The Spiritual Attainment of Minghe

Liu Er and Yaoji toured over the Untainted Land together, but Liu Er didn’t forget his original intention which was to have a battle with Xing Tian from Wu Tribe, Kunpeng and Bai Ze from Demon Tribe, Four Ancestors of Human Tribe excluding Musen, the Three Royals and Five Emperors, and Zhenyuanzi from Wuzhuang Taoist Temple. Though he was defeated by Zhenyuanzi, Fuxi, and Cangjie, he had either won or ended up in a draw against the others thus earning himself a great reputation in the Untainted Land.

Especially during the battle with Xing Tian, they fought so fiercely that even the moon and sun were blocked by their movements. Both of them gained Enlightenment of the Law of War at the same time; Liu Er’s Cudgel Techniques were agile and powerful while Xing Tian’s Shield and Broadax complimented each other for defense and attack. This spectacular battle had caught the attention of the entire Untainted Land.

Yaoji was greatly impressed by this battle and her affection for Liu Er burst out instantly, like the classic plot in the movie "A Chinese Odyssey Part Two: Cinderella": My Mr. Right is a hero. One day he will be wearing a golden armor and come to marry me on seven-color clouds.

From that moment on, Yaoji was even more reluctant to be with Liu Er. Since Liu Er had returned to his natural state of mind, he had a crush on Yaoji as well. There was nothing to be fearful of. Even if Haotian disapproves of this relationship, Liu Er would fight his way to the Heavenly Court and snatched Yaoji down to the human world. Moreover, up till now Haotian still had not said anything, which indicated that he had tacitly approved of them.

Compared with Liu Er’s reputation from his battles, the relationship between Liu Er and Yaoji was more of a concern for everyone in the Untainted Land. Liu Er was the eldest disciple of Minghe and Yaoji, the sister of the Jade Emperor of Heavenly Court, was a royal princess. These two noble figures touring the Untainted Land together had aroused several speculations.

All Sages in the Untainted Land, in particular, were quite apprehensive. Minghe was already the most powerful force in the Untainted Land. If Liu Er marries Yaoji, Minghe would have the excuse to interfere the affairs of the Heavenly Court. If not so, he would give some supports to Haotian. With the support from Minghe, Hao Tian’s title as the Jade Emperor would be secured therefore garnering more authority.

Nevertheless, all Sages could do nothing about this. Liu Er and Yaoji were a match made in heaven and they had affection for each other with no objection from Haotian. Simply having Liu Er, who was in the Late Stage of Sage-to-be realm, to join them would be of much benefit to the prestige of the Heavenly Court.

Compared with Liu Er’s colorful life, Kong Xuan led a significantly insipid life. He toured the human world with Jingbae, experiencing joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness while looking at the vicissitudes of life as humans. If Minghe was here, he would laugh at Kong Xuan because he now seemed to have a scholarly air around him.

As Kong Xuan gained more enlightenment, he didn’t leave his cultivation behind. He had separated one of the Five Phases Separation, the Golden Corpse, using the merits from assisting Human Sovereign.Now he was traveling around the human world. He had also separated his Wooden Corpse, reaching the Secondary Stage of Sage-to-be realm.

Although Kong Xuan had created his own cultivation method, his Heaven Endowed Magic Skill, Divine Five Colored Light, was abolished. It was only after he had separated all Five Phases Separations and fused them with himself then can he regained the Divine Five Colored Light. By then, however, he would have fulfilled the Law of Five Elements and could attaine the Realm of Origin as well.

This cultivation method was comprehended by Kong Xuan and predicted by Minghe using his Magical Tao Mirror, so it was theoretically possible. When Kong Xuan separated Five Phases Separations, he could comprehend the Law of Five Elements individually. It was like the time when Minghe received the Divine Law when he separated his Three Separations. Kong Xuan couldn’t exert the Divine Law if he didn’t remove his Law of Spiritual Beings, and that’s why Divine Five Colored Light was abolished.

Kong Xuan would be able to fuse with Five Phases Separation and strived for the Realm of Origin after both had achieved the Fulfilment of the Sage-to-be realm. Since this was a brand-new cultivation method, no one knew how it would develop and it depended on Kong Xuan’s Fate. What’s more, it would take more than tens of thousands of years and even several Cultivation Tribulations to actualize the Realm of Origin by using this method.

Divine Five Colored Light was his most powerful Magic Skills, Kong Xuan would not abolish it without any preparations. Long before he used it, he had asked Minghe to refine a fan for him, Five Colored Glaze Fan, which had all five elements. He then nurtured the fan with his natal Magic Skills of Divine Five Colored Light for several millenniums. After his separation, his Magic Skills were broken, but Divine Five Colored Light in the fan was usable, but it was weakened to one-fifth of its original power.

Black Tortoise’s life was much simpler, he either ate or slept. Sometimes he even slept until several years had passed. What astonished the people in the Holy Land was that despite this, Black Tortoise’s cultivation had improved remarkably and entered Peak of Realm, the equivalent of Peak of Realm of Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal, which was extremely puzzling.

At present Black Tortoise had refined Golden Body of Martial Arts. Together with the conversion of his tortoise shell and Blood of Essence from his preexistence, the Defense Strength of the Golden Body of Martial Arts was incredibly terrifying. Only Sage-to-be or Top Grade Primordial Spiritual Treasure could break his body. It was truly a terrifying abnormality.

In addition, Black Tortoise had another special Spiritual Treasure given by Minghe. It was one of the three Golden Lotus Seed Minghe had gotten from Jieyin. Golden Lotus of Merit could only be cultivated by Merits, thus it would be most suitable for Black Tortoise who enjoyed ever-lasting Merits. Although Black Tortoise already had Ninth-Grade Red Lotus of Fire, the Golden Lotus of Merit was the best among the Defense Original Spirit.

Cultivating the Golden Lotus of Merit required a continuous flow of Merits which also served as the foundation for cultivating Black Tortoise’s Golden Body of Martial Arts. If he were to keep improving his Golden Body of Martial Arts, his cultivation would improve tremendously as well, but this could sow seeds of future troubles. It was never a good thing to hold uncontrollable power, and that’s why Minghe gave Black Tortoise one Golden Lotus of Merit to slow down his cultivation speed. By doing this, he prevented himself from having an unstable Foundation and a useful primordial spiritual treasure could be nurtured therefore killing two birds with one stone.

Disciples of all Sages were also making progress rapidly. Among them were Taoist Xuan Du from Tribe of Humanity, Guang Chengzi and Dipankara Taoist from Clan of Enlightenment, Abundant Treasures Buddha from Tribe of Severity, and Medicine Buddha from Western Religious Sect. They all had made a Breakthrough into Sage-to-be Realm successfully, shocking the whole Untainted Land. Clan of Enlightenment, in particular, had two Sages-to-be now, so Honoured Lord of the Origin was filled with pride.

All tribes of the Untainted Land had undergone tremendous changes, so had the nine provinces of Human Tribe. There was never an ever-prosperous dynasty or an eternal warring state. Dynasties were interchangeable through the passage of time, this was an unchangeable law.

Although this Xia Dynasty in some aspects resembled the Xia Dynasty in Chinese history, this place after all was the Untainted Land. Every emperor of Xia Dynasty was a mortal, but they knew cultivation methods. Even though it couldn’t make them immortal, but it did prolong their lifetime thus lengthening the regime of Xia Dynasty.

Where there was prosperity, there would be a decline. The power of Xia Dynasty had been declining after more than 3,000 years of a regime and crowning of emperors. Xia dynasty was afflicted by weak internal governance and external foreign aggression and vassals rarely paid their tributes. Conflicts were rising in all areas and by the time of Jie, Xia Dynasty was experiencing their worst time.

When Jie ruled the country, he blindly suppressed neighboring countries, which needed lots of financial resources. What’s worse, Jie was an incompetent emperor who only cared about his personal enjoyment, while letting his people suffer and using crafty and fawning ministers to run the country. In the 33rd year of Jie’s governance, he sent an expedition to suppress Youshi-Shi. Youshi-Shi failed to ward him off and offered Jie a beauty called Mei Xi as a tribute.

Jie adored Mei Xi and built her a grand palace, galleries, and towers. All these burdens fell on his subjects who suffered, they felt indignant but dare not to speak out. Jie only listened to sweet-mouthed ministers and rejected the loyal ones. One villain called Zhao Liang catered to Jie’s pleasure and taught him how to enjoy himself, how to extort and ill-treat his subjects thus gaining Jie’s favor and trust.

In the 37th year of Jie’s governance, a man named Tang of Shang tribe in the east introduced Yi Yin, a talented man with both ability and political integrity, to Jie. Yi Yin was a dowry slave of Tang’s wife, who worked in the kitchen. Yi Yin was a gifted man. To arouse Tang’s notice, sometimes he purposefully cooked very delicious meals, sometimes he would cook meals that were either too salty or too bland.

Tang once asked him about the meal, and he took the chance to express his views on the country governance. Tang was surprised by this man’s talent and noticed this man’s virtue and talents. As a result, he exempted Yi Yin’s slave identity and appointed him as the right prime minister. Yi Yin persuaded Jie with the benevolent governance adopted by Tang Yao and Yu Shun in hopes that Jie could show understanding and sympathy for his people and govern the country with care. Jie, however, turned a deaf ear and Yi Yin had to leave.

In Jie’s late years, he became more decadent, ordering people to build a pool called Night Palace. He and a group of men and women were having fun in the pool without going to court for a whole month. Imperial astronomer, Zhonggu, admonish Jie with tearfully but Jie impatiently scorned Zhonggu for being officious. Knowing this emperor was incorrigible, Zhonggu sought refuge with Shang Tang.