Chapter 16: Discourses on the Way and the Scriptures
All living beings and spirits have their own fated opportunities. Yet, more often than not, the fortunes of the weak are determined by the will of the strong. Just as in the previous lecture within the Purple Cloud Palace: when the three thousand seats were filled, even those who had attained the pinnacle of Da Luo cultivation were told they lacked the qualifications, and thus their opportunity did not arrive.
Now, within the Kunlun Immortal Realm, the Three Pure Ones and Red Cloud opened their eyes at the same time, exchanging a knowing smile. They had already given the beings of Kunlun ample time to arrive; those who truly failed to reach in time had sealed their own fate.
The Jade Purity Daoist looked at Red Cloud, stroking his beard with a smile.
“Would you care to begin, fellow Daoist Red Cloud?”
At his words, not only did the Three Pure Ones turn their gaze, but all the beings below looked up in unison, confusion and astonishment written across their faces.
“Who is this Daoist? I’ve never seen him before!”
“This must be some great power; his cultivation surely surpasses our imagination.”
“The gourd before him looks so familiar!”
...
Amidst the murmurs of the crowd, Red Cloud did not answer, understanding the subtleties and smiling as he shook his head.
“This place belongs to the three fellow Daoists; how could I presume to overshadow my hosts? Please, proceed as you wish, and allow me to observe and verify.”
Jade Purity Daoist was unsurprised by this response, nodding discreetly to himself. Then he looked to the Upper Purity Daoist and the Supreme Purity Daoist, though he hesitated, seeming to feel it improper for himself to begin.
The Upper Purity Daoist, perceiving his brother’s thoughts, smiled and spoke:
“Among us, eldest brother’s cultivation is highest; let him begin.”
The Supreme Purity Daoist did not object, lightly waving his horsetail whisk, calming the restless crowd below.
“If that is so, I shall go first.”
He cast his gaze over Kunlun, observing the sincere hearts yearning for the Dao, and nodded in satisfaction.
“My Dao is the Way of Non-Action. Non-Action means nothing is left undone. My Dao is not to contend; not contending is the truest contention.”
Looking at the bewildered crowd, he knew the profundity of his insight was far from ordinary; if he were to lecture, it would be harder to comprehend than even his younger brother’s straightforward teachings.
---
Nonetheless, he paid no mind and continued to expound his Dao.
As the patterns of the Dao appeared upon the cloud platform, his discourse grew ever more abstruse. Among all the assembled beings, only a scant few managed to grasp the faintest hint of its essence.
Those seated at the front—two Golden Immortals and over a dozen Mysterious Immortals—mostly understood nothing at all. Having fought their way through a world of survival of the fittest, what could they know of non-action and non-contention?
...
When the Supreme Purity Daoist finished, the cloud platform beneath Jade Purity shone, and somehow, the Three Treasures Jade Scepter had appeared in his arms. He opened his hand, letting the scepter float up to the heavens, radiating divine light.
“What is the Dao? It is born of the heavens. The heavens evolve and give rise to the Dao, which in turn nurtures all things. Where the Dao exists, so does the heavens. Following the heavens, the Dao goes along; opposing the heavens, the Dao resists. Thus are all living beings...”
Though the Jade Purity Daoist spoke rightly of the Dao, most of the crowd listened with changing expressions. Unlike the previous incomprehensible lecture, here, they understood—but wished they had not.
Follow the heavens... If they followed the heavens, perhaps they would have long since ended up as food for others.
Still, many unique creatures and gifted spirit beasts nodded in agreement, feeling a growing admiration for Jade Purity.
...
“What use is following the heavens or practicing non-action? In my opinion, nothing compares to striving for oneself!”
Seeing the Jade Purity Daoist retrieve the Three Treasures Jade Scepter, Upper Purity impatiently raised his hand, and the Azure Lotus Sword at his back unsheathed, hovering in the air.
Unlike other peerless treasures, the Azure Lotus Sword radiated terrifying destruction and sharpness, so fierce that the crowd dared not look directly at it.
“If one is lacking, one seeks to fill the gap. If harm befalls oneself, one acts to remedy it. If the heavens are deficient, one seeks benefit; if the earth is lacking, one aids all beings. If the Dao is incomplete, one intercepts it for personal gain, transforming it into a chance of survival...”
His words, full of sharp, soaring energy, inspired admiration among the gathered beings.
The Three Pure Ones each lectured for nearly ninety years. Such time was nothing to them—not even a nap. Red Cloud listened for about three centuries. Seeing the Three Pure Ones smiling at him, and the crowd below filled with curiosity, he let out a gentle laugh, and the crystal-red gourd floated overhead.
“I am Red Cloud, here to seek friends and the Dao, transforming tribulation into treasure. Now this treasure is complete, called ‘Nine-Nine Red Cloud Soul-Scattering Gourd,’ containing star-river soul-scattering red sand.
Below the Da Luo level, entering means soul scattered and life ended. Da Luo Golden Immortals, without peerless treasures to protect them, first lose their spiritual essence, second their golden bodies, third their divine light, and fourth, escape becomes impossible...”
---
Having spoken, Red Cloud cared not for the crowd’s expressions. With a subtle movement of his mind, a hundred acres of red sand poured from the gourd, forming a great formation and twisting the order of heaven and earth within that space.
“I command the cloud qi of heaven and earth; by summoning the cloud qi, I issue my commands. Cloud qi endures and never perishes; it is formless and can transform into all things. All things can become clouds...”
Seeing the shock and awe in the crowd, he raised his hand and pointed in the air. The hundred acres of red sand and cloud qi above his head thundered with tribulation.
“When I transform myself into a cloud tribulation, all things bear the might of heaven...”
...
After his lecture, Red Cloud noticed the fear in most eyes directed at him. He merely laughed lightly.
“The wilderness is vast, and living beings are countless—all but ants. If not for the perils of this land, where a single misstep means death and the Dao’s destruction, I would never have cultivated such power.”
“For this reason, we have not allowed you to leave Kunlun, simply because you are too weak.”
Upper Purity Daoist looked at the Nine-Nine Red Cloud Soul-Scattering Gourd above Red Cloud’s head, suppressing his own surging battle spirit, his voice cold.
“Fellow Daoist Red Cloud, known throughout the wilderness as Ancestor Red Cloud, famed for goodness among Da Luo ancestors, your cultivation penetrates the heavens and earth.
That day, outside the chaos beyond the heavens in the Purple Cloud Palace, you yielded your seat to the western beings; among all Da Luo cultivators in the wilderness, none other can compare.
This lecture was only given because you saw Kunlun’s beings struggle to seek the Dao, and so you decided to discuss and expound the Dao.”
Having spoken, Upper Purity Daoist pinched his fingers, drawing a strand of sword intent from the Azure Lotus Sword and casting it toward the rolling hundred acres of red sand formed by the Nine-Nine Red Cloud Soul-Scattering Gourd.
“Since we are debating the Dao, please take care, fellow Daoist.”
“As it should be!”
Red Cloud replied with a soft laugh and a thought. The sword intent shot into the depths of the formation, but the tribulation qi wrapped around it, dispersing nearly half the red sand before erasing the sword intent completely in the blink of an eye.
“An impressive technique, fellow Daoist.”
Supreme Purity Daoist, seeing this, raised his hand to summon a pill furnace, grasped the Water and Fire Two Forms Fan, and gently fanned the ashes.
“Now witness the ashes from my furnace.”
Jade Purity Daoist, meanwhile, formed a mysterious seal and extended it forward.
“I possess a Primordial Jade Seal; please, take a look.”