Chapter 486: A Realization of Motion, Qin Jingzhi, and Principle (Bonus Chapter for Silver Alliance Member brighton)

Thunder is the ultimate expression of yin and yang, the pivot of all things; it governs objects and people, presiding over life and death.

From the Imperial Heaven above to the Earth Emperor below, none can execute their decrees without thunder; whether grand matters of life and death or minor affairs of withering and flourishing, none can administer their governance without thunder!

This is a supreme means that causes hundred evils to clear the path and myriad demons to bind their forms, vast and surging, beyond measure!

The Western Zen Sect also has words of praise, stating that thunder possesses the power to shatter delusion, the opportunity to enlighten, and the majesty to protect the Dharma; its ability shakes the great thousand worlds and subdues all heterodox paths, like a vajra pestle striking the earth to split mountains and burn away every forest of afflictions!

In the era of the former Ancient Dao Court, the immortals and gods of the Thunder Department always held the duty of sweeping away inauspiciousness within the cosmos and executing the Dao on behalf of Heaven.

Often, when thunder soldiers and spirit clerks merely appeared, yin filth would recede and true yang would spread, causing demons and monsters lurking in the dark to tremble in their entire bodies, panicked as if mad.

If a divine general or palace lord of the Thunder Department personally intervened, it would cause yin and yang to grind together and heaven and earth to clash, so that even ancient Demon Gods deep within the Netherworld could no longer sit peacefully in their dwellings.

Furthermore, the Great Manifest Ancestor was the master of the Immortal Capital Thunder Bureau, one of the three bureaus of the Thunder Department; his status was second only to the Seal-Holding Supreme of the Thunder Department, making him the chief of the Five Elders of Thunder, personally invested by the Heavenly Emperor with the title "Great Immortal of the East Who Breaks Prisons and Restrains Evil," ordered to reside within the Upper Saint Golden Palace Realm, command hundreds of millions of troops, and freely enter and exit a Profound Heaven, namely the Profound Calamity Heaven, a position of high and solid authority!

The Tai Yi Qing Shen Lei, painstakingly created by the Great Manifest Ancestor, was naturally a first-rate supreme thunder technique among the myriad celestial universes, not to be lightly proclaimed nor discussed.

In years past, when the Grand Historian Mei Mei Gongxing cast the "Golden Chapter of the Earthly Gate," the Tai Yi Qing Shen Lei, in a state of deserved reputation, was rated by a host of celestial officials as "Upper-Upper Grade," listed at the very front of the Thunder Techniques section.

Yet obscure rumors claimed that when Mei Mei Gongxing went to demand the "Tai Yi Qing Shen Lei" back then, he seemed worried the Great Manifest Ancestor would refuse orders, leading the immortals and gods of the Immortal Capital Thunder Bureau, who had long harbored dissatisfaction, to rise up in rebellion, and then unite with the vast Thunder Department to fiercely add fuel to the flames of the chaos of that time.

Mei Mei Gongxing first used a Heavenly Emperor's Talisman Order to secretly transfer the then True Martial Heaven Celestial Venerable and the No-Thought Heaven Celestial Venerable.

Only after these two important ministers guarding the exterior arrived leading boundless troops and surrounded several nearby Celestial Heavens did Mei Mei Gongxing enter the Immortal Capital Thunder Bureau alone to personally proclaim the Heavenly Emperor's Jade Decree to the Great Manifest Ancestor.

However, in the eyes of most Yu Yu Yuchen disciples, such rumors could not be taken as fact, being merely gossip from outside, insufficient to rely upon.

Since Yu Yu Yuchen founded its sect until the collapse of the former Ancient Dao Court, the Great Manifest Ancestor had already done everything benevolent and righteous for the Dao Court during this period; fearlessly, no matter who came, it would be difficult to find any fault in him.

Capturing Teng Bing, executing Chi Sui, breaking the chaos of ten thousand demons in the Yin Spring, resolving the siege of the Dharma Saint Heaven Yi Xiao...

Whether personally leading his sect's disciples to strike against the faction of Tian Yi Yan, or joining with the Eight Immortals of the Dipper Department to repair that ancient, world-breaking great raft.

His body of illustrious heavenly merits, even looking across the vast Thunder Department, had few immortals or gods who could match it!

Were it not so, the Dao

Court would not have specially bestowed the extremely precious "Plum Blossom Yi Numerology" to enrich the foundational depth of Yu Yu Yuchen's sect, which was precisely to reward the Great Manifest Ancestor for the merits of his life.

As for after the Dao Court suddenly collapsed, although the Great Manifest Ancestor exerted great magic power to destroy from afar all the Yu Yu Yuchen Dao techniques recorded on the "Golden Chapter of the Earthly Gate," leaving not a single one.

This still could not prove that the Great Manifest Ancestor intended to shout for beating and killing against the Dao Court or show no mercy.

Performing this act certainly did not involve only Yu Yu Yuchen.

The other Xue Xuan Sects and Xiantian Mo Zongs in Xudu, the Taichang Cluster of Dragons, the Huang Ji Heavenly Palace, the various teachings of No-Thought, and the pure Zen forests of the two great heavens of Limitless Light and Extreme Bliss...

At that time, all major powers capable of accomplishing this act acted without prior agreement; looking around, nearly not a single one was an exception.

Even Shang Luo Gong, Grand Xue Xuan Venerable Yuan Mu, and several other old ministers whom the Dao Court regarded as its mainstays, these people also secretly erased their own Dao techniques and divine powers from the "Golden Chapter of the Earthly Gate."

In comparison to this, the actions of the Great Manifest Ancestor were truly nothing strange...

At this moment, Chen Heng felt as if he were wrapped in light, thin clouds, continuously floating upward.

Everywhere his eyes looked was only a depth of darkness; he seemed to be within a dark void, knowing not where he was ultimately going.

In such a situation, his thoughts involuntarily began to gradually scatter.

At first, Chen Heng could still recall some operational key points of the Tai Yi Qing Shen Lei, then connect them to that illustrious Great Manifest Ancestor.

But in the end, even mobilizing the thoughts in his brain became difficult; his whole body was weary, his strength long exhausted.

Just like this, half a year had passed in the present world, while Chen Heng, in meditative absorption, had long lost a clear concept of time.

The joy from before had faded; he felt as if only the time of an incense stick had passed, yet also as if a hundred or ten years of time had suddenly flown by.

This sense of uncertainty inevitably bred fear in the heart, worrying that he had been misled by divine power cultivation, to sit in vain until his lifespan ended within a Dao obstacle without liberation.

Yet at this moment, even if he wished to form the intention to withdraw, it was absolutely impossible to do so; instead, he would truly be deluded by false thoughts, sinking deeper and deeper.

"Like forcing still water, the water becomes harder to calm; stillness is not true stillness, motion is not false motion; thus, the holy model of controlling thunder lies in nurturing motion with stillness and verifying stillness through motion..."

In a trance, a sudden flash of spiritual light appeared in Chen Heng's brain, and he suddenly realized these words.

Once this thought arose, the confusion in his heart instantly vanished; he merely relaxed his thoughts, and his spirit immediately sank into drowsiness, finding it difficult to sense anything else, appearing muddled and dull.

However, after several months had passed, Chen Heng's spirit suddenly became clear again, like one waking from deep drunkenness.

He smiled inwardly, paid it no mind, and simply continued waiting.

To Fu Lao and the old monk observing such behavior from the outside world, it appeared quite incredible.

The latter even lowered the Pure Karma Sweet Dew that had already reached his lips, clicking his tongue twice,

his heart momentarily unable to describe what flavor it was.

"So when cultivating the Tai Yi Qing Shen Lei, one can actually manifest such strange phenomena?"

The old monk looked at Fu Lao, who sat opposite him, and asked with a complex expression.

In his field of vision, Chen Heng, who had been sitting motionless, suddenly changed his surrounding aura; he seemed as if about to wake from meditative absorption, yet also as if sinking into an even deeper sitting-in-oblivion.

Rays of thunderlight suddenly hid and suddenly appeared around his body, arising and ceasing unpredictably, like flowers blooming and withering in an instant.

Motion and stillness, coming and going, were ungraspable...

A fist-sized ball of purest essential qi surged out from the fontanel on top of his head; upon rising halfway into the air, it slowly dispersed, taking the form of drifting catkins, in one breath obscuring mountains and rivers for tens of li, and continuing to expand outward in all directions, possessing a majestic momentum that seemed to invade heaven and earth and press upon the four wilds!

The old monk saw that vast essential qi as both dim and obscure, yet capable of matching the sun and moon in brightness, chaotic and indistinct, towering and noble!

Rumbling great tremors occasionally issued from the deepest depths of the essential qi, and in an instant caused heaven and earth to respond, valleys moving and mountains shaking.

It seemed as if wind and rain would arrive in the next moment, causing heaven and earth to change their colors.

Although such momentum was still difficult to move an old monk accustomed to seeing the world.

Not to mention that a Buddhist treasure as sublime as his own was naturally sufficient in divine power and weak in no means; furthermore, when following beside the Buddha Jingcang Jingcang Bianji, he had witnessed grand scenes of celestial heavens overturning and the void reopening no fewer than several dozen times.

But within the essential qi in the sky, that faint sliver of terrifying implication, which seemed capable of piercing through Primordial Chaos and grinding all celestial stars into powder, caused the old monk to suddenly recall certain past events he wished never to remember again, and his complexion unknowingly became somewhat ugly.

"Sun and moon have divisions of dark and bright, cold and hot possess qi of life and killing, shaking thunder has periods of exit and entry...

Haha, only in this manner can one be said to have touched some of the principles of the Tai Yi Qing Shen Lei!

It seems he has already comprehended the function of motion and stillness of the divine thunder; to be able to pierce through this layer of barrier so quickly, he truly lives up to being a genuine disciple of our Yu Yu Yuchen! Pity the Dao Court has already collapsed and no longer exists; otherwise, an Inspector would certainly report this matter to the Upper Heavens, and this young fellow would also be bestowed a reward of Fire Jujubes and Golden Flowers."

Fu Lao's face displayed a look of undisguised joy, sharing in the honor.

Afterward, he glanced at the old monk's expression, as if recalling something, then suddenly clapped his hands, feigning a sudden realization:

"No wonder your face looks so ghastly; could it be that you are remembering the past when you were struck by lightning? When my master and the Buddha of Pure Treasury and Discerning Accumulation engaged in a Dharma battle, since he intended to subdue you, he did not use the Tai Yi Qing Shen Lei against you, but Great Manifest Ancestor was different.

Come to think of it, it was your own stupidity back then, insisting on wading into that muddy water.

Fortunately, Great Manifest Ancestor only intended to crush that Zhu Zhu Jingtian of the Fang Sect; you merely suffered as an innocent bystander caught in the crossfire, otherwise, how could you possibly still be alive!"

In the past, when the Eight Sects and Six Clans united under Xuanji Xuanji Tianzun to suppress the rebellion of Tian Yi Yan.

Because the Monk Da Hui Sheng

was an accomplice of Tian Yi Yan, under the Monk Da Hui Sheng's call, many Chan sect forces secretly joined Tian Yi Yan's camp, jointly committing acts of rebellion against Heaven.

At that time, the Buddha of Pure Treasury and Discerning Accumulation was still undergoing tribulation and had no leisure to attend to external affairs, while the unrestrained old monk was deceived by a Chan sect friend into going to Zhu Zhu Jingtian.

At that time, the old monk thought he was merely accepting benefits to do a job, just as usual.

But he did not expect that the vast Zhu Zhu Jingtian had already been refined by the ministers of the Heavenly Craft Department following Tian Yi Yan into a cone for breaking realms.

They intended to use this object to pierce through Xuanji Xuanji Tianzun's "Tai Yi Inverted Nine Palaces Reverse Great Formation," thereby seizing the initiative and establishing a foothold first within the Shizhou and Four Seas.

The reason they summoned the old monk was to borrow his mystical power to awaken the spirit and intellect of that carefully refined realm-breaking cone.

Unexpectedly, this action was detected by Xuanji Xuanji Tianzun Xie Xie Gongzai at the time.

It was Great Manifest Ancestor who personally manifested his holy presence, wielding supreme mighty power to drive the Tai Yi Qing Shen Lei, smashing Zhu Zhu Jingtian to pieces!

Countless rebels remaining within Zhu Zhu Jingtian died tragically; since the old monk was also within Zhu Zhu Jingtian at that time, he naturally suffered greatly, nearly having his true consciousness obliterated.

Afterward, upon investigation, since the old monk had not participated in the rebellion against Heaven but was merely deceived by others,

the Dao Court's punishment of him was light; they merely issued an edict reprimanding the Buddha of Pure Treasury and Discerning Accumulation, who was still in tribulation, and imprisoned the old monk in the Heavenly Prison to endure a thousand years of painful torture, which could be described as neither painful nor itching.

The old monk naturally cared little for the painful torture, but the terrifying memory of nearly having his true consciousness obliterated by the Tai Yi Qing Shen Lei was something he could not forget for a long time.

Occasionally recalling it, he still felt lingering fear...

Now, coincidentally encountering Chen Heng attempting to cultivate the Tai Yi Qing Shen Lei, the string in the old monk's heart was plucked, making him feel irritable and stifled, wishing he could slap away that strange phenomenon above his head with one palm to end it all.

"Indeed, fate plays tricks on people; so be it, so be it..."

Since resistance was futile anyway, the old monk knew that he was currently merely a wisp of qi mechanism, his true original form having long been firmly suppressed by the magic power of Fu Lao and Dong Dong Gaozi.

No matter how unwilling he was, he ultimately could not change anything.

"If your disciple of Yu Yu Yuchen succeeds in comprehending the Tai Yi Qing Shen Lei this time, is that not my achievement?"

Shifting his thoughts, the old monk suddenly felt much better, chuckling coldly:

"Without me, how could he have his future glory? Speaking of which, he ought to gift me a generous present and pay his respects to me!"

Fu Lao glanced at him, shaking his head: "If you had voluntarily assisted Chen Heng, I might grit my teeth and accept such grand words, but you were merely forced by me; yet you still expect some generous reward? With such greed clouding your heart, you deserved to be struck dead by Ancestor's thunder in Zhu Zhu Jingtian back then.

And do you think that without your help, Chen Heng would be unable to cultivate the Tai Yi Qing Shen Lei?"

The old monk clasped his hands

behind his back, saying proudly: "Without me, he would have been delayed by at least a hundred years!

A supreme treasure like mine that can aid one in comprehending the Dao should be the foundation for establishing the Dao of any religious sect; although your thunder talisman allows one to cultivate by luck, how could you possibly understand this aspect?"

"Since you, Monk, are so powerful, Baoya Temple should be a great Chan temple where talents gather like crows?"

Fu Lao teased:

"Yet until the collapse of the Ancient Era, Baoya Temple seemed to have produced no formidable disciples?"

"..."

The old monk's face stiffened; he wanted to retort but did not know how to begin.

"Your donkey-like stubbornness remains exactly the same; if you do not restrain yourself soon, you may well be struck by thunder again in the future."

Fu Lao, somewhat amused, extended his hand to point at Chen Heng:

"Perhaps, in the future, it will be this person who strikes you!"

The old monk smiled slightly: "Although this person deserves to be called a hero, it is far too early for him to oppose me; do not boast!"

Fu Lao waved his hand, too lazy to argue with him, and as he returned to his seat, he looked up at the strange phenomenon in the sky, feeling somewhat emotional in his heart.

"To comprehend the mechanism of motion and stillness so quickly—not only did I not expect it, but perhaps even he himself did not?"

Fu Lao pondered silently: "Initially, I thought five years would barely be enough, but now it seems it might not even take five years?"

Just as Fu Lao was pondering,

at the same moment, Chen Heng, who was in meditative comprehension, also perceived another world.

He did not know how much time had passed before he finally emerged from that dark void; before his eyes, light bright as crystal slowly shone down from above.

In an instant, he was swept high up; before his eyes flashed a single bolt of lightning, and together with countless raindrops, he plummeted down, causing dense clouds to gather on all sides.

Before he had time to perceive more, he unknowingly found himself buried deep underground; amidst the rumbling sounds of thunder beside his ears, he suddenly broke through the soil, sprouting forth as the first new shoot.

At times he was rainwater, at times vegetation, at times he transformed into scorched pine, and at times he became stone marrow.

Birds, beasts, insects, mountains, rivers, seas, sun, moon, stars, the Great Void, and heaven and earth.

Amidst the rumbling thunder, he felt himself changing and moving along with it, generating infinite mysterious sensations.

In a Xiao Daze, he seemed to forget his own existence, following the guidance of that indistinct will, and automatically began to circulate the method of the Tai Yi Qing Shen Lei.

All things sense the qi, naturally so; with that heaven and earth, each becomes one object—

Just like this, he did not know how much more time passed when suddenly Chen Heng felt that everything had fallen silent at some point.

Only a mighty voice came from the heavens, as if intending to split this world open, like an axe or blade striking down, rumbling as it shouted:

"The Great Void originally contains no things; how then are all existences born?"