Heaven and Earth Consciousness

After hearing Zhou Jun out, Di Kun frowned tightly, seemingly deeply puzzled by his words. He muttered, "A seal and a Barrier? What connection could there be between the two?"

Zhou Jun explained, "I can understand the Barrier. After all, the Primordial Starry Sky is like an independent world, while the Thirty-three Heavens atop Mount Zhou are the entrance between the primordial world and the Primordial Starry Sky. That is why people of later generations enter the Heavenly Court through the South Heaven Gate, yet no one can easily enter the Primordial Starry Sky. Clearly, this is to prevent all living beings from reaching the starry sky at will. But what purpose does the seal serve? The Star Spirits' ability to evolve on their own should only benefit the starry sky. So what exactly is the starry sky trying to seal away?"

A spark suddenly flashed through Di Kun's eyes, as though he had thought of something important. He continued, "I think this is related to the Heavenly Dao. After all, the Heavenly Dao was born within the starry sky, and perhaps the Star Spirits became what they are today under its influence. Then what need would the Heavenly Dao have for seals and Barriers?"

He paused, then continued, "My guess is that Chaos Gods and Demons may be sealed within this starry sky. However, these Chaos Gods and Demons are different from the other Chaos Demon Gods. Perhaps they are not simple beings. Their lingering remnants may be hidden in the starry sky, and the powers represented by those remnants may be Fate, karma, and the like."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Jun narrowed his eyes slightly and said thoughtfully, "If that is the case, then I inadvertently did the Heavenly Dao a great favor this time! Perhaps the Heavenly Dao also fears these beings escaping their cages, or perhaps it worries that they are too powerful. If someone were bewitched by them, the consequences would be unthinkable."

As he pondered, he looked up at Di Kun and continued, "Do you think the fall of the Three Heavens might have been the handiwork of Fate and karma? After all, they came from the starry sky and differed somewhat from the primordial world. Yet they just happened to descend upon this Primordial Land and stir up wind and waves. That truly makes little sense. Moreover, legend says that the Heavenly Court was transformed from their deaths. Could there be some deeper meaning hidden within that?"

Di Kun fell silent for a while, then shook his head. "That does not make sense. With the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, the Heavenly Court should have thirty-six layers no matter how one looks at it. Do you remember how the Three Pure Ones later ascended to the Heavenly Court and opened up the Three Heavens? I think that was the true destiny of the Three Heavens—to bring the Thirty-six Heavens to completion. Perhaps in the end, the Heavenly Court was jointly governed by the three of them: Azure Heaven governed the starry sky, Cyan Heaven governed the Divine Path of the Heavenly Court, and Yellow Heaven governed karma and Reincarnation. That way, the Three Daos of Heaven, Earth, and Man would all fall within the rules, while the rules themselves would be governed by the Heavenly Dao. That should be the correct arrangement. And besides..."

Before Di Kun could finish, Zhou Jun suddenly interrupted him. Di Kun looked at Zhou Jun in confusion, not knowing why he had cut him off.

Zhou Jun slowly spoke, deep in thought. "You said that the Three Daos of Heaven, Earth, and Man all lie within the rules, and that the rules are the foundation of the Heavenly Dao's operation. Then what do the Earthly Dao consciousness and Human Dao consciousness spoken of in later legends represent? After all, life and death, Reincarnation, the alternation of yin and yang, the four seasons—spring, summer, autumn, and winter—these are all foundations of how heaven and earth operate. They all fall within the operation of the Heavenly Dao."

Zhou Jun's words plunged Di Kun into thought. He began to reevaluate his previous views.

Zhou Jun continued, "And according to the later claim that the Three Daos of Heaven, Earth, and Man vie for authority, don't you think there is a huge problem with that idea? A triangle may be stable, but can a three-legged standoff truly allow the primordial world to ascend?"

After hearing Zhou Jun's words, Di Kun also felt that something strange seemed to be hidden within them. After thinking for a moment, he replied, "A three-legged standoff is indeed a state of balance from the good side of things. But from the bad side, it is precisely because of that balance that, once the primordial world ascends and its authority grows, chaos will inevitably erupt. It may even be as those novels describe—mutual suppression and repression, with each side dragging the others down!"

Zhou Jun deeply agreed with Di Kun's analysis. Unity should be the only choice, because it represents dominion over everything. At that thought, an idea suddenly flashed through Zhou Jun's mind. But he could not quite be certain of it. After hesitating, he slowly said, "Do you... think the Three Daos of Heaven, Earth, and Man might actually be a Trinity?"

If you can't find the book by searching its title, try searching for the author. It may simply have been renamed!

Di Kun was utterly perplexed by Zhou Jun's words. He did not understand why Zhou Jun would say such a thing, yet deep within his heart, he seemed to sense a faint clue. Thus, he chose to remain silent and continued listening to Zhou Jun.

Zhou Jun did not notice Di Kun's confusion and went on at length. "According to the I Ching, the Heavenly Dao represents the laws governing the universe's operation, including the movement of celestial bodies and the changing of the seasons. The Earthly Dao embodies the movement of the land, encompassing geographical environments, plants, soil, and so on. The Human Dao describes the relationships between living beings, especially social relationships and social order among people."

He paused briefly, allowing Di Kun time to digest these concepts, then continued, "Among the three, don't you think the Heavenly Dao is the starting point of everything? The Heavenly Dao is like a massive gear, driving the entire world's operation. The Earthly Dao changes in response to changes in the Heavenly Dao, while the Human Dao adjusts in response to changes it senses in heaven and earth. The Heavenly Dao profoundly influences the Earthly Dao and the Human Dao, yet conversely, the Earthly Dao and Human Dao find it difficult to exert any substantial influence upon the Heavenly Dao."

Zhou Jun's tone grew increasingly impassioned, and he seemed brimming with confidence in his own view. "One could even say that it is precisely because of the universe's operation that all things in the world exist. Yet these myriad things cannot exist independently after breaking free from the laws governing the universe.

Therefore, it can be inferred that a three-legged balance between the Three Daos of Heaven, Earth, and Man could never have existed during the primordial era. Such a situation could only exist in theory. In reality, the Heavenly Dao is the existence that controls everything, coordinating the operation of the entire world.

Looking back at some of the novels and other works I read in my previous life, whenever they described a Heavenly Dao becoming a planet or becoming a world, it invariably brought all rules under its own control. This further proves the Heavenly Dao's absolute dominant position within a world.

If that is so, then if the Earthly Dao and Human Dao truly existed, why were they never discovered? That clearly contradicts our initial assumption. Therefore, our original idea was wrong. There are no so-called Three Daos of Heaven, Earth, and Man. There is only one unified Heaven and Earth Consciousness.

That is precisely why there is the term Heavenly Dao. Otherwise, after searching for so long, why had I never found the slightest trace of the Earthly Dao? This can only mean that the Earthly Dao does not exist—or that it is actually one with the Heavenly Dao, and we simply failed to realize it before.

Because it possessed only instinct and no consciousness whatsoever, perhaps the reason Hongjun chose to Merge with the Dao was that the Heaven and Earth Consciousness had been busy suppressing the Chaos Gods and Demons at the time, with no time at all to attend to the affairs of managing the primordial world. That was why it urgently needed to find a Spokesperson to carry out its duties.

However, the original Three Heavens had already vanished and suffered severe destruction. Yet the Heavenly Dao could not spare additional strength to nurture the Three Heavens anew, much less determine whether it would ultimately succeed. Thus, it could only select one among the powerful beings of the primordial world to assist it.

Thus, Hongjun became the one chosen. But that also meant Hongjun could only act secretly from behind the scenes, using underhanded methods to achieve his goals. Otherwise, why would Hongjun undergo such a tremendous change after Merging with the Dao?

One must understand: although Hongjun is the Heavenly Dao, the Heavenly Dao is not Hongjun. What this means is that Hongjun can represent the Heavenly Dao, yet the Heavenly Dao cannot use Hongjun's body to represent itself. This is clearly a sleight of hand!"

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