The Spiritual Attainment of Minghe

Emperor Jiang laughed and said, "My sister, don’t worry. You’ve become a Sage, which greatly improves our Wu Tribe’s strength. Moreover, the Six Paths of Reincarnation is an important place in Untainted Land, and now it’s in your charge. So it’ll provide Luck and Blessings of Heaven for us and help our Tribe last forever. Though our Tribe may decline during this Cultivation Tribulation, we will not be entirely destroyed."

Hearing Emperor Jiang’s words, the other Ancestors of Sorcery were all in silence. Houtu hesitated, and finally said, "Brother, must we fight to the death with the Demon Tribe? Are there any other solutions?"

Emperor Jiang did not answer her question. Torch Dragon sighed and said, "Sister, even I can foresee the matter. As a Sage, can’t you foresee it?" Torch Dragon was the Time Ancestor of Sorcery and was adept in the Law of Time, so he could naturally foresee the fate of the Wu Tribe by the Law of Time. Though he did not know the ending, he saw signs of decline.

Houtu became silent upon hearing that, while Emperor Jiang laughed. "Hahaha, don’t worry too much, my sister. Though it’s the will of Heaven, we Wu Tribe never believe it. It’s our style to fight against the will of Heaven. Even if we are defeated, as long as you’re alive, we still have the hope to return to our previous stage."

Looking at Emperor Jiang with complex emotions, Houtu stretched out her hand and took out two drops of Blood of Essence from the Ancestors of Sorcery. As she believed she would definitely die, she gave three drops of Blood of Essence of the Ancestors of Sorcery to Heaven and Earth Taoist. Unexpectedly, she became a Sage, so Heaven and Earth Taoist returned the remaining two drops to her.

Houtu looked at her Blood of Essence and said, "Brother, here are my two drops of Blood of Essence of the Ancestors of Sorcery. You can select a Great Wu from our Tribe and turn him into an Ancestor of Sorcery with these two drops of Blood of Essence, so as to complete the Twelve Divine Beings Killing Formation. Then we’ll have higher chances of success."

Taking over Houtu’s Blood of Essence, Emperor Jiang laughed and said, "There’ll be no problem to create another Ancestor of Sorcery with your Blood of Essence. I think Chiyou in your tribe is a good candidate. He’s a Great Wu and has few equals among the Wu Tribe. He’s the right person to inherit your Blood of Essence."

Houtu certainly agreed. Chiyou was very powerful and a promising one to turn into an Ancestor of Sorcery with the two drops of Blood of Essence of the Ancestors of Sorcery. Once Chiyou became an Ancestor of Sorcery, they could make the Twelve Divine Beings Killing Formation again. Since the Demon Tribe might believe that Houtu was trapped in the Nether World so that Wu Tribe could not arrange the Formation, they would be caught completely unawares.

Looking at the empty Pingxin City, Torch Dragon said, "Sister, this city is large but empty, you can pick some elites from our Tribe to station here. Though they can’t take charge of the Nether World, they can protect it, and leave us a backup plan as well. What do you think?"

Houtu had no opinion against his words. Pingxin City was so big that she would feel lonely if she lived alone. It could be a good thing to have some Tribesmen accompany her. Besides, the city could serve as another stronghold for the Wu Tribe. Since the Nether World was an important place, with Minghe and Houtu being there, no one dared to act wildly there.

The eleven Ancestors of Sorcery respectively returned to their tribes as soon as they left. They selected about millions of elites from the twelve tribes of the Wu Tribe and sent them to Pingxin City. Even if the Wu Tribe declined, these Tribes could live well under the protection of Houtu so that the Wu Tribe would not be totally destroyed.

···

Mount Kunlun, the former temple of Three Pure Ones, now had become the temple of the Sages. Originally only Laozi, the Primeval Lord of Heaven, and Tong Tian lived there, so it was peaceful and quiet. However, since the three had become Sages and set up the sects, a continuous stream of people had been coming to acknowledge them as masters. With all kinds of Tribes gathering there, the Human Tribe, the Demon Tribe, and the Dragon Tribe, Mount Kunlun totally became a mess.

Three Pure Ones also felt a headache. Since they had established the sects, surely they should accept some disciples and preach the word of Dao to them, or there was no point setting up the sects. Nevertheless, those that came to acknowledge them as masters abounded. With thousands of creatures gathered at the foot of Mount Kunlun, it was really a spectacular scene.

Three Pure Ones were created by Pangu’s Purusa, so Laozi, Creation, and Tongtian were respectively called Taiqing, Yuqing, and Shangqing to show that they were from one family. Even so, the three had different understandings of the Way of Heaven and disagreed with each other about the doctrine of the sects.

Laozi’s Tribe of Humanity advocated that people should be quiet with no desires and let things take their own course; Origin’s Tribe of Enlightenment advocated that people should be evaluated in respect to talent before cultivating and only gifted people with extraordinary intelligence and spiritual products could be accepted by the Tribe of Enlightenment; Tong Tian’s Tribe of Severity believed they should make no social distinctions in teaching. All creatures could practice the Way of Heaven to find his true self and obtain a lifeline of the Way of Heaven.

Because of the different doctrines of the three religions, there were a lot of disagreements among Three Pure Ones in terms of accepting disciples. Laozi set up the Tribe of Humanity and advocated doing nothing that goes against nature. As long as the Human Tribe did not become extinct, he would do nothing. The Human Tribe should take its own course. As for the matter of accepting disciples, Laozi believed his disciples must have great wisdom and perseverance, and there should be an amazing connection between them.

So he left Mount Kunlun and traveled throughout Untainted Land to see if he could find a disciple he was satisfied with. As for those at the foot of Mount Kunlun, though some were gifted, Laozi was not satisfied. So he left them to Origin and Tongtian for selection.

Laozi flew to the northwest after leaving Mount Kunlun, in the direction that he had felt his Fated Chance the last time. Though he did not know whether his Fated Chance was still there, he should go and have a look. If it were still there, he would get it. If it were gone, he would not lose anything. Anyway, he came out to recruit disciples, so it was fine wherever he went.

When passing by a mountain, Laozi stopped and looked at it. The mountain was surrounded by clouds and contained a sign of the hidden dragon. There must be something special in it. Counting on his fingers, Laozi found out the mountain was originally called Mount Shouyang, the head of all the mountains in Untainted Land. It was the home of immortals. Moreover, there was some amazing connection between them. Therefore, Laozi stepped off his cloud to get a glimpse of the mountain.

Just when he stepped off his cloud, he saw a young man kneeling motionless towards the mountain for a long time. He felt it interesting, so he turned into an old man and walked toward the young man with a crutch, and asked, "Young man, what’s your name? Where are you from? Why are you kneeling here?"

The young man found him to be an old man, so he replied, "Senior, my name is Xuandu, a member of the Xuanqing Tribe of the Human Tribe. I want to acknowledge some master-hand as my mentor, so whenever there is a famous mountain or a great river, I’ll kneel for three months to see if I could find my mentor. If not, I’ll go to another place."

Laozi was satisfied with his words. Since his Taiqing Taoism advocated being quiet with no desires, Xuandu was a good candidate to be his disciple. With willpower, perseverance, and talent, he was a rare piece of jade. As long as he was well cultivated, he would become a great talent. Counting on his fingers, Laozi found out they were destined to be master and disciple.

So Laozi restored his real body, and looking at Xuandu, he laughed and asked, "I’m Supreme Lord Laozi, the head of Three Pure Ones. Xuandu, you and I are destined to be master and disciple. Are you willing to be my disciple?" Since Xuandu was fated with him, and met his requirements as a disciple, Laozi would not miss him, thus he immediately claimed his identity.

Xuandu was shocked. Supreme Lord Laozi was the Sage Laozi. He missed his teaching in the Human Tribe last time, but Laozi was famous throughout the Human Tribe. Now he met Laozi and had a chance to become his disciple. He was so thrilled that he quickly kowtowed and said, "Master, your disciple Xuandu greets you."

Laozi was elated to hear his words. He lifted him up and planned to return to Mount Kunlun. But at the thought of Mount Shouyang, he decided to get a glimpse of it first. As for returning to Mount Kunlun, there was no hurry. After all, it was still noisy, so it would not be too late to return when peace had been restored.

As Laozi had expected, Mount Kunlun was indeed quite noisy at the moment. There were so many creatures coming to be their disciples, and Creation and Tongtian could not send all of them away. After all, they needed to accept some disciples and preach the word of Dao to them. They could not take them all as well, or Mount Kunlun would totally become a mess.

Origin had an arrogant personality and thought highly of himself, so he would certainly take talent into account when accepting disciples. Besides, he disliked the Demon Tribe. When scrambling for seats in the Zixiao Palace, he even insulted Kunpeng as a stupid feathered animal. So it was obvious that he was dissatisfied with the Demon Tribe. However, he could not reject them directly, so he had to make a large formation at the foot of the mountain. If someone wanted to be his disciple, he needed to pass the test of the formation.

It was an illusory formation with the secrets of Heaven inside it. The formation was divided into five elements and could evolve the life processed through aging and death. Creatures without great wisdom and perseverance could neither penetrate the mystery of the formation nor understand the secrets of Heaven it contained. Therefore they had to be trapped in it. Creation used the formation to test their talent and disposition. Only the ones who went through the formation would be taken into consideration.