immortal Qin, the Immortal Path was holding onto the past, and you were still living off our old capital, cultivating those thirty-six great supernatural powers of the Heavenly Dipper!"

"I didn't expect that someone had already jumped out of the fence and created such incredible great supernatural powers." He tilted his head to listen: "The Dao of the Five Elements can all be reversed and turned into destruction. This kind of demonic sound really has the power to destroy the world. That Fallen Demon Lord is truly extraordinary!"

These words made the Primordial Spirits of the Earth Immortal Realm blush, and they felt very ashamed in their hearts.

Their supernatural powers, apart from the fundamental great supernatural powers passed down in the orthodoxy, were mostly derived from those thirty-six transformations of the Heavenly Dipper.

With this person's status, they had no confidence to refute the statement about living off the old capital.

Over the years, it was indeed the Demonic Path that had often innovated in supernatural powers and techniques.

After all, the Demonic Path harmed each other, and following the path of predecessors would only send oneself to the mouths of predecessors.

Without some innovation, one would not live to reach the Primordial Spirit.

When the Bai Di's Great Dao and the other four Virtues were completely pulled down by the Five Directions Altar, the old man nodded, walked straight up the stairs, and arrived at the very top of the altar.

The discussion of "Morality" just now was high-level; only after reaching the Primordial Spirit would they benefit infinitely.

It was because he saw that these people were all fellow countrymen and successors, inheritors of his own path, and that they had delivered the yellow bell into his hands, that he intentionally gave a few words of guidance.

In his hands, the yellow bell rang.

Sound after sound echoed in the void, pulling down the Bai Di's Dao Fruit.

Without this spiritual treasure, he would have needed to spend some effort.

"After all, he is the sage respected by all our hundred schools, the spiritual treasure of the Duke of Zhou. The Dao Fruit of the Lu-Lü is infinitely profound and nearly complete. In the past, this object suppressed the destiny of the Zhou house. If it weren't for the Nine Cauldrons Alliance and the Nine Provinces Barrier, Ying Zheng might have snatched this object."

The old man flicked his finger and vibrated the yellow bell again.

The bell sound was like the balance of the Great Dao, majestic and sacred.

The old man, however, had his own laws. All the Great Dao around him were like palace buildings, with strict frameworks. Great Dao like pillars supported the heavenly principles. Even if the yellow bell rang to heaven, it could only hang in the hall and echo through the hall.

And his voice also echoed in the hall: "Come out!"

"You had long ago buried a backup plan on this yellow bell, deliberately sending people to lure the elders of the Zhou house to bring the yellow bell here, just to let me pull down the Bai Di's Great Dao with the bell sound, making it convenient for you to do something."

"Those wine bags and rice sacks only think you are a Fallen Demon Lord. Hmph! What Demon Lord? Have they never thought that you are a person of the Daoist school who has merged with the opposite Dao seed and achieved the Taiji Dao Fruit?"

Qian Chen exerted the Fallen Dao Fruit, walked out of the bell sound slowly, bowed to the old man, and said: "Daoist junior Qian Chen, greets Master Lü!"

The old man was surprisingly the last of the hundred schools, the last of the Dao Lords of the hundred schools, the synthesizer, the great Fangshi of the Miscellaneous school who tempered the hundred schools into miscellaneous—Lü Buwei!

The last figure in the Central Lands who could be called "Master."

"The matter of the opposite Dao seed condensing the Taiji Dao Fruit was not a big secret in the era of the masters. The masters preached the Dao and taught without discrimination, very happy to tell juniors these secrets of cultivation. It is a pity that the era of the masters of the hundred schools eventually had an end. After me, these secrets were gradually hidden by people. Xu Fu? When he achieved the great Fangshi, Ying Zheng had already attained the Emperor Dao Fruit. I could no longer tell him many things."

Qian Chen smiled: "Master Lü measuring others by himself is really too difficult for them!"

Lü Buwei shook his head: "The opposite Dao seed and Taiji Dao Fruit were not big secrets in the era of the masters. It is a pity that the era of the masters of the hundred schools eventually had an end. After me, these secrets were gradually hidden by people. Xu Fu? When he achieved the great Fangshi, Ying Zheng had already attained the Emperor Dao Fruit. I could no longer tell him many things."

"Moreover, the Taiji Dao Fruit is ultimately just a path. Not many masters of the hundred schools took this path. Reversal of Dao is not necessarily not a kind of tempering. His path is the Creation Dao Fruit. Xu Fu was deep in thought and knew early on that these were of no benefit to him."

Qian Chen smiled and said: "So that's how it is. I thought you hid the Taiji Dao Fruit, the opposite Dao seed, and the matter of Dao reversal because you wanted to pit Ying Zheng to death!"

Lü Buwei laughed loudly and said: "There might not be no such reason."

Lü Buwei said with his hands behind his back: "Immortal Qin, Immortal Qin, the word 'Immortal' was created by me. The other word 'Qin' was given to it by Ying Zheng again. In the past, the era of the hundred schools declined, and the seven states of the Earth Immortal Realm fought. Even the orthodoxy of the masters fought endlessly. In order to realize my ideal of reviving the hundred schools, combining Confucianism and Mohism, merging names and laws, and tempering the hundred schools into miscellaneous, I chose Great Qin to unify the six states and gather the hundred schools."

"Therefore, I sought the successors of the orthodoxy of the hundred schools again, led them into Qin, and set off a great discussion of the Dao in the cultivation world, subdued countless orthodoxies, and created the Creation Dao."

"Those sources of the hundred schools who shared my ideals joined forces with me to open the Immortal Path. From this, we were called the Fang-Immortal Dao!"

"Ying Zheng is my disciple! He calls me 'Prime Father'."

Lü Buwei sighed: "He learned a bit too well!"

"The purpose of the Fang-Immortal Dao was originally to open the Immortal Path. 'Fang' is the rule, the realm. The so-called Fang-Immortal Dao means establishing the rules and realms of the Immortal Path. A person on a mountain is an 'Immortal'; people lifting someone to ascend to heaven is an 'Immortal.' Before me, there were gods but no immortals, people but no immortals, Dao but no immortals. After me, the Immortal Path was truly opened."

Lü Buwei wrote a seal script character for "Immortal" in the void.

This character is composed of a person and four hands lifting something up, and a kneeling human figure below.

The two characters combined mean a person seeing something rising!

The meaning of the whole character is a person ascending to heaven.

This character clearly expressed the "Immortal Path" that Lü Buwei sought—uniting the strength of the masses to feather and ascend to heaven.

"The origin of my orthodoxy combines Confucianism and Mohism, merges names and laws, but ultimately it is still the word 'Dao.' Just like Han Fei, he is the synthesizer of the Legalist school, and I am the synthesizer of the hundred schools, but we both consider ourselves students of the Huang-Lao school, disciples of the Daoist school. Because the pursuit of the hundred schools ultimately is the Great Dao, and the Virtue of the Great Dao lies in Supreme, so the source of the hundred schools ultimately still has to go towards Supreme."

"Since we seek the Dao of Supreme, we must fall on the word 'person.' Therefore, an immortal is ultimately a person."

Lü Buwei asked Qian Chen: "What do you think this immortal character looks like?"

Qian Chen looked for a long time, then suddenly smiled: "It looks like one person lifting a Dao Fruit, and another person taking the Dao Fruit from heaven."

Lü Buwei nodded and pointed to the hands that caught the Dao Fruit from top to bottom.

"This is Supreme!"

"And the hands below are not us; the one kneeling is us!"

Lü Buwei said faintly: "The characters in the world all originate from oracle bone script and bronze script. The former is the text of the ancient Witch Dao recording divination, and the latter is the trace of human Dao cast on vessels. They all have a common origin—the Divine Dao. Cangjie created characters and fully described the secrets of ghosts and gods, so oracle bone and bronze scripts are characters that carry the Divine Dao. But this immortal character originated from the seal script created when Immortal Qin unified writing and carriage tracks!"

"I created it."

"It is the character of the Dao Lord Dao that I summarized from the masters of the hundred schools, lifting the Dao Fruit, and opening it. It depicts the process of us attaining the Dao and lifting the Dao Fruit."

Qian Chen said faintly: "I thought the Primordial Spirit was already an immortal!"

Lü Buwei nodded: "The Primordial Spirit is indeed a True Immortal, but only a Dao Lord can look down and see the Immortal Path clearly. Above the Immortal Path, the Primordial Spirit is just a beginning, and the Dao Lord is the end."

"First, Supreme Dao Ancestor opened the Primordial Spirit realm, and then I walked out step by step from the Primordial Spirit, Yang Spirit, Yin Spirit, Golden Core, Qi Refining, Penetrating Law, and finally towards mortals."

"After leading mortals to the Primordial Spirit, I started from the Primordial Spirit again, step by step towards lifting the Dao Fruit, and achieving the realm of Dao Lord."

"But I ultimately failed to open the realm above the Primordial Spirit, so above the Primordial Spirit, there is only a path but no realm."

"This 'Immortal' character refers to the path opened by the masters of the hundred schools!"

"A person on the left side means the Dao Fruit relies on 'people'! Hands lifting it represents the path opened by gathering the masses, which refers to the masters of the hundred schools who opened this path, and also refers to the true founder of the Immortal Path, the person who unites the masses—Civilization!"

"The Immortal Path originates from human civilization!"

"The hands that finally took the Dao Fruit are Supreme, and also refer to the Great Dao!"

"And the one kneeling beneath it is us!"

"Seeking immortals and attaining the Dao, seeking immortals and attaining the Dao; we who are kneeling are the method of action, 'seeking' immortals; the rising holistic object is the Dao of non-action, 'attaining' the Dao." ===== CHAPTER 1206 =====